Comments on: Top 50 DC Characters #20-16

By: Continuity Error! › Giant-Sized Link Pull List: 10/4

Continuity Error! › Giant-Sized Link Pull List: 10/4 — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:18:34 +0000

[...] Comics Should Be Good!: The countdown wraps up with Marvel characters #25-#21, #20-#16, #15-#11, #10-#6, #5 The Thing, #4 Dr. Doom, #3 Daredevil, #2 Captain America and #1 Spider-man; and DC characters #25-#21, #20-#16, #15-#11, #10-#6, #5 The Joker, #4 Hal Jordan, #3 The Flash, #2 Superman and #1 Batman. And those that almost made it Captain Marvel and Deadshot. Also, was Dazzler ahead of her time? Love those phone books. More and more comic book urban legends revealed. Proof that comics love witches (and hate doctors). And Batman keeps his hands to himself. [...]

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 13:47:32 +0000

I struggled with Rorschach. Ultimately, I left him off. And he probably would have been my #1 if I hadn't. I've even broken down in the past and bought memorabilia with him on it, and that's the only time I've done that. But Watchmen is just too far removed from the DCU for me. That was my limiter, like Susan using completed stories. I did make one Vertigo exception that I couldn't resist, although it looks like he's not making it. But overall, if I can't use Elijah Snow, who has appeared with Batman, then using a title that could really have been published under any name with no changes seemed outside of the spirit of the survey. (This doesn't mean I didn't understand the logic of ownership. Just how it then impacted my voting.)

By: The Mutt

The Mutt — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 06:35:05 +0000

I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it, Joe, but for having been around twenty years, Constantine is amazingly like his first appearance. Hell, most characters have been through four costumes and three names after twenty years. Constantine is Constantine and always has been.

By: Joe Gualtieri

Joe Gualtieri — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:07:14 +0000

Wow, just wow. This hte first time the DC results have annoyed me. Luthor, only 19th?

Constantine 19th?

Every character owned by Marvel or DC has, at some point, had some violence done to it. That's what happens to coporate intellectual property that bounces from hired hand to hired hand. From both companies, Constantine's the character who has, by far, had the least amount of violence done him. I'm shocked he got only 7 other first place votes. Ofr my money, the only character with as little coporate taint on him is Doom, and that's thanks in no small part to the brilliant Doombot idea.

By: stephen cade

stephen cade — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 02:30:24 +0000

Well, I've only seen 2 of my top ten so far--does that mean the other 8 are in the top 15?

Probably not, but I should see a couple of them at least.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 01:56:38 +0000

Hmmm, if Kyle's already on the list, I don't much like the chances of John Stewart making it too. Which is a shame, because his supporting role in the Rayner era Lantern series was one of the best aspects of the book.

By: The Mutt

The Mutt — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:49:04 +0000

You know, this is so much fun I wish it had been the top 100.

Can we do a poll of favorite Non-DC/Marvel characters next?

Please?

By: Will

Will — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:32:10 +0000

That whole first career as Batgirl almost got me to not vote for Oracle. Almost.

I guess I have a problem with imitations.

By: Rebis

Rebis — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 23:13:56 +0000

Animal Man, Oracle and Black Canary were my top three. I'm confident Oracle will crack the Top Ten. That whole first career as Batgirl surely boosts her up big-time ... though I don't think I'd've ever voted for her in my Top Ten if she'd never become Oracle. For which I thank not Alan Moore but John Ostrander. Thank you, Mr. Ostrander!

By: Ian Astheimer

Ian Astheimer — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 19:00:57 +0000

Kyle! Woot!

He was, I believe, #3 on my list.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:44:02 +0000

It never really occured to me before but DC has a real branding problem on their hands. The legacy characters are neat in concept, but when 4 (or 5 counting Jon) of your most popular characters all go by the same super hero identity, it really limits your liscensing and title options.

I guess Kyle, Guy, and John might never have been popular if there weren't ring-wearers, but I sure bet DC wishes they could do more with them instead of only getting to focus on one at a time.

Basically all of this applies to the Flash as well. And Robin too to a lesser extent.

By: suedenim

suedenim — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:29:40 +0000

Not sure if others used this logic, but I didn't really think of characters whose stories are "done." Like (notwithstanding JLA/Hitman) Tommy Monaghan, a character who was great, but he's dead now, or Rorschach.

(Though I have to admit to some inconsistency in this not-totally-conscious approach, as I voted for Barry Allen, but he still has something of a presence.)

By: Trevorfrost

Trevorfrost — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:22:50 +0000

Whoo Hoo! Way to go Kyle!! #4 on my list. I am very happy to see him so highly ranked.

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:11:53 +0000

I always loved that John Constantine came about as a character after Steve Bissette told Alan Moore he wanted to draw a character who looked like Sting. Speaking of which, I would have much preferred to see Sting in the Constantine movie than Keanu Reeves, but anyway...

Constantine and Rorschach both just barely missed my list. I'm glad they both still scored so high though.

By: Steve T

Steve T — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:16:36 +0000

Canary was my #1.Narrowly nosing out Barbara Gordon/Oracle.(Though I'm not so sure about that in retrospect as Barb has been highly successful in multiple personas.)Regardless,one way or the other,they're the highest quality DC characters of those who are among my favorites. Birds of Prey has been one of the most consistently high quality and enjoyable runs in recent comics.Gail's part in particular has done much to define and raise the character's involved.Dinah has been depicted as strong,professional,and independent.While also still having a light hearted side.Even her status among DC's top fighters was upgraded smoothly without damaging others.I'm enjoying her as the JLA chairperson,too.The scene with Canary attacking the Tornado android and comments with it were priceless. I'll admit to perhaps being slightly surprised Canary didn't places a few positions higher even.

By: Danar

Danar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:01:37 +0000

Oh, and almost forgot to mention. Based on the current trendlines, #1 for DC will be coming out to about 550 points and #1 for Marvel will come out just under 900 points. I know these are NOT going to be accurate, but that's the way the current trend is going.

By: Danar

Danar — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:59:51 +0000

I think the legacy thing is going to help AND hurt certain DC characters. It certainly looks like all 4 Flashes will make the list and I won't be surprised if we see at least 4 Green Lanterns. While that is kind of cool, it also means there are fewer slots for some of the more esoteric and unique DC characters. (I'm going to be very disappointed if Amanda Waller doesn't make the list.) It also means that some characters don't show up as highly as they should. For example, I could see someone deciding that they couldn't put 2 Flashes on their list, so they skip Wally in favor of Barry. Result might be that Wally drops a few ranks. I can't prove that happened, but I find it likely. By the way, are there any other categories that might be interesting to look at? Most of the ones I noted came about as I looked at the list and spotted interesting trends (like Ambush Bug and Howard the Duck coming in close to the same rank).

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:46:25 +0000

I had Green Lantern and Black Canary on my list. Dinah was actually a contender for my number 1, but I had to give that one to Wonder Woman after really hard consideration. Susan, you are my hero for your description of Dinah. At the start of Birds of Prey, she was at her lowest rung after Ollie's death, and over the course of Dixon and Simone's runs, we have seen to climb her up to chairperson of the frakkin Justice League of America. Unlike what would have happened with a lot of franchise characters, Dinah got built up over years to her current level, isntead of off-panel or over six issues. Also, Simone didn't have a single serious romantic thread during her several years with Birds, so it was great to see a group of sexy, powerful women not have every story deal with men. I'll eat my hat if Oracle doesn't show up still, further testament to how great the Birds of Prey are.
Honestly, it made my day to see Dinah rank so low; I have a serious ear-to-ear grin. Which is awkward, because I am at work.

By: The Mutt

The Mutt — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:00:08 +0000

Looks like Rorschach is going to take the "fewest appearances and still made the list" prize.

By: Patrick Zircher

Patrick Zircher — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:57:26 +0000

John Constantine is #9 on my list of DC faves. He's a character that an artist can really get behind, because, in addition to the dark mood of the series, there's a wonderful juxtaposition of supernatural elements and real moments. Whether Constantine's one-of-a-kind, as Derek mentions, or not is debatable. The 'realistic' supernatural detective has been around a long time. There was a wave of Brit writers telling "supernatural detective" stories in the 20's, 30's and 40's. They may have inspired Siegel & Shuster's 1935 creation, Dr. Occult. They probably inspired Constantine's co-creator, Alan Moore. Mister E and Hannibal King, both trenchcoat-garbed, "realistic" combatants of the supernatural, pre-date him as well. But Constantine is, obviously, the most successful, popular, and, frankly, best of these types of comic characters.