Art by Jim Cheung and Laura Martin Name: Hope Summers Code Names: Hope First Appearance: X-Men #205 (Jan 08) Powers: Power mimicry Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Lights, X-Force About Douglas Adams once wrote, “It’s one thing to think that you’re the center of the universe — it’s another thing entirely to have this confirmed by an ancient prophecy.” That’s the cornerstone…
Art by Paco Medina Name: Peter Palmer Code Names: Spider Man First Appearance: X-Men #35 (Aug ‘67) Powers: Does whatever a spider can Teams Affiliation: The Amazing Friends About With great power comes great merchandising potential. There are more toys, wrapping paper tubes, sippy cups, and bags of confetti with the Spider Man logo on it than all other…
Art by Alan Davis Name: Kurt Wagner Code Names: Nightcrawler First Appearance: Giant Sized X-Men #1 (Oct ‘75) Powers: Teleportation, prehensile tail, being a great acrobat Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Excalibur About If there is one thing the X-Men stand for, it is equality. They believe in the dream of a world where people aren’t judged by the color…
Art by Ariela Kristantina and Sonia Oback Name: Laura Kinney Code Names: X-23, Wolverine First Appearance: X-Men: Evolution Season 3 Episode 11 Powers: Healing factor, enhanced senses, adamantium coated claws in hands and feet Teams Affiliation: X-Men, X-Force, Avengers Academy About In 1943, the writers of the Batman movie serials introduced The Bat’s Cave, a secret underground lair for the…
Portrayed in Logan by Stephan Merchant Name: Unknown Code Names: Caliban First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #148 (Aug ’81) Powers: Can sense other mutants, forces others to feel fear Teams Affiliation: Morlocks, X-Factor, X-Force About If there was one thing Chris Claremont loved, it was dropping references as often as he could. Legion was inspired by a passage in the…
After performing a wedding over Memorial Day weekend (and a long evening of celebration after) I awoke to a pounding headache, an unexpected guest in my hotel room, a missing car, and an e-mail from the writer of Uncanny X-Men. Cullen Bunn was gracious enough to take time away from his comics work to talk to…
Art by Marko Djurdjevic Name: Nathan Christopher Charles Dayspring Askani’son Summers Code Names: Cable, Soldier X First Appearance: New Mutants #86 (Feb ’90) Powers: Telepathy, Telekenisis, A Big Gun Teams Affiliation: New Mutants, X-Force, Six Pack, X-Men, Avengers About Continuity is one of the trickiest things in shared-universe superhero comics. In the hands of a good writer, the…
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 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 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 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…
Art by Diogenes Neves, Edgar Tadeo, and John Rauch Name: Douglas Ramsey Code Names: Cypher First Appearance: New Mutants #13 (Mar ’84) Powers: Understands all language Teams Affiliation: New Mutants, X-Factor About The intrinsic nature of superhero comic books requires action. It is great character development when the Avengers sit around the dining room table and talk about their feelings,…
Art by Bill Sienkiewicz Name: Dani Moonstar Code Names: Psyche, Mirage First Appearance: Marvel Graphic Novel #4: New Mutants (Nov ’82) Powers: Creates psychic manifestations, connection to animals Teams Affiliation: New Mutants, SHIELD, X-Force, X-Men, Defenders About The biggest benefit of the shared continuity of superhero comics is the ability to mash together elements that would feel ridiculous otherwise. The…
Art by Ryan Sook and Jose Villarrubia Name: Theresa Cassidy Code Names: Siryn, Banshee, the Morrigan First Appearance: Spider-Woman #37 (April ’81) Powers: Sonic Scream, Persuasion Teams Affiliation: Fallen Angels, X-Force X-Corps, X-Factor Investigations About One of the biggest things the DC Universe has to differentiate itself from Marvel is the sense of legacy. The most famous Green Lantern isn’t the…
Art by James Calafiore Name: Clarice Ferguson Code Names: Blink First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #317 (Oct ’94) Powers: Can teleport objects Teams Affiliation: X-Men, Exiles About It is darn near impossible to predict what will be popular. Sure I could tell you that a female clone of Wolverine would probably have some fans but why would people…