The Savage Land Mutates is a

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are oft ...

group of criminals appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. Their creators were writer

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

and the penciler/inker team of Neal Adams and Tom Palmer. Within the comic books, the group is based in the imaginary place called the

Savage Land The Savage Land is a hidden prehistoric land appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is a tropical preserve hidden in Antarctica. It has appeared in many story arcs in ''Uncanny X-Men'' as well as other related books. Pu ...

, which is a hidden

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

environment of

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s and primitive humans within Marvel Comics' fictional

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

Publication history

The Savage Land Mutates first appeared in ''The

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

'' #62 and were created by

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Supe ...

, and Tom Palmer.

Fictional team biography

The Savage Land Mutates were originally the human inhabitants of the

(most of them being from the Swamp Men tribe) that were genetically altered by the mutant

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

to serve as his troops. The mutations in the Savage Land were occurring easy due to the levels of radiation. They clashed with the

and Ka-Zar on multiple occasions. On one occasion, they turned

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

into the Man-Spider and

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

into a bird monster. They have also encountered the

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

. Although the group is fairly large, most appearances of the group contain only about half of the group's members, usually under leadership of

Sauron Sauron (pronounced ) is the title character and the primary antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middl ...

, Brainchild, or

Zaladane Zabu Zadkiel Zadkiel is a former archangel in the service of Heaven and an enemy of the Ghost Rider, named after the mythical angel of the same name. Created by Jason Aaron, the character debuted in ''Ghost Rider'' (vol. 4) #27. Zadkiel was i ...

. After Sauron escaped from the Raft during a jailbreak concocted by the Skrulls, the Avengers believed he and the Mutates were responsible for the breakout and pursued him to the Savage Land. Amphibius later tells Sauron and the other Savage Land Mutates that Magneto's Asteroid M has risen from the sea, but they didn't want to go find him. Worm took control of Barbarus, Lupo, and Sauron and commandeered a ship to go find Magneto. When threatened by the Japanese military, Sauron attacked an armored car causing an international incident. Cannonball, Sunspot, and Warlock investigated and found the Savage Land Mutates on the deck of the ship. Cannonball fought Sauron in the skies while Karma discovered that the Savage Land Mutates were immune to her powers of psychic persuasion. Cannonball managed to defeat Sauron while the other New Mutants defeated the Savage Land Mutates. Upon learning why the Savage Land Mutates were on the ship, Karma told Worm, Sauron, Barbarus, and Lupo that they were in charge of Asteroid M and Magneto. Worm then orders the Savage Land Mutates to return to the Savage Land. During the " Secret Empire" storyline, Sauron returned to the Savage Land to claim leadership over the mutates. He ruled until Vertigo, Lupa, and Whiteout turned on him, driving him out of the Citadel. A resistance group of Avengers, searching for

Cosmic Cube The Cosmic Cube is a fictional object appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. There are multiple Cubes in the Marvel Universe, all of which are depicted as containment devices that can empower whoever wields them. Although th ...

fragments, teamed up with Sauron to investigate, as they speculated that the mutates may have found it. The group was then ambushed by Gaza riding a tyrannosaurus rex. He revealed that Sauron only kept the three female mutates at his side because they were desirable and had powers that weren't a threat to him. As the group arrived at the Citadel, Sauron attempted to betray them but was quickly defeated by

Mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. ...

. She then bartered with Lupa, Vertigo, and Whiteout, offering to give them Sauron in exchange for the fragment. The trio refuse, as the fragment enabled them to overthrow Sauron and push the Savage Land towards peace. The two groups clashed, with Vertigo confronting Sauron with the knowledge that she had been cloned and killed many times. During the skirmish, Sauron managed to grab the shard but was defeated by the combined effort of both groups. Quicksilver then grabbed the shard and escaped. Lupa, Vertigo, and Whiteout allowed the group to leave in exchange for locking Sauron in a dungeon.''Secret Empire: Underground'' (Aug. 2017). Marvel Comics.

Membership

In other media

The Savage Land Mutates have appeared on a few episodes of the 1990s ''

'' TV series. The lineup was formed by

, Vertigo, Brainchild, Amphibius, Barbarus, and Lupo. They were creations of Magneto, though they were later recruited by

Mister Sinister Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont, the character was first mentioned as the employer behind the team of assassins known as the Maraud ...

. The Savage Land Mutates are featured as a henchman group in the popular deck-building board game ''Legendary''.

References

External links

Savage Land Mutates
at Marvel.com
Savage Land Mutates
at Marvel Wiki * * Savage Land Mutates

at uncannyxmen.net {{X-Men Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics supervillain teams X-Men supporting characters