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There have been some amazing X-Men costumes, but not all of them are what you’d call “iconic”. Iconic costumes are the ones that everyone thinks about when they think of characters, and X-Men history has given readers lots of these. These ten X-Men costumes are the most iconic, looks that have gone down in comic history.
10) Magneto’s Classic Costume
Magneto is a complex character, his relationship with the team evolving over the decades. However, one thing that has never changed is how awesome his costumes are. Max Eisenhardt doesn’t mess when it comes to costumes, and his best is his original. This red and purple number, created by Jack Kirby and worked on by some of the best artists ever, is perfect. From the helmet to the flowing cape to the colors, it’s a masterpiece.
9) Original Jubilee
Jubilee was a favorite of ’90s fans, and she was given an amazing costume right from the beginning. She was created to be a late ’80s mallrat, and artist Marc Silvestri gave her a costume that had that feel. The colors were awesome, her big ’80s glasses were perfect, and the whole thing told you everything you needed to know about the character just by looking at her. This costume was the one that she wore on X-Men: The Animated Series, and fans still love it to this day, with her current costume based on it (full disclosure: her Generation X costume is pretty awesome, too; she’s never had a bad costume).
8) Original Archangel Costume
Archangel was a founding X-Man, but he was never a popular one. However, he has had some pretty great costumes over the years, but the most iconic is his first Archangel costume. This blue and purple number was created by Walt Simonson and was perfect. It didn’t look like what he wore before, and it had an edge to it. He’d leave the skull mask behind after returning to X-Factor and defeating his Horseman of Apocalypse programming, and what was left would be his main costume for years, until he went back to the blue and white Angel costume in the mid ’90s. However, he always comes back to costumes that use this one as the basis, showing how iconic it is.
7) ’90 Yellow and Blue Costumes
The X-Men ruled the ’90s on the back of their amazing art. Costumes changed a lot for some characters in the early years of the decade, and eventually, artist Jim Lee gave them a new team costume. These yellow and blue numbers were based on the classic costumes from the Silver Age, but modernized. The team looked fantastic in these costumes, and they’d become the basis for any team costumes that have come after them. The cover to Uncanny X-Men #375 shows them off in all of their glory, and they’ll always be iconic.
6) The Original Gambit Costume
Gambit quickly rose to the top of the X-Men, becoming one of the most popular characters in the book. His Jim Lee-designed costume was a huge part of that. To begin with, it gave us the “Jim Lee head sock” look that fans love and many artists have copied (technically, he copied it from Firestorm, but who’s counting?). The trench coat acts a lot like a cape, allowing artists to show how kinetic Remy’s movements are. The colors are gorgeous, and the design choices make it eye-grabbing. This costume is so good that he keeps going back to ones just like it, if not exactly like it, showing just how iconic it is.
