X Facts

Let's see how much of an X-Men fan you are! Here are One Dozen "Original" X-Men Facts!

1. One of Stan Lee's earliest creations was The Fantastic Four, Marvel's first superhero family. Stan received such praise for his ability to create and maintain such a colorful cast of characters he was asked to do it again. This resulted in his 1963 creation, The X-Men.

2. According to Stan Lee the reason the X-Men were mutants was because he was running out ideas as to why characters got their powers. Stan had already used a handful of loosely described forms of radiation that he ultimately decided The X-Men were mutants who had powers naturally. What started as an easy explanation for superpowers turned into one The X-Men's most definable characteristics.

3. Before he took on the full-body ice form, Iceman looked more like a snowman. While the rest of his body would be covered in snow, he'd oddly retain the boots of his uniform.

4. We all know Angel can fly, but how he flies has actually been given some realistic thought. First of all, his wingspan is 6-feet which is roughly his own height. Second, he has hollow bones which makes the effort of lifting himself off the ground easier on his wings. And third, Angel has super strength-enough strength to break through typical metal-which gives him the needed strength to fly.

5. Contrary to popular belief Cyclops does not have heat vision. While the X-Men films have shown Cyclops' beams generating heat, in the comics Cyclops fires "Optic Blasts" which are simply concussion based. A minor blast is about equal to being hit by a baseball, a heavier blast is like a battering ram, and a full power-visor off-blast is like being hit by a bullet train.

6. Beast has gone through four forms since his creation. His first form was the most human-like and featured hand-like feet similar to an ape. His second form looked like a werewolf, his third was based off a lion, and his last and current form has returned to being ape-like.

7. Speaking of Doctor Henry McCoy, he's the first member of The X-Men to become an official member of The Avengers. If we take into account the recent reveal that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were never mutants, that would also mean Beast was the first mutant accepted into The Avengers.

8. The X-Men's original uniforms were yellow and black, but when the original five were deemed graduates by Professor X they all received uniforms that were different from one another (representing each character's individuality), but carried similar aesthetics (representing their bond as teammates).

9. Despite being the teacher and leader of The X-Men, Professor X has a very controversial history. He faked his death several times, wiped memories from his students' minds to prevent trauma, brainwashed an alien computer into being his tool, and once fused with Magneto and became the villain Onslaught.

10. Veteran X-Men writer Chris Claremont stated his inspirations for how he wrote Professor X and Magneto were based off Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X respectively.

11. When first asked about his opinion on mutants, Spider-Man supporting character J. Jonah Jameson claimed he had no issues with mutants. Jameson stated mutants shouldn't be blamed for having no control over the way they were born and accused anyone who hated mutants of being a bigot.

12. In the first issue of X-Men, Jean Grey/Marvel Girl was the newest member of the team and was instantly the affection of her four fellow classmates. Even Professor X had an interest for Jean. She was a teenager back then, by the way.

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