As an editor, Louise Simonson (center) helped launch the X-Men spin-off The New Mutants. As a writer, she went on to co-create Cable, one of the most popular characters of the 1990s, in the pages of The New Mutants.

When and What She Did at Timely/Atlas/Marvel: Editor from 1981 to 1983, then a writer from 1984 until 1991.

Marvel-ous Accomplishments: When people talk about the success of the X-Men franchise in the 1980s, Simonson is someone who was a crucial part of that but doesn’t get the credit she deserves.
As editor on Uncanny X-Men, she started at the tail end of the Claremont-Byrne collaboration and built on its momentum, launching the title’s first spin-off, The New Mutants, in 1982.
Simonson then contributed to the X-Men universe as a writer, co-creating the evil mutant Apocalypse (the Big Bad in the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse film) and Cable.
Besides her X-Men-related work, Simonson, along with artist June Brigman, created the much-loved, all-ages title Power Pack, a series that was popular in the ‘80s in a way that Marvel hasn’t been able to replicate.