Who are the greatest ever X-Men? We’re going to try to answer that question with your help, by putting the spotlight on different individual X-Men from across the franchise’s long history and pairing up your votes with the votes and opinions of our panel of highly opinionated X-Men fans. Your scores will be added to ours to determine the top 100 X-Men.

Today, we're going around some of the classic teams, with an original New Mutant, an X-Factor kid, and even an actual Evil Mutant (who later became an X-Factor regular). Plus, the most charming pink-haired mutant of them all, and one of the more troubling purple-haired ladies.

 

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SUNSPOT, ROBERTO DACOSTA

Steve: Roberto doesn’t get much of a chance, but there’s this constant feeling that suggests all he needs is a little push and he’d be racing. There’s something neat about his character, and as he grows up and becomes an older member of the X-Men roster, I think there’d be a lot of use for him as errant teacher/enabler for the students. I have one note though, which was passed by some Brazilian friends of mine: get his language right, editors! I rate him a... Wait no actually I have a second note before I rate him, and this is aimed at editors/colorists: stop whitewashing his skin tone! Okay, I rate him 6/10

Katie: Can I cosign Steve’s “stop whitewashing Roberto’s skin tone” comment? Because as someone who recently started reading the original New Mutants and then picked up the current New Avengers issues, there is a stark difference between his skin color in the '80s and his skin color now. As a character, I do like Roberto as the guy who is almost too stubborn about what he feels but who has good intentions at heart. 7/10

Andrew: His role with the Avengers is actually really interesting to me. Maybe he fits that role? An X-Men graduate in the superhero mainstream? And thirded; he’s a dark-skinned guy, an Afro-Brazilian on his father's side. I know he’s been inconsistently portrayed, but where a character might be dark, let them be them dark! Colorism is a real issue! 7/10

Elle: I like him as an Avenger. I liked him a lot as a New Mutant too. And yeah, he’s a black man, whether anyone at Marvel remembers that or not. 8/10

Aaron: '80s Roberto was perfection. I still gag at his Magnum P.I. obsession. Though I gotta cosign the cosigns on Steve’s whitewashing comment, this has got to stop. 7/10

OUR SCORE: 35/50

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PIXIE, MEGAN GWYNN

Elle: She’s the cutest. She needs more to do. 7/10

Steve: Bring me Sunshine, in your smile, / Bring me Laughter, all the while, / In this world where we live, there should be more happiness, / So much joy you can give, to each brand new bright tomorrow! 10/10

Katie: As a newer comics reader, I’ll admit that up until the last couple years I always got her confused with Wasp. But I’m all for cute, pink-haired superheroines who could also totally kick your ass. 6/10

Aaron: I damn near cried when she was jumped by the Hellfire Cult. She’s such a beautiful soul. 7/10

Andrew: A delight. One of those new characters (relatively speaking) who feels like she’s always belonged, like there was a Pixie-shaped hole in the X-Men just waiting for her to fill it. Viva Pixie. 8/10

OUR SCORE: 38/50

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LEECH

Katie: The other moppet of X-Force. I’m giving him what I gave Artie. 4/10

Andrew: Like I said when we were rating Artie, I prefer the green one, and look, here’s the green one. His power-cancelling abilities have been used to great effect on more than one occasion. And he’s pretty adorable. 7/10

Elle: He’s cute, but there’s not a lot to him. Useful power, though. 5/10

Aaron: Not here for it. 3/10

Steve: So this is the green one? I also prefer this one. Also his power-set is in his name, which is handy because I sure as hell can’t remember what Artie’s powers were meant to be. I think he’s with the Morlocks again now, so I’m sure that’ll end well. 3/10

OUR SCORE: 22/50

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REVANCHE, KWANNON

Andrew: The Asian woman whose body Psylocke stole, right? I mean, I never fully understood that story, because none of the writers knew what they were doing, but oof, Revanche got a bad deal; had her body stolen, and then got stuck in the cast-off white woman body with the terminal illness. And as a result, we only ever got to see her being angry and bitter, which is not compelling. Sorry your life sucked, Revanche, but also sorry you kinda sucked. 3/10

Elle: What do you want me to say about Revanche? It’s a shame. The whole thing is a shame, start to finish. 1/10

Steve: Psylocke is the absolute worst, so Revanche gets more points than I'm going to give her. 3/10

Aaron: I don’t know where to start. Clearly she struck a deal with the wrong sea witch! 2/10

Katie: Oof. I only got into comics well after that whole body swapping thing happened and it’s just cringeworthy. I’m not sure what to say about the character besides that. 2/10

OUR SCORE: 11/50

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QUICKSILVER, PIETRO MAXIMOFF

Elle: If what you want is a haughty mutant speedster who nobody likes, why would you choose the straight American over the gay Canadian? Pietro works better as an Avenger anyway. 3/10

Katie: Yep, better as an Avenger. 3/10

Aaron: He’s an insufferable little brat, but now we can’t blame that on Magneto because he’s retconned to an experiment compliments of the High Evolutionary. 4/10

Steve: The greatest dirtbag in Marvel Comics. I look at everything about Quicksilver; the bragging, the daddy issues, the inability to ever make good on his promise; and goddamn do I respect that miserable little toerag. He’s a superb heel, and watching him fail is typically transcendent. 7/10

Andrew: He is an insufferable little brat, and that’s why I adore him. Magneto’s troubled son (#forever) is trapped in a world that’s hostile to him in every imaginable way, from the purely physical to the profoundly psychological. No wonder he’s a mess. But he’s a beautiful mess. 8/10

OUR SCORE: 25/50

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