Dumb 3rd Grade Topic Prompt: Favorite Superhero

Satan

Rebels against God, gets away with his life and a third of heaven's population. Builds his own empire where all the cool people get to reside for eternity after their death.

He's got a bad rep though.

Batman, purely because he made the Joker say this:



To answer the question though, I think the superhero that I like the most is Dr Manhattan because of his view on humans once he achieved God-like powers.

I wouldn't say Batman is the ultimate hero. His motivation is revenge. Not the best for a hero IMO. Superman was just John Carter on earth.

I actually think Spider-man is the best as far as motivation. The whole 'with great power comes great responsibility' strikes a chord with me. He isn't may favorite hero though, but rates quite high.

I prefer the b-list heroes like Nova (spider-man of the 70s) and Darkhawk (spider-man of the 90s), but my favorite is probably Ben Grimm. Big fan for all of the reasons stated above.

Comic wise, most of my favorites aren't superheroes. Judge Dredd, Groo, Conan, Jonah Hex, etc.

Jeff White wrote: Comic wise, most of my favorites aren't superheroes. Judge Dredd, Groo, Conan, Jonah Hex, etc.

Different list, but similar in that the ones I read the most aren't based on superheros.

metalface13 wrote: Unfortunately there isn't really any classic Spider-Man stories on the level of Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year 1, All Star Superman, etc.

Spider-Man is #1 for me, no question. And there is absolutely exactly one classic Spider-Man story: Amazing Spider-Man #1-38. If you want to zoom in closer, then the obvious highlight is "If This Be My Destiny!" in #31-33. But what you really mean is "there isn't really any classic clearly adult-skewing Spider-Man story", and that's true, and is A-OK with me. He's a teenager. The character is practically *all about* being a teenager, with all these adults fucking with you. I aspired to him a ton as a kid, now when I read the stories I see a mostly self-absorbed brat, so I think the combination of those two viewpoints means they nailed the teenage thing.

Would 'Kraven's Last Hunt' qualify?

Jeff White wrote: Would 'Kraven's Last Hunt' qualify?

I stopped buying Spider-man comics after Kraven's Last Hunt. It was one of the best Spider-man stories ever, but my tastes had evolved, and I realized that I had outgrown Spider-man. As dragonstout pointed out, regardless of his actual age, Peter Parker remains an angsty teenager. Aside from the death of Gwen Stacy, most of his character development happened in the first 38 issues. While the Romita artwork after that was nice, Spider-man essentially became Archie for a few years, and then the tone went really dark for a while when Gwen died. Everything since has been a cynical repetition of the early stories, except for the current Superior Spider-man storyline. Superior Spider-man is a great idea, but we all know that the status quo will return.

I am probably going to be alone here, but my favourite is by far Beast:

Maybe it is because I relate being a big hairy intelligent guy (even though I loved him when small and hairless), but I always loved the way that Beast was never gung-ho, tried to reason his way through things and when that failed smash face.

The other hero I have a lot of love for as a kid is Kano from 2000AD's Bad Company:

Just a bad ass, and as a kid who doesn't want to be the guy wo always gets what he wants.

Thanks for the responses. Beast would be in my top 5, probably, I just didn't think of him!

FWIW, I wasn't trying to restrict to just superpowers or anything like that with the title prompt. I'd even go for any hero character from a comic book...

Gary Sax wrote: FWIW, I wasn't trying to restrict to just superpowers or anything like that with the title prompt. I'd even go for any hero character from a comic book...

In that case, I have a couple of other favorites.

Grimjack: A mercenary operative with a code of honor, operating in a city where many dimensions converge and overlap. He is older and more cynical than most heroes, but also honest and fiercely loyal to his friends. Grimjack once said that "Friends are the family that you choose."

Shang-Chi: A talented martial artist who turned his back on his evil father Fu Manchu. He never stops trying to improve himself, and he often ponders deep, philosophical issues while fighting for his life. He worked for British intelligence agency MI6, but was always ill at ease with their "games of deceit and death."

dragonstout wrote: Spider-Man is #1 for me, no question. And there is absolutely exactly one classic Spider-Man story: Amazing Spider-Man #1-38. If you want to zoom in closer, then the obvious highlight is "If This Be My Destiny!" in #31-33. But what you really mean is "there isn't really any classic clearly adult-skewing Spider-Man story", and that's true, and is A-OK with me. He's a teenager. The character is practically *all about* being a teenager, with all these adults fucking with you. I aspired to him a ton as a kid, now when I read the stories I see a mostly self-absorbed brat, so I think the combination of those two viewpoints means they nailed the teenage thing.

No, actually I don't necessarily mean an adult-skewing storyline. The examples that popped into my head, are yes, but they were just the first I thought of. What I mean is a storyline "for the ages," one that pops into your head when someone says "Spider-Man." Kraven's Last Hunt is as close as that gets for me. But I haven't read that initial Spider-Man run I generally haven't read a lot of comics pre-1980s.

Marvel did try to do a Dark Knight Returns with Spider-Man: Reign and it was dreadful. But I agree, Spider-Man is all about being a teenager and should stay in that general area. He's not that interesting as an adult.

King Mob

metalface13 wrote:

dragonstout wrote: Spider-Man is #1 for me, no question. And there is absolutely exactly one classic Spider-Man story: Amazing Spider-Man #1-38. If you want to zoom in closer, then the obvious highlight is "If This Be My Destiny!" in #31-33. But what you really mean is "there isn't really any classic clearly adult-skewing Spider-Man story", and that's true, and is A-OK with me. He's a teenager. The character is practically *all about* being a teenager, with all these adults fucking with you. I aspired to him a ton as a kid, now when I read the stories I see a mostly self-absorbed brat, so I think the combination of those two viewpoints means they nailed the teenage thing.

No, actually I don't necessarily mean an adult-skewing storyline. The examples that popped into my head, are yes, but they were just the first I thought of. What I mean is a storyline "for the ages," one that pops into your head when someone says "Spider-Man." Kraven's Last Hunt is as close as that gets for me. But I haven't read that initial Spider-Man run I generally haven't read a lot of comics pre-1980s.

Marvel did try to do a Dark Knight Returns with Spider-Man: Reign and it was dreadful. But I agree, Spider-Man is all about being a teenager and should stay in that general area. He's not that interesting as an adult.

Oh dude, at least read #31-33. That really is the Spider-Man storyline "for the ages", with #33 in particular the archetypal Spider-Man moment, and possibly even the archetypal superhero moment (it was recreated in a Batman Beyond episode).

The comics you mentioned, Year One, DKR, All-Star Superman: all three of those are for Superman & Batman. Part of the reason reinterpretations work for those two is because they're so archetypal; they're more symbols than characters. Spider-Man is far far more of a character than a symbol, and that's why there's probably never going to be the "grand Spider-Man graphic novel". Interestingly, the issue I keep referring to, #33, really achieves its "for the ages" feel by going that more symbolic route. I should also mention that, as good as it is, it is better and more effective after reading the previous 30 issues; it's kind of a conclusion to the whole Spider-Man story, and really the series could have ended with #33 and been complete and satisfying.

Best Spider-Man comics since then are IMHO Busiek's 1990s "Untold Tales of Spider-Man", but they're such a COMPLETE homage/imitation, not an original work of art or anything. I think modern fans point to Ultimate Spider-Man as being the definitive Spider-Man, and that makes me want to barf it sucks so hard.

It was Spiderman all the way from me. I loved that guy when I was a kid. He didn't have superpowers but he was still too fast for the bad guys cause he had spidey senses! And the way he webbed villains and swung through the city's urban jungle was cool. He was a real person. He had failings and doubts and a girl he was trying to get. That was Spidey for me.

Unlike a lot of people here, I quit reading comics when I left my teens behind so I don't have any of the more "adult" analysis I'm reading here. But yeah Spiderman. I was mainly a Marvel Comics fan. I occasionally bought Superman or Batman, but never loved them. They were just too perfect.

Close second: Iron Man.

Runners Up:

Captain America
The Flash

mikecl wrote: Unlike a lot of people here, I quit reading comics when I left my teens behind so I don't have any of the more "adult" analysis I'm reading here.

All the superheroes I thought of when I heard this question are superheroes I love from childhood: Spider-Man, Batman, the Flash. There are definitely superhero comics I like waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than those Flash comics, but when I think about, say, Plastic Man: I don't LOVE Plastic Man, the character, I love Plastic Man, the comics by Jack Cole. Same goes for Doom Patrol and others. That love of a CHARACTER independent of anything else all comes from reading comics (and watching Batman cartoons) as a kid.