10 Bizarre Cameos In X-Men Comics

WhatCulture

The X-Men have some weird characters, but some of the guest cameos in their books are even stranger!

Transcript

00:00 X-Men comics have been host to a multitude of bizarre and interesting characters over the years.

00:05 In a world filled with mutants and superheroes alike, you'd think there isn't much that could

00:10 be truly weird, but these comics certainly fit the bill. So prepare for what might feel like a

00:15 drug-induced trip down memory lane, because we're taking a look at some of the weirdest guest

00:20 appearances in X-Men history. So with this in mind, I'm Dan from WhatCulture, and these are

00:26 10 Bizarre Cameos in X-Men Comics. Number 10, Santa Claus. Santa has had more than a handful

00:33 of appearances for Marvel Comics, but one that especially comes to mind is from 1991's Marvel

00:39 Holiday Special. In this story, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are making trouble around Christmas

00:44 time. The X-Men, of course, jump into action, struggling at first, until a jolly man in a red

00:50 suit comes to their assistance. He handily deals with the Brotherhood and introduces himself as

00:55 Kris Kringle. The team is understandably sceptical, but soon grow to believe him when he turns the

01:01 Brotherhood into toys. Unfortunately, the X-Men can hardly thank him before they are teleported

01:07 away, with their minds being completely wiped of the experience, courtesy of Mr. Claus himself.

01:13 Number 9, Darth Vader. Star Wars comics are published by Marvel, so perhaps Darth Vader's

01:19 appearance on this list isn't the strangest. And yes, technically Vader himself hasn't actually

01:24 appeared in the comics, but his costume certainly has. Kitty Pryde tests out a costume creation

01:30 machine that apparently was just lying around on a S.H.I.E.L.S. spaceship. After a montage of

01:35 costumes, Kitty tries on Darth Vader's suit, much to Nykrol's apparent worry. This has no real

01:42 bearing on the plot, and nothing of consequence really happens because of it. The 80s X-Men

01:47 references pop culture icons a lot in this manner, and it's always nice to see one beloved franchise

01:52 show respect to another, even if it is only for a brief panel. Number 8, the Star Trek cast.

01:58 While chasing Proteus through dimensional portals, most of the cast of X-Men the Animated Series

02:04 wind up in the Star Trek universe. Their ship is destroyed, and they are forced to board the

02:09 Enterprise, doing so in secret. Spock soon finds them, and after some misunderstandings, the two

02:15 teams decide to team up to stop Proteus. And just in case you're disappointed that they featured the

02:21 wrong Star Trek cast, a few years later, a second series landed the X-Men and the Next Generation

02:27 cast into a team up. Eventually, in a move that feels weird for both franchises, a crossover novel

02:33 was published, under the name Planet X. Number 7, Frankenstein. By the late 60s, early Marvel

02:40 creators must have been running out of ideas, because in 1967, X-Men #40 borrowed the concept

02:47 of Frankenstein's monster. To their credit, Marvel writers did put their own spin on it,

02:52 going to great lengths to explain how Mary Shelley's book was actually non-fiction,

02:57 and Frankenstein's monster was in fact a high-tech android with a possible mutant creator.

03:03 The X-Men ultimately defeat the monster, and in a big reveal, Professor X tells the team

03:08 that Frankenstein's monster was actually an android built by aliens. It was sent to Earth

03:14 long ago to act as a liaison to humanity, but it malfunctioned and was condemned to be frozen in

03:20 ice. When it was thawed, it misidentified the X-Men's bright costumes as those of its creators.

03:26 It would almost be tragic if the plot wasn't so bonkers. And to add further confusion to it all,

03:31 the actual Frankenstein's monster has appeared in several Marvel comics since,

03:36 but this version of the character is a one-off, never to appear again.

03:40 #6 Teen Titans In 1982, the Teen Titans and Uncanny

03:45 X-Men were quite possibly the most popular superhero teams in comics. So, you can imagine

03:50 the collective excitement from Marvel and DC fans alike when the one-shot crossover,

03:55 The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans, was announced. What's even more exciting is that it's

04:01 actually quite good. The plot teams up the two superhero groups and pits them against a collection

04:06 of Darkseid, Deathstroke and the Dark Phoenix. Darkseid schemes to use the power of the Dark

04:12 Phoenix for his own malicious purposes. The heroes are initially captured, but rally against the

04:17 villains, allowing Cyclops and Professor X a brief moment to plead to the last bit of Jean Grey's

04:22 humanity within the Dark Phoenix. They beg it to destroy Darkseid and, in a sacrifice much like

04:28 the original climax of the Dark Phoenix saga, Jean gives her life a second time and saves the universe.

04:35 #5 Wildcats One of the biggest real-life

04:39 storylines of the 1990s comic book scene was the defection of Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane and a host

04:45 of other major writers and artists from the big-name comic book publishers to creator-owned,

04:50 independent publisher Image Comics. At the core of this conflict was comic creators wanting to own

04:56 the original characters they created for companies like Marvel and DC, which would allow them to make

05:01 royalties if the characters turned out to be profitable. For years, comic creators were

05:06 overworked and underpaid for companies that reported huge profits using the creators' works.

05:12 Image was created by Lee and his peers to fix that. One of Jim Lee's most notable works at Image

05:18 Comics was Wildcats. After just a few years, Wildcats became a pretty widely known comic

05:24 and could safely be called a success. So, given all that background, it was a little bit strange

05:29 when the crossover Wildcats/X-Men found its way to shelves in 1997. It should be made clear,

05:36 however, Jim Lee was no longer writing the book at the time. But it still seems weird that the

05:40 legacy of one of the founders of Image Comics would cross over with everything the company

05:45 was created in rebellion against. #4 KISS

05:49 KISS is a world-famous rock band. And KISS, according to Marvel Comics' KISS Nation Issue 1,

05:56 is also an alternate reality superhero team. This one-shot comic switches between the expected

06:01 comic book action and artefacts of KISS memorabilia. The story is as generic as you'd

06:06 expect. A bunch of monsters are attacking New York, so KISS and the X-Men have to team up and

06:12 stop them. This comic book may seem like an out-there concept for KISS to do, but when you

06:17 remember that you can actually be buried in a KISS casket, this feels a lot less outlandish. Honestly,

06:23 this comic was just meant to tell us how cool KISS are. And hey, in the end, it kinda works.

06:29 #3 Chris Claremont Chris Claremont, the godfather of X-Men comics,

06:34 self-inserted himself into X-Comics on more than one occasion. The most memorable of these

06:39 appearances was in Excalibur Mojo Mayhem, which has him travelling with some fellow comic book

06:45 creators to a book signing somewhere in England. Kitty Pride stops their car and commandeers the

06:51 vehicle, assuring the group that it's an emergency. Some brief hilarity ensues, ultimately leaving

06:56 Chris and his fellow comic book creatives stranded on a British road in the middle of nowhere.

07:01 #2 The Many Celebrities in the Hellfire Gala In-universe, the Hellfire Gala was meant to be a

07:08 showcase of mutant culture and prosperity on their new island nation of Krakow. It is also quite

07:14 notable because it featured several real-life celebrity cameos. You may have seen some of it

07:19 over on Twitter as the event reached out to celebs from a large range of backgrounds and fanbases,

07:24 from Eminem to Conan O'Brien, George RR Martin to Killer Mike. The sheer quantity of guests featured

07:31 here was staggering, but perhaps the most interesting invitee was Kevin Feige, who makes a

07:36 brief appearance talking to Cyclops in X-Men 21. Feige, for those not in the know, is the father of

07:43 the Marvel Cinematic Universe. #1 Obnoxio the Clown If you don't know who Obnoxio the Clown is,

07:50 that's fine. Few people do when they open up this comic. The answer is just so baffling. Turns out,

07:55 Obnoxio was the mascot of Crazy Magazine, a now-defunct Marvel humour publication that really

08:02 never had much to do with the comics. For some reason, after Crazy Magazine went under, Obnoxio

08:08 starred in a one-shot comic titled Obnoxio the Clown vs. the X-Men. The story has the X-Men

08:14 celebrating Kitty Pryde's birthday, and Professor X, being a wise and reasonable guardian to a 14-year-old

08:20 girl, hired a drunken Slovenly clown to help Kitty celebrate. He also told no one that he did this,

08:26 which is unfortunate because Charles is promptly knocked out by an intruder at the beginning of

08:31 the story, causing the X-Men to mistake Obnoxio for the guilty culprit. Somehow, the clown manages

08:36 to survive against the full might of the X-Men. While the actual intruder attacks everyone from

08:41 the Danger Room's control panel, Obnoxio ends up thwarting the villain, and the X-Men apologise

08:47 for attacking him. But it's too late, and Obnoxio simply turns and angrily grumbles his way out of

08:52 the mansion. And that's our list! Know of any other bizarre cameos in X-Men comics? Let us know

08:58 in the comments section below. You can follow me on Twitter @danjaydirkin, and after that, be sure

09:03 to swing on over to whatculture.com for more lists and articles like this every single day.

09:08 For now though, I've been Dan, and I'll catch you in the next one.

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