We hold this truth to be self-evident: nerds enjoy comic books. You get older and maybe you fashion yourself more of a podcast kid (yea!), a cult TV show buff, or the ultimate finder of Finnish drama movies, but it all comes back to the epic struggle of good and evil we pored over every weekend of our youth (or the epic struggle of blonde and brunette, if you were more of an Archie person — and there’s nothing wrong with that, if you were).
IGN is counting down the top 100 comic book heroes (they did the top 100 villains last summer), and while they’re not yet at the top 40, there are clearly some debates to be had already. Color me an idiot, but I had no idea who “Fone Bone” was until a cursory Wikipedia search, and he’s (she’s?) No. 60. Hawkman (No. 56) narrowly edged out The Tick (No. 57) and Aquaman (No. 52), The Flash (No. 49) and Silver Surfer (No. 41) may all be ranked too low.
Hit us with your thoughts so far — including who will eventually grab the brass ring at No. 1 (the IGN board seem to lean overwhelmingly towards Batman).
Well no shit, Superman is #1. Didn’t see that one coming. I guess that’s my fault though, because I decided “Hey, if I’m going to start reading Superman, I should start with the very beginning!”. So in my mind, Superman is still a chauvinist emo kid who called his super-lair the most waaaaambulance name ever. Meh.
Man, I didn’t even make it out of the 80’s before my three most well-known favorites were picked. I’m surprised, I would have thought that She-Hulk and Black Canary would have ranked a bit higher.
Oh well, I guess the only questions left are: Which Batman are they going to go with for number one, and where is Zatanna going to place on this list?
What about Funnyman? Sure he’s no Superman but… same origin… literally!
Ok I should explain, he was created by the same team. :p
I’m not sure how Charles Xavier, Cyclops, and Mr. Fantastic don’t even make the top 20!
I wonder if they’re considering characters like Pogo or Tintin who may have reached way more people than many of these heroes, but aren’t really standard comic fan fare?
Either way, I don’t hold much hope for my girl Dazzler making the list if they’re up to the top 40… =(
Bone is AMAZING, one of my favourite comic books ever. Whoever hasn’t read it do it NOW and you won’t reret it a bit. I almost envy you, my first read was already the giant paperback and it was one of the best I can remember, up there with Sandman and Watchmen.
Exactly what Norfbysw said. ‘Bone’ is such an incredible series.
Has Cerebus the Aardvark shown up yet?
My pick for top 3 are 3. Spiderman 2. Superman and 1. Batman.
Also the list lists Barry Allen as The Flash as #49, not just the Flash in general. So that leaves it open to having Wally West or even Jay Garrick higher.
Just because YOU haven’t heard of Fone Bone, doesn’t make him not worthy of the no. 60 position on this ranking. Certainly, I would rank him well above freakin’ Hawkman. Pick up the Bone collection(available in one thick-ass paperback volume) and believe me, you won’t be sorry. Also, Fone Bone is a “he”…
Also in case anyone missed it, IGN asked celebrities who their favorite is.
http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/05/02/igns-top-comic-book-heroes-celebrity-favorites
Been watching the videos everyday and no doubt top 10 will include Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Ironman, Hulk, Wolverine, Captain America, Thor, and/or Hal Jordon.
Some of thes characters I never got into of heard of. Although if I was more into comic besides DC and Marvel I’d know them. The Tick should have been higher though.
Looking forward to Green Arrow, Doctor Fate, Doctor Strange’s position.