With the announcement last week that Kitty Pryde and Colossus will be getting married in an upcoming issue of X-Men Gold, it seems like a good time for some background on one of Marvel’s most powerful mutants. Yes, I’m talking about Kitty, not Colossus. Because she was pretty much a kid when she first joined the X-Men, she hasn’t always been given a fair shake as the formidable character she is. 

Kitty’s mutant abilities are based in intangibility – she can “phase” through objects and, by touch, make objects and other people intangible. She also has the ability to levitate and disrupt electrical fields she passes through. Throughout her history, she has used these powers in some very interesting and unexpected ways, including phasing out of the rotation of the Earth for instantaneous travel. And, of course, her powers have increased over time as well.

One of the more interesting aspects of Kitty, however, is that she doesn’t just rely on mutant abilities. She is a technology and computer science genius, a skilled pilot, trained in hand to hand combat and speaks six Earth languages plus two alien ones. Oh, and she also has a pet dragon named Lockheed with whom she shares a telepathic connection.

So if you’re into mutants or X-Men and don’t know much about Kitty Pride… get on it! Her first appearance was in Uncanny X-Men 129 in 1980, so there’s a lot to catch up on. And her relationship with Colossus is one of the longstanding ones in comics, so there’s plenty to read about in preparation for the upcoming nuptials.