Really wish writers used it more, because besides Jean during her tenure in X-Force and Scott currently, none of them cared about Beast's descent into darkness or him being replaced by a clone with no memories past like their time in X-Factor, like I needed to see Bobby's reaction to it specifically, because I loved his reaction to Scott when he left Utopia and then again when he was a revolutionary
In the original run, the mutant metaphor wasn’t really much of a thing yet, so it was much more teenage drama than anything else.
- Jean doesn’t get a whole lot of personality or arc besides being the girl, but it actually surprised me how fiery and passionate she is. People talk about original Jean like she was just a passive damsel, and she does have a tendency to be the one who gets kidnapped and needs to be rescued, but she’s no shrinking violet and has no problem firing back some sarcasm when the boys are being idiots, which they often are. Her main struggle is trying to get everybody to see the real her underneath their perfect idealized version of her. I’d also say she’s the closest to Xavier and he has a genuine fondness for her that he doesn’t show much with any of the others. She’s very warm and has a lot of love and care for everyone and gets along with them all.
- Warren pretty much starts out living up to what everyone expects: Mr. Handsome Big Shot who does whatever he wants and has everything everybody else is jealous of. But that’s very much an act he puts on to cover up a huge amount of insecurity and resentment. He chafes a lot at having to hide his wings and at the pressure society puts him under and he really wants to be free of all that. He’s kind of a douchecanoe initially but as he starts to realize that the other X-Men don’t care how much money he has or whether he’s an ideal Worthington or not, he lets his hair down and really comes to care for them, though I’d say he’s closest with Scott eventually. Part of his “I’m better than everyone” act does involve trying to be Prince Charming and sweep Jean off her feet, but she never actually shows much interest in him (there’s a hilarious panel in the last issue I read where he’s driving her back to the mansion and thinking that maybe she’s started to reciprocate and then her thought bubble is just “Scott…”) But he’s also the first one to pick up on the fact that Scott and Jean have something different and that he’d better step back out of the universe’s way and let it do what it’s clearly going to do with them. Which then turns into wondering how long it’s going to take the two of them to figure it out themselves.
- Hank is pretty much as you’d expect, once you’re past some early installment weirdness in the very first issues. He’s cheerful and jolly and something of the big brother to everyone, and there’s not a lot of the angst and turmoil he’ll come to be known for later. His friendship with Bobby is probably one of my favorite parts, they’re constantly wandering off to their little coffee spot and flirting with the waitresses or being confused by hippy poets and it’s great, especially as the other three don’t actually interact much with the world outside the mansion unless they’re trying to save it (aside from Warren with his family).
- Bobby’s actually a bit angstier than I was expecting. At first glance he’s very much the class clown, doesn’t take a lot seriously and is just sort of a goofball. But he actually has a lot of self-doubt being the youngest and worries about whether they actually need him, whether he’s good enough, wants to prove himself, et cetera. Very much the beloved and sometimes annoying little brother to everyone else but particularly close with Hank.
- Early run Scott is, in a word, concerning. His self-esteem is absolutely through the floor, to the point where when Xavier first appoints him as leader he immediately protests about how everyone else would be better and how unworthy of anything he is. He’s very shy and quiet and keeps to himself, except when he’s in Cyclops mode and having to be the stern leader. But practically every issue includes some panel where someone notices how tormented he is, or where he’ll have some inner monologue drowning in shame over being as dangerous to the world as he is and thoroughly convinced no one would want a thing to do with him aside from using his power. He doesn’t really open up to anyone else much and Jean is the only thing that gets past his guard and makes him get emotional, they’re hopelessly in love with each other from the jump but he can’t see himself as worthy of her and she can’t read his poker face enough to tell if he actually feels like she wants him to. All of this goes out the window and he’s an excellent leader when they’re training, though, and everyone clearly respects him for that. I’d sum him up as someone who knows exactly how to be Cyclops and has absolutely *zero* idea how to be Scott Summers. Everyone cares about him, but no one really knows him and he keeps himself very distant and closed-off.
In short, they’re pretty much all just friends who become each other’s family. I actually love their dynamics and how well all of their distinct threads tie in with each other. There’s a lot of character development and a lot of seeds planted for what comes later, which are always fun to spot, and they just feel so close and family-like in a way that gets a little lost once the mutant metaphor comes in and the scale of their world gets bigger.
Thank you! I really enjoy the dynamics of the original team and could ramble on about them for quite a bit, so couldn’t pass up the chance to do it here. For me they’ve got a similar fun found-family feel as all those “Avengers Tower as superhero clubhouse” headcanons/fanfics that got super popular way back when. I miss those days.
I do too. They’re my favorite version of the X-Men, which is often a hot take since there’s no Wolverine. I was so excited when they started publishing All-New X-Men.
Something I've noticed in my recent reading starting from when the new team is formed in Giant Size X-Men is that with Jean it's highlighted a few times that she uses a lot of hip slang of the time. This paired with her getting an apartment with Misty Night and them and Storm decorating it together shows an out-going down to Earth kind of personality that sets her up tragically for what is to come with the Phoenix force.
Not sure though if that's a Claremont edition or if she was already using youth culture verbiage in the original run.
Most of the boys are just good friends. Hank and Bobby go out the most, but it looks like Bobby afterwards had a most intimate friendship with Warren (being together in the Champions and all). After the original run, things started developed into:
• Scott having Hank as his emotional support furry since the 80s, and growing into frienemies during the 10s
• Scott's and Bobby's big-bro/annoying-little-brother in some revisitations of the first class
• Jean seems to have most of a friendship, of all the boys, with Warren and sometimes with Hank if Warren is not available. The All-New era established Hank had a crush with Jean but it hasn't really been a thing for most of their published story.
Bobby is the little brother of the bunch. Scott and Hank are the serious older brother figures that Bobby constantly clowns on, Jean is the big sister, she can amused with Bobby but also be annoyed by his antics. Warren is the cool fun older brother to Bobby.
Scott and Hank have a better mutual understanding and common ground with their overall Demeanor although even Hank is more laced than Scott, is a bit more perceptive and is a nice support for Scott to lean on and keep him balanced besides Jean
Jean and Warren are good friends that have playful banter dynamic. Warren’s a player so Jean doesn’t take most of his flirting seriously. Even though Warren has genuine feelings he knows or realizes that he has no chance as Jean has always had it for Scott.
Warren is the sort of person Scott wishes he was. Carefree, Relaxed and Charming. Warren appreciates and respects Scott. He’s the friend that sort of pushes Scott out of his comfort zone and either unintentionally or intentionally pushes Scott to be more proactive with his feelings for Jean.
Jean and Hank have a typical brother and sister that’s the same age dynamic. They support each other and are almost always on good terms
Jokes asides I just find them to be like a family, not a traditional one and not a 'we are siblings in all but blood' but just as a group of people, of friends that at the end found someone who share their feelings and how they relate to a world that suddently became strange to them.
Just bunch of teenagers with the same problem of fitting in with the society. I would expect them partly be like friends group. Not yet a family like the modern xmen teams that got through so much shit.
hank and bobby are (or at least used to be) best friends, while scott and warren are close friends I don't know if they're best friends and as you pointed it out he was the third wheel so there was a bit of a (healthy) rivalry between the two, iirc jean was the closest to warren obviously this was before her marriage, also I'm almost sure warren is the member hank respect the most or something like that so it wouldn't surprise me if hank is also the member warren respect the most lol
Very close, even when they have their differences post-O5 era. Warren and Bobby were on the 70s Champions together, then on the New Defenders with Hank, before they reunited with Scott and Jean on X-Factor for years.
It’s really telling that, during the Orchis attack on Hellfire Gala, when Bobby is melting, he calls out for Scott, Jean, and Warren.
Everyone already gave good answers, so I'll just say I thought Warren's wings were some weird pigtails at first glance and it took a minute to figure out who that was.
Warren is a best friend to both Scott and Jean. The love triangle thing was really just brief, Warren immediately accepted that Jean’s heart belongs to Scott and remained close friends with the both of them.
Hank, Bobby, and Warren are bros who often hang out together. Hank and Bobby used to be the closer pairing between these three, but nowadays I’d say it’s Bobby and Warren. Hank drifted apart from them.
Oh and Bobby had a crush on Warren since they were teens lol, but Warren was cool with it after finding out about it, and they remained homies.
Hank is also a best friend to Scott, he was always by his side in the 90s-00s until the Messiah trilogy where Hank started hating him.
Hank and Jean are good friends. Not the closest in the group, but they’ve had some nice moments in the older eras.
Bobby is like a little brother to Jean. To Scott too, though they’re the least close duo in this group.
Scott and Hank are close friends, especially now with young Beast who see eachother as brothers.
Scott and Warren are also extremely close with Warren sticking with Scott after the events of Schism.
Bobby and Scott aren’t all that close though, he was awful to him after AVX and that clearly strained their relationship, it did get better in Krakoa and Bobby did try and reconnect in United.
The team is everything to Scott. He loves Professor Xavier like a father, and puts everything into the team. Sometimes this makes him a bit bossy and harsh, but his seriousness is born from sensitivity. He just wants them all to be okay. In particular I think he projects some of his feelings of missing his brother onto Bobby.
Scott and Warren are very good friends even though they are both fully in love with Jean. There's some tension because Scott feels insecure, and Warren feels a bit jealous. But for the most part its quite mild. They have referred to each other as their best friend.
Bobby is kind of the little brother of the group. He gets on their nerves sometimes, but they care a lot for him and are protective of him. He's very driven to impress the others.
Hank is more cheerful and outgoing, not really worried about the drama. He's a good friend to pretty much everyone. He can be a little egotistical because he is the most intelligent. He seems to feel the need to use massive run-on sentences with long words to remind everyone that the farmboy is actually very well-read.
Hank and Bobby have girlfriends outside the X-Men, but they don't know their secret identities and none of them take the relationships all that seriously.
Jean has a found family with the X-Men. She is in love with Scott and the others are all close friends, even if she can be annoyed, surrounded by all these boisterous boys. Jean is also quite feminist and determined to prove she can be just and brave and useful as they are, and generally does back that up.
What is it with Marvel and not EVER revisiting the OG lineups of either the Avengers or the X-Men in any capacity? It is weird both titles are like that.
With X-Men I think the log jam of characters all around that 30-40 age range the last few decades combined with these five never seemingly written into the same room since I was a kid hasn't done them any favors.
It very much is canon. There’s another panel right after this where he describes Warren as beautiful. It wasn’t written explicitly in the 60s and was added in later, but he does canonically have past feelings for Warren.
I really love Bobby and Hank relationship ate that time, they were the ones to really give the vibe of friends, in my opinion. Also silly things about Bobby that I like is he kind defeats Magneto and save the group alone and had a girlfriend named Zelda.
This might be a darker take but they are 5 teens who were assigned together for a group project and none of them really want to be there or do it. Hank is far more interested in small side details, Warren is only there because he wants to hook up with Jean. Scott is also there for Jean. Jean wants help with her personal project and Bobby just doesnt want to be alone. The moment other group members become an option all of them bail in an instant. Hank finds greater friendship in Wonderman and the Avengers, Warren wkth Betsy and Husk, Bobby well Bobby is still alone trying to be funny so people will want him around, Jean does best solo or hanging around the creepy older gym teacher that stares at her. No one gets why she hangs around him. And Scott, Scott is stuck because a dubious teacher fucked with his schedule making him only able to focus on one thing making him feel like he will hurt everyone around him if he doesnt do this one thing.
68
u/Automatic_Ask32 9h ago
Really wish writers used it more, because besides Jean during her tenure in X-Force and Scott currently, none of them cared about Beast's descent into darkness or him being replaced by a clone with no memories past like their time in X-Factor, like I needed to see Bobby's reaction to it specifically, because I loved his reaction to Scott when he left Utopia and then again when he was a revolutionary