Blog

Hey there Comic Attackers! If you’re like me you can never get enough X-Men. Yet, there are so many mutants out there that they’ve become incredibly hard to keep track of, let alone stay up to date on what their current power levels are. That’s why I have taken up the task to power rank all of the active X-Men post Messiah Complex from the very least to the top beast! There are 75 mutants in all to rank and today we touch on three lovely ladies and a new guy who many probably have never heard of!

So what are power rankings? Mostly used to rank sports teams on how well they are playing now, my power rankings are a list of X-Men based on what their power set is in current continuity (or most recent appearance). Other factors that determined a character’s ranking are: what their power potential is, what they’ve already proven they can do (so long as it is still relevant in current continuity), and their over all level of badassness. If you disagree with me that’s totally cool- please feel free to call me out and explain what your reasoning is. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, and while I believe this list to be very solid in it’s numbering, I’m interested to hear what you have to say! Just remember though, I know stuff:

#61. Layla Miller: After being sucked into the future with one of Multiple Man’s dupes during Messiah Complex, we were given the treat of the X-Factor Special: Layla Miller #1 one-shot. In that story we see Layla as a prisoner in the mutant camp that Bishop grew up in, from which she eventually escapes, meeting up with a cyborg Scott Summers and his daughter, Ruby Summers. With them she helped incite what became known as the Summers Rebellion against humanity. Layla didn’t appear again until recently in X-Factor, returning to Earth 616 a fully grown woman with ‘things.’ She pulls a reluctant, yet overjoyed, Jamie Madrox into the future with her where she introduces Ruby and the cyborg Cyclops to her mentor and newly established lover. It is now clear that Jamie and Layla are very much in love, even while trying to figure out the mystery of the villain Cortex and an old and crippled Doctor Doom.

Powers: Layla has the gift of Quantum Precognition, with which she can see paths of causality to their ultimate conclusion, allowing her to alter events or prevent a foreseen outcome. She is also able to see the ‘true reality’ and view a person’s complete history. Layla’s immunity to reality warping permitted her to retain her true memories when Scarlet Witch used her powers to create a new world during House of M. The negative effect of her powers are that if Miller ‘spills the beans’ on what she sees, she would be stuck in a dead spot and her powers would rebound back to her. Despite ‘knowing things’ Layla, like Blindfold and Destiny who have a similar power, isn’t useful in a fight. Due to that fact she gets this spot in the rankings.

First Appearance: House of M #4, 2005.

#60. Blink: Until this past April, Clarice Ferguson hasn’t been seen in a comic since Exiles ended at issue #100 back in February of 2008. Until the title was canceled last month, she was leading a new team of Exiles made up of alternate reality versions of the Scarlet Witch, Beast, Forge, Polaris, and Black Panther. The relaunch lasted only 6 issues and we didn’t seen much of anything in the way of fighting from Blink, so as a result of that and her prolonged absence, our favorite pink mutant gets kicked back a bit in the rankings.

Powers: Clarice has the ability of Bio-Molecular Spacial Dispacement, meaning that she can displace matter through a type of teleportation rift appearing as blinking holes, enabling her to move an object- or people- various distances and displace matter out of sync with reality. In short, she can teleport herself and a group of people practically anywhere. She can also ‘blink’ people or objects without reassembling them properly, catching them in a portal and temporarily splitting them into pieces. Energy can be manifested from her portals into the form of javelins which she can throw at an object and cause it to teleport. She can also send targets to multiple places at once.

First Appearance: X-Men: Alpha #1, 1995.

#59. Graymalkin: Jonas Graymalkin is a newly introduced mutant to the Marvel Universe. Born in the late 18th century his father- a very religious man- severely beat him, believing he was a demon, and buried him alive. It just so happened that the very spot where Jonas was buried turned out to be the location of the Xavier institute. Following the school’s destruction after Messiah Complex, Graymalkin rose from the ruins, free of his grave. He joined the Young X-Men where the discovery was made that he is an ancestor of Charles Xavier, explaining why Jonas’ last name is that of the street the Institute is located on.

Powers: Graymalkin’s powers are stronger in darkness than in light. He possesses super strength, night vision, invulnerability, and longevity. Considering he was able to survive underground in a state of hibernation for around 200 years he is one tough guy to kill. However, due to his powers weakening in the presence of light and his unknown potential, he gets the 58th spot in our rankings.

First Appearance: Young X-Men #1, 2008.

#58. Siryn: Considering that these rankings are based on the status of characters post Messiah Complex, Siryn ranks in the lower tier. Why? Well, how many women do you know of that are able to lay down an ass kicking after giving birth to a baby? That’s right, Theresa recently gave birth to the child of Jamie Madrox, a.k.a Multiple Man. However, after a very emotional scene in which the couple named the boy Sean (after Theresa’s late father, Banshee), Jamie holds his son only to re-absorb him into himself. The situation concludes with the horrible realization that Siryn actually gave birth to a dupe, pushing her mental state even more off the deep end; She broke Jamie’s finger and told him to get out of her sight (which he did). Recently she did lay the smack down on the villain Cortex, using her sonic scream on him which seemed to do some damage. However, the villain eventually got back up and laughed at Theresa’s offensive attempt on him. This is all in lieu of her mental struggle in accepting her father’s recent death, clinging to the belief that he isn’t dead because ‘X-Men never really die.’

Powers: Siryn possesses the infamous Sonic Scream which can reach up to 140 decibels as her vocal cords vibrate over a wide range of sonic frequencies, having the ability to shatter solid objects. She can focus this scream into a solid beam reminiscent of a battering ram or create a sonic shield around herself and others by tightening sound molecules. Theresa also has a ‘Siren’s Song’ which seduces humans (male and female alike) when she uses a certain pitch in her voice. This can also be used to hypnotize people. Theresa has learned to amplify sound carrier waves, permitting her to hear conversations or noises from a distance. In contrast, she can create a Sonic Null Field in which an ‘umbrella’ of silence is projected in an area, preventing sound from getting in or out. Sonic vibrations also grant her a form of sonar and allow her to fly.

First Appearance: Spider-Woman #37, 1981.

I know you can’t wait to se who’s next, so be sure to tune in tomorrow!

Andy Liegl
andy@comicattack.net