Why do YOU like the X-Men?

[evilheroics]

I was thinking to myself earlier, what is it i like about the xmen? was it core fundalmentals, or characters or relationships or what? writers or creators or editors? hmmm....

i think its the universe, character relationships ad the core concept of the xmen that does it for me. the wolverine/sabretooth, the magneto/professor x dynamics were great. there's such a great, rich character base there that there could be a hundred different lineups that could be interesting. finally the concept which we probably all know by know, reading all of those intro's...

I was curious as to everyone's opinion about it. what does it for you? what about these books keeps you coming back through the weeks?

Please if your not a fan or are disgruntled dont post. im not looking for huge arguements. this is an appreciation thread of the mythos. not individual opinions or beefs with creators.

[Keith_Martineau]

Honestly, I think it was because they were just...greyer than other comics.

The good guys weren't quite good. The bad guys weren't always bad. All the characters and their interactions were so much more interesting than "Avengers Assemble!" at the time I started reading comics.

[evilheroics]

ah yes, the real world tones of grey. i agree.

[mattbib]

For me it was a mix between the cool powers (hey, I was like eleven when I started reading) and the storylines that could go literally anywhere and interweave like other titles didn't do. Those X-Men issues that I started with (#197 and on) were so intense, so flip-you-upside-down exciting and suspenseful, and so full of drama, that it was like trying crack.

[tangentman]

I loved the colorful cast, the nifty powers, the mature storytelling, flawless action scenes. I started reading the X-Men during the middle of the Proteus storyline, when I was 8. The art amazed me and, being a Superheroine Groupie, I was floored by Storm, Phoenix, and Polaris. Then came Kitty Pryde, the Hellfire Club, and Dark Phoenix.

WOW! At my age, I didn't know comic books could be so epic in their themes and characterizations. The Dark Phoenix Saga was comic book perfection and so operatic in scope. The only stories the Avengers had to even come close were the Carol Danvers stories (Marcus pregnancy, followed by Rogue's power theft) and the courtmartial of Yellowjacket. Fantastic Four had yet to come into its second renaissance with Byrne. If you wanted solid storytelling and characterization from Marvel, the X-Men were where you found it in the early 80's.

[Jake V]

A few reasons. Chief among them, is that X-Men #1 was the first comic I ever read, so the team holds kind of a special place for me.

After that are the characters. The cast is always interesting and entertaining to read about, and I think that's why people always come back to the X-Men no matter how hard the comics blow.

Maybe even more important than the cast is the theme. I love how the X-Men represent the future, which is hated by humans, representing the past. I love how the X-Men say, "even though you hate us and are afraid of what we stand for, we're going to save you and the world time and time again because we're the only ones who can." I interpret the X-Men as youth versus tradition, which is a very important theme for me personally.

I also like the X-Men because when it's good, it's REALLY good. Yeah, the books have the tendancy to suck, but when it's firing on all cylinders, it's a freaking hot rod. I'd really rather read a GOOD X-Men comic than any other GOOD comic. When it sucks I can get indifferent, but I still care about what's happening.

And finally, it's got, like, Wolverine in it? And he's the best there is at what he does... and stuff?

[Babylon23]

I began reading X-Men around the Dark Phoenix Saga. What drew me in was the amazing artwork, the epic scope of the storyline, and the emotional resonance. That emotional connection is, I think, what I love most. X-Men had very natural, very real relationships. The characters seemed more real than the other comics I was reading at the time, and it's a credit to the creative team that these characters and personalities have stood the test of time. The level of storytelling was mature and honest, and nothing was dumbed down.

Also, the idea that a superhero team could be hated and feared by the general populace was refreshing. They didn't fit in, and they weren't worshipped the way the Avengers and FF were. I'd read Spidey stories along these lines, but nothing quite as fatalistic as X-Men (Days of Future Past was the 3rd X-Men story I read).

[xgeek52]

for me it's twofold...i picked up the very first uncanny at age 11...it was 1963 and the civil rights movement was just kicking into high gear...

they always have represented the best we are as human...the writers and artist may come and go but they acknowledge that the xmen represent who we are as a people...

and i like storm...

[Frodo-X]

First of all, because they are the first ones I was introduced to. But the main reason I still like them is because they are born mutants. They aren't the results of experiments (Captain America) or accidents (Daredevil), they just are.

And just a side note, I'm not trying to put down Cap or DD, just making a point.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

My reason for original interest in X-Men was pretty simple. Mutants - finally a semi-credible way of creating super-heroes. No more radiation transformations or cosmic rays, these guys were just born that way, their genes mutated bu some unknown force.

That, to me, gives them the potential to be slightly more 'realistic' than most heroes.

But every once in a while somebody does something which grates with me. I did not like a lot of the mutants created during Morrison's run - largely because that sense of semi-realism was abandoned in exchange for creating weird looking bug-eyed mutants.

I like characters who have powers which don't seem ridiculous. I can buy into (within reason) telekinesis, sonic powers, super-strength, healing facyors or the like.

What I can't buy into is fecking weird mutants who have magically changed from a human being into a big sod off dragon, or gained eye storks, or some weird Dome on their head with multiple eyes. Because that kind of stuff is just stupidly impossible. There's a reason why characters like Onyx didn't make the cut for New X-Men.

[TinMan]

My reason for original interest in X-Men was pretty simple. Mutants - finally a semi-credible way of creating super-heroes. No more radiation transformations or cosmic rays, these guys were just born that way, their genes mutated bu some unknown force.

That, to me, gives them the potential to be slightly more 'realistic' than most heroes.

I completely agree and this is one of the major reasons I got into them more than any other heros.

The cartoon series is what first introduced me to the concepts and I was immediately hooked by the "Kewlness" factor of the characters and powers. But I was really intrigued because unlike other superheros, they didn't get powers from being irradiated (which I found out later was not necessarily true or that their parents were irradiated and that caused their mutations:rolleyes: ) .

Despite the way I present myself, I have always been ahead of my peers (especially as a child), so at about 10 years old I actually knew that intense amounts of radiation would kill you, not turn you into a human spider. So the idea of genetic mutations and a step in human evolution always seemed more plausible to me even though it was an element of the fantastic (you gotta suspend disbelief sometimes).

I liked the whole "protecting those that hate you cause its the right thing to do" idea also, so that was another major selling point for me as well.

[Zombienorthstar]

Probably the thing that attracted to me over the other comics my uncle had was the emotional ressonance; the whole allegory of being different in an unforgiving world and trying to grow up and deal with it. That wasnt concious in my thoughts at the time (not totally knowing i was gay when I started reading) but i definetley think it played its part.


That and as previously mentioned the shades of grey. These people are good people capable of doing bad things...

If anything i always thought X-Men played to the 'with great power comes great responsibility' idea much better than Spider Man. I mean here you have the ultimate example...people who get their powers from the same place in the same way and yet choose to use them differently.

X-Men always had more of a social conscience and political motivation. Magneto was a villain for a reason...he had a purpose and that purpose wasnt a selfish one. It was one of good intentions.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Magneto always interested me.

A survivor of Nazi persecution, who turned out to practically repeat the sins visted upon him.

[Zombienorthstar]

Magneto always interested me.

A survivor of Nazi persecution, who turned out to practically repeat the sins visted upon him.

Totally...he was trying so hard to make sure mutants weren't persecuted too he created his own master race...becoming the thing he hated most.

hes fascinating from that point of view because Magneto is a flawed individual...it really plays up to the the theme of prejudice as Magneto is a both a vicitm of prejudice and extremly bigoted himself.

[Sparda]

wow what got me into the x-men would have to be the cartoon series of the 90's. Back then I found out about a world where your born different and people treated you differently in a prejudice way. Often times I'm conflicted between if Xavior is right or magneto in showing that humans are sending the mutant bretheren to concentration camps and sentinels. Hell sometimes I wondered if I was a mutant and was persecuted like that I would actually join magneto's side. (seeing it from thier view and thier not the traditional bad guys like in other comics). What also drew me was wanting to know Logan's past. It was a total mystery back then and looking back now, who would have thought that his healing factor kept him alive over a century. Even more promps that he joined Xavior after the torture and hell he went through in weopan x.

Cyclops is a good leader while at the same time he can make mistakes. Reading in X-men omnibus that Scott selfishly chose to stay with jean at the hospital while the x-men were in real danger when fighting the juggernaut for the first time. Hell I even began hating mankind in general after witnessing what they did by sending sentinels in bringing mutants on the brink of extinction in days of future past.

But mutants can be so much worst when it's Apocalypse reigning over mankind and unleashing his cruelty while we all witness how much magneto actually tried to save mankind and seeing at times with him thinking of if he should just give up.

There are so many reasons I love X-men that it's a long list to name and I guess I left the basics in how they got me into the X-men.

[Scipio72002]

What got me into the comics was the fact that they were outcasts simply because of being themselves. When I was younger I could relate to that a lot. They made it seem all right to be ostracized. They could not help how they turned out.

[rwsmith]

ah yes, the real world tones of grey. i agree.

Same here. I like the psuedo-realistic vibe I get from the books, which also explains why I deplore the time-traveling X-men characters so much.

[Siddon]

I like the fact that it's it's own universe, I feel like when I read an X-comic there all of this history and legacy with the characters. I've always been a big fan of epic stories and I feel like the X-men are that epic story. You don't really have that with other comics, The Avengers where a team that always changed, while the Fantastic Four is a team that never changes. Spider-man and JLA are two titles that have gone off on different and weird tangents and had to be brought back. The X-men never had that, even when the stories were bad they were still far superior to some of the other terrible stories from other comics.

Another reason I love the X-men is for the art, the X-men have always had amazing art. Wolverine is one of those rare characters who artists really seem to love and he can envoke so many different emotions. For example you can see great pain (UXM 205, UXM 250, UXM 380) or he could be menacing (177) yor he could just be hilarious (UXM 195, UXM 245).

Finally the villians, even when the heros are boring the villians have always been great, from the shakespearian figures of Magneto and Juggernaut, to the horror type of Sinister and Sabertooth, to the sci-fi of the Sentinal, to the drama of the Humans. X-men have always had amazing villains.

[Cribba]

The mix between super heroes and science fiction.
The concept of human evolution.
The anti-mutant agenda, how humans, the goverment and others react to the mutants (racism and so on).


Of course there are the characters and stories that I like and so on but those three are probobly the main reasons I like the X-Men.

[KiplingKat]

The characters, the characters drew me in in the first pace and they're what bring me back time and again.

[MartinRedmond]

I like that there was hot strong chicks in it sometimes.

[Sentinel K]

I like that there was hot strong chicks in it sometimes.

Are there no hot chicks in Montreal?



I honestly don't know why i love the X-Men so much. I think i was just fascinated by the fact that were born with their powers.

Bitten by a radioactive spider? How likely is that to happen i real life?

But a mutation causing you to have powers... that could (to an 11 year old) actually happen. How cool would that be!?

[Gene M.]

More barely covered lady parts per panel than probably any mainstream title in history.

[Swashbuckler]

The spandex and obvious gay undertones.

[Imraith Nimphais]

Wow...I am more or less in agreement with all of the above posts...for me, what drew me and kept me with the X-men was/is how 3D they seem to be...CC especially, wrote them with so much realism, as living, breathing human beings (with these wild and wonderful powers...if you were to take away the "powers" aspect, these characters would still be amazing to read...as have been proven time and again) and not just yer over the top ideal superhero-save-the-world-blah-blah-blah type.

[rebelchelle]

The number one reason I continue to read the X-men is that how they continue to try to help a world that continues to hate them. My absolute favorite X-men story is God Loves, Man Kills

[La Fea]

I like the idea of "the world" being our heroes' worst enemy.

Before I even knew what a "gay" was or before I even realized I wasn't Caucasian, it just fascinated me that these guys -- who could be someone from down the block -- was special and dangerous and for that alone was subject to all these horrible consequences.

Also, I like chicks with white stripes in their hair and boys who can go PEWPEW.

[Patrion]

The spandex and obvious gay undertones.

Ditto and AMEN!

[prince_nightcrawler]

My team: Storm, Multiple Man, Northstar, Scarlet Witch, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Jubilee

My criteria was who had the most evocative powers and appearance visually.

Actually, on Jubilee, as much as I love her for nostalgic reasons, I would love to see her rise in the Marvel Universe to a level of prominence where she stays depowered and becomes a force to be reckoned with against the X-Men. Coming into her own, but at odds with her former mentor, the ubiquitous Wolverine. I think they've already started down that path with her, but you know Marvel, my fear is they'll puss out with the character so I'm ready for it *sigh*

[Novaya Havoc]

Gay allegory.

Stronger in "Dazzler."

[prince_nightcrawler]

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