Jordan T. Maxwell
Feb 28, 2005, 05:28 am
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/Top70DCCharacters.jpg" align=left border=0 alt="Top 70 DC Characters">Part 4: #10-1
Written By: Raul Grau, Alex Groff, Matt Lazorwitz, Jordan T. Maxwell, Dylan McKay
Comptroller: Jon Hancock
Editor:Jordan T. Maxwell
Characters are everything when it comes to story. Without characters you’re left with some nice scenery that would look good as a calendar in a toilet, but makes for a lousy comic. Characters within comics are a special breed. They earn such attention and admiration that many readers will follow a character rather than a writer or story. How many times was Dickens asked to introduce Oliver Twist in the Pickwick Papers? How many times did Shakespeare receive death threats for killing off Romeo and Juliet? Comic fans know what characters they like and so do staff members on comic websites.
If you're just joining the party, check out our earlier installments: Part 1 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32275), Part 2 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32350) and Part 3 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32439).
But now, without any further interruption or delay, ComiX-Fan is proud to present...The Top 10 DC Characters of All Time!
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#10 Swamp Thing
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/10.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/10t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Swamp Thing"></a>First appearance: Swamp Thing #1
Created by: Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson
Reimagined in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
Reimagined by: Alan Moore
Swamp Thing was originally envisioned as a kind of Victorian horror character in House of Secrets #92, murdered scientist Alex Olsen turned into a speechless muck monster. But by the time he received his own series, the character had been brought into the modern day with an updated origin. Alex Olsen was gone, and in his place was Alec Holland, his wife Linda, and their bio-restorative formula, developed in the hope that it could promote plant growth and help feed the world. And as is often the case in comic books, such idealism cannot go unpunished. So the couple were killed and Alec returned as yet another muck monster on a quest to regain his lost humanity. Until Alan Moore entered the picture. Because as it turns out, the monster who arose from the swamp was never Alec Holland. It was the plant life of the swamp, accelerated by Holland’s formula, which then decomposed and fed off his remains, absorbing his intelligence. Suddenly there was no lost humanity to seek out. There was simply the humanity he had found in his strange birth. And even trippier, it turned out he was the latest in a long line of plant elementals (Alex Olsen had existed after all). A mysticism and philosophical aspect was added to the character that appealed to fans as the Swamp Thing went from battling private armies and mad scientists to traveling through Heaven and Hell, exploring different planes of existence and averting apocalypses. He developed a more romantic side as well, sharing one of the most beautiful and poetic love stories in comics with longtime friend Abigail Arcane. Swamp Thing had molted his B-movie origins in favor of a more cerebral and emotional character. His stories were less obvious superhero fare, and ranged from poetry and philosophy to horror and satire, setting the mood and attitude for what would eventually evolve into the Vertigo line of books.
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#9 Flash (Barry Allen)
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/9.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/9t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Flash (Barry Allen)"></a>First Appearance: Showcase #4
Created by: Robert Kanigher, Julius Schwartz, and Carmine Infantino
Though his codename was borrowed, Barry Allen raced as the Flash for thirty years, more than earning the title of Fastest Man Alive. He began, ironically enough, as a slowpoke, terminally late for every appointment, but a bolt of lightning changed all that. Inspired by the comic book hero of his youth, Barry became the Flash, able to race across water, pluck bullets from midair, and even vibrate through solid objects. He helped provide the foundations for the modern DC universe, as a founding member of the Justice League of America, and as mentor to Wally West, the first Kid Flash. Barry wed his sweetheart, Iris, but lost her through the machinations of Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash. On the eve of his second marriage, Barry accidentally crossed the heroic line, murdering Zoom and sullying his own reputation. After a painful trial, there was a momentary happy ending, with Barry and Iris reunited in the far future. Their peace was tragically short-lived, as Barry responded to one final Crisis, and ran his last race to save all creation. Barry was dead, but the Flash lived on, with Wally filling those scarlet boots... however, that passing of the torch is not nearly the full extent of the Barry Allen legacy. In 1956, superheroes were at their lowest point, and it was the debut of this new Flash that revitalized interest in costumed crimefighters. This Silver Age of comic fiction saw a new breed of hero, clothed more in speculative science than fantasy, and Barry was the vanguard of the movement. In his civilian identity, he was a forensic scientist (decades before any CSIs), and his speed had a chemical explanation. His foes shared his penchant for science, more often using mechanisms than magic, and Barry would defeat his Rogues Gallery with intelligence, rather than force. His death has become a cornerstone of DC history, a moment so iconic that no writer has yet dared to undo it, and he literally fathered the next generation, with genetic descendants who stretch on through the centuries, all propagating the Flash name. Currently, two such heroes continue to carry the lightning, his nephew Wally, the Flash of JLA fame, and his grandson Bart, Kid Flash of the Teen Titans. Any good deeds they have done, any worlds they have saved, can all be credited to Barry, the hero who started a dynasty.
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#8 Lex Luthor
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/8t.jpg" align=left alt="Lex Luthor" hspace="7"></a>First Appearance: Action Comics #23
Created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Re imagined in: Man of Steel #4
Re imagined by: John Byrne
Lex Luthor all the real villains our world knows, the corrupt politician, the crime boss, the greedy businessman, the amoral scientist etc... But that's exactly it, he's a real villain, not a one-dimensional cartoony villain like most comic book villains. He does want to improve society. Is it just so that he can secure a name for himself in history and to be loved by as many people as possible? Most likely. But there is honour and altruism under that manipulative exterior. Lex Luthor is too complex a man to ever truly know what motivates him. Lex Luthor is the embodiment of humanities greatest strengths; innovation, (He is the person most responsible for making Metropolis the city of tommorow.) motivation (He did grow up in Metropolis's worst neighbourhood and work his way up to President of the United States of America.) and intelligence. (He is often credited as being the world's smartest man, granted, he's often doing the creditting.) He is also the embodiement of humanities greatest flaws; pride, (He believes that he alone can increase humanity's self-reliance and eliminate the need for superheroes.) envy, (One of the main reasons Lex wages war on superheroes is that he cannot stomach the idea of anyone being able to do things he cannot.) gluttony, (Lex, and his allies [ally meaning anyone who submissively completes all tasks within the exact specifications asked.) lust, (Lex Luthor is often flanked with beautiful women, and rarely the same one twice.) anger, (I would say ask anyone's who's ever crossed Lex what his temper is like, but if they are still able to talk, I assure you they have nothing bad to say about him, well, unless you ask a superhero.) greed (Lex is one of, if not the richest man in the DCU, and he didn't get their by giving as much to charity as he could. Or by stay exactly legal...) and sloth. (While there is no doubt that Luthor is a highly motivated man who got where he was due to cunning and hard work, he often relies upon others to do his dirty work. Lex is a masterful user of people and often ensures that others fight his battles.)
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#7 Dream (Morpheus)
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/7.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/7t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Dream"></a>First appearance: Sandman #1
Created by: Neil Gaiman and Sam Keith
Dream of the Endless is not some spandex clad superhero or cape wearing mystery man empowered by dreams. He is not the god or spirit of dreams. He is Dream, the embodiment of that fundamental aspect of existence. He is the monarch of sleeping minds, of imagination, of nightmares and stories. He is defined entirely by his role because as far as he’s concerned he IS his role, and nothing more. And, to put it lightly, he is not exactly a nice guy. A hero not in the sense of noble feats of derring-do, but more in the Shakespearean mold, tragic and flawed. The dour attitude and inability to change and adapt of Hamlet. The proud arrogance of Lear. The rash impulsiveness of Romeo. The pettiness and blind jealousy of Othello. And yet like those fallen figures, he is noble, wise, regal, passionate. Strange as it may sound, he is human…all too human. We meet Dream not at the beginning of his tale, but at the beginning of the end as he is captured and held captive by humans for decades. Upon his escape and the reclamation of his power and office, we begin to see Dream change as he is forced to face up to the sins of his past. All the scorned lovers, neglected children, abused mortals come back to haunt him, forcing him to set things right. His peer and rival Lucifer’s abandonment of Hell and the departure centuries before by his own brother Destruction make Dream face up to the idea that responsibility is not just to one’s duty or obligations, but also to one’s family and friends and most importantly to one’s own self. He must consider freedom and change. But for a creature older than gods and stars, change does not come easily and at the end of his introspective hero’s journey, for all his discovery and growth, he finds there is only so much he can change and yet so much more that he needs to. And so he lets go of his own life and existence to make way for a new Dream who can be all the things he cannot. Morpheus is a character straight out of epic poetry, great drama and classic literature given life on a comic book page…proving that this medium can support the weight of such a character just as easily as any other.
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#6 Wonder Woman
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/6.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/6t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Wonder Woman"></a>First appearance: All Star Comics #8
Created by: William Moulton Marston
Diana of Themyscira is a figure of great contradiction, a woman of both war and peace, of empowerment and exploitation, of mythology and psychology. Her origin could have been plucked right out of a Joseph Campbell book, her form molded from clay and given life and power by the gods, she faces trial by combat in disguise and wins weapons of divine enchantment and a calling to explore, to defend, to teach. But her creator was not a folklorist but a psychologist who believed that the male dominance of superheroes as found in characters like Superman and Batman was a grave disservice to impressionable juvenile minds. And so he crafted Wonder Woman to not only be a figure of myth and legend, but an embodiment of empowered feminism as well. But for all her empowerment, Marston used her as well to explore themes of human sexuality and dominance with her skimpy outfit and bondage themed weapon, the Lasso of Truth (it’s interesting to note that Marston, creator of this Lasso of Truth, is also the inventor of the polygraph machine…the lie detector). In those early days of comic books and the superhero, Wonder Woman filled a niche and stands to this day as one of the iconic trinity of DC heroes alongside two of the only other superheroes who’s popularity has lasted from their Golden Age origins to the modern day, Superman and Batman. Some muddying of her origin and character have held her back, along with the rather biased mindset of the male dominated comic book industry, but Wonder Woman also stands out as one of the first characters to cross over into the mainstream with her hit television show in the 70s. Whether a source of inspiration for girls or perspiration for boys, Wonder Woman has proven to be a hero for any age.
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#5 Death
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/5.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/5t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Death"></a>First Appearance: Sandman #8
Created by: Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg
Death is the end of life, that mysterious transition from this world to the next, and the final page to every story. Death personified is the Grim Reaper, a scythe-wielding skeleton with a perpetual grin... at least, that is how he has been portrayed in countless movies, novels, and comic books, but what if he were a she? Neil Gaiman envisioned a Death who was a bit less scary, and a bit more perky. Like her younger brother Dream, Death is a member of the Endless, a family comprised by the personified aspects of existence, but, unlike Morpheus, she has a sense of humor about it. She is the Mary Poppins of the supernatural set, coming down from nowhere to reveal what is truly important about life, and doing it with a cute wink. Despite her kind nature, she still performs her existential duties, escorting souls from the earthly plane to their ultimate destination, with a gentle beating of her mighty wings. She is literally Death, but with none of the horror that we commonly ascribe to the moment, and that uniqueness has served her, and the industry, well. More than Wonder Woman or any superheroine, Death is responsible for bringing readers of the fairer sex into the comic fold, as every counterculture minded female has a copy of The High Cost of Living on her bookshelf, right next to Flowers in the Attic. Before the current Goth craze, there she was, with pale skin, black clothes, and representational ankh, inspiring those who would never dare to ordinarily touch a comic book with her very look. In our comic world, death is ever present, and the embodied Death is equally ubiquitous, appearing in every DC series from the Legion to Captain Atom, and even crossing the street to cameo at Marvel, witnessing major changes, which is all death really is. She is one of the oldest beings in the universe, destined to endure until the end of time, when it will be up to her to put up the chairs and turn off the lights. Until then, we can embrace Death... the character, if not the concept.
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#4 Joker
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/4.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/4t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Joker"></a>First Appearance: Batman #1
Created by: Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson
What makes a great villain? Is it the evil that he is supposed to epitomize, as with Darkseid; or is it the tragic nobility he represents, as with Magneto? Is a villain's greatness based on his innovation, the way he, like Braniac, constantly surprises us; or is it the determination and unstoppability of Sinestro that draws us in? Either way, Joker has been all of these things, and more. For someone who's only real superpower is a bizarre sense of humor and a bad make-up artist, he has been Batman's greatest bane since Bruce was handed his own title in 1940. Once a failed comedian, he took a job as the Red Hood to pay rent for himself and his pregnant wife-- only to fall into a vat of chemicals while trying to evade the Bat. Arising deformed and finding his wife dead-- by accident or design is still a question today-- the Joker was born. Insane, violent, ofttimes humorous and not without a touch of class, The Joker is the mirror image of Batman, and their fighting has always been the thrust, parry and riposte of fencing. (The Joker has in the past challenged Batman for not playing by the rules of the game, and his actions often imply an underlying logic, if not a sane purpose.) Despite the costs on both sides-- to civilians, mayors, henchmen and Boy Wonders-- Batman's unwillingness to kill, either a sign of weakness or nobility, seems to show that this parle will never come to an end. However, perhaps the finest feature of the Joker is the constant statement he makes on the nature of superheroes. From his loses as the Red Hood to his exectution on the electric chair; from his bloody attempts to make Batman understand him in A Killing Joke to the loss of his restored sanity in Going Sane, Joker's presence asks the question: how much are vigilantes to blame for the villains they face?
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#3 John Constantine
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/3.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/3t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="John Constantine"></a>First appearance: Saga of the Swamp Thing #37
Created by: Alan Moore, Rick Veitch and John Totleben
John Constantine is a bastard. Oh, sure, he’s saved the world plenty of times and taken on angels, demons and the Devil himself. But he’s also managed to get a number of people who cared for and trusted him maimed, killed or damned in the process. He is the embodiment of London (despite what Hollywood producers and Neo might lead you to believe), a strange and intoxicating mix of the arcane and the urban, of mysteries hidden in shadowy alleyways and secrets of dying religions and underground cults. He is the leather and discontentment of punk rock mangled in a head on collision with the trench coat cool and self loathing of noir. A silk cut cigarette and cocky Cheshire grin that slip out of the darkness with every secret you’ve ever wanted to know and he’ll tell you if it suits him to do so. More a trickster than a sorcerer, more a con man than a magician, Constantine is a righteous bastard from a long line of righteous bastards. He may have demon’s blood coursing through his veins, but it’s the piss and whisky of being a Constantine that makes him what he is. In a time when being an anti-hero in comics really just meant you were a kind of pissed off character who didn’t mind killing, along comes this Sting look alike with his trademark trench coat and cigarettes and the kind of hard boiled cockiness mixed with cynicism and self hatred that would make a Raymond Chandler novel read like Chicken Soup for the Soul. His dialogue was laced with an acid wit and his actions were dripping in moral ambiguity. Fans loved him and from making straight men out of the protagonists in Swamp Thing and Sandman to playing mentor like a grinning bastard Obi-Wan to Tim Hunter in Books of Magic to his own misanthropic misadventures in Hellblazer, the fledgling Vertigo line had him as a kind of standard bearer for the attitude of the imprint. He’s even managed a bit of crossover appeal to the mainstream…most recently in an Americanized and watered down Hollywood adaptation, but also more faithfully as the inspiration for the popular characters of Giles and Spike on Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Still...he's really just a bastard.
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#2 Batman (Bruce Wayne)
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/2.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/2t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Batman"></a>First Appearance: Detective Comics #27
Created by: Bill Finger and Bob Kane
“Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You’ve eaten Gotham’s wealth. It’s spirit. Your feast is almost over. From this moment on - - None of you are safe.” These are the words spoken by Batman as he first confronts the mobsters and corrupt upper class of Gotham in Frank Miller’s legendary Batman: Year One, and to me they are the words that define Batman. He is the implacable foe of all corruption, of all those who would dare to harm the innocent. His origin is a part of the public consciousness. A young boy, who watched the greatest tragedy you could imagine, the murder of both his parents by a gunman. Training his body and mind to be the pinnacle of human achievement, he took the name of The Batman, and set about cleaning up Gotham City. Batman strikes a special chord with many readers, this writer well included within that number. We could never be Superman, we could never leap tall buildings in a single bound. But somehow, you could think you could be Batman. He’s just a guy, a guy with more brains and muscles than most, and with all those wonderful toys, but still just a guy. He is also deeply layered, and a study in conflicts. He wants to see crime eradicated, but his actions are often criminal. He can one moment be comforting a victim, and the next savagely beating their attackers. He has a hard time dealing with his own emotions, and with the people who truly care about him. He is an intensely human character. In the grand scheme of the DC Universe, though, he has a role of immense importance. In the holy trinity upon which the world stands, the trinity of truth, justice, and the American way, Superman is America embodied and Wonder Woman is the goddess of Truth. And that leaves Justice to Batman. He is the avatar of justice, the force that will not cease until all who have been wronged are given their due.
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#1 Superman
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/1t.jpg" align=left alt="Superman" hspace="7"></a>First appearance: Action Comics #1
Created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
His name is known around the world. His powers can be recited by young schoolchildren and aged scholars. His origin and history are ingrained in the consciousness of our pop culture. He is the first, the truest, the greatest…Superman. Sent to Earth from a dying planet, the sacrifice made for Kal-El of Krypton by his parents would be passed on to him in the form of great powers beyond those of mortal men. The legacy and lessons learned from the adoptive parents of Clark Kent would direct those powers toward the good of all mankind. Superman is more than a hero. He is a symbol of hope, of justice, of the belief that one man can make a difference. He is the ideal. Strong, fast, invulnerable. He can fly, see through walls or across miles, hear any sound, create heat with his eyes or intense cold with his breath. And yet his greatest power comes not from being ideal, but from being an idealist. Superman has an incredible sense of morality that guides him and drives him to do good when it would be just as easy to use his abilities for selfish personal gain. He is not only a hero, but an inspiration for generations of heroes…both fictional and in real life. And like all great symbols, he is all things to all people. He has been called everything from a boy scout to a messiah. A parable of immigration. A power fantasy for the meek and mild. A fulfillment of untapped potential and imagination. Without Superman, the DC universe and our own world would be a drastically different place. Like all great heroes and myths, he amazes and entertains with tales of his incredible adventures. But more importantly, he teaches and guides us. To make the world a better place. To fight for what we believe in. To realize that what is alien and different to us may best embody our hopes and dreams…and that the battle for truth and justice is never ending.
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And that's a wrap, folks! Hope you've enjoyed this look at the richness and diversity of DC's stable of characters, and if you'd like to check out more 70th anniversary fun, head on over here! (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32203)
#10, 7, 6, 3, 1: Jordan T. Maxwell
#9, 5: Raul Grau
#4: Alex Groff
#2: Matt Lazorwitz
#8: Dylan McKay
Comptroller: Jon Hancock
Editor: Jordan T. Maxwell
Columns Editor: Joel Phillips
Editor in Chief: Al Harahap
Co-Publisher: Brian Wilkinson
Publisher: Eric J. Moreels
<center>All characters, titles, and likenesses thereof ™ © DC Comics (http://www.dccomics.com) or its licensors,
and are used without permission, not for profit. All other content © original author and ComiX-Fan (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan).</center>
Written By: Raul Grau, Alex Groff, Matt Lazorwitz, Jordan T. Maxwell, Dylan McKay
Comptroller: Jon Hancock
Editor:Jordan T. Maxwell
Characters are everything when it comes to story. Without characters you’re left with some nice scenery that would look good as a calendar in a toilet, but makes for a lousy comic. Characters within comics are a special breed. They earn such attention and admiration that many readers will follow a character rather than a writer or story. How many times was Dickens asked to introduce Oliver Twist in the Pickwick Papers? How many times did Shakespeare receive death threats for killing off Romeo and Juliet? Comic fans know what characters they like and so do staff members on comic websites.
If you're just joining the party, check out our earlier installments: Part 1 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32275), Part 2 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32350) and Part 3 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32439).
But now, without any further interruption or delay, ComiX-Fan is proud to present...The Top 10 DC Characters of All Time!
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#10 Swamp Thing
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/10.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/10t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Swamp Thing"></a>First appearance: Swamp Thing #1
Created by: Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson
Reimagined in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
Reimagined by: Alan Moore
Swamp Thing was originally envisioned as a kind of Victorian horror character in House of Secrets #92, murdered scientist Alex Olsen turned into a speechless muck monster. But by the time he received his own series, the character had been brought into the modern day with an updated origin. Alex Olsen was gone, and in his place was Alec Holland, his wife Linda, and their bio-restorative formula, developed in the hope that it could promote plant growth and help feed the world. And as is often the case in comic books, such idealism cannot go unpunished. So the couple were killed and Alec returned as yet another muck monster on a quest to regain his lost humanity. Until Alan Moore entered the picture. Because as it turns out, the monster who arose from the swamp was never Alec Holland. It was the plant life of the swamp, accelerated by Holland’s formula, which then decomposed and fed off his remains, absorbing his intelligence. Suddenly there was no lost humanity to seek out. There was simply the humanity he had found in his strange birth. And even trippier, it turned out he was the latest in a long line of plant elementals (Alex Olsen had existed after all). A mysticism and philosophical aspect was added to the character that appealed to fans as the Swamp Thing went from battling private armies and mad scientists to traveling through Heaven and Hell, exploring different planes of existence and averting apocalypses. He developed a more romantic side as well, sharing one of the most beautiful and poetic love stories in comics with longtime friend Abigail Arcane. Swamp Thing had molted his B-movie origins in favor of a more cerebral and emotional character. His stories were less obvious superhero fare, and ranged from poetry and philosophy to horror and satire, setting the mood and attitude for what would eventually evolve into the Vertigo line of books.
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#9 Flash (Barry Allen)
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/9.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/9t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Flash (Barry Allen)"></a>First Appearance: Showcase #4
Created by: Robert Kanigher, Julius Schwartz, and Carmine Infantino
Though his codename was borrowed, Barry Allen raced as the Flash for thirty years, more than earning the title of Fastest Man Alive. He began, ironically enough, as a slowpoke, terminally late for every appointment, but a bolt of lightning changed all that. Inspired by the comic book hero of his youth, Barry became the Flash, able to race across water, pluck bullets from midair, and even vibrate through solid objects. He helped provide the foundations for the modern DC universe, as a founding member of the Justice League of America, and as mentor to Wally West, the first Kid Flash. Barry wed his sweetheart, Iris, but lost her through the machinations of Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash. On the eve of his second marriage, Barry accidentally crossed the heroic line, murdering Zoom and sullying his own reputation. After a painful trial, there was a momentary happy ending, with Barry and Iris reunited in the far future. Their peace was tragically short-lived, as Barry responded to one final Crisis, and ran his last race to save all creation. Barry was dead, but the Flash lived on, with Wally filling those scarlet boots... however, that passing of the torch is not nearly the full extent of the Barry Allen legacy. In 1956, superheroes were at their lowest point, and it was the debut of this new Flash that revitalized interest in costumed crimefighters. This Silver Age of comic fiction saw a new breed of hero, clothed more in speculative science than fantasy, and Barry was the vanguard of the movement. In his civilian identity, he was a forensic scientist (decades before any CSIs), and his speed had a chemical explanation. His foes shared his penchant for science, more often using mechanisms than magic, and Barry would defeat his Rogues Gallery with intelligence, rather than force. His death has become a cornerstone of DC history, a moment so iconic that no writer has yet dared to undo it, and he literally fathered the next generation, with genetic descendants who stretch on through the centuries, all propagating the Flash name. Currently, two such heroes continue to carry the lightning, his nephew Wally, the Flash of JLA fame, and his grandson Bart, Kid Flash of the Teen Titans. Any good deeds they have done, any worlds they have saved, can all be credited to Barry, the hero who started a dynasty.
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#8 Lex Luthor
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/8t.jpg" align=left alt="Lex Luthor" hspace="7"></a>First Appearance: Action Comics #23
Created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Re imagined in: Man of Steel #4
Re imagined by: John Byrne
Lex Luthor all the real villains our world knows, the corrupt politician, the crime boss, the greedy businessman, the amoral scientist etc... But that's exactly it, he's a real villain, not a one-dimensional cartoony villain like most comic book villains. He does want to improve society. Is it just so that he can secure a name for himself in history and to be loved by as many people as possible? Most likely. But there is honour and altruism under that manipulative exterior. Lex Luthor is too complex a man to ever truly know what motivates him. Lex Luthor is the embodiment of humanities greatest strengths; innovation, (He is the person most responsible for making Metropolis the city of tommorow.) motivation (He did grow up in Metropolis's worst neighbourhood and work his way up to President of the United States of America.) and intelligence. (He is often credited as being the world's smartest man, granted, he's often doing the creditting.) He is also the embodiement of humanities greatest flaws; pride, (He believes that he alone can increase humanity's self-reliance and eliminate the need for superheroes.) envy, (One of the main reasons Lex wages war on superheroes is that he cannot stomach the idea of anyone being able to do things he cannot.) gluttony, (Lex, and his allies [ally meaning anyone who submissively completes all tasks within the exact specifications asked.) lust, (Lex Luthor is often flanked with beautiful women, and rarely the same one twice.) anger, (I would say ask anyone's who's ever crossed Lex what his temper is like, but if they are still able to talk, I assure you they have nothing bad to say about him, well, unless you ask a superhero.) greed (Lex is one of, if not the richest man in the DCU, and he didn't get their by giving as much to charity as he could. Or by stay exactly legal...) and sloth. (While there is no doubt that Luthor is a highly motivated man who got where he was due to cunning and hard work, he often relies upon others to do his dirty work. Lex is a masterful user of people and often ensures that others fight his battles.)
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#7 Dream (Morpheus)
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/7.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/7t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Dream"></a>First appearance: Sandman #1
Created by: Neil Gaiman and Sam Keith
Dream of the Endless is not some spandex clad superhero or cape wearing mystery man empowered by dreams. He is not the god or spirit of dreams. He is Dream, the embodiment of that fundamental aspect of existence. He is the monarch of sleeping minds, of imagination, of nightmares and stories. He is defined entirely by his role because as far as he’s concerned he IS his role, and nothing more. And, to put it lightly, he is not exactly a nice guy. A hero not in the sense of noble feats of derring-do, but more in the Shakespearean mold, tragic and flawed. The dour attitude and inability to change and adapt of Hamlet. The proud arrogance of Lear. The rash impulsiveness of Romeo. The pettiness and blind jealousy of Othello. And yet like those fallen figures, he is noble, wise, regal, passionate. Strange as it may sound, he is human…all too human. We meet Dream not at the beginning of his tale, but at the beginning of the end as he is captured and held captive by humans for decades. Upon his escape and the reclamation of his power and office, we begin to see Dream change as he is forced to face up to the sins of his past. All the scorned lovers, neglected children, abused mortals come back to haunt him, forcing him to set things right. His peer and rival Lucifer’s abandonment of Hell and the departure centuries before by his own brother Destruction make Dream face up to the idea that responsibility is not just to one’s duty or obligations, but also to one’s family and friends and most importantly to one’s own self. He must consider freedom and change. But for a creature older than gods and stars, change does not come easily and at the end of his introspective hero’s journey, for all his discovery and growth, he finds there is only so much he can change and yet so much more that he needs to. And so he lets go of his own life and existence to make way for a new Dream who can be all the things he cannot. Morpheus is a character straight out of epic poetry, great drama and classic literature given life on a comic book page…proving that this medium can support the weight of such a character just as easily as any other.
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#6 Wonder Woman
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/6.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/6t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Wonder Woman"></a>First appearance: All Star Comics #8
Created by: William Moulton Marston
Diana of Themyscira is a figure of great contradiction, a woman of both war and peace, of empowerment and exploitation, of mythology and psychology. Her origin could have been plucked right out of a Joseph Campbell book, her form molded from clay and given life and power by the gods, she faces trial by combat in disguise and wins weapons of divine enchantment and a calling to explore, to defend, to teach. But her creator was not a folklorist but a psychologist who believed that the male dominance of superheroes as found in characters like Superman and Batman was a grave disservice to impressionable juvenile minds. And so he crafted Wonder Woman to not only be a figure of myth and legend, but an embodiment of empowered feminism as well. But for all her empowerment, Marston used her as well to explore themes of human sexuality and dominance with her skimpy outfit and bondage themed weapon, the Lasso of Truth (it’s interesting to note that Marston, creator of this Lasso of Truth, is also the inventor of the polygraph machine…the lie detector). In those early days of comic books and the superhero, Wonder Woman filled a niche and stands to this day as one of the iconic trinity of DC heroes alongside two of the only other superheroes who’s popularity has lasted from their Golden Age origins to the modern day, Superman and Batman. Some muddying of her origin and character have held her back, along with the rather biased mindset of the male dominated comic book industry, but Wonder Woman also stands out as one of the first characters to cross over into the mainstream with her hit television show in the 70s. Whether a source of inspiration for girls or perspiration for boys, Wonder Woman has proven to be a hero for any age.
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#5 Death
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/5.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/5t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Death"></a>First Appearance: Sandman #8
Created by: Neil Gaiman and Mike Dringenberg
Death is the end of life, that mysterious transition from this world to the next, and the final page to every story. Death personified is the Grim Reaper, a scythe-wielding skeleton with a perpetual grin... at least, that is how he has been portrayed in countless movies, novels, and comic books, but what if he were a she? Neil Gaiman envisioned a Death who was a bit less scary, and a bit more perky. Like her younger brother Dream, Death is a member of the Endless, a family comprised by the personified aspects of existence, but, unlike Morpheus, she has a sense of humor about it. She is the Mary Poppins of the supernatural set, coming down from nowhere to reveal what is truly important about life, and doing it with a cute wink. Despite her kind nature, she still performs her existential duties, escorting souls from the earthly plane to their ultimate destination, with a gentle beating of her mighty wings. She is literally Death, but with none of the horror that we commonly ascribe to the moment, and that uniqueness has served her, and the industry, well. More than Wonder Woman or any superheroine, Death is responsible for bringing readers of the fairer sex into the comic fold, as every counterculture minded female has a copy of The High Cost of Living on her bookshelf, right next to Flowers in the Attic. Before the current Goth craze, there she was, with pale skin, black clothes, and representational ankh, inspiring those who would never dare to ordinarily touch a comic book with her very look. In our comic world, death is ever present, and the embodied Death is equally ubiquitous, appearing in every DC series from the Legion to Captain Atom, and even crossing the street to cameo at Marvel, witnessing major changes, which is all death really is. She is one of the oldest beings in the universe, destined to endure until the end of time, when it will be up to her to put up the chairs and turn off the lights. Until then, we can embrace Death... the character, if not the concept.
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#4 Joker
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/4.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/4t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Joker"></a>First Appearance: Batman #1
Created by: Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson
What makes a great villain? Is it the evil that he is supposed to epitomize, as with Darkseid; or is it the tragic nobility he represents, as with Magneto? Is a villain's greatness based on his innovation, the way he, like Braniac, constantly surprises us; or is it the determination and unstoppability of Sinestro that draws us in? Either way, Joker has been all of these things, and more. For someone who's only real superpower is a bizarre sense of humor and a bad make-up artist, he has been Batman's greatest bane since Bruce was handed his own title in 1940. Once a failed comedian, he took a job as the Red Hood to pay rent for himself and his pregnant wife-- only to fall into a vat of chemicals while trying to evade the Bat. Arising deformed and finding his wife dead-- by accident or design is still a question today-- the Joker was born. Insane, violent, ofttimes humorous and not without a touch of class, The Joker is the mirror image of Batman, and their fighting has always been the thrust, parry and riposte of fencing. (The Joker has in the past challenged Batman for not playing by the rules of the game, and his actions often imply an underlying logic, if not a sane purpose.) Despite the costs on both sides-- to civilians, mayors, henchmen and Boy Wonders-- Batman's unwillingness to kill, either a sign of weakness or nobility, seems to show that this parle will never come to an end. However, perhaps the finest feature of the Joker is the constant statement he makes on the nature of superheroes. From his loses as the Red Hood to his exectution on the electric chair; from his bloody attempts to make Batman understand him in A Killing Joke to the loss of his restored sanity in Going Sane, Joker's presence asks the question: how much are vigilantes to blame for the villains they face?
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#3 John Constantine
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/3.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/3t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="John Constantine"></a>First appearance: Saga of the Swamp Thing #37
Created by: Alan Moore, Rick Veitch and John Totleben
John Constantine is a bastard. Oh, sure, he’s saved the world plenty of times and taken on angels, demons and the Devil himself. But he’s also managed to get a number of people who cared for and trusted him maimed, killed or damned in the process. He is the embodiment of London (despite what Hollywood producers and Neo might lead you to believe), a strange and intoxicating mix of the arcane and the urban, of mysteries hidden in shadowy alleyways and secrets of dying religions and underground cults. He is the leather and discontentment of punk rock mangled in a head on collision with the trench coat cool and self loathing of noir. A silk cut cigarette and cocky Cheshire grin that slip out of the darkness with every secret you’ve ever wanted to know and he’ll tell you if it suits him to do so. More a trickster than a sorcerer, more a con man than a magician, Constantine is a righteous bastard from a long line of righteous bastards. He may have demon’s blood coursing through his veins, but it’s the piss and whisky of being a Constantine that makes him what he is. In a time when being an anti-hero in comics really just meant you were a kind of pissed off character who didn’t mind killing, along comes this Sting look alike with his trademark trench coat and cigarettes and the kind of hard boiled cockiness mixed with cynicism and self hatred that would make a Raymond Chandler novel read like Chicken Soup for the Soul. His dialogue was laced with an acid wit and his actions were dripping in moral ambiguity. Fans loved him and from making straight men out of the protagonists in Swamp Thing and Sandman to playing mentor like a grinning bastard Obi-Wan to Tim Hunter in Books of Magic to his own misanthropic misadventures in Hellblazer, the fledgling Vertigo line had him as a kind of standard bearer for the attitude of the imprint. He’s even managed a bit of crossover appeal to the mainstream…most recently in an Americanized and watered down Hollywood adaptation, but also more faithfully as the inspiration for the popular characters of Giles and Spike on Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Still...he's really just a bastard.
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#2 Batman (Bruce Wayne)
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/2.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/2t.jpg" align="left" hspace=10 alt="Batman"></a>First Appearance: Detective Comics #27
Created by: Bill Finger and Bob Kane
“Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You’ve eaten Gotham’s wealth. It’s spirit. Your feast is almost over. From this moment on - - None of you are safe.” These are the words spoken by Batman as he first confronts the mobsters and corrupt upper class of Gotham in Frank Miller’s legendary Batman: Year One, and to me they are the words that define Batman. He is the implacable foe of all corruption, of all those who would dare to harm the innocent. His origin is a part of the public consciousness. A young boy, who watched the greatest tragedy you could imagine, the murder of both his parents by a gunman. Training his body and mind to be the pinnacle of human achievement, he took the name of The Batman, and set about cleaning up Gotham City. Batman strikes a special chord with many readers, this writer well included within that number. We could never be Superman, we could never leap tall buildings in a single bound. But somehow, you could think you could be Batman. He’s just a guy, a guy with more brains and muscles than most, and with all those wonderful toys, but still just a guy. He is also deeply layered, and a study in conflicts. He wants to see crime eradicated, but his actions are often criminal. He can one moment be comforting a victim, and the next savagely beating their attackers. He has a hard time dealing with his own emotions, and with the people who truly care about him. He is an intensely human character. In the grand scheme of the DC Universe, though, he has a role of immense importance. In the holy trinity upon which the world stands, the trinity of truth, justice, and the American way, Superman is America embodied and Wonder Woman is the goddess of Truth. And that leaves Justice to Batman. He is the avatar of justice, the force that will not cease until all who have been wronged are given their due.
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#1 Superman
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dccharacters/1t.jpg" align=left alt="Superman" hspace="7"></a>First appearance: Action Comics #1
Created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
His name is known around the world. His powers can be recited by young schoolchildren and aged scholars. His origin and history are ingrained in the consciousness of our pop culture. He is the first, the truest, the greatest…Superman. Sent to Earth from a dying planet, the sacrifice made for Kal-El of Krypton by his parents would be passed on to him in the form of great powers beyond those of mortal men. The legacy and lessons learned from the adoptive parents of Clark Kent would direct those powers toward the good of all mankind. Superman is more than a hero. He is a symbol of hope, of justice, of the belief that one man can make a difference. He is the ideal. Strong, fast, invulnerable. He can fly, see through walls or across miles, hear any sound, create heat with his eyes or intense cold with his breath. And yet his greatest power comes not from being ideal, but from being an idealist. Superman has an incredible sense of morality that guides him and drives him to do good when it would be just as easy to use his abilities for selfish personal gain. He is not only a hero, but an inspiration for generations of heroes…both fictional and in real life. And like all great symbols, he is all things to all people. He has been called everything from a boy scout to a messiah. A parable of immigration. A power fantasy for the meek and mild. A fulfillment of untapped potential and imagination. Without Superman, the DC universe and our own world would be a drastically different place. Like all great heroes and myths, he amazes and entertains with tales of his incredible adventures. But more importantly, he teaches and guides us. To make the world a better place. To fight for what we believe in. To realize that what is alien and different to us may best embody our hopes and dreams…and that the battle for truth and justice is never ending.
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And that's a wrap, folks! Hope you've enjoyed this look at the richness and diversity of DC's stable of characters, and if you'd like to check out more 70th anniversary fun, head on over here! (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32203)
#10, 7, 6, 3, 1: Jordan T. Maxwell
#9, 5: Raul Grau
#4: Alex Groff
#2: Matt Lazorwitz
#8: Dylan McKay
Comptroller: Jon Hancock
Editor: Jordan T. Maxwell
Columns Editor: Joel Phillips
Editor in Chief: Al Harahap
Co-Publisher: Brian Wilkinson
Publisher: Eric J. Moreels
<center>All characters, titles, and likenesses thereof ™ © DC Comics (http://www.dccomics.com) or its licensors,
and are used without permission, not for profit. All other content © original author and ComiX-Fan (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan).</center>