10. Cannonball – When written not like an “aw shucks I’m just happy to be here” cornfed hick, Cannonball is an excellent character. An almost junior Cyclops, he’s quite competent but always questioning not only himself, but the direction of the dream.
9. Shadowcat – Shadowcat was, for the 80s, the ultimate point of view character. An often scared, brave young girl with uncertain yet emerging control of her powers, she allowed a glimpse into the mutant world from a relatable source. A testament to her success is how often the X-Books try and reinvent her, whether it be Jubilee or Pixie or Armor, and that the best character in her role was still Kitty in Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men.
8. Iceman – Rarely well used, Iceman is often the most human X-Man. With his cheery outlook despite the frustrating racism within his own family, he’s always an interesting character to read, which leaves me wondering why he’s the least used of the original five X-Men. Perhaps how rarely he’s used is why I enjoy his appearances so much.
7. Cable – So, he’ll be controversial. Most people hate Cable due to the convoluted back-story, but I enjoyed Nicieza’s X-Force, X-cutioner’s Song, really enjoyed his later role of hunting Apocalypse, absolutely loved his mutant messiah role in Cable and Deadpool and was even fond of his role, if not the book, with Hope. Despite the bad wrap he gets, my only real issues with the character historically were some shaky early Liefeld work where they hadn’t determined what to do with him, and the 12 storyline which was atrocious start to finish. Perhaps because of his shaky origins, creators have seemingly been compelled to work hard to give him a focus and keep him compelling. It’s worked for me.
6. Namor – I love Namor in general. I love his pompous attitude. I love his undersea kingdom. I love that he occasionally wars with humanity and is generally right in doing so. I love his interaction with the X-Men as a hesitant participant. I love his relationship with Emma Frost and Scott Summers. Namor is just a supremely interesting character in nearly every role and I love that he’s now an X-Man.
5. Longshot – Longshot has no business whatsoever being a member of the X-Men. He’s a reality show star mutate from an alternate dimension where he deposes the despot in charge for ratings or freedom… and he joins the X-Men for half of the 80s because he’s in love with Dazzler or well, really, just because. He’s the epitome of the 80s X-Men soap overtones over the mutants-as-racism central theme, but he’s so brazen that he can’t help but work anyway. I guess he’s just lucky like that.
4. Fantomex – Based partially on the French fictional criminal Fantomas and Italian anti-hero Diabolik, the character is seemingly created as the over-the-top opposite of Warren Ellis’ Midnighter from The Authority. Their powers are similar, though gained through different manners, but their personality, outlook, and costume make them diametric opposites. The first of two characters back-to-back on the list inspired after a manner by Ellis, Fantomex has never really joined the X-Men, but only appears in their core title and generally does so as an aid to the team. He’s the Racer X of the X-Men Universe.
3. Dr. Nemesis – Matt Fraction sought to create the most Warren Ellis character not created by Warren Ellis and he really went all out with the shit talking, Nazi hunting, long-lived, super scientist, Dr. Nemesis. He’s like a checklist for Warren Ellis pastiche and, as such, is extraordinarily entertaining even in small doses.
2. Nightcrawler – The devout man who looks like a demon has always been a study in contrast. Despite the persecution he faced, this inspirational character became a daring swashbuckler and even a leader. He was my favorite X-Character growing up, along with Wolverine who stopped being interesting to me when they ripped out his adamantium and he could suddenly survive anything, but Nightcrawler never stopped being interesting… although we do all pretend that Chuck Austen story never happened. You know the one.
1. Cyclops – My least favorite character growing up, he was just flat out boring- a lesser Captain America who could only really lead when Xavier was yelling instructions into his head. Grant Morrison changed that, turning him into one of my favorite characters in comics. Morrison has, in interviews, said that Cyclops is ultimately the best hero in the Marvel Universe, having been trained to lead since childhood, but is an interesting character because he’s so brutally hard on himself and always questioning his ability. That’s perfect… and that’s my favorite X-Men Character!
