Name: Eric Gitter Code Names: Ink First Appearance: Young X-Men #1 (June ’08) Powers: Causes sickness, super strength, telepathy, flight, causes explosions, healing, tap into Phoenix-like energies Teams Affiliation: X-Men About There is power in a symbol. It’s a concept that’s at the center of almost every Big 2 superhero story. Criminals, being the cowardly and superstitious…

Art by Bill Sienkiewicz Name: Alison Blaire Code Names: Dazzler First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #130 (Feb ’80) Powers: Turns sound into light Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Excalibur About In 2014, writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie released a new series called The Wicked + The Divine. It tells the story of twelve reincarnated gods, given shape…

Art by Michael Walsh Name: Bailey Hoskins Code Names: X-Ceptional First Appearance: X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever #1 (March ’16) Powers: Can Explode Teams Affiliation: X-Men About Everyone wants to be special. They want to wake up one day and discover their boring life has more to it than they ever imagined. They want an owl to come…

Art by Ron Lim and Jimmy Palmiotti Name: Timothy Fitzgerald Code Names: Skullfire First Appearance: X-Men 2099 #1 (Oct ’93) Powers: Energy Absorption and Redirection Teams Affiliation: X-Men 2099 About In 1962 ABC aired The Jetsons, an animated sitcom about the family of the future. The show took the trappings of domestic life in the 60’s and transplanted it a…

Art by AKATheZgrr Name: Rahne Sinclair Code Names: Wolfsbane First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: New Mutants (Nov ’82) Powers: Werewolf ones Teams Affiliation: New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force About Religion is a beautiful thing. It can bring communities together, take care of the downtrodden, and give people a sense of purpose in a chaotic universe. Religion is a horrible…

Art by JamieFayX Name: Noriko Ashida Code Names: Surge First Appearance: New Mutants #8 (February ’04) Powers: Super speed and Electricity projection Teams Affiliation: X-Men, New Mutants About In the classic short japanese cartoon, the Homestar Runner character Strong Bad answers a reader’s question about what he would be like as a Japanese Cartoon. The answer has always stuck with…

Art by Salvador Larroca and Frank D’Armata Name: Scott Summer Code Names: Cyclops First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September ’63) Powers: Optic Force Beams Teams Affiliation: X-Men, X-Factor About In his one-man show My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, Mike Birbiglia describes his mania after being wrongfully found at fault in a car accident. After alienating his friends and family, Mike was left with just…

Art by Andrea Sorrentino Name: Eva Bell Code Names: Tempus First Appearance: All-New X-Men #1 (November ’12) Powers: Time Manipulation Teams Affiliation: X-Men About The poem Ozymandias by Percy Shelly is a staple of 11th grade English classes because it hits on the most universal of themes, the unrelenting power of time. Who was once the king of…

Art by Gabrielle Dell’Otto Name: Kuan-Yin Xorn & Shen Xorn Code Names: Xorn First Appearance: New X-Men Annual 2001 (September ’01) Powers: White Star/Black Hole in his brain, healing Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Brotherhood of Mutants About The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy in a closed system will always increase. As a guy who engineers thermodynamic systems…

Art by Terry and Rachel Dodson Name: Santo Vaccarro Code Names: Rockslide First Appearance: New Mutants #3 (September ’03) Powers: General rock monster powers Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Hellions, X-Dudes About My first experience listening to Coheed & Cambria came from watching the music video for “A Favor House Atlantic” on Fuse. I was not a fan. That first impression stuck…

Art by Thuddleston Name: Arkady Rossovich Code Names: Omega Red First Appearance: X-Men #4 (Jan ’92) Powers: Mutant Death Factor Teams Affiliation: N/A About One common criticism of comics writing is that, at the end of the day, it is all glorified fan fiction. The creators of the modern age weren’t the original creators of these characters, and now…