The road to success of the X-Men might be one of the greatest Cinderella stories in comic book history. By the early ‘70s the title was sinking like a stone. The book wasn’t selling nearly as well as other comic being published by Marvel at the time and it was on the precipice of getting the ax. Luckily, with the help of some fantastic creative team, the franchise was revitalized with a cast of new, complex, and multi-cultural characters that spoke to a much broader audience. Throughout the late ‘70s and on through the ‘80s, the X-Men world expanded into multiple titles and became the most popular game in town.
This rise to fame rode its wave all the way to the ‘90s where the team of mutants became highly marketable, spawning a massively successful Saturday morning cartoon, tons of action figures, trading cards, and enough Jim Lee pin up posters to wallpaper a bedroom. It was at this height of popularity that even more people jumped on board. The way these characters looked during the ‘90s often define how fans see them. This is certainly due in part to nostalgia, but even as these characters’ costumes and designs change, they always circle back to this ear in some war.
20 DOMINO
With the announcement of Domino making her on screen debut in Deadpool 2 this month, there’s been a bit of resurgence of interest in the character, which is pretty great considering Domino is a cool character who deserves a little more love. Marvel is spreading that love with a new ongoing series for this two toned assassin and we couldn’t be happier. The only issue is that Domino’s look currently is not as crazy as we’re used to, despite it being far more functional. Neena Thurman now looks a lot like an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. taking cues from fellow femme fatale fashionista Black Widow.
But when Domino (or Copycat, rather; look, believe it or not, but X-Books were actually weirder in the ‘90s than they are now) first hit the scene, she pretty embodied all the bonkers fashion sense of the ‘90s. She had the massive shoulder pads, pouches, and occasional bizarre headgear that was so prevalent among the works of superstar artist of the time like Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee. It was the striking look of Domino that made her stand out. She was like a Duran Duran album cover come to life and ready to kick butt with a pair of space-age guns with enough recoil to snap a wrist, and it was rad.
19 QUICKSILVER
Quicksilver has seen several different outfits since he first appeared in The X-Men #4 way back in 1964. As one of the team’s earliest antagonists, Pietro Maximoff would go on to become one of the most complex characters in the X-Men canon. Shortly after his initial appearance, he would join The Avengers. His relationship with his sister Wanda (Scarlett Witch) is always fraught with less-than-desirable behaviors (especially in The Ultimates), and the way in which he views his father, the on again, off again villain/hero/terrorist/revolutionary Magneto keeps Quicksilver in a constant state of division regarding his own allegiance to both the X-Men and The Avengers.
But despite the ups and down Quicksilver has seen, the one thing that stays surprisingly consistent is his character design.
The stark white hair with twin tendrils furling out has been with Pietro since ’64, and his baby blue suit with the white lightning bolts keeps coming back. During the ‘90s, Quicksilver was a reoccurring character in X-Factor and wore the exact same outfit he wore 30 years prior. In recent years, creators have tried to upend this tradition, but none of them stick around for very long. They dash away with the speed of the character who can’t escape his original threads, much like his father before him.
18 FORGE
Forge is often maligned when it comes to members of the X-Men. Much like characters like Cypher, Forge’s abilities have a far more practical use than oh, let’s say, optic blasts. Unlike some his more flashy teammates, Forge has the ability to utilize and form of technology as an almost instantaneous rate. Forge’s backstory plays like a Bruce Springsteen song with lyrics by Sherman Alexie. Forge is a Native American man of the Cheyenne nation, who originally studied to be a medicine man, but utilized technology instead, which caused a schism between him and his elders who relied more on traditional mysticism.
Soon after, Forge would serve in the United States Army, working up the ranks during his time in The Vietnam War, and was even offered a position with S.H.I.E.L.D. Forge also had love affairs with Storm and Mystique. And we can only assume his success with his military service and with the ladies must have at least a little bit to do with his rad red bandana (a la Rambo), his awesome pony tail, and his Vincent Price mustache. Yes, we know that sounds superficial, but Forge rules and he looked like a ‘90s tough guy in the best sort of way. These days he looks a lot like a grandpa with a metal arm. Still cool, but not as much.
17 POLARIS
Lorna Dane, better known as the mutant Polaris, has a super weird history even by X-Men standards. After being tricked into believing an android version of Magneto was her father, she and her on again, off again lover Havok were mind controlled and used in an assassination attempt on Professor X. Oh, and we was one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as some point and one of the Starjammers. She might be one of the most unsung characters in the X-Men universe, which is a shame. She’s a really cool character with similar powers to Magneto. Her relationship with Alex Summers is fascinating and her longevity within the X-Men canon (she first showed up in is The X-Men #49 back in 1968) fives creative teams a ton to work with.
However, the costume she’s been rocking as of late is not awesome.
In fact, she looks more like an Inhuman or some third string villainess than the former leader of X-Factor. Her costume from the ‘90s, which, given matches that of her teammates during her X-Factor days, is awesome. It’s simple, but her shockingly green hair offsets any banality it might have. Polaris looked tough back then. And while her more regal look might work for most readers, that ‘90s getup rocked.
16 CANNONBALL
Sam Guthrie has the good looks and Southern charm to get away with wearing just about anything. Created by the legendary Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod and first appearing in Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants back in 1982, the jet propelled mutant Cannonball was a guy who represented the notion of young men everywhere feeling stuck in small towns across America who just want to do something bigger than themselves. His ability of flight give him this inclining of freedom that leads him to do just that, and the way Cannonball appeared in the pages of X-Force in the ‘90s propels this feeling of youth in revolt evolving into a character with agency and purpose.
Cannonball looked like a man built for flight during the ‘90s. Putting on an interesting version of a military flight suit and a retro leather pilot cap with matching goggles made Sam look part pulp hero (in the same vein as Indiana Jones or the Rocketeer) and part hotshot pilot looking to prove himself. Whether readers liked Cannonball or not, it’s hard to deny he looked the best during this period. He no longer had the crewcut and standard issue X-person jumpsuit, and he had yet to get more edgy with black leather. This was Sam’s sweet spot in regards to character aesthetics.
15 KITTY PRYDE
During the ‘90s, the X-Men did not seem to give one iota of a care when it came to uniforms. Sure X-Factor has a similar design scheme, but the characters running around the pages of Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, and X-Men threw any sort of notion of having visual identifiers as being on a team right out the window. Now to be fair, X-Men seems to go back and forth on this, especially when dealing with groups of new mutants. Whenever a young team is introduced, they often find themselves and mostly matching outfits. This certainly gives readers the sense that these youngsters are in training (or that they’re going into space).
But as most X-Men tend to come into their own, fashion wise, one character slides back into the old familiar: Kitty Pryde.
For most of the aughts and right on up through to today, when Kitty is active as a member (and leader) of an X-Men team, she wears a variation of the classic blue and yellow X-Men trainee outfit. And while one could argue that it works to her favor, which it does, it takes away from her awesome outfit from her Excalibur days. Yes, we are talking about the blue frilly pirate getup with the mask. It is gaudy and it is awesome. Don’t listen to Star-Lord. Kitty has style. Crazy weird style, but still…
14 MAGNETO
Magneto has seen several character redesigns over the years, but just about all of them keep coming back to the classic purple and red costume he first showed wearing way back in 1963. During the ‘70s and ‘80s, we’d see a few different takes on Magneto’s look. Some were more atrocious than others, like that tunic thing with the massive white M on the chest and weird long gloves. But again, things came back to that first outfit. The X-Men books of the ‘90s leaned into this notion, and kept Erik Lehnsherr wearing the threads that made him famous. Sadly, X-Men books since then have had issues with doing the same.
Whether it’s the white costume from Brain Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo’s run on Uncanny X-Men or the purple cassock cloak thing from Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men, none of them have the same impact or instant recognition of the classic purple and red outfit. While yes, Magneto looked much better in the ‘90s than he has in the last 15 years or so, he also looked better in the ‘60s and literally any other era in which he sported this design. It just simply rules, purple briefs and weird collar balls and all.
13 COLOSSUS
Sometimes the devil is in the details when it comes to character designs. One slight alteration can change how we perceive a character or if a hero’s costume reflects their personality. One of the biggest examples of this occurring was when Superman lost his classic red briefs during DC Comics’ New 52 launch. While the costume was more or less untouched, the omission of something that had been intrinsic to the character for 70 years left a lot of fans wondering why they were missing… the same could be said for that weird period in the ‘90s when he also has a mullet, but hey, that was à la mode then… sort of. One of the less talked about minor changes to a character’s outfit was the removal of the shoulder pads from Colossus’ costume.
There has always been a pro wrestler vibe radiating from Piotr Rasputin.
His massive frame, stern yet fair attitude, and overall sense of nobility made him feel like he’d be right at home ring side as a face just as much as out in the field as an X-Man. The angular shoulder pads of his red and yellow costume that he sported for most of the ‘80s and ‘90s only accentuated this. Is it silly to be slight perturbed that a character no longer has something as trivial as a minor accessory these days? Yes. But we like what we like.
12 JEAN GREY
It has often been argued that Jean Grey should have always been the true leader of the X-Men at their incarnation. She’s arguably the most powerful of the original five class members and possibly the most compassionate. She has a way of empathizing with just about any character, friend or foe. And perhaps the fact that Jean Grey doesn’t vie for power (at least not consciously) makes her such a prime candidate for leadership. Reluctance often shapes the best leaders. But then again, maybe the fact that Marvel can’t keep her alive for more than a decade and she’s a magnet for malevolent cosmic entities keeps here from becoming class president, so to speak.
But if she were to be leader X-Men, the threads she’d wear would defiantly be the classic yellow and blue outfit from the ‘90s.
While this getup does fall into a lot of the trappings of many comic book costumes of the era, it gives Jean an edgy look that works outside the bounds of standard comic book fair. The fact the Jean Grey-focused comic X-Men: Red takes it’s a lot of cues from this costume only further gives it credence when it comes to X-Men outfits.
11 MULTIPLE MAN
When it comes to X-Men character designs, it seems that unless you are a Frenchman, trench coats have fallen drastically out of style. This might be due in part to the outerwear being associated with some dubious subtext in the wake of some national tragedies (or unsavory actions by adult males in public places). It also might be because The Matrix, a film that punctuated the ‘90s pop culture with an exclamation point, gave us the trench coat to end all trench coats (seriously, Neo’s black coat was practically a super hero cape). But whatever the reason is, the last 25 years or so have turned its back on trench coats, leaving guys like Gambit and Fantomex and all their exaggerated Pepe Le Pew attitudes (m’lady) to writhe in the long-tailed garments.
The one X-Man who seemed to have gotten this memo is Jamie Madrox, better known as Multiple Man. Thorough the years, Madrox has undergone slight variations of his classic ‘90s outfit. First he ditched the over the head mask, and then the blue and yellow classic X-Man color scheme. And then eventually his trench coat shorted until it went away completely. Maybe we’re just suckers for the practical use of a trench coach when it’s draped over a pocket-less superhero costume, but Multiple Man, while yes a product of his time, looked pretty awesome during the ‘90s X-Factor days.
10 JUBILEE
Okay, let’s be really specific here: when we’re talking about Jubliee’s look from the ‘90s, we specifically mean her pink crop top and yellow trench coat outfit that she wore, not the weird bubbly red Generation X uniform she had to wear with her other teammates that she just tossed her trench coat over to make sure we all knew she was still the same character. What we love is the trendy, mall rat chic that helped define Jubilee as the voice of the youth for the X-Men for over a decade and only amplified her plucky, snarky attitude that a lot of kids who read X-Men for the first time in the early ‘90s fell in love with.
Now Jubilee has been through a lot since those days: She’s grown up, had a kid, and became a vampire (yeah, we know but it's the X-Men, what can you do?).
And while she still holds on to that yellow article of outerwear as if it is some sort of relic from a foregone era of her life that makes her remember her young fondly, something a lot of adults can relate to, she just doesn’t have that same fresh-faced and bratty vibe. Now, this is probably for the best. After all, people grow up and becoming a parent (even of the vampire variety) changes anybody, but we just love that bratty kid from the ’90s.
9 HAVOK
In terms of just character design, the X-Factor team of the early ‘90s was such a product of the decade you could almost hear the Spin Doctors playing as you read each issue. Everything from their neo street beatnik rounded shades (looking at you, Strong Guy) to their leather jackets and radical new takes on classic X-Men costumes. Sure they were a team, but they all had their own flare, which makes one wonder why bother with a similar color scheme in the first place. But we digress. X-Factor would eventually fade away, but those early ‘90s outfits that first appeared in issue #71 will last with us forever. Especially Havok’s.
Alex Summers’ character design has seen some big time ups and downs. But the ‘90s leather jacket and goofy headgear look is so iconic it’s impossible to escape. Despite his look seeming dated to a certain degree, it’s far more inspired than a lot of the new revised takes on his original black and white costume. Also, with gorgeous golden locks like that, why would you want to keep them covered up in an over the head mask? Havok form those early ‘90s X-Factor comics might just be the template for leaders of other superhero groups from the same era. Just look at Spartan from Wild C.A.T.s.
8 GAMBIT
The comic coloring process in the ‘90s differs greatly from the process of today. The same is said for the printing process right down to the kind of paper stock is being used. This means a lot of colors, which of course reflects the fashion of the times, are not seen a prevalently in current comics as they once were nearly 30 years ago. This seems like a bit of a “no duh” moment for most people seeing as how fashion sense changes over decades, but the lack of neon colors that used to really pop on the page has been phased out almost completely, save for a few small accessories on certain characters.
This turn has made entire costume schemes of characters completely change and Gambit is a prime example of this.
During the height of his popularity of in the ‘90s he looked awesome. His dark trench coat stood in stark contract of his hot pink and blue outfit, and his ridiculous metallic boots/shin guards made little sense but were awesome. Gambit has shed all the silly bits of his costume for something while, yes would not turn as many heads if he walked around in public, but stripped his character of all his flash and pizzazz.
7 MAGIK
Magik in one of the more powerful mutants kicking around X-books these days. In fact, she always sort of has been, but now she’s grown into her own as a sorceress supreme who won’t back down from a fight. She also looks a little like an extra in a Marilyn Manson music video. Magik’s black, leather clad getup is a little too on the nose when it comes to representing her affinity for the dark arts and channeling powers that are far destructive than her own. And look, we are certainly not prudes when it comes to X-Men showing a little skin. Emma Frost has turned less is more when it comes to clothing into an art form.
And while yes, this outfit does seem to shred the sweet little sister vibe, the classic New Mutants costume Illyana Rasputina wore for most of the ‘80s and ‘90s looks great. The fact that it is a familiar uniform that is spruced up with her metal arm, horns and Soulblade makes it stand out. Often time, classics work the best. And while the outfit did return for a spell during the Zeb Wells run on New Mutants (and it was awesome), the black outfit just doesn’t work for us the same.
6 BLINK
Character redesigns often take the safe road when it comes to color schemes and style. One of the more recent versions of the teleporting mutant Blink that we saw junk the launch of Marvel Legacy looked to have taken a page from Magik and Emma Frost’s book: make the outfit tight, black, and jam it all in there in order to defy gravity and make things as revealing as possible. While we by no means prudes, we do often question basic functionality or what a character’s design is saying about them.
Luckily it looks like Blink is returning with the Exiles soon, and with a much more different design.
But there is something about the way Blink appeared in the ‘90s that helped define her character, especially during her tenure in the post-apocalyptic alternate future story arc, “Age of Apocalypse.” With a bright green dress the flows down to her boots to a quiver filled with Teleportation Javelins, this version of Blink has an ethereal element that has been missing from the character. She looks like she could have left out of the pages of J.R.R. Tolkien story. The medieval vibe Blink had going on in the ‘90s made her a stand out and were only complimented by her facial markings and elven ears. She’s like an awesome teleporting, pink Legolas. We can get behind that.
5 ARCHANGEL
A handsome specimen like Warren Worthington III should always be dressed to impress. They say the clothes make the man, but do they make the X-Man? In Warren’s case, the clothes are sort of the byproduct of genetic and mental manipulation by a megalomaniacal mutant demi-god who wants him to be one of the four harbingers of total worldly destruction and eventually heir to the dark throne on which said demi-god once sat upon…you know, that old chestnut. Oh, and also metal wings and a lovely shade of blue skin tone are lumped in there with the clothes, too, so…
Archangel first took flight in X-Factor #24 back in 1988. The character design was a far cry from the Angel we had known for the previous 25 years. Seeing one of Xavier’s original X-Men transformed into a savage version of themselves was shocking, and the costume and new wing design for Warren make such an impact, they were left pretty much untouched throughout all the ‘90s and pretty much decade beyond. While darker versions of Archangel have been seen, especially in books like X-Force, where Warren is a cold-blooded killer, the classic purple and blue outfit looked amazing and was truly a matter of it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
4 CYCLOPS
In recent years, comic books have moved away from certain attributes when it comes to superhero character designs. These are mostly accessories that are often criticized for not really having a practical purpose other than window-dressing. Some of the aforementioned costume additions are: copious pouches, unnecessary belts (often to hold said pouches), and briefs. That last one has been a point of contention among comic fans in both DC and Marvel camps. Recently, the most super of all superheroes, Superman (it’s right there in the name!) recently got his briefs pulled back over his tights. But not all heroes have embraced these forgone styling…except Cable. He’s still got pouches on pouches.
During the ‘90s, briefs, pouches, and belts were all the rage when it came to X-Men costumes.
And while some characters never outgrew or expanded their design beyond them, one man shed all three, which is a shame because he looked pretty cool. Cyclops was pouched and belted and briefed up like nobody’s business in the ‘90s. In fact, this look is what most fans conjure up when the name Scott Summers is mentioned, especially if those fans grew up watching X-Men: The Animated Series Saturday morning cartoon and reading the comics running concurrently with it. Yes, the yellow belts and briefs with pouches presumably containing several replacement ruby quartz sunglasses(?) may be outdated by today’s standards, but this look make Summers look simply rad.
3 STORM
A high contrast color scheme (or even a practical one) doesn’t always make for the best character design. Sometimes, to really make their mark, a superhero outfit just has to be stark in comparison to those belonging to the other characters around them. This is what makes Storm’s brilliant white costume from the ‘90s so iconic. Her flowing silver and ivory hair, which had been a staple of the character since her iteration (Mohawk or not), seeping down into her wardrobe make her stand out on every panel she graced. While at times, Storm was drawn with the same outfit but with a more silver hue the flash of lighting that was Ororo Munroe was brilliant.
Nostalgia plays a huge factor in making this version of Storm so important. The white outfit and big hair was what Ororo sported in Fox’s X-Men: the Animated Series, which was a watershed moment for the franchise that earned tons of new, young fans. Now this isn’t to say that what Storm wears now in the comics is bad. In fact, she is one of the few X-Men characters who pretty much always looks great all the time. It’s just that this version of the weather goddess mutant holds a special place in our hearts unlike any other.
2 WOLVERINE
From cool, black tactical gear from his Weapon X days to a questionable ensemble that was accessorized with an over-the-head bandana thing, Wolverine had undergone a slew of costume changes during the ‘90s. He entered the decade wearing the classic brown and orange outfit that was made popular during the Chris Claremont-penned era of Uncanny X-Men by uber-talented artists like Arthur Adams, John Romita Jr., and Jim Lee. Soon after the release of the adjective-less comic series X-Men #1 in 1991 (a comic that is still the best selling single issue of all-time) Wolverine slipped back into something a little more comfortable…well, maybe not more comfortable, but definitely something pretty familiar.
Wolverine got back to his classic(er) yellow and blue outfit that many fans first saw in Giant-Sized X-Men #1.
The origins of the costumes color scheme and black accents can be traced by to Wolverine’s first full appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181. The version that he wore for most of the ‘90s was far more angular with huge black “ears” on the mask and larger-than-life shoulder pads (a hallmark of ‘90s X-Men outfits). The classic yellow and blue getup would prove itself the most timeless of all of Wolverine’s costumes as even in recent years (when Logan’s not dead and all) versions of the outfit keep showing up.
1 ROGUE
Considering Rogue’s inability to engage in any sort of prolonged physical contact is one of the more devastating side effects from any X-Man’s mutant ability, it is easy to cut her a little bit of slack when it comes to how she dresses. If she ran around in the Charlie Day’s “Green Man” outfit from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it would be one hundred percent understandable. Rogue certainly has a heavy dose of angst when it comes to her inability to feel like she can truly come close to others, but up until recently, this dark cloud has never permanently manifested as an aesthetic attribute.
To be fair, the current Rogue costume is awesome. The dark green and shock of white, which matches her hair, give her a not-to-be-messed-with look, and the hood of the outfit really illustrated the divide she feels between herself and everyone else. With that being said, the bright neon yellow and green bodysuit she wore during the ‘90s really accentuated her Southern Belle charm and surprisingly sunny disposition. Topped off with a ridiculously small leather jacket and some unnecessary belts (seriously, that thing does not have any loops), this outfit makes Rogue stand out. Even her very late ‘80s/early ‘90s Aqua Net-doused hair put a smile on our faces. Hooded, Emo Rogue is fine and all, but we miss the old Rogue, the sweet, down home, Rogue.