Discussion Question: who is your all-time favorite superhero and why?
Added 2015-02-03 21:31:52 +0000 UTCThis is more off-beat for Dresden Codak, but I have my reasons! Who's your favorite superhero? For me, my favorite comic growing up was Thor, but if I'm just going by the character, my all-time favorite is Spider-Man. I feel like he's the ultimate mastery of the traditional superhero concept- they took the Superman/Batman trope and turned it on its head to make it more about the person and how he's affected by the simple fact of being extraordinary. Even though DC's characters are more iconic, I think Spider-Man has actually been the template for the modern superhero for decades. I also think Spider-Man is the perfect balance of the mopey "comics are drama" and the more exciting "comics are fun." After all, his girlfriend was tragically murdered by someone named the Green Goblin.
Comments
spider jerusalem
Brian Richard Pauw
2015-02-12 12:37:19 +0000 UTCKelly Sue Deconnick's Captain Marvel. She's the first superhero I actually cared about as a character. She's also the first superhero I ever actually read in comic form. The Marvel movies are great, but I don't care about any of the heroes that much. It blew my mind when I read the current Hawkeye comics and realised he could actually be an interesting character.
Philip Baylas
2015-02-06 12:27:38 +0000 UTCNever really picked up on comic books other than Donald Duck, but if you would allow me to pick Aang from Avatar The last airbender you'd have my choice. He's a good hearted and lovable boy and his powers aren't as OP as for instance Superman; It makes his (and his companions) struggles more beliveable and interesting. Especially since the elements offer this kind of rock, paper, scissors sort of logic, which also allows for him to actualy be an important target for the fire nation in the series Also his clothes are pretty cool too;)
Rikard Neckarski
2015-02-04 16:27:05 +0000 UTCI think for "all-time favorite," it'd have to be something I discovered in my teens, because that's when superheroes mean the most. So for me that'd be Alita from Battle Angel Alita. I guess it was because she was vulnerable like I was, and simultaneously badass like I wished I was.
Mark Wisniewski
2015-02-04 05:39:40 +0000 UTCSpiderman's definitely a favourite for a lot of the same reasons you outline-- I also liked Deadpool for his unique 4th wall breaking perspective and general silliness. Batman's up there too for being able to go toe-to-toe with super-powered individuals using perfect planning. I like aspects of Rorschach from Watchmen too, because despite the fact that he's a terrible person his sense of justice is kind of wonderfully uncompromising. Big Daddy from Kickass (the comic-- not Nicholas Cage), was also interesting in that his motivation for becoming a hero was so perfectly strange. Overall though I'd say it really depends on the series that you're reading, I loved the first few comics from the Ultimate reboot of Fantastic Four, and in general the Ultimate universe (including Spiderman, the Avengers and X-Men was pretty great). For example-- the arc with Thor where Loki convinces everyone that Thor is a mental patient who stole some SHIELD tech which acts as the source of his power was amazing, and made Thor a much more complex character (is he a crazy person who believes he's a Norse who's hallucinating his evil brother? We are left to wonder). And obviously Kimiko Ross too.
Animadversion
2015-02-04 04:23:44 +0000 UTCI will always Love Jenny Sparks (all The Authority characters really) . I adore the way Warren Ellis writes.
Dragonhide Studios
2015-02-04 00:31:01 +0000 UTCAmbush Bug, because like me he can make any situation surreal by acknowledging that it's all just a comic book.
Paul Lenoue
2015-02-03 23:34:40 +0000 UTCI grew up on webcomics, so I never got into marvel/DC to begin with, so I'll go with "Atomic Robo" as probably the most superhero-type I [re]read regularly.
BearPerson
2015-02-03 23:20:08 +0000 UTCBatman. Not the rubbish Batmans though, because there are an awful lot of those. The Batman I grew up with was the DCAU one, and that's always been my favourite. There's one Justice League episode (it's a two parter, but they all were in that series) which I think shows him at his best, and that's "Maid of Honour". In particular it has a bit where he realises he's out of his help and calls for backup. And I love that because he's meant to be a master strategist, and a master strategist should know when they need help if they're going to win. Too many people forget that when writing Batman.
PRodger
2015-02-03 22:58:11 +0000 UTCHard to say, considering what subjectively defines superhero. Also a tendency to be more interested in the overall story than the character themselves--there are plenty of great story arcs for superheroes, and plenty of terrible stories for the same superheroes. I suppose I'm more prompted to explain and explore why I'm not that interested in superheroes as a general rule of thumb, but that gets away from the original question. I suppose for a conventional superhero of an ongoing series, I'd pick Spiderman for the same reasons--humor, struggles one can relate to, fun villains, etc. Perhaps part of it has to do with being able to identify with a younger character, and the fact that I grew up with the Spiderman comics (the rest were old Looney Tunes comics, Hot Stuff, Richie Rich). Does Rorschach count, or is he considered an anti-hero? Or Evey Hammond, or V? Death would be my top pick, but she is only as much a hero as a living thing chooses to interpret her...
T. L. Howl
2015-02-03 22:56:24 +0000 UTCNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Why? Because of what she accomplished, how and why. I guess it comes down to your value system, and what you consider "heroic". "Superheroes" who go around beating people up are not on my list.
Doug Moen
2015-02-03 22:51:15 +0000 UTCIf we're talking about traditional western-style superheroes I would choose either Spider-man or Animal Man. If we stretch the definition a bit my choice must be Usagi Yojimbo.
Daniel Yokomizo
2015-02-03 22:43:53 +0000 UTCApplesauce! I forgot Robo!
Pitchfork Cosplay
2015-02-03 22:42:20 +0000 UTCI’m not sure I have a particular favorite superhero. There are excellent superhero titles like Alan Moore’s runs on Swamp Thing and Miracleman and Top 10, Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol, Peter David's run on The Incredible Hulk, but the things that I like about them are the stories rather than a particular character.
Max Kaehn
2015-02-03 22:35:52 +0000 UTCI never got to read a lot of comics while growing up, but it would be either Iron Man or Green Lantern. I liked the way the writers were able to leverage the stories to also include things they were obviously passionate about, such as advanced military hardware concepts (e.g stealth, rail-guns) and physics/metaphysics. If either of those had had the same quality of villains as say Batman got, they would have been unstoppable franchises. Oh well. I guess the lesson is be serious, but leave plenty of room for crazy. =)
Ned Gilmore
2015-02-03 22:33:28 +0000 UTCI had to think on this one. Much like Fletcher, I liked Wolverine and Nightcrawler growing up. But for me, I really like the heroes as a reflection of who and what they fight against, so it ends up being Batman. (Just don't tell my 12-year old self).
ruined
2015-02-03 22:03:44 +0000 UTCI never got into American-style comics, so it's hard to pick. The Major and Kimball Kinnison aren't really 'super', so I guess the closest would be Samurai Jack.
EdZ
2015-02-03 21:59:49 +0000 UTC"All-time" is really hard. Kalama Kahn as Ms. Marvel is pretty awesome. And Carol Danvers as written by DeConnick. Hawkeye (both of them) as written by Fraction. One of the problems with this question is that the characters can change so much depending on who's writing them. Apollo and The Midnighter are great sometimes and atrocious other times, depending on whether the writer could figure out what to do with them.
Ben Hamill
2015-02-03 21:55:38 +0000 UTCHe's not exactly a superhero, but for me the character I grew up with was old Stony Face himself, Joe Dredd. In my 20s it was Dream of the Endless. If you must press me on a superhero it would have to be either Unbeatable Squirrel Girl or perhaps Moon Roach from the Cerebus comics.
Jon Barker
2015-02-03 21:54:03 +0000 UTCSo I don't think I have an all time favorite. I got started reading super hero comics for Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Archangel. Visually they were all really compelling, with neat super powers. None of them are my favorite all time character now, and I'm not sure I have a favorite, or at least a favorite with a good reason behind it. I still love their powers. I've added Blink, Pixie, Emma Frost, and X-32 to that list over time, more for their personality and stories than their powers, somewhat. Moving from writer to writer no character stays exactly the same. And I've made a point of following Deadpool, but he is less a super hero character as he is a satire of one. I also haven't always liked how he is portrayed in every comic, and don't always find him as funny as I'd like.
Fletcher
2015-02-03 21:47:47 +0000 UTCArrgh. A tough (but fun) question. Let's see... There's too much that disagrees with me in Frank Miller's Dark Knight returns (least of all the hype), but that absolutely perfect moment near the end where an old man who "frankly doesn't give a damn" beats down the equivalent of God and then chooses to be the better man endears "Old Man" Batman to me quite a bit. As a kid I a soft spot for Thor and Beta Ray Bill (weirdly) though Dr. Doom from Emperor Doom always felt like a kind-of anti-hero to me that I absolutely adored (damn the Avengers for screwing it up!) As an adult, I'm probably going to brand myself some sort of indie nerd to say it but most of my favourites come from The Authority and Wildstorm. Midnighter (and to a lesser degree Apollo) absolutely connected with me on every comedic, action, and design (if not exactly artistic) level I could imagine.
Pitchfork Cosplay
2015-02-03 21:47:03 +0000 UTCHrm... I guess the only hero figure that I really enjoy is Spider Jerusalem. Utterly mad journalist and obsessed with getting the story.
Kommi
2015-02-03 21:44:36 +0000 UTCEither Atomic Robo from the comic of the same name, or the Revenant from PS238 (and originally from the short story "Peer Review" by Michael Stackpole).
Valerie Kaplan
2015-02-03 21:41:11 +0000 UTC
