You know the drill. At the end of each year (ish) I make a new Tier list and explain how the characters have changed in my mind since the last time I did this. Feel free to check out my 1990, 1992 , 1993, Favorites as of 1995, and 1996 lists.
Make your own here and share the link in the comments.
S Tier
Cable - Still standing tall on my S Tier. I just freakin love Cable, what can I say?
Domino - From the A Tier, to the S Tier. I love Cable...and I love Domino. She's just badass. I'll never forget her true entrance to X-Force with those clothes hanging off her body and that badass demeanor. It never changed for me.
Kitty - My booooooooooo. Kitty is my boooo. I've loved her since the first day I met her. She was in my A Rank before because she was pretty much ignored until Warren Ellis and Ben Raab took over Excalibur. She's still not a "great" character right now, and I don't like her dating that older man! BUT, she has a special place in my heart and she's getting a lot more attention that she has in years and that's enough to put her back in the S Tier for me.
Rogue - So this one was a shock. I had her in the A Tier before. I was never a huge Rogue fan, but when I went to click on her name, I realized I felt some strong emotions. She's recently become a leader. I like how she stays strong and doesn't change for those dudes in her love triangle. She's just a strong character. S Tier Rogue, no Ragrets.
A Tier
Dani - Tee hee. I love these strong female characters. This is kind of cheating because she's barely been in the comics, but it looks like she's not only back, but officially in X-Force and I couldn't be happier.
Husk - Oh, hi. Did I mention that I like strong female characters. I'm a dude. They are just more interesting to me. Maybe it's because I have 3 daughters. Anywho, I like Paige Guthrie. Sometimes she can be a little annoying and she tries too hard, and Generation X hasn't really been lighting my world on fire, but I like this young whipper snapper.
Joseph - Brand new character for this tier. I'm pretty fascinated by him. Also, it's time to learn what the hell is going on with him.
Meggan - I'm probably biased because I literally just got done (this morning) reading Ben Raab's opening Excalibur run where she is featured. But she's cracked my top ten characters before, so much like Kitty, it only takes a bit of relevance for her to crack my top tiers. Also, she was in B tier in 1996.
Monet - She's badass. She has an attitude. Her story is a mystery. And she's a strong female character. I'm in.
Nightcrawler - From C Tier to A Tier. I like that Raab is leaning into his swashbuckling roots. His haircut looks dumb, but I won't hold that against him.
Storm - Another past favorite of mine (Thank you, Claremont). She's moving from the B Tier to the A Tier. She's still criminally underused, but she's actually had a bit more of focus recently so I need her in that A Tier.
Wolverine - Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Wolvy fell from the S Tier to the A Tier for one reason. It's fricken time for him to get his damn claws back and stop this dumb feral Wolverine stuff. He's not even acting different anymore and his claws still cut through the same shit. Just get him back to normal, please. He better be normal by 1998!
B Tier
Banshee - He's aiight. Not great, not bad. Still B Tier.
Bastion - The best villain of 1997, by far!
Caliban - He's only comic relief but he makes me giggle, so sue me.
Chamber - Pretty cool power set.
Colossus - Somewhat relevant again and mildly interesting.
Daytripper - I don't know why, but I like her. The focus on her and her mom this past year has been pretty interesting. She would be A tier if she was used more, which she's not.
Douglock - Once again I'm biased here because he really sucked for most of 1997, but this most recent arc where he kissed Rahne is interesting.
Emma - She's badass, but not underutilized.
Emplate - Pretty cool villain! I'm especially interested in learning more about how his Emplate Zombies have terrorized Bishop's future timeline.
Gambit - I know he's many people's favorite character but to me he's just aiight. Not bad, but nothing special.
Iceman - This is actually good placement for him. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder because I like him more now that he's off the X-Men (although I guess he's back now).
Jubilee - She was a star in Operation: Zero Tolerance.
Marrow - Stock pointing up as she looks to be joining the X-Men. I'm just excited about some fresh meat on the bone. Get it?
Meltdown - Hey, she was F Tier last time. Look what some fresh branding can do!
Pete Wisdom - He's pretty cool. He's neat. Better not hurt Kitty or I'll get my shotgun!
Cecilia Reyes - She seems cool!
Polaris - I don't read X-Factor anymore, but the few I did pick up for crossovers tells me that she's still a strong character.
Sunspot - He's getting slightly more relevant.
Wolfsbane - She was criminally underused for most of 1997, but Raab seems to want to spark some life into her.
C Tier
Beast - He's ok.
Cyclops - When is Cyclops going to start getting compelling?
Bishop - What's the future of Bishop now that his primary story arc is complete!? I think he's going to be lost in space now anyway.
Havok - He's better as a villain. Stay evil!
Jean - I'd like some better Jean material, please!
Moira - Still dying.
Penance - Doesn't talk.
Mystique - Probably a good character, but I don't read X-Factor anymore.
Cannonball - Sigh.
Skin - He's a gangster! Ooooh. Lame.
Warpath - I can't say they aren't trying. I really want to like him.
D Tier
Archangel - Sucks! He's barely on the team and that's fine with me.
Forge - I don't read X-Factor.
Psylocke - She's off the team. I'm fine with that.
Random - I don't read X-Factor.
Rictor - I don't read X-Factor. Oh, he's on X-Force?
Siryn -I don't read X-Factor. Oh, she's on X-Force?
F Tier
Captain Britain - This guy is the worst.
Mondo - He was just a plant!
Shatterstar - Worst origin ever! Christ!
Synch - I don't read X-Factor. Oh, he's on Generation X. He did kiss Monet. I guess that's something.
Favorite X-Comics as of 1997
X-Force: It's tough to put Cable and Domino in my S Tier and not have X-Force and Cable in the top two spots. X-Force would be better if there were some standout characters outside of C & D...however they did just add Dani...
Cable: To be clear, the stories in Cable haven't been amazing. They've been average. But you know what, this whole era has only been average and I still like Cable a lot so this is my # 2 spot.
Uncanny X-Men: I really like the recent narrowing of the team. Rogue is my S Tier and I'm pretty interested in Joseph. I hate love triangles, but assuming this ends soon it's been interesting enough. Gambit is just starting to get more interesting as we learn about his past transgressions. Bishop and Beast are meh, but I think Bishop just got written out so at least they know where their bread isn't buttered.
X-Men: You can make an argument that the X-Men line is getting the best X-Men. Or at least the most famous: Cyclops, Jean, Wolverine, Storm. Oh, and Cannonball. Maybe Iceman again. Perhaps Marrow, Sabra, and Cecilia Reyes. I'm interested.
Excalibur: Excalibur certainly isn't bad. I've been enjoying it. It's not like I'm skimming the stories like I did in the early part of the Excalibur run. Kitty is great, I like Meggan a lot. Brian was written out again which is cool. Kurt's at a high point. Pete Wisdom is alright. Even Rahne, Colossus, and Douglock have been more interesting lately. Wait, should I raise this?
Generation X: I feel like a bad, bad X-Men fan for not appreciate this more. I have a lot of nostalgia for X-Force and X-Men which probably carry me far, and I'm sure people enjoyed reading Gen X when they were a teen and have fond memories of that. I'm reading it as an adult and just can't get into it. I almost considered giving it up, but I really want to learn more about Monet, so I bought the next 15 issues (not on Marvel Unlimited) so that will keep me on board throughout 1998.
Not Reading Anymore
Wolverine: This comic has been on my "given up" category for a while...yet I've still ended up reading most of them. I skipped the post OZT issues so maybe I'll hold out. We'll see. If he starts an arc to get his claws or non feral persona back, I may check it out.
X-Factor: I still feel like a dirty traitor for this one. But I went online and everyone panned this era, which coincided with me finding it tiring. I just want Strong Guy and Multiple Man back. You can let Sabretooth, Wildchild, and Shard go quietly into the night.
X-Man: I never read this, everyone seems to pan it, and the few issues I've read were pretty bad so I don't have any guilt over not reading this.
Deadpool: I'm so conflicted here. According to my reading list, I should have read Deadpool # 1- 8. I actually want to read this since I like X-Force stuff, BUT I feel like I'm in a hurry to get to present day so I'll leave this on the "come back to" list alongside Dazzler, Alpha Flight, the end of X-Factor. X-Men 2099, X-Man, and soon to be Ultimate X-Men.