Like most children of the 70s, I preferred the irreverent, super-cool Marvel heroes over their overly-earnest, one dimensional DC counterparts. Spiderman over Batman...Thor over Superman...Iron Man over Wonder Woman...

But by the time I was into my pre-teens, comics had become an afterthought; I filled my leisure time with more mature pursuits like sports, D&D, music, and Mattel Electronic Football. Until one day a friend introduced this nerdy, 13 year-old Jewish boy to a nerdy, 13 year-old Jewish girl named Kitty Pryde. Like countless other teens I fell in love, and the X-Men forever cemented Gen-X's loyalty to Marvel through the greatest literary device of the late 20th century -- the Hot Nerdy Chick.

Still in wide use today, I might add.