Ultimate X-Men

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Created by Mark Millar

First issue: February 2001

Cover to Ultimate X-Men 10. Art by Adam Kubert

Ultimate X-Men chronicles the exploits of a young group of mutants who have banded together to make a stand for their evolving race. Mutants are an genetic sub group of the human race who have a active X-Factor gene. The presence of this gene manifests differently in each person who possesses it. For some, it unlocks unexplored mental powers such as telepathy and telekinesis. For others it grants immense strength, speed or other enhanced physical abilities. Some mutants can bend the rules of reality and warp space and time and manifest displays of energy projection. For some, it causes drastic physical changes such as growing wings and tails, changing the color and texture of skin, and other mutations far more extreme.

Mutants are generally viewed with distrust by the general public, causing racism and physical violence to be directed at them. Due to their immense range of powers, mutants who retaliate can be unimaginably devastating. This only further deepens the problem and has caused government and military action to be taken against mutants. Some mutants have branded themselves "anti-human" terrorists and have declared war on the human race.

Charles Xavier, a powerful mutant telepath, has taken it upon himself to act as a mediator between the mutant and human world. He has gathered many young mutants under his care and has offered to teach them to control their powers and use them for good. He founded a school in Weschester, New Jersey and uses it as a base of operations to carry out this goal. The mutants he trains are kept together as a family of sorts and form the group that Xavier has dubbed the X-Men.

The X-Men, led by Xavier, work to keep peace between mutants and humans. They work as a super-hero team, lending their services where needed but specializing in combating and rehabilitating other mutants who would seek to do harm to humankind.

Xavier's school was briefly under the jurisdiction of S.H.I.E.L.D. and was going to be used as a training ground for future members of The Ultimates. However this alliance no longer exists and the school is privately funded. It started out as a secret facility, but since mutants have started to become a more accepted race, the school is now open to the public.

Ultimate X-Men is a balance of a high-action comic book with a teenage soap opera as the young members of the X-Men struggle with their relations with the non-mutant world and seek companionship with each other.