"I am Superman, and I can do anything."
R.E.M. 'Superman'
Hi All,
I've loved The Man of Steel ever since I first saw Christopher Reeve inhabit his persona in 1978 (I was five). I'm totally excited about the new Superman movie (out June 30th). In thinking about him, I'm reminded that I love Super Heroes in general. So, thus proving once again why I am Queen of the Nerds, I came up with a list of my favorite Super Heroes. (And you thought I was done with lists. Hmm. I tend to like those.)
My Favorite Super Heroes
1) Superman. Numbers one and two are actually almost a tie, as I love them both beyond belief. But Superman takes the number one spot because, well, he's SUPERMAN! He's handsome, strong, can fly, loves to save the world, and he's the symbol for The Perfect American Male. He's also got a cool outfit. And X Ray vision; who doesn't think that's cool?
2) Wonder Woman. I had the 6 inch action figure. We have the picture of me getting it for Easter, a look of reverence on my face. I loved the TV show, I loved the IDEA of Wonder Woman, and I've liked the cartoons ('Justice League'). Wonder Woman was our Amazonian hero: tall, strong, and can handle a lasso like nobody's business. God, I love her!
3) The Hulk. He was muscular, angry, and sometimes just plain scary. I loved to root for David Banner; the guy always got into the WORST fights. But the Hulk allowed David to do things he otherwise couldn't. His alter-ego also banished him to a lonely life on the road. If only they'd chosen The Rock to be The Hulk when they made the film, I might have liked it. I'm in favor of actors over CGI. Hulk was too cool for CGI. Alas, we can hope for better in the future.
4) Hawkman. Who? I liked him for his muscles too. Seeing a pattern here? ha ha Bean says I will end up with a small, nerdy guy, not a muscular one. She's probably right, but a girl can dream, yes? Just Kidding. I like small nerdy guys. But I also liked Hawkman because hawks are among the coolest birds. And, he had that huge weapon (my action figure did, anyway.).
5) Spiderman. Good ol' Spidey. With cool senses and web-slinging ability, he rocked. But he was also the Everyman, which drew us to him even more. I think it's odd that we all love Spiderman but hate spiders. Hmm? I hope Mary Jane knows what she has.
6) Batman. Dark, haunted, almost a vigilante. I like the dark versions of Batman, as opposed to the "Oof! Pow! Zam!" version from the old TV show. Batman is cool because he seems to haunt the night, which always a good thing for a Gothic hero.
7) Catwoman. I LOVED the 'Catwoman' movie. But then, I love the Catwoman myth. I'm fascinated by the Egyptians' worship of cats, and the mentalities that cats have. I don't mean the 'I will sleep 23 hours a day' mentality. I mean things like preferring heights, being hunters, living in packs, having excellent vision and smell, and just being the coolest animals on the planet. And that purr, it warms my heart every time. Catwoman was great with reflexes, handy with a whip (always a plus, winks), and had those senses I mentioned. I want to be her for Halloween.
8) The Flash. Speedy enough to run to Paris and back in a second flat, The Flash is cool just because he's so...FAST. He's like the ultimate track runner. He can solve things so much quicker than a lot of the others, except maybe Superman. And red outfits are just HOT.
9) Elektra. I'm new to the Elektra fandom. I had no idea who she was until Jennifer Garner took on the role. Because I will watch Jennifer Garner if she acted in a coma, I have both 'Daredevil' and 'Elektra' on DVD. Elektra is especially endearing to me for several reasons. She loves red, my favorite color, and in the movie incarnation, she has OCD. The portrayal of OCD in 'Elektra' was the most accurate of any I've seen in movies. Usually movies focus on the extreme cases. I also really like Electra's dilemma: to be an assasin, or a good girl? She's really more 'bad' than 'good,' I suppose. But that's why I love her.
10) Jean Grey. I understand she turns 'bad' as The Dark Phoenix, but the Jean Grey I love is one of the good guys. She's got telepathic abilities that (literally) will blow your mind. She's into Wolverine, we all know. And for me she's Famke Jannsen, one of our great, underrated actresses.
Well there you have it. There are a lot I couldn't fit on my list, like The Green Lantern (You're a sissy, Frodo! Lantern has THE RING!), The Thing (rock people are cool), The Falcon (the only 'black' hero we had as kids), and Shazam (lightning bolts! Sweet!). And I only included HEROES, but the Villains were just as cool.
Lethal Lizard? The Joker? Brainiac? Lex Luthor? I wouldn't want to run into any of those guys!
Things We Don't Want Our Superhero to Say
1) "YOU kill him!"
2) "Uh-oh. I seem to have lost my powers."
3) "I'm thinking of changing from tights to leather. Good idea?"
4) "Oh, save yourself, you ninny."
5) "I don't think I can lift this. I mean, YOU."
Have a great day, all, and have a great weekend.
8 comments:
What, no Wolverine??? Sacrilige!! :) Just kidding... Great choices, actually! I'm a big fan of The Thing. He always had such a cool personality under all those rocks.
I'm going to have to come up with my own list for this one. :)
Superman is my favorite superhero, hands down! Another item to add to what you dont want to hear a superhero say is, "Damn! I forgot to put gas in the batmobile!"
I 'almost' put Wolverine on the list....but I only became an X Men fan when the movies came out.
But his hair and sideburns alone should win him a place, yes?
Things you don't want a superhero to say, cont:
"Wow, I hope that Lexus was insured."
"Better be careful... Krypto's been feeling frisky."
"So you want to be my sidekick, eh? Well, we'll be facing dozens of machine-gun toting lunatics. Here's your bright orange, yellow, and green outfit."
"I could have sworn I parked the invisible plane right here."
"Okay, this time you're going down, Lex! Wait, I think that's my cell phone. Listen, I gotta take this."
My list includes Nightcrawler and Hawkgirl. Unfortunately, there are so many character changes, revisions, and swapping going on, I have little to go on anymore with the 'good characters' of worth.
...driving to work today, actually called in on the radio contest, WON 2 TIX TO SUPERMAN RETURNS SCREENING PREVIEW PARTY IN TOWN. Hmm, wanted to take mancub, but 6 yrs old is a bit young for a nearly 3 hour movie. :)
Free Tix to see Superman?
You're killing me here.
ha
Just Kidding.
I hear it is long.....but worth it.
An interesting list.
I would put Batman at number one (by the way, he IS a vigilante by definition - they all are), followed by Superman.
I would also boot Catwoman, who was a villain, not a hero (a conflicted, not entirely unsympathetic villain, but a villain nonethless), so she wouldn't qualify. Ditto Elektra.
Tough to leave off Green Lantern (Hal Jordan). He would be on my list.
Which Flash? Barry Allen? Wally West? I always preferred Jay Garrick, the Golden Age (i.e. original) Flash. Better costume.
Which Hawkman? Thanagarian Katar Hol, or earthman Carter Hall?
Others to consider?
Green Arrow - a modern Robin Hood.
The Atom - brainy nerd becomes the world's smallest hero - proving that size doesn't matter).
Nightwing - it isn't easy growing up with Batman as your adopted father, and still turning out okay.
Black Canary. Tough, good in a tight spot, looks great in fishnets, and keeps GA in line (most of the time). Her "sonic cry" was a bit lame, however.
Captain America. An icon, and a good guy to have on your side in a fight.
Thor. He's a God. 'Nuff said.
Iron Man. I always liked the suit (the original), and the fact that Tony Stark had a weak ticker made him more heroic.
Best regards,
Paul Kimball
Paul:
Thanks for stopping by, and for educating me! You're right, I realize, about Catwoman and Elektra; I guess my title actually was meant to be 'My Favorite Comics Characters.' Meaning my favorite characters from comic books, hero or not.
I confess I'm a casual comics fan, not a devotee. I didn't know some of the ones you mentioned....but I did always love Thor and Captain America, and Green Lantern. It was hard to narrow it to ten, but that's what I did. You should make a comic book fan's list!
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