When Uncanny X-Men #1 first appeared on the scene back in 1963, the team was made up of four young men and one young woman, and for the day, even that seemed dramatic. Despite the popularity of the DC character Wonder Woman, who first appeared in 1941, female super heroes were not yet common place. Jean Grey, the first X-Woman, was surrounded by four powerful male teammates, and would remain a background character during the early run of the series, there to add tension and to give the men someone to rescue.

While Jean had a strong personality and impressive powers, she never achieved high status in those early days. Her powers were undeveloped, so she was highly prone to passing out from exhaustion and often needed rescuing by her male counterparts. While that has changed in more recent comics, she is often still characterized that way in the popular X-Men animated series.

As this original X-Men series was beginning to falter, Marvel decided to introduce a new team of X-Men in an attempt to boost sales. With this team came the X-Woman Storm, the first black superheroine in the history of comics. Once again the only female team member, surrounded by a large group of men, Ororo Munroe was far different from her predecessor, Jean Grey. Jean was raised in New York, with "proper" manners and American idealism. As such, she represented Marvel's attempt to introduce the female superhero as gently as possible, in the form of a sophisticated young woman that would appeal to the American public. Storm, however, grew up in Africa, first as a thief on the streets of Cairo, then worshipped as a goddess in Kenya. This was quite a large step for women in comics, introducing a female character that was not only a member of a minority in the US, but who also had a dark past that American readers might not identify with. Not only was she controversial as a team member, but she would later become the leader of the greatest selling comic team on earth, yet another unprecedented event.

Marvel was willing to push the envelope on this team of outcasts in a way that no other series would. From the Jewish Shadowcat to the former villain Rogue, the female X-Man has evolved from being a decoration in a tight costume to one of the strongest and most powerful team members. Strong-willed, intelligent, and confident, these women continue to be among the most popular characters in comics.