Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409140013
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUGLAS MARTIN NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Called the X-Men, ``the strangest superheroes of all,'' they promptly went to war against Magneto, the master of magnetism and a real bad guy.
It was a rebellious style, only slightly masked by the jackets and ties the X-Men then wore. An early issue has Iceman, whose frigid rays cool any situation, exclaiming: ``Here's a quick-freezing icy sweatshirt for you, Stretch! This'll cramp your style real good!''
That was in 1963, thousands upon thousands of comic books ago. Today, the X-Men, whose powers come from genetic mutations and whose troupe always included formidable X-Women, number about 200 and are spread in enclaves around the world.
They have become an ensemble cast popular with adolescents of all ages, a soap opera in which every story ends with the crying need for another.
``It's like a good book that hasn't ended,'' said Ben Morris, 19, who works at The Dusty Corner Bookstore on Williamson Road in Roanoke. ``I've tried dropping it several times. It doesn't work.''
This month a new breed of X-Men, ``Generation X,'' younger and rougher-edged, will begin appearing in their own comic book, further seasoning the gurgling stew of plot permutations.
Let it be firmly pronounced that the X-Men are the original mutants, decades ahead of a certain group of sewer turtles. They grapple with the pain of being misunderstood outsiders, and yet they use their superpowers to rise above this prejudice, trying to save ungrateful humanity before it is too late. This is the perfect teen-age fantasy. It can resonate within minority communities as well.
``They're part of the minority that's struggling. That's part of the appeal,'' said Tony Thornhill, a 26-year-old Roanoker. Thornhill, who is black, has followed the X-Men's exploits since he was 11. ``They`re the underdog,'' he said.
Whatever the reason, X-Men is the world's best-selling group of comic books and America's most popular animated Saturday morning cartoon show. In schoolyards, X-Men trading cards are neck and neck with Power Rangers. X-Men action figures were the top-selling plastic dolls last year. Their video games are arcade hits. Plans for an Orlando, Fla., theme park with X-Men-inspired rides were announced recently.
And yes, the X-Men are soon to be a major motion picture. Sequels are being discussed even as 20th Century Fox chooses a script.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is an example of the synergy for which entertainment companies are scrambling.
The billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, who now owns 80 percent of the Marvel Entertainment Group, has pushed it very aggressively. He bought Fleer, a major bubble-gum card company, and half a toy company, and retrieved many of Marvel's licensing agreements, under which 1,500 items, from shoelaces to $1,000 leather jackets, are produced.
``Perelman has made Marvel a much more aggressive company,'' said Lauren Rich Fine, first vice president of Merrill Lynch. ``Their diversification is going to enable them to show tremendous revenue growth this year.''
The 16 X-Man titles (``The Uncanny X-Men,'' ``X-Force,'' ``X-Factor,'' ``Excalibur,'' ``Wolverine,'' etc.) are the big nebulae in Marvel's universe: 50 million comic books a year, at $1.50 or more apiece.
In general, Marvel superheroes are a different breed from DC Comics powerhouses like Superman and Batman. They have weaknesses. They find truth, justice and the American way a bit goody-two-shoes.
And it's mind-blowing how they dominate their newsstand rivals. In July, the X-family accounted for over 14 percent of the comic market, more than the combined total of the next four families: Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and Dark Horse. Overall statistics are scarce, but the industry is believed to approach $1 billion in sales.
``It's a phenomenon we've watched for over 12 years,'' said Terry M. Baucom, owner of B&D Comics on Elm Avenue. But she added ``They've been updated for the 90s. They're high tech, cutting edge - things a lot of the younger fans are looking for.''
``It (X-Men) has got something to it as far as the MTV generation is concerned,'' said Thornhill, who was browsing for comics last week at The Dusty Corner. ``It's hip. It's hot.''
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the phenomenon is its longevity. The stories that began 30 years ago are the basis of ones still churned out, each building and relating to the others in one of the most brilliant - or cynical - marketing ploys ever. (Where will ``The Lion King'' be a year from now?)
So if they're so omnipotent, why haven't you heard of them?
To some extent, it depends on who you were at 13. It is teen-age angst that separates the X-Men from the Robin the Boy Wonder fans.
``Young adolescents who really don't have much control over their lives or the world wish they had some of those powers,'' believes Michael O'Brien, a 25-year-old X-Men fan in Roanoke.
``They're all mutants,'' summed up The Dusty Corner`s Morris - who concedes his attachment to the comic book began in early adolescence, when he felt a little bit of a misfit himself. ``They're oppressed. Everybody at one point has been oppressed, or felt unwanted. But they still fight for what's right.''
Fans also point to the vivid pictures, as well as story lines that treat complex issues with subtlety. ``It`s sort of an uplifting comic,'' Morris said. ``It really is.''
Accessibility may be part of the reason girls (perhaps a third of the television show's viewers, Marvel officials estimate) are drawn to the X-Men. Also helping are awesome female characters, an emphasis on relationships - and the zeal with which some boys talk about little else.
``There's something that girls don't find in princesses and mermaids,'' said Lisa Geisenheimer, Marvel's director of licensing.
Of course, in their spare time, the X-Men are also in a death struggle with evil mutants to make the world safe for the ignorant mortals, who often despise them in return.
The trail of monthly Armageddons all began in the mind of Stan Lee, from whose brain also sprang Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. His heroes have everyday human foibles, and readers empathized.
``My main interest has always been people,'' said Lee, who calls himself ``70-ish'' and now lives in Los Angeles supervising Marvel's movie and television ventures. His assignment in 1963 was to come up with another group of superheroes. One year before, he had created Spider-Man by having a radioactive spider bite Peter Parker, and he was running out of ideas. ``What if I just made them mutants?'' he thought. ``There are mutants in nature, and with all the atomic explosions, they're more likely than ever before.''
.The X-Men were enrolled at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in woodsy Westchester County, a New York suburb. Professor X, a mutant himself, was a wheelchair-bound genius who assembled his team telepathically.
Lee developed a profound sense of mission. ``I wanted to spotlight a group of innocent people who were feared and shunned and later hated and persecuted,'' he wrote in an essay. ``I wanted to show how anyone, no matter how blameless, can be victimized if the fates so decree.''
Staff writer Kevin Kittredge also contributed to this story.
by CNB