Name: Kallark Code Names: Gladiator First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #107 (Oct’77) Powers: All of the ones Superman has but powered by his confidence and will Teams Affiliation: Shi’ar Imperial Guard, Annihilators About Beyond anything else, Superheroes are unified by willpower. It is the most important weapon in any hero’s arsenal. It is what gives Spider-Man to lift…
Name: Cecilia Reyes Code Names: N/A First Appearance: X-Men #65 (June ’97) Powers: Personal force field Teams Affiliation: X-Men About One failing of the X-Men as a metaphor is the focus on super heroics. It is a necessary evil of the genre that any thoughts on social issues or character development have to be coupled with six…
Name: Logan, James Howlett Code Names: Wolverine, Weapon X First Appearance: Incredible Hulk #181 (Nov ’74) Powers: Enhanced senses, healing factor, claws Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Avengers, Alpha Flight, X-Force, Defenders, Fantastic Four, Weapon X About It’s almost a parody how much little boys want to be a cowboy. It isn’t founded in any sort of reality, it…
Name: N/A Code Names: Fantomelle & Culpepper First Appearance: Wolverines #2 (Jan ’15) Powers: Misdirection, External Nervous System/Fox Friend, Total Control Over Her Body’s Position In 6 Dimensions Teams Affiliation: N/A About One of the most omnipresent things to come out of superhero culture is merchandise. Whether it is the three-foot-tall stuffed Batman my dad had as a…
Name: Xi’an Coy Mahn Code Names: Karma First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #100 (Dec ’80) Powers: Mind Control Teams Affiliation: New Mutants, X-Men About My grandfather served in Vietnam. Like many people, he didn’t talk about it when he came back. Something about the horrific conflict stayed impressed on his soul throughout his entire life. It wasn’t until the…
Name: Pietro Maximoff Code Names: Quicksilver First Appearance: X-Men #4 (Mar ’64) Powers: Super Speed Teams Affiliation: The Brotherhood, The Avengers, X-Factor, Knights of Wundagore About There is an old tradition in superhero comics for villains to be redeemed and heroes to turn wicked. In the last few years, the Avengers membership has included Sabretooth and Doctor Doom while…
Name: Danger Room Code Names: Danger First Appearance: Astonishing X-Men #7 (Jan ’05) Powers: Hard light projection Teams Affiliation: X-Men, X-Club, X-Factor About In the video game series Marathon, a precursor to Halo, the self-awareness of artificial intelligence is a common theme. The AI pushing for greater awareness first becomes melancholy, then angry, and finally jealous. In theory,…
Name: Charles Francis Xavier Code Names: Professor X First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September ‘63) Powers: Telepathy Team Affiliation: X-Men About When the X-Men were initially conceived all those years ago, it was about students at a school. For whatever reason, it only took seven issues for the original five X-Men to graduate. This left the series in…
Name: Heather & Davis Cameron Code Names: Lifeguard & Slipstream First Appearance: X-Treme X-Men #5 (November ‘01) Powers: Adaptive protective biology & the ability to surf the Warp Wave Team Affiliation: X-Men About In 1966, Jack Kirby began working off a Stan Lee Fantastic Four pitch, “Have them fight God”. Working in the Marvel Method, Stan looked…
Name: Warren Kenneth Worthington III Code Names: Angel, Archangel, Death First Appearance: X-Men #1 (Sept ‘63) Powers: Flight, razor-sharp flechettes, healing blood Team Affiliation: X-Men, Champions, Defenders, X-Factor, X-Force, Horsemen of Apocalypse About The original five X-Men are often criticized for telling a story of persecution and bigotry through the eyes of a group of WASP-y kids…
Name: Nathanial Essex Code Names: Mister Sinister First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #221 (Sept ‘87) Powers: Telepathy, shapeshifting Team Affiliation: Marauders, Nasty Boys About There is a famous line in Jurassic Park, one that has lost some of its’ impact thanks to the internet, but one that still resonates. Dr. Ian Malcolm, looking at the horror that this…
Name: Everett Thomas Code Names: Synch First Appearance: X-Men #36 (Sept ‘94) Powers: Synchronistic Aura Team Affiliation: Generation X About Here is a weird trick about superheroes, you always run into someone who’s special gift involves copying other’s powers. When viewed in a vacuum, this makes absolutely no sense. You have an ability that makes you dependent…
Name: Takeshi Matsuya Code Names: Wiz Kid First Appearance: X-Terminators #1 (Oct ‘88) Powers: He does machines Team Affiliation: X-Terminators, Avengers Academy About Anger is like a tumor. If you catch it early enough and remove it, life can move on with limited consequence. It may serve as a warning, a reminder to watch out for its’…
Name: Julio Rictor Code Names: Rictor First Appearance: X-Factor #17 (June ‘87) Powers: Seismic Wave Generation Team Affiliation: X-Factor, X-Terminators, New Mutants, X-Force About A big part of being a young adult is discovering who you really are. For many people, it is the first time they are away from their family, the first time they must…
Name: Lila Cheney Code Names: N/A First Appearance: New Mutants Annual #1 (Nov‘84) Powers: Celestial Level Teleportation Team Affiliation: N/A About Rock legend Joan Jett said “My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.” It’s a sentiment shared by anyone who has picked up a six-string. There is a…