Wizard`s top 200 comic book characters of all time!

[bat1987]

Here`s the list from the newest issue of Wizard magazine:
[spoiler]
1. Wolverine
2. Batman
3. Spider-Man
4. Superman
5. The Joker
6. Rorschach
7. Captain America
8. Hellboy
9. Magneto
10. John Constantine
11. The Thing
12. Snake-Eyes
13. Kitty Pryde
14. Jesse Custer
15. Wonder Woman
16. Lex Luthor
17. Morpheus
18. Doctor Doom
19. The Hulk
20. Miracleman
21. Daredevil
22. Commissioner James Gordon
23. Yorick Brown
24. Marv
25. The Spirit
26. Cassidy
27. Green Goblin
28. Fone Bone
29. Ozymandias
30. The Flash
31. Tulip O'Hare
32. Gren Arrow
33. Death
34. Luke Cage
35. Conan the Barbarian
36. Iron Man
37. Barbara Gordon
38. Spider Jerusalem
39. The Punisher
40. Thor
41. Mr. Fantastic
42. Hal Jordan
43. Jimmy Corrigan
44. Jack Knight
45. Hawkeye
46. Jessica Jones
47. Silver Surfer
48. Professor X
49. Black Adam
50. Cobra Commander
51. Tara Chace
52. Bullseye
53. Nightwing
54. Darkseid
55. Captain Marvel
56. J. Jonah Jameson
57. Usagi Yojimbo
58. Bucky Barnes
59. Madman
60. Spawn
61. Herr Starr
62. The Red Skull
63. Cerebus
64. The Mist
65. Jason Todd
66. Two-Face
67. Katchoo
68. Robin
69. Emma Frost
70. Phoney Bone
71. Black Canary
72. Deathstroke
73. Concrete
74. Enid Coleslaw
75. Milo Garret
76. Captain Cold
77. John Hartigan
78. Swamp Thing
79. Black Panther
80. Renee Montoya
81. Catwoman
82. Lono
83. Doctor Strange
84. Kingpin
85. Scott Pilgrim
86. Ultimate Nick Fury
87. Lois Lane
88. Namor, the Sub-Mariner
89. Storm
90. The Human Torch
91. Hunter Rose
92. Elijah Snow
93. Hank Pym
94. Guy Gardner
95. Hopey & Maggie
96. Invincible
97. The Scarlet Witch
98. Vanom
99. The Invisible Woman
100. Agent Graves
101. The Crow
102. Eliot Ness
103. Blue Beetle
104. She-Hulk
105. Black Bolt
106. Cyclops
107. Grendel-Prime
108. Ben Urich
109. Jinx
110. Blade
111. Raphael
112. Rick Jones
113. Witchblade
114. Wesley Gibson
115. Nite-Owl
116. The Savage Dragon
117. Rogue
118. Hawkman
119. Jean Grey
120. Cyborg
121. Howard the Duck
122. The Goon
123. Bizarro
124. The Vision
125. Kabuki
126. Deena Pilgrim
127. Mary Jane Watson
128. Ted Knight
129. Galactus
130. Mitchell Hundred
131. The Governor
132. Elektra
133. Nightcrawler
134. Miho
135. Grro the Wanderer
136. Buffy Summers
137. Mr. Miracle
138. Drinky the Crow
139. The Leader
140. Doop
141. Christian Walker
142. Alfred Pennyworth
143. Loki
144. The Atom
145. Francine Peters
146. Hitman
147. Aquaman
148. Jimmy Olsen
149. Moon Knight
150. The Watcher
151. Shade
152. Black Cat
153. SuperGirl
154. Red Arrow
155. Captain Marv-Vell
156. Plastic Man
157. Agent 355
158. Grifter
159. Kyle Rayner
160. Elongated Man
161. Mage
162. Holden Carver
163. Orion
164. Deathlok
165. Sinestro
166. Wylie Times
167. The Invisible Man
168. The Spectre
169. King Leonidas of Sparta
170. Jim Rhodes
171. Dwight McCarthy
172. Uncle Gabby
173. Booster Gold
174. David Gold
175. Lobo
176. Black Widow
177. Hyperion
178. Cyborg Superman
179. Ultimate Doctor Octopus
180. Beast
181. Mirror Master
182. Deadpool
183. Seargant Rock
184. Colossus
185. Cassandra Nova
186. Braniac
187. The Tick
188. Juggernaut
189. Ultron
190. Ra's Al Ghul
191. Timber Wolf
192. Beta Ray Bill
193. Sabretooth
194. Leo Patterson
195. Iron Fist
196. Superboy
197. Kid Miracleman
198. Twitch
199. Golden Age Sandman
200. Superman-Prime

[/spoiler]

Your thoughts?

[yell0w_lantern]

I saw on the Green Lantern boards a while back that Guy was 94.
It's all just opinion and I've got my own.

[Alaric]

If it's supposed to be the top HEROES, why are there several villains listed?

[BWPS]

I read the number one. Nice list, way to fail.

[Talavar]

That list is stupid in all kinds of ways. 

[tommyboy]

That list is stupid in all kinds of ways. 

Quoted, as the saying goes, for truth.

[zuludelta]

That list is stupid in all kinds of ways. 

Quoted, as the saying goes, for truth.

Guys, it's Wizard magazine. Lower your expectations accordingly  :lol:

[bat1987]

If it's supposed to be the top HEROES, why are there several villains listed?

Fixed. My mistake.

[Alaric]

If it's supposed to be the top HEROES, why are there several villains listed?

Fixed. My mistake.

Except that that makes the list even more wrong than it was before. There are many, many non-superhero related great comic book characters not on that list.

[the_ultimate_evil]

and though i do not agree with him being number 1, i do see where they are coming from with there reasoning. sadly a lot of fans see wolverine and begin moaning without thinking

[bat1987]

Well the most commonsensical thing would be to put Superman at the top of the list, after all he is the first superhero.

Then again, he is pretty much one-dimensional character, both Batman and Spider-Man are much more complex. One of these two should be #1, in my opinion, though it`s tough to say which one.

As for Wolverine being #1, well he is a pretty good singer  :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX2iwXDoHAw

[Previsionary]

Wolverine totally needs to be number one. He's EVERYWHERE! Despite the fact that he's actually been in stories I liked this year (and that hasn't happened in a long time), there're like 300 clones of his characters running around and one is created based off of him every year. He's the stereotypical hero that's copied the most and he's also one of the most annoying, so him taking number one spot is totally in-character. Also, this is wizard...they're not exactly the pinnacle of accuracy or w/e, their opinion and no one will agree with it 100%.

With that said, I don't agree with the list, not because I think it's wrong or a hero I like isn't on it, but because I just don't care enough and it's pointless to be upset with them for their own list. It also has the top 4 spots filled with heroes I've really fallen out with over the years...specially that darned spider-man! *shakes fist*

[Alaric]

guys the list was actually comic characters not heroes

Uh, that's exactly what the couple of threads prior to your post were about. You see, bat1987 originally used the words "heroes", rather than "characters" in the title of this thread. Going on that, I, not noticing that the actual list had a different title than the thread, posted

If it's supposed to be the top HEROES, why are there several villains listed?

Following which, bat1987 changed the title of the thread and posted

Fixed. My mistake.

To which my reply was

Except that that makes the list even more wrong than it was before. There are many, many non-superhero related great comic book characters not on that list.

Of course, now that the thread title's been changed, that exchange makes absolutely no sense to any newer reader. *sigh* That's why I hate it when people edit posts after they've been responded to... and why I hate retcons...

[GhostMachine]

EPIC FAIL

[USAgent]

When I first seen Rorschach one spot above Captain America, I thought ...well that isn't right....then I noticed Jessica Jones 129 spots higher than Lobo I just lost all respect that this list makes any sense at all.

[daglob]

How was this list compiled? I remember some comments when Marvel did the "100 Greatest Comics" or something that X-Zombies (as opposed to X-Men fans) were voting early and often, blowing away other, more deserving entries.

Logically, Superman or Batman should be #1, with the other #2. Captain America, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, some or all of The Fantastic Four (possibly considered as a single unit), perhaps The Shield... all these characters were important to the HISTORY of the comics, not to how much money can be made marketing them or doing rip-offs of them.

The comic book super-hero would probably have been created without Superman... but when?

And while Wolverine is one of my favorite characters, I don't think he should be #1, although I did expect it.

[Previsionary]

How was this list compiled? I remember some comments when Marvel did the "100 Greatest Comics" or something that X-Zombies (as opposed to X-Men fans) were voting early and often, blowing away other, more deserving entries.

Logically, Superman or Batman should be #1, with the other #2. Captain America, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, some or all of The Fantastic Four (possibly considered as a single unit), perhaps The Shield... all these characters were important to the HISTORY of the comics, not to how much money can be made marketing them or doing rip-offs of them.

The comic book super-hero would probably have been created without Superman... but when?

And while Wolverine is one of my favorite characters, I don't think he should be #1, although I did expect it.

...I'm just going to ask, what credentials are you applying to put superman or batman at number 1? I'm ignoring my bias right now and just asking because those two haven't had a good past few years from what I know. You really can't just go off their icon status or just how much they affected comic history (outside their messy timelines :P) for them and then totally ignore wolverine's icon status and his affect on comic history which goes beyond being a money maker and major comic fan annoyer. I'm just saying, that seems a bit hypocritical since you just basically reduced wolvie into a cash cow (which he is, but so are the other characters) and ignored his initial impact on comics.

But now, I find myself wondering why I just went through the effort to type that up over a comic book list by Wizard as if their opinion actually has some sort of impact on someone. What...a...conundrum. *wanders off to watch venture bros...which should've been number 1!"

[Silver Shocker]

Superboy Prime? Pretty lame Wizard. However Doop, lol.

Kinda surpised to see Deadpool up there. I'm very biased being a big fan of the character and he has his fans but one of the top 100 list? Wouldn't go that far.

Also, How is Buffy Summers a comic book character?  By that logic Gil Grissom and Samuel L's character in Snakes on a Plane are also comic book characters.  :P

...I'm just going to ask, what credentials are you applying to put superman or batman at number 1? I'm ignoring my bias right now and just asking because those two haven't had a good past few years from what I know. You really can't just go off their icon status or just how much they affected comic history (outside their messy timelines ) for them and then totally ignore wolverine's icon status and his affect on comic history which goes beyond being a money maker and major comic fan annoyer. I'm just saying, that seems a bit hypocritical since you just basically reduced wolvie into a cash cow (which he is, but so are the other characters) and ignored his initial impact on comics.

Sorry Pre, ya lost me. Pretty much everything you said further punctuates the fact that this entire list depends wildly on what can defined in this case as "best". Half the characters on that list I've never even heard of (the ones with people names, though I caught the odd Sin City referance ect). What makes a character one of the "best"? Their impact on pop culture, thier popularity, the concept, the execution, the what? Cuz ya gotta remember, as Quark from Star Trek DS9 (among others I'm sure) once said "One's man's priceless is another man's worthless".

[Previsionary]

that's pretty much what i was saying, silver, by asking what credentials he was applying to superman and batman to automatically assume they deserved top billing.

Anyway, Buffy and Angel have been comic book characters for years. They have several non-canon books (and spinoffs) out and two (three soon) canon books out stated as season 8 and 6 respectively. The same can be said for serenity soon.

[Silver Shocker]

Yeah, I know, and I was kinda just joking around. But Buffy and Angel's comics are spinoffs from the shows. It's like saying that Luke Skywalker et all are literary characters because of the dozens of Star Wars novels that have been published. Shouldn't the focus be on the medium of origin? It's kinda unfair to include characters who didn't start out as comic book characters. But that's just my personal opinion, anyone's free to disagree obviously.

Yeah, I may have layed it on a bit thick with the Wolverine thing, but you are right though, it is stereotypical to complain about Wolverine being overexposed and such, but by the same logic, it's kinda infair to have the recent years of Superman and Batman's comic story's measure so heavily into the final equation since they've been appearing in comics since the 20's and 30's while Wolvie is a product of the 70's. Any character who's been in print non-stop for that long is bound to put out a whole string of stinker stories but should that really detract so much from thier decades of (I assume, not being a child of the 20's and 30's) GOOD stories? It is afterall a list of the all-time greatest. That's why Superboy Emo being on that list at all is a complete joke and sums the dubiousness of this list as a whole.

[bredon7777]

Anyway, Buffy and Angel have been comic book characters for years. They have several non-canon books (and spinoffs) out and two (three soon) canon books out stated as season 8 and 6 respectively. The same can be said for serenity soon.

No, Serenity has been confimed as a "series of miniseries" for the forseeable future.

And a THIRD Buffy/Angel book?  That's news to me. Welcome news, but news nonetheless. Care to elaborate?

[Previsionary]

And a THIRD Buffy/Angel book?  That's news to me. Welcome news, but news nonetheless. Care to elaborate?

Yes, it's just a 4 part miniseries, but it's canon none-the-less. It's a book that focuses on Spike and Illyria and their time together before they rejoined Angel in his fight against wolfram and hart/demons in LA-Hell. IIRC, it comes out around the same time that Angel: After the Fall finally finishes that very drawn out storyline.

[DetroitBerserker]

My personal choice for top 20, both biased and unbiased.
Don't get me wrong, I know I'm forgetting a lot.
The ones I haven't finished reading stay in their spots because.
[spoiler]
1. The Spirit (Movie comes out later this year, it seems.)
2. Batman
3. Captain America (Definitely not the ultimate version, though.)
4. Superman (As much as I dislike him, he deserves his place.)
5. The Joker (for The Killing Joke and A Death in the Family. I'm sick of resurrections, only liked two, Bucky and Green Arrow.)
6. Rorschach (Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz tried out for the part in the Watchmen movie, which comes out next year. Apparently the Motorcycle riding and smoking kid from the original bad news bears is who they went with instead. Also haven't finished reading.)
7. spider-man
8. Alan Scott (For paving the way for future Green Lanterns and a personal bias...)
9. Professor X (I'd say Xavier over Magneto when it comes to who's the better character any day.)
10. Wolverine
11. The Thing (He is the Everyman in an orange and rocky body. I just imagine Homer Simpson's voice when he talks.)
12. The Shadow
13. The Green Hornet
14. Jesse Custer (Haven't read, hunting down.)
15. Wonder Woman
16. Lex Luthor
17. Morpheus (haven't read, hunting down.)
18. Green Arrow (I know what you're thinking, BATMAN CLONE WITH ARROWS! but He slowly made his way into a fantastic character chock full of flaws. Personal bias.)
19. The Hulk
20. Miracleman (haven't read, hunting down.)[/spoiler]

[AncientSpirit]

Um, how can number One NOT be Superman?   After all, this is supposed to be the top character of ALL TIME.

Forget that Supes was the first.  Supes has been read by more READERS than any other character of all time.   Kids in the forties and fifites ... when comics sold for a dime ... gobbled them up by the millions.  There is no readership like that today for ANY character.

Supes was also LISTENED to by more fans than any other comic book character in history ... as he had the LONGEST RUNNING superhero RADIO SHOW, throughout the 40s.

He was WATCHED on TV by more viewers than any other comic book character in history ... during the 50s, when George Reeves played him (until he blew his brains out).   Not only was this show watched religiously by all the baby boomers at the time, it went on for years and years after in syndication.  And in those days, viewship wasn't diluted by a hundred cable TV stations.   You only had a couple of stations to watch -- so there wasn't the same competition for viewership.

He's been watched by MOVIE-MOVIE GOERS, TOO.    And I'm not even counting the Christopher Reeves movies of the 70s (or even the one George Reeves movie of the early 50s.)  The KIRK ALYN movies serials alone were seen by more movie goers than all the superhero characters today combined.  That's because instead of one blockbuster, they were done in chapters, one week at a time.  Folks had to come back, over and over again.

All this, complemented by all the recent animated tv shows, tv commercials (with Jerry Sienfeld), spoofs on variety shows daying back to Steve Allen's Tonight Show ... and all the way to today's You Tube parodies, there is NO WAY any other character could ever top Superman.

And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.    :D   

 

[daglob]

How was this list compiled? I remember some comments when Marvel did the "100 Greatest Comics" or something that X-Zombies (as opposed to X-Men fans) were voting early and often, blowing away other, more deserving entries.

Logically, Superman or Batman should be #1, with the other #2. Captain America, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, some or all of The Fantastic Four (possibly considered as a single unit), perhaps The Shield... all these characters were important to the HISTORY of the comics, not to how much money can be made marketing them or doing rip-offs of them.

The comic book super-hero would probably have been created without Superman... but when?

And while Wolverine is one of my favorite characters, I don't think he should be #1, although I did expect it.

...I'm just going to ask, what credentials are you applying to put superman or batman at number 1? I'm ignoring my bias right now and just asking because those two haven't had a good past few years from what I know. You really can't just go off their icon status or just how much they affected comic history (outside their messy timelines :P) for them and then totally ignore wolverine's icon status and his affect on comic history which goes beyond being a money maker and major comic fan annoyer. I'm just saying, that seems a bit hypocritical since you just basically reduced wolvie into a cash cow (which he is, but so are the other characters) and ignored his initial impact on comics.

But now, I find myself wondering why I just went through the effort to type that up over a comic book list by Wizard as if their opinion actually has some sort of impact on someone. What...a...conundrum. *wanders off to watch venture bros...which should've been number 1!"

I guess I should have also indicated that it was my opinion, and it was primarily because of icon status and staying power. That, and to some extent nostalgia.

And, of course, the messy timelines is because somewhere in the late '40s-early '50s no one ever thought that some one would read the things for more than a few years then graduate to pulps or paperbacks or fine literature. They sure didn't think anyone would care even as much as ten years after a story was published. I'm not sure when comic books became exclusively kid stuff, but it was either during or after WW II. Originally, they were more or less general audience material.
Talk about cash cows, Captain Marvel sold more comics in a month than some titles now sell in a year. I was thinking it was 6,000,000, but that may have been the Golden Age Daredevil I'm thinking of.

Also, can you imagine how messed the DNA of everyone in the Superman and Batman family of characters must be after the 1950s?

And what do you mean Supes and Bats haven't a a good past few years? I've read them off and on since the 1960s, and they've has whole strings of bad years, interspersed with some good runs here and there, and a lot of mediocrity.

[BlueBard]

It's a dumb list.  Quite obviously biased in favor of someone's opinion and not on any measurable criteria.

It's not driven by sales figures or popularity, because some of those characters are obscure as heck.

It's not driven by years in publication.  It's not driven by historical relevance.  Nor by number of appearances.

My guess is, it is the result of some unscientific poll conducted by Wizard writers/editors with nothing better to do and using a non-representative group of respondants.  Entirely possibly, the whole thing was done in house by a handful of Wizard staffers and no actual comic fans were consulted at any time.

[BlueBard]

Clearly, the only logical criteria that can be used is:

The number of action figures based on that character.

;)

[DetroitBerserker]

Whoops, I forgot number 21 on my list.
Cosmo The Telepathic Russian Space Dog from Nova 8-10.
He needs his own book.
COSMO OF KNOWHERE:
Head of Security

[The Hitman]

I made the mistake of buying this issue. Erg.

Anyways, I agree with about 30 of 'em. Which, for Wizard, is decent.

[Alaric]

I made the mistake of buying this issue. Erg.

Anyways, I agree with about 30 of 'em. Which, for Wizard, is decent.

Do you agree with the ranking of those 30, or just their presence on the list?