The first superhero comic book was published in 1938 and since that time the genre has become a staple of American popular culture. While superhero stories have been adapted into every popular storytelling medium, the genre is most closely associated with the comic book industry. This dissertation examines the first 500 issues of The Uncanny X-Men, one of the most popular series to be published in America. In particular, the portrayals of race and gender will be analyzed by performing a close reading of the stories published as well as a numerical analysis of the ethnicity, nationality, and gender of the heroes, villains, and guest stars who appear in the series. The X-Men comic book franchise has a reputation among fans, creators, and scholars as one of the most diverse and progressive superhero comic book titles. The core conceit of the series, that there are people called mutants who are born with powers and abilities that separate them from normal humans, has allowed the themes of societal prejudice and hatred to be explored in a metaphorical fashion, though looking closely at the race and gender of the characters in the series reveals a different reality than the common perception of the series.
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