Think back for a minute to say, high school or college. A pretty sizable chunk of your life, right?

Now imagine spending four times that long writing a single group of characters.

Sixteen years. That’s how long Chris Claremont was the writer on Marvel’s UNCANNY X-MEN, the series he revitalized, which in turn revitalized the American comic-book market with its breakthrough success, as well as supplanting Spider-Man as Marvel Comics’ trademark series and primary cash cow.

Claremont got his first break at Marvel writing IRON FIST, the company’s kung-fu hero, before being assigned X-MEN just as the series was returning to print in 1975 after a long layoff. Although the new team and its superheroic mutant characters had been earlier created by Len Wein in their debut appearance in GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1, their personalities and relationships were the sole creation of Claremont, who took over the series with issue #94, the first to follow their GIANT-SIZE return.

In Claremont’s hands UNCANNY X-MEN was like nothing else Marvel was publishing at the time. Claremont was clearly plotting for the long haul, with lengthy, continued storylines that would last for months at a time, and subplots that could linger on for years (some would say to the series’ detriment, but we’d argue that his hit-miss ratio on the subplots eventually paying off leans far in Claremont’s favor). In Claremont’s hands, the book was a true ensemble, with all of the team members getting their fair share of the spotlight (with the possible exception of Professor Xavier, who Claremont had a tendency to remove from the picture so as not to let his perhaps-too-powerful psychic abilities solve things too easily and too often). Another trademark of Claremont’s run would be strong female protagonists, from Jean Grey, Storm and Moira MacTaggart in the series’ early years to later additions like Rogue and Kitty Pryde.

From a narrative perspective, Claremont made great use of third-person narration, almost to the point of intrusion, yet his facility as a writer was such that the reader didn’t mind, instead being drawn in by his elegant turn of phrase. And in terms of theme, Claremont found the exact right tone to make X-MEN constantly relevant to young readers, keying in on the feelings of alienation and awkwardness familiar to every adolescent, to allow them to identify so strongly with the characters, while at the

Claremont’s best work is probably his most famous one, “The Dark Phoenix Saga” from the pages of UNCANNY X-MEN, which traumatized a generation of young readers with the unexpected death of the series’ lead heroine Jean Grey. However, to really appreciate the scope of what Claremont accomplished, you have to look at his 16-year X-MEN run as a whole, an over-4,000-page literary work that continues to influence popular culture to this day, both in the comics still being created that bear its influence, to the hundreds of television shows and numerous movies about the X-Men that continue to mine Claremont’s work for material.

In 1974, a suggestion was made by then-Marvel President Al Landau to introduce an international team of super-heroes that could then be sold in various countries. Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief at the time, Roy Thomas, felt this request could serve as an excellent means of reviving the X-Men, and assigned writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum to create the “all-new, all-different” international X-Men. Of course, by the time the book was published, the “international publishing” directive had been abandoned, and many of the characters came from countries that would never have been a viable publishing market for Marvel, but who cared? The X-Men were back and stronger creatively than ever. In GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1, published May 1975, writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum introduced comics fans to seven new X-Men. Aside from the returning Professor Xavier and Cyclops, there was the Russian Colossus, the Canadian Wolverine, the German Nightcrawler, the Japanese Sunfire, the Irish Banshee, the African Storm and the Native American Thunderbird.

The series resumed publication where the last had left off, with number 94. After only two issues, Wein left the series when he was promoted to Editor-in-Chief, turning over the scripting to newcomer Chris Claremont, who would go on to write the series for 16 years, an astounding achievement in comics. It was in Claremont’s hands that the series really coalesced into what most people think of when you say “X-Men”: subplotting that would carry storylines through years of advancement, an ever-shifting and evolving cast of characters, a willingness to tell big stories and break many of the conventions of Marvel’s comics up to that point (such as killing off main characters, or portraying heroes who weren’t always entirely heroic), and most important, an emphasis on character. Sure, what the X-Men did made them interesting to read about, but it was who they were that kept you coming back.

If Chris Claremont gave the X-Men their heart, then without a doubt it was the team of Claremont and artist John Byrne that gave the series what it had always lacked: star quality. By 1979, UNCANNY X-MEN was really starting to pick up steam as one of Marvel’s most popular series. Under the stewardship of Claremont and Byrne, along with steady support from inker Terry Austin and letterer Tom Orzechowski, UNCANNY X-MEN was combining tense, action-packed drama with Claremont’s keen characterization, illustrated with heart and flair by Byrne, who was providing some of the best art of his career. The Claremont-Byrne team hit its zenith with issues #129 to #138, nowadays more commonly known as “The Dark Phoenix Saga.”

There’s a lot going on in these issues. New characters are introduced, particularly Kitty Pryde, the new “kid sister” for the team who would go on to become one of Marvel’s most enduring and popular female characters. Wolverine is brought even more to the forefront as the X-Men’s lethal loose cannon, and most significant, the team is changed forever as Jean Grey finds herself unable to control her ever-growing power as the Phoenix, and elects to commit suicide instead before the horrified eyes of her lover Scott Summers.

This was heavy stuff, and a breakthrough story in a lot of ways for Marvel. Aside from its mature handling of such issues as Scott and Jean’s romance and Wolverine’s lethal tendencies, there hadn’t really been a series that killed off one of its main characters permanently (at least it was expected to be permanent, and was treated as such for a decade or so), and this monumental, now-classic turn of events almost didn’t happen. As the story goes, the creators’ original intention was never to kill Jean off, but instead to psychically neuter her, rendering her completely powerless. However, when penciller Byrne drew the sequence of Phoenix consuming the star, he included the scenes of the planet of the “asparagus people,” as he later called them, being destroyed in the process. When then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter saw this, he insisted that the character be killed off as a consequence of her actions, as he refused to publish a series featuring a genocidal mass-murderer as a hero. Under heavy editorial pressure from above, Claremont and Byrne reluctantly altered the finale of their story, with its new ending of a remorseful Jean committing suicide to save the planet from herself.

The Scott Summers-Jean Grey romance hit a climax here that it never quite reached again, even after Jean was resurrected and the characters were married in the mid-1990s. Claremont does a remarkable job at bringing Scott’s emotions to the forefront here (primarily through his concern for Jean’s welfare), and the few moments of peace and happiness Scott and Jean manage to claim for themselves seem all the sweeter due to Scott’s near-constant worry over Jean’s rapidly developing powers. It’s a tough thing to really sell a romance as believable on the comic-book page; between Claremont’s words and Byrne’s renderings, they manage to more than pull it off, making Scott’s grief all the more palpable.

There’s a lot here to admire besides the Jean Grey storyline. The introduction of Kitty Pryde, while helping to fill the void that was about to be created with the loss of Jean, also helped reconnect the book with its original school-based concept, injecting a much-needed dose of youth and vitality into a school paradoxically almost entirely populated by adults. As for Kitty herself, thanks to Claremont’s charming characterization and Byrne’s appealing design, Miss Pryde would become one of the series’ most popular characters, and remain a mainstay of the book for the next 15 years or so.

While not yet remotely the breakout star of the book he would eventually become, Wolverine really comes into the forefront for the first time here, exhibiting more and more of the lethal ferocity that the character would eventually be famous for. The introduction of the Hellfire Club also added a steady stream of new stories and adversaries to the title, while the suggestive S&M-influenced attire on Emma Frost and the Black Queen added a hint of sexiness to the series without crossing the line to something inappropriate for an all-ages book.

While Claremont would stay on the series for another decade (Byrne had left only a few months after the end of the Phoenix story) and contribute many excellent stories and characters to the ever-growing X-Universe, it’s still “The Dark Phoenix Saga” that remains the crown jewel in the X-Men library.

A runaway hit in both comic shops in the ’80s and ’90s and movie theatres in 2000, ’03, ’06, and last summer, the X-Men have been the heavy hitters in Marvel’s lineup for decades. However, it’s easy to forget that for much of the series’ existence, the X-Men were distant third-stringers in the Marvel Universe, with their comic book often relegated to reprints and even a lengthy stretch in cancellation. Much like one of their members, though, the X-Men would rise from the ashes, eventually becoming not only the company’s most popular and profitable book, but leading its expansion into toys, animation and the silver screen. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves…

The X-Men first appeared in September 1963, in their first issue, X-MEN #1. Yet another creation of Marvel’s Silver-Age team supreme, writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/storyteller Jack Kirby, the X-Men started off with a deceptively simple premise, and one that still holds much significance to this day. Professor Charles Xavier, the most powerful mutant telepath on the planet, has founded Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a haven for children who were born just a little different: mutants.

Later defined as homo superior, mutants are those born with extra powers or abilities that normal humans lack. At Xavier’s School, these children can learn to use their powers safely, without fear of persecution from a world that is growing increasingly fearful of mutants. Professor Xavier’s students, having sufficiently mastered their powers, often continue to serve their mentor as members of the “X-Men,” protecting the world against the machinations of other mutants who do not share Xavier’s more enlightened philosophy. Rather than co-existing peacefully with normal humans, these “evil” mutants seek conquest.

Lee’s premise is ingenious on a number of levels. The central theme of the series, young people being ostracized for being different, is a perfect metaphor for the isolation and sense of removal most teens feel going through adolescence. Further, the series’ continuing message of tolerance translates to readers of all races, faiths and orientations. Ironically, the concept of mutants came about because writer Stan Lee was tired of coming up with new origins. In his book SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, Stan relates how, when he was dreaming up his newest team book, he was having trouble coming up with new and exciting ways for his heroes to gain their superpowers. Utilizing the idea of mutation seemed a great, easy way to get a series going without devoting a lot of time to an origin, and as Lee put it, “whatever power we conceived of could be justified on the basis of its being a mutated trait.” In fact, Stan wanted to title his new book THE MUTANTS, but Marvel’s then-publisher, Martin Goodman, ixnayed the idea, feeling that little kids wouldn’t understand the title. Sent back to the drawing board, Lee reasoned that since mutants are people with something “extra,” these “extra-people” could be dubbed the X-Men.

The original team was close to what moviegoers have seen; Professor Xavier was of course present, as was Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, and Jean Grey, who was then referred to as Marvel Girl. The other members included Bobby Drake, whose ability to generate and control snow and ice earned him the nickname Iceman, Henry McCoy, referred to as the Beast due to his apelike build and oversized hands and feet, and trust-fund rich boy Warren Worthington III, better known as the Angel, thanks to his enormous feathered wings. Joining the team later were Cyclops’ brother Alex, who could generate concussive bolts of energy as Havok, and his girlfriend Lorna Dane (also known as Polaris), who was able to control the forces of magnetism.

The series wasn’t really a big hit like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. The book suffered through some lackluster art by Werner Roth after Kirby left the book, and although writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams did some outstanding work starting in 1969, it wasn’t enough to save the series, and X-MEN was cancelled with issue #66 in 1970, with reprints continuing to be published for another 25 issues. The characters did remain a presence, appearing here and there as guest-stars in other Marvel books.