My 10 Favorite Superheroes - Part 2

The heroes listed so far on the previous list mean a lot to me. I enjoy reading them, and I enjoy seeing most of them in other forms of media. I suppose that's a part of the reason why I've never been able to accept the popularity of Harry Potter. It's always gonna seem lame to me, when compared with a giant man wearing a black cape and breaking peoples bones in the street. My childhood just seems that much better than the new childhood things. Anyway, this isn't a time to smite that pathetic wizard, this is the time to talk about my TOP 5 FAVORITE superheroes. This list has been a nightmare to make as I've had to short out several really great characters. Please accept my apologies The Darkness, Captain America, The Flash and Robocop. Now let's finish this madness.

5. The Sandman (Wesley Dodds)

I said I wouldn't put Morpheus from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series on my list, and that is no lie, however tying Dream of the Endless into the Golden Age Sandman's story was definitely inspired. The Sandman is a superhero based in the 1930s. It all started when he had a strange dream encounter with an entity calling himself Dream (That's Morpheus from Sandman if you don't know). Afterwards, he gains the ability of premonition in his dreams and witnesses disturbing crimes. Naturally the sleep theme was working for him so he built a sleep gas shooting gun and wore a WWI gas mask to keep it from affecting him, and went out there fighting crime.

What I find really makes him stand out is that his stories aren't just about running out and beating up the bad guys. While Batman claims to be about being a detective, this really is about a detective. Most of the time he is using his gifts to find evidence on the twisted criminals and murderers. The only thing keeping him from just getting his ass kicked are hilariously plain and clever tricks. He actually tied two empty cans together and left them in a dark area near where he was sneaking a look at some documents. The result was him being gone by the time the night security actually got to where he was.

While he was originally a hero from old 30s comics he more recently received a newer DC Vertigo series still based in the 30s, called Sandman Mystery Theatre, and this is where I'm getting my info from. It's a great series, and thanks to it's practicality and realism, I love this for succeeding where Kick Ass failed. 

4. Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

Remember that dorky kid that ran around with Batman in the green speedo back in the day. He was a lame attempt by creators to make Batman more kid friendly, except somehow it worked. He became beloved as Batman's faithful sidekick. The original Robin. He was able to assist the Caped Crusader in defeating The Joker's boner.

However after many years in the overpowering shadow of the bat something changed in Dick. He slowly started to disagree with his surrogate father and eventually decided the time was right to move out. He passed on the mantle of Robin and became Nightwing, named after a legend from Krypton, told to him by another fatherly figure Superman.

Dick went on in the many years that followed to be one of the most, if not the most, loved character in all of the DC Universe. Every hero cared deeply for him as they had known him as he was just a child, and the younger heroes and sidekicks all looked up to him. Eventually him and Bruce Wayne even made peace and came to a point of trust and respect that when the time came that Batman eventually did die, it was made clear that Nightwing was to be his successor to fight the war. The best part of this however was that Batman didn't want Dick to dress up as Batman, but to remain Nightwing, out of respect for his son finding his own path and in some ways being even better than he was. Dick however having the respect he did for Batman insisted that the world needed a Batman and adopted a bat attitude.

It's the evolution that took place with Dick that really makes him special. He doesn't brood like Batman, in fact in some ways he's more like Spiderman, with the wise cracks, however there is no mistaking it, he is arguably as good as The Batman himself but with social skills.

3. Cyclops (Scott Summers)
Let's face it. There are only a handful of writers who can write Cyclops right. Most opt to take the easy and lazy route and just use him as a lame pretty boy that Wolverine can look cool next to. I would dare say all of the X-Men movies are an example of this. It's unfortunate that so many overlook how truly sad his story really is. Cyclops was never allowed to be anything else.  When Professor Xavier picked him up and made him the field leader of the X-Men, I'm sure he didn't realize that it would be something he'd be doing for decades.

As with Beast I saw the best of Cyclops while reading Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, where we see Cyclops as the leader he is. However we also get the quieter moments where he talks to Beast, the only other founding member still on the team. These are the moments when we stop seeing Cyclops and start seeing Scott come out. It's also an interesting dynamic to see that Scott and Beast are best friends, although it sorta makes sense when you think about it. Emma Frost at one point tries to help Cyclops out using her telepathy and actually uncovers that his optic blasts are not firing nonstop because he hit his head as a child, but rather that he is firing them nonstop as a constant reminder to always control himself. To never let anyone down. This is a layered character with real problems.

Cyclops is most known by the average person for his optic blasts that come from his eyes, but what I find interesting is that whenever he does something noteworthy or interesting, it never has anything to do with his powers. This is best shown in Astonishing X-Men, where Cyclops loses his powers, takes up a pistol and leads the team on a severely dangerous mission, ultimately leading to some really badass moments. He's a true leader and where the story lines have taken him recently, I find it interesting to see that after Magneto and Professor X have gotten tired of fighting one another, the responsibility for all of mutant kind falls on the shoulders of Cyclops.

2. The Goddamn Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Oh boy, it's hard to compete with this guy. Let's face it, he is the best. He's one of the most recognizable and one of the most interesting characters ever. He's constantly aggravated, always in a bad mood, and almost never in the mood to joke around. In fact, from what I've seen, joking around Batman tends to get you put into a wheelchair for a few months. Despite how much he sounds like a dislikable guy, he is genuinely the number one person you want at your side.

My friend over at Canons for Crickets really said it all in his little write up, but I want to talk about Batman too. What I always found coolest about Batman is that he really takes responsibility for everything. What started out as a personal crusade eventually became a fight to protect everyone, and ultimately this sense of duty and self sacrifice makes Batman the best of us. He is the one man who walks among the gods. He is the mortal who can tell Superman and Wonder Woman that they are naive and have it taken seriously.

Like any good character, what makes him great is not how powerful he is, but how vulnerable he is. Unlike characters like Wolverine, Batman's arm doesn't just grow back. He has to make it all count, knowing full well that all it takes is one bad moment to end it all. Batman is the best superhero of them all, because he knows loss better than anyone, and is brave enough never to give up.

...but he isn't my favorite.

1. Iron Man (Tony Stark)
If you say you want to be Batman, you really haven't thought it through. A much more acceptable option would be to be Iron Man. You'll have roughly the same amount of money, and 2000% more women! Iron Man is plain and simply more fun than any other character I've been reading for a while. His superpower is not that he has a badass power suit, so much as he can quite literally charm the pants off of anyone. At least that's what Tony Stark wants you to think.

See, what caught me off guard was how well written his books are. Maybe it's just been a fluke, but since 2005 I've yet to encounter one issue of Iron Man that was less than excellent. Let's face it, the writing talent's have been great as have the artists. I talk enough about Warren Ellis on here already, so I'll skip talking about Iron Man: Extremis and how you really should read it(!!!), to instead talk to you about Matt Fraction the current writer of The Invincible Ironman. What I find to be an interesting trend in Iron Man comics is that it's about Tony Stark, and maybe once an issue, if you're lucky you get to see the suit get used. I just read a whole story arch called Stark Disassembled, where for 5 issues, he never once put the suit on. This could seem less than appealing if it didn't work so darn well. Let's face it Tony Stark is an interesting guy. He is brilliant and has a snarky answer for everything.

When you think of Iron Man you think of Tony Stark having tons of fun and not worrying about anything, but as far back as the classic Demon in the Bottle storyline, we've been seeing Tony stressing to himself about certain guilty feelings he has for being rich off of weapons. Ultimately in that storyline, Tony went on to become a really bad alcoholic and had to find help. This is a flawed hero in the most believable way. It's very easy to connect with the idea of pretending to be invincible, but just being a mortal in a suit.

Though he isn't as iconic as Batman (hell who is), Iron Man is my favorite and every lady's favorite. No woman can resist a billionaire with a bad heart.

So there you have it. Yes, I know Spiderman and Wolverine weren't on my lists. I guess I just don't feel much of a connection to Spiderman anymore, however maybe you could suggest a worthwhile storyline for me to read. I gave the best top ten I could with what I knew at this moment. Please tell me who you're top ten favorite are in the comments below. In fact, if you have a blog of your own, write one of these up and post in my comments! I want to read these!

Superheroes are an amazing thing. Though, personally, I can't say that given the choice, I'd be a superhero. I've always been a villain guy. What do you say Canons for Crickets? Villains next week?

Transmetropolitan: A non spoiler review

So here I am again, back in Warren Ellis country. I've made it pretty clear I am a fan of the writer, but now I can proudly say he is the best comic writer out there, at least in my humble eyes. Transmetropolitan was written by Warren Ellis and drawn beautifully by Darick Robertson.

The entire series takes place over 60 comic books, or 10 trade paperbacks, which I personally feel is the perfect length for a huge, yet non infinite story. It's easy to get into and impossibly hard to put down. The starting premise is that crazy hermit looking journalist Spider Jerusalem, living alone in the mountains gets a call from his publisher demanding he come back to the big city and deliver on the two book deal that he is signed on for. Spider, being the kind of person who pretty much hates everyone dreads this but is forced back to civilization immediately seeking out a job writing a column called 'I Hate it Here' for a newspaper.

Some may take this as Warren Ellis standing on a soapbox and telling the world how wrong it is about various things, and I would agree. You see this is a sci fi and the big city is deranged. This is a twisted world where morality is pretty much gone and some very twisted subject matter is dealt with. Don't believe me? There is an issue about child prostitution. Yikes.

Interestingly enough, despite such grim tones and reckless disregard for morality, what holds it all together is Spider himself. Spider is a very colorful and multidimensional character. On one hand, he treats everyone like crap, has a gun that makes people poop themselves, eats endangered animals, constantly uses every kind of drug imaginable and of course loves killing dogs (the cuter the better). On the other hand, it's interesting to see him slowly but surely show signs of being a good person. At one moment he can be almost like a cartoon character, but then the next he teaches us a real true to life lesson. That's a sign of good sci fi. Also, keep in mind all the immorality of this future world is sadly believable when you really look at how the world is changing around us today.

The story starts off decently with a great opening story and some other little ones, bit everything gets incredible when at issue 13 or trade paperback 3 it starts a giant scale storyline that runs right to the end of the series, dealing with political corruption and pretty much every otter injustice you may find in the world today (although turned up to 11). Also, around this point a great character dynamic starts between Spider and two great supporting characters that really make this series special. 

While this may not be a series for the faint of heart I need to recommend it strongly. It is thrilling and intelligent and when it all comes to a close, the characters are so well fleshed out that you will likely look back, remembering them like old friends. Hell, I just finished it and I already miss Spider Jerusalem. 

Welcome to Stonerland!

What the hell is wrong with the world today? Everyone indulges a little too much in the ol' reefer madness these days if you ask me.

I'm depressed by our what the priorities in our world have become. What caused me to bring this up? I've been pondering getting into journalism for a bit, especially after reading Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan. Yeah, for those familiar with Transmetropolitan, I do get the sense of irony. It's the story of a journalist who enjoys heavy drug use and stomping on things that he deems wrong in the world. Needless to say, I really like it, but I've gotten way off topic.

Here are 3 easy steps to piss me off.

Step 1 - Go to Google.ca.
Step 2 - Start typing "how much is an online journalism degree?"
Step 3 - Stop typing at the first 'n' in online and enjoy Google's suspected auto fill: "how much is an ounce of weed?"

Seriously? That comes up before anything else? Please note the word online was already written to the point of saying 'on'. That means it tried to correct me, probably cause it thinks I'm too baked to spell ounce, and jumped right to the weed.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against people who smoke weed. If I did I'd be hating pretty much everyone with the exception of a handful of 80+ year old women. However, as a non weed smoker, I still feel justified in saying that some people (not all) maybe take their weed a little too seriously. That's all I'm saying. Perhaps instead of asking questions about how much getting stoned is gonna cost you, you could instead look up the ins and outs of quantum physics. Alas I digress, I probably could have been signing up for an online journalism course instead of writing this.

Oh people... You crack me up!

Getting back into comics.

Growing up I read a lot of comic books. I especially loved the X-Men in the mid 90s. I also read Spiderman, Batman, occasionally Superman and other random books I got my hands on. I would never say I was more of a Marvel kid or a DC kid growing up, though I'm sure I bought more Marvel. During that phase I stopped collecting in the very late 90s.

Years later, my good friend and I got back into it full force. At that point I was collecting everything DC and a small amount of Marvel. If Batman was involved, so were we! This was a fun phase in my life, as I finally discovered that comics had reached a new level. In the 90s you had little word bubbles explaining what was obvious in the pictures and the dialogue. They got rid of that, thank the heavens. For me it is almost hard to read the old stuff seriously, with a few exceptions. What I found was a world of comics that had come closer to legitimate great story telling that no longer relied on good guys fighting bad guys, cause that's what they do. Though the older stuff is still great, it evolved with me, as comics tend to do.

Eventually I stopped reading but not before reading a beautiful book called Iron Man: Extremis by Warren Ellis. It had a great character driven story about Tony Stark a real man with a guilty conscience, who sometimes is Iron Man. Adi Granov's art was also tremendously expressive, though Stark was clearly Tom Cruise. When I stopped due to financial reasons I made sure to finish up the 6 issue arch and was tremendously satisfied. Like that it was gone.

Five years later I was sitting and reflecting on how great Iron Man: Extremis was. I wanted to read it again, so I decided to order a nice hardcover of the collected story to keep it in nice shape. After reading it, I remembered not only why I loved that story, and Iron Man, but comic books in general. After that, I found myself mostly ignoring current storylines and the comic book format itself and only collecting trade paperbacks or sexy ass hardcovers. Since this move, I find it easy to believe I can semi collect comics forever.

Iron Man: Extremis was a gateway drug to me. It showed me how a comic can be mature and how badass superheroes can be. The maturity side lead me to amazing stories that everyone should read like:

Fell- also by Warren Ellis, the story of a detective moving into a really bad part if town to try to earn a quick promotion. Seriously, what's up with that nun?
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen- by Alan Moore which couldn't be any less like the movie...thankfully.
Sandman- by Neil Gaiman which is insanely good. It's not so much a story as it is a beautiful mythology.
Preacher- by Garth Ennis which is also extremely good, given the reader has the guts for it, which I do cause I'm mad hardcore.
Jonah Hex- by Palmiotti and Gray, has some of the best straight up western stories I've seen. Pick up any issue. It's made for that.
Maus- by Art Spiegelman, a true holocaust tale framed through the eyes of the son of a survivor. If you want to just pick something special up, grab these two volumes. Anyone would enjoy this.
Planetary- once again by Warren Ellis. I just finished this about ten minutes before writing this. It starts out like chaos, but by the end it all becomes so clear.

Granted there are many more books that I've read these are the ones that have left the best impression on me, though I have enjoyed a few great Iron Man and Batman stories and Joss Whedon's brilliant Astonishing X-Men run followed by, yet again, Warren Ellis. If it seems like I'm a fan, I am. The man writes the most naturally flowing comics I've seen. I also strongly recommend Scott Pilgrim, wherever that fits, it is a masterpiece.

So if you still have that feeling of wanting to get into comics, there are many options. Amazon is well priced and comic shops are happy to recommend something that you will enjoy. It's still a great medium and as long as they are on paper, they'll always be there for you.