The X-Men have had more than a few impressive team lineups over the years, but few iterations of the Children of the Atom are as iconic as their Blue and Gold era from the 1990s. Splitting the X-Men into two separate teams – the Blue Team and the Gold Team – allowed Marvel Comics to continue expanding the increasingly dense world of the franchise, while also capitalizing on the incredible popularity of X-Men at the time.

The X-Men were first divided in the pages of 1991’s X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee. Following the events of “The Muir Island Saga,” the X-Mansion was packed with fourteen mutant heroes – a number that both Cyclops and Professor X considered too unwieldy for one team.

Instead, they were divided into separate squads, with Cyclops and Storm as respective leaders. Based out of the X-Mansion, these squads frequently crossed over as the new X-Men ongoing series followed Cyclops’ Blue Team, while the long-running Uncanny X-Men pivoted to focus on Storm’s Gold Team.

Marvel Split The X-Men Across Multiple Titles Because Of Their Success

X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Joe Rosas & Tom Orzechowski

This wasn’t the first time that Marvel’s mutant heroes were assigned to different teams – but it proved to be the most impactful. Before they reformed as X-Men Blue and X-Men Gold, many of these mutants – namely Xavier and his original five students – hadn’t been considered X-Men in years. Instead, they’d been operating either independently or continuing the fight for mutant prosperity as members of other teams. And though the ’90s era saw old teammates returning to the fold, it would also see other members like Cyclops’ brother Havok leave his old team for the restructured X-Factor. But both the Blue and Gold teams still had space for other iconic X-Men members.

Led by Cyclops, the Blue Team also featured Wolverine, Psylocke, Gambit, Rogue, Beast, and Jubilee. This squad confronted their former ally and oldest foe, Magneto, in the first story arc of the relaunched X-Men ongoing series – an arc that also marked the end of Chris Claremont’s legendary 16-year run on the X-Men franchise. Over the course of the series, they would go on to combat such foes as Magneto’s Acolytes and Sabretooth. They also found themselves navigating the minefield that is the relationship between Betsy Braddock and the telepathic assassin Kwannon, whose body Betsy inhabited until only a few short years ago.

X-Men Blue And Gold Had Their Own Adventures

The Two Teams Battled Enemies Old And New

Meanwhile, Storm’s Gold Team lineup included fellow Omega-level mutants Jean Grey and Iceman, along with other heavy hitters like Colossus, Bishop, and Archangel. Their adventures were no less iconic than their azure allies as they helped the time-displaced Bishop acclimate to his “ancient” new time period, aided a comatose Emma Frost after the massacre of her Hellions students, and even faced off with the deadly Phalanx as well as Colossus’ brother Mikhail Rasputin. Eventually, these two teams would merge back into one larger unit after major X-Men events like “Fatal Attractions” and “Phalanx Covenant,” but their legacies are still felt today.

To many, this era of The Children of the Atom quickly became the de facto idea of the X-Men within the minds of the general populace. This was accomplished not just through the comics, but also through the hit X-Men animated series of ‘90s acclaim as well. Airing a year after the Blue and Gold relaunch, the original lineup of the cartoon was essentially that of the Blue Team, with Storm and Jean Grey replacing Psylocke, and the inclusion of Morph separating the group from any previous in-continuity X-Men roster.

The X-Men Became A Franchise, Not A Team

Blue And Gold Made The X-Men What They Are Today

In terms of publishing, these separate X-Men teams were a runaway success. To this day, the relaunched X-Men #1 still holds the record for being the highest selling comic book of all time, with more than 8 million copies having been sold since its original publication in 1991. And in the decades since, there has been no shortage of X-Men teams operating simultaneously to protect mutantkind, be they Uncanny, Astonishing, Exceptional, or even the plain old adjectiveless X-Men. Other groups have even explicitly followed in these groups’ footsteps, and the Blue and Gold monikers have returned countless times since their debut.

More recently, the formation of Jean Grey’s own X-Men Red before the Krakoan Era played into the Blue and Gold teams’ colorful theme. But even without these distinct color-coded titles, this multi-squad initiative inarguably paved the way for multiple teams of X-Men operating simultaneously. And while the upcoming From the Ashes status quo shift looks to continue this trend – without the color coordination – the Blue and Gold teams are far from forgotten as fans see in season one of X-Men ’97 when Cyclops distinctly splits the team into these color-coded squads for separate missions.

X-Men Blue And Gold’s Legacy Lives On

Even More X-Men Means Even More Teams

The Blue and Gold era of X-Men is considered by some fans to be the peak of the franchise, and clearly still has massive staying power. Readers are no strangers to the idea of multiple X-Men teams operating simultaneously, but up until this point in the 1990s, it wasn’t as common as it would become. These days, the mutants’ roster has grown exponentially, and their countless groups reflect that. But if the news already shared about From the Ashes is any indication, fans of Marvel Comics’ X-Men are in for an irresistible sense of déjà vu.