I like Bishop but confess that because of the guns it was a while before I understood what his power actually was. Same with Cable.
Regarding Spyke and skateboards. From the Jay and Miles X-Men site: this letter from Dwayne McDuffie, an African-American comic writer, is a 100% satirical take on the black teens on skateboards thing, and it was written 12 years before X-Men Evolution aired.