"It's hard to turn down a friend asking for a favor. Which is why I make it a point to never have friends. But sometimes it can't be helped. Old war buddy asked me to find his son. Kid ran off. Most people thought drugs, but he knew different. Things have been going on with the kid lately. Your kind of things is how he put it. I'm a private guy, but spend enough time around me in combat, and you'll see i'm not your typical grunt. He thinks his son might be like me. Different, and he needs help. If he's anything like me, he sure does."
—Wolverine
First X-Men is a 5 issue mini series that tells the story of Wolverine & Sabretooth starting the concept of X-Men, trying to liberate & train young mutants who are being hunted and murdered by the government.
Follow the most unlikely two founders on the journey to save these young mutants, help them control their powers, and crusade to give every mutant like them a place to belong that they have never had. The very first recruit is Holly Bright, a young mutant with the power of illusion. She has more than a big effect on Sabretooth, which helps him discover a goal of his own that he never thought possible before.
Published in October 2012, the series was written, penciled, and inked by veteran, Neil Adams with Christos N. Gage as co-writer.
The series provides examples of the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Creed's father, as shown in a flashback. Holly's father as well, who she says started charging men to come see her to create their deepest fantasies and most were bad.
- Always Save the Girl: Creed helps Wolverine found the team, but Holly is the only one he really cares for. When danger breaks out, she's the one he tries to protect, and he was ready to quit the team and run off with her so they could live a peace, non-dangerous life together.
- Continuity Snarl: A frustrating one when it comes to Xavier's history. Issue #3 has one regarding Xavier's military career and relationship with the FBI, but the worst is issue #5 where Xavier is hammering a sign with Xavier's School for Gifted Youngesters into the ground in uniform and with full use of his legs. This suggests that not Xavier found his school while still in the military which limits leave to 30 days max and where he'll be beholden to things like tours of duty, but given his other established history he sets up the school only to abandon it pretty much immediately in favour of travelling the world. It's frustrating because the only thing the comic needed to do to avoid this snarl was draw the scene with Xavier in his typical suits and his wheelchair.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Creed. When Forrest tells him that Logan & Holly were together, he loses it and attacks Logan. Holly tries to calm him down, yelling that they were just talking.
- First Love: Holly for Sabretooth, with him even wanting to settle down and have a family with her.
- Freudian Excuse: Sabretooth's entire arc. He's not really evil, just a Jerkass at worst, who does mercenary work. He gets thoughts of a better life after meeting Holly, whom he wants a family with, but when she gets killed fighting for the cause Logan believed in, Creed cuts ties with him and warns him that he will be there to take everything from Logan that makes his life worth living again.
- Having a Blast: Anthony, which Bomb as an appropriate alias. He learns to control the various build-ups in his body and release them from his hands, acting as bombs.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Creed & Holly in her true form have a considerable size difference.
◊ It's a wonder they can have a physical relationship. - Healing Factor: Logan & Creed, of course.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Creed is forced to do this to Holly when his body is taken over by a parasite mutant.
- Leg Focus: Sabretooth calls Holly "Legs" when they meet, as she is showing them off with her dress.
- Master of Illusion: Holly's power, which is where her alias, Holo comes from. She creates illusions & holograms that appear real to the point of fooling the senses, even if someone knows they're fake.
- Mistaken for Prostitute: When Holly is first shown, she's wearing a skimpy dress & charging a man in an alley. Creed is surprised such a fine woman couldn't do something better than turn tricks. But she's not charging for sex, so much as giving the man an illusion of his dead daughter.
- Mister Big: Wolverine is the leader who started bringing everyone together, but he's also shorter than everyone. Holly calls it out when she assumes his fantasy is to be taller than a lawn Nome.
- Playing with Fire: Anthony blew himself up not knowing how to control his power, and was believed to be dead. But he shows up again, having completely healed when given the chance.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: Xavier when we first meet him. He's a wealthy student at a top-notch college. He tries to deny his mutant side, claiming that lots of people are smart. When Logan shows him the body of a dead child, Xavier thinks it's just an illusion, wanting to live his life normally, get married, and be a typical boring professor.
- Strong and Skilled: Magneto, whom completely schools Logan, Creed, and their X-team while scolding them for being foolish trying to lead children into battle which will only lead to further slaughter of their kind.
- Why Am I Ticking?: Anthony. He starts feelings weird and eventually runs away when his mutant power starts to manifest. Logan finds him and offers help, but Anthony ends up exploding and injuring Logan.
