Dumb 3rd Grade Topic Prompt: Favorite Superhero

My wife and I were talking about superheroes at the coffee shop today. She was outraged at the casting choice for Wonder Woman, which she felt deeply betrayed the character's appearance and spirit. Obviously Wonder Woman is her favorite superhero. Which got me thinking about my favorite superheroes.

1) Batman
For all the boring reasons everyone else thinks Batman is the best. No super strength. Dark past. Strong ethics in spite of it all, but constantly in an internal struggle. Best villians, yadda yadda.

2) Martian Manhunter
I love the Martian Manhunter. He's like an awesome version of Superman, interesting for many of the reasons Superman is boring. His past is much more interesting than Superman's---his wife and child were killed in a martian holocaust and he was a martian cop. Last member of his race. He came to earth as an ancient adult, slowly came to love the planet and decided to protect it. Alter ego is a hard bitten detective. Doesn't look anything like a human in his normal form, an alien in the real sense of the word. Weak against something normal, fire, so not as boringly invulnerable as Superman.

I'd have to think about a third one. Probably one of the X-men. Maybe professor X.

What are your top 2 or 3 favorite and why?

1. Superman

He's the man of Steel. He's virtually indestructible. He has laser beam eyes, but if he looks a little less intensely, he can see your titties through your blouse. PIMP.

2. ROM
He gave up his humanity to save his planet. He has a gun that shoots asses NOT to death, but rather, it locks them in a hellish world forever. EPIC. I'm big on giving up humanity, albeit simply to be inhuman, not to save anything.

3. Green Lantern
He's wearing a super ring. That's enough for me.

Batman is a superhero, eh? Owning cool shit qualifies.

If that's the case the only guy I followed with any regularity as a kid was Ironman. That would be my call. But -- if you want to go dark The Shadow is pretty damn cool as well.

But for a true superhuman I think I'd go with Superman. Originally just super-strong, he essentially co-opted every super ability that any other comic book introduced in the 30s. He can do anything.

S.

1. Iron Man (of course): He has the most practical superhero costume ever. He has cool technology. He is brilliant, charming, and rich, but risks his life all the time to fight crime and save the world. He bankrolls the Avengers, Earth's mightiest heroes. He continues to evolve as technology improves.

2. Ben Grimm, aka the Thing: Ben got changed into a monster by exposure to cosmic rays, but he is still a warm, friendly guy beneath his gruff, rocky exterior. Because his monstrous appearance makes it hard for him to fit in with regular people, he has turned his extroversion towards his fellow superheroes, hosting regular poker games and teaming up with everybody in sight. He enjoys exploring and encountering strange phenomena with the Fantastic Four, and he has had a long-term relationship with a wonderful woman who happens to be blind. He is also an obvious inspiration for another hero that I like: Hellboy.

I've always been a fan of Thor. Ever since I read about him as a kid I always thought he was bad ass. Basically he was a viking with mythical powers and hammer to do his bidding. As an eight year old nothing was cooler.

As I've gotten older I'm more into the weirder and less popular super heroes.

Hellboy

Ghost Rider

Dr. Strange

Spider-man: A similar background to Batman in that he witnesses his uncle/parent die due to the act of a criminal. However, Batman derives his motivation from being helpless at the time and resolving to never be powerless again. Peter Parker had the power to stop his tragedy but didn't. Parker's all too human fallibility makes him a far more interesting character. His struggle between his arrogance and his humility is timeless.

The Thing: The ultimate in getting the shaft. He is a handsome pilot whose best friend convinces him to fly a poorly tested space ship. The three other crew memebers get awesome and cool powers while he gets turned into a monster! Sure he has super strength but all he was is ripped away. He is shunned and ostracized by the general public. And yet, his heroic nature still lives under his hard exterior. He never lets his real and justified resentment stop him from helping a usually ungrateful world.

3) Wolverine - I like the Wolverine that has Professor X behind him rather than the uncaged version. It's like he his this big conscience and his internal demons fighting with that force of good makes him way more interesting than if he was left out on his own (cuz then he would be anything but a superhero, he'd just want to be left alone. Instead we get the conflicted Logan and I love it)

2) Batman / Iron Man - they're both so similar to me. Very rich with access to awesome resources. Both have unresolved issues with their parents that haunt them. I like watching both and my favourite is that I like watching them out of their suits even more. Interesting characters.

1) Rorschach - I love it when the superhero is flawed and still very human. It makes him a much more compelling character instead of some sort of almost mythological person (like Superman or obviously Thor.) I like what drives Rorschach, I like his methods. He's like a super cool version of Punisher, in my opinion.

honourable mentions: Professor X, The Crow (for the same reasons I like Rorschach, you could put Bruce Willis from Unbreakable here too) , V from V for Vendetta was awesome too. I was rooting for him all the time.

Not thinking too long about this--who knows how deep this rabbit hole goes. I have always been a fan of Nightcrawler and Colossus. Nightcrawler is deformed, his power smells, and he's German. What's not to love? Colossus is huge and noble.

I also always liked the way Havok's power was drawn, even if his costume is dorkish. The idea of being a barely controlled sun is cool to me.



But when you boil it all down, I am a Silver Surfer guy. Power Cosmic? Check. Galactus? Check. I almost saw the FANTASTIC FOUR movie just to see this guy.

Batman is the absolute best, and yes he does qualify as a superhero because he represents the ultimate man. All versions of Batman inclusive.

My second pick would actually be Cap, which is kind of surprising to me since I never really was all that interested in him growing up. But I've read a lot of Cap over the past couple of years, and I absolutely love his character. He, like Batman, represents the best of humanity in many ways. He's a decent, kind, compassionate man that is a genuine hero first, a superhero second. He's inspiring, honest, and often a complete bad ass despite the spangles.

Beyond that, I'd say there's a lot of #3 candidates...I like most superheroes, actually. Professor X would be a leading contender. Superman, depending on who's writing him. Possibly Daredevil.

Captain America when I was younger because he was supposed to be the kind of knight in shining armor that I wanted to be as a kid. There was nothing patriotic about it, he was just appealing in that generic good guy sense. From an action standpoint, I did love the cool shit he could do with his shield.

The Phantom now because: a horse named Hero, a dog named Devil, and the best costume in the history of comics:



Though I could do without the whole "white savior of Africa" thing.

Michael Barnes wrote: Batman is the absolute best, and yes he does qualify as a superhero because he represents the ultimate man.

I suppose he qualifies more than anyone else via Nietzsche's definition of the term.

Surprised to see the Thing mentioned twice.

Surprised to see Rorschach mentioned once. The dude is seriously messed up.

S.

Spider-Man: For me he's the best example of the everyman super hero. Yes he has super powers where Iron Man and Batman don't, but to me being incredibly wealthy is pretty much a super power itself. Peter Parker deals with stuff we all do: trouble with girls, troubles at work, he's gotta pay rent, trying to put himself through college, he's a nerd in high school, doing the right thing, etc. He's also a smart ass. I relate to him a lot.

Unfortunately there isn't really any classic Spider-Man stories on the level of Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year 1, All Star Superman, etc.

This is a funny topic in a way. I believe that if you don't choose Superman or Batman as number one you've made a mistake.

Similar to the old "Beatles of Stones" question of 60's there are really only two choices for this (although I am not a huge fan of either band, it's got to be Mothers of Invention, so I'm a hypocrite too!). I have to go with Batman but Superman is a close second. They are the dividing lines upon which superheros are created. Every super hero is a knock off of one or the other.

Clearly Superman is better but Batman is more relate-able.

If I had to choose someone who wasn't one of those two, I'd go with Swamp Thing and that's purely thanks to Alan Moore and his incredible genre defining run with that character.

jeb wrote: I also always liked the way Havok's power was drawn, even if his costume is dorkish. The idea of being a barely controlled sun is cool to me.

Havok's costume looked really cool when Neal Adams drew it, despite the eggbeater on top.

Ambush Bug, because he knows what's going on.

I also always liked Warlock, but only when Bill Sienkiewicz was drawing him all over the page like robot set dressing.

I might have more serious choices, but I sort of doubt it.