by Royal Mail will mark the 60th anniversary of the X-Men franchise with a special collection of stamps.
The 17-stamp set will feature some of the most popular characters from the Marvel comic series, which was first published in 1963.
British comics artist Mike McKone has created the core set of 12 stamps which includes the group’s founder Professor X, as well as original members Cyclops, Angel, Iceman and Beast.
Other favorite characters Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Jubilee, Jean Grey, Storm and Rogue also appear in the collection.
Comic book artist Lee Garbett has also designed an additional set of five miniature leaf-shaped stamps that will feature some of the mutant enemies the X-Men face: Juggernaut, Mystique, Magneto, Emma Frost, and Sabretooth.
The seal of Professor X, also known as Charles Francis Xavier, shows the founder of the superhero team in a blue suit with one hand on his temple and the other extended, demonstrating his telepathic powers.
Sir Patrick Stewart played the character in the first three films of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men film series, as well as a number of spin-off films, while James McAvoy played a younger version of the character in a series of X-Men. Men. Men’s movies after first debuting in 2011’s X-Men: First Class.
Meanwhile, the seal of Wolverine, who was played by Hugh Jackman in the film adaptations, shows the character donning a yellow and black superhero suit with his trademark metal claws on full display.
The seal of Magneto, who has been played by both Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender in the films, sees the character dressed in his classic red superhero suit and purple cape.
All 17 stamps will be available to buy in a presentation pack which goes on general sale from February 16 at £16.35.
David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of policy and external affairs, said: “Generations have grown up enamored with the adventures and personalities of the X-Men and their enemies.
“We celebrate the X-Men Universe with these stylish new stamps featuring some of their iconic characters.”
The X-Men superheroes were created by the late writer Stan Lee along with artist and co-writer Jack Kirby.
They described the group as being founded by the mutant telepath Professor X, with his original team consisting of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, and Iceman.
They were based in the professor’s house, which was transformed into the School for Gifted Youngsters and named the X-Mansion.
After many of the original X-Men were captured by the mutant island of Krakoa, Professor X formed a new squad to rescue them, assembling heroes like Wolverine and Storm into a new international team.
The professor’s school later became a haven for mutants from all over the world, forming teams like the New Mutants, Excalibur, and Generation X.
The first film adaptation, X-Men, was released in 2000 and a host of movies and spin-offs have followed since then.
The stamps are available to pre-order from the Royal Mail website.
