In this feature we examine comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.

Today, we look at how the formation of the X-Men was retconned years after the fact..

In the original X-Men #1 (by Stan Lee, jack Kirby and Paul Reinman), Jean Grey meets Professor Charles Xavier and the X-Men and becomes the last member of the original group of five...

Or is that really how it went down?

Go to the next page to find out!

Nearly 20 years later, Chris Claremont provided a whole other origin for Jean in the black and white Marvel series, Bizarre Adventures #27 (art by John Buscema and Klaus Janson). This is actually revealed AFTER Jean Grey supposedly died as the Phoenix in X-Men #137. Jean Grey's sister, Sara, recalls Jean's ACTUAL origin...

It is a good, if somewhat dark, origin and it was quickly adopted as the official new origin for Jean Grey and has stuck ever since.

That's it for this installment!

Send any suggestions for future notable comic book retcons to bcronin@comicbookresources.com!