Top 12 Avengers-Number 9

Janet Van Dyne was a wealthy socialite with no real concerns on her mind until the day her father, a scientist, was killed. She then teamed up with Henry Pym, the scientist and hero known at the time as Ant Man. Hank used his Pym particles to allow Janet to shrink in size, and sprout wings from her back when she was at wasp size. She could also shoot energy blasts called 'wasp stings.'

In her early career, Jan was a bit of a flake. In the one TPB I read recently, she made a comment about wishing she could "contribute like the boys" or some such nonsense at least three times in the ten issues, and she wan't part of all of the stories.

Fortunately, Jan got over that attitude, as well as her marriage to Hank. They were married for quite a while after Hank got his head out of the clouds, and realized she actually liked him, but the marriage ended when, under pressures to be stronger, faster, better, he finally cracked under the pressure of the super hero life. (This pressure influenced him to led him to try Goliath, and Yellowjacket personas, as well as the creation of Ultron.)

My real experience with Jan was the time frame when she was the Chairperson of the East Coast branch of the team. At first it could be said that she only held the role because she was one of the founding members of the team, but she quickly became the leader that the team needed, and worked hard to make their adventures worth the money for the comic book. She worked hard to improve herself while still shopping and having make overs with the girls whenever she could find the time.

One of her most impressive feats was pushing her ability to become the Wasp by reducing the amount she had to shrink in order to gain use of her wings and stings. She actually reached the point where she could be almost at her full height which made her a very fierce woman with whom to tangle.

With or without the team, she has faced some of the biggest names in the Marvel universe including, the Hulk, Hercules, and she even held her own for a while against the Absorbing Man.

Just because she's small and a bit flaky at times, doesn't mean you should count out the Wasp.

Top 12 Avengers-Number 10

This one also has to be a combo job. This pair of pals probably would have been higher on the list, but I never really saw much of them, however, Beast and Wonder Man make a pretty enjoyable combination.

Beast and Wonder Man

Although he is a genius that will quote whatever obscure thinker you want to mention, the Beast is still a zany guy at heart. That may have to do with his roots as one of the original X-men. Beast and Iceman were often playing jokes or trying to use humor to lighten the dark situations those youngsters faced. When the original team was rescued from ? the Living Island by a new batch of recruits, everyone had to make a decision about what the future would hold.

Beast decided that since he had graduated from the Xavier Institute that he would move on from the X-men. He started off doing research with the Brand corporation until an experiment with a hormonal extract further mutates his body turning him into a blue ball of fur. He would be the funny man on a number of different teams, but one of the most-remembered teams was the Avengers. That is where he met and developed a wonderful bond with Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man

Simon Williams started his career as a villain trying to gain revenge on Tony Stark for the loss of William's family business as makers of weapons. After losing his business, Williams tried embezzling money. After he is caught and goes to jail, he agrees to be part of an experiment to turn him into a super being with ion-based powers.

Unfortunately for Simon, his early attempts at villainy ended in death. This led to some complications when it turned out that he wasn't really dead, just waiting for his body to adjust to its new ionic powers. After waking up, Simon joined with the Avengers and became a regular with the team. There was also another complication because while Simon was comatose, his brain patterns were used to give the android, Vision, a personality. This personality fell in love with the Scarlet Witch, which is exactly what happened with Wonder Man when he woke up. (However, at that point Vision and Wanda were already married.)

Anyway, Wonder Man and the Beast were on the Avengers together. They fought all kinds of evil during that time. However, what makes them most memorable, and gets them a spot on this list is the way they did it. There are lots of antics and some hearty banter as well.

Top Twelve X-men-Number 1

Before we get to the number one pick, lets take a moment to look over the list:

Number 12-Cannonball

Number 11-Beast

Number 10-Magneto/Joseph

Number 9-Rogue

Number 8-Gambit

Number 7-Nightcrawler

Number 6-Colossus

Number 5-Shadowcat

Number 4-Storm

Number 3-Wolverine

Number 2-Cyclops

Jean Grey/Pheonix

Before I get started, I need to remind you exactly what this list is here to express. This is not just a list of my favorite X-men, it is also about the contribution the character makes to the story of the X-men, and the Marvel universe. While Jean may not be my favorite character, there is no denying that she is the most important person involved with the team.

Jean discovered her telepathic powers when her best friend was killed in a car accident. Jean shared her friends death and basically shut herself off from the world. Worrying about their daughter, Jean's parents contacted their friend, Charles Xavier. Being a telepath himself, Professor X was able to block off Jean's telepathic abilities to help her maintain her sanity.

Although she was Xavier's first student, she was the last addition to his X-men. She made a big impression on the boys, and quickly earned their respect. Her powers were an important part of keeping the team alive and winning battles.

As with all of the X-men, Jean's powers grew over time. She also began to be involved with Cyclops. Jean took the code name Marvel Girl. (More accurately, it was handed to her by Professor X.) After 'graduation,' the team shifted from the school uniform to something a little flashier. After the expansion of the team with the addition of the new X-men, Jean decided to stay with Scott and the ream. This led to the biggest event in Jean's story.

The X-men had borrowed a space shuttle to battle Magneto on his asteroid base. The team was fleeing, but the systems were pretty much shot, and they were flying into a radiation storm. Someone had to pilot the vessel, and after knocking out Scott, Jean was the one for the job. She used her reawakened telepathy to learn how to fly the shuttle and, after locking her teammates in protective cells, flew the shuttle with only her telekinetic shield as protection.

After crashing in the bay, Jean emerged from the water declaring herself to be Phoenix. Over time, Jean showed a massive increase in power. she could rearrange the molecules of her clothes, stop Scott's eye beams from leaving his eyes, and even travel through space. It was later revealed that during those final, desperate moments, Jean had connected with the galactic force known as the Phoenix force. It was feared throughout the universe, and with good reason.

As the Phoenix, Jean (actually the Phoenix Force using her form while the real Jean was in a healing cocoon at the bottom of the bay) helped to save the universe by healing the fractured M'kran crystal.

Things started to get complicated for Jean when the X-men had supposedly been killed by the destruction of Magneto's underground base. (They got away, but were out of contact for a long time.) During that absence, Matermind was using his illusion powers teamed with the Hellfire Club's White Queen, to corrupt her mind. She had illusions of living another life where Mastermind was her husband. When the X-men battled the Hellfire Club, Jean was revealed to be the new Black Queen of the organization. In the struggle to free Jean's mind, a hunger was unlocked and after the battle, Jean took off into space.


Overwhelmed by a hunger from the Phoenix force, Jean flew off to an alien sun and destroyed it, killing the population of an entire world. The Shi'ar empire threatened to kill Jean, but Professor X suggested that they try to contain the power of the Phoenix force. They were not able to make this work, so Jean was sentenced to death. Facing Jean's destruction to protect the universe, the X-men faced the Shi'ar Impreial Guards in a battle on the moon. Jean's personality surfaced enough to activate a laser in the battle area that killed her.

Later, Jean emerged from her cocoon and the original X-men were reunited to form X-factor. During her absence, Scott had married a woman named Madelyne Pryor, who was actually a clone of Jean. This clone ended up becoming the Goblin Queen during the Inferno storyline.

Jean is probably best known for her frequent deaths and resurrections. I'm not even sure how many times this storyline has been used, but currently she is dead, but who knows for how long.

Although Jean and Scott never had any children, they still have a family. Scott and Madelyne had a son, Nathan, who was whisked away into the future and became Cable. Also, in the Days of Future Past storyline, Scott and Jean had a daughter, Rachel, who had been kidnapped and turned into a mutant-hunting hound. She was later deprogrammed by the future X-men, and Rachel's connection to the Phoenix force was used to send Kitty back in time.

Due to a temporal anomaly, Rachel not only survived the change in the timeline when Senator Kelly was save, but she also found herself in the present. After joining with the X-men for protection, Rachel tapped into the power of Phoenix and used that power to fight with her friends.

Who knows what the future holds for Jean and the Phoenix Force, but personally I miss them both. Hopefully Jean will return soon.

PS I recently saw that something temporal happened and brought the original X-men from the past into the present. I'm not sure what that means for the team, but it looks interesting if nothing else.

Top 12 Avengers-Number 11

Justice and Firestar

I had to put these two together. Ever since they became a couple, it just seems like a natural combination to me. (I'll do the same thing a few other places as well.) Both of these characters have extremely detailed and complicated back stories, and it is only their lack of time with the Avengers that puts them so low on the list.

My first experience with Firestar was as a part of the television show Spiderman and his Amazing Friends. This was a Saturday morning cartoon that starred Spidey, Firestar, and Iceman. I'm not sure who came up with the team, but it was a fun show, and I really grew to appreciate all three of the characters.

Firestar has the power to generate microwaves and she uses them to create heat that allows her to fly and shoot heat blasts. She was originally brought in for Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and she was brought into the X-men comics to give a new mutant for Emma Frost and Professor X to fight over. In the end, neither one won, and Angelica went off on her own and wasn't really seen much.

A while later, Firestar was recruited by Night Thrasher to battle Terrax a former herald of Galactus. This is where her character managed to do a lot of developing, and form the relationship with Vance Astrovik who used to be called Marvel Boy, but switched to Justice.

Vance Astro was slated to be the biggest hero in history when he took off on a one-man flight to Centauri IV at sub-light speed. The journey took him close to 1000 years, and when he landed, he was greeted by a large human colony. It turns out that faster-than-light speed had been developed shortly after he stared on his historic flight so everyone was able to beat him there. Because of complications on the trip, Vance was trapped in his flight suit. Also, during the trip, Astro's latent telekenisis developed.

Afer arriving, Vance was abducted by the Badoon along with Yondu, a native of the planet. Most of the other inhabitants of the planet were wiped out. Taken to Earth, they encountered Charlie-27 who was born on Jupiter, and Martinex from Pluto. The four managed an escape and formed the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Later during their adventures, the Guardians went back in time, and Vance accidentally caused his younger self to develop his powers and thus creating a new reality. This other Vance is actually who we want to talk about.

Vance ran away from home because his new powers led his father to become abusive. Vance joined the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, an organization for wrestlers with super powers. After returning home, he applied to the Avengers, but was rejected. Vance jumped at the chance to found the New Warriors.

After the Warriors disbanded, Justice and Firestar joined the Avengers. He is currently working as a teacher for the New Avengers.

Technically, Vance and Angelica aren't together anymore. (Maybe they are though, Marvel can let threads like that drop from time to time.) However, I think they were always best when they were together. Hopefully someone at the Bullpen will sort that out some time soon.