1996 Tier List

You know the drill. At the end of each year (ish) I make a new Tier list of each character and explain how the character has changed in my mind since the last time I did this. Feel free to check out my 1990, 1992 , 1993, and Favorites as of 1995 lists.

Make your own here and share the link in the comments.

S Tier

• Cable was my favorite character in 1995 and I'm still enjoying X-Force and the Cable solo series, so he's still firmly the top X character to me.

• Wolverine is by far the most popular X character in 1996. Unlike Cable, I am NOT enjoying his solo series, but I have been enjoying his stories well enough to keep him this high. If we get to 1997 and he still has bone claws, I'll probably drop him to F tier. Honestly, I felt like I needed at least one more character for the S Tier and I wasn't sure who else should get it. Maybe that's a sign of the current quality as we get into 1996.

A Tier

• Domino is still awesome. I almost put her in my S Tier. She was my 4th favorite character in 1995 and I'm loving her role in the Cable miniseries. She's just badass and I can't get enough of her.

• Emma - Emma is awesome and now she's featured in Generation X. 'Nuff Said.

• Husk - I guess I really like female characters. She's the most interesting character on the Generation X team even though her power is dumb and she rarely uses it.

• Kitty - Guys (and 4 girl readers)...you know I love Kitty. And actually, she's starting to get a little interesting again! Thanks, Warren! Keep it up.

• Monet - A strong female character (in both powers and personality)...of course I'm going to love her. What's her deal though?

• Rogue - I've always felt somewhat vanilla towards Rogue, but she is being featured pretty prominently at the moment, and she has had a bunch of great stories over the year, so I figured it was time to move her up.

• Siryn - For some reason I like her...maybe because she's a strong female character. (I'm a dude by the way...but I do have 3 daughters who I hope rule the world one day)

• Mr. Sinister - He pops up just about everywhere and I'm here for it.

B Tier

• Banshee - Remember how I used to make fun of Banshee in 1975? He's respectable now.

• Beast - Another vanilla character who is getting slightly more interesting. Maybe it's just because he got replaced by Dark Beast (I refuse to call him "McCoy.")

• Caliban - He's not a great character, but he cracks me up, so sue me.

• Cannonball - Sigh. This one hurts. He was my second favorite character in 1995. You would think that I would be pumped to see him "promoted", but they've turned him back into a naive hick and I hate it.

• Chamber - I'm fascinated by him and he's just starting to get interesting as he's dating Husk and getting a little solo focus.

• Forge - He's ok. I guess I admire him since he's been around so long. They are trying to make him a big thing in X-Factor, which I appreciate, but I stopped reading that comic so...

• Gambit - Still waiting to love Gambit like everyone else does. I don't dislike him. I'm just not crazy about him like most people are.

• Iceman - They are really trying to make him a thing. I appreciate the effort.

• Jubilee - She's actually pretty annoying right now. Why did I rank her here?

• Meggan - Hasn't done much...but she was in my top ten in 1990 and I love her (strong female character), so I'm just thrilled that she's finally starting to get more prominent again.

• Pete Wisdom - He seems cool. Don't hurt my Kitty though or I'll fucking kill you.

• Mystique - I love her mischief. Keep being yourself, Raven.

• Sabretooth - Wow, they really shoved Sabretooth down my throat in 1995. I guess I'll rank him in the B tier if you get off my back! I hear he joined X-Factor after I stopped reading it. Neat.

• Storm - Sigh. Remember when she was the most interesting X-Man? Why doesn't anyone care about her anymore?

• Sunspot - He really isn't doing much, but I can't stop obsessing over his Reignfire stint being so easily dismissed. I hope Fabian is doing well.

C Tier

• Angel - You're just lucky you're not in the F Tier, buddy! Him dating Psylocke humanizes him.

• Bishop - I guess he's ok. We got a lot of him the past year.

• Cyclops - Still waiting to love him. His boo is in this tier too.

• Deadpool - He's great, but we barely see him. I hear that changes next year.

• Jean - Severely underutilized.

• Nightcrawler - He made my top ten in 1995, but Warren Ellis doesn't seem as interested in him as Kitty, Pete, and Meggan.

• Penance - She seems cool. I wonder what her story is. If I don't know in a year...I'm tanking her!

• Polaris, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane- Peter David, come back! I didn't realize how much I would miss you and I'm sorry for the things I said!

D Tier

• Colossus - More like borafil!

• Daytripper - I like the concept of her. Not the execution.

• Havok - Havok sucks now!

• Mondo - Dude's been in like 1 comic so far.

• Psylocke - I guess no one cares about her anymore now that Jim Lee isn't around drawing her in a bathing suit.

• Nate Grey - Lolz.

• Shatterstar - Is he still on a team?

• Skin - They are literally trying to get me to care about him by pushing the fact that he's a gangster from LA.

• Sync - I would believe you if you told me he got removed from the team 10 issues ago.

• Warpath - He has potential. Now he has a new haircut! I think Nicieza was about to axe him and Loeb seems to have some ideas for him. Let's see where this goes.

F Tier

• Boomer - Remember when she had spunk? Now she's baking cookies for Sam.

• Brittanic - What a joke! Just kill him already.

• Douglock - Why is he here?

• Random - I like him, but he's disappeared from our lives.

• Rictor - Written out. I'm fine with that.

• Sugarman - OMG, who the FUCK thought he was worth bringing into the prime universe after AoA. "Hey, I know! Let's bring over the Sugarman. I bet people love this little fucker." Said no one ever.