100 FAVORITE COMIC BOOK CHARACTERS
100 - 81
There
have been no less than thirteen Crimson Dynamo's for fifty years and
counting now, pretty much all of them Russian agent, arch-villains to
American's golden boy Tony Stark. As each new recruit dons the red
armor, the powers usually get bigger and badder with more and more
upgrades. Iron Man still wipes the floor with them of course though, so yay
America! The idea of a Cold War super villain is
obviously dated, yet same as Titanium Man and Iron Monger, the concept of an
evil alter-Iron Man not only makes sense to match their near identical powers, but it also has provided many fun, metal on metal
slug-fest over the years. It also does not hurt that most
of Dynamo's armored suites look utterly bad-ass, particularly the sixth version worn by
Valentin Shatalov
.
99. ICEMAN
Here is an X-Men founding member that is way more powerful than I ever realized when I was younger. Bobby Drake originally just shot ice out of his hands, slid on a solid sheet of it, and made himself look cool by. Yet he has upped his game tenfold over the years. Now, he can manipulate massive amounts of moisture into ice from massive distances, travel and reconstruct his own molecules through bodies of water, re-generate any and all of his severed limbs in his ice-body state, and any of the ice that he creates will not break unless he wishes it to. Personality wise, Drake is somewhat bi-polar, (bit of a pun there, sorry), and frequent to mood swings. At the same time, he is also one of the X Men's most no-bullshit members. Many a fellow team mate relay there issues on him, though he has had little luck in the realm of long-term relationships with any female mutants or humans. The coldness may be more than skin-deep then apparently.
98. WAR MACHINE
96. THE THING
Here is an X-Men founding member that is way more powerful than I ever realized when I was younger. Bobby Drake originally just shot ice out of his hands, slid on a solid sheet of it, and made himself look cool by. Yet he has upped his game tenfold over the years. Now, he can manipulate massive amounts of moisture into ice from massive distances, travel and reconstruct his own molecules through bodies of water, re-generate any and all of his severed limbs in his ice-body state, and any of the ice that he creates will not break unless he wishes it to. Personality wise, Drake is somewhat bi-polar, (bit of a pun there, sorry), and frequent to mood swings. At the same time, he is also one of the X Men's most no-bullshit members. Many a fellow team mate relay there issues on him, though he has had little luck in the realm of long-term relationships with any female mutants or humans. The coldness may be more than skin-deep then apparently.
The
"black Iron Man" James Rhodes originally took over the roll of ole
shell head during Tony Stark's relapse into alcoholism a few years after
the famous "Demon In a Bottle" arc. Rhodes is Stark's old war buddy, turned
mercenary, turned personal pilot. By the time he stepped into the
armor, he pretty much became a more badass Iron Man, (ala more guns) and
has remained popular enough to make it into the Marvel film universe
from the get go. All logic points to the fact that since Iron Man
himself is awesome, then a black and silver Iron Man with tons of
firepower at his disposal would likewise be awesome.
97. BLACK PANTHER
For the
world's first high profile black superhero, we once again have Stan Lee
and Jack Kirby to thank. T'Challa, (warrior chief and ruler of the
Wakanda tribes and country in Africa), became the ceremonial heir to the
Black Panther title and ultimately was brought into the Avengers fold on
an on-again/off-again basis. Balancing his time laying the smack down
along side Captain America and co, as well as ruling over his home
nation and eventually hooking up with Storm herself Ororo Munroe, T'Challa has
remained a noble and important character in the MU. As I can only
guess, his entrance into the Marvel Film franchise cannot be too far
behind. May I suggest Terry Crews because really, how could that not
end up being the greatest movie ever made?
The
sole Fantastic Four member that I shall be including in this list is Mr.
Stan Lee himself's favorite of his creations, Ben "The Thing" Grim. I have
always considered the FF rather lame and overrated, despite their
obvious importance and their usual direct involvement in so many major arcs
and events in the Marvel Universe. Yet the ensemble's muscle Ben Grim is
admittingly rather awesome. Probably the most famous smash-em-up
comicbook character of all time next to the Hulk, the Thing probably also has the most beloved catch-phrase of any Marvel creation, "It's cobberin' time!". Of
course he also has that unrelenting brooding quality, understandably
given his physical appearance. Still, manages to provide most of the humor in
the FF outside of the wise-ass Human Torch and the Invisible Woman's
unintentional "women belong in the kitchen" silliness that Lee
originally brought to the table. Really though, it is the fact that he is a
guy made out of rocks that hits things which makes him so fucking cool.
95. WONDER MAN
One of Stan Lee's unintentional throw-away characters, Simon Williams originally appeared in but a single early issue of the Avengers, more as a villain than anything. They killed him off because DC apparently got sand in their vagina about Marvel having a "Wonder Man" to their iconic "Wonder Woman", so Lee figured the character was not worth the effort and that was that. Then Wonder Man came back. Then died again. Then he came back again. Then died again. This went on until 1977, thirteen years after his first appearance, when he finally became a full-fledged Avenger and a permanent Marvel mainstay. I dig him mainly for his invincible-ness, (his stamina never runs out and he can exist indefinitely without food, water, or air), and he is as strong as Thor. He is also randomly a Hollywood actor which, sure why not.
94. EDWARD HYDE
Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has one of the best concepts that I have ever read for a comic book. Take as many fictional characters, settings, and events as you can and just pretend that they all co-exist and actually happened. There are seemingly infinite places to go with it and Moore's world of make-believe worlds has grown ever more complex by the volume. In the very beginning though at least publication wise, the League's foremost muscle was Mr. Edward Hyde. Hyde not only gave up his existence to save London from the H.G. Well's War of the Worlds Martians that were attempting to take over the world, but he also brilliantly and hilariously did away with the League's most unstable and ultimately evil member Hawley Griffin. No further spoilers, you just have to read it. Classic stuff.
93. HERCULES
One of Stan Lee's unintentional throw-away characters, Simon Williams originally appeared in but a single early issue of the Avengers, more as a villain than anything. They killed him off because DC apparently got sand in their vagina about Marvel having a "Wonder Man" to their iconic "Wonder Woman", so Lee figured the character was not worth the effort and that was that. Then Wonder Man came back. Then died again. Then he came back again. Then died again. This went on until 1977, thirteen years after his first appearance, when he finally became a full-fledged Avenger and a permanent Marvel mainstay. I dig him mainly for his invincible-ness, (his stamina never runs out and he can exist indefinitely without food, water, or air), and he is as strong as Thor. He is also randomly a Hollywood actor which, sure why not.
Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has one of the best concepts that I have ever read for a comic book. Take as many fictional characters, settings, and events as you can and just pretend that they all co-exist and actually happened. There are seemingly infinite places to go with it and Moore's world of make-believe worlds has grown ever more complex by the volume. In the very beginning though at least publication wise, the League's foremost muscle was Mr. Edward Hyde. Hyde not only gave up his existence to save London from the H.G. Well's War of the Worlds Martians that were attempting to take over the world, but he also brilliantly and hilariously did away with the League's most unstable and ultimately evil member Hawley Griffin. No further spoilers, you just have to read it. Classic stuff.
Since
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Marvel interpretation of the Thunder God Thor
worked out so well, the duo decided to have a go at lighting striking
twice, (slight pun there), with adapting another mythological figure
into the Marvel Universe with the Greek half-god Hercules. Associated with the
Avengers from the get go, Marvel's Herc debuted early on in Avengers #
10 to naturally do epic battle with Thor. He is portrayed
as both slightly and considerably arrogant, yet always a straight-up
good guy in the end. One of the strongest characters Marvel has, he is
pretty much a funny, smash-em-up bad-ass whose continual involvement
with the Earth's Mightiest Heroes wins him extra brownie points in my
book.
92. MYSTERIO
The
idea of a special effects/illusionist turned super villain is as
lame/random/awesome as any that Stan Lee had a hand in creating, Yet like all of Lee's characters that have managed to stick around, Mysterio has
been handled a bit better over the years. Three criminals have taken
the name, though the original Quentin Beck has remained the most
prominent. So far my personal favorite Mysterio moment was in Old Man Logan
which was utterly brutal in its outcome. In theory, this character
has always possessed some pretty nifty tricks and once he got out of his
"I just wanna rob banks" phase, he has been a pretty admirable foe for
Spider-Man, Daredevil, and various others whose shit he tries to get
in. He also has purple in his costume which you will notice usually gets my
approval.
91. HIGH EVOLUTIONARY
One
of the better "grey" super villains in the Marvel Universe, High
Evolutionary Herbert Wyndham is basically Dr. Moreau on steroids. Another brilliant scientist, this one whose experiments with genetic evolution
eventually progressed to the point where he attained near-god hood.
He is the only Earth-born super villain whose intelligence is on a level
with certain cosmic entities and he is also the only one that went
toe-to-toe with Galactus for a period. Like most great "villains"
though, Wyndham is never really good or evil for any considerable
length of time. Bouts of megalomania notwithstanding, he is generally
motivated by a disgust with violence and death, plus he usually seeks to use
his near limitless resources and intellect to better the human race.
90. BLOB
One
of the original members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Blob
has been around just about as long as the X-Men have, debuting in X-Men #
3 way back in 1964. He was a massive well, blob of mass back then that
liked to hit things and be mean. Fifty years later, very little has
changed. I find that particularly admirable that whereas many comic
book characters have undergone considerable development, almost usually
for the better, in Fred Dukes the Blob we have an "if it ain't broke,
don't fix it policy". He is just an giant bully that likes being an
asshole with an at once hilarious and equally awesome mutant
ability. Namely, he is the "immovable object" and for the most part he
can stand his ground and just laugh at any being or thing that tires
ultimately in vain to knock him down. I generally dig any
superpower that enters into invincibility territory and this humorous
twist on such a thing tickles me plenty.
89. NIGHTWING (DICK GRAYSON)
Robin
sucks. The entire concept of Robin sucks, so let us make that perfectly
clear. A billionaire superhero taking in a teenager, (or several
over the years), under his mantle and exposing them to
life-threatening dangers is asinine. This is not even taking into
account the fact that no one on earth would notice that the moment Bruce
Wayne gets a teenager ward just so happens to be the moment Batman gets
a teenage sidekick. Stupid. Yet Robin was spawned from that old timey
era where comic book creators figured "hey, let's give Batman a teenage
sidekick so teenage readers can relate to him", and instead of
realizing that that entire idea is irrelevant now, DC has just
continually tried to update and ground the concept into something
resembling reality. All that aside though,
Nightwing Dick Grayson is a whole different thing. Assuming the
Nightwing mantle and delivering the whoop-ass first with the Teen Titans
and then on his own in Gotham's neighboring shithole Blüdhaven, Grayson
as a fully developed adult vigilante works far, far better than Robin ever did.
Plus the costume is an undeniable improvement.
88. DRAX THE DESTROYER
Marvel's premier cosmic smash-em up hero has got to be Drax the Destroyer. The first thing that I read with the Arthur Douglas turned Kronos-created superbeast was the Infinity Gauntlet and spin-off Infinity Watch. That Drax was a mindless yet even more powerfully strong brute, pretty much the Hulk with a cape. His mind was ultimately restored and Drax has now settled into the relaunched Guardians of the Galaxy, for which we have an upcoming Marvel film based off of. I quite dug the Alf-loving/Hulk smash Drax, which was obviously considerably more silly than his other incarnations. Ultimately there are few, if any, artificially created cosmic entities out there that could kick this guys ass. Drax frequently slugs it out with Thanos himself so yeah, anyone who can do that and continue to still exists certainly gets nerd props from me.
87. GENERAL ZOD
Marvel's premier cosmic smash-em up hero has got to be Drax the Destroyer. The first thing that I read with the Arthur Douglas turned Kronos-created superbeast was the Infinity Gauntlet and spin-off Infinity Watch. That Drax was a mindless yet even more powerfully strong brute, pretty much the Hulk with a cape. His mind was ultimately restored and Drax has now settled into the relaunched Guardians of the Galaxy, for which we have an upcoming Marvel film based off of. I quite dug the Alf-loving/Hulk smash Drax, which was obviously considerably more silly than his other incarnations. Ultimately there are few, if any, artificially created cosmic entities out there that could kick this guys ass. Drax frequently slugs it out with Thanos himself so yeah, anyone who can do that and continue to still exists certainly gets nerd props from me.
Out of the many super villains that have gotten up in Superman's
face over the decades, on paper few are as evenly matched as General
Zod. As anyone familiar with some of the Superman movies should be aware, fellow Kryptonian General
Dru-Zod was a warlord on their home planet and was sentenced to the
Phantom Zone before the planet's destruction ultimately brought the
Man O Steel to our neck of the woods. Cool enough origin to be sure,
but since escaping from the Phantom Zone, Zod has continued to give Lex
Luthor a run for his money as Superman's ultimate pain in the ass. When
throwing down hand-to-hand in the vicinity of our solar system's sun,
Zod can pretty much keep up with Superman indefinitely, getting his
powers the exact same way. This is as it should be since the
occasionally boring Superman really does need a baddie
that forces him to up his game from the usual slew of knuckleheads that
cannot so much as lay a finger on him.
86. NAMOR
Good ole Sub-Mariner goes way the hell back to the very beginnings of superhero comic books. Debuting in 1939 for Timely Comics, (which would eventually become Marvel), Namor pre-dated even Captain America by two years in Marvel Comics # 1, (which was still under Timely, confusing I know). It is somewhat insulting to call him a "not-lame Aquaman", in fact it would be more appropriate to call Aquaman a lame version of the Sub-Mariner. One of the initial anti-heros and possibly the very first to possess the superpower of flight, Namor has often been a villain as much as a hero, with a short fuse that can make him a pain in the ass advisory at the drop of a hat. He is also pretty damn powerful, with god-like strength when submerged in water and still able to fly around in the air when not emerged. I generally dig how much ass he can kick and characters that never sit firmly on one side of the good/bad fence are almost always a lot more fun to read.
85. LIVING TRIBUNAL
Good ole Sub-Mariner goes way the hell back to the very beginnings of superhero comic books. Debuting in 1939 for Timely Comics, (which would eventually become Marvel), Namor pre-dated even Captain America by two years in Marvel Comics # 1, (which was still under Timely, confusing I know). It is somewhat insulting to call him a "not-lame Aquaman", in fact it would be more appropriate to call Aquaman a lame version of the Sub-Mariner. One of the initial anti-heros and possibly the very first to possess the superpower of flight, Namor has often been a villain as much as a hero, with a short fuse that can make him a pain in the ass advisory at the drop of a hat. He is also pretty damn powerful, with god-like strength when submerged in water and still able to fly around in the air when not emerged. I generally dig how much ass he can kick and characters that never sit firmly on one side of the good/bad fence are almost always a lot more fun to read.
This
is Marvel's version of God basically. The Living Tribunal first
appeared in Strange Tales #157 with the intentions to destroy the Earth
because blah blah, humans are corrupt, blah blah. It was up to Doctor
Strange to undergo several trials to prove that our humble planet was worthy,
which of course he did. Since then, the Tribunal continued to occasionally
appear as the omnipotent cosmic being to rule all others. By far the
most powerful being in the entire Marvel Universe, (though apparently
he has been known to answer to an unseen entity dubbed the One-Above-All),
I first caught wind of him in the Series Three Marvel Trading Cards set
and laughed out loud at his completely maxed out stats on the back. He has also played very heavily in the ongoing Infinity arc and
on that note, pretty much any time that shit gets cosmic in the MU, the Tribunal is bound to
make a stern appearance sooner or later.
84. SABERTOOTH
As a super villain to arguably the best character Marvel ever produced, Victor Creed has to have a lot going for him. Mutant ability wise, he is pretty much Wolverine with shorter claws. Yet whereas Logan has made a point in taking the high-rode and suppress his berserker animalistic rage, Sabertooth grabs that rage by the horns and makes it his reason to live, (and kill). They were also both part of the Weapon X program that granted Logan all that adamantium goodness. So essentially, he is an evil Wolverine mirror image and in that case a perfect arch enemy. Tooth was originally conceived of as a random serial killer in Iron Fist # 14, though Chris Claremont and John Byrne eventually brought him into the Uncanny X-Men world and pitted him as the perfect foil for Wolverine, which he would forever remain.
83. ENCHANTRESS
The Enchantress is another comic book character that has had more than one incarnation, (two in this here case). Both have been Thor adversaries, but the original sorceress Amora is the one that we are dealing with here. An early entry into Thor's rogue gallery, Amora first appeared in Journey Into Mystery #103 before Thor even had his own title. So she has been a mainstay for decades. An evil Norse witch who looks like a porn star, Enchantress generally uses her physical attractiveness and magical prowess to get, (or try and get), her wicked ways. The Mighty Thor has been one of my very favorites my whole life and I would consider Enchantress his second greatest foe. Three movies in counting The Avengers, I certainly hope they bring her in for the next Thor entry. I do not expect nudity, but it should be good times nonetheless.
82. EMMA FROST
Here is another one that has flipped sides since her initial debut. The White Queen Emma Frost was created in that insanely fantastic Chris Claremont/John Byrne Uncanny X-Men period in 1980 and she is no longer a Hellfire Club alumni, but instead a full blown "good" X Woman. Another god-like telepath along the lines of Prof. X and Jean Grey, Frost has the extra pizzazz to turn her body into a straight-up diamond-like state when fully Hulked-out. Plus not a single comic book artist to date has failed to draw her as anything short of the most stereotypical robo-babe that you have ever seen. Which is either a good or bad thing, depending on how horny the nerd is that you are. I dig characters like Catwoman and fellow mutant god Magneto who have found much greater arcs by evolving with the times with certain writers having them out-grow their rather simplistic, by-the-books super villain origins. Emma Frost fits along nicely with that lot.
81. JAMES GORDON
Batman's not-on-paper/unofficial partner and second set of eyes has always been Commissioner James Gordon. Gordon appeared in the very first panel of Detective Comics #27, sharing Batman's debut and technically showing up before the Caped Crusader even did. He has been a mainstay in every Batman world ever since, so importance alone to the Gotham-verse is paramount here. Yet despite anyone's complaints that the competence of the Gotham police department has always been embarrassing to say the least plus the fact that in the real world, anyone with a badge that had any cooperative doings with a vigilante would be out of a job or jailed without a second thought, Gordon is still awesome. Simply taking the jump that these two forces against crime can work together the way that they do, Gordon's diligence and unwavering good-guy-ness always admirably shines through.
As a super villain to arguably the best character Marvel ever produced, Victor Creed has to have a lot going for him. Mutant ability wise, he is pretty much Wolverine with shorter claws. Yet whereas Logan has made a point in taking the high-rode and suppress his berserker animalistic rage, Sabertooth grabs that rage by the horns and makes it his reason to live, (and kill). They were also both part of the Weapon X program that granted Logan all that adamantium goodness. So essentially, he is an evil Wolverine mirror image and in that case a perfect arch enemy. Tooth was originally conceived of as a random serial killer in Iron Fist # 14, though Chris Claremont and John Byrne eventually brought him into the Uncanny X-Men world and pitted him as the perfect foil for Wolverine, which he would forever remain.
The Enchantress is another comic book character that has had more than one incarnation, (two in this here case). Both have been Thor adversaries, but the original sorceress Amora is the one that we are dealing with here. An early entry into Thor's rogue gallery, Amora first appeared in Journey Into Mystery #103 before Thor even had his own title. So she has been a mainstay for decades. An evil Norse witch who looks like a porn star, Enchantress generally uses her physical attractiveness and magical prowess to get, (or try and get), her wicked ways. The Mighty Thor has been one of my very favorites my whole life and I would consider Enchantress his second greatest foe. Three movies in counting The Avengers, I certainly hope they bring her in for the next Thor entry. I do not expect nudity, but it should be good times nonetheless.
Here is another one that has flipped sides since her initial debut. The White Queen Emma Frost was created in that insanely fantastic Chris Claremont/John Byrne Uncanny X-Men period in 1980 and she is no longer a Hellfire Club alumni, but instead a full blown "good" X Woman. Another god-like telepath along the lines of Prof. X and Jean Grey, Frost has the extra pizzazz to turn her body into a straight-up diamond-like state when fully Hulked-out. Plus not a single comic book artist to date has failed to draw her as anything short of the most stereotypical robo-babe that you have ever seen. Which is either a good or bad thing, depending on how horny the nerd is that you are. I dig characters like Catwoman and fellow mutant god Magneto who have found much greater arcs by evolving with the times with certain writers having them out-grow their rather simplistic, by-the-books super villain origins. Emma Frost fits along nicely with that lot.
Batman's not-on-paper/unofficial partner and second set of eyes has always been Commissioner James Gordon. Gordon appeared in the very first panel of Detective Comics #27, sharing Batman's debut and technically showing up before the Caped Crusader even did. He has been a mainstay in every Batman world ever since, so importance alone to the Gotham-verse is paramount here. Yet despite anyone's complaints that the competence of the Gotham police department has always been embarrassing to say the least plus the fact that in the real world, anyone with a badge that had any cooperative doings with a vigilante would be out of a job or jailed without a second thought, Gordon is still awesome. Simply taking the jump that these two forces against crime can work together the way that they do, Gordon's diligence and unwavering good-guy-ness always admirably shines through.
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