(81 points)
http://www.gamerevolution.com/oldsite/games/ps2/action/fantastic_four_ben_grimm.jpg
"Great visuals, and balances angst and gags better than any Marvel hero." (Pete)
"It breaks my heart to say this considering how much I love Jack Kirby, but was there ever a more annoying whiner in the entire history of comics? Get over it already!" (JD)
The Thing is the finest example of a particular Kirby type - the tough reg'lar guy who Gets Things Done. Think Dum Dum Dugan or Terrible Turpin, and then give them rocks. Muscular, street-level, simply heroic, he's almost like the last Golden Age hero as well as one of the lynchpins of the Marvel Age - though the "why am I a monster?" plot could really have done with being dropped after FF#51, rather than remaining as fallback characterisation ever since. He's also a bullshit detector and a guide to the outlandish, and almost any time he's in a 'serious' story his character doesn't work - what more could you ask for?
Greatest Moment: "I know everybody loves "This man, this monster", but to me, the best-written Ben Grimm would be the one Mark Waid did, especially in the last issue of his run. That issue also features my favorite Reed Richards ever." (iodine)
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 13:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:07 (eighteen years ago) link
― chap who would dare to be a stone cold thug (chap), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:17 (eighteen years ago) link
(82 points)
http://pc59te.dte.uma.es/cdb/series/max/bitmaps/jessicajones.jpg
"Hard smoking, hard drinking, lumpily drawn." (Pete)
Greatest moment: "Explaining that she can fly, yeah, she's just always had some trouble landing..." (Douglas Wolk)
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:31 (eighteen years ago) link
xpost
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:32 (eighteen years ago) link
I like Reed more than Ben btw.
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:33 (eighteen years ago) link
Ben Grimm is Jewish? That never occurred to me.
― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 14:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:15 (eighteen years ago) link
Black panel borders: dud.
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:16 (eighteen years ago) link
still... greatest comic book punchline ever?
― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:18 (eighteen years ago) link
(83 points)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/DrManhattan.jpg
Alan Moore's take on a cosmically powered supercharacter is at heart a standard what-is-this-thing-called-emotion story arc (tho with a last issue twist of sorts) but Dr M is so well realised you hardly care. His mechanistic perspective on the universe maps nicely onto the hyperformalism of Watchmen, and what's more he was naked for pretty much the whole series.
Greatest Moment: "Watchmen #4 in its entirety" (Vic F)
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:35 (eighteen years ago) link
Haha, yes.
― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:37 (eighteen years ago) link
60. Opus59. Roy Race58. Corto Maltese57. Martian Manhunter56. Guy Gardner (Giffen/DeM)55. Spider-Man (Dan Slott)54. Acid Archie53. Manhog52. Mo51. Black Lois Lane50. Spider Jerusalem49. Optimus Prime48. Flex Mentallo47. Marv46. Darkseid45. Hellboy44. Mek-Quake43. Tharg The Mighty42. Mona Lisa Ludacristits41. A Homosexual40. Cassidy39. Tara Chace38. Robotman (Grant M)37. Wally West Flash36. Astoria35. Emma Frost34. Robert Crumb33. The Thing32. Jessica Jones31. Dr Manhattan
"Stand by" for #30 on!
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 15:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Vic F (Vic Fluro), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 20:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 22:43 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 19 April 2006 22:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 April 2006 00:16 (eighteen years ago) link
(88 points)
http://www.unificationfrance.com/IMG/jpg/xmen_beast.jpg
"One of the few marvel mutant characters to break out of the narrow field and into the larger fictional world, he's changed with the times, remaining on, or at least slightly behind, the forefront of cool. Early experiments with 'beat culture' changed to full-on hippiedom, drinking and 'alleged' smoking of dope. When the mutant comics became angst-filled, meandering plots-that-go-nowhere coolfests, he was there too, tragically losing his supermind by degrees before being replaced by his own evil twin from an alternate Earth! And for the new century, he reinvented himself again as a smooth-talking metrosexual." (Vic F)
"If the X-Men, more than about race or sexuality, are about plain old-fashioned teenage alienation, surely Hank McCoy is one of the best role models the series can muster. He’s been dealt one hell of a rough hand – unlike most of his fellow mutants, his powers are not hidden and he doesn’t look like an extra from “Melrose Place” – and yet he whines about it considerably less than most of his colleagues. Which pays off – first x-man to join the Avengers, respected member of the scientific community, Beast has adapted to real life as well as anyone in his crew. The Marvel universe’s proof that you can be both a giant nerd and the life of any party, and that smarts, wit and bonhomie make up for a hell of a lot." (Daniel_Rf)
Greatest Moment: "At the Coffee-A-Go-Go he is made king of theBeat-niks. His road to ruin begins here." (Vic F)
― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 09:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 10:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 20 April 2006 12:49 (eighteen years ago) link
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 13:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 20 April 2006 17:57 (eighteen years ago) link
(89 points)
http://www.grovel.org.uk/reviews/darede01/darede03.gif
The Stan Lee Daredevil is yr standard garish romp, twin brothers and fights with the likes of the Owl. But - maybe accidentally, maybe alchemically - Lee had hit on a character with massive symbolic freight: a lawyer, a vigilante, living the high life, from the mean streets, and get this he's blind! The result is the hero probably best able to sensibly carry the weight as comics got darker and grittier - DD's campy past never preys on him like it does on Batman, there's rarely the lurking shadow of the ludicrous. Which means that when Daredevil's comics get grim it doesn't feel so affected. Of course this might be hindsight because Miller and Bendis did what they did so well - but it seems to me that they found something that was already there.
Greatest Moment: Playing russian roulette with a comatose Bullseye (Daredevil #191) (I think this was Leee's pick)
― Tom (Groke), Friday, 21 April 2006 15:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Friday, 21 April 2006 18:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Friday, 21 April 2006 18:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Friday, 21 April 2006 22:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― i am not a nugget (stevie), Sunday, 23 April 2006 15:32 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/news/silver-surfer/silver-surfer-movie.jpg
In Kirbyworld, the Surfer was a cold, alien figure incapable of understanding human emotion yet capable of sacrificing his freedom to save the human race – a postmodern take on the Christ story. In Stan Lee’s hands, he was a bit more mundane, and prone to sleep-inducing lectures – yet the fascination of the character remained. (JD)
Greatest Moment: Over to you!
― Tom (Groke), Friday, 28 April 2006 11:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Friday, 28 April 2006 11:42 (eighteen years ago) link
I was probably a bit thick in the 80s.
― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Friday, 28 April 2006 11:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 28 April 2006 11:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 28 April 2006 11:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pete (Pete), Friday, 28 April 2006 13:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 28 April 2006 14:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 28 April 2006 14:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 28 April 2006 14:13 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.hembeck.com/Images/FredSez/BlueBeetleJLA380.jpg
(91 points)
From Steve Ditko's faux-Spider-Man to Giffen & DeMatteis's most sympathetic character, Ted Kord spoke to the insecurities in all of us. And for that, we killed him like a Kennedy. (Huk-L)
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as angry about the offing of a fictional character as I did when DC decided to do away with Blue Beetle. How to justify such emotional investment? The best that I can come up with is that, unlike Booster Gold say, Blue Beetle isn’t just a moderately pleasant clown: he’s the prankster that reads Chekov, the c-list character that, precisely because of his mediocre status, often ends up looking a lot more heroic than Superman, Batman or any of the other big guns. (Daniel_Rf)
Greatest Moment: Meeting Catherine Cobert for the "first" time in JLA #8, "Moving Day" (Iodine)
― Tom (Groke), Friday, 28 April 2006 14:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 28 April 2006 15:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 28 April 2006 15:12 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 28 April 2006 15:16 (eighteen years ago) link
Does "zzzzzzzzork" mean "then they fucked like bunnies" or "and then the title started sucking bigtime" or something else?
― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Friday, 28 April 2006 15:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 28 April 2006 15:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Friday, 28 April 2006 16:05 (eighteen years ago) link
(96 points)
http://www.dogmaticblog.com/images/blog_images/constantine.jpg
John Constantine is the ultimate "Mary Sue" character - pretty much everyone who writes him infects him with their own habits and concerns, and no surprise as he's the perfect vehicle to live out both yr coolness fantasies and yr bastard ones: unlike most Mary-Sues he allows writers to explore self-disgust as well as self-glorification. He's also - albeit intermittently - one of the only convincing British characters in US comics, which may explain a lot of his votes.
Greatest Moment: Despite a 200+ issue ongoing series (not bad for someone designed to look like Sting!) his biggest impact is still his first dozen or so appearances, as the plot device and Greek chorus behind "American Gothic". Alan Moore's concept of an outsider who sees how the bits fit together has been ripped off umpteen times since but these appearances are still the freshest. Swamp Thing #46, the CRISIS tie-in issue, might be the best crossover issue of all time and shows how well the guy works in a shared universe.
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 3 May 2006 11:02 (eighteen years ago) link