Is it even possible to be an X-Men fan and dislike Kitty Pryde? I don't think so.
Kitty started out as the first "newcomer kid" X-Man. She was the audience surrogate when she showed up, and readers were introduced to the X-Men through the eyes of someone their age. She started out with the ability to go through walls...and that was it. Nifty trick, sure, but not the kind of thing that would make for a rock-em sock-em action heroine...or so everyone thought.
Chris Claremont poured so much life and soul into Kitty that the readers instantly took a shine to her. While there were detractors and haters, they paled in comparison to the outpouring of support for this likable, spunky genius girl who kept the audience able to relate to a bunch of superpowered misfits.
When the time came for an X-Men spinoff team set in the UK, Kitty proved so popular that she (and fellow X-Men alumni Nightcrawler and Rachel Summers, listed in my last list) became the headliners for the new team. Excalibur remains a fan favorite team to this day, and in large part it's thanks to Kitty's amazing journey there from girl to young woman...
Or in this case, from Sprite to Shadowcat.
She's returned to the X-Men since then, and remained a vital mainstay of the team, proving to be one of its most valuable members thanks to the massive skillset she's accumulated over her 40+ years as a heroine.
Now she's a genius ninja with a pet dragon who goes through walls. How is that not the coolest development arc ever?
6) Magik
Stories about characters who fight corruption are always amazing to me. The temptation of the Dark Side is a very strong one, especially in the life of a superhero, and not every superhero can have Clark Kent's incorruptibility. Some give in to their darker natures and become villains. Some fight that darkness with everything they have.
And then there's Illyana Rasputin.
Younger sister to Colossus, the team's resident Gentle Giant, Illyana was a normal seven-year-old girl until she stumbled into a portal to the hell-dimension known as Limbo. Its ruler, the demon sorcerer Belasco, took her in and trained her to be his apprentice and heir, but she fought against him, winning the battle after seven years and the deaths of many friends (alternate-universe versions of the X-Men). After winning the throne of Limbo she escaped, only to realize that while she was suddenly a teenager, mere seconds had passed in her home dimension.
She became a New Mutant shortly thereafter, fighting alongside them in adventure after adventure, but the more she used her powers, either mutant or mystical, the more their corruption took hold of her, until she became a demonic creature in her own right.
Even then, though, she held on to her humanity enough to make a final sacrifice and return herself to the little girl she had been before she'd fallen into Limbo, giving herself a second chance.
Regrettably, due to a series of events involving death and resurrection, she was aged up again, but now she's a member of the X-Men, and continues to walk that razor's edge between good and evil.
Only time will tell how she handles it this time.
5) Dr. Cecilia Reyes
It's a shame this woman slips under the radar so often, because she's one of the most underrated gems of the X-Men during the 1990s.
Let's face it: If you're a mutant living in the Marvel Universe, your choices are pretty slim: either sign up for the X-Men or an affiliate team, or join up with one of the plethora of Brotherhood-esque mutant-rights jihadists they fight on a monthly basis. Meet one of the few mutants who has tried her damnedest to take a third option.
Cecilia Reyes was approached by Charles Xavier around the time of X-Men (1991) #1-3. She turned him down and he promised to leave her alone after that. She pursued her dream of a medical career and became a doctor, one of the best in the biz, despite being a Puerto Rican black woman.
Unfortunately, a few years later, Operation: Zero Tolerance kicked in, and the federal government declared open war on mutants, thus catching poor Cecilia in the crossfire.
Her power - a forcefield that protects her from any attack, but not from the pain it causes - is pretty much the definition of being Blessed With Suck. It's hard to blame her for wanting to live a life off the battlefield, where she can do what she does best without mixing it up. In her own words, her superpower is saving lives, not the forcefield that happens to spring up around her whenever something shoots at her.
Despite being literally dragged kicking and screaming into the X-Men's universe, Cecilia acquitted herself well. Her first night, she presided over a medical procedure that saved Cyclops' life with only minimal supplies, and she went on to form strong bonds with Beast, Nightcrawler, and Gambit, all the while learning to develop her powers and continuing to practice medicine.
These days she's more a reservist than an actual member, patching up the X-Men and generally staying off the front lines. I think that's the best place for her, personally, but it always gives me a thrill to see her in action.
4) Polaris
I don't think it's possible for me to talk about underrated characters and NOT bring up Lorna Dane.
She's been around since shortly after the original generation of X-Men, but tragically, hasn't gotten as much focus as characters who've been around half or even a third as long. Since her inception she's been strictly "second-string", with the exception of the time when it was finally revealed, after decades of denial, that she is in fact the daughter of Magneto.
Since then the character enjoyed a minor Renaissance, even getting to challenge Xavier on his views versus Magneto's. However, she's always been short-shifted as a character thanks to others getting more popularity.
Fortunately, we have Peter David's X-Factor series, where she's always shone as a strong character with a lot of heart and a whole lot of muscle. The woman has the same powers as her father, did I mention that? She really should be one of the strongest contenders in the X-Men universe at this point.
3) Psylocke
I don't know of any X-Man more drastically changed by their time with the team than Betsy Braddock. Reading the books today, it's nigh-impossible to believe that she started out as this:
But that's comic books for you.
However, I'd argue that even when she wore the pink frilly costume, there were the makings of the character she would eventually become. Even back then, Psylocke could be ruthless and manipulative, and would often be the first person -- even before Wolverine, sometimes! -- to suggest a violent or drastic course of action. That side of her never really toned down, though she did tend to accede to the wishes of her more merciful teammates more back then than later on.
So even through the changes...and there've been a lot...
...there's always been an element of strength there, of courage, adaptability, and ruthlessness that continue to make Psylocke one of my all-time favorite X-Men.
2) Jean Grey/Phoenix
What can be said about Jean Grey that hasn't already? The first X-Woman, and by far the one with the most impact. The Dark Phoenix Saga is still one of the best-remembered stories in the X-Men''s history, and it wasn't even about their usual raison d'etre of mutant rights.
For my money, I'll take this Jean:
over this one
but that's just a matter of personal taste.
I like Jean Grey as a character who learns from her mistakes and grows past them, who is constantly seeking to define herself, not by who she's with or what cosmic force has her by the ovaries this week, but by her own standards, her own power.
That's not to say a good Phoenix story isn't still the awesomest thing ever, though.
(hint, hint you guys)
1) Storm
And here we are at last. My favorite character in the X-Men, my favorite character in comics, probably my favorite fictional character ever to exist
Storm was the reason I got into the X-Men in the first place. A strong-willed, dignified black woman who led her team, commanded the weather, and kept a sympathetic side to boot? I was sold from the get-go.
She's beautiful, strong, regal, tough, brave, and compassionate. In short, Ororo Munroe is everything I think a superheroine should be, X-Man or otherwise. The only other comic book character who I think captures all these traits and does them well is Wonder Woman, which says volumes about Ororo, that I think she can stand alongside Diana to that extent.
I've always identified as a feminist -- I believe men and women can and should stand on equal footing with each other. And Storm was the one who taught me that.
Whenever she led the X-Men, I loved the team. She brings a mix of toughness and compassion to whatever team she's in charge of, and she's strong enough, both in terms of powers and character, to carry the weight in a way few other X-Men can, male or female.
Whenever I'm making a dream team of X-Men, she's always my first pick for leader. Whenever I'm thinking back to my favorite lineups, they're always the ones with her in charge. That's how valuable I think she is to the team.
(and if there's any doubt that she could do the job better than Cyclops, go check this issue out!)
~*~
So that's it, my Top 15 X-Women of all time. If you agree or disagree, or have a different ranking, please let me know in the comments! I welcome discussion about this topic!
Thanks for reading!
~Ingonyama/Curt
No comments:
Post a Comment