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10 Bizarre Cameos In X-Men Comics
WhatCulture
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09/04/2025
The X-Men have some weird characters, but some of the guest cameos in their books are even stranger!
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00:00
X-Men comics have been host to a multitude of bizarre and interesting characters over
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the years.
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In a world filled with mutants and superheroes alike, you'd think there isn't much that
00:10
could be truly weird, but these comics certainly fit the bill.
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So prepare for what might feel like a drug-induced trip down memory lane, because we're taking
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a look at some of the weirdest guest appearances in X-Men history.
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So with this in mind, I'm Dan from WhatCulture and these are 10 Bizarre Cameos in X-Men Comics.
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Number 10, Santa Claus.
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Santa has had more than a handful of appearances for Marvel Comics, but one that especially
00:36
comes to mind is from 1991's Marvel Holiday Special.
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In this story, the brotherhood of evil mutants are making trouble around Christmas time.
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The X-Men of course jump into action, struggling at first, until a jolly man in a red suit comes
00:50
to their assistance.
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He handily deals with the brotherhood and introduces himself as Kris Kringle.
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The team is understandably skeptical, but soon grow to believe him when he turns the brotherhood
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into toys.
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Unfortunately, the X-Men can hardly thank him before they are teleported away, with their
01:08
minds being completely wiped of the experience, courtesy of Mr. Claus himself.
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Number 9, Darth Vader.
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Star Wars comics are published by Marvel, so perhaps Darth Vader's appearance on this
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list isn't the strangest.
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And yes, technically Vader himself hasn't actually appeared in the comics, but his costume
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certainly has.
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Kitty Pryde tests out a costume creation machine that apparently was just lying around on a
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Shi'ar spaceship.
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After a montage of costumes, Kitty tries on Darth Vader's suit, much to Nightcrawl's apparent
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worry.
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This has no real bearing on the plot, and nothing of consequence really happens because
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of it.
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The 80s X-Men references pop culture icons a lot in this manner, and it's always nice
01:50
to see one beloved franchise show respect to another, even if it is only for a brief panel.
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Number 8, the Star Trek cast.
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While chasing Proteus through dimensional portals, most of the cast of X-Men the Animated Series
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wind up in the Star Trek universe.
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Their ship is destroyed, and they are forced aboard the Enterprise, doing so in secret.
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Spock soon finds them, and after some misunderstandings, the two teams decide to team up to stop Proteus.
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And just in case you're disappointed that they featured the wrong Star Trek cast, a few
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years later, a second series landed the X-Men and the Next Generation cast into a team-up.
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Eventually, in a move that feels weird for both franchises, a crossover novel was published
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under the name Planet X.
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Number 7, Frankenstein.
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By the late 60s, early Marvel creators must have been running out of ideas, because in
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1967, X-Men number 40 borrowed the concept of Frankenstein's monster.
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To their credit, Marvel writers did put their own spin on it, going to great lengths to explain
02:54
how Mary Shelley's book was actually non-fiction, and Frankenstein's monster was in fact a high-tech
03:00
android, with a possible mutant creator. The X-Men ultimately defeat the monster, and in
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a big reveal, Professor X tells the team that Frankenstein's monster was actually an android,
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built by aliens. It was sent to Earth long ago, to act as a liaison to humanity, but it
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malfunctioned, and was condemned to be frozen in ice. When it was thought, it misidentified
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the X-Men's bright costumes as those of its creators. It would almost be tragic if the plot
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wasn't so bonkers. And, to add further confusion to it all, the actual Frankenstein's monster
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has appeared in several Marvel comics since, but this version of the character is a one-off
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never to appear again.
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Number 6, Teen Titans.
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In 1982, the Teen Titans and Uncanny X-Men were quite possibly the most popular superhero
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teams in comics. So, you can imagine the collective excitement from Marvel and DC fans alike, when
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the one-shot crossover, the Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans, was announced. What's
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even more exciting, is that it's actually quite good. The plot teams up the two superhero
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groups, and pits them against a collection of Darkseid, Deathstroke and the Dark Phoenix.
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Darkseid schemes to use the power of the Dark Phoenix for his own malicious purposes.
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The heroes are initially captured, but rally against the villains, allowing Cyclops and Professor
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X a brief moment to plead to the last bit of Jean Grey's humanity within the Dark Phoenix.
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They beg it to destroy Darkseid, and, in a sacrifice much like the original climax of
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the Dark Phoenix saga, Jean gives her life a second time and saves the universe.
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Number 5, Wildcats.
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One of the biggest real-life storylines of the 1990s comic book scene was the defection
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of Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane and a host of other major writers and artists. From the big-name
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comic book publishers, two creator-owned, independent publisher, Image Comics. At the core of this
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conflict, was comic creators wanting to own the original characters they created for companies
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like Marvel and DC, which would allow them to make royalties if the characters turned out
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to be profitable. For years, comic creators were overworked and underpaid for companies
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that reported huge profits using the creator's works. Image was created by Lee and his peers
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to fix that. One of Jim Lee's most notable works at Image Comics was Wildcats. After just
05:20
a few years, Wildcats became a pretty widely known comic and could safely be called a success.
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So given all that background, it was a little bit strange when the crossover Wildcats slash
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X-Men found its way to shelves in 1997. It should be made clear however, Jim Lee was
05:37
no longer writing the book at the time. But it still seems weird that the legacy of one
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of the founders of Image Comics would cross over with everything the company was created
05:46
in rebellion against.
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Number 4, KISS. KISS is a world-famous rock band and KISS, according to Marvel Comics KISS
05:54
Nation issue 1, is also an alternate reality superhero team. This one-shot comic switches
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between the expected comic book action and artifacts of KISS memorabilia. The story is as generic
06:06
as you'd expect. A bunch of monsters are attacking New York, so KISS and the X-Men have to team
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up and stop them. This comic book may seem like an out-there concept for KISS to do, but
06:17
when you remember that you can actually be buried in a KISS casket, this feels a lot less
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outlandish. Honestly, this comic was just meant to tell us how cool KISS are, and hey, in
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the end, it kinda works.
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Number 3, Chris Claremont. Chris Claremont, the godfather of X-Men comics, self-inserted himself
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into X-Comics on more than one occasion. The most memorable of these appearances was
06:40
in Excalibur, Mojo Mayhem, which has him travelling with some fellow comic book creators to a book
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signing somewhere in England. Kitty Pryde stops their call and commandeers
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the vehicle, assuring the group that it's an emergency. Some brief hilarity ensues, ultimately
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leaving Chris and his fellow comic book creatives stranded on a British road in the middle of
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nowhere.
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Number 2, The Many Celebrities in the Hellfire Gala.
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In universe, the Hellfire Gala was meant to be a showcase of mutant culture and prosperity
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on their new island nation of Krakoa. It is also quite notable because it featured several
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real-life celebrity cameos. You may have seen some of it over on Twitter, as the event reached
07:21
out to celebs from a large range of backgrounds and fanbases, from Eminem to Conan O'Brien,
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George RR Martin to Killer Mike. The sheer quantity of guests featured here was staggering,
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but perhaps the most interesting invitee was Kevin Feige, who makes a brief appearance
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talking to Cyclops in X-Men 21. Feige, for those not in the know, is the father of the
07:43
Marvel Cinematic Universe.
07:45
Number 1, Obnoxio the Clown. If you don't know who Obnoxio the Clown is, that's fine.
07:50
Few people do when they open up this comic. The answer is just so baffling. Turns out Obnoxio
07:56
was the mascot of Crazy Magazine, a now defunct Marvel Humor publication that really never had
08:02
much to do with the comics. For some reason, after Crazy Magazine went under, Obnoxio starred in a
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one-shot comic titled, Obnoxio the Clown vs The X-Men. The story has the X-Men celebrating Kitty
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Pride's birthday, and Professor X, being a wise and reasonable guardian to a 14-year-old girl, hired a
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drunken slovenly clown to help Kitty celebrate. He also told no one that he did this, which is
08:26
unfortunate because Charles is promptly knocked out by an intruder at the beginning of the story,
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causing the X-Men to mistake Obnoxio for the guilty culprit. Somehow the Clown manages to survive
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against the full might of the X-Men, while the actual intruder attacks everyone from the danger
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room's control panel. Obnoxio ends up thwarting the villain, and the X-Men apologize for attacking
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him. But it's too late, and Obnoxio simply turns and angrily grumbles his way out of the mansion.
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And that's our list. Know of any other bizarre cameos in X-Men comics? Let us know in the comments
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section below. You can follow me on Twitter, at Dan J Durkin, and after that be sure to swing on over
09:04
to whatculture.com for more lists and articles like this every single day. For now though,
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I've been Dan, and I'll catch you in the next one.
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