Enter the X-men:The superstars of Marvel

Even though Spider-man became the figurehead of Marvel Comics, it is the X-men that remain the dominant force in Marvel diaspora.  The Uncanny X-men, who came out the following year, presented an even more powerful platform for the complex nature of self identity.  For the first time, Marvel Comics introduced the concept of mutants, people who achieved their powers genetically from birth.  This group of teenagers had a “strangeness” to them that seemed to distance them from other Marvel superhero groups.  The leader of the X-men was an adult named Charles Xavier who possesses a mutant power of manipulating thoughts.  Since the ability to control of his powers was self-taught, Xavier acts as a mentor and teacher to the young mutants. 

Their arch rival was another mutant named Magneto, whose was embittered by those who hated him because he was different.   Years later, Marvel Comics added more depth to Magneto’s past by including that he spent time as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. Unfortunately, most of the situations stemming from confrontations with the ignorant didn’t start to occur until the mid-1970s.