So I think it depends what you want from the Iconics. These characters aren't designed to be super optimised for the number crunch, they're designed to teach new players how to play. This really changes how you look at what "optimised" means.
Amiri the Barbarian has some amazing flavour, and believe it or not her damage output is actually pretty good. At low levels she has a fairly low chance to hit (50-60% at level one vs average enemies), but she's likely to 1-shot almost anything she comes across even without Power Attack or Rage. She's the "Iconic" barbarian - she's reckless and unpredictable, but you really don't want to get hit by that sword.
Kyra the Cleric isn't optimised for combat, but she's got some decent buffing capabilities. She cast spells, she can channel and she can buff herself and mix it up in melee if needed. She's built to show off a few aspects of the class. The healing spells are included so that new players know what they do. The Healing domain isn't the strongest, but healing spells are a way to buff the party AFTER a mistake has been made (something very useful in a party of first-time players). Kyra's empowered cure spells make the in-combat healing useful enough to actually be worth an action. Sure Cure Light Wounds isn't going to cut it at for long, but when I last played a level 7 Kyra I cast Empowered Cure Critical Wounds (~37hp) on Amiri to keep her alive long enough to end the encounter. And if you're in an undead heavy module Kyra becomes a pretty serious damage dealer as well.
I don't have enough experience with most of them to comment, but those two at least are better than they get credit for. You have to be a bit clever about how you use them, but they're no what I'd call "anti-optimised".
I think the Harsk Ranger is probably the worst, simply because he uses a crossbow. The reason he uses it is that they comissioned the art long before they thought of giving the iconics stats. This is also why Valeros uses less than optimal weaponry. I don't know for sure, but I assume Valeros was also written before Gloves of Duelling were a thing (even if not, I only have stats for the Iconics uo to 7th level, and blowing 15,000gp on a set of gloves would be pretty crazy at that level).
After playing with a few in PFS games our group have a lot of love for Enora the arcanist, who is very well built, right down to having alchemical power components and a range of useful but niche spells to swap in with the relevant exploit.
Link to Iconics for reference. I have never bothered to use the Iconics so do not have a concrete opinion; as @MrCharisma has stated, they look like it depends on what you are looking for as they tend to lean towards a niche/theme.
The witch seems to be pretty well built.
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I've GMd for and played many of the iconics over the years. How the player plays the iconic can make a big difference. For example, iconic Kyra, the cleric, becomes much more formidable when played by an experienced player and able to rest, change out spell load, and acquire a 5gp longspear. Most PFS scenarios provide ZERO chance to change prepared spells or acquire a simple 5 gp weapon, but some do. E.g. The 7th level Kyra, if given rest time to change prepared spells, can load up on Summon Monster and Open Spell Slots, leading to a much more effective character.
Harsk is definitely at the bottom. Crossbows are just bad and he doesn't have Crossbow Mastery which means Harsk even at his level 12 version cannot full attack.
The Inquisitor Imrijka is probably one of the strongest non-full caster iconics followed by Damiel the Alchemist and Lem the Bard.
Do villains count? I read a thread on here somewhere saying that Baba Yaga was probably the single most powerful NPC in canon.
Anti-optimized:
Barbarian: The improperly sized sword is not worth it.
If Amiri is under-optimatized, it's not for reasons of the oversized sword (whose additional damage at expense of a feat and attack penalty are more or less similar to Power Attack, which she also has). It works well when team-tactics are considered, such as when the wizard has slipped someone in Grease, and they're just laying there prone at AC-4 begging for a kitchen-sink attack + repeat AoO if they foolishly try to stand up.
Where Amiri is suboptimal is stats (she's a human with 10s in both Int and Cha that are robbing point-buy from her more important stats, such as her poor Dex stuck at 13 -- yeah, she'll be roasting the cleric dry every encounter), skill allocation (4 useless points into Handle Animal when she doesn't have a pet, while no points in Acrobatics), and gear (expensive-but-garbage shortbow instead of cheap javelins and a sling to put that strength bonus to work at range).