On September 10, 1963, the first comic book X-Men, released by Marvel Comics, reached the newsstands. Logo on the cover, he said: "The strangest superhero of all!"
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (1917-1994), the fact that mutants were not ordinary characters.
Like other created at that time, as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Avengers, X-Men differed from other superhero comic books because they have flaws and insecurities. He touched on issues such as alienation and self-acceptance.
The United States, at that historic moment, lived with force the subject of civil rights. Professor Xavier arrived presenting characteristics similar to Martin Luther King Jr., while Magneto was more like Malcolm X - both activists were involved in the fight against racism, but with different views on goals and methods.
"X-Men talk about finding relief and other marginalized", explains in an interview with HuffPost Brazil journalist Sean Howe, author of Marvel Comics: The Secret History (LeYa Publisher, 2013).
"Unlike the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and certainly of the Justice League, this was not a group beloved by the public. X-Men was possibly the first comic book superhero on political identity."
Even reflecting many of the anxieties of his time, the title of Marvel skidded in sales. "It was not until 1975 with the arrival of new characters - Wolverine, Colossus, Storm and Nightcrawler - the comic book became a success," says the journalist.
The content, however, remained the same. In 1982, arrived the newsstands another classic: God Loves, Man Mata. In the graphic novel written by Chris Claremont and art Brent Anderson, the military history televangelist William Stryker pursues mutants, accusing them publicly of being hated creatures of God; Stryker henchmen come to kill some.
The X-Men and Magneto let ideological differences aside to unite and prevent genocide.
God Loves, Man Mata inspired X-Men 2 movie (2003).
"The parallels between prejudice against mutants and homophobia and racism in real life are explicit in the story," says Howe. "A lot of it was recycled in the movies."
Despite all the oppression and lack of rights, x-men, having all their diversity - sexual, cultural, ethnic and so on - decided to protect those who most hate.
Below are some examples of representations of prejudice against minorities in real life in iconic comic:
1 - Storm
Considered one of the black superheroes former, Ororo Munroe is a descendant of Kenyans. He grew up practicing theft in Cairo, where he became leader of a gang of other young thieves. After being recruited by Professor Xavier to join the X-Men, it has become one of the main leaders of the group and school teachers led by the bald telepath. His first appearance was in 1975.
2 - magneto
The main antagonist of the X-Men is a survivor Jewish Holocaust. He saw his family being murdered in the concentration camp of Auschwitz, where he survived due to the emergence of superpowers - magnetism manipulation and creation of magnetic fields. To ensure that mutants do not have a fate similar to that of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis, Magneto adopted a radical philosophy of survival and enforcement. He believes that mutants are superior to human race and there's room for both in the world. For Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants, a group led by him, humans must make room for the "homo superior" in the dominant species position.
3 - North Star
Jean-Paul Beaubier Canadian is considered one of the openly gay superhero comics of the 1st. He came out of the closet in 1992. Twenty years later, Lodestar staged the first gay marriage of mainstream comics. He married a black man. Other X-Men LGBT characters are Mystique, Iceman and Anole, for example.
4 - Professor Xavier
The leader of the X-Men is the most powerful telepath in the world, and one of the most brilliant scientists. Xavier believes that mutants and humans can live together in peace - that's what he teaches in his school, the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. There he helps mutants to control their powers and trains them to become X-Men. Xavier lost movement in his legs when a rock fell on him, played by the alien Lucifer. Since then he uses a wheelchair to get around, or a floating chair, known in the comics as "hovercraft".
5 - Night
The appearance of teleporter Kurt Wagner certainly never helped him: he is blue, furry, has pointed ears and a tail with arrowhead. Night was circus attraction for years before becoming an x-man. When the mutant Kitty Pryde joins the group of mutants, she is startled by the appearance of Nightcrawler and needs time to adapt to it. Kurt is a devout Catholic and one of the most iconic characters and beloved comics.
In the image, the televangelist William Stryker says, pointing to the hero: "?!? Human ?! You dare call that thing - human" It is a story of the scene God Loves, Man Mata.
6 - Colossus
A virus called "Legacy" spreads between mutants and becomes a real plague, killing hundreds of them. The x-man Colossus became the main icon of the stories related to the virus since he died to prevent the legacy from spreading further, injecting itself a cure created by the Beast. Many X-Men fans see the Legacy as a metaphor of HIV, a virus that also has hit a minority - gay - and affects the production of healthy cells for the body. Like any good x-man, Colossus raised later. In addition, it said that he is gay in the parallel universe Ultimate in which Night is homophobic and intolerant makes several comments about his colleague.
7 - Morlocks
The Morlocks are a community of mutants living in the sewers of the cities of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. They prefer to live in hiding because they feel marginalized in relation to other mutants, because they have deformities and hideous appearance. The Morlocks use this name in a reference to the eponymous creatures in The Time Machine (1895), classic science fiction written by H. G. Wells.
8 - Vampira
The Vampira ability is to absorb, through direct contact with the skin, memories, characteristics, knowledge, physical strength and power of others or mutants. Because of this, she uses long clothing and gloves to prevent their contact with those who are close by. Vampira think your super power is a curse. She only managed to control it with the help of Professor Xavier, after discovering that its mutation has not evolved beyond the stage in which it is expressed. Professor withdrew from Vampira mind the barriers that prevented her from controlling her powers.
9 - Mirage
When the psychic powers of Dani Moonstar demonstrated involuntarily she created illusions of fears and desires of others. This made his fellow indigenous people, the Cheyenne, to depart her, except for her parents. Later, she joined the group New Mutants at the Xavier Institute and became one of the few representatives of the indigenous in the comic books of the mutants - with Apache, Thunderbird and Forge, also a Cheyenne.
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