In 1963 a comic phenomenon was born. The X-Men, originally written by Stan Lee and pencilled by Jack Kirby, was the story of a select group of mutants classified as "Homo Superior," the next stage in human evolution.

Led by the powerfully telepathic Professor Charles Xavier this disparate group of do-gooders fight evil minded mutants and the continually growing fear and hysteria that their powers generate in everyday people.

Xavier's mission is to reconcile mutants and 'normals' while finding scared young teenagers, who are just discovering how much they are different to the rest of the world, and bring them to his 'School For Gifted Youngsters.' A place for mutants where they can safely explore their growing powers and not live in fear of their lives.

The X-Men was a not so subtle look at prejudice in the sixties, and beyond. It especially appealed to teenagers who, like a mutant, felt like the proverbial outsider.

Still running strong, for over thirty years, this comic book has grown in leaps and bounds. It has countless spin-offs and its memorable characters (who number in the hundreds) have lived, loved, died and in some cases been re-born within its pages. It has produced a cartoon series and in the year 2000 it's first movie.

Okay, confession time. I've never read an X-Men comic, and don't really intend to. I've never been a comic book person, except for owning/reading some X-Files titles and the obligatory kiddy comic full of Mickey Mouse and Co. To me the average over-the-top gaudily coloured comic book title has always been full of scantily clad chicks and overgrown guys who seemed to bulge in the weirdest of places.

So when I first heard of the movie coming out I basically couldn't care less. That is until a friend of mine, who is a fan, asked me if I knew who Hugh Jackman was (he played Logan/Wolverine in the movie). Since I was an Australian I said 'of course' because both of us hail from the big brown land down-under. It was on Hugh's appearance alone that I dragged myself, and one of my sisters, along to the movies to check it out.

And I fell in love, with the movie - I was already in love with Hugh that went without saying. So now I find myself writing fic about this group of mutants and if my stories tend to reflect the movie's history more than the official comic book one, well so be it. The comic has so many different threads, histories and alternative universes that one could tie themselves in a knot just trying to unravel them.