The Unauthorized X-Men: SF And Comic Writers on Mutants, Prejudice, And Adamantium

by Len Wein (Editor), Leah Wilson, James Lowder

Comic writers trace the X-Men series' evolution, challenge its metaphors, and draw from its truths about human nature and human society in this exploratory look at the still-timely and often-revamped classic. With chapters such as Magneto the Jew, The New Mutants and the Corruption of the Teenager, and The Sexuality of X-Men, the contributors highlight the strange ties between the characters and current society. From mutant subcultures in the real world to the reality of racism and heterosexism not so different from that of the world of the X-Men, this book takes on the intersection between fiction and truth in a manner perfect for long-time comic readers, cartoon fans, and Johnny-come-lately moviegoers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Fandom, Comics

215 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2006

About the author

Len Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.

Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Reviews

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comics are many things to many readers: art, nostalgia, an escape hatch.

X-Men was first launched in 1963 and relaunched in 1975 with new characters created by Len Wein in Giant-Size X-Men #1...

I loved the chapter on Wolverine, foreshadowing the soldiers of the future. Hence, Lazarus 😳
Now I need to buy some X-Men comics By any means necessary.

[Valerie Sells · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been dipping in and out of this book over the last three weeks in between bouts of busy and, for the most part, I really enjoyed the essays. There were one or two that didn't interest me and I did skip over those (which I think I did the first time I read this book too, but it's been a while and I forget) but I don't have a problem with that - you can't necessarily expect to thoroughly enjoy every part of a co-authored book. As a person who loves Marvel movies but knows little about comics, I still found most of these essays thoroughly enjoyable. I also now feel inspired to look into the X-Men animated series which sounds intriguing, so there's that. All in all, if you have a keen interest in the X-Men in general, I think you'll enjoy this, but you may get more out of it if you have a deeper knowledge of the characters than I do, especially in their comic book forms.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed all the essays in this overview of the X-men universe. I was a Fantastic Four fan when I was younger, so I didn't really get into the X-men mythos until the movies came out. Now I want to go back and watch all the animated versions, as they sound pretty awesome too. The authors were a good mix of comic book insiders and fans.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a compilation of essays written about the X-Men universe. Well, here's the description:

"Comic writers trace the X-Men series' evolution, challenge its metaphors, and draw from its truths about human nature and human society in this exploratory look at the still-timely and often-revamped classic. With chapters such as Magneto the Jew, The New Mutants and the Corruption of the Teenager, and The Sexuality of X-Men, the contributors highlight the strange ties between the characters and current society. From mutant subcultures in the real world to the reality of racism and heterosexism not so different from that of the world of the X-Men, this book takes on the intersection between fiction and truth in a manner perfect for long-time comic readers, cartoon fans, and Johnny-come-lately moviegoers."

Since it was all written by different people (one chapter being written by Christy Marx, creator of JEM!) some chapters were very enjoyable, some I could barely understand or believe (like the scientist working to make people super-human and that there's a school out there for it and everything), some that were written by people who thought they were way too entertaining, and some that were written by people who must've thought the people reading it didn't know much about X-Men. But overall, I did really enjoy it, being the geek that I am. The biggest impact it really had on me was to make me really, really want to work in the comic book/action cartoon genre with an even greater enthusiasm.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of essays on the X-Men, written by a wide variety of academics and comic creators. I particularly like the essays on the X-Women, especially Christy Marx's commentary on Jean Grey. Interestingly enough, my high school freshman English teacher writes an essay on Wolverine in here. Talk about a double-take while reading the table of contents.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any anthology of essays, some are going to be very good - maybe great - and others...not so much.
This book is a nice overview of the comic book universe of the X-Men, but I do think it focused a little too much on the films and not enough on the comic books.

Overall this is a nice series of essays, but doesn't go as deeply into the history of the X-Men as it should have.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got about half-way through. Some interesting ideas, but not the historic peek behind the scenes I was looking for-- and Joe Casey's essay explaining why he feels like his run on the Xmen failed is pure Bro-wankery. Go read Sean Howe's Marvel: The Untold Story instead.

[Nesie · Rating 2 out of 5]

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