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Jim Lee became a superstar during his X-Men run, and though his tenure on the team ended decades ago, Lee still looks back on his run fondly, saying that his time working on it was living his dream. 

Lee joined the X-Men franchise in the late '80s, working with legendary writer Chris Claremont, who shepherded Marvel's mutants for nearly two decades. After reaching the heights of popularity, Lee and Claremont launched a second ongoing series in 1991, with the adjectiveless X-Men title joining Uncanny X-Men as twin flagship series.

"It was a long time ago. Even though I worked at Marvel, I was working at home I was in the art studio I shared with Wilce Portacio and my inker Scott Williams and those early years - I say early years - I spent six years at Marvel, and the entire time I was there, it's like you were living out your dream," Lee says on the Masterplan podcast. "This was my mission. To get into comics, to work at Marvel, to work on my favorite characters as a kid, which were the X-Men. I finally achieved that, so I think it was just all-consuming. It was a passion of mine. I drew every single day, and I worked on comics every single day. Christmas, my birthday, whatever. And at the same time, I was learning how to draw, to become a better artist. So not only am I getting to live my dream, but I also get paid to become a better artist."

Lee left Marvel in 1992 to co-found Image Comics alongside several other top Marvel artists seeking financial and editorial control over their own work. Lee launched his own WildStorm imprint with a whole world of heroes and villains, anchored by super team the WildCATs. Lee came to DC when WildStorm was purchased by the publisher, rising to the apex of the comic industry at the head of DC.

"I was producing a lot of work for the X-Men, but short stories, covers, for The 'Nam, Transformers. Whatever they asked me to do, I did it. You were like a starving prisoner, and you're finally freed, now you're in front of the buffet, and you're gonna eat everything. So those were really exciting times," Lee reminisces. "I just remember that period of time as being constantly working, loving working, and it was a super exciting time cause the days from when I was a fan to working as a professional was really just kind of intermixed. They were one and the same, and getting to live out that dream is something you can never re-experience cause once you get older, you're no longer just a pure fan. It's a different kind of mentality and approach to the work."

Lee's vision of the X-Men has become the de facto version of the team in the public eye thanks to his designs being adapted into X-Men: The Animated Series. X-Men '97 has revived the classic show with a second season on the way, while Lee's designs inform the live action appearance of the X-Men in the impending MCU crossover movie Avengers: Doomsday.

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