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Marvel's Top 100 (ranks 5-1)

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Previous list of 100-75 Previous list of 74-50 Previous list of 49-31 Previous list of 30-16 Previous list of 15-6 5. Rachel Grey/Summers ~ Phoenix/Marvel Girl/Prestige Created by: Chris Claremont and John Byrne and John Romita Jr First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men (1963) #141 Sometimes my hope for a character supersedes their actual execution. I recently saw Rachel on a list of worthless X-Men characters. And truly, I understand the perspective. Yet whenever I look at the character, all I see is promise, promise mis-used but promise nonetheless. As you can see in her listed name, Rachel's been tried and redone a number of times, and she has one of the more convoluted stories in an X-Men world that is known for being convoluted. Still none of this dissuades me from ranking her as my highest (true) X-Man. Rachel is the hope of the X-Men intertwined with their despair. The child of Cyclops and Jean Grey from a history no longer real, she is first met emaciated in a
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Marvel's Top 100 Characters (Ranks 15-6)

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Previous list of 100-75 Previous list of 74-50 Previous list of 49-31 Previous list of 30-16 The list of 5-1 15. Valeria Richards Created by: Chris Claremont and Salvador Larocca First Appearance: Fantastic Four (1998) #50 Reed Richards is usually pegged as the smartest person on earth in the Marvel universe. Thus when his precocious daughter says she is now smarter than her father, you would be forgiven if you initially think her exaggerating. Only, she may be right... Valeria is a wonderful balance between genius and mischievous child. She may grow up to be Marvel's greatest hero, or its greatest villain. Her 'uncle' Doom plays no small role in the fact that you never have the full picture of her motivations. Valeria is a wild card for both the heroes and the villains. Recommended Reading:  Hickman's FF run (Fantastic Four (1998) #570-611, FF (2010) #1-22) 14. Layla Miller Created by: Brian Bendis and Olivier Coipel First Appearance:
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Marvel's Top 100 Characters (ranks 30-16)

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Previous list of 100-75 Previous list of 74-50 Previous list of 49-31 The list of 15-6 The list of 5-1 30. Nightcrawler ~ Kurt Wagner Created by: Len Wein and Dave Cockrum First Appearance: Giant-Size X-Men (1975) #1 The swashbuckling X-Man. While Marvel's Merry Mutants are often not merry, Nightcrawler, in his purest form is the merriest of mutants. Of course he has his down trends and depressions, but while Beast was the heart of the original team of X-Men, Nightcrawler was arguably the heart of the All-New All-Different variety. He embraced both joy and compassion, adventure and heroism. While years later, his father would be revealed in what I refer to as one of the two worst X-Men stories ever (the second immediately follows), this does not dissuade me from enjoying the irascible fellow. He, along with Colossus and Storm, make up some of the most significant and lasting character designs that were made after the Silver Age of comics. That may seem like a little thi
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Marvel's Top 100 Characters (ranks 49-31)

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Previous list of 100-75 Previous list of 74-50 The list of 30-16 The list of 15-6 The list of 5-1 49. Heimdall Created by: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby First Appearance: Journey into Mystery (1952) #85 So we have a lone stoic watchmen, loyal to a fault, guarding the mythic rainbow bridge or the gateway to the realm of Asgard:  one man, err god. Heimdall is just awesome. His star-faced gaze always seeking danger. Equipped with the wisdom of the silent, Heimdall is one of the first Norse gods brought into the comics, being just three issues after Thor's first appearance. Recommended Reading: Thor (2008) #3 48. Spider-Man 2099 ~ Miguel O'Hara Created by: Peter David and Rick Leonardi First Appearance: Spider-Man 2099 (1992) #1 I wonder how much of this pick is the look of the Spider-Man from the year 2099. What isn't the look is the setting. This is Spider-Man in a cyberpunk New York of the future. When the 2099 line opened in the early 90s,
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