#5- Deadman- This is one of my favorite recent additions to my comic book repetoire. Boston Brand as a circus performer who is killed via sabotage during his act. He is giving a chance to return to the earthly plane by the goddess Rama. He becomes the hero Deadman, able to possess any person he encounters and use their bodies as his own. This includes superbeings, whose powers he then temporarily possesses. What makes Deadman so interesting is the way his powers can generate countless new and original stories. It is very much like the show QUANTUM LEAP, with Sam Backett living a new life each week. Deadman's stories literally start from 'jump' each week. His recent involvement with JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK got me into that comic book, and it has consistently been one of my favorite since I started collecting it. All in all, Deadman has risen through the ranks of my faves quickly, and rightly takes a place here near the top.
#4- Superman- This is the character who started it all. Powerful, with a character more noble than almost any other in all of comicdom, Supes has been one of my favorite characters since the DOOMSDAY storyline in the 90s. What really drives my interest in the Man of Steel is the underlying theological themes that are going on. Superman is a kind of commentary on messianism in general and Christology in particular. The idea that this sort of god lives among us, as one of us, commenting from the outside by his words and deeds on the human condition, well it just makes the whole thing so damned interesting. Yes, the character can be overpowering and his New 52 writing has left something to be desired, but the latter issue has changed since SUPERMAN UNCHAINED and SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN begin, and it may be that this character soon reclaims his sometime spot at the top of this list.
#3 Time Lincoln- The comic book TIME LINCOLN had a weird effect on me. The first time I read it I didn't know what the hell had just happened. What was it I was just exposed to? Did I like it... I wasn't even sure. So I re-read it, and found out yes indeed I did like it. Then every time I read it I found I liked it even more, until by the 12th re-reading it had taken a place in the top echelon of my favorite books. And at the center of it all stands Time Lincoln himself. Former the 16th president of the United States, Time Lincoln is in essence a god of time transformed from human to cosmic proportions by a chance encounter with an equally cosmic evil. His powers are wacky but fascinating, and his character is truly larger than life. But it is the act of gathering together a cadre of history's most noble figures to fight alongside him that really makes Time Lincoln one of the best superheroes, indeed one of the best fictional characters, I'd ever encountered.
#2- Adam Warlock- There was a time, and there may be a time again soon, when Adam Warlock would've sat prominently at the to of this list. But recent years have eroded the character, though a soon-to-be-established reboot looks very promising. Adam Warlock, like Superman, is a bit of a Christ figure, and the Warlock mythos includes a lot of Christian imagery in it, though the anti-christ that Warlock faces is a future version of himself, which is a little twisted. Warlock is a reluctant hero, heck he was reluctant even to be created. He was grown in a lab by a group of men who wanted to create a superbeing they could use to control the world. Sensing his creators' evil intentions, he killed them and left to make his fortune among the stars. There he acquired even greater cosmic powers, and eventually he became the key player in some of Marvel's best and most important storylines. His relationship both friendly and antagonistic with Thanos was one of the most interesting story-drivers in all of comic history. Powerful, mysterious, with a real depth and complexity of character that keeps you coming back for more, I hope and pray Warlock soon finds a renewed place of prestige in the Marvel universe. There is simply is no character like him.
#1- Captain Marvel/SHAZAM- Adam Warlock is dark and brooding, and he was for so long my favorite character. It is fitting, I think, that today it is a happy and positive character who now stands atop the list. Okay, the more recent incarnation isn't as fun and upbeat as the Captain Marvel of old, but still, Shazam is the ultimate in wish fulfillment. I started collecting comics when I was 12 years old, just about the age of Shazam's alter ego Billy Batson. With a magic word Batson becomes the fully-grown Superman-level empowered superhero known as either Captain Marvel or Shazam. The first couple of dozen issues of the last ongoing Shazam series was insane, and I like his recent turn in New 52 despite the darkening of the character. But it is some of the alternative universe stories like his place in Alex Ross' KINGDOM COME and JUSTICE, and especially the kid-friendly MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL book that really makes the character stand out. Fun, innocent, but possessed of great wisdom (it is literally one of his superpowers) and massive power, Shazam embodies everything I love about comics and everything I'd like to be. There is something almost scriptural about the character, and I wait in fervent prayer for him to bust out of the comic pages and someday, perhaps onto the big screen and the life of more people.
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