Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I like Marvel comic books, don't own any which is a shame, but I was wondering, what is the difference between X-Men and other superheroes? Are they like Avengers or FF, just another group but a bit bigger? I just get a little confused. There should be a Marvel discussion part of the forum. Maybe, I dunno, it'd be cool. Thanks!

In the Marvelverse the Xmen are all mutants (the 'next' stage of human evolution) gaining their powers from this mutation

some pick up additional abilities from elsewhere too (for example wolverines mutant powers are his healing factor and bone claws, but the weapon X project reinforced his skeleton including the claws with unbreakable adamantium )

there are also a load of other super heroes/villains who get their powers in the same way

general super heroes/villains can pick up their powers in a whole load of different ways (magic/tech/aliens/radioactive animals etc)

The mutant thing is the big difference, although mutants can also be part of other teams (for example, Scarlet Witch and Quickksilver are both mutants and card-carrying members of the Avengers).

The other difference is that the X-men operate an institution as well; they train and protect young mutants to be the next generation of X-men. I can't really think of any other team that operates in that way, although after the events of Civil War the Avengers did make a move to train and recruit new members.

The other notable difference is in content; X-men get up to an awful lot in space, or used to, and no other earth-based team really has that (other than the Fantastic 4, who deal with Galactus, the Silver Surfer and the Inhumans a lot).

The thing that always confused me when I was younger was why there was such a big emphasis on 'mutants' as they were pretty much the same thing as any other superhero with powers.

Then I realized the big distinction was that with 'mutants' was that you were born a mutant; it identified who you are, sort of like your race. For other super powered beings, usually you came across the powers and were not born with it. Or you are a god but that's something else entirely.

Once I had that firmly entrenched in my mind, I could see why the various X-series were very popular and why a lot of the stories were 'mutants vs everyone else'.

Redeemer31 wrote:
The thing that always confused me when I was younger was why there was such a big emphasis on 'mutants' as they were pretty much the same thing as any other superhero with powers.

Then I realized the big distinction was that with 'mutants' was that you were born a mutant; it identified who you are, sort of like your race. For other super powered beings, usually you came across the powers and were not born with it. Or you are a god but that's something else entirely.

Once I had that firmly entrenched in my mind, I could see why the various X-series were very popular and why a lot of the stories were 'mutants vs everyone else'.

It helps that now they keep treating it like mutants = gay rights.

Which raises some really unfortunate implications as a result, but still they started really selling when they hit that sort of stride.

Before mutants=gay rights it was mutants=black rights or mutants=womens rights. The X-men have pretty much always been a metaphor for various civil rights movements.

 Corpsesarefun wrote:
Before mutants=gay rights it was mutants=black rights or mutants=womens rights. The X-men have pretty much always been a metaphor for various civil rights movements.

X-Men always struck me as the coolest too, because of the Civil Rights aspect of it. Avengers are fun, but they're more widely appreciated. The metaphor aspect of X-Men was what drew me in (other than loving wolverine when I was 8. Thankfully, I grew out of that and recognized him for the Mary Sue he is).

x men were the best because of wolverine, plain and simple.

wolverine is the best because canuckle heads are the best, and hes the best at what he does!

plus hes been doing it for a looooonnnnggg time!

Perhaps this is on topic enough to go here... but if X-Men are a metaphor for the civil rights movement, do other heroes/characters pose a metaphor for other things? If so, what is Deadpool's metaphor??

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Perhaps this is on topic enough to go here... but if X-Men are a metaphor for the civil rights movement, do other heroes/characters pose a metaphor for other things? If so, what is Deadpool's metaphor??

Sometimes it's okay to be crazy?

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Perhaps this is on topic enough to go here... but if X-Men are a metaphor for the civil rights movement, do other heroes/characters pose a metaphor for other things? If so, what is Deadpool's metaphor??

The need for better mental health resources?

Seriousness causes cancer, the cure is insanity. That's what Deadpool is a metaphor for.

Chimichangas 4 lyfe?

I've always been a fan of the X-Men and their various iterations; Fantastic, Amazing, -insert over the top adjective here-, etc. The villains are almost always identifiable with, in one way or another, and the characters as a whole tend to have more to them.

Although, after reading Planet Hulk and the subsequent World War Hulk, I've transitioned completed to a Hulk fanboy. The guy is AWESOME.

 easysauce wrote:
x men were the best because of wolverine, plain and simple.

Debatable; he's a bit of a one-note character. "Aaaaagh, I'm so tormented! I have such a tormented past!.... okay, that part of my past has been dealt with... AAAAAGH, Another memory! Now I'm even MORE tormented!".
There are plenty of much cooler X-characters (I include X-Factor and X-Force under the X-Men banner, because otherwise you miss out on people like Cable, Gambit or Legion)

plus hes been doing it for a looooonnnnggg time!

But only for a couple more months now!

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Seriousness causes cancer, the cure is insanity. That's what Deadpool is a metaphor for.

Erm... Deadpool has cancer. Insanity didn't cure him.

 Corpsesarefun wrote:
Before mutants=gay rights it was mutants=black rights or mutants=womens rights. The X-men have pretty much always been a metaphor for various civil rights movements.

This. The struggles of the X-men almost always mirror those of minority groups in the real world.

(Funnily enough, this is probably why I don't like the X-Men comics much. Since I'm not a minority in any of the major spectra of discrimination, I don't really feel like the stories speak to me very much.)

 Goliath wrote:

 easysauce wrote:
x men were the best because of wolverine, plain and simple.

Debatable; he's a bit of a one-note character. "Aaaaagh, I'm so tormented! I have such a tormented past!.... okay, that part of my past has been dealt with... AAAAAGH, Another memory! Now I'm even MORE tormented!".
There are plenty of much cooler X-characters (I include X-Factor and X-Force under the X-Men banner, because otherwise you miss out on people like Cable, Gambit or Legion)

I'd probably think he was better if he wasn't in so freakin much, overused to the point where even his hair follicles have a story.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WolverinePublicity

They seem to need to be separate from others to some extent for the metaphor to work as it doesn't make much sense that two guys with the same powers would be loved/hated depending on mutant status. Of course many of the heroes in the Marvel universe are at odds with the public so that is why it works; Hulk can be helpful, but he is also a monster that scares the bejeezus people (for good reason), Spiderman is liked by the public but not by the powerful and influential.

Wolverine doesn't have to be a bad character, but he is overexposed to be sure. The old Chis Claremont/Frank Miller mini-series is, or should be, required reading for comic fans.

 Goliath wrote:
But only for a couple more months now!

Until he comes back... which is pretty much a given.

'Death' for a comic book character is pretty much just taking a vacation.

 insaniak wrote:


'Death' for a comic book character is pretty much just taking a vacation.

Unless there's an actual, drawn out and visible on the pages funeral for the character (or his/her alter-ego)

 insaniak wrote:

 Goliath wrote:
But only for a couple more months now!

Until he comes back... which is pretty much a given.

'Death' for a comic book character is pretty much just taking a vacation.

True, though in Wolverine's case he hasn't died before, and there's been an almost year-long lead-up to his death, starting with him losing his healing factor, and ending in November (or october, I forget which). I can't imagine Wolverine being back for a very long while.

Wait, Wolverine just died? Cool. What was the leadup? You can spoiler it for others, but I'm a bit outta touch with the X-Men comics these days, as they got kinda goofy/over the top. And, he has died in just about every alternate universe that exists, too. Ultimate, Marvel Zombies, Extreme X-Men (Chris Claremont reboot), DotFP...everything except AoA, I think. Fact is, he's a cash cow, and Marvel knows it, but I honestly believe everyone there is as sick of him as I am, and they look for new ways to kill him off in every possible universe except the canon one.

Not yet he didn't There was a press release that came out a few months ago, revealing that the three issues of Wolverine leading into the end of the year will end with a mini-series called "The Death of Wolverine", in which Ol' pointy-claws will finally pop his clogs.

And yeah, he does die a lot in the alternate universes (he also died in the 616 universe in X-Men Legacy #23, but that was for like three pages or so), so I imagine the writers will be enjoying this

 Goliath wrote:
I can't imagine Wolverine being back for a very long while.

As one of Marvel's biggest cash cows, I very much doubt that he'll be gone long. With this and the rumoured cancellation of the Fantastic Four comics, they're just trying to annoy Fox enough for them to drop the licence so Marvel can have it back.

Death in comics is just a way of opening up new storytelling opportunities, not something permanent like real death. If it generates some good stories then it is a success, if they flub it it is a failure.

 insaniak wrote:

 Goliath wrote:
I can't imagine Wolverine being back for a very long while.

As one of Marvel's biggest cash cows, I very much doubt that he'll be gone long. With this and the rumoured cancellation of the Fantastic Four comics, they're just trying to annoy Fox enough for them to drop the licence so Marvel can have it back.

I'm not quite sure how Marvel is supposed to be annoying Fox. I mean, sure, Wolverine is going to die, but they've also recently launched solo comics for Magneto, Storm, and Young Cyclops, as well as relaunching X-Factor and Wolverine & The X-Men. They're not exactly treating the X-Men franchise badly.

FF is another matter; which I'm not too knowledgeable on, though cancelling them does seem a bit drastic.

 Frankenberry wrote:


Although, after reading Planet Hulk and the subsequent World War Hulk, I've transitioned completed to a Hulk fanboy. The guy is AWESOME.

Planet Hulk is one of the best things I've ever read, and I'm including books in that as well. It really is that good. When I first saw it, I thought 'this is just Hulk doing Gladiator', but then it became something so much more. And 'Hulk Slash' has to be one of the best moments in comic book history.

I wasn't a fan of WWH; while it was nice to see Richards and Stark get the gak beaten out of them after the stuff they pulled in Civil War, the art style really put me off and I found the ending with Sentry a little anti-climatic. Then again, I really don't like Sentry as a character, so that's a factor as well.

But if anyone here hasn't read Planet Hulk, seriously do.

 Goliath wrote:
"The Death of Wolverine", in which Ol' pointy-claws will finally pop his clogs.

Personally I wouldn't be shocked at all if "The Death of Wolverine" =/= Death of Logan.

 Steve steveson wrote:

 Goliath wrote:
"The Death of Wolverine", in which Ol' pointy-claws will finally pop his clogs.

Personally I wouldn't be shocked at all if "The Death of Wolverine" =/= Death of Logan.

They already (kind of) pulled that one; the end of Wolverine vol.5 (the one where he lost his healing factor, and which lead into the current story) he got the snot beaten out of him (physically and emotionally) and declared 'The Wolverine is Dead'. Of course he carries on going around as the wolverine, but now he's on a super villain team and it's all very convoluted and double-crossy.

So yeah, my actual point is that I don't think they'd pull that twice in twelve issues. The press release stated that he'll die, and reckon he actually will.

Thanks guys. I pretty much answered my question about 15 minutes after I asked it, but now I'm definitely sure
Keep talking, this discussion is interesting, even though I have no input...