During the early 1980s, Marvel Comics had a very interesting policy that its editors should (or had to) also be writers. Louise Simonson was then encouraged by Marvel to come up with a series that she could write, and the result was Power Pack, a group of pre-teen superheroes that quickly became one of Marvel’s most famous creations from this era. In today’s article, we are going to be discussing the Power Pack, most notably whether they are X-Men or not.

Although they have collaborated with them on several occasions, the siblings forming Power Pack were never members of the X-Men mainly because they were never mutants, but rather “regular” superheroes.

Today’s article is going to be all about the Power Pack. You’re also going to find out what kind of siblings the members of Power Pack are, but also why they are not technically mutants and why they could never have  been members of the X-Men. Enjoy

What is the Power Pack?

As we’ve already stated in the introduction, Louise Simonson, a then-editor at Marvel, was encouraged to come up with a series she could also write; that is how the Power Pack was created. Later, Simonson explained how the Power Pack came into fruition:

“I had resisted Shooter’s encouragement to write stuff or do freelance stuff because I thought he had writers whose livelihoods depended on their doing books, and it didn’t feel fair to take the work away from them. I had a job. But then Shooter hired a whole batch of new editors, and my workload was cut in half. I got bored, and I thought I should create something rather than take one of the jobs that were already there, so I proposed the idea for “Power Pack” to Shooter. He eventually loved the idea, and so that was my taste of writing. I found it more challenging than editing, and way more fun, because I had been editing for a long time, so I think it had gotten too easy for me.“ (Source)

Power Pack is, therefore, a fictional group of pre-teen superheroes created by Louise Simonson and, initially, drawn by June Brigman. They debuted in Power Pack #1, published in August 1984, and although the series itself was canceled in 2013, the Power Pack still remains one of Marvel’s most popular 1980s creations. My favourite storyline for the Power Pack is Back to School Power Pack #60, Power Pack #61, Power Pack #62 – simply because of the surprising change that Alex goes through!

They were quite pivotal when they first appeared, as they became Marvel’s first pre-teen superhero team, as well as the first superhero team in mainstream American superhero comics consisting of such young members that operated without adult supervision.

The Power Pack initially dealt with issues appropriate for the ages of the main characters, but the team soon became an important part of Marvel’s slate, appearing in other series and crossing over with other characters, most notably superhero teams and different supervillains that initially fought other heroes.

How big is the Power Pack team?

Initially, the Power Pack consisted of only four members, all children of the Power family. They were:

• Alex Power, alias Zero-G, the oldest of the Power siblings (12). He changed several aliases during his run and was even a member of other groups before rejoining his siblings in the Power Pack. His powers are associated with controlling gravity and similar forces.
• Julie Power, alias Lightspeed, is the second-oldest Power sibling (10). Her powers are associated with extreme speed. She is currently attending classes at the Avengers Academy.
• Jack Power, alias Mass Master, is the third Power sibling (8). His powers are associated with controlling mass and energy, but he also has limited gravitational powers like his older brother.
• Katie Power, alias Energizer, is the youngest among the siblings (5). She has powers similar to all her older siblings and is in that segment the most talented among them.

The group later expanded to include three other members. Reed Richards’ son, Franklin Richard, became an honorary member at one point, while full membership was at a later point awarded to Kofi Whitemane, a character who could also manipulate energy and some forces of nature, and the intelligent, sentient starship known as Friday. All of them were, at one point or another, considered to be members of the Power Pack.

Are the Power Pack members siblings?

This question, clearly, refers to the four core members – Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie Power – who were, indeed, all siblings. They were bright children living in Virginia when their father, physicist James Power, became involved in a dangerous experiment that resulted in the children obtaining superpowers, powers that they had to keep hidden from their parents.

The other members were related to the Power siblings through family ties.

Are the Power Pack siblings mutants?

Since Louise Simonson was an editor working on the X-Men at the time of the series’ debut, and due to the fact that the Power Pack has often collaborated with the X-Men, people often wondered whether the Power children were mutants, as is defined by Marvel’s comic book standards.

Now, mutations, regardless of when and how they are activated, are inherent to the human body and they are either present at birth and activate at a later time, or are artificially induced via radiation or some other experiments. The important thing here is that there has to be a mutation present.

The Power Pack siblings never mutated. They received, or rather inherited their powers from Aelfyre “Whitey” Whitemane, a member of the Kymellian race who, before dying, transferred his powers onto the Power siblings. In their case, there was no mutation – they simply inherited the powers from another species, which means that the Power siblings are not mutants.

Some members, like Franklin Richards, were mutants, but they are not part of the core group.

Are the Power Pack members X-Men?

This question is related to the former one. Now, we know that Professor X’s group of superheroes, the X-Men, consists of good-natured mutants who wanted to help humans and the Professor’s cause. Now, the X-Men were mutants, that was kind of the point of the whole group, and we’ve established that the Power Pack siblings aren’t mutants. So, why the question?

Well, as we’ve stated, Louise Simonson was editor of the X-Men comics during the 1980s and the Power Pack did collaborate with the X-Men on several occasions in the comic books, so we assume that that is why people actually wonder whether they were members or not.

Since the Power siblings aren’t mutants, there’s no way they could’ve been members of the X-Men. They were allies, but they were not official members, not really.