OMU: X-Men -- Prelude

When the X-Men debuted in 1963, no one could have suspected they would go on to develop the most convoluted—and at times, tortured—histories of any characters in the Marvel Universe. In the multiple ongoing series, annuals, limited series, one-shots, and crossover appearances in which they starred, the backstories of just about every character involved in their adventures was explored in detail. Since 1991 and the demise of what I call the Original Marvel Universe, it has only gotten more and more confusing, contradictory, and often downright stupid. But stripping away all of the retcons, bizarre character developments, and parallel universe sagas that followed Chris Claremont’s first departure as main writer makes the task of setting their history into a sensible historical framework less onerous.

Before I began my usual detailed “Year One” timeline, I decided it was worthwhile to devote a post to the major events leading up to Charles Xavier’s decision to start his team of mutant adventurers. It is especially enlightening to see the different generations of characters placed in the same historical context, disregarding the distortions inherent in Marvel’s so-called “sliding time scale.” The list is by no means complete but contains those characters for whom I could make a determination—or at least a reasonable estimate—of their ages and dates of birth.

For the record, the issues of the major series I consider to be canonical include Uncanny X-Men #1–280, New Mutants #1–100, X-Factor #1–69, Wolverine #1–50, and X-Men #1–3. To avoid confusion with the three canonical issues of the second series, I always refer to the original series as “Uncanny X-Men” even though it didn’t officially gain the adjective until issue #114.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

Here, then, is the prelude to… The True History of the X-Men!

1926 – Logan leaves his home in Canada to sail around the world. In midwinter, his ship barely survives an intense storm as it moves through the Drake Passage beneath the southernmost tip of South America. He will spend the next decade living in Asia.

1929 – Charles Xavier is born in New York City to Brian and Sharon Xavier. The man later known as Magnus is born in Poland. Moira Kinross is born in Scotland to Lord and Lady Kinross.

1930 – Sean Cassidy is born at Cassidy Keep in Ireland.

1936 – Having completed his training as a ninja, Logan leaves Japan, though he has earned the enmity of a clan of assassins known as the Hand.

1937 – Logan fights in the Spanish Civil War.

1941 – Brian Xavier is killed in an atomic accident while working on the early Manhattan Project. His widow, Sharon, soon marries Kurt Marko, one of Brian’s colleagues. His son, Cain Marko, joins the family at the Xavier mansion in Salem Center, NY, but proves to be a bully to Sharon’s son Charles.

1942 – The United States enters World War II. Sharon (Xavier) Marko dies. Cain Marko starts a fire in the lab, causing the death of his father. John Grey begins teaching at Bard College near Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He and his wife Elaine have their first child, Sara Grey.

1943 – Henry P. McCoy is born in Dunfee, Illinois to Norton and Edna McCoy. Logan meets Captain America and Natasha Romanova on the island of Madripoor.

1944 – As a paratrooper in the Canadian Army, Logan participates in the Allied invasion of France on D-Day. Afterwards, he joins the commando unit known as the Devil’s Brigade and pushes his mutant healing factor to the limit. Sean Cassidy reaches puberty and develops the mutant ability to create powerful sonic waves with his voice.

1945 – Alison Blaire is born in Gardendale, Long Island to Carter and Katherine Blaire. Magnus meets a gypsy named Magda as they escape from the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in Poland. The atomic bomb is used against Japan, ending World War II.

1946 – Scott Summers is born in Anchorage, Alaska to Christopher and Katherine Anne Summers. Warren Worthington III is born in Centerport, Long Island to Warren Jr. and Kathryn Worthington. Twins Elisabeth Braddock and Brian Braddock are born in England to James and Elizabeth Braddock.

1947 – Jean Grey is born in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York to John and Elaine Grey. Alex Summers is born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Christopher and Katherine Anne Summers. Shiro Yoshida is born in Agarashima, Japan to Saburo Yoshida and wife. John Proudstar is born at Camp Verde, Arizona to Neal and Maria Proudstar. Charles Xavier graduates from college with a degree in biology. He travels to England to attend Oxford University, where he will fall in love with Moira (Kinross) MacTaggert, an unhappily married student of genetics.

1948 – Bobby Drake is born in Port Jefferson, Long Island to William and Maddie Drake. Logan first becomes a secret agent for the Canadian government.

1949 – Ororo Munro is born in New York City to David and N’Dare Munro. Kurt Wagner is born in Bavaria, Germany, believed to be the son of Eric Wagner and his wife. Abandoned at birth, he is taken in by a circus troupe. Lorna Dane is born, but weeks later her family is killed in a plane crash and she is adopted by her aunt and uncle. In the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa, Magnus’s mutant powers begin to manifest themselves, giving him control over magnetic fields. When his daughter Anya is burned to death in a fire, Magnus lashes out at the crowd, killing them all. Horrified, his pregnant wife Magda flees into the night.

1950 – Logan is recruited into a black-ops unit with a handful of other agents, including the man who will become Sabretooth. On Wundagore Mountain in Transia, Magda gives birth to twins Wanda and Pietro. Leaving her babies behind, Magda hikes out into the mountains and disappears. The twins are taken in by a gypsy couple. Time-traveling cyborg Nathan Christopher Summers becomes stranded in this era and soon becomes a soldier-of-fortune called Cable.

1951 – Peter Rasputin is born on the Ust-Ordynski Collective in Siberia to Nikolai and Alexandra Rasputin. Charles Xavier enlists in the U.S. Army to fight in the Korean War. He finds himself serving alongside Cain Marko until Marko disappears in a mysterious cave-in. Later, Charles meets William Lonestar, a Cheyenne Indian. They grow close and eventually become blood brothers. Charles also meets Air Force intelligence operative Michael Rossi.

1952 – Xi’an Coy Manh is born alongside her twin brother Tran in Vietnam. Charles Xavier is wounded in combat, but William Lonestar saves his life. Charles is sent to a military hospital. During this time, Moira MacTaggert is sexually assaulted by her husband, putting her in the hospital. Learning she is pregnant, Moira breaks off her relationship with Charles. After recovering from his injuries, the heartbroken Charles goes to live on the Greek island of Kirinos. Logan and his black-ops team are sent to Egypt during the Egyptian Revolution, where they work against both the CIA and the KGB. Sean Cassidy becomes a detective with Interpol.

1953 – In the summer, Logan’s black-ops team is sent on a mission to Cuba, where they discover information about the CIA’s relationship with Fidel Castro that could prove embarrassing to the United States government. Kevin MacTaggert is born to Moira MacTaggert in Scotland.

1954 – The woman later known as Rogue is born in Mississippi. Christopher and Katherine Anne Summers are kidnapped by aliens called the Shi’ar. Their sons Scott and Alex are sent to an orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska, but Alex is soon placed with a foster family. Ororo Munro is also orphaned in Cairo, Egypt when an airplane crashes into her house.

1955 – Sam Guthrie is born in Cumberland, Kentucky to Thomas and Lucinda Guthrie. Danielle Moonstar is born in Boulder, Colorado to William and Peg Lonestar. Charles Xavier is present for her christening and meets William’s father, the shaman Black Eagle. Charles then travels to Cairo and has a run-in with Ororo, now a pickpocket. There, he fights a psychic duel with the evil telepath Amahl Farouk, current host to a malevolent entity known as the Shadow King. Charles triumphs, leaving Farouk dead and the Shadow King trapped on the astral plane. The CIA initiates the Weapon X program and targets Logan’s black-ops team as potential test-subjects.

1956 – Kitty Pryde is born in Deerfield, Illinois to Carmen and Theresa Pryde. Doug Ramsey is born to Phillip and Sheila Ramsey. Amara Aquilla is born in the colony of Nova Roma, located deep within the Amazon jungle, to Senator Lucius Antonius Aquilla and his wife. Charles Xavier meets Magnus in Israel, there to assist his old army friend Daniel Shomron with psychiatric patients. After Magnus helps him rescue their friend Gabrielle Haller from HYDRA, Charles gets her pregnant. The baby is named David Haller, but Charles isn’t told about him. Moira MacTaggert receives her doctorate in genetics and establishes her Mutant Research Centre on Muir Isle, off the coast of Scotland.

1957 – Roberto da Costa is born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Emmanuel and Nina da Costa. Rahne Sinclair is born in Scotland and soon orphaned. Charles Xavier travels to Tibet and encounters an extraterrestrial being calling himself “Lucifer,” who leaves him crippled. Thoroughly defeated, Charles finally returns home to Salem Center, NY to become a recluse and study genetics, beginning to publish his research again. Jean Grey’s telepathic powers manifest themselves when her friend Annie Richardson is hit by a car and dies in Jean’s arms. As a result, Jean shuns all human contact.

1958 – A child psychiatrist refers Jean Grey to Charles Xavier, based on his past success with patients like Gabrielle Haller. He helps Jean suppress her telepathic abilities and begins training her in the use of her telekinetic powers. He encourages her to keep her abilities a secret. The Canadian government forms Department H and hires James MacDonald Hudson. Logan is cashiered out of the intelligence service and then kidnapped for the Weapon X program. After having his memory erased, his skeleton is reinforced with adamantium and retractable claws are implanted in his forearms.

1959 – Tabitha Smith is born in Roanoke, Virginia. Charles Xavier begins teaching genetics classes at Columbia University in New York City. Then, Charles attends a genetics conference in Chicago where he meets the veterinarian and biologist Dr. Shanna O’Hara. Charles also begins collaborating with a physician, Karl Lykos, whom he suspects may be a mutant. Charles even discusses some of his ideas about a mutant taskforce with Lykos, but when he determines that Lykos is not a mutant, he gradually ends their association. Newlyweds James and Heather Hudson discover Logan, now reduced to a feral state, while on their honeymoon in Wood Buffalo National Park. Heather helps Logan begin to regain a more stable mental state while her husband goes for medical help. After returning to civilization, the Hudsons continue to nurse Logan back to health, learning more about his mutant powers and adamantium claws. They work with Logan at Department H, where he receives psychiatric therapy.

1960 – Jubilation Lee is born in Beverly Hills, California. Logan first works with secret agents Nick Fury, Carol Danvers, Michael Rossi, and Henry Peter Gyrich. Magnus decides to use his powers to track down escaped Nazi war criminals and bring them to justice. His early successes bring him to the attention of the CIA. He is assigned a CIA handler and adopts the code name Magneto.

1961 – Ororo leaves Cairo and walks to Kenya, feeling something calling to her soul. The trek takes her about a year. Early on, she accepts a ride in a truck, but when the driver tries to rape her, she is forced to stab him in the chest. She watches in horror as the man bleeds to death. Sometime later, Ororo rescues T’Challa, heir to the throne of Wakanda, from a gang of kidnappers. Becoming friends, they travel together for a while until duty calls him back to his regular life. In New York, Charles Xavier develops a prototype for his mutant-detecting CEREBRO machine, which he demonstrates for Jean Grey and Moira MacTaggert.

Notes:

1926 – Young Logan’s life on the high seas is based on his comments in Uncanny X-Men #117. His early years in China and Japan are based on evidence found in Wolverine #5 and #26, Marvel Comics Presents #41, Uncanny X-Men #257, the Wolverine limited series, and the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine limited series.

1929 – Charles Xavier’s birthdate is based largely on his academic career and his service in the Korean War, and most of the other dates in this range are extrapolated from that. The life of Magnus is explored in detail in my Magneto chronology.

1937 – Logan was shown to have fought in the Spanish Civil War in Wolverine #35.

1941–1942 – Charles indicates that his parents worked on the Manhattan Project in Uncanny X-Men #1. His early dealings with Cain Marko are revealed in Uncanny X-Men #12.

1943 – In Uncanny X-Men #268, Chris Claremont actually set the Captain America / Logan team-up in 1941, but that makes no sense considering Natasha Romanova’s history (see my Black Widow chronology). It fits in nicely here, though.

1944 – Logan’s participation in D-Day is revealed in Wolverine #34, and he mentions having been wounded while with the Devil’s Brigade in Alpha Flight #33.

1949 – While Magnus’s daughter Anya may have seemed a little older in Classic X-Men #12, we’re a bit hemmed in by the history of Wanda and Pietro, who can be born no later than 1950 in order to have hit puberty in time for joining the so-called Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in Uncanny X-Men #4. More detail is available in my Scarlet Witch chronology.

1950 – The birth of Wanda and Pietro is first depicted in Giant-Size Avengers #1 and further elaborated on in Avengers #186. Magnus does not learn of Magda’s fate or that Wanda and Pietro are his children until the fourth and final issue of the first Vision and the Scarlet Witch limited series.

1952 – The end of Charles Xavier’s relationship with Moira MacTaggert is described in Uncanny X-Men #117, with more detail added in #127.

1953 – Some information about Logan’s time in Cuba comes to light in Wolverine #49–50, though it is distorted by both false memory implants and Marvel’s sliding time scale.

1954 – The death of Ororo’s parents is detailed in Uncanny X-Men #102. We first see the circumstances under which Scott and Alex became orphans in Uncanny X-Men #114. This is followed up on in #144 and #156.

1955 – Charles’s history with Danielle Moonstar’s family is recounted in Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants. We learn of Charles’s first battle with the Shadow King in Uncanny X-Men #117. The origin of the Weapon X program is described in Wolverine #50.

1956 – Charles and Magnus team up to rescue Gabrielle Haller from HYDRA in the flashback story presented in Uncanny X-Men #161. Charles learns about David in New Mutants #26–27.

1957 – Charles’s battle with Lucifer is shown in Uncanny X-Men #20. Jean’s early years with Charles are detailed in Bizarre Adventures #27.

1958 – Logan’s time with the Weapon X program is chronicled in Marvel Comics Presents #72–84.

1959 – Charles’s meeting with Dr. O’Hara is mentioned in Shanna the She-Devil #5. Charles’s history with Karl Lykos is revealed in Uncanny X-Men #60–61. The Hudsons’ encounter with Logan is chronicled in Alpha Flight #33 and occurs ten years before Alpha Flight #1.

1960 – Logan and Carol Danvers first mention having spied together in Uncanny X-Men #154. Magneto’s career as a Nazi hunter is documented in Classic X-Men #19.

1961 – Ororo describes her sexual assault in Uncanny X-Men #267. Her first encounter with T’Challa is revealed in Marvel Team-Up #100. Charles’s unveiling of the CEREBRO prototype is shown in flashback in Uncanny X-Men #273.

To view these events in a wider context, see OMU: Ancient History 4.

Next Issue: The Uncanny X-Men -- Year One