Rome was not built in a day – and neither was the Uncanny X-Men Net site. People who have just discovered the UXN in the last few weeks or months may wonder why the site has some Spotlights and not others. Why these Crossovers are written but not this one. Why there are gaps in the Issue Summaries of a title, with little rhyme or reason.
In actuality, there is indeed a reason. Very few of the most popular features of the UXN existed when the site was first created on August 14, 2000. When those features were introduced later, such as the Spotlights or Issue Summaries, Contributors worked on what they were interested in, rather than any pre-set plan. As a result, the information on the site has grown organically… and a bit haphazardly.
Below is a timeline of when features were added, as well as the progress of said features:
X 2000
| July to August 13th | Pre-release images (see page 2) |
| August 14th | site launched by Dean Clayton |
| December | Custom Figure section |
X 2001
| April | Peter Luzifer’s site merged with the UXN (villain teams, articles) |
| April | Issue Summaries added, first summary: Uncanny X-Men #228 |
| May | new site format |
| May 2nd | 250th summary |
| May 21st | Timeline section opened |
| May | Crossover section added |
| summer | Character Glossary added |
| late summer | Latest Site Updates box |
| August | First Event Month – [Shi’ar] |
| September 7th | first Spotlight entry [Psylocke] |
X 2002
| mid-February to mid-March | Second Event Month – [Summers family] |
| May | 500th summary [X-Factor (2nd series) #1] |
| September 28th | 750th summary [Weapon X #1/2] |
| November | Third Event Month – [Age of Apocalypse] |
X 2003
| February | change of site logo to current type |
| April | 1000th summary |
| April 8th | 25th Spotlight – [Revanche] |
| mid-October to mid-November | Fourth Event Month [Magic] |
| November 5th | First UXN interview |
X 2004
| March 11th | 1500th summary [Eve of Destruction Crossover] |
| March 19th | Alternate versions section added to Spotlights |
| May 12th | UXN moved from free hosting to its own |
| October 30th | 2000th summary [Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #5] |
| November | 1st Visitor Feedback |
X 2005
| mid-May to mid-June | Fifth Event Month [Xavier/Onslaught] |
| May 30th | 50th Spotlight [Professor X] |
| June 20th | 2500th summary – [Alpha Flight (1st series) #100] |
| August 14th | UXN’s 5th birthday |
| September | every character entry in Character Glossary has a headshot |
| October 29th | 5000th cover scan |
X 2006
| April 1st | first April Fools Day joke |
| April 24th | 3000th summary [Uncanny X-Men #269] |
| August 14th | site’s 6th birthday |
X 2007
| April 1st | second April Fools’ Day: Darkhawk.Net! |
| May 23rd | 3500th summary |
| September | Sixth Event Month [Magneto] |
| September 28th | 75th Spotlight [Magneto] |
| November 2nd | 6000th cover scan |
X2008
| February 2nd | 7000th cover scan |
| April 1st | third April Fools’ Day: Phoenix Returns |
| April 28th | 4000th summary |
| April 28th | Sentinel/Operation: Zero Tolerance event |
| August 14th | site’s 8th birthday |
| November 18th | 8000th cover scan |
X2009
| April 1st | fourth April Fools’ Day: X-Men Forever First Look |
| April 29th | third Visitor’s Feedback |
| April 28th | 4500th summary |
| August 14th | site’s 9th birthday |
| October 12th | Brood Week |
| October 31st | Necrosha feature |
| November 7th | 9000th cover scan |
X2010
| February 11th | Necrosha feature ends |
| April 1st | fifth April Fools’ Day: UXN Premium |
It’s easy to think that something so obvious hadn’t always existed, such as the updates box or Issue Summaries or headshots for Character Glossary entries. However, the truth is that the UXN has been slowly (and in some instances haphazardly) evolving to become what we hoped to be from the beginning: the ultimate resource for the world of the X-Men. As staggering as that thought is, just think that over a decade into it… it’s still not done!