![]() But in a twist, this turns out not to be Xavier at all, but rather Excalibur regular Pete Wisdom in a bald cap. Even more bizarre is the context in which it appears, as the first line of the issue and part of a string of commands apparently issued by Professor X. The earliest instance of “To me, my X-Men!” which I can locate is in an entirely unexpected place: Excalibur #93, published in January of 1996, over three decades after the longer psychic command which ended X-Men #1. It is never once uttered in the animated series, nor either of its 2000s follow-ups. Nor, as far as I can tell, did it debut in the aftermath of his departure, in the early 90s era which produced both the X-Men’s greatest commercial peaks and their broadest pop culture relevance yet. ![]() Not so here, as “To me, my X-Men!’ is entirely absent from the franchise in both the 70s and the 80s. If an iconic X-Men element does not appear in the Silver Age, then it frequently finds its origins in Chris Claremont’s seminal 16-year run on Uncanny X-Men. When, then, did it first appear its abbreviated and best-known form? Still, it is a start surely the origins of the X-Men’s battle cry lie here, appropriately in their very first issue. Not particularly impactful, either, since it would not be referenced again for many years to come. The full sentence reads “And now, return to me, my X-Men!” Somewhat less catchy, and certainly less iconic. These words appear only as the end of a longer sentence running on from the previous line. The closest approximation appears in the final panel of X-Men #1, which does indeed include a thought bubble from Xavier ending with the line ‘To me, my X-Men!’ – but not by itself. Upon inspection, however, the phrase “To me, my X-Men!” never appears independently throughout the 1960s. The answer which will come to mind for many fans is the Silver Age, as the sort of imperious declaration which Stan Lee’s Charles Xavier was prone to making. In truth, “To me, my X-Men” is a far more modern addition to X-canon than many readers think – and, perhaps more surprisingly, it has only rarely been said by the Professor himself. They are also, notably, all said by characters other than Professor Xavier, with whom most fans associate the cry. Yet all of the references cited above are conspicuously recent, within the last decade. Jonathan Hickman himself has previously revealed his fondness for the phrase when he greeted the official announcement of his role writing the X-Men Franchise in March 2019 by tweeting “To me, my X-Fans!” Outside of the 616 universe, the unlocking of every X-Man in the 2013 video game Lego Marvel Super Heroes is greeted with an achievement named “To me, my X-Men”. It has even led to spin-off phrases both a future version of Charles Xavier and the 616 Magneto have at times had cause to declare “To me, my Brotherhood!” Deadpool has joked about the catchphrase, and Spider-Man has shouted it while leading a team of mutant trainees. ![]() Many other characters have also deployed this rallying cry in recent years Kitty Pryde and Illyana Rasputin, for example – but it has gone beyond the X-Universe. Before that, she used it in the recent past while leading her own team in Extraordinary X-Men.Įarlier in the same recent volume of Uncanny X-Men, the cry was at the center of a gorgeous double page spread as a psychic message sent out by Jean Grey to all of mutantkind. Only a week before House of X #1 was published, the final issue of the previous era closed with Storm shouting the familiar phrase as she and the bulk of the X-Men returned from the Age of X-Man reality to save the day in Uncanny X-Men #22. It is certainly ubiquitous in modern X-comics. He smiles beneath the large Cerebro helmet that covers the upper part of his face – beneficently or creepily depending on your perspective – and then utters his most classic line: “To me, my X-Men.” In the first pages of this summer’s House of X #1, Charles Xavier stands under the branches of an immense plant organism, looking down at naked, writhing figures as they emerge slowly from strange golden balls. ![]() The newest era of X-Men opens with something old. This article comes to us from Kevin, a Historian in his day job and an X-Fan in his spare time who sometimes gets the two confused. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |