The Fastest Man Alive.  The Scarlet Speedster.  He is the Flash, and he’s number 8 on my top ten favortie super heroes list. 

Why?

Well, to answer the why I have to make three points about me.  They are:  I’m a big guy.  I’m a slow guy.  I’m late pretty often.

What does this have to do with the Flash being in my top favorites? 

Let’s start with super speed.  As someone who’s never been particuliarly fast, at anything, superspeed is one of those powers that I have always found intriguing.   I’ve always liked the idea of being able to move at speeds beyond the speed of sound.  As a kid I always wished I could get my chores done super fast.

Now, as an adult who tends to be a bit unpunctual I often find myself wishing I could just zip from place to place so as to actually be on time….or not as late.

However, there are many superheroes with superspeed.  Why choose the Flash?  And which incarnation of the Flash?

Second question first.  I prefer the Barry Allen or Wally West Flash.  Barry Allen because he’s the Flash of my childhood.   There was the short-lived live action show with Barry Allen as the main character, and I really liked that show.   Barry Allen was the Flash in all of the cartoons I’d watched as a kid.  Since he was who I was introduced to as The Flash, he’s the one I really liked.

Then I started reading DC comics and was introduced to Wally West.  Wally West has a wit that is as fast as his feet and often forgets to put the filter between his brain and mouth on.  

What I really liked when I was first introduced to Wally though was the way he fit in with the JLA.   He was the young guy, living in his uncle’s shadow, somewhat insecure about his place on the team, but he didn’t let those things keep him from being a vital part of the team.  Time after time, Wally West stepped it up and not only lived up to his uncle’s name, but exceeded any expectations anyone put on him. 

Wally “sacrificed” himself during Infinite Crisis in an effort to stop Superboy Prime.  The mantle of the Flash was then picked up by Bart Allen, Barry’s grandson.  Bart previously carried the codename Impulse.   He helped Wally in his attempt to take down Superboy Prime and diappeared with him into the speed force, reemerging as a grown man and taking the mantl of the Flash.  In a surprise to readers, Bart was killed within a year and Wally came back. 

Too much history? 

The Flash has always been one of those stand out characters to me.  The costume, the powers, and the personality all work together to put The Flash in my top ten. 

Now, I gotta work on some speed…

He has been dubbed many things:  The Iron Avenger, Metal Head, Ol’ Shell Head, and others, but through it all, one word has continuously described the hero…INVINCIBLE.

Tony Stark, billionaire industrialist, who came into the Iron Man armor out of sheer necessity for his own life’s sake, has become one of Marvel comics, and arguably Superherodom’s,  greatest heroes. 

(Is Superherodom even a word?  It is now!)

The first thing that sticks out about Iron Man is the visual.  Iron Man is one of those characters who has gone through MANY changes in his looks, and by and large every single one has worked.  Why?  Because that’s his thing.  As technology evolves so must Iron Man.  

The appearance of Iron Man makes one wonder what’s under that armor.  Then, we learn about repulsor beams, flight boots, and all manner of gadgetry that makes the Iron Man armor every gadget lover’s dream come true.

But, the armor is only as good as the man wearing it, and the story of Tony Stark is an interesting one to say the least.   In typical Marvel form, Tony Stark isn’t just a good guy for goodness’ sake.  He is ever the business man, seeking out angles and positioning himself to come out ahead.  Couple with that his personal demons, and you have a well rounded interesting character as a hero.

He’s been an alcoholic, a womanizer, a teenager, and most recently the brains behind the act that would bring Marvel’s heroes into a Civil War.  Most readers tended to think that this action put him on the wrong side of heroism, but the truth is Tony Stark was not only angling for himself, but he really felt the move was the right one to make. 

This is best shown in his speech in Worl War Hulk number 1.  He talks about always wanting to be a hero and realizing that being a hero calls for hard choices.  While the decisions may not be pretty or even appear jerkish, Stark has done what he feels is best not just for the super powered, but also for the world.  Granted, some of his moves are questionable (Tony’s Thunderbolts, I’m looking in your direction.).   The point is, Tony Stark truly wants to help people and be a hero.  Not for ego’s sake, but because he has the ability to go out and make a difference.  

So, let’s see….cool gadgetry? Check.  Flawed character? Check.  Hero at heart? Check.

 I’ll be the first to admit that Marvel has a long way to go to redeem Tony Stark.  The side he chose during the Marvel Civil War was by and large considered to be the wrong side.  His reasons for choosing his side seemed less that noble.  His character took a real hit through all of that, but he has never been more interesting to read. 

So, whether it’s the old Mark One bucket armore, the sleek, almost alien looking Ultimate Armor,  the B-A-D War Machine Armor, or just the classic red and gold, Iron Man has and will most likely be for a while one of the most intriguing and fun characters in Superherodom.  Definitely worthy of a top ten spot.

‘Cross the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard, where the booming Heavens roar, you’ll behold the breathless wonder, The God of Thunder, MIIIIIIIIIIIGHTY THOR!

Thanks to Stan Lee and Marvel Comics, a character from Norse mythology got an upgrade.  to straight up superhero.

Due to his son’s enormous ego, Odin punished Thor by banishing him not only to Midgard, (Earth) but also confining him to the body of a partially crippled human doctor, Donald Blake.  In the early days, Donald Blake had but to strike his cane on the ground and ZAP he was transformed into the son of Odin, the Thunder-god, The Mighty Thor.  His cane became Mjolnir,  Thor’s mystical hammer that could only be wielded by those worthy.  Truth be told, though, the name is harder to pronounce than the hammer is to wield.

(By the way, according to Stan “The Man” Lee the proper pronunciation is Myol-near.)

Thor would eventually be able to shed the alter ego of Donald Blake, however throughout the years he would share the same space with a couple of other regular guys. 

Aside from his amazing strength, power over thunder, and his very non-Norwegian Shakespearean English, Thor was an original Avenger, and along with Captain America and Iron Man is considered one of the Marvel’s big three when it comes to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

I jest a bit about the name of the hammer and the English, but Thor is a character that, in comics, has always intrigued me.  He truly is a god among men.  He fights with ferocity and honor, and he is a true and loyal friend.  Watching Thor fight along side his companions in the Avengers is always interesting because he truly enjoys the interaction with them.  Aside from Dr. Doom, however, there are very few earthbound villains that can truly give Thor a run for his money. 

It’s as interesting as any other super hero story when The Son of Odin is pitted against Earth’s mightiest villains, but the thing that makes reading Thor so much fun is getting to know the world that he is from.  Walking the mystical world of Asgard and meeting the gods and warriors that make Thor’s supporting cast shows us that not only is he revered on Earth, but the residents of Asgard fear and respect him as well.

I started reading Thor during Walt Simonson’s legendary run with the character, so that is my point of reference on all things Thor.  I don’t know that anyone has really gotten their mind around the character the way that Simonson did.  Somehow, he showed how ole Goldilocks was able to stay interesting here on Earth or across the Rainbow Bridge.  Simonson sold me on the character. 

He’s as visually interesting as his character is fun to enjoy, all of that coupled with some huge battles and great stories make it easy for Thor to crack my top ten.

A couple of my favorite Thor moments:

-  In the Ultimate Marvel U., I had a great time with Thor’s godhood being doubted by those around him.

-  Thor vs. Hulk.  Any battle between the two, but my favorite was a tale told in issue nmber 385.   In it, Thor not only battled the green behemoth to a virtual stalemate, but found himself battling his pride as well.  Really good stuff.

- Thor vs. Juggernaut - In The Mighty Thor issues 411 and 412, Thor and Juggernaut tear it up fighting each other.  In the end, Thor is forced to use his enchanted hammer to transport Juggernaut away from Earth.  The cool part about this fight, though, is the moment when Thor, blasting away at Juggernaut with his hammer and all his power not only stops the unstoppable Cain Marko but begins to push him back.  It was awesome.

Due to being out of comics lately, I haven’t been able to follow the exploits of Thor through his apparent death and rebirth as closely as I like, but he’s on my short list of books to get into as soon as possible. 

Valiant, powerful, a true friend and compatriot in battle, The Mighty Thor is definitely one of my favorites.

Without any adeu at all, let’s finish out the honorable mentions of my favorite superheroes.

Plastic Man:

He’s goofy, he’s stretchy, and he’s immortal…?  That’s right friends.  One of the coolest things to ever learn about this seemingly merely comic relief character is that he survived as nothing but bits and pieces floating around in the ocean after the events of The Obsidian Age in JLA several years ago.  I’m getting ahead of myself though.

As I said with Mr. Fantastic, stretchy powers don’t get a lot of love amongst comic fans, but truth be told, they’re pretty cool.  Plastic Man is the exact opposite of Mr. Fantastic in terms of his personality and the ways he uses his abilities.  Being a quick-witted,  streetwise funny guy, Plastic Man has put himself in just about any shape you can imagine. 

While his humor appeals to me, it’s the heart of this character that makes him a hero.  Again, if you’re only familiar with Plastic Man from his early years or the short-lived cartoon (which I watched on USA’s Cartoon Express)(I feel a Geek Out Loud discussion coming on) then you don’t know the character as the hero he is.

Grant Morrison really accentuated Plastic Man’s heroism when he wrote him into the JLA.  It was Plastic Man who convinced the alter egos of the heroes of the JLA to fight the alien presence that split them from their superhero counterparts.  Later, it was Plastic Man who stood against a crazed Martian Manhunter to basically save the entire planet. 

I feel he’s underrated and he definitely merits a mention in my book.  While we’re on the subject of the underrated:

Aquaman:

Arthur, King of Atlantis and protector of the seven seas.  Aquaman has been the butt of many geeky jokes over the years.  However, he is as iconic as many of his peers.  This is due in part to his cartoon series in the fifties and his role on The Superfriends cartoons. 

Growing up, my family spent a lot of time on the coast of Georgia.  In fact, I would say that by the time I was 11 I had spent rougly a fifth of my life at the beach.   I have always loved the ocean.  What lies beneath the surface of the seas has always intrigued me.  My favorite shows on the Discovery Channel have always been ones that explore life beneath the waves.  It makes sense then, that I would be intrigued with a character that not only protects, but communicates with the life of the ocean.

Super strength, swimming at high speeds, and in some incarnations being able to actually manipulate the water around him to be propelled weaponlike at his foes, Aquaman is not a hero to be sneezed at.   In his more recent incarnations, Arthur has taken on the feel of Namor from over in the pages of Marvel in that he’s kind of rude and abrasive to the surface dwellers.  Of course, with the advent of Infinite Crisis, and more specifically the events of 52, the whole Aquaman thing is a bit messed up.  (For the purposes of this list though, Aquaman is Orin or Arthur Curry…the one we all know and love.)

In my book, Aquaman is cool.  The coolest of Aquaman moments came in early in Morrison’s run on JLA when he was fighting a white Martian.  The Martian spoke for geeks everywhere when he said, “So you talk to fish?  What can you do against me, we’re nowhere near an ocean,”  Aquaman explained to the Martian that he could use he telepathy to find the part of his brain closely related to his aquious ancestors and give him a seizure….threat neutralized.  Pretty cool.

Speaking of telepathy:

J’onn J’onzz, The Martian Manhunter:

I didn’t know much about The Martian Manhunter til I got into DC comics.  I was a Marvel kid.  The truth is, I had no idea who The Martian Manhunter was until the mid/late nineties when I first started reading DC comics.  As I began to find out about the character, I really got into him. 

J’onn is that character that’s not human but longs to be.  In his quest for humanity, he finds in himself more compassion, more understanding, and more humanity than many native Earthlings.  He carries himself with a wisdom, and he posesses a sadness for the loss of his home without becoming a brooding angst filled hero.

J’onn is crazy powerful.  As if telepathy and flight weren’t enough, there’s his ability to shapeshift,  invisivility, strength, Martian vision, in the earlier incarnations he even had some kind of super breath.  So, he’s kind of a suped up Superman…without the iconic status. 

In fact, it’s his relationship with Big Blue that really attracted me to the character.  Being the last survivors of doomed races,the two have a common bond and their interactions are always interesting to me.

He never had to step in and help humanity.  He never had to put his life on the line for a world that wasn’t his, but he does it time and time again.  That coupled with cool powers and some great stories, gives him a well deserved honorable mention.

Wonder Woman:

Coolest…television theme song…ever. (Next to the Greatest American Hero)

Wonder Woman is another one of those iconic characters out of DC’s vast array of heroes.  I prefer the Linda Carter version of Wonder Woman.  She was tough as nails, but compassionate.  And that smile…could light a pitch black room.  What else is there to say? 

Wait…this isn’t just Linda Carter’s Wonder Woman….this is the character in general.  

Wonder Woman is THE staple female superhero.  No other lady in comics even comes close.  While I still don’t know if she can fly or not, she is definitely strong, has the amazing magic lasso that we all wish we had at some point or another, and even though the invisible jet is a flawed idea in some ways, it’s still cool. 

Oh, and Wonder Woman was created by the man responsible for the lie detector.  That’s a cool point of interest to me.  Here’s a guy who invented something pretty cool and could have forged his reputation and legacy on that alone, but nope…he decided to take a dive into the world of superheroes.   What a splash he made! 

Wolverine:

This is one of those characters that people may be surprised not to find in my actual top ten.  I like Wolverine.  I appreciate what he brings to the table.  However, I can’t really say that he’s one of my top ten favorites.   I’ve never been a fan of the anti-hero.  I like my heroes to have scruples.  Wolverine is cool.  I give you that, but he’s also a loose cannon.  Just as prone to rip into a teammate as he is a bad guy.

However, the cool factor of Wolverine can NOT be denied.  He carries himself with a confindence and an attitude like no one else.  He’s not as hell bent on vengeance as the Punisher.  He’s not as calculating as Batman.  He’s not as bouncy as Spider-Man.  He’s as tough as the Punisher, as resourceful as Batman, and as witty as Spider-Man.  I understand why so many people like him, but through the nineties I got a little too much of him, and that relegated him from a place in my top ten to an honorable mention.

However, I have two favorite Wolverine moments.  The first is from X-Men 3 (I stand by the fact that I actually liked it.).  The moment the last battle begins and the X-Men show up, Wolvie takes his game to a level he never thought he would.  He’s no longer just a substitute teacher.   He steps into the role of leader with one line, “….and HOLD THIS LINE.”  I just really liked it.

The second is my most favorite Wolverine moment.  Truth be told he kind of rips off Dirty Harry, but it works.  He’s making his way underneath the Hellfire Club to get to Jean Grey.  It’s all during the Dark Phoenix saga.  Anywho, after fighting a bunch of guards he stares down a couple with weapons trained on him and he goes into the “You have to ask yourself a question, do you feel lucky?” Dirty Harry speech. The guards…don’t feel lucky at all.

So that wraps up the honorable mentions.  Tomorrow we’ll begin the actual countdown with my number 10 favorite super hero.  Don’t forget to chime in with your list and some of your favorites. 

And thanks to everyone who has sent e-mails, subscribed to the feed and the podcast, and generally helped to expand this safe place for geeks everywhere.

I’ve seen a bunch of other blogs do some lists.  Top tens, top fives, top fifties, I’ve even read this blog that highlights the top 100 Marvel What If…? stories of all time.  So, I decided to my own list.  In fact, if all goes as planned, this will be the first list of several to come down the road. 

I thought the best place to start would be my top ten favorite superheroes.  This was actually a more difficult undertaking than I thought it would be.  There are a lot of superheroes that I really enjoy and have a really special place in my heart.  Narrowing them down to ten, and in order from 10th favorite to most favorite is a hard thing.  I know who my top two are, after that, it’s really just a list. 

One thing you’ll notice once we get into the top ten, is there are a few quite popular heroes that are left out of the list.  Why?  Because I tend to not like certain “anti-heroes” as much as the general populace.  However, because there are some that I kind of like and feel like merit a mention, here is the prequel to my top ten favorite superheroes.   What follows are the honorable metions.

We start with Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic.  Reed Richards is one of those superheroes that end up a bit underrated because of the team with which he is surrounded.  Honestly, when you’ve got a super strong Rock monster, a hottie that can turn invisible and make impenatrable force fields just by thinking about it, and a dude that can ignite his body, throw fire, and fly it’s pretty hard to get notice because you can stretch.  However, here’s a guy that is the patriarch of just that team.  His intellect is unparalleled.  His leadership skills have saved the Fantastic Four time and time again, and he passionately loves his wife and child. 

For all of his intellect and the tendancy to be a bit distant from those around him when he’s working on a project or a new invention, the one staple of Reed Richard’s character is that he loves Sue, he loves Franklin, he does his best to be a good brother-in-law, and he continues to try to live up to the friendship that he and Ben Grimm have enjoyed over the years.  In fact, one of my favorite Reed Richard’s moments is in a retelling of the Fantastic Four origin with Reed acting as narrator while talking to his daughter.  He ends the whole thing by confessing that he set up Fantastic Four Inc. and does all of the heroics out of guilt for his family ending up the way they did.  He knows he’s ultimately responsible, and has constantly tried to make his family’s life better since. 

As far as powers go, it may seem that he drew the short straw, but truth be told, his stretching ability makes him nearly indestructible and useful in a lot of situations.  (And not just reaching items on the top shelf situations.)  Reed Richards has been a parachute, a soft landing cushion, a life raft, and has even been the one reason the Fantastic Four have been able to escape countless traps.

Favorite Reed Richards moment:  Reed was struggling with the answer to a problem, so he made a conference call to the only people that could help him figure it out, other Reed Richards from different dimensions.  Mindbending and cool at the same time.

Next in the honorable mentions list is Robin.

There have been three Robins in DC comics, Dick Grayson was the original, Jason Todd was the one who died, and Tim Drake is the current Robin.  Quite frankly, he’s as good as Dick Grayson in my opinion. 

Robin is THE original sidekick.  While he was relegated to his “Holy whatever” lines in the sixties television show and later incarnations of the Superfriends, Robin plays a vital role in the legend of Batman.  How?  It is the presence of Robin that keeps Batman grounded.  He’s Batman’s connection to humanity.  Darwyn Cooke showed this in Justice League: New Frontier when we get a glimpse into why Batman decided to have a Robin.  Robin makes Batman seem less scary to the people that he doesn’t want to scare. 

The thing about Robin, in nearly all three carnations, is that he’s a sidekick that can hold his own most of the time.  The threats he faces when he’s with Batman are not little bitty threats.  They are as real as the threats that Batman faces, and Robin holds his own. 

On top of that, Robin leads the Teen Titans.  Unlike his television counterpart from the sixties, Robin is taken very seriously in the pages of DC comics and well he should be.  Dick Grayson is now Nightwing, and could reasonably step into the shoes of Batman, if he would.  Jason Todd returned from the dead.  Tim Drake, in an effort to become the World’s greatest detective deduced the true identity of Batman.  Yes, probably the greatest sidekick of all time, Robin is a great superhero in his own right.

Next in the honorable mentions section is The Sensational She Hulk.

When Jennifer Walters needed a life saving blood transfusion, it was her cousin Robert Bruce Banner that was able to step up and save her life, but at what cost?  Well, today, Jennifer would tell you a very small cost.  Early on, even though Jennifer called was the Savage She Hulk she never had the problem with rage that her cousin had.  The reason she was called “savage” was because, like her cousin, anger triggered her transformation into her green skinned alter ego.  Unlike her cousin, though, she retained her intelligence and found that there was a confidence that she enjoyed that was normally lacking in her life.  Thus, she opted to remain in She Hulk form.

She Hulk has been a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.  She’s one of the few people in the Marvel Universe that can give The Thing a run for his money.  Not because she’s super strong, but because she turns the flirt on high power whenever she’s around him making him incredibly nervous and draining him of his usual gusto.

She Hulk merits an honorable mention in my book for several reasons.  The first is her relationship to the Hulk.  Of all the heroes in the Marvel Universe, Jen Walters is the one person who “gets” the Hulk.  That makes me appreciate her.   Then there’s the fun factor.  She Hulk is funny, and since here graphic novel in the mid-eighties, her book has never been afraid to have fun.  In recent months (read during the Planet Hulk Saga and after Civil War) She Hulk started taking down the Hulk’s enemies in his absence, only to be shot up with nanobots that reversed her transformation and kept her as a human by Iron Man.  She’s back with a vengeance now though.

The Silver Surfer:

Norrin Radd gave up his freedom and his “humanity” (for lack of a better word) to serve as the herald of Galactus when the world devourer came to consume his planet.   By doing so, Norrin Radd saved his home planet of Zenn-La and his one true love.   However, his fate was to wander the stars alone, weilder of the power cosmic, finding planets for his master to consume and satiate his unending hunger.

His searches led him to Earth where he encountered the Fantastic Four.  Their heroism and the beauty of the planet awakened the conscience that The Silver Surfer had long allowed to lay dormant.  As Galactus approached, The Surfer stood with his newfound friends and allies against him.  The World Eater sentenced his herald to be bound to Earth for the rest of his days. 

In later years, the Silver Surfer would break his Earthly bonds and soar the stars once more. 

See how my whole tone changes when writing about the Silver Surfer?  He does that to you.  He makes you feel more important, more intelligent, more in touch with the world around you. 

Stan Lee admits openly that The Silver Surfer was Jack Kirby’s creation.  In an interview, Stan mentioned that he got Kirby’s drawings back and there was the Surfer.  Stan was hooked and Norrin Radd became Stan Lee’s voice to his readers.  Lee admits that he allowed his thougts and ideas about the world to be spoken through the words of the Silver Surfer.

I like the Silver Surfer a lot.  His powers are cool.  His stories are enormous in scope, yet they are deeply personal to him as well.  He carries himself with a dignity that belies his guilt over so many worlds being destroyed because of him.  His interactions with the heroes of Earth are always fun to watch, and it’s interesting that readers still go back to him again and again, never complaining that he’s “too powerful.”  His heart, his respect for life, and his heroism make him a compelling character to follow.

Sue Richard (The Invisible Woman):

She may be the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four.  Her passion balances out the concrete and sometimes distracted personality of her husband.  She’s a mother, a sister, a devoted wife and friend, and a fighter.  Seriously, don’t make Sue angry…you wouldn’t like here when she’s angry.

Sue Storm possesses one of the big two when it comes to super powers: invisibility.  (The other of the big two being flight.   Seriously, the question always asked is would you rather be able to be invisible or fly?)  On top of that, she can create invisible, practically impenatrable force fields. 

As I stated before, even her husband has hypothesized that she may be the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four.  Her invisibility allows her to move undetected to the naked eye, her force fields can be as powerful as her own will in a situation. 

The interesting thing about Sue, though, is she never is the power player.  More often than not, her powers are used defensively as opposed to an offensive measure.  This is a reflection of her motherly protectiveness.   However, when she cuts loose, she cuts loose.  I’ve seen her cut off Dr. Dooms air supply, pelt an opponent with a barrage of littly force field balls, and in one of her tougher moments threaten the Wizard with heart failure by creating microscopic force fields in his blood stream to act as blod clots.    Very cool…and scary.  Hell hath no fury friends….Hell hath no fury.

That’s it for part one of the honorable mentions. The top ten will start with my Number 10 favorite Super Hero after part two is posted.  What do you think?  Let’s go ahead and hear your top ten list.  (Remember, this is a safe place to geek out.)