Yesterday, Britain’s Empire Magazine (online) unveiled their list of the 50 Greatest Comic Characters, and to be honest, it was a pretty good list. A bit heavy on the British side (as you could expect) but overall it was an interesting list that featured the ones you’d expect (Superman, Batman, etc.) and a few high ranking ones (my personal favorite is Jesse Custer coming in at #11). Their top ten was very solid, as it featured the following:
1. Superman
2. Batman
3. John Constantine
4. Wolverine
5. Spider-Man
6. Dream
7. Judge Dredd
8. The Joker
9. Magneto
10. The Thing
As is typical with these types of things, if anything it drove me to want to make my own list. Now, I want to make a couple points before I jump into my own list.
A) These are not the characters I think are the best, these are the “greatest.” There’s a subtle difference, but the ultimate point is this: these are characters I think of first when I think of comics in general, not when I think of my favorites.
B) Empire’s list says “comic book,” but mine includes comic strip-ish characters.
That’s it though! Let’s get to the list.
Is this cheating? Maybe. But they are immeasurably great if only because they are the characters that kicked off the era of Marvel Comics that we all know and love. They were the first group to truly differentiate themselves as characters from DC’s lot, taking a group of normal, imperfect people and making a band of heroes out of them that were family first and adventurers second. The Thing is great, but the part that makes the team so perfect is how they work together. That’s arguably the greatest thing Jonathan Hickman has remembered to include in his now legendary run on the title(s).
Superman may bring the red, white and blue in his own right, but Captain America was such a smash because of his patriotic and unwavering nature. He became so much more from there, going through ups and downs but never really losing the core of the character (that the 2011 film did such a great job of highlighting in so many ways) along the way. While he is certainly no longer Marvel’s most famous character, he’s assuredly the one who led the way for the rest.
What else can you say about Tintin? This is a character that was described by none other than Scott McCloud as being someone who “allows readers to mask themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world.” He’s the perfect gateway into an entire world, perfectly crafted by Hergé to not necessarily be the most engaging character in his world, but by far the one that the most readers could envision themselves as. His influences is assuredly felt throughout, plus, his comics are just a delight.
The only villain on this list with good reason: he’s the one who most accurately reflects his hero and the world he lives in out of any comic villain ever. The Joker has such a litany of iconic moments and representations (ranging from Jokerfish and The Killing Joke to Cesar Romero and Heath Ledger) that, in many ways, he outdistances even The Dark Knight. He’s one of the great villains in fiction – not just comics – and for that, he had to be the top ranked villain.
Like Tintin, he’s a blank slate of sorts, giving readers an easy, relatable entry point into the world that in no way would take readers out of the story by offense or insult. But like Tintin as well, he’s the focal point of all of the big moments, driving Jeff Smith’s Bone with his sheer goodness and his will to protect his friends and loved ones. When you look back to Bone, you may think of Smiley’s silliness, Phoney’s nogoodnik nature, Thorn’s power and passion, and the rat creatures’ stupid stupidity, but for me, Fone Bone is the heart, soul and backbone of the entire story. For a comic I proudly call one of my all-time favorites, it’s impossible not to call him one of the greatest characters ever.
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Wolverine, in many ways, broke the mold. Like The Punisher slightly before him, Wolverine is an anti-hero, but in his regard, he escaped those limitations and became so much more than what he started as. Wolverine became the root of modern comic storytelling in many ways, as he drove comics into a world of grit and intensity that they hadn’t been previously. He inspired many storytelling tropes, became the most popular X-Man, and so much more, and it’s thanks to his growth and depth as a character. For someone who originally was designed as a punching bag for The Hulk, he sure came a long way.
Is this cheating? Probably. But I don’t care. Bill Watterson’s deadly duo were the characters who got me into comics, and got many modern readers into them. They inspire comics, whether you’re talking about creators like Caanan Grall or Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez, and they have led to so many happy moments for so many readers the world over. Hell, they were the characters that inspired my senior quote in high school. They’re the characters that made me love reading. They’re basically the bee’s knees, and they make me not care if I’m cheating or not.
Because in Calvinball, there is no cheating.
Say what you will about the guy: he’s too dark, he’s too uneven, he led comics (and their movies) to be too damn gritty, he has too many comics, whatever. Say what you will, and you’ll still find me defending him simply because, at his core, he’s a phenomenally great character. Ultimately just a man driven to do good simply because that’s what he knows is right (and, you know, he must avenge his parents forever), he was such a great match for Superman that they’ve spent their entire existence being inseparable. If this was a “great couples in comics” list, Batman and Superman might be at the top.
And if anyone tells me that picture is Dick Grayson, I’ll kill ’em.
It pays to be first, and in many ways, Superman was the first. He is a character that represents unflinching morals, the greatest of power, and goodness in the face of anything. He was the flagship of DC Comics. Hell, of comics in general. He was the inspiration for America, for humanity and for comic creators everywhere. As we know, Siegel and Shuster had no idea what they were creating at the time, but if had Superman spin the world backwards to send us back in time so you could to tell them what he’d become, I bet they wouldn’t even believe you.
The every man superhero. It’s what Marvel took over the industry with. Readers could see themselves in Peter Parker, and through him they could imagine a reality where they could swing along the rooftops or fight evil doers or get the girl (and, even more tragically, lose the girl). You could relate to him in a way you never could with Superman or Batman or Wolverine or even Calvin & Hobbes. He’s one of the great characters in fiction, and if you tell me otherwise, I’ll send Spidey after you.
