The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters

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The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 9:51:32 AM

Amar Vijay

Posts: 75
Joined: 11/9/2005
From: UK

We count down the kings (and queens) of comics, click here for the feature - and have your say.

Post #: 1

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 10:17:54 AM

hit_or_miss_me

Posts: 312
Joined: 11/1/2006
From: London

Definitely enjoyed that, especially how high up Jesse Custer was. I would have preferred to see Venom much higher, but the Spiderman 3 debacle has probably tainted him in some eyes.
One criticism though, wish this had been either a two parter or a daily countdown. Too much comic book goodness in one go!

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Post #: 2

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 10:39:30 AM

sowasred2012

Posts: 352
Joined: 29/6/2007

Pretty good, I liked the fact that Dream, Death, Saint of Killers and Jesse Custer are all in there in very decent spots - but I'm a bit annoyed about Cap being placed four or fives places below Hulk. Plus, I'm more of a Marvel fan than a DC fan, but I still think I'd put Bats above Supes. And Dream above everybody.

Also, I'd've put Aspen Matthews in as a little tribute to the late, great Michael Turner. She's pretty and can make your head explode by doing something to the water in your body.

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Post #: 3

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 10:53:06 AM

lisamoorish

Posts: 91
Joined: 5/12/2005

I'm sorry, fair enough Supes and Bats for the top two, but Wolverine and Constantine higher than Spider-Man? HIGHER THAN SPIDER-MAN?!?

Hang your heads in shame, Empire.

(in reply to sowasred2012)

Post #: 4

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:02:56 AM

...marcus...

Posts: 336
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: The Gunga Diner

Raw Shark really should have been higher, folks. It was, after all, a list of the greatest - not necessarily most popular- characters, and whilst loosely based on earlier creations, Moore knocked it out of the park with old Walter.

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Post #: 5

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:06:31 AM

Uriel Ventris

Posts: 48
Joined: 1/9/2006

Nick Nolte for the Saint of Killers!!!!

(in reply to ...marcus...)

Post #: 6

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:12:20 AM

CORLEONE

Posts: 4599
Joined: 2/11/2005
From: Green and Pleasant Land

Superman beating Batman? Maybe sometime in the past but not right here, right now! Good to see some love for Preacher, but no Cassidy the Irish vampire? And Obelix higher than Hellboy? Puurrrleease.........

Other than those gripes a great list. Some characters I'll have to check out as well.....

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Post #: 7

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:19:03 AM

Fanboyslayer

Posts: 2418
Joined: 22/11/2005

Nice to see some 2000AD peeps in there. Not sure if the voteing thing is working on all of them I voted higher twice for Swamp Thing and both time it put my votes lower

Loving Constantine being so high up, he's definitley my number one character by far. Quite surprised there's no Cassidy or Tulip though.

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Post #: 8

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:51:39 AM

princess_suz

Posts: 57
Joined: 4/12/2006

WOOOOOOOOOOW

an empire list that caters for indie fans! what has gone wrong with the world

oh wait its what you always do

Cap could kick any of the top ten's asses in a fight and is doing everything for a nobler cause

superman on top! why oh why, even in the films he's two dimensional, "oh save the world, oh no kryptonite, help me someone else" there you go so if you haven't read any superman stuff i just saved you time and money

Batman, okay tormented caped crusader is cool.......boring as hell if batman is on the list all of his villains should be on it higher than him, its them that make the comics actually interesting

Spidey at 5th, you look at anyone else on that list that does as much as him, Job, College, looks after mae, fights crime and still manages to keep his identity a secret for the best part of his sensational run

people not on the list that i am quite annoyed about

Flash
Harvey Dent/Two face
Blade
Yorick (y last man)
King Leonidis
Jean Grey
silver surfer
Optimus Prime or any of the bots in disguise
bluntman and chronic

seriously empire do something about your top tens and greatest list, the past few months you guys have really sucked at them

(in reply to Fanboyslayer)

Post #: 9

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:52:31 AM

Kingseany

Posts: 132
Joined: 4/12/2006

I'd have Dardevil higher. And where is Supergirl the hottest lady in comics???

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Post #: 10

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:58:07 AM

eruptus

Posts: 79
Joined: 24/11/2006

Pretty good list, although the blue boy-scout isn't better than Batman and never will be. Captain Haddock could've been higher and you could've added Comedian to the list.

Are you sure that Jack Napier is the real name of The Joker? I'm pretty sure that that name was only used in the first Burton-film.

(in reply to Amar Vijay)

Post #: 11

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 11:59:16 AM

cerebusboy

Posts: 1552
Joined: 1/5/2006

Personally I was glad to see Cerebus (300 issues over 27 years by one guy, and self-published!) featured, albeit too low.

ryan

(in reply to Kingseany)

Post #: 12

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 12:02:40 PM

SuperShazam!!

Posts: 4
Joined: 1/7/2007

Superman deserves the top spot! Well done empire

(in reply to Amar Vijay)

Post #: 13

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 12:10:49 PM

gambit21

Posts: 31
Joined: 28/2/2006
From: Edinburgh

No Gambit!!! so disappointed, he definitley deserves a place. and there is a suprising lack of x-men in there, but no leonidas- poor. batman should be above supes for sure. id have liked to see rorschach a bit higher too. I wanted The martian manhunter in there as well but you cant have everything. No Blade or Thor either. Plus Cap Am needs to be in the top ten

(in reply to Amar Vijay)

Post #: 14

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 12:21:23 PM

satanbob

Posts: 17
Joined: 9/10/2005

Good list overall. Just a few points to make:
Batman and Superman should swap places. I like the superpowered alien but he's got nothing on Batman, an ordinary guy with cool toys and a degree in ass-kickery.
Cassidy definitely should've been in there but i'm happy to see Jesse and The Saint of Killers getting a look in.
Also agree with the previous poster that Gambit should've been in there somewhere

(in reply to gambit21)

Post #: 15

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 12:37:10 PM

Desleader

Posts: 66
Joined: 30/9/2005

Great countdown and feature Empire. But i agree with most and was expecting Batman to be above Supes in the top position. Some good choices of indie characters as well. I'd like to have seen Mr Sinister and Optimus Prime or Bumblebee in it though.

(in reply to satanbob)

Post #: 16

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 1:21:56 PM

bobthegrinch

Posts: 109
Joined: 21/11/2007

Blade is by no means one of the greatest comic book characters. Neither is Gambit. I don't think either should've been included on the list so I'm glad they weren't. I was surprised to see no Flash on there considering some of the others that are on there like the Mekon.

However any issue about this list pales into insignificance when you see how spectacularly the ball was dropped with Superman as number 1. Perhaps in the past he was the most well known and as such his look is iconic but he isn't by any stretch of the imagination the greatest character. In fact reading the description of him in the list once you get past how well known he is and that he's been about for a while, the actual comment on the character points out what's wrong with him more than what's right. At the time of writing this 87% of voters want to see him lower on the list. I think Superman can be done well but very rarely is and often works best as a foil for Batman (see Hush, The Dark Knight Returns). Writers often have to depower or radically change him to make an interesting character emerge. Batman is the greatest comic book character because like Superman his look is iconic and he is part of the public concious but he also has interesting stories, the best villains and a personality that make his stories a far more consistently good read than any other character who has endured over 30+ years.

(in reply to Desleader)

Post #: 17

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 1:33:12 PM

kinge247

Posts: 383
Joined: 8/3/2006
From: Somewhere away from you!

Excellent list Empire. I do think that Hellboy and Captain America should have been higher though. Really pleased with Jesse Custer and John Constantine being so high up as Preacher and Hellblazer are fucking excellent. I was also interested to see that 12% of people think superman should have been higher in the list than no.1. All in all though a good list that has obviously had some time and effort put into it, good work Empire. Can't wait for Dark Knight, HellboyII and Watchmen to come out. Please someone invent a time machine so I can see them now!

(in reply to bobthegrinch)

Post #: 18

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 1:40:07 PM

alsybroth

Posts: 112
Joined: 5/1/2007

Superman has to be No.1 on the list, simply becuase he is THE archtype of all comic creations and definition of the word 'Superhero'. I'm not a Superman fan but I think anyone who moans about him being No.1 should just pipe it.

Quite a bunch of obscure characters on that list, for that mention, here's some who I think should've deserved a mention more than some of those on that list:

On the western front:
V (V For Vendetta)
Jackie Espacado (The Darkness)
Doc Ock (Spider-Man) how was he NOT on this list!!
Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Batman)

On the Manga front:
Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell)
Alucard (Hellsing)
Tetsuo Shima (Akira)
Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

(in reply to Desleader)

Post #: 19

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 1:43:45 PM

Halloweenfreak

Posts: 274
Joined: 4/7/2008
From: Southampton

Wow, Wow, Wow hang on one second what about The Punisher?

I love his character...he's such a badass bounty hunter and most of the time out for revenge

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Post #: 20

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 2:21:52 PM

Eckmi

Posts: 10
Joined: 14/2/2006

You could have at least used Bryan Lee O'Malley's art for your Scott Pilgrim image

< Message edited by Eckmi -- 8/7/2008 2:33:21 PM >

(in reply to Halloweenfreak)

Post #: 21

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 2:26:26 PM

Tex Hex

Posts: 15
Joined: 27/7/2006

Have to say it is a good list (the top two were pretty predictable, but for good reason)...I am surprised at some of those left out with Harvey Dent/Two Face being the major shocker, as he is one of the most complex characters in the Batman universe (in The Long Halloween and Dark Vicotry alone!), but another is Enid from Ghost World-that character has had a profound affect not just on me but on some of my best friends, and if Harvey Peckar can get in then she should be there too!

Have to ask though-am I now the only one who didnt mind topher grace as eddie brock? I mean, I know he's not like he is in the comics, but Im sure Raimi was revamping the character to be like an evil version of Parker, which came across quite well to me :S Although ever since all I can think about is how much better the trilogy couldn have been with Grace AS Parker-particularly if they had stuck more with the smart ass Spidey...watch That 70's Show and its pretty damn obvious the guy can pull of sardonic yet nerdy teen, which was what Spidey always was to me, not just flat out nerd.

And while Im on casting...Jesse Custer: Mark Ruffalo? Morpheus: Cillian Murphy....any takers?

(in reply to Halloweenfreak)

Post #: 22

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 2:28:37 PM

livewire

Posts: 4049
Joined: 24/1/2006
From: Northern Ireland

Great Feature But there are some glaring ommissions. THe only way to do this is to have a hall of fame type poll to see who's who in the comic book world.

Can't believe the silver surfer dindn't make it

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Post #: 23

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 2:48:10 PM

sowasred2012

Posts: 352
Joined: 29/6/2007

One more thing, no Yorick from Y: The Last Man? Haven't read it all (since the library decided to buy each of the nine volumes EXCEPT the fifth one, annoyingly), but he's a bit of a legend, isn't he?

Plus, more Michael Turner love please. If you don't like/haven't heard of Fathom/Aspen Matthews, I bet Witchblade/Sara Pezzini rings some bells.

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Post #: 24

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 2:58:50 PM

matthewforan

Posts: 21036
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: My Hometown

Rachel Bilson as "Death" just a thought. Let my beating start.

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Post #: 25

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 3:24:55 PM

Tex Hex

Posts: 15
Joined: 27/7/2006

She's certainly got that dark cuteness to her, but whether she has the acting chops to pul it off is another matter...had it been a couple of years back I would have said Linda Cardellini would have been ideal, but she might be too old now...Lelee Soblieski (or however you spell it) maybe?

(in reply to matthewforan)

Post #: 26

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 3:44:27 PM

danbo1138

Posts: 7863
Joined: 10/6/2006
From: Always Outnumberd Never Outgunned!

c'mon Empire you're takijng the piss having superman at the top spot,blandman more like.oh and you missed these guys out

The Fabulous Furry Freek Brothers.i'm thinking fat freddys cat.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(the orginal comics from waaaayyyyy before that ass rape of a cartoon show).
ABC warriors. rojaws or joe pinnapples
SLAINE ferfukssake??????
Danger Girl.

and Dredd should have been higher!

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Post #: 27

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 3:48:17 PM

Auron41

Posts: 12
Joined: 21/3/2007
From: Between Sunset Blvd. and Wudan Mountain

I realise this is an indie list...
but where the eff is Storm? She can control the effing weather!!

(in reply to danbo1138)

Post #: 28

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 3:48:28 PM

The Comedian

Posts: 163
Joined: 28/2/2007
From: W.Yorkshire

That was a real good read, but Batman should have been higher, with Joker 2nd and Optimus Prime should have been in there too. I would have had this top 5....

1.Batman
2. The Joker
3. Spider-Man
4. Rorschach
5. Superman (although I dont like him, cant deny what he means to people).

Spidey is my personal fave, but Batman is the greatest character ever concieved, with the Joker very very very close behind. Comedy and Tragedy.... gotta love it!

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Post #: 29

RE: The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters - 8/7/2008 3:52:20 PM

Vertigo...Woo.Yay.

Posts: 1111
Joined: 30/9/2005

Swap the top 2 round and I'm pretty much in agreement with the list. Great to see Con-job at number 3.

Would have liked to see Cassidy in there simply on the basis of this (poorly paraphrased from memory) exchange:

"I spend a hundred years looking for another of my kind. And when I find one, turns out he's a wanker"

"What?"

"A wanker. One who wanks."

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Post #: 30