MUTANTS 425
foregrounded plots sometimes get lost in noir twists that never quite untwist enough
to provide satisfying narrative resolutions. Th at said, Motter’s work remains consis-
tently interesting because of his focus on architectural design and forced perspectives, a
signature style that is recognizably his as much as it is possible to trace its forbears.
Selected Bibliography: Arndt, Richard. “Th e Star-Reach Bibliography.” Enjolra’s
World—Comic Book Annotations and Bibliographies (May 2006). Enjolrasworld.com,
http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/Star-Reach.htm; “Dean Motter”
( January 11, 2009). LAMBIEK.NET, http://lambiek.net/artists/m/motter_dean.
htm; “Dean Motter Bibliography.” (2006). deanmotter.com, http://deanmotter.com/
biblio1.htm; “Dean Motter Biography.” (2006). deanmotter.com, http://deanmotter.
com/pubbio.htm; Motter, Dean. Mister X: Th e Defi nitive Collection Volume One. New
York: iBooks, 2004.
Matthew Dube
MUTANTS. Th e term “mutants” has been widely used in reference to mutated humans
within genre fi ction, particularly science fi ction from the 1950s onward. It had sparse
application in comics despite the growth of horror and science fi ction comics in the
1950s. However, Stan Lee’s usage of the term in X-Men #1 (1963) to apply to humans
whose superhuman powers naturally develop at puberty, has become one of the mostly
widely used and recognized tropes within comics. While other publishers have used the
term over the years, its current meaning within comics is predominately associated with
Marvel Comics, and in particular their line of X-Men titles. Lee explained that his
reasoning for creating mutants was to avoid repeatedly having to spend time on creating
complex and new origin stories.
Th ough there is some speculation about previous uses of the term mutant prior to
Lee, he fi rst used and defi ned it in X-Men #1. In the fi rst issue, the concept of mutants
being the next step in human evolution is not directly explained, but the story’s villain,
Magneto, proclaims, “Th e fi rst phase of my plan shall be to show my power... to make
homo sapiens bow to homo superior!” Th is indicates a separate, higher species of hu-
mans with the nomenclature of “superior.” Additionally, Professor X explains to the
new student, Jean Grey, “Jean, there are many mutants walking the earth... and more
are born each year.” Th e observations of X and Magneto combined to serve as the foun-
dation for explaining mutants as the next evolutionary step for humankind. Often, this
evolution is identifi ed in an “X-gene” that manifests at puberty in the form of a mutant
power. However, in that fi rst issue, before the word “gene” became well-known, Professor
X simply explained to Grey, “You, Miss Grey, like the other four students at this most ex-
clusive school, are a mutant! You possess an extra power... one which ordinary humans
do not!! Th at is why I call my students... X-Men for Ex-tra power!” However, given that
Professor X’s parents worked on the nuclear bomb, there is some indication that this
somehow became a catalyst for his mutant manifestation; or at least his parents symboli-
cally represent the infl uence and relevance of the Atomic Age in mutant narratives.
