Cover to Uncanny X-Men 173! Logan and Rogue off on a solo mission…Yakuza, Silver Samurai…watch out! Her initial months with the team were rough as she was seen as a latent threat, a Brotherhood mole within the X-Men. When the team met up with Wolverine in Tokyo where he was preparing for his marriage to Mariko Yashida, he gave her a chilly reception—Wolverine having been a good friend and professional partner to Carol Danvers. However, after the rest of the team accepted Rogue, Storm and Wolverine were incapacitated by poison, and Rogue was forced to work with Wolverine in order to find the culprit. The plot was traced back to the second Viper and her lover, the Silver Samurai. Rogue nearly died during the battle by taking a prolonged laser blast from the Viper to shield Mariko, who had shown her genuine trust and kindness. Wolverine, after the battle and over Rogue's own objections, kissed her to transfer his healing powers to her. She had gained his trust and respect for her efforts to protect his fiancée.

The X-Men are a team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in The X-Men #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to low sales, following its 1975 revival and subsequent direction under writer Chris Claremont, it became one of the most recognizable and successful franchises of Marvel Comics. They have appeared in numerous books, television shows, the 20th Century Fox X-Men films, and video games. The X-Men title may refer to the superhero team itself, the eponymous comic series, or the broader franchise including various solo titles and team books such as the New Mutants, Excalibur, and X-Force.

In the Marvel Universe, mutants are humans who are born with a genetic trait called the X-gene which grants them natural superhuman abilities. Due to their differences from the majority of humanity, mutants are subject to prejudice and discrimination and many X-Men stories feature social commentary on bigotry and justice. The X-Men have fought against a variety of enemies, including villainous mutants, human bigots, supervillains, mystical threats, extraterrestrials, and malevolent artificial intelligences. In most iterations of the team, they are led by their founder Charles "Professor X" Xavier, a powerful telepath who runs a school for mutant children out of his mansion in Westchester, New York, which secretly is also the headquarters of the X-Men. Their stories have frequently involved Magneto, a powerful mutant with control over magnetic fields, who is depicted as an old friend of and foil to Xavier, variously acting as an adversary or as an ally.

The current iteration of the official X-Men team is headquartered in The Treehouse, a Krakoan base in New York City, and the roster is voted on by their fellow mutants in elections held at periodic Hellfire Galas. No longer working in secret, they fight publicly for the safety of mutants, to build bridges between Krakoa and human nations, and to protect the Earth and Solar System from extraterrestrial threats.

From 2000 to 2020, 20th Century Fox released thirteen superhero films as part of the X-Men film series.

Marvel Studios launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2008, focused on the Avengers and their related characters, whose film rights they still owned. Marvel was then bought by Disney in 2009, but could not use the X-Men or other mutants, as their film rights still resided with 20th Century Fox. However, an alternate version of the post-credits scene in Iron Man (2008) had him specifically mention "assorted mutants" in regards to the larger universe he and Tony Stark were a part of.  Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were an odd case, as they had strong ties with both the Avengers and the X-Men. The studios negotiated a deal so that they could share the characters' film rights on the stipulation Marvel Studios would be unable to make reference to their background as mutants or as Magneto's children, and that 20th Century Fox could not allude to their history as Avengers members. While Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver would only appear in two MCU films: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch would go on to become a semi-regular character, appearing in six films in the franchise in addition to headlining her own eponymously titled television series. On December 14, 2017, Disney announced its intent to acquire 21st Century Fox's film and television studios, which would thereby result in the film rights to the X-Men and associated characters reverting to Marvel Studios. Disney CEO Bob Iger later confirmed that the X-Men would be integrated into the MCU alongside the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and Deadpool. The acquisition was completed on March 20, 2019.

On July 20, 2019, during the San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige announced that a film centered on mutants, which will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is in development. When asked if the film will be X-Men-titled, Feige said that the terms "X-Men" and "Mutants" are interchangeable, and said that the MCU's take on the franchise will differ from 20th Century Fox's. After the deal, Charles Xavier / Professor X became the first mutant character to appear in the MCU. He appeared in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) as an alternate version of Professor X from Earth-838, and as the leader of the Illuminati of this universe, alongside its other members meeting Doctor Strange and putting him for trial due to his travel in the Multiverse. He is later killed by Scarlet Witch of Earth-616 while rescuing her alternate version of Earth-838. Later that year, the MCU streaming series Ms. Marvel also made reference to the X-Men; in the series finale "No Normal", Kamala Khan is told by her friend Bruno that her genetics have a "mutation", underscored by a snippet of the theme music from the 1992 X-Men series. Actress Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala, subsequently confirmed the implication that Kamala was a mutant and noted that this had been the original intention with the character in the comics.

Paul Smith (born September 4, 1953) is an American comic book artist, known for his work on The Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, American Flagg!, Nexus, GrimJack and his creator-owned book, Leave It to Chance.

During his 1983 run on The Uncanny X-Men, Smith's work on issue 173 of that series would prove influential in two ways: It featured the debut of the punk look for the X-Men leader Storm, and Smith's cover of that issue would influence both a latter comic book cover and a best-selling poster and retailer standee by artist Arthur Adams.

Marvel entered into an agreement with Smith for him to take over the art duties from Dave Cockrum on The Uncanny X-Men, then the biggest selling US comics series, for one year. Smith had emigrated to the East Coast with dreams of drawing Spider-Man and Conan, and realized that his performance on X-Men would determine the future of his career. During his run on the series, which lasted from issue #165 – #175, he designed the punk look, complete with black leather outfit and mohawk haircut, for the X-Men leader Storm that debuted in Uncanny X-Men #173 (October 1983). The change in appearance was inspired by the decision of colleague Walt Simonson to shave off his beard and mustache while on vacation with his wife, X-Men editor Louise Simonson. Upon their return, Simonson's daughter, Julie, upset at her father's new appearance, ran from the room, a reaction that would be mirrored in X-Man Kitty Pryde's reaction to Storm's new appearance.

Smith's cover for issue #173 would prove influential. When editing the 1985 anthology book Heroes for Hope, which was intended to benefit famine relief in Africa, editor Ann Nocenti asked artist Arthur Adams to pattern his cover of that book after Smith's illustration. This in turn prompted Bob Budiansky to have Adams produce a Wolverine poster with the same type of pose. The image, inked by Terry Austin, became not only a bestselling poster, but an iconic life-size standee for comics shops.

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