8 Creators Who Secretly Defined Your Favourite Heroes

3. Len Wein, Chris Claremont, John Byrne Et Al. - The X-Men

The X-Men were created by legendary duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, but while Stan and the King came up with the original premise, it wouldn't be until another decade when the X-Men would come into their own. In fact the original line-up is nowhere near considered the team's most definitive, with it lacking key series staples Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Storm, among others.

The X-Men's evolution goes a lot deeper than just their roster, however. Although the original comic did boast a modicum of social commentary (albeit not the Civil Rights motif Lee later claimed it did), it wasn't until Chris Claremont and John Byrne revived the title in the seventies and eighties that the X-Men achieved their own identity.

Before that - and after the original X-Men comic was cancelled - it fell to Len Wein, Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum to revive the uncanny group in the pages of Giant-Size X-Men #1, which introduced the likes of Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus, and also made Wolverine a member after his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181.

After this issue, Claremont and Byrne would embark on a journey that would see the X-Men feature in their most iconic stories. Days of Future Past; God Loves, Man Kills; the Dark Phoenix Saga - all came during this golden era for the team, at which time the group also developed as a powerful allegory, standing up for the oppressed.

There's a lot to be said about how genius Lee and Kirby's original idea was, but it's still the case that the most iconic version of the comic didn't emerge until years after they'd left the book.