CSBG Archive
Top Five Superhero Colors
Folks kept asking me last time to do more of these, so how does another Top Five Week sound?
Let’s begin!
Today’s Top Five is the top five colors used with superheroes (for this top five, I will be including White and Black as colors)!
Enjoy!
Honorable Mentions
Gold
This was a tough one, but I just couldn’t see Booster Gold, Goldstar, Golden Archer, Golden Girl, Goldfire and Gold from the Metal Men being enough of a mass of Gold heroes to make up for the coolness of the heroes at #5
White
The White Queen, the White Witch and White Tiger just weren’t enough to push them past the #5 on the list. But it was VERY close!
5. Silver
The Silver Surfer alone might have managed the #5 spot on this list, but when you add in Silver Sable, Silver Sorceress and Silver Agent – it just pushes them over the top.
4. Red
While Red Arrow is a bit of a dorky name, Red is pretty well represented among superheroes.
You have Red Tornado, a whole ton of Red Guardians, Redeemer (oops…wait a second), Red Wolf and Falcon’s bird, Redwing.
On the lower levels, you have the Red Bee, Claremont’s Red Lotus character, Redwing from the Team Titans, Red Raven and Red Ronin.
3. Blue
There are less Blues than Reds in the world of superheroes, but there is a higher level of quality, particularly the THREE notable Blue Beetles (with Ted Kord being my favorite).
Plus Blue Devil, Blue Jay and Blue Trinity – Blue is a good color for a DC hero!
But there are a couple of Blue Marvel heroes – Blue Diamond or the short-lived Bluebird (in Kurt Busiek’s classic Untold Tales of Spider-Man).
2. Black
While Blue may be a DC province, Marvel may have them beat on Black characters, fielding an impressive array of:
Black Panther, Black Widow, Black Knight, Black Goliath, and Black Bolt
DC counters, though, with Black Canary, Black Lightning, Black Condor, Black Alice, The Blackhawks and Black Orchid
Black has a very strong showing.
1. Green
This is an interesting one, because there are actually LESS major heroes with Green in their name than Black (unless you count duplicate heroes, like multiple Green Lanterns), it’s just that the quality far outshines the relative lack of quantity.
Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Killowog and Kyle Rayner are all fine examples of Green Lanterns.
Then you add in Oliver Queen and Connor Hawke, and the Green ARROWs are in good supply, too!
When you then work in Green Flame (later known as Fire) and Phil Urich, the good Green Goblin, then Green is even further diversified!
But really, when two of the most prominent “color” heroes both have the SAME color, I think it is enough to squeeze out a #1 ranking!
That’s the list! Agree? Disagree? Let me know!
24 Comments
stephen cade
July 2, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Ted is my favorite Blue Beetle as well.
I figured green would be the top one–what with all the Green lanterns out there + Green Arrow.
I did once come up with an idea for a superhero I called Green Thunder.
Michael Rawdon
July 2, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Don’t forget the Green Hornet!
Does the Shadow count among the ‘black’ heroes?
Flush it all away
July 2, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I think Red Ghost (and his Super Apes) is enough to jump Red into the #2 spot. And if Crimson Dynamo counts, then red would definitely be #2.
Michael
July 2, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Shouldn’t Silver Sable count *against* the Silver characters?
SanctumSanctorumComix
July 2, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Just a few odds-n-ends:
- Silver Samurai
- Red Rajah
(World dominating identity of Doctor Strange)
- Superman Red
- Superman Blue
- Cobalt Blue
(Noble comics & Innovation by Gustovich and Gulacy)
- Black Orchid
- Black Adam
- Cyrus Black
- Fiddler’s Green (Vertigo)
Whatever.
~P~
P-TOR
Brian Cronin
July 2, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I was going with just superHEROES.
Bully
July 2, 2007 at 7:06 pm
No love for the Purple Man and the Purple Girl. (pout)
km
July 2, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Oh, and how about that ‘Rainbow Batman’ that appears on one cover over at Superdickery? I always wanted to know what was up with that.
David B
July 3, 2007 at 6:54 am
Grammar nitpick:
I believe you mean “fewer” not “less.” The rule is that if you can count the items, then use fewer. Example:
I had less milk than bob.
I had fewer gallons of milk than bob did.
Sorry ’bout that interruption – other than that, good post.
I am MODOK
July 3, 2007 at 7:01 am
How could you forget Blue Shield?
Omar Karindu
July 3, 2007 at 7:19 am
The “rainbow Batman” was a rather slight plot twist, all told. After a gang nearly wiped out Batman and Robin, the then-not-so-Dark Knight began wearing a sequence of costumes bearing one of the colors of the rainbow, waving off questions by claiming it was mysteriosuly necessary. Finally, when the gang was rounded up, Batman revealed to the reader why he’d done it: Robin had been wounded in their first battle with the gang, and Batman’s rainbow costumes misdirected everyone so that no one spotted the Boy Wonder’s bandage.
km
July 3, 2007 at 9:33 am
Thanks much, Omar!
Matt D
July 3, 2007 at 11:02 am
But Red Ronin is bigger than everyone but Mogo. Shouldn’t that count for something!
The Mutt
July 3, 2007 at 11:03 am
Interesting that only three of the eleven listed black heroes are Black.
Carlos Futino
July 3, 2007 at 12:30 pm
What? No love for Rocket Red? There was one in the Justice League (Giffen & DeMatels run)!
Carlos Futino
July 3, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Other thing: Does Scarlet count as red? There’s Scarlet Spider and Scarlet Witch.
If Crimson also counts as red there’s Crimson Fox.
Green is my favorite color, but i think red beats it, qhen it comes to super-heroes
lauren
July 3, 2007 at 1:15 pm
And the Crimson Avenger!
Loren
July 3, 2007 at 4:16 pm
So Robin got injured, and Batman forced him to continue crimefighting before he’d finished healing?
And they say the modern-day Batman is a jerk.
Bob
September 14, 2007 at 7:28 am
No, there was more to it than that. Dick Grayson spotted a robbery, and rescued a child who was about to be run over by the getaway car. That’s how he injured his arm. The rescue was written up in all the newspapers.
A TV camera was stolen in that robbery. Batman deduced that the crooks were planning a bigger holdup at some upcoming public event, and needed the camera so they could pose as TV reporters. (This was the ’50s. You couldn’t just buy a video camera at the mall.)
Since Dick could identify the criminals, Batman needed Robin to accompany him on patrol. He wore different brightly-colored costumes to keep attention on him, so no one would notice Robin hiding the sling on his arm under his cape and conclude that Robin was Dick Grayson.
Richard Vasseur
January 7, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I agree with Green as #1.
You seem to have gotten them all.
john kinney
January 31, 2008 at 1:02 am
Well, I was feeling rather golden as I gazed at the image of the White Queen, but then my wife walked in and caught me red handed. I think she was green with envy, and now I have blue balls. Please don’t blacklist me for speaking with a silver tongue.
Josh Benentt
November 11, 2009 at 6:16 am
Blackpanther is so badass
papo
March 3, 2010 at 8:06 am
she got big bobs
jose ibanez
May 25, 2010 at 9:47 pm
heyy i like to read comics books and draw them