after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman
turned down the initial name, "The Merry Mutants,"
stating that readers wouldn't know
what a "mutant" was...
The name is also linked to the "X Gene,"
an unknown gene that causes the mutant evolution.
have been named after Professor Xavier himself.
Xavier however claims that the name "X-Men"
was never chosen to be a self-tribute.
with other characters portrayed
in Marvel Comics series.
As such, it is unsurprising that
they often meet characters from other series,
and the global nature of the mutant concept
means the scale of stories can be highly varied.
who would continue to battle the X-Men
for decades throughout the comic's history,
both on his own and with
his Brotherhood of Mutants
that under a cloud of increasing
anti-mutant sentiment,
Professor Xavier created a haven
at his Westchester mansion
to train young mutants.
in the Marvel Comics Universe.
They were created by writer Stan Lee
and artist Jack Kirby since 1963
