Marvel Comics started the 1990s as the leading publisher of superhero comics, but quickly faced serious challenges. While the late 1980s saw Marvel highlighting popular artists, the early 90s became more focused on flashy artwork than strong storytelling. This proved problematic when those key artists moved on, and a new competitor, Image Comics, emerged. Both companies then tried to outdo each other with increasingly over-the-top content, with Marvel often imitating Image’s style. The decade was certainly full of creative experimentation, though not all of it resulted in successful comics.
The 1990s weren’t a great time for comics, and Marvel was a big part of that. The publisher created a lot of characters that are now considered embarrassing, yet somehow, some of them became really popular. These five Marvel characters perfectly represent the awkward, over-the-top style of the ’90s, and explain why that era is often made fun of.
5) Nightwatch
Spawn was a defining character of the 1990s, and its success helped Image Comics quickly become a major player in the comic book industry. Copying popular character designs wasn’t new to superhero comics, but it became particularly noticeable with Image Comics, as many of their characters were clearly inspired by Marvel heroes. Marvel even participated in this trend after Image’s launch. Nightwatch is a prime example of this; the character’s design was intentionally made to look very similar to Spawn, almost as if it was designed to trick parents buying comics for children who wanted Spawn. The character is widely considered embarrassing and derivative.
4) Deathcry
The Avengers struggled in the 1990s. The X-Men were much more popular, so Marvel tried to boost the Avengers’ comics by borrowing ideas from the X-Men. Deathcry was one of those attempts. She was a Shi’Ar warrior who came to Earth, but instead of being based on birds like most Shi’Ar characters, she was designed like the X-Force member Feral. She was portrayed as fierce and aggressive, using her claws in battle. Essentially, she was a derivative character with little originality. Although artist Steve Epting drew her beautifully, she ultimately came across as awkward and uninspired.
3) Feral
I always thought Wolfsbane was a really cool character when the New Mutants first came out – a girl who could turn into a wolf! It was a shame when she left the team, and even stranger when it seemed like she was almost going to join X-Force. That’s when they created Feral, and honestly, I never quite understood her. She was basically a more aggressive, cat-like version of Wolfsbane, but all she seemed to do was cause trouble and follow Cable’s commands. She was just… unpleasant, to put it mildly! And it felt like she was trying too hard to be edgy. Sadly, she didn’t really stick around, and eventually met a pretty grim end at the hands of Sabretooth. She just felt like a copy of Wolfsbane, and not a very good one, if I’m being honest.
2) Stryfe
Honestly, this list could have easily been filled with characters created by Rob Liefeld. Stryfe perfectly embodies Liefeld’s style – flashy and attention-grabbing, but ultimately illogical. He’s a collection of tired tropes: a clone of Cable from a dystopian future determined to ensure that future comes to pass and eliminate his original self. Stryfe represents everything that was problematic about X-Men comics in the 90s, a character who somehow became popular despite being remarkably uninspired. While he’s outlived that era, Stryfe remains a cringeworthy character, and it’s still baffling how well-known he became.
1) Adam-X the X-Treme
Adam-X is the quintessential ’90s X-Men character, despite not being created by Rob Liefeld himself. He embodies the era’s extreme aesthetic – think X Games, flowing hair, and a backwards baseball cap. His powers were equally over-the-top, allowing him to superheat his opponents’ blood – a classic Liefeld touch. There was talk of making him a third Summers brother, but Marvel wisely decided against it. Ultimately, Adam-X perfectly represents a bygone era of comics.
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2025-11-09 04:40