Update: I’ve been working on expanding this timeline into a book. I’m currently in the research phase, but you can read my notes here. They are generally more up-to-date and correct than this timeline.
Any corrections, additions, or additional information would be much appreciated – please add comments below. Updates and corrections will be noted in the comments. (I haven’t been keeping up with this, I’ve just been making corrections and not noting them)
1809 – Philosophie Zoologique by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck introduces the concept of transmutation of species.
1844 – Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation by Robert Chambers. Best seller, popularized evolutionary theory after Lamarckian theory discredited.
1853 – First volume of An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races by Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau. “One of the earliest examples of scientific racism”
1859 – Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin. Introduced the concept of evolution. Amazon link.
1871 – The Coming RaceNarrators speculates that the Vril-ya are decedents of the Aryan race that will replace humanity, but a character tells him they are actually evolved from frogs. Some suggest this is parody of Darwinism, it could also be seen as a parody of Gobineau’s writings about the Aryan race (or both). More research is needed regarding the intent. Also, some have speculated that this is non-fiction. Clearly an influence on Blavasky, but to what extent? Still, the Vril-ya can be seen as the first speculation as to a race of humanoid replacing humans and may be the first mutants.
1881 – The Great Romance by The Inhabitant. A man puts himself into a suspended state and wakes up in the year 2143 to find that humans have evolved to have telepathic powers.
1884 – “The Artificial Man. A Semi-Scientific Story” by Don Quichotte, published in The Argonaut on August 16, 1884. The anonymous narrator of the story meets a sickly old man who turns out to be an 18 year old raised in a bell jar and fed chemicals through his stomach. The Artificial Man claims to be the next evolution of being that will replace humans, and that his race will in turn be replaced by more vigorous beings. Summary 1, Summary 2 Update: I no longer see this as particularly relevant, it’s likely a response to both Frankenstein and “Darwin among the Machines)
1883-87 “The Past and Future of the Human Race,” a paper presented by H.G Wells to his college debate society. Exact date unknown, cited variously as 1883, 1885, or 1887. Lost, but thought to have been revised into the later essay “The Man of the Year 1,000,000.” [1 2 3]
1888 Ernest G. Harmer, “Professor Bommsenn’s Germs” – a scientist uses electricity to evolve a germ into an evolved human. The mutant human has no teeth or hair and possesses some sort of mesmeric ability. A “spoof of current biology.”
1889 – 10,000 Years in a Block of Ice by Louis Boussenard. A man wakes up 10,000 years in the future to find a race of people with small bodies, large heads, and telekinetic powers. Audiobook.
Boussenard was a Spiritualist and is said to have predicted his own death and composed his own obituary. [1]
1891 Meda: A Tale of the Future by Kenneth Folingsby. A novel about a future populated by evolved humans with huge heads who are nourished by atmospheric electricity instead of food, and, thanks to their abnormally large brains, can control electricity and magnetism with their minds. Note: a “private circulation” edition was published in 1891, followed by a public release in 1892. The 1891 edition has a preface claiming the book was written in 1888, and the title page of the 1892 edition says “Written in 1888, Published in 1892.” Excerpts here.
1892 or 1893 – HG Wells publishes the essay “The Man of the Year 1,000,000,” in which he speculates humans will evolve to use their brains more than their bodies and would look something like the above illustration from the December 23 1893 edition of the Ottawa Journal.
1893 – Camille Flammarion, La fin du Monde (published in English as Omega: The Last Days of the World in 1897). Predicts a future in which humans have evolved to have smaller bodies and larger heads.
1895 – The Time Machine by H.G. Wells – features humanoids that have presumably evolved from humans. Full text with audio or Amazon link.
1896 – Henri Becquerel discovers radiation.
1899 – Marie Curie develops theory of radioactivity.
The Hampdenshire Wonder by J. D. Beresford
1911 – The Hampdenshire Wonder by J. D. Beresford. Features a child prodigy with a deformed head to make room for an over sized brain. Amazon link.
1912 – The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson
1924 – The Last of My Race: A Dream of the Future by John Lionel Tayler. Coins the term “Homo ignorans” – proto-Stapledon.
1927 – “The Machine Man of Ardathia” by Francis Flagg. “A modern American is unexpectedly visited by a creature encased in a glass cylinder and sustained by an intricate system of tubes. It arrived from a distant future in which artificial systems have taken over all physiological functions. The evolutionary link that connected such fully ‘mechanical’ Ardathians with still ‘natural’ humans were the Bi-Chanics.” Strong echoes of “The Artificial Man” here.
1928 – “The Metal Man” by Jack Williamson.Perhaps the first sci-fi story to deal with radiation creating a mutant race. Synopsis. The Metal Man and Others, The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume One on Amazon.
gladiator by philip wylie
1930 – Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. Stapledon speculates as to human evolution of a span of 2 billion years. Includes genetic engineering, and a telepathic hive mind.
1930 – Gladiator by Philip Gordon Wylie. In this novel, a mutant is deliberately engineered by a scientist who injects a serum into his wife, creating a super human offspring. Full text. Site dedicated to the novel, including covers. Kindle book.
1931 – “The Man Who Evolved” by Edmond Hamilton. First story portraying the use of “cosmic rays” in creating super human mutants? Story appears in Before the Golden Age: A Science Fiction Anthology of the 1930s (Book 1).
odd john by olaf stapledon
1935 – Odd John by Olaf Stapledon. First use of the term “homo superior”? First story about mutants born in disparate locations banding together? Amazon link.
1940 Slan by A. E. van Vogt. Early (first?) series of stories (later collected as a novel) dealing with a mutant race who appear human and hide to avoid persecution.
1945 – First atomic bomb detonated.
1945 – “The Piper’s Son” by Henry Kuttner, first of the “Baldie” series later collected as as Mutant in 1953. Mutant on Wowio. Amazon link.
1948 Children of the Atom by Wilmar H. Shiras. Amazon. (Serialization began in 1948, it was collected as a book in 1951)
strange adventures
1951 – Strange Adventures # 9 by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. First appearance of Captain Comet, the first (?) mutant super hero in comic books. May also be the first time a mutant appears as a hero rather than antihero.
weird woman mutant
1952 “The Weird Woman” – By artist Joe Sinnott (writer unknown). First known Marvel (known as Atlas at the time) comic book appearance of mutants. Tells the story of a mutant woman who has heard rumors of the existence of a male mutant, whom she seeks to find. At the end, a super powered male appears, presumably the mutant she sought. The mutants in this story appear to be amoral.
1953 More than Human by Theodore Sturgeon. Amazon link.
1954 “The Golden Man” by Philip K. Dick. The Father-thing short story collection contains this story.
1955 The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Amazon link.
the midwich cuckoos
1957 The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham. Amazon link.
men_atomic_brains
1959 “The Man With The Atomic Brain!” by artist Steve Ditko (writer unknown). First appearance in Marvel Universe of a mutant organization, which is located on an island (reminds me of the colony in Odd John)
1959 “The Mutants and Me!” Hints at the existence of an underground network of mutants in the Marvel Universe.
1960 Village of the Damned film debuts – an adaptation of Midwich Cuckoos, important early (first?) cinematic of mutants.
tad_carter_mutant
1961 – “The Man in the Sky!” by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, in Amazing Adult Fantasy # 14. Similar to “The Man With The Atomic Brain!” The character Tad Carter appeared much later in X-Men: Hidden Years
1961 Fantastic Four # 1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The FF are not generally considered mutants, since they were not born with their powers. They apparently mutated by radiation, however, like “The Man Who Evolved” and, later, the Ninja Turtles. reprints the first 10 issues of FF.
1963 Outer Limits episode “The Sixth Finger.” Clearly based on “The Man Who Evolved.” Early (first?) appearance of a mutant on television.
1963 X-Men # 1. First appearance of the X-Men. Amazon link. Can be seen as a re-envisioning of the The Man With The Atomic Brain!” and “The Man in the Sky!” – with a bald telepath bringing mutants together. This series made a deliberate effort to explore social issues through the metaphore of the mutant.
1964 Outer Limits episode “The Mutant” – At least one mutant had been seen on Outer Limits by this point, but this episode specifically uses the term “mutant.”
1971 “Oh! You Pretty Things” by David Bowie appears on the album Hunky Dory. Includes the line “better make way for the homo superior.” Amazon link.
1975 Giant Sized X-Men # 1 by . Introduces new version of the X-Men, including the existing character Wolverine. This version would prove to be much more popular. Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 1 reprints Giant Sized X-Men # 1 plus Unccany X-Men #94-100.
1981 Scanners. Popular cinematic treatment of the concept of a mutant race simultaneously banding together and trying to avoid detection by normal humans. Scanners on DVD.
1981 Spiderman and His Amazing Friends debuts, which features Iceman (from the X-Men) and original character Firestar, who are both mutants and said to have been X-Men members. The X-Men occasionally appear in the series.
1984 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 1 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. First of the Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles. TPB collecting first 3 issues.
1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series begins.
Questions
What was the first use of the term “mutant” in a science fiction context?
What was the first deliberate use of the concept of the mutant to explore the issue of racism?
Where does the bald headed mutant archetype come from? Kuttner? Update: I’m now guessing this came from Folingsby and Wells, via various “alien” fiction. See: Media History of Grey Aliens.
Notes
Namor is considered to be the Marvel’s first mutant, but he was not identified as such until X-Men # 6 in July 1964.
Works referenced but not linked above
Science Fact and Science Fiction By Brian Stableford
Sci-Fi to Comics blog comments
Superhuman on Wikipedia
Mutant (Marvel Comics) on Wikipedia
March 19, 2009 at 3:28 am
Andre Norton wrote “Star Man’s Son” in 1952, featuring mutant people and a mutant mountain lion in a post-apocalyptic world. Built on prior work, but groundbreaking in its own way at the time.
March 20, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Doug – what does “Star Man’s Son” contribute that is ground breaking?
April 14, 2009 at 10:26 am
Klint: I bet a a mutant mountain lion in a post-apocalyptic world broke a lot of ground. And heads. Post apocalyptic mutant heads!
May 4, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Asimov’s “Foundation and Empire” also features a telepathic mutant named “The Mule” who can control emotions. He can amplify this ability to influence entire populations with the use of a musical instrument called a Visi-sonor.
May 30, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Kelley Armstong’s young adult series, The Darkest Powers Trilogy, features several teenagers who were genetically altered before birth by a scientific group that is trying to use them to dominate the world. The author, critics, and readers, myself included, have compared it to the X-Men.