51 Years Ago, The X-Men Changed Forever and Became Marvel’s Best Team

by

The X-Men are now among Marvel Comics’ most famous and well-loved superhero teams, but they didn’t start out that way. Before heroes like Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Storm became popular in comics, movies, games, and TV, the original X-Men team was very different – and actually one of Marvel’s least successful groups.

The X-Men became one of the most iconic superhero teams in comic book history thanks to a single issue published in 1975: Giant-Size X-Men #1. This issue introduced beloved characters like Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus, and it paved the way for the X-Men’s rise to prominence throughout Marvel Comics.

The X-Men Were One of Marvel’s Weakest Teams Before 1975

Before Chris Claremont and Len Wein revamped the X-Men, the team wasn’t very popular. The Fantastic Four and Avengers were much more successful, and the original X-Men – Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, and Iceman – felt old-fashioned and a bit silly. The comic Giant-Size X-Men #1 truly revolutionized Marvel Comics, and many believe it had a huge impact on the entire comic book industry.

This book first introduced many now-iconic Marvel characters, like Storm and Nightcrawler. Interestingly, even though Wolverine is arguably the most recognizable X-Man today, he didn’t appear in an X-Men comic book until twelve years after the series began – a surprising fact for longtime fans.

While the early Uncanny X-Men comics were enjoyable for their time, they weren’t as impactful as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s work on The Fantastic Four, or Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s The Amazing Spider-Man. Though Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the X-Men, Chris Claremont is the one who truly shaped the team into what it is known as today. He was essential to Marvel Comics, and without his contributions, both Marvel and the X-Men wouldn’t be where they are now.

Chris Claremont’s X-Men Changed Everything For Mutantkind

Following the success of the groundbreaking Giant-Size X-Men #1, Chris Claremont revitalized the X-Men and left a lasting impact on the comic book world. With almost every issue, he innovated the superhero genre, turning characters like Colossus, Wolverine, and Storm into fan favorites. He also greatly expanded the mythology of mutants and created some of the team’s most beloved stories.

Stories like The Dark Phoenix Saga, The Brood Saga, and Days of Future Past, created by Chris Claremont and his artistic partners, are what truly made the X-Men Marvel’s most popular team. Before 1975, Uncanny X-Men wasn’t a must-read for Marvel fans, but it quickly became one. This was a major turning point for comics, transforming the X-Men from a relatively unknown group of teen heroes into the most iconic characters at Marvel.

The X-Men continued to grow in popularity, becoming a true icon in the world of comics. The 1991 issue of X-Men #1 remains a landmark, and adaptations like the animated series and X-Men movies of the 1990s brought the characters to even wider audiences. Giant-Size X-Men #1 showed just how much potential there was in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original idea, launching a golden age for superhero stories. It’s considered one of the most important Marvel comics ever published, and it introduced a generation of fans to one of the greatest superhero teams ever imagined.

Read More

2026-02-09 01:11