Comic Book Resources

And #1 will be…. Batman.

Anybody disagree?

Even if you’re positive a character will finish in a certain spot, it’s often interesting to see HOW many votes they got, and how close they were to a different spot.

To wit, halfway trough counting, DC’s #3 character is only a handful of votes behind DC’s #2 character, and the closeness there is stunning to me.

That would be kinda boring. (Same as if the top pick for Marvel is Wolverine.) But you’re probably right, fourthworlder. I do wonder where DC’s other two biggest icons will fall — Superman, Wonder Woman — and which B-listers upstage them. (Of course, I think you can make a case for Green Lantern and the Flash to be among DC’s A list, but everyone else is B-list or lower.)

Who are the other two of Marvel’s “trinity” — Spider-Man and … ? Captain America? Also, it’s fun to speculate if Civil War has tarnished Iron Man so much that he plummets in the ratings. (I’m betting yes.)

It’s not really much of a contest as to who’s in the top spots of each company. Really, does anyone expect anyone but Wolverine & Spidey to top Marvel’s list, and Bats & Supes to top DC’s? The interesting parts of the list would be #’s 3-10 on each list.

With that in mind, it might not have been a bad idea to exclude those characters, as they’re pretty much of a given.

Actually I excluded DC’s three top guns (though I don’t expect Wonder Woman will necessarily be #3) … and then, though I was going to skip Spidey & Wolverine on Marvel’s list, I changed my mind and kept Spidey in. Because really, he’s my favorite Marvel character. Reading digests of those earliest Ditko & Lee issues when I was a kid are among my favorite comics memories. And you can’t underestimate the brilliance of making a geeky teenager the protagonist, instead of just having a kid sidekick for the audience to identify with. I’m not sure that Ditko & Lee were the first to do it, but they’re surely the ones who struck gold with the concept. So somehow Spidey snuck through, where I was willing to overlook Supes & Bats & Diana & Logan. Go figure. (Because, even though I like ‘em, I don’t buy any of the individual titles of any of the characters.) (Excepting All-Star Superman, and I’m happy to give Simone’s WW a fair shot.)

Batman being #1 might be boring, but it makes sense that he’s the favorite character of more people than some obscure yet cool character. There’s a reason DC’s “Big Three” are the big three. Batman was my #1 pick. I’m actually expecting that a lot of people picked weird or unique charcaters just to show how independent or original they are, ignoring the more obvious characters even if it doesn’t reflect who their favorites really are.

That said it would be interesting to see the list of people that just got one vote or scored one point each. Although I’m sure that would be a long list.

Batman being #1 might be boring, but it makes sense that he’s the favorite character of more people than some obscure yet cool character. There’s a reason DC’s “Big Three” are the big three. Batman was my #1 pick.

Absolutely — I don’t mean to disparage Batman when I say that him finishing first would be boring. He’s absolutely a great character. I just mean that it’d be a really exciting suprise if somebody besides Batman and Superman end up as Numbers 1 and 2. I chose a C-lister for #1, with B-listers like Barbara Gordon and Martian Manhunter rounding out my top spots (well, Green Lantern’s in my Top Five, and as I noted earlier, he’s probably A-list). Meanwhile, in fact I’m pointing a finger at myself for a “boring” list by putting Spider-Man at the top of my Marvel roster.

I based my list on what I buy and what drive`s my fanboy impulse.

Although I DIDN’T include Batman, I DID include Dark Claw!!!

Although I DIDN’T include Spidey, I DID include Spider-Man 2099!!!

The ONLY Green Lantern I included was Jack T. Chance!!!

And although I DIDN’T include Superman, I DID include The Eradicator AND the Cyborg Superman!!!

Please don’t laugh at me. I really like them.

Probably because most of them came into vogue when I was a kid, and really made an impact on me as being unique and different, or at least unusual takes on set character archetypes.

Brian, are you going to include the number of votes for each entry?

Those stats would be great, man.

I’m sure that most of the people voting are more than just casual comic book fans, and therefore probably do legitimately have more B and C listers as their favorites. I had plenty myself. And I didn’t think you were trying to disparage Batman or anything Rebis, I agree with what you said. Despite my love for Batman, it would be interesting to see someone like Jonah Hex or Sgt Rock or Ragman come out on top. But if that were to happen I would think that it’s because people were trying to come up with less obvious choices. Either way I’m looking forward to the list, and I do think the top 50 spots for each company are going to include plenty of surprises, even if the top 5 or so end up being fairly predictible.

I only voted for one of DC’s Top 3 (and yes, she was my #1), but it wasn’t because I was trying to be indie. It’s because I wouldn’t pick up a Batman guest appearance in a comic, but I surely would pick up almost any comic for a Big Barda guest appearance. Also, I don’t feel that the JLA needs the Big 3 any more than it needs Black Canary for my enjoyment.

Don’t be too sure about the #1 slot. When Andrew Wheeler did this last year, the #1 pick for Marvel was Dr. Doom. Sure, Spider-Man was second, but Wolverine didn’t even crack the top ten – he got trumped by the likes of Galactus, Emma Frost, the Thing and MODOK.

Looking back, I’m kind of surprised that I rated Deadshot ahead of Batman.

Then I think about it and realise that yes, I really do think that Floyd is the more interesting (and badass) of the two characters.

Tommy Monaghan is better than either, of course.

My Marvel list, on the other hand, is unashamed X-geek. I suspect it reads rather similar to the 420 other X-geek top tens. Well, except for the green minotaur in place of Wolverine.

Brian, are you going to include the number of votes for each entry?

Those stats would be great, man.

You betcha.

It wouldn’t be as much fun if we didn’t know how many points Character X got than Character Y!

Don’t be too sure about the #1 slot. When Andrew Wheeler did this last year, the #1 pick for Marvel was Dr. Doom. Sure, Spider-Man was second, but Wolverine didn’t even crack the top ten – he got trumped by the likes of Galactus, Emma Frost, the Thing and MODOK.

Luckily (well, not necessarily luckily, as having a wacky list might be a lot cooler), the more ballots cast, the more accurate the results are of what the “mainstream” is. To wit, after 100 ballots, the Top 10s looked really interesting (DC’s #3 was a really strange superhero) – after 200 ballots, the Top 10s looked fairly normal, so I am sure after 566 ballots, they will look very normal.

So, while not wanting to ruin any fun, you can be pretty sure that the #1 vote-getters will be who you expect.

After THAT, however, it truly is a toss-up (except, I guess, DC’s #2).

566 voters?

I hate at least 494 of them.

What about the other 72?

And which group would be more desirable to belong to? The 72? Or the 494?

Will:
I bet YOUR list didn’t include Skullfire from X-Men 2099!! Or Squirrel Girl.

But what about the AoA/Exiles Blink? Likewise Morph?

I’m sure your list included Deadpool, right?

And of course, my favorite X-Man of all time, Kitty Pryde. Okay, technically not a man……

I guess that would make my list very X-centric as well, albeit more X-obscure, with 7 X-related characters on it. Oooh. This is so X-citing!

X-asperating.

But easily X-plainably among fanboys

x-plainable

x-cuse the mistake

ok, enough

x-it, stage left

566 voters?

I hate at least 494 of them.

Instead of that, you should think about how ELITE your voters were!