50 Greatest Comic Book Characters

[Sheri]

Well, this should generate some discussion! Go to
http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/ and see where your
favourites are. If you vehemently disagree or agree, there's a forum on
which you can vent your spleen or hurrah mightily. I won't tell you even
where, or if, any Neil character or characters fall in this list, so just go
and enjoy. Or not (there was some wailing and gnashing of teeth Chez
Francis, I can tell you).

P.S. For those of you who may not know, Empire is one of the UK's premier
film magazines, and so is dedicated to this sort of thing. They liked Dark
Knight a lot.

Sheri

[Eden]

Pretty fun list. I like how they didn't just pick superheroes and they
even covered a range of countries (but I think since Empire's a UK
magazine, they're not going to be as U.S.-centric as a list from over
here would be).

Kind of saddened by the lack of female characters on the list -- I
can't argue with the ones they did choose, but there was only five of
them. I'd think there should be a couple more.

Eden

Well, this should generate some discussion!  Go tohttp://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/ and see where your
favourites are.  If you vehemently disagree or agree, there's a forum on
which you can vent your spleen or hurrah mightily.  I won't tell you even
where, or if, any Neil character or characters fall in this list, so just go
and enjoy.  Or not (there was some wailing and gnashing of teeth Chez
Francis, I can tell you).
P.S.  For those of you who may not know, Empire is one of the UK's premier
film magazines, and so is dedicated to this sort of thing.  They liked Dark
Knight a lot.
Sheri

[it's just me...]

Post by Eden
Pretty fun list. I like how they didn't just pick superheroes and they
even covered a range of countries (but I think since Empire's a UK
magazine, they're not going to be as U.S.-centric as a list from over
here would be).
Kind of saddened by the lack of female characters on the list -- I
can't argue with the ones they did choose, but there was only five of
them. I'd think there should be a couple more.
Eden

At the very least Catwoman should be on there. Even most average people
know who she is. How many folks on the street have ever heard of
Emma Frost?

Ivory

[it's just me...]

Post by Sheri
Well, this should generate some discussion! Go to
http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/ and see where
your favourites are. If you vehemently disagree or agree, there's a
forum on which you can vent your spleen or hurrah mightily. I won't
tell you even where, or if, any Neil character or characters fall in
this list, so just go and enjoy. Or not (there was some wailing and
gnashing of teeth Chez Francis, I can tell you).
P.S. For those of you who may not know, Empire is one of the UK's
premier film magazines, and so is dedicated to this sort of thing. They
liked Dark Knight a lot.
Sheri

Interesting list but in no way or no how does Constantine deserve to be
even top ten much less #3. And this is coming from a fan. Spiderman
should be #3 easily, right behind Supes and Bats and he's sitting behind
Wolverine! Also Death ranks far ahead of Spider and Jesse Custer. Far
more people know her than those two. Many notable characters are absent
as well. Dunno who developed the list originally or if readers votes
have drastically changed the number rankings but alot of them are just
astoundingly wrong.

Ivory

[Sheri]

"it's just me..." <***@triad.rr.com> wrote > Sheri wrote:
<snip>

Post by it's just me...
Interesting list but in no way or no how does Constantine deserve to be
even top ten much less #3.

Well, as Eden said, this list may very well be UK-centric, which could
indicate his popularity on the list. Gaz also didn't agree with his
placement, but still thought he should be in the top ten.

Post by it's just me...
And this is coming from a fan. Spiderman
should be #3 easily, right behind Supes and Bats and he's sitting behind
Wolverine!

I'd agree, but probably not Gaz. He's not a particular fan of Spidey. He's
also not a Superman fan, but does recognize his importance. Still, he
thought Batman should have been #1.

Post by it's just me...
Also Death ranks far ahead of Spider and Jesse Custer. Far
more people know her than those two.

I don't know about that over here. I get the sense from talking with some
people (and I could be very wrong, mind you) that Sandman is not as
well-known and popular here as in the US. And there are hugely popular
comics here that I'd never heard of (which, in itself, doesn't mean a whole
lot, but there you go). For example, I know that the Preacher series is
very big here, and Gar and his mates are all big fans of 2000 AD. Anyway,
so I don't know if, at least over here, 'far more people know' Death than
Jesse, but I could be wrong.

Post by it's just me...
Many notable characters are absent
as well. Dunno who developed the list originally or if readers votes
have drastically changed the number rankings but alot of them are just
astoundingly wrong.
Ivory

Well, that's the problem with these things...they're so highly subjective.
There were a few that I saw a high percentage of voters agreed with me (so
to speak) that certain characters should have been much higher than they
were (e.g. Swamp Thing), and there were some I thought should have rated
higher that Gar thought should have been lower. Whattaya gonna do, eh?

Heh...you should be 'round here when they do top film lists! We've decided
that the main problem with Empire is that it seems to be geared mostly
towards the young-men-under-say-twenty-five group. As a serious UK film
magazine, we actually prefer Sight & Sound
http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/, which is published by the British Film
Institute, but they have a bad habit of including spoilers (really nasty
ones too) in their film reviews.

Sheri

[Reg]

Post by it's just me...
Interesting list but in no way or no how does Constantine deserve to be
even top ten much less #3.

Depends who he's being written by. Jamie Delano, yes. Garth Ennis, no.
Warren Ellis, yes. Brian Azarello, no. When portrayed by Keannu Reeves,
Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But these lists are always so arbitrary.

Reg

"Far be it from me to pass judgement."

[Henning "Colt" Schäfer]

Post by Reg

Post by it's just me...
Interesting list but in no way or no how does Constantine deserve to be
even top ten much less #3.

Depends who he's being written by. Jamie Delano, yes. Garth Ennis, no.
Warren Ellis, yes. Brian Azarello, no. When portrayed by Keannu Reeves,
Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agreed on the Azzarello and Keanu part, but the Ennis run for me is
still one of the all-time classics, whereas I did not care much for the
short Ellis-run. I also like Jenkins and Carey, but seem to be caring
less about all the new stuff after Carey. And let's not forget the
master himself, Alan Moore, after all, he invented the guy, and I always
love to reread the old Swampy-issues where JC first appeared.

Post by Reg
But these lists are always so arbitrary.

Indeed.

Colt

[RVG]

Post by Sheri
Well, this should generate some discussion! Go to
http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/ and see where your
favourites are. If you vehemently disagree or agree, there's a forum on
which you can vent your spleen or hurrah mightily. I won't tell you even
where, or if, any Neil character or characters fall in this list, so just
go and enjoy. Or not (there was some wailing and gnashing of teeth Chez
Francis, I can tell you).
P.S. For those of you who may not know, Empire is one of the UK's premier
film magazines, and so is dedicated to this sort of thing. They liked
Dark Knight a lot.
Sheri

Too bad it only concerns English language comics. In Europe, I think Tintin
still ranks much higher than Superman (big dope here, like Captain America,
another joke of a hero). Asterix should be in the Top 12 too.
And for my personal taste, I didn't find Calvin & Hobbes, my favourite strip
characters.
Also not enough room for manga characters.

[Reg]

Post by RVG

Post by Sheri
Well, this should generate some discussion! Go to
http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/ and see where
your favourites are. If you vehemently disagree or agree, there's a
forum on which you can vent your spleen or hurrah mightily. I won't tell
you even where, or if, any Neil character or characters fall in this
list, so just go and enjoy. Or not (there was some wailing and gnashing
of teeth Chez Francis, I can tell you).
P.S. For those of you who may not know, Empire is one of the UK's
premier film magazines, and so is dedicated to this sort of thing. They
liked Dark Knight a lot.
Sheri

Too bad it only concerns English language comics. In Europe, I think
Tintin still ranks much higher than Superman (big dope here, like Captain
America, another joke of a hero). Asterix should be in the Top 12 too.
And for my personal taste, I didn't find Calvin & Hobbes, my favourite
strip characters.
Also not enough room for manga characters.

I'll add my vote for Tintin.

Asteix as a character isn't actually that interesting, for me it was always
the stuff going on around Asterix that made that series so brilliant.

Reg

"Last night I dreamt of Marlinspike."

[RVG]

Post by Reg

Post by RVG

Post by Sheri
Well, this should generate some discussion! Go to
http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/ and see where
your favourites are. If you vehemently disagree or agree, there's a
forum on which you can vent your spleen or hurrah mightily. I won't
tell you even where, or if, any Neil character or characters fall in
this list, so just go and enjoy. Or not (there was some wailing and
gnashing of teeth Chez Francis, I can tell you).
P.S. For those of you who may not know, Empire is one of the UK's
premier film magazines, and so is dedicated to this sort of thing. They
liked Dark Knight a lot.
Sheri

Too bad it only concerns English language comics. In Europe, I think
Tintin still ranks much higher than Superman (big dope here, like Captain
America, another joke of a hero). Asterix should be in the Top 12 too.
And for my personal taste, I didn't find Calvin & Hobbes, my favourite
strip characters.
Also not enough room for manga characters.

I'll add my vote for Tintin.
Asteix as a character isn't actually that interesting, for me it was
always the stuff going on around Asterix that made that series so
brilliant.

Indeed, it's the village that's the main character, but Asterix is still the
first genuine French superhero, albeit in a cartoonesque and burlesque mode.
Actually, René Goscinny had spent two years in the USA working for Mad
before coming back to France and exposing his concept to Albert Uderzo who
together produced the first Asterix story in the teens comics magazine
Pilote (also created by Goscinny).

[Scott Conner]

I think Arzach and Concrete should be in that list, too.

If said list were opened to comic *strip* characters as well, it'd have to
include Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, and Little Nemo.

--Scott--

[Henning "Colt" Schäfer]

Post by Scott Conner
I think Arzach and Concrete should be in that list, too.
If said list were opened to comic *strip* characters as well, it'd have to
include Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, and Little Nemo.
--Scott--

My problem is that there are quite a few classics missing, whereas minor
figures in very popular comics are present, the lead characters
sometimes aren't. Captain Haddock, but no Tintin? Obelix, but no
Asterix? Emma Frost??? (I'd vote about 20 X-Men before I'd even consider
her). J.Jonah Jameson? Who even knows Doctor Strange? Doc Doom and the
Thing but no Mr Fantastic, Human Torch or Sue Storm? And indeed what
about the old classics like Tarzan, Valiant, Flash Gordon etc.? What
about Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse or other Disney characters? Where is Bone?

However, that being said, it is of course a subjective (and
Anglocentric) list. And true enough, in series like Asterix, Asterix
himself is not the most interesting character. I did not really find a
description of their criteria and method of compiling the list, that
would be interesting.

Colt

[RVG]

Post by Henning "Colt" Schäfer

Post by Scott Conner
I think Arzach and Concrete should be in that list, too.
If said list were opened to comic *strip* characters as well, it'd have
to include Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, and Little Nemo.
--Scott--

My problem is that there are quite a few classics missing, whereas minor
figures in very popular comics are present, the lead characters sometimes
aren't. Captain Haddock, but no Tintin? Obelix, but no Asterix? Emma
Frost??? (I'd vote about 20 X-Men before I'd even consider her). J.Jonah
Jameson? Who even knows Doctor Strange? Doc Doom and the Thing but no Mr
Fantastic, Human Torch or Sue Storm? And indeed what about the old
classics like Tarzan, Valiant, Flash Gordon etc.? What about Donald Duck,
Mickey Mouse or other Disney characters? Where is Bone?

I'm also a fan of Corto Maltese, with Hugo Pratt being IMO the true inventor
of the "graphic novel".
In Europe, Spirou is also a major character with more than 40 albums
published so far. In Belgium he's as important as Tintin, though in a more
cartoon/fantasy style.
During the Franquin era, Spirou magazine published a spin-off one page
series called Gaston Lagaffe, also by Franquin, a sort of lazy hippie with
long hair, blue jeans and a green pullover who spends his time inventing
stuff that, at best doesn't work, at worst provokes catastrophes in the
building of Dupuis, the publisher of Spirou in Brussels. His office pets
include a cat, a goldfish and a hedgehog, and he's invented a musical
intrument called the "gaffophone" that is a mix between a Celtic harp and
the Indian sitar. One note produced by this thing can explode the windows,
unglue the wallpapers and/or melt the ceilings.
30 years later, it's still one of the most hilarious comics ever published
in the francophone world.

[Henning "Colt" Schäfer]

Post by RVG
I'm also a fan of Corto Maltese, with Hugo Pratt being IMO the true
inventor of the "graphic novel".
In Europe, Spirou is also a major character with more than 40 albums
published so far. In Belgium he's as important as Tintin, though in a
more cartoon/fantasy style.
During the Franquin era, Spirou magazine published a spin-off one page
series called Gaston Lagaffe, also by Franquin, a sort of lazy hippie
with long hair, blue jeans and a green pullover who spends his time
inventing stuff that, at best doesn't work, at worst provokes
catastrophes in the building of Dupuis, the publisher of Spirou in
Brussels. His office pets include a cat, a goldfish and a hedgehog, and
he's invented a musical intrument called the "gaffophone" that is a mix
between a Celtic harp and the Indian sitar. One note produced by this
thing can explode the windows, unglue the wallpapers and/or melt the
ceilings.
30 years later, it's still one of the most hilarious comics ever
published in the francophone world.

I don't know Corto Maltese, and honestly, I didn't even want to start on
the whole Franco-Belgian comics market. Spirou would then also have to
be on the list, and Gaston, and the Marsupilami, Captain Blueberry,
Lucky Luke and many more. I kinda like the more cartoony Belgian comics,
but the more serious stuff in the francophone area has almost always
eluded me. Great artwork, but the stories always seemed a little rushed
and populated with too many unnecessarily big-breasted scantily-clad or
even naked women and bad dialogue. Maybe that is only the German
translation. I liked "Le grand pouvoir du Chninkel" by Van Hamme and
Grzegorz Rosinski, a weird fantasy epic, but I don't know if it has been
translated into English. I also always had a liking for Valerian &
Veronique, an SF-series. A friend of mine always used to say that the
French and Belgian comics have many good artists but very few good
authors, whereas the British comics scene is the other way around. I do
not know the British scene enough to know if that is true, but for the
French part I agree. Franquin and Goscinny were great authors, but their
passing has left a gap that has yet to be filled, I feel. At least as
far as I know from German translations.

Colt