The original series was an eight-issue limited series. It began in September 2006 and ended in April 2007. It was written by Jeff Parker and penciled by Roger Cruz. It was followed by a special issue in May 2007 and a monthly series that premiered in June 2007 with the same creative team.
The series has spawned a few spin-offs, titles including the ongoing series Wolverine: First Class, and the miniseries Weapon X: First Class.
The ongoing series lasted sixteen issues and it was followed by Giant-Size X-Men: First Class special issue. Starting February 2009, a four-issue miniseries titled X-Men: First Class Finals encompasses volume 3. This ends with the team going on to the Krakoa island mission.
A new volume called Uncanny X-Men: First Class premiered in an August 2009 one-shotUncanny X-Men: First Class Giant-Sized and concentrated on the team first introduced originally back in Giant-Sized X-Men #1.
Producer Simon Kinberg read the comics and suggested studio 20th Century Fox to adapt it. However, Kinberg did not want to follow the comic too much, as he felt "it was not fresh enough in terms of storytelling", considering them too similar to Twilight and John Hughes movies, and also because the producers wanted an adaptation that would introduce new, hitherto unexplored X-Men characters.