X-Men #1

Debuted in September of 1963 for $0.12, this comic tells the story of the first appearance of the original X-Men - Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and the original Marvel Girl, together with their mentor Professor X.  The characters don't really seem fully formed - the powers are there, but aside from Iceman in the "young man" role, they don't really develop their personality quirks until later issues.  Cyclops is a bit officious at one point, but that's about it.

 

The X-Men are already formed when the story opens, although Marvel Girl only joins at the beginning of the issue.  We don't get an explanation of how the team was formed until the "Origins of the X-Men" back-up strip, which ran from issue #38 to #56.

 

Jean Grey officially joins the team and becomes the original Marvel Girl.  The story is clearly written on the basis that this is the first time she's come to the Mansion, hence all of the exposition she helpfully soaks up (All of this was later swept aside by 1981's Bizarre Adventures #27, which is a Phoenix story by Chris Claremont that contains the first account of Jean Grey's origin.  She was left out of "Origins of the X-Men", presumably because we already saw her join in this issue).  In Claremont's version, Xavier met Jean years before this point and had been helping her with her powers for some time.  He also suppressed her telepathy in order to help her cope.  Later stories suggest that they spent some time adventuring together, most of which hasn't been depicted (though there are snippets of it in the Classic X-Men back-up strips).  Anyway, all of that means that for continuity purposes, this story has to be read as if Jean and Xavier are putting on a show for the benefit of the other X-Men.

 

We see the Mansion for the first time, and it's identified as being in Westchester County, New York.  The town was later named as Scarsdale in issue #99, and subsequently revised to Salem Center on thematic grounds.

 

Xavier is training the X-Men to "receive his thoughts."  Soon, he says, he won't need to speak at all!  Obviously, that idea goes out the window fairly quickly.  Lee and Kirby quickly settle down to the idea that Xavier can speak to you telepathically, whether you've had any training or not.

 

Iceman looks like a snowman in the early days.  That lasts until issue #8, when he's given the more familiar ice design.

 

Cyclops' real name is given as "Slim Summers."  The nickname didn't last very long.  Kirby also gives him a truly hideous pair of checked trousers.

 

Xavier says that his parents worked on the first A-bomb project.  A recurring Silver Age theme was that radiation was, basically, magic and could do all sorts of incredible yet slightly scary things.  These days everyone knows that it just gives you nasty diseases, so the modern equivalent is genetic engineering.  The idea of Xavier's father (if not his mother) working on dodgy experiments stuck around, although references to the A-bomb faded away fairly quickly.

 

Xavier attributes his paralysis to "a childhood accident."  That's quickly forgotten about, and issue #9 substitutes the canonical explanation: he was injured in a battle with a supervillain called Lucifer.

 

We establish that the Angel straps his wings down under his clothes.  It has to be said that this calls for considerable suspension of disbelief, given that they're enormous, but the explanation stuck for decades.

 

This is Magneto's public debut (although later stories establish that he's been using the codename for some time, since his Nazi-hunting days, and he's had the costume for a while as well).  His plan in this issue is, apparently, simply to make a show of strength.  We don't get into his philosophy in any depth for some considerable time to come (and the all-important Holocaust survivor stuff doesn't come along for 20 years or so).

 

At the end of the issue, one of the army officers describes the X-Men as "Uncanny."  Presumably that was the inspiration for the later title change to Uncanny X-Men.

 

X-Men was a bimonthly title at first.  It became monthly starting with issue #14.

 

Professor X (Professor Charles Xavier; a mutant telepath; founder of the X-Men; first appearance; last in flashback in the Beast story in Marvel Comics Presents #88; appears between pages in flashback in issue #300)

Cyclops (Scott Summers; a mutant with an optic beam controlled by his visor and glasses; first appearance; last in flashback in the Beast story in Marvel Comics Presents #85; between panels 2 and 3 of page 8, he appears in flashback in X-Men: The Wedding Album; next in flashback in issue #308)

Iceman (Robert "Bobby" Drake; a mutant with ice powers; first appearance; last in flashback in the Beast story in Marvel Comics Presents #85)

The Angel (Warren Worthington III; a mutant with wings; first appearance; last in flashback in the Beast story in Marvel Comics Presents #85)

The Beast (Henry "Hank" McCoy; a mutant with enhanced strength and agility; first appearance; last in flashback in the Beast story in Marvel Comics Presents #88)

Marvel Girl 1 (Jean Grey; a mutant with telekinetic powers; her telepathy is suppressed at this point; first appearance; joins the X-Men; last in flashback in issue #322; between panels 2 and 3 of page 8, she appears in flashback in X-Men: The Wedding Album; between pages 15 and 16, she writes the fourth diary entry in X-Men: The Wedding Album; next in flashback in issue #308, then writes the fifth diary entry in X-Men: The Wedding Album)

All six teamed as the X-Men; first appearance of the team.

Magneto (real name unrevealed, possibly "Magnus"; a mutant with magnetic powers; first appearance; last behind the scenes in flashback in issue #300; next in issue #4)