X-Men/Temp

The X-Men are a group of mutant superheroes, owned by Marvel Comics. The X-Men, who were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963).

After a 1975 reformation, the X-Men became one of the most popular comic book franchises in the world. Marvel's vast line of X-Men-related series have sold briskly and turned their writers and illustrators into comic book industry superstars. Since the early 1990s, the X-Men have been adapted into several other mediums including two successful animated series and a Hollywood film franchise.

The X-Men are mutants, human beings who, due to a quantum leap in evolution, are born with extraordinary powers such as superhuman strength, telepathy, and the ability to generate energy. Mutants are often hated by regular humans both because of ordinary bigotry and because humans fear that mutants are destined to replace them. This fact is worsened by a number of mutants, notably the X-Men's arch enemy Magneto, who use their powers to try to disrupt and dominate human society. The X-Men were gathered together by the benevolent Professor X to defend a world that hates and fears them from Magneto and other threats.

Herein lies the sociopolitical undercurrent of the franchise. Mutants are often seen as a metaphor for racial, religious and other minorities that face oppression. Professor X is often compared to African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Magneto to the more militant Malcolm X.

1 The Comic Books
2 Other Media
- 2.1 Animated Television Series
- 2.2 Feature Films
3 Related articles
4 External links

The Comic Books

The Original X-Men

In the early 1960s, Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee, artist Jack Kirby and several other illustrators brainstormed a line of comic books which launched what Lee called the "Marvel Age of comics." The Marvel Age introduced a revolutionary new approach to comic books, where more human and fallible than morally and physically perfect predecessors such as Superman and Wonder Woman and face regular problems in addition to their costumed adventures. The X-Men were one of the last major entries in the Marvel Age, which also introduced The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man.

In the comic book series, the X-Men were founded by the paraplegic Professor Charles Xavier aka Professor X who possessed telepathic powers. Xavier gathered the X-Men under the cover of a "School for Gifted Youngsters" in Westchester County, New York (at an estate called "the X-Mansion" decades later).

Cover-billed as "the strangest heroes of all", the original X-Men consisted of five teenagers still learning to control as use their powers:

Angel, who flew from two feathery wings that extended from his back.
Iceman, who froze moisture in the air around him and who could turn his body into solid ice.
Beast, who possessed ape-like strength and agility and could use his feet as hands.
Marvel Girl, who possessed telepathic and telekinetic powers. Today, this character is better known by her actual name, Jean Grey.
Cyclops, who emitted powerful "optic blasts" from his eyes. Cyclops wore a "ruby quartz" visor to control the blasts and eventually became the X-Men's field leader.

A precursor to the concept of preternaturally gifted children brought together to study in secret, lest they be hated and feared by a world that would not understand them, appeared in the 1953 science fiction novel Children of the Atom by Wilmar Shiras, which has often been credited – though never officially confirmed – with inspiring the X-Men. The children of "Children of The Atom" were also mutants, the results of an unintended experiment in genetic mutation. The term "Children of The Atom" has also been used frequently throughout the franchise's history, often as subtitle for X-Men publications and video games.

Despite the philosophical concepts which appeared in the X-Men series, Lee has said his motivation for inventing genetic "mutants" was to find a way to create a number of super-powered characters without having to come up with a separate and interesting origin for each one.

X-Men #1 also introduced the team's arch-nemesis, Magneto, who controlled magnetism and who felt that mutants should rule over normal humans. Magneto's character would later be fleshed out to reveal that he once shared a friendship with Professor X and his decree that mutants must conquer or be conquered grew from his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. X-Men #4 introduced Magneto's team, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of:

Quicksilver, who possessed super speed
Scarlet Witch, who could cast hexes
Mastermind, who created visual illusions
Toad, who could jump great heights

Several other important villains debuted during the 1960s era including the superstrong Juggernaut, and the mutant-hunting robot Sentinels, but the X-Men all too often fought easily-forgotten mutant criminals, alien invaders and subterranean monsters. As a result, this era is largely regarded as unremarkable and the X-Men became one of the less successful Marvel series during the 1960s.

Lee and Kirby departed the series in 1966, handing the reins over to Roy Thomas and Werner Roth. In the late 1960s, Thomas was joined by well-known artists such as Jim Steranko and Neal Adams in an effort to save the series from sagging sales. These issues are more highly regarded by fans and introduced two more X-Men:

Havok, Cyclops' rebellious brother who produced powerful "plasma blasts."
Polaris, who possessed Magneto-like powers.

Though sales did improve while Adams was on the book, it was too little too late, and Marvel stopped producing new issues of X-Men in 1969. The series continued by reprinting old issues. The X-Men also appeared in other Marvel Comics, but faded to near-obscurity.

The All-New, All-Different X-Men

In 1975, writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum introduced a new team of X-Men. Rather than teenagers, this group consisted of adults who hailed from a variety of nations and cultures. Giant-Size X-Men #1 introduced this team, called together by Professor X to rescue the original team from captivity on a radioactive island.

This "All-New, All-Different X-Men" were led by Cyclops, and consised of:

Sunfire, a hot-tempered Japanese mutant who wielded an "atomic flame."
Thunderbird, a Navajo man who possessed super strength and speed.
Banshee, an Irish mutant who possessed a "sonic scream."
Colossus, a quiet, reflexive Russian who could turn his body into "organic steel."
Nightcrawler, a rascally German who possessed super agility and the ability to teleport. Nightcrawler also had a freakish appearance including blue skin, glowing eyes and a devil-like tail.
Storm, a strong-willed, Kenyan woman who controlled the weather. Storm would become the X-Men's leader in times of Cyclops' absence.
Wolverine, a gruff Canadian who possessed accelerated senses and the ability to heal rapidly. A covert government program had bonded adamantium, a fictitious metal alloy, to Wolverine's skeleton making it unbreakable and he wielded three razor-sharp, adamantium claws extending from each of his sets of knuckles.

Giant-Sized X-Men #1 was successful enough that Marvel began publishing new issues of X-Men, featuring the new team (minus Sunfire and Thunderbird). The series was written by Chris Claremont, who would go on to become the longest-standing contributor to the series. Cockrum illustrated the title for two years, drawing such stories as "The Phoenix Saga" (X-Men #98–108 1976-1977) in which Jean Grey (seemingly) bonded with a cosmic entity called Phoenix and lead the team on an intergallactic mission. The saga introduced the Shi'ar alien race and its empress Lilandra, a love interest of Professor X.

In 1978, Cockrum as succeeded by John Byrne, who co-plotted the series (soon retitled Uncanny X-Men). This marked the beginning of what many consider the X-Men's first true heyday, during which the group became one of the most popular comic book series in the industry.

Although their adventures were inventive and exciting, many consider the interplay among the characters and their differing viewpoints and morals the key to the series' success. Wolverine, in particular, became immensely popular, his rough-and-tumble demeanor combined with his sense of honor being a source of personal and team conflict. One ground-breaking scene implied that Wolverine killed a guard off-panel in order to break into an enemy stronghold, an act which marked Wolverine's nearly-unique role as an anti-hero in mainstream comics.

Claremont and Byrne thrust the X-Men into a variety of desperate situations where their personal senses of self were tested, most notably "The Dark Phoenix Saga" (Uncanny X-Men #129–38, 1980). In this story, the aristocratic Hellfire Club seduced Phoenix, using Mastermind's illusions. This tampering with her mind unleased Phoenix's dark side and she went on to destroy an entire planet. Lilandra commanded her Imperial Guard in a battle against the X-Men for Phoenix's life on Earth's moon. Phoenix committed suicide to prevent further bloodshed, a watershed moment for comics; major characters had rarely been killed up to that point and sacrificial suicide had previously been inconceivable.

For their swansong, Claremont and Byrne produced "Days of Future Past" (Uncanny X-Men #141–42, 1981), which portrayed a dystopian future in which most of the X-Men are dead and Sentinels herd mutants into concentration camps. Despite its brevity, this uncompromising vision of the future has inspired many X-Men stories in decades since.

In 1982, Claremont wrote and Brent Anderson illustrated the graphic novel X-Men: God Loves Man Kills, in which Reverend William Stryker began a religious crusade against mutants, capturing Professor X to manipulate his powers to attack and eradicate mutant minds. The X-Men united with Magneto to battle Stryker, resulting in one of the clearest examples of mutants as a metaphor for race relations in the series. More than 20 years later, the story inspired the second X-Men film.

Meanwhile, Uncanny X-Men continued with Claremont and artists such as Paul Smith and John Romita Jr.. Early 1980s storylines introduced the underground mutant settlement the Morlocks, explored Wolverine's love of Japanese aristocrat Mariko Yashida, saw Storm adjust to the (temporary) loss of her powers and form a relationship with the government weapons contractor Forge, and delved into Cyclops's relationship with Madelyne Prior, a seeming doppelganger of Jean Grey. This last story ended with Cyclops marrying Prior and retiring from the X-Men.

Meanwhile, the X-Men gathered several new recruits in the early 1980s, including:

Kitty Pryde, a Jewish-American teenager who "phased" through solid objects. She would later be called Shadowcat.
Rogue, who involuntarily absorbed the strength, memories and extra powers of anyone she touched. Rogue was introduced as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, now led by the shape shifter Mystique. As a member of that team, she permanently absorbed super strength and the ability to fly from the superhero Ms. Marvel. She turned to the X-Men for redemption.
Rachel Summers a second character called Phoenix, Rachel was the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from the "Days of the Futures Past" timeline and inherited her mother's telepathy and telekinesis.

In 1983, the X-Men's growing popularity lead to The New Mutants, the first in what would be a long line of spin-off series called X-Books. The New Mutants featured a group of teenaged mutants attending Xavier's school.

In Uncanny X-Men #200 (1985), both The New Mutants and X-Men faced a drastic change when Professor X left Earth with Lilandra to heal from an attempt on his life. Xavier asked Magneto, who Claremont developed as an almost sympathetic character, to become the school's headmaster and serve as an X-Man and the long-time villain accepted (though his tenture would be brief).

The Series Becomes a Franchise

In the late 1980s, Marvel continually increased its number of X-Books and the franchise became one of the greatest assets. In 1985, the original X-Men, including a controversially-resurrected Jean Grey, formed X-Factor. Early issues of X-Factor introduced Apocalypse, a 2,000-year-old mutant who would become an important X-Men adversary. In 1986, Wolverine was granted his own solo series, which often dealt with his struggles with personal honor and his past. In 1987 came the wacky-toned Excalibur, featuring Rachel Summers, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and the British superheroes Captain Britain and Meggan.

With X-Books came "X-Overs," storylines which overlap into each X-Book for two to three months. The first, 1986's grisly "Mutant Massacre," featured the Marauders, a group a murderous mutants, who slaughtered the Morlocks and severely injured many of the X-Men who intervened. The saga introduced Mr. Sinister, a nefarious mutant geneticist who was the Marauders' leader. It also brought Sabretooth, previously an opponent of the kung fu hero Iron Fist, into the X-Men fold as an adversary for Wolverine, with the suggestion that the two were linked in the past.

In 1987, after several X-Men were relocated to Excalibur, Claremont unveiled a new X-Men line-up consisting of Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, Colossus, Havok and several characters new to the team:

Dazzler, a former disco singer who could turn sound into light and energy beams.
Longshot, an alien, television action star who escaped from an absurdist dimension run by the tyrannically TV network head Mojo. Longshot had "luck" powers that allowed probability to turn out in his favor.
Psylocke, a British telepath who would later be revised as a femme fatale.

Following the X-over "The Fall of the Mutants", in which the X-Men almost died fighting a demon called the Adversary in Dallas, the team briefly relocated to an abandoned outpost in Australia. The Australian period saw the introduction of the Reavers, a band of cyborg mercenaries and the X-Over "Inferno," which revaled that Madelyne Prior was actually a clone of Jean Grey created by Mr. Sinister. The X-Teams battled Prior, now the insane Goblin Queen, and the groups of demons she allied herself with.

In late 1989, Marvel began publishing Uncanny X-Men twice a month, allowing Claremont to write intertwined plot threats involving several globe-trotting X-Men. The 1990 X-over, "The X-tinction Agenda," pulled the X-Men back together, with two new members:

Jubilee, a teenage "mall rat" who produced sparks from her finger tips
Gambit, a suave Cajun and former professional thief who "charged" small objects, usually playing cards, to explode

From 1987 until 1990 Marc Silvestri illustrated Uncanny X-Men. He was succeeded by young artist named Jim Lee, who would soon become a comic book superstar of unprecedented popularity and change the X-Men more drastically than they had been changed since 1975.

The Sales Boom

After the X-Men's return to the X-Mansion and Professor X's return to Earth in early 1991, Marvel revised the entire regiment of X-books. Artist Rob Liefeld transformed The New Mutants into the platoon-like X-Force, led by the mysterious warhawk Cable. The original X-Men abandoned X-Factor and returned to the X-Men, many of them much different from when they left. Beast had developed claws and blue fur and became a brilliant geneticist and Angel, now called Archangel, had been transformed by Apocalypse and now had blue skin and metal wings. Meanwhile, Havok, Polaris and several secondary mutants formed a new X-Factor.

To make room for the enlarged main team, Marvel launched a second X-Men series, simply called X-Men. Written by Claremont and illustrated by Lee, the new series featured the "blue team," consisting of Beast, Psylocke, Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops and Wolverine. Uncanny X-Men, written and illustrated by Lee and Whilce Portacio, featured the "gold team," consisting of Colossus, Iceman, Archangel, Jean Grey, Storm, and Bishop, a gun-toting renegade mutant from a distant future. Professor X, Banshee and Jubilee stayed on as non-combatant X-Men.

The popular art of Lee and Liefield and the buzz produced by this reformation rasied the X-Men's popularity even further and the first issues of X-Force and X-Men became two of the best-selling comic book issues of all time.

Amid the success, internal friction split the X-Men books' creative teams. Claremont left after only three issues of X-Men due to clashes with Marvel editors, ending his 15 year stint as X-Men scribe. Months later, Liefield and Lee left Marvel with several other popular artists to form Image Comics.

The X-Men's rise in popularity continued, largely thanks to the Fox Network's top-rated X-Men animated series, which debuted in 1992. Meanwhile Uncanny X-Men was handed over to writer Scott Lobdell and artist Joe Madureira, whose manga-like style helped generate a new interest in Japanese comic books in the U.S. X-Men continued with writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert and later Lobdell and artist Salvador LaRocca.

Crossovers continued as almost annual events during the 1990s. Although they boosted sales, many fans complained that they were just cheap publicity stunts.

Some of the more memorable crossovers from the decade include:

"The X-Tinction Agenda" (1990), in which the government of Genosha, a fictional island off the coast of Madagascar where mutants are used as prison labor, attempted to capture the X-Teams.
"The X-Cutioner's Song" (1992), in which Cable's clone Stryfe framed the X-Force leader for an attempt on Professor X's life and captured and tormented his genetic parents, Cyclops and Jean Grey.
"Age of Apocalypse" (1995), in which a time-traveler kills Professor X before he ever forms the X-Men. An alternative reality unfolded in which Apocalypse ruled North America and Magneto led a resistance.
"Onslaught" (1996), which dominated all Marvel comic books for two months. In that storyline, Professor X lost control over his powers, creating an evil second personality called Onslaught who battled the X-Men, The Avengers and the Fantastic Four.
"The Twelve" (1999), in which Apocalypse conspired to capture a dozen mutants and absorb their powers, becoming omnipotent.

The 1990s saw an even greater glut of X-books including Generation X, starring another team of teenage mutants and X-Man, starring a powerful young mutant from the Age of Apocalypse reality. Marvel launched solo series for several characters including Cable, Gambit, Bishop and Deadpool, a saracastic mutant mercenary featured in X-Force. In 1998 Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter was replaced with the parallel world series Mutant X starring Havok.

A sales boom in the comic book industry helped the expansion of the X-Men franchise. However, these sales proved untenable and collapsed along with the rest of the industry in the mid-1990s. As a result, Marvel declared bankruptcy in 1996. A year later the company settled its bankruptcy suit and attempted a recovery. The new situation would lead to significant changes for X-Men-related series.

Era of Reformations: 1997-Present

In 1997 major characters such as Bishop, Gambit, Jean Grey and Cyclops were written out of the X-Men, and a new team was assembled consisting of Wolverine, Rogue, Beast, Storm and several newcomers:

Marrow, a former Morlock whose bones grew out of her body, providing her with knife or club-like weapons.
Cannonball, a Kentuckian who flew at jet speeds. Cannonball already had a long history as a member of The New Mutants and X-Force.
Maggott, a South African whose digestive system took the form of two slugs who exited his body and who could eat through anything.
Cecilia Reyes, a Puerto Rican-American doctor who projected a protective force field around her body.

When writer/artist Alan Davis began his stint as X-Men scribe in 1998, he scraped that team, keeping Marrow, Rogue, Storm and Wolverine and returning Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Gambit and Professor X. Fans considered Davis' stint, during which he illustrated X-Men and Adam Kubert Uncanny X-Men a moderate success but Marvel ended it when Claremont agreed to return in 2000 to write both core X-Men series.

Marvel instituted a six-month time gap between issues of X-Books, allowing Claremont and illustrators to completely revise the X-Men in a single month (a similiar overhaul occurred in most other X-Books). Claremont's second stint featured a cast of the old regulars plus new arrivals:

Thunderbird II, an Indian man who generated bursts of fire
Tessa later called Sage, who for years was seen as an assistant to the Hellfire Club but was apparently a spy for Professor X. She possessed telepathic powers and a computer-like brain.

Wandering plot lines and forgettable new villains plagued Claremont's return, leading Marvel Editor-in-Cheif Joe Quesada to remove him in early 2001. Quesada paired Claremont with LaRocca for a new title, X-Treme X-Men featuring Thunderbird II, Psylocke, Bishop, Sage, Gambit, Rogue and Storm operating outside the X-Mansion.

At the same time, Marvel cancelled Gambit, Bishop, X-Man, Mutant X, Generation X and a brief, John Byrne-created retro series, X-Men: The Hidden Years and revised X-Force beyound recognition. While these series sold well, Quesada argued that so many mutant superhero titles had become redundant.

Marvel launched a few new books, not based on the "fighting for a world that hates and fears them" routine, including Weapon X, a mercenary group employing Sabretooth, Marrow and several other hard-edged characters and Exiles, a group of reality-hopping mutants from various parellel words, and the new X-Force (later retitled X-Statix) featuring a group of publicity-seeking, corperate-sponsored teenage mutants.

Other drastic changes included the deaths of long-running characters Colossus and Psylocke, and the uncovering of Wolverine's beginnings in the 2001 Origin mini-series, which revealed that Wolverine was born James Howlett, son of rich plantation owners in late 19th Century Canada, and has long suffered fits of amnesia.

Most significantly, 2001 saw the ascent of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quietly to X-Men, retitled New X-Men. featuring the line-up of Beast, Jean Grey, Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine and the sexy telepath and former villain Emma Frost. The team was outfitted in black leather uniforms resembling those of the 2000 X-Men film and a student body of teenage mutants was added to Xavier's School. New X-Men was known for its high-minded science fiction concepts, its sense of humor and its ambitious, unexpected twists and turns such as the killing of 16 million mutants in Genosha at the hands of the Sentinels. Most fans applauded Morrison's smart, edgy approach and, for the first time since the early 1980s, there was a consensus that the X-Men were an artistically, not just commercially, successful franchise.

Meanwhile Uncanny X-Men was revamped by writer Joe Casey and artist Ian Churchill and later writer Chuck Austen and artists Kia Asamiya and Ron Garney. The book, which focused on traditional action and adventure, featured Iceman, Nightcrawler and Archangel and several surprising new additions to the team:

Husk, a former member of Generation X who could "husk" her skin revealing a stronger texture beneath.
Northstar, an openly gay, former member of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight who possessed super speed and the ability to fly
Juggernaut, the bullying step brother of Professor X who gained super strength through a mystic gem. Juggernaut had been a criminal and enemy of the X-Men since the mid-1960s when he seemingly settled down and joined the team.

In 2004, Morrison left New X-Men and Marvel prepared for what was already being called the "post-Morrison period". Marvel cancelled X-Treme X-Men and placed Claremont back on Uncanny X-Men. The company also launched Astonishing X-Men with writer Joss Whedon (well-known as the creator of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and artist John Cassaday. Marvel also launched several new X-Books including Rogue, Nightcrawler, District X (in which Bishop polices a mutant neighborhood of New York City), New X-Men: Academy X (starring Xavier's student body), and a new Excalibur (featuring Professor X's attempt to rebuild Genosha).

Ultimate X-Men

In 2000 writer Mark Millar and artist Adam Kubert introduced an updated and re-envisioned version of the X-Men as the Ultimate X-Men. This title started from scratch with new versions of each character, and is set outside of the Marvel Universe continuity in the Ultimate Marvel Universe.

In this version the X-Men, other than Professor X and Wolverine, are still teenagers. The team originally included these two as well as Cyclops, Jean Grey, Colossus, Iceman, Beast and Storm. "Ultimate" versions of Nightcrawler, Rogue, Shadowcat and Angel have since been introduced. Their enemies include The Hellfire Club, The Sentinels, and Magneto and The Brotherhood of Mutants.

Many of the versions of these characters keep only the basics, changing them to be (Marvel argues) more accessible to today's teenagers.

Other Media

Animated Television Series

In 1989, Marvel Entertainment produced a pilot for an X-Men series called Pryde of the X-Men which never aired.

In 1992, the Fox Network launched an unrelated X-Men animated series with the roster of Beast, Cyclops, Gambit, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Professor X, Rogue, Storm and Wolverine with Cable, Bishop and Archangel often guesting. The team's adversaries included Mr. Sinister, Sabretooth, Apocalypse, the Sentinels and Magneto. The series often utilized stories from the Claremont years and even attempted its own Phoenix and Dark Phoenix sagas in its third season. The series was an extraordinary success, becoming one of the most watched animated series in television history. It continued for five seasons, ending in 1997, but Fox and the ABC Family Network began airing reruns after the success of the 2000 X-Men film.

In 2000, Warner Brothers Network launched X-Men: Evolution, which portrayed Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Rogue and Shadowcat as teenagers attending regular high school in addition to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. At the latter, Professor X, Storm and Wolverine were their teachers. The series, which was aimed at younger children than its predecessor, irked longtime X-Men fans but gathered moderate ratings. The first season mainly featured Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Later seasons predominantly featured Apocalypse as an adversary and introduced versions of The New Mutants and Acolytes. The series ended in 2003 after its fourth season.

Feature Films

In 2000, 20th Century Fox released X-Men, a $75 million film adaptation of the comic book, directed by Bryan Singer. The film featured Storm (Halle Berry) Cyclops (James Marsden) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) as leather-clad X-Men who also served as teachers at Professor Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) school for mutant children and teenagers. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Rogue (Anna Paquin) were two mutant wanderers who crossed their path. The mutants battled Magneto (Ian McKellen) who built a machine that turns humans into mutants and planned to affect a congregation of world leaders. His Brotherhood of Mutants included Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) and Toad (Ray Park). The film gathered good reviews, approval from fans, and earned $157.3 million at the box office, helping usher in a new era of Marvel movies including 2002's Spider-Man and 2003's Daredevil and Hulk.

In 2003, the sequel film X2: X-Men United, also directed by Singer, was released. That film was loosely based on the 1982 X-Men graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. Instead of a minister, William Stryker (Brian Cox) is a high-ranking army general who leads a government siege on the X-Men's headquarters to build his own version of Professor X's mutant-hunting computer Cerebro. The X-Men team up with Magneto and Mystique to battle Stryker. The film also introduced Nightcrawler (Alan Cummings) to movie-goers. The movie was an even greater success than the first, earning $214 million and many fans and critics considered it an improvement to X-Men.

X3 is planned for 2006.

External links

Official movie page
Chronology.Net X-versum continuity and timelines
Children of The Atom Information on the 1953 SF novel that was a precursor to the X-Men, and author Wilmar Shiras