Today, the X-Men are one of the most recognizable teams of the comic book medium. However, despite their current popularity, early on the X-Men were considered D-listers; so much so, that their comic was actually canceled due to low sales. However, this all changed after the writer Chris Claremont reinvigorated the X-Men and repositioned them as Marvel’s top team during his run from 1975-1999.
Though originally written by then editor-in-chief Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby, the original X-Men comic had a tough time standing out amongst the other superhero comics of the time. The original run focused on the first class of X-men, which consisted of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, and Angel while being led by Charles Xavier. By issue #20 Stan Lee passed the duty of writing the series to Roy Tomas; however, the books failed to sell as much as Marvel had hoped. The original series would come to an end in 1970 when Marvel decided to cancel it.
Fortunately, this would not last long, as Marvel rebooted the X-Men comic line in 1975 with Giant-Size X-Men #1 by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum. Giant-Size X-Men #1 proved to be a huge hit as it introduced fan-favorite characters Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus to the team. Despite his success, Len Wein handed the role of X-Men writer to a man named Chris Claremont, a young writer who was itching to prove himself. As the new writer of the X-Men, Claremont would go on to create the majority of the lore and character work that make the team what they are today.
Throughout his 16-year run on Uncanny X-Men, Claremont would write some of the most beloved stories in the team’s history, such as the “Dark Phoenix Saga,” “Days of Futures Past” and, “God Loves, Man Kills”. During this time he would go on to create even more new characters such as Kitty Pryde, Gambit, and Rogue, who have all become staples of the franchise since their debut. Throughout Claremont’s run, X-Men would climb in comic sales, quickly becoming Marvel’s most profitable team during the ’80s and ’90s. With his success and unusually long time on the series, Claremont became an architect of the Marvel universe, whose influences could rival that of Stan Lee’s.
When Marvel rebooted the team again in 1991’s X-men #1, Chris Claremont teamed up with Jim Lee to create the best selling comic issue of all time. Unfortunately, Chris Claremont ended his tenure as X-men writer shortly after this, due to a disagreement with Marvel’s editors on how the series should continue. Despite leaving the series, his influence is everlasting. This is best seen with the popularity of his storylines being adapted to other mediums such as the films or in episodes of the X-Men animated series. Though his run ended long ago, the X-Men wouldn’t be the franchise it is today without the multitude of stories and characters created by Chris Claremont.