The X-Men Family

As someone who has never read X-Men before the most striking aspect of the first comic was the almost familial relationship between the characters. Especially in the first few pages Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, and Beast act as though brothers with Professor Xavier functioning as the clear patriarch. The teenagers' playful treatment of one another is sharply juxtaposed with the reverence they have for Professor X . While the banter draws the reader in, the family like interactions of the unit seem likely to be connected to the Comic Code. Although Stan Lee and Jack Kirby depict a very non-traditional family, the respect and admiration shown to Professor X seems to exactly fit the Comic Code recommendations for how relationships between parents and children should be shown. X-Men clearly deals with many of the difficult issues of the time, but does so without challenging Comic Code standards.