'', first published as simply ''The X-Men'', is the flagship Marvel Comics Comic Book series for the X-Men franchise, it features the adventures of the Eponymous group of Mutant Superheroes . While hugely successful now, it took a number of years since the X-Men's first issue (cover dated September 1963) to become even a mild success. The series had been out of production since 1970 until interest was rekindled with 1975's '' Giant-Size X-Men '' and the debut of a new, international team. Under the guidance of writer Chris Claremont (whose 16-year stint began with August 1975's '' Uncanny X-Men #94 ''), the series grew in popularity worldwide, eventually spawning a franchise with numerous Spin-off "X-Books", including '' New Mutants '', '' X-Factor '', '' Excalibur '', '' Wolverine '', '' X-Force '', '' Generation X '', the simply titled '' X-Men '', and a number of prefixed titles such as '' Astonishing X-Men '' and '' New X-Men ''.
Created by Writer - Editor Stan Lee and Artist Jack Kirby , the series launched in 1963, introducing in its first issue the original five X-Men (the Angel , the Beast , Cyclops , Iceman , and Jean Grey ), as well as their teacher, Professor X , and their arch nemesis, the Supervillain Magneto . Initially published bi-monthly, it became a monthly with issue #14 (November 1965).
The series ceased publication with #66 (March 1970), but returned as a bi-monthly reprint magazine nine months later. It continued in this fashion until the team was revived and revamped, with additional new members, in ''Giant Size X-Men'' #1 (May 1975). ''The X-Men'' again began printing new stories with #94 (August 1975), but remained bi-monthly until issue #112 (August 1978).
Marvel has also published the title bi-weekly for short periods in 1988-90, 1999, and 2002-06.
By the early 1980s, the series had become one of the best-selling American Comic Book s, turning many of the writers and illustrators into industry stars and leading to Spin-off s such as '' The New Mutants '', '' Excalibur '' and '' Wolverine '', as well as to numerous Miniseries .
The series originally focused on the entire team, as it usually consisted of between five and seven members throughout the majority of its run. From 1991 until approximately 1995, and again since 2000, the series has focused on one squad of the team, most often led by Storm . The series currently features a squad consisting of Hepzibah , Nightcrawler , Storm , Caliban , and Warpath , with the remaining squads, predominantly Cyclops' , appearing as supporting characters.
The series was initially titled '' from its inception in 1963 until 1981. The series added the adjective "Uncanny" to its cover treatment on an irregular basis beginning with issue #114 (Oct. 1978), and formally changed its title to '''''The Uncanny X-Men''''' with #142 (Feb. 1981) {Link without Title} .
A new series titled simply '' X-Men '' launched in October 1991. From that point on, fans and historians began to designate pre-1981 issues as ''The X-Men'' Vol. 1 or, more commonly, ''The Uncanny X-Men''. The article "The" was officially dropped from the title in 2002.
To further confuse things, Marvel released a title dated August 2006 called "Uncanny X-Men Annual (vol. 2) No. 1", somewhat muddying the distinction of Uncanny vs. X-Men vs. X-Men v2.
Since the introduction of 1991's ''X-Men'' series, the plot lines of the various titles have intermingled to varying degrees. From 1991-1995, briefly in 1997, and from 2000 on, ''The Uncanny X-Men'' and ''X-Men'' featured different battalions of X-Men. Appearances of an ''Uncanny X-Men'' character in ''X-Men'' or vice versa was common, but major stories featuring the characters were normally featured in their respective monthly title.
From 1995-96, when Scott Lobdell was writing both series, and from 1998-2000, when Alan Davis was writing both, ''Uncanny X-Men'' and ''X-Men'' were effectively treated as a single bi-weekly series, in which plot lines from ''Uncanny X-Men'' led directly into the next issue of ''X-Men''.
Like many popular comic book series, ''Uncanny X-Men'' also produced double-sized Annuals , doing so in 1970 and 1971, then regularly from 1979-2001. After the success of the Ultimate annuals, Uncanny X-Men resumed annual publication in 2006.
''By issue number''
- 1-26: Professor X , Cyclops , Iceman , Angel , Beast , Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl)
- 27-29: Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl), Mimic
- 30-39: Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl)
- 40-42: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl), Changeling (as Professor X)
- 43-59: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl), Professor X
- 60-64: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl), Professor X, Polaris
- 65-93: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl), Professor X, Polaris, Havok
- 94: Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl), Professor X, Polaris, Havok, Storm , Wolverine , Nightcrawler , Colossus , Sunfire , Banshee , Thunderbird
- 95: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Thunderbird, Professor X
- 96-109: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Professor X
- 110-117: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Professor X, Jean Grey (as Phoenix)
- 118-129: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Jean Grey (as Phoenix)
- 130-138: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Jean Grey (as Phoenix), Professor X
- 139-148: Angel, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde (as Sprite)
- 149-170: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde (as Sprite), Professor X
- 171-187: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde (as Sprite), Rogue , Professor X
- 188-199: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kitty Pryde (as Sprite), Rogue, Rachel Summers (as Phoenix), Professor X
- 200-201: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Rachel Summers (as Phoenix), Magneto
- 202-209: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Rachel Summers (as Phoenix), Magneto
- 210-212: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Magneto
- 213-214: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Magneto, Psylocke
- 215-218: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Magneto, Psylocke, Dazzler , Longshot
- 219-227: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Psylocke, Havok, Longshot, Dazzler, Magneto
- 228-248: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Rogue, Psylocke, Havok, Longshot, Dazzler
- 249-250: Wolverine, Colossus, Psylocke, Havok, Dazzler, Banshee, Polaris
- 251-253: Wolverine, Colossus, Psylocke, Havok, Dazzler, Jubilee , Banshee, Polaris
- 254-258: Wolverine, Psylocke, Jubilee, Banshee, Polaris
- 259-265: Wolverine, Colossus, Psylocke, Dazzler, Jubilee, Storm, Banshee, Polaris, Forge
- 266-276: Wolverine, Psylocke, Jubilee, Storm, Banshee, Forge, Gambit
- 277-280: Wolverine, Psylocke, Jubilee, Storm, Banshee, Forge, Gambit, Professor X
- 281-286: Jean Grey, Iceman, Archangel, Storm, Colossus, Professor X (Gold team)
- 287-315: Jean Grey, Iceman, Archangel, Storm, Colossus, Professor X, Bishop (Gold Team)
- 316-340: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Archangel, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Psylocke, Professor X, Bishop, Cannonball
- 341-352: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Archangel, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Psylocke, Professor X, Bishop, Cannonball, Joseph
- 341-350: Beast, Rogue, Gambit, Bishop, Joseph
- 353-359: Cyclops, Joseph, Jean Grey, Beast, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Marrow , Cecilia Reyes , Maggott
- 360-380: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Rogue, Gambit, Marrow
- 381-391: Jean Grey, Beast, Storm, Gambit, Cable , Bishop
- 392-393: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Dazzler, Northstar , Omerta , Wraith , Frenzy
- 394-412: Iceman, Archangel, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Chamber , Stacy X
- 413-443: Iceman, Archangel, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Havok, Northstar, Husk , Juggernaut , Polaris
- 444-474: Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Bishop, Rachel Summers (as Marvel Girl), Sage , Cannonball
- 475-486: Professor X, Nightcrawler, Marvel Girl, Havok, Polaris, Warpath , Darwin
- 487-present: Professor X, Nightcrawler, Warpath, Darwin, Storm, Hepzibah , Caliban
- None, 1970-1975 (series did not print original material)
- Chris Claremont , 1975-1991
- --- Illustrator John Byrne was credited as co-plotter, 1978-1981
- Collaborative effort between Jim Lee , Whilce Portacio ,
John Byrne and others, 1991-1992
- Scott Lobdell, 1992-1997
- Steven T. Seagle , 1997-1999
- Alan Davis, 1999-2000
- Chris Claremont , 2000-2001
- Scott Lobdell, 2001
- Joe Casey , 2001-2002
- Chuck Austen , 2002-2004
- Chris Claremont, 2004-2006
- Ed Brubaker , 2006-
- Jack Kirby , 1963-1965, also series co-creator
- Jack Kirby (layouts only) & Werner Roth (a.k.a. Jay Gavin), 1965-1966
- Werner Roth (a.k.a. Jay Gavin), 1966-1967
- Ross Andru , 1967 (two issues)
- Don Heck , 1967-1968
- --- George Tuska , one issue and most backup-feature stories
- Jim Steranko , 1968-1969 (two issues)
- Don Heck & Werner Roth, 1969
- --- Barry Smith , one issue
- Neal Adams , 1969-1970
- None, 1970-1975 (series did not print original material)
- Dave Cockrum , 1975-1977
- John Byrne , 1977-1981
- Dave Cockrum, 1981-1982
- Paul Smith , 1982-1983
- John Romita, Jr. , 1983-1986
- Marc Silvestri , 1987-1990
- --- Other artists, especially Rick Leonardi and Jim Lee , often illustrated issues when the series was published bi-weekly
- Jim Lee, 1990-1991
- Jim Lee & Whilce Portacio, 1991-1992
- Brandon Peterson , 1992-1993
- John Romita, Jr., 1993-1994
- Joe Madureira , 1994-1997
- Chris Bachalo , 1998
- Adam Kubert , 1999-2000
- No regular artist, 2000-2004 several illustrators completed brief stints on the book
- Alan Davis, 2004-2005
- --- Olivier Coipel , Andy Park , and Tom Raney alternated with Alan Davis every story arc.
- Chris Bachalo, 2005-2006
- Billy Tan , 2006-2007
- Salvador Larroca . 2007-??
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