"I'm here because simply, I couldn't leave without telling you the full story -- the story of how I began the long journey to become the baleful Beast that now crouches before you."
The X-Men were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. They first appeared in The X-Men, Volume 1 #1 in September, 1963. The title eventually evolved to include the "All-New, All-Different" X-Men, after which the series became a runaway hit, ultimately changing its title to Uncanny X-Men. Since then, this outcast team of mutant misadventurers have appeared in numerous comic book titles that have since been adapted into several cartoon programs, feature films, and video games; not to mention copious amounts of merchandising ranging from toys to apparel.
The storyline from this issue is comprised of edited reprint material originally published as back-up features in The X-Men #49-53.
This is the final issue of the series to feature the Beast as its title character. The next issue begins the War of the Worlds featurettes, which continues until issue #39.