21 – BANSHEE

Subject: Banshee
Real Name: Sean Cassidy
Height: 6′ Weight: 170 lbs.
Group Affiliation: X-Men
First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #28, 1967

Power Ratings:

• Energy Projection: 4/7
• Mental Powers: 2/7
• Strength: 2/7
• Fighting Ability: 4/7
• Intelligence: 2/7

Not that he was ever given much to do ever since he went from bad to good in his first appearances in the 60′s (see above), but I always thought Banshee was an interesting enough character who repeatedly got shortchanged… delegated to being a Kato-Kaelin-style permanent houseguest in the X-Mansion. At least, I guess, by not being a particularly active member of the team, he wasn’t subject to too many expressions of indignity.

Moreover, Banshee wears the X-Costume variety I liked the most; it was a modern take on the original X-Men yellow and blue tights, and silly legstraps aside, they looked both badass and unified. The rest of the team only got to wear these costumes briefly in the early 90′s at the tail end of X-Tinction Agenda, when the disparate fragments of the X-Family reunited. I was disappointed to see them ditch the threads soon after.

Jim Lee’s art gives Bansee more action in his card than he was getting at the time, though if you didn’t know what his powers were before seeing his card (and I guess if you didn’t know what a Banshee was), you’d think all he could do was fly… which, by this point in mutant history, was no great shakes.
His power ratings seem decent enough, though a 4 for Fighting Ability seems high, especially for someone who’d been out of commission for so long… I guess in hindsight I remember him being some sort of Interpol Agent, so he probably had decent combat training. I mean, look at the headshot in the back of the card… that’s the Irish James Bond, right there.