Favorite Comic Book Characters

Isn't a Manga a sweet redish-orange tropical fruit??

Frosty
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Herodotus Frost-- Magic/Blaster; Electric/Cold
Creon-- Natural/Scrapper; Darkness/Super Reflexes
Slee Stacked-- Mutant/Defender; Force Field/Energy

Watchmen is one of the best comics ever (thus the Rorschach addition
to my list).
And I definitely agree, the humanity of the characters is fantastic.

Admittedly, I read it for the first time about six months ago, but I think the impact was still the same. Non-super heroes in a world that doesn't welcome them. Watching the one man with superpowers lose his humanity through the inevitable alienation he faces. Rorschach is ugly and vicious, but he tries to do what is right and honest to the world. Dr. Manhattan is the shining star, and yet he performs what I feel is the most terrible action in the book (Yes, worse than the Ozymandias event).

The book challenges right and wrong, morality, and beauty.
It also shows that ensuring the safety of the world is a task beyond any human. It's just a great work.

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Apollyon - Scrapper Katana/Invuln/Leap
Phayde - Defender Empathy/Mental/Teleport
Salamando - Tanker Stone/Mace/Flight
Hadoth - Controller Illusion/Kinetics/Speed

Doctor Doom
Mister Fantastic
Booster Gold and Blue Beatle
STEELJACK- Astro City
She Hulk
Martian Manhunter.
SpiderGirl - Spiderman's Daughter.
I'm sure I have more but I can't think of them right now.
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The Terrific Wired Tech Know - 34.6 Electrical Blaster / Devices / SuperSpeed/Leaping
R Tech 25.1 Ice/Empathy Controller

You sir wouldn't know a Manga if your saw one!!!

I figure'd I'd go a little bit different here, mostly because I'm a lover of the classics and I can't really argue too much with Frosty's list. So instead I'll list some of my all time favorite stories, and why I like them (in no particular order) - there is a graphic novel that collects each one:

Watchmen - sure everyone says they like this comic, but ask them why, and they can't give you a straight answer. My personal feeling is that the true reason is that this is the very first mainstream comic that showed us that our heroes can in fact be as human as we are. Yes even Dr. Manhattan, the child in the china shop.

Dark Knight Returns - lets face it once the 80s came around, Batman had become one of the worst comics on the planet. Its popularity was at an all time low, and the character was going nowhere and its stories were busy making little sense. In walks this comic, and it not only completely redefines the character for us, it completely revives the character for us. Suddenly Batman is in again, and the industry is better for it.

The One - Charles? Amelia? This is a story with several twists, but at its core its about one simple thing. There is good. There is evil. Mankind is both and neither. And, of course, the fact that all you need is love. This is not a mainstream comic by any stretch of the imagination. This story takes all the mythological aspects of comics and weaves them into a bizarre tale that just tries to tell us they "hey, everything is all right." Several later stories, such as Babylon 5, steal elements from this story: "I was there at the dawning of the third age of mankind..."

Marshall Law - the first six issues in this comic are amazing. The core existence of this world is a dark version of City of Heroes. So many hereos. So many villains. But there's little difference between the two. And then there is the law, in this case Marhshall Law. This story is about taking the icons that are heroes and tearing them down before our eyes, leaving them in a state where we see what happens when those with great power lack great responsibility.

There are others, but I'll leave it at these four. I love them because together they share something. They deconstruct comics to a point where I feel we can truly better understand them and what they represent. Yes escapism is a huge part of comics. But what I'm talking about is realizing that the characters we read about in comics are the mythos of our times.

One day eons from now, people will read about Superman like we read about Zeus or Hercules. But at the same time its important for us to understand that at the heart of Superman is just a man. And these stories help that.
--
Circeus, Friendly/Neighborhood/Site/Admin
Starmaster, Mutant/Blaster/Energy/Fire
Mighty Quinn, Magic/Tanker/Ice/Stone

Manga doesn't count!! I refuse to recognize it!! You can't make me either!

Frosty
_____________________________________________________________________
Herodotus Frost-- Magic/Blaster; Electric/Cold
Creon-- Natural/Scrapper; Darkness/Super Reflexes
Slee Stacked-- Mutant/Defender; Force Field/Energy

It's so hard to choose, but here goes:

Gambit
Ultimate Captain America (such a bad-ass)
Milk & Cheese
Rorschach
Half of the cast from Rising Stars
Mr. Fixit
Marv (Sin City)
The Joker
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
Sub Girl (Tank Girl comics)
Kaori (Akira)
Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Trigun)

I threw some manga characters in there, but I assume they count, too.

I know some people will poke fun for me putting Gambit on the list (admittedly my favorite character). Well, he was the first comic book character I really got into. I think he has one of the coolest powers out there. Plus, all he can do is charge things. The rest of his survival has to come from athletic prowess, fighting ability, and a quick mind. His appeal is similar Batman's appeal. I just associate more with Gambit. I was in high school at the time (1993 or so)when I started reading my buddy's X-men comics. He was smooth, Rogue wanted him, and he had a cool accent.

OK. I'm done backing up my choice, unless someone challenges me on it.

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Apollyon - Scrapper Katana/Invuln/Leap
Phayde - Defender Empathy/Mental/Teleport
Salamando - Tanker Stone/Mace/Flight
Hadoth - Controller Illusion/Kinetics/Speed

I have several:

Spider-man
Hulk
Batman
Nightwing
Titans
The Outsiders
The Ultimates
and
Space Ghost. Yeppers Space Ghost. I was a fan before I had even read my first comic. I watched Superfriends and Space Ghost and I always thought Space Ghost was alot more kewler [yeah thats right I said more kewler <g>;-)] than Superman and et al. DC has been doing a six issue miniseries. Issue 5 came out this month and the series has been good. It shows the origin of Space Ghost. How he got his Tech. How he met Jan and Jayce. ANNDDD, the first meeting between Space Ghost and Zorak.

--Did someone say the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man is rampaging in Atlas Park? OMW and I'm bringing the Fire to toast 'im!

Green Arrow
Green Lantern (Hal)
Iron Fist
Captian America
The Metal Men
Doom Patrol

Just to name a few...
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Ms Mystic - Kinetics / Psychic Defender
Shrike - Energy / Energy Blaster

Yes Star, that is the same Thanos!

I have just always thought he was an intresting character with depth. Something about him always seemed cool to me and I have liked him ever since the Infinity Gauntlet.

And as for Blue Beetle and Boster Gold, you are right on the money. I will post a favorite story about them on the other thread.

Frosty
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Herodotus Frost-- Magic/Blaster; Electric/Cold
Onyx Fire-- Mutation/Tanker; Fire/Super Strength
Creon-- Natural/Scrapper
Green Succubus--

Is that Thanos as in "I need a Cosmic Cube" Thanos? As in I was the worst enemy of Mar-Vell?

Speaking of whom, there's one I didn't mention: Capt. Mar-Vell.

I was not a big fan of Blue Beetle or Booster Gold until they became best friends and basically partners. Together they were priceless. Apart, eh?

The Fantastic Four.

Byrne/Claremont X-Men -- the rest is a pale shadow.

Flash (Wally)

and others.
--
Circeus, Friendly/Neighborhood/Site/Admin
Starmaster, Mutant/Blaster/Energy/Fire
Mighty Quinn, Magic/Tanker/Invuln/Energy
Mad Cow, Science/Scrapper/MA/Reflexes