Greatest Comic Book Characters

micayla

It's possible that this topic has come up before, sorry mods if that's the case, but on recently (in the last half hour) browsing the Empire magazine website I found an article on the 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters and was a little surprised at the results.

Article link: http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/default.asp?c=50

As I was reading backwards from 50 I figured I knew who'd be Number 1, it had to be Batman but Superman pipped him to the post. Included in the article is an option to vote the character into a higher or lower position and most Empire readers disagreed with the conclusion that Superman is number one. This, along with the placing of a few other characters, The Saint of Killers, Jesse Custer, Rorschach, Death and Dream got me wondering as to what characters the nerds among the nocturnals would have in their list of great comic book characters.

To get us started off my Top Ten:

1) Batman
2) The Joker - from The Killing Joke though as I think that's the best incarnation of the character.
3) Rorschach
4) Jesse Custer
5) The Saint of Killers
6) John Constantine
7) Dream (The Sandman)
8) Death (from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman)
9) Lucifer
10) Bigby Wolf

Links234

not a bad top 50 to tell the truth, nice to see some of my favourites there pity there was no Lucifer of course

I don't think I could make a list though. I'd be agonizing over who'd be in what place

probably Spider Jerusalem at #1 though

micayla

Links234 wrote: »

not a bad top 50 to tell the truth, nice to see some of my favourites there pity there was no Lucifer of course

I don't think I could make a list though. I'd be agonizing over who'd be in what place

probably Spider Jerusalem at #1 though

I'm like that with movies. I can NEVER pick a favourite movie, there are just too many good ones out there! The list is good, but some of the placings were a bit off imo. It also hit me how the readers preferred Batman over Superman.

jimbob86

Billy wizz from the beano is 1 sick dope ass homeboy

Doctor DooM

Optimus Prime was a comic book character first.


Just putting that out there.

cyberwolf77

No real order:
Spider-Man
Deadpool
Moon Knight
Spider Jerusalem
Green Arrow(Ollie, not Conor)
Bigby Wolf
Punisher

Otis Driftwood

I was never really big into comic books however my personal favourites from my younger days were.

The Punisher - such a bad ass with the coolest clothes ever.

Judge Dredd - what can you say about the Judge,just a fookin leg-end.

Slaine - Bit of a rip of Conan The Barbarian but I loved the art work none the less.

Delirium

Most of mine would be Marvel characters as they were the only comics I could get my hands on.

Spiderman - Mainly because I actually was given comics by my uncle and I had Spiderman comics from issue #1. So lots of Spidey in high school and fighting crime. Which is great as a kid going to school where imagination isn't given any exercise on an average day.

Dr.Strange, Silver Surfer and Thor - These guys get grouped together because they were comics that had an abundance of different realms and realities. I mean Dr.Strange travelled the dream realm and fought Nightmare. Thor fought Frost giants and had quests in the underworld/Hell.

Hulk - I was really drawn to the 'Frankensteins monster' type of theme of the early comics, where it was the average person who was showing intolerance and hatred towards something they didn't understand.

Shang Chi - just loved the idea of this expert of martial arts who did his best to avoid conflict and had a father who was a criminal master.

Shall have a think to see if I can add any more to the list.

micayla

Spiderman and Deadpool are definitely my favourite superheroes, it's a pity the films couldn't portray them all that well, hopefully the new Spiderman movie will bring in some of the witticisms.

FewFew

Hmmmm....

Bigby Wolf
Deadpool
Wolverine
Batman
Jesse Custer

Tough one to fill that final spot. At least half of the comics I own are Spider-man, but there's just something stopping him from claiming a spot in my top five.

Maybe number 5 goes to Mondo, and I've no real idea why. Maybe massively powerful character who's completely laid back.

EDIT: Actually Mondo is a silly choice and though I might like the character, when I left the marvel universe he had made little impact. Mondo cancelled.

EDIT 2 : Custer is in, I like his attitude and that he doesn't always rely on his powers.

Links234

Hellboy would have to be on my list somewhere too

Handsome Bob

1) Batman - Gordon's speech at the end of TDK sums up my feelings towards this character,

2) Captain America - He does what he feels is right, and not just what he's meant to think what's right, that sets him apart from the likes of Spidey and Superman for me.

3) Galactus - Epic villain is epic.

4) Mr Sinister - I just like this character in general, from his look (616!) to his ideals (not that I agree with his ideals, rather that they just lead to fascinating storylines).

5) Superman - He's been criticised for his blandness, but I love his blandness, more specifically his normality and sensible behaviour. I am Superman, but just without the powers.

6) The Joker - It ain't a classic Batman arc if The Joker isn't present. Brian Azarello's (sp?) story is just the perfect Joker story.

7) Venom - Love the whole concept of the symbiote. The 90s animated series is a perfect intro to the character.

8) The Hulk - For anyone who has read World War Hulk, how could you NOT have him in your Top 10?

9) Loki - Can achieve maximum damage without even having to lift a finger. Classic villain.

10) Thor - It's not an epic battle without Thor!

FewFew

Must say I don't agree with much of Empire's list.

BaconZombie

Don't forget Wolverine...

Links234 wrote: »

Hellboy would have to be on my list somewhere too

Always thought Kano from 2000AD's Bad Company was cool:

FewFew

Wow, 2000AD actually schools the crap out of loads of American comics now that I think about it, generally with far more realistic characters with far more depth. This thread is reminding me of some real classics.

Delirium

Now that I think of it, I discovered Vertigo comics via 2000AD due to them printing Preacher as part of their weekly mag.

FewFew

koth wrote: »

Now that I think of it, I discovered Vertigo comics via 2000AD due to them printing Preacher as part of their weekly mag.

They used to have another preacher type guy... I wonder was he called The Preacher... or maybe Missionary Man or something. I remember him as being a wild west preacher type, but looked like the Saint of Killers.

I know he existed in the same world as Judge Dredd I think.

Delirium

Fewcifur wrote: »

They used to have another preacher type guy... I wonder was he called The Preacher... or maybe Missionary Man or something. I remember him as being a wild west preacher type, but looked like the Saint of Killers.

I know he existed in the same world as Judge Dredd I think.

you be right;)



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionary_Man_(comics)

FewFew

Thanks Koth! He was a great aul character, but 2000AD had so many great characters. I really enjoyed Nemesis and America and so many more. Gah! Time to raid my comic stash next time I'm back in my parents' house!

micayla

I never got into 2000AD, does it still print?:o I got into comics when I was in college and gravitated towards grpahic novels or collected volumes, but looking at Empire's List and the characters you guys are chatting about I seem to have missed out on some great stuff. Dark Horse and Vetrigo print some great stuff.

FewFew

micayla wrote: »

I never got into 2000AD, does it still print?:o I got into comics when I was in college and gravitated towards grpahic novels or collected volumes, but looking at Empire's List and the characters you guys are chatting about I seem to have missed out on some great stuff. Dark Horse and Vetrigo print some great stuff.

I assume it must still be in print, it was really really good. Really showed me that there was more to comics than just superheroes.
Most of my comics were collected reprints of classics, they used to print a monthly comic where they collected a legendary story and gave it a full colour top up, we're talking every page looking as amazing as some of those once off covers that Marvel occasionally stick in comics, each page was a delightful work of art.
Classic characters like Nemesis, Finn, Slaine, Chopper, America, Rogue Trooper, Judge Dredd... all had pretty great storylines and people died all the time. There was no A-Team-esque lucky escapes, if you got shot you got shot.

I guess one of the best ways to look at 2000AD is to compare English and American sitcoms, it's a pretty similar comparison.

micayla

Fewcifur wrote: »

I assume it must still be in print, it was really really good. Really showed me that there was more to comics than just superheroes.
Most of my comics were collected reprints of classics, they used to print a monthly comic where they collected a legendary story and gave it a full colour top up, we're talking every page looking as amazing as some of those once off covers that Marvel occasionally stick in comics, each page was a delightful work of art.
Classic characters like Nemesis, Finn, Slaine, Chopper, America, Rogue Trooper, Judge Dredd... all had pretty great storylines and people died all the time. There was no A-Team-esque lucky escapes, if you got shot you got shot.

I guess one of the best ways to look at 2000AD is to compare English and American sitcoms, it's a pretty similar comparison.

I'll look onto it. I often find the British writers, Moore and Gaiman as two examples are better than the Americans.

cyberwolf77

American writers: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

micayla

cyberwolf77 wrote: »

American writers: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Touche:p

FewFew

cyberwolf77 wrote: »

American writers: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Meh... to be honest. Well obviously not a complete meh, but that's the tights and capes brigade, which I do enjoy, but still as writers I wouldn't put them in the same sentence as Gaiman. Just look at American Gods... mind kablamo.

Delirium

Plenty of writers on both sides of the pond writing good stuff.

Look at Brian Wood (American) and his DMZ series for great writing from an American in a non-tights and cape comic.

FewFew

koth wrote: »

Plenty of writers on both sides of the pond writing good stuff.

Look at Brian Wood (American) and his DMZ series for great writing from an American in a non-tights and cape comic.

Yeah, ah sure even some of the Marvel writers do some very very good work, I think what got me onto this was trying to sum up the difference between 2000AD and similarly iconic American brands, it's pretty much UK The Office vs US The Office

Delirium

Fewcifur wrote: »

Yeah, ah sure even some of the Marvel writers do some very very good work, I think what got me onto this was trying to sum up the difference between 2000AD and similarly iconic American brands, it's pretty much UK The Office vs US The Office

I don't think 2000AD would have an American equivalent at least not as a mainstream comic. It has usually 5 strips, whereas all the American comics tend to be a single story.

But if such a comic does exist, I'd be really curious to see what it's like.