Comic books have gifted us many iconic superhero
headquarters, and I wanted to cover another one today. I don’t have enough free
time to take a deep dive into a major location like the Avengers
Headquarters or even something like the Fantastic
Four’s Pier 4 but I figured
because it’s nearly X-Mas, I’d take a look at the X-Mansion of the
MC2. Consider it my gift to all of you!
The X-Men of the Main Marvel Universe famously
and most often operate out of the ancestral home of Professor Charles Xavier
in Westchester County, New York which first appeared in the pages of
X-Men #1, before being identified as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters
in X-Men #2, both published in 1963. The full address of the X-Mansion
(as it is affectionately known) was revealed in the pages of X-Men #99 (1976)
and X-Men #123 (1979): 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center,
Westchester County, New York. The school would be renamed the Xavier
Institute for Higher Learning in X-Men (vol. 2) #38.
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Usually, these posts involve an in-depth history of the
major events relating to the topic, however, unless I’m very much mistaken, the
MC2’s most prominent mutant team the X-People don’t operate out
of the Xavier Mansion located on Graymalkin Lane. The X-Mansion
we first glimpse in J2 #1 is in New Jersey, in fact. We get our
first full appearance of the X-Mansion in J2 #2 when Zane
Yama (J2)
pays the X-People a visit following an invitation from the team’s leader
Jubilee
in A-Next #1.
Having no other mode of transportation, Zane
takes a bus to Saddle River, New Jersey, noting that the X-People
have a higher public profile than the X-Men before them, with the X-Mansion’s
location even being marked on tourist maps. The estate is encompassed by a
wrought iron fence and entry gate with a cobbled driveway leading to the expansive
three-story high brick structure. The grounds feature an assortment of large
trees, a low brick wall and an in-ground pool (J2 #2).
Although the
interior of the X-Mansion is not frequently depicted, it contains a version
of the iconic Danger Room training facility, complete with holovision
projectors, VR modules and direct sensory input transmitters (J2 #7, #11)
According to Jubilee, the X-Mansion also has sensors which detected
an overlooked Sleeper Sentinel
activating at the nearby Upper Saddle River High School (Wild
Thing #3).
It appears that the
newer team of mutants, the uncanny X-People, are overseen by
members of the
original X-Men, including Cyclops,
who makes his first few appearances in the MC2 during training
exercises in the Danger Room (J2 #7, #11).
Zane noted that thanks to the efforts and
sacrifices of the X-Men, anti-mutant sentiment had been on the downswing
for the past few years (J2 #2). Additionally, Rina seems
to imply that both the X-Men and X-People teams
currently exist (J2 # 10). The continued existence of the X-Men team
is confirmed by Mainframe in Spider-Girl #92, suggesting
Jubilee’s team is comprised of younger members from the student body in much
the same way the New Mutants
and Generation
X functioned previously.
Wolverine
refers to ‘the grounds at the old X-Mansion in Salem Center’
in Wild Thing #4 but we don’t learn the current status of the original School
for Gifted Youngsters. Speaking of Wolverine,
it seems likely that Logan and Elektra
relocated to New Jersey to be closer to the X-Mansion, given
their daughter
Rina begins attending the nearby Upper Saddle River High School shortly
after she successfully passes their trial and is offered probationary
membership, which she characteristically declines (J2 #11, Wild Thing
#1-#5)
Speaking of Gifted Youngsters, when Nancy Lu
(aka the novice X-People member Push) visits Sara Hingle’s
family to invite her to the ‘Xavier Institute’, we learn the school
offers an external program for students who wish to continue a mainstream
education with tutors visiting them in-home free of charge provide they attend on-campus
training once or twice a month in their ‘Safety Rooms,’ no doubt
the more official, less deadly-sounding name for the Danger Room (Amazing Spider-Girl #22).
The recruitment and monitoring of young mutants is evidently
an ongoing responsibility for the Xavier Institute, with Nancy
herself having been first approached by Jubilee three years prior when
her mutant abilities first manifested (Spider-Girl #22, #67). A former
member of the X-People, Bluestreak
has a less favourable view of Jubilee’s team, having quit to train under
Hawkeye,
forming the Dream Team and becoming a member of the new Avengers
(American Dream #1-#5, A-Next #3-#4).
The prevalence of anti-mutant sentiment has sadly seen a return
in recent times, as is evident in Last Hero Standing #2 when Jubilee
believes a wave of recent superhero disappearances are primarily targeting
mutants. The rise of ostracization and attacks on young mutants such as Nancy
Lu (Spider-Girl #61-#67) and anti-mutant groups such as Humanity
First gaining traction while targeting the likes of Sara Hingle
further support this (Amazing Spider-Girl #19-#24). This raises concerns for the students and staff of the publicly
known New Jersey X-Mansion.
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The X-People are one of the most tantalizing aspects
of the MC2 Universe, as the team has been around since the first year of
the MC2 imprint, but has never featured in their own title. I
would absolutely love to see Marvel publish an X-People
mini-series, at least. I can’t be the only one who wants to see the mutant side
of the MC2 more deeply explored. Mysteries such as how the X-Men
saved the world and helped convince the public at large (albeit temporarily)
not to hate and fear mutants, why did they relocate to New Jersey, where
are the majority of the X-Men? I could go on!
Until I discover if the Blackbird jet still comes out of the
basketball court, I remain
frogoat
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