Elite Comic 2022 Feb 7 to 16
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/16/2023
Encapsulated and graded 7.0 with "Off-White to White Pages" by CGC. After the success of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four, legendary superhero creators Jack Kirby and Stan Lee desired to create another group of superheroes to add to the Marvel Comics roster. The duo wanted to add more heroes without having to explain how they got their powers, with Stan Lee remarking, "I couldn't have everybody bitten by a radioactive spider or exposed to a gamma-ray explosion." In 1963, the noted duo found a workaround to their superhero power conundrum: they created a group of mutants, people born with an "X-Gene" that gave them superhuman powers. They named their new group of superheroes, led by the benevolent and powerful mutant telepath Professor Charles Xavier, "The X-Men," who made their debut for Marvel Comics in this presented "X-Men" #1 in September 1963.
In 1963, the United States was in a period of tumult. The civil rights movement was gaining momentum, and change was in the air. Lee and Kirby created a team of superheroes who were outcasts facing discrimination and prejudice from a hostile world, mirroring many aspects of the civil rights movement. The anti-mutant sentiment in the comic and the themes of good versus evil symbolized the struggle of oppressed people everywhere. They served as an allegory that was interwoven into the narrative of the X-Men. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters served as a home base where Xavier could educate the children and prepare them to protect humanity from mutants who would do them harm. The first issue introduces the concept of "Homo Superior" and portrays mutants as humanity's offshoot. The X-Men's mission is to protect humankind at all costs from rogue mutants who would do them harm, despite being feared and loathed by the very group they swore to protect. This is a theme that remains in the comics to this day.
The first issue of the X-Men featured Professor Xavier, also known as Professor X, summoning the first five X-Men telepathically to his school. Beast, Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, and Marvel Girl, who all made their debut in this issue, arrived at the X-Mansion to begin their education and training under Xavier's watchful eye. After a brief training session, the group is dispatched to the Cape Citadel to face off against their greatest foe, Magneto, the master of magnetism. Magneto, who claimed Cape Citadel in the name of "Homo Superior," is a mutant extremist bent on world domination. After a brief fight, the X-Men stop Magneto, who levitates to safety after his defeat.
This presented copy is signed by Stan Lee across the cover with a black marker, and displays wear on the corners and edges that do not detract from the iconic cover. According to CGC's census report, only four percent of Signature Series copies have achieved a higher grade, making this example with the grade of 7.0 all the more desirable by collectors.