Wed Aug 6, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

San Francisco Media Examines the New X-Men HQ

Mutants' move to the West Coast has local media buzzing

SFGate, the website for the San Francisco Chronicle, has put together a pretty interesting analysis of the recent relocation of the X-Men from Westchester County, NY, all the way out to the West Coast in X-Men #500.

According to X-Men Editor (and Bay Area native) Axel Alonso, San Francisco's often controversial status as a "sanctuary city" made the move long overdue for Marvel's most persecuted superteam.

"Anyone who looks at the X-Men, the analogy is right there: If you're different in any way due to race or sexual orientation or just being nerdy, there's an X-Men character for you. They're about being different and finding strength in that weakened position."

In order to get accustomed to basing the team's adventures in the new city, Marvel staffers will be brushing up on their West Coast savvy in the coming months.

Marvel Comics artists will be visiting San Francisco frequently to get a feel for the fashion, architecture and even the way residents walk and talk. There are no cable cars in the first issue, but the artists did include a KRON TV news truck and a panel where the iconic mutant Wolverine walks through Noe Valley. The heroes make their base in the concrete bunkers beneath the Marin Headlands and join the protest of a controversial art installation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

While Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada hesitated to comment on the permanency of the X-Men's new home, the article goes on to provide a nice roundup of parallels between the mutant superteam and the real-life groups that have found sanctuary in San Francisco over the years.

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