What was your introduction to the X-men...?

[bat39]

...and did that continue to influence your preferences with regards to the franchise?

I was first introduced to the X-men through X-men Evolution in the early 2000's, and I do think that show continues to shape a lot of my X-men preferences - the school, teenage mutants struggling with their newfound powers and training to become superheroes, the X-men trying to retain some measure of anonymity and operating below the radar etc.

Wolverine didn't hog the limelight in Evolution, and consequently I've never been that obsessed with Wolverine's role on the team. I consider myself an X-men fan first and a Wolverine fan second, and I'd say that Hugh Jackman is the major reason why I'm a Wolverine fan at all!

Conversely, Cyclops has always been a favorite of mine because of Evolution. He seemed like a cool, but mature, guy, the sort of high-schooler I wished to grow up to become. And as a kid, I was very invested in the slow-burn Scott-Jean romance on the show.

Incidentially, it took me ages to even stomach the idea of the Scott-Jean-Logan 'love triangle' The Jean-Logan romance has never made sense to me beyond some mild flirtation, and Evolution wisely refrained from going there given that Jean was a teenager. (Incidentially, the one time it made sense to me was Ultimate X-men, where everyone is generally a lot more messed up and its depicted as an illicit affair).

Anyway, the Evolution team remains the go-to lineup for the X-men in my head, with a few additions like Colossus and Iceman (both of whom join the team in the flashforwards of the series finale). I love the TAS line-up and it is truly iconic, but deep down I'd take Shadowcat and Nightcrawler over Jubilee and Gambit.

I also liked the show's depiction of Magneto, at least early on, as this more enigmatic, mysterious and powerful manipulator. The show's Mystique is another favorite of mine. And this is probably the best (or at least the most fun) depiction of the Brotherhood. Lastly, I thought the Acoyltes were cool as **** when they showed up!

After Evolution, I guess my next big touch-point was the early Ultimate X-men arcs, as well as the Fox movies. I read some of the then-contemporary comics from the Morrison era which felt pretty jarring and totally different from any other X-men stuff I'd been reading around that time (specifically I read the issues where Archangel loses the blue skin after an encounter with Black Tom, and begins his affair with Husk). And of course, I started catching reruns of the TAS, which really opened my mind to the wider X-men mythos, especially stuff like Bishop, Cable, Mr. Sinister, and the Shiar. I also read some issues of X-men: The Hidden Years around that time, which felt familiar because it had teenage X-men, but also jarring because the O5 era was completely different from how I imagined the early days of the X-men after watching Evolution and reading Ultimate X-men!

[Rift]

Evo and Ultimate were based, so good on you for finding them. Evo was one of my gateways too, it and Spectacular Spider-Man were the only superhero shows I liked as a kid.

My first proper introduction into the franchise as a whole actually came from the comics, I think? I was reading Runaways in 2004, and when I saw them reunite in 2017, I decided to read their book and then get into comics as a whole.

I started with Morrison and contemporary comics at the time, but Krakoa got me all-in. And then I got into New X-Men vol 2, and the rest is history.

[Jiminy_Cricket]

From memory I was kinda interested in the 90's X-Men show but wasn't a mega fan until, whilst on holiday my dad bought me the Toy Biz Cyclops and Gambit figures. That's when my interest REALLY kicked off. I became obsessed with the Cartoon and Figures, but didn't know anything regarding the comics.

I had a slightly older family friend who also had the toys and we would play, then he started telling me about the comics and showed me a few of them. It was around the time Andy Kubert was drawing them just after Jim Lee and Claremont left and I loved how more detailed and slightly darker all the characters looked when compared to the animation style.

Then UK stated doing reissues of X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, starting at UXM #275. PLUS they would tag Generation X on the back half of the book, which I also really enjoyed. They would also have centre pages of previous line ups and story lines to build in some of the history which fascinated me. Some of the first arcs I remember where the Shiar/Muir Island Saga, Skinning of Souls and the early days of the Legacy Virus

When I got a bit older and had a part time job at 16 and I started getting Graphic novels of the old classics with some of the money I was earning.

These days I don't buy that many comics as I haven't connected with some of the more modern characters that are having their time in the spotlight. As the 90's being my entry point, I miss the boarding school esque family drama, when you had all these personalities living under the same roof together.

I mainly use this forum to keep up with current events and decide when to dip my toe back in the water.

[Johnrevenge]

The 90's cartoon was my first contact with the franchise. But I started to read the comics back during the Academy X run before House of M.

[Jiminy_Cricket]

Also I really loved the first 2 X-Men movies from FOX.

I remember fearing the worst when I heard they where adapting X-Men and Spider-Man for movies, as the comic book genre had been in a massive slump since Batman Forever. I remember being so surprised about how seriously the lore and message was presented. Obviously its a different take and less colourful but I thought they respected the overall spirit and message of the comics.

Whilst X-Men 2 was in development I spent ALOT of hours on IGN looking for tidbits and news lol.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Through the 90s cartoon, Evolution and the films. I didnt get into American comics till high school which was around Civil War.

Evolution influenced my soft spot for the student characters and the films influenced the public aspect.

[Thirteen]

As far as in other-media, my first exposure to X was in the Saturday Morning cartoon SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. I can't recall if I saw the X-MEN ADVENTURE or ICEMAN's Flashback origin episode but I might credit the latter to my being sensitive to excessive amounts of Cyclops!


As a reader, it was the old fashioned, I had an older friend who shared his books with me. I think he had a ratty copy of X-MEN #4 with the miscolored Scarlet Witch cover.

[sunofdarkchild]

It was either seeing reruns of the 90s cartoon or reading a trade of the Dark Phoenix Saga. I have no idea which was first since I was so young, but if I had to guess it would have been the cartoon, since I could have conceivably seen it on tv before I learned how to read. It wasn't until I started reading back issues from the 80s that the X-Men really clicked with me as more than 'the team with Wolverine.'

[Frobisher]

Giant Size X-Men reprint in Classic X-Men, at another kid’s house before Primary School. I could just about read the words.

[mugiwara]

The two first issues of the Doom/Arcade arc. I remember loving the structure of the story (each character facing different trials) but it didn't sell me on the X-Men.

It was in a anthology, and I got my mom to buy it because there was the bad guy from the FF cartoon on the cover.
The anthology also featured a Spider-Man + Beast team up. Which I also found a bit disappointing because the heroes were getting their ass kicked the whole time.

[bat39]

From memory I was kinda interested in the 90's X-Men show but wasn't a mega fan until, whilst on holiday my dad bought me the Toy Biz Cyclops and Gambit figures. That's when my interest REALLY kicked off. I became obsessed with the Cartoon and Figures, but didn't know anything regarding the comics.

I had a slightly older family friend who also had the toys and we would play, then he started telling me about the comics and showed me a few of them. It was around the time Andy Kubert was drawing them just after Jim Lee and Claremont left and I loved how more detailed and slightly darker all the characters looked when compared to the animation style.

Then UK stated doing reissues of X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, starting at UXM #275. PLUS they would tag Generation X on the back half of the book, which I also really enjoyed. They would also have centre pages of previous line ups and story lines to build in some of the history which fascinated me. Some of the first arcs I remember where the Shiar/Muir Island Saga, Skinning of Souls and the early days of the Legacy Virus

When I got a bit older and had a part time job at 16 and I started getting Graphic novels of the old classics with some of the money I was earning.

These days I don't buy that many comics as I haven't connected with some of the more modern characters that are having their time in the spotlight. As the 90's being my entry point, I miss the boarding school esque family drama, when you had all these personalities living under the same roof together.

I mainly use this forum to keep up with current events and decide when to dip my toe back in the water.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I read a little of HoX/PoX, and stuff from around the time of Schism and AvX and there's definitely some great stuff there...but to me, the X-men fundamentally belong to the Mansion.

I enjoyed the WatX series for that reason, as well as All-New X-men with the O5. Morrison's run long before that. I think there's a lot you can do with the Mansion setting without it necessarily becoming stale.

As far as in other-media, my first exposure to X was in the Saturday Morning cartoon SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. I can't recall if I saw the X-MEN ADVENTURE or ICEMAN's Flashback origin episode but I might credit the latter to my being sensitive to excessive amounts of Cyclops!


As a reader, it was the old fashioned, I had an older friend who shared his books with me. I think he had a ratty copy of X-MEN #4 with the miscolored Scarlet Witch cover.

Wow...that's truly old-school stuff!

Yeah I remember those episodes of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends too. The Iceman and Firestar origins were great, and I think there was another episode as well?

[Mormel]

Was an enormous fan of X-Men TAS as a kid (I was born in '87) and it was not until quite a while later that I got into the comics, mostly through back issues from the early to mid 80s. Initially I thought of the TAS line-up as the definitive X-Men team, but reading the back issues of Uncanny made me turn around on that and I usually crave a roster that has Colossus, Nighty or Kitty on it. But TAS made a big impression on me, and the X-Men felt like a team of superheroes unlike any I'd seen up to that point, be it for the in-fighting or the discrimination metaphor, or the creative power sets.

[IN-a-Synch]

I believe I was about 8, living in Newark New Jersey and i would just randomly buy books nothing consistently Iron Man, Spidey etc.
But one caught my eye it was a Daredevil issue with Wolverine in it. I didn't even know what a mutant was. Never saw the X-Men before. Then I saw the X-Men arcade game and it just made me more excited. Then I brought Uncanny X-Men 248. I still didn't know what was going on or who were these heroes?
Anyway, I believe I did something bad in school and my mom threw my whole collection out lol. I took a hiatus on collecting books. I think My mom felt bad and was at a comic book expo near her job and she came home with Jim Lee's X-men 1. It was so refreshing and exciting to see these heroes and then I just backtracked and started collecting the old issues.

RIH Mommy

[Winter_fury]

Tas when I was younger and the first comic I read was messiah complex

[Thirteen]

Yeah I remember those episodes of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends too. The Iceman and Firestar origins were great, and I think there was another episode as well?

Francis Byte (spoiler alert!) ended up at the Xavier School after his introduction in the Videoman episode... The X-MEN definitely seemed to be the most frequent guest stars.

"The X-Men Adventure" - the mansion having a "Maze of Madness" as a security feature ruined the title "Multiverse of Madness" for me years later in DR STRANGE.


"A Firestar is Born" confirmed Storm as a the resident powerhouse, she even got her own action music!