X-Men: Children of the Atom #1-6

X-Men: Children of the Atom #1-6

Originally released in 1999

Written by Joe Casey

Art by Steve Rude

This series serves as a prequel to the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby issues of the X-Men, focusing on the original five members - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel, and Iceman - along with Professor Xavier and Magneto. While the X-Men are traditionally more like glamorous elites among mutantkind, this focuses on them back when they were just starting out, with Cyclops and Iceman in particular being much more awkward and unsure of themselves.

The story starts with a subplot where Xavier meets with an FBI agent, though Xavier is framed in a much more menacing way than normal here. If I recall correctly, the original X-Men stories had Xavier having government contacts, so this is seemingly setting that up. (Xavier's portrayed as relatively normal for the rest of the story, making this introduction stand out)

While the five young members of the X-Men get focus, to maintain continuity with the original story (where Jean is just arriving at Xavier's school for the first time), Jean doesn't meet the other members of the X-Men, only Xavier.

As Bobby's powers are manifesting, and Warren is trying to hide his powers while still helping others, Cyclops is in a particularly bad place. Taken in by an abusive racist criminal and used as a weapon, he's in particular need to Xavier's help.

By comparison, Hank McCoy is doing pretty well for himself - he's a science scholar and a popular football star. However, even this isn't enough to shield him from the rising tide of mutant hatred, which is being led by William Metzger, who fancies himself as the next US President, or the next Hitler.

Things get so bad for Hank that, after someone tries to assassinate him and dies in the process, Hank is the one who's demonized in the media.  A bunch of punks from Hank's school fall under Metzger's wing and become radicalized into becoming even more violent towards mutants than they already were.

The premise is a horrifyingly realistic one, especially now, and while Metzger is incredibly unsubtle in his brand of racist cruelty, he makes for an effective starter villain for the team.

Throughout this, we get an idea of how bad things are for mutants.  The original comics didn't dwell on this as much, but we see it in gruesome detail here.  Lynchings are common, people are openly spewing hate on the news and even on game shows, and when a mutant hater's mutant powers manifest, he's killed by his own friends.

Still, we see the beginnings of the X-Men and what they'll come to mean to humanity.  Cyclops has a long way to go, but he's starting to grow into a leader, and the team is learning to work together and serve as an example of the good that mutants can do.

Magneto doesn't appear often, and he doesn't directly confront the team for the same reason that Jean doesn't meet the other X-Men, but when he does, it's a highlight. Metzger is training up a private army with the instructor claiming that they are his final solution to the mutant problem.  This is Magneto's response:

I liked how this story took the Silver Age X-Men comics (which wasn't exactly the most interesting incarnation of the team) and gives it a backstory that puts it in a more realistic context without contradicting the original comics. It shows why new mutants (particular Iceman) and their families would be terrified when their powers first emerge, along with giving first-hand accounts of the effects of anti-mutant hysteria.

The writing and art were well-done, and I was engaged in the story throughout. If there's one thing that writing this blog has done for me on the Marvel side of things, it's helped me to appreciate the X-Men and their stories. A common question is why the Fantastic Four and Avengers are lauded while people in-universe hate and fear mutants, but real world bigotry doesn't make any logical sense either and yet some people are openly bigoted. Even twenty five years after this story was written, it does an effective job with showing that.