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The Boys – both the TV show and the original comic – is famous for its less-than-flattering portrayal of superheroes. The entire franchise is a commentary on the commercialization and cultural obsession of superheroes, both in those superheroes’ fictional worlds and in the real-world. However, The Boys wasn’t the first franchise to do this, as Marvel used a nearly identical method to parody superheroes long before The Boys – and Marvel did it with a team most fans have never even heard of: X-Statix.
2002’s X-Statix #1 by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred introduces readers to the all-new team of mutants in X-Men canon, though these ‘heroes’ are decidedly different from anything Marvel Comics fans have seen before. The X-Statix weren’t real heroes, they were essentially actors. Their powers were real – as in, they were actually mutants – but they certainly didn’t use those powers for good. Instead, the X-Statix used their powers for one thing, and one thing only: to make money.
The only mission the X-Statix are concerned with is the commercialization of their brand. They’ll do fake and staged missions in front of the camera to make it seem like they’re really out there saving the day. Every once in a while, they take on some easy ‘bad guys’ to add a more genuine feel to the team, and to avoid getting labeled as ‘phonies’ (which would ultimately hurt their brand), but for the most part, every act of heroism is nothing more than a show put on for their fans for the sole purpose of selling merchandise.
The X-Statix use the clout created by legitimate mutant superhero teams like the X-Men, X-Factor, and X-Force, and cashes-in on their feats of heroism without having to earn any of it themselves. The X-Statix have an almost meta-understanding that mutant superhero teams are popular with fans, and they exist purely to benefit financially from that particular market. In other words, X-Statix is an in-world commentary on the real-world success of the X-Men – which is incredibly similar to The Boys.
X-Statix was a Superhero Parody Before The Boys, but The Boys Perfected the Craft
The Boys comic book series didn’t come out until 2006, four years after X-Statix first hit the shelves, and that’s not even considering The Boys’ Prime Video live-action series, which didn’t debut until 2019. In other words, X-Statix was doing superhero satire long before The Boys. However, while it may have been first, it’s fair to say that The Boys perfected the craft on a level that far exceeds X-Statix.
For one thing, people everywhere know about The Boys while X-Statix remains relatively unknown to this day. So, The Boys’ legacy is definitely more substantial than X-Statix, despite X-Statix being first – but that’s not the only reason The Boys is the premier authority in superhero parody over X-Statix. The Boys isn’t afraid to take things to the most extreme during its parodies, which is more effective than the relatively PG version X-Statix brings fans. Plus, the superheroes The Boys parodies are more mainstream than in X-Statix, which generates much more fan-engagement.
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In The Boys, readers are given scenarios that effectively amount to “what if Superman was evil?”, or “what if the Avengers were corrupt?”, or “what if real-world superhero worship took over a comic book universe?”. Characters such as Homelander, Soldier Boy, and the members of the Boys are intriguing in their own right, but it’s the mainstream characters they represent and the parodies their existence creates that initially hooked fans, and why The Boys is so iconic to this day. X-Statix only parodies the X-Men in the broadest sense, with no direct parodies or comparisons to specific characters.
The Boys Originally Took Place within DC Continuity, Just Like X-Statix in Marvel
The one thing X-Statix has over The Boys when it comes to which one is the better superhero parody (other than being first) is that it actually takes place in the Marvel Universe. In practically every other regard, The Boys is the superior satire, but X-Statix calls out its own mutant superheroes while existing right alongside them. The Boys has entire comic book universes that separate it from the characters and comics it is parodying. But, interestingly enough, that wasn’t always the case.
The Boys was originally published by DC Comics’ WildStorm imprint, where the series existed for the first six issues. In fact, DC reportedly had an interest in folding The Boys into the established DC Universe, similar to how Garth Ennis’ Hitman series featured characters like Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern. However, The Boys was canceled by DC reportedly due to its general anti-superhero message and its hyper-violence, so any hope that it could exist in the prime DCU was squashed. After that, The Boys moved to Dynamite Entertainment, and the rest is history.
While it never quite took place in DC’s main continuity (since it was just published by an imprint under the DC umbrella), The Boys came very close to being more like X-Statix than many fans know. Just like how X-Statix mocks the real-world commercialization of X-Men titles while taking place in the same fictional universe as the X-Men themselves, The Boys almost had the chance to have characters like Homelander and Black Noir mock Superman and Batman to their faces. But, since that never happened, X-Statix still has that particular advantage in this comparison.
X-Statix Eventually Took a Page Out of The Boys’ ‘Handbook’
X-Statix’s Latest Comic Seemingly Took Inspiration from The Boys’ Homelander
Even though X-Statix was first, the comic still apparently had a lot to learn from The Boys when it came to crafting truly despicable characters to hammer-home the superhero satire. Specifically, in the latest X-Statix series (2022’s X-Cellent), one character becomes as terrifyingly ruthless and utterly repugnant as The Boys’ Homelander: Zeitgeist. Casual Marvel fans will remember Zeitgeist from the film Deadpool 2, and hardcore comics fans know that Zeitgeist actually led the X-Force for a short time. However, when the character got the ‘X-Statix’ treatment, he was never the same again.
Zeitgeist became a sadistic leader of the X-Cellent, a team that revealed the X-Statix in the commercialization of mutant superheroes. While the X-Statix existed to call out the commercialization itself, X-Cellent delved into the corruption of superheroes who only crave fame and popularity over using their powers for good, and what they’ll do to maintain that popularity – and Zeitgeist represented the worst of them all, just like The Boys’ Homelander.
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It’s interesting to see how some franchises may have influenced others, even when those franchises basically only exist to criticize other franchises. Indeed, it seems as though both X-Statix and The Boys had something to offer the other, resulting in two wildly entertaining satirical series. But, even if The Boys may have surpassed it in terms of popularity and legacy, Marvel‘s X-Statix was still first, and was doing superhero satire way before The Boys.
The Boys
The Boys franchise is a satirical and dark superhero series based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It explores a world where superheroes, or “Supes,” are corrupt, violent, and morally bankrupt, all controlled by the powerful corporation Vought International. The story centers around two opposing groups: The Boys, a vigilante team aiming to expose and defeat the corrupt heroes, and The Seven, Vought’s elite team of Supes led by the ruthless Homelander.
“}]] Marvel Comics had a version of The Boys before The Boys. Read More