The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection presents the origin stories seminal tales and
characters of the Marvel Universe to explore Marvel s transformative and timeless influence on
an entire genre of fantasy Collects X-Men #1 3 4 5 7 8 14 15 16 38 41 42 44 45
and 46. It is impossible to imagine American popular culture without Marvel Comics. For decades
Marvel has published groundbreaking visual narratives that sustain attention on multiple
levels: as metaphors for the experience of difference and otherness as meditations on the
fluid nature of identity and as high-water marks in the artistic tradition of American
cartooning to name a few. The seeds of a pop-cultural phenomenon were sown with the launch of
the first X-Men comic in 1963 at the height of the Marvel Revolution under the creative team
of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The title was bookended by some of the best Super Hero comics of
that era the first issue established a creative formula that continues to inspire contemporary
creators while the final issues remain acclaimed for the groundbreaking artwork of Neal Adams.
This collection gathers several key tales from the original run of the classic X-Men series. A
foreword by Rainbow Rowell and scholarly introductions and apparatus by Ben Saunders offer
further insight into the enduring significance of the X-Men and classic Marvel comics.
