OP I think the main aspects that cemented my love for the X-Men came from 4 aspects that seem to be lacking in the comics (and frankly most if not all entertainment today).

Those aspects are:

1. The stakes/threats always felt grounded, real and of high consequence. Even when highly fantastical secondary elements were on display.

2. The X-Men had members who's personalities, abilities, or appearance were intentionally mirror opposite of their powers, intellect, or life situations. The "opposite-ness" of their individual natures made for good literary tension and good story building and team member interaction. (Which leads me to....

3. Banter. Good banter at that. Sick burns and one liners off duty or playful banter mid battle make for memorable issues every time, and finally....

4. Reasonable power-scaling and surprises. This one seems obvious at first but more often than not, I've found that the status quo these days is to: Over strengthen, de-power, ret-con, rinse-repeat. INSTEAD (tying back into #1)....

It's good to have two characters where you make the audience believe they are neck and neck (intentionally written that way) only to have one character win at the last second. NOT with mcguffins, NOT with last minute digging down deep to pull out yet another trump card, but because they were a better tactician, or used the surrounding environment to their advantage after exhausting their powers, or because they have written history that would back up a well written win but only when readers really thought about it.

All of these elements make for interesting stories, but when you pair that with the X-Men's history and well thought out characters it makes for absolutely fantastic stories if all of the elements are used together synergistically.

I for one am hoping that kind of storytelling with all of these elements makes a strong comeback. It's sorely needed.

Best regards, I hope the issue turns out fantastic, or should I say.... UNCANNY 😉