The ILC Favourite Characters Of All Time

#54. Acid Archie (Zenith)

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/archie-744495.jpg

Grant Morrison's Zenith Book 3, published in 1990 in 2000AD re-introduced and revived a vast number of old UK comics heroes (many of whom are getting more boring treatment in Albion right now). One of them was Robot Archie, who had fought crime in the 60s. Robot Archie, like the original Iron Man, had a particularly clunky, yet appealing design, very much a pulp idea of what a robot would look like. Morrison kept the look intact for Zenith but painted a smiley face on and renamed him Acid Archie, creating a raving robotic hero who fit 100% with the times and would stick in the memory of all 2000AD readers way beyond any actual contributions he made to the storyline.

Greatest Moment: There in the picture you can see that he's tamed a war dinosaur and painted a big flower on it. But his finest moment is his introduction. Pop star superhero Zenith is arguing with his agent, hears a knock at the door, opens it and there, out of nowhere, is a giant robot with a smiley on its head who barges into his flat shouting "SPEED SPEED ECSTASY". The 90s had arrived.

I like original Robot Archie as well, and probably would not be so fond of Acid Archie were it not for original Robot Archie.

I like the fact that Robot Archie has "Robot" in his name, as an aid to the hard of thinking.

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/bigfrankhog-748154.jpg

In Jim Woodring's curious dream-universe the bestial Manhog seems to represent our most venal, pitiful, greedy and stupid instincts. He is repulsive, but also often a victim, and not entirely without sympathy. The pained, desperate expressions on Manhog's face as he fails each time to understand or cope with his situation are some of Woodring's most powerful images.

Greatest Moment: Over to you!

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/mo-701968.jpg

To be frank, I'm not sure why of all the Dykes to Watch Out For characters I chose to nominate Mo; in a comic filled with colourful characters she's probably the least colourful. She's as stereotypical as a lesbian (in a lesbian-themed comic) can be: an angry feminist, left-wing, masculine-looking, a vegetarian, has cats. But one shouldn't always scare away from sterotypes, since many lesbians really are like that. It's up to the other characters to fill the spectrum, and, like Tintin in Tintin, she's the centre that holds the spectrum together. Unlike Tintin though, she isn't an empty signifier - we can relate to her, and maybe that's exactly because of her plainness. (Tuomas)

Greatest Moment: Over to you!

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/blacklois-793761.jpg

For her astonishing empathy. (Leee)

Greatest Moment:

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/blacklois2-740632.jpg

I can't think of any good examples of where this has completely backfired for her, since it's been a while since I've read the strip. But this is a common theme among gays and lesbians (who often go through a period of "well I'm gay so I'd better buy some Madonna CDs!" which sometimes NEVER ENDS ARGGH) and of course among the non-gays and -lesbians out there too.

(49 points)

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/spiderj-758228.jpg

[No blurb or greatest moment for him - if someone wants to send me a blurb I will cut and paste it in this space]

(53 points)

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/optimus-743096.jpg

Greatest Moment: His death in the Transformers movie, obviously. I was five years old, and I think I started freaking out and crying. (Laura)

(53 points)

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/flex-748988.jpg

Imaginary friends is a constant Grant Morrison trope, because after all that's what comics characters used to be for a lot of kids. Flex Mentallo, in Doom Patrol and particularly in his own series, is Morrison's most involved working-through of this idea, acting almost as the imaginary friend of superhero comics themselves. Flex, slightly dim, often baffled, always heroic, is as much symbol as character but is no less memorable for that. Also he has one of the greatest origin issues in comics!

Greatest Moment: Flex turns the Pentagon into a circle. (Vic Fluro)

(56 points)

http://homepage.mac.com/merussell/iblog/B835531044/C31175526/E1653270529/Media/Marv1.gif

He's the heart and soul in the Sin City universe -- every other protagonist has been an unimaginative and tired genre exercise. Balancing his invigorating self-unawareness with intimate familiarity with the seamy underworld and his ultimate fate, and with dialogue that Frank Miller hasn't topped since... (Leee)

Greatest Moment: I want to say the panel where he kicks in the windshield of the police car, but that's mostly because I love its art. Instead, I'll go with Marv shooting at the statue of Roarke and then laughing like the loveable psycopathic lunatic that he is. (Leee)

(56 points)

Darkseid is the nuclear bomb of the DC Universe. He's Mutually Assured Destruction. He's powerful enough that he could take down every hero who's ever been a member of the JLA with one Omega Beam behind his back, but he's such a cocky bastard that he never quite does. While his life's work, the Anti-Life Equation, is essentially the End of All Things, he's not necessarily a bad guy. (Huk)

Greatest Moment:
http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/darkseid-794253.jpg

That's how they spell "struggle" in Apokoliptian, and he's reading his own book.

Not at all.
Left to right they are Noel Baxter (team joker), Jimmy ???(the kid), Blackie Gray (Roy's best friend), Charlie 'The Cat' Carter (goalkeeper), Roy Race, Lofty Peak (hard man), Mervyn Wallace (inconsistent genius), and Duncan MacKay (the Scot).

(59 points)

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/pictures/wedge/uploaded_images/hellboy-746341.jpg

Like a savvier, more knowledgeable and more indestructible Marv. Just as key is the fact that he's out there in the world, with friends who actually look up to him, and the fact that he tangles with Nazis, Rasputin, vampires, werefrogs, dragons, ghosts, demons and manages to tell them all to shut up in so many words, cos he's got the Right Hand of Doom to back him up, you know. (Leee)

Best moment: From Wake the Devil, when he jumps out of the plane with the jetpack that doesn't work, stubbornly clicking the ignition without success while freefalling, and muttering, "Aw crap," which sums up his appeal: unprepossessing, straight-forward and with understated humor. (Leee)

bump in case anyone wanted to know the winners

http://www.empireonline.com/50greatestcomiccharacters/default.asp?c=50

Rather boring list. Japan is represented by one character, Europe (outside 2000AD) by two. And who the hell puts two characters from Preacher on a top 50 list, and neither of them is Cassidy?! Jesse Custer was like the most boring character in the whole comic, the Tintin of his own book.

Actually, Jesse and Cassidy are pretty much like Tintin and Haddock, right?

RIP Mona Lisa Ludatits ;_;

The really striking thing about the list is its complete avoidance of kids' characters (obviously, yes, a lot of the ones featured weren't meant for adults originally).

I'm not clicking 50 times to read that whole list.

http://www.dulcepinzon.com/en_projects_superhero.htm#

Superhero day jobs.

Actually, Jesse and Cassidy are pretty much like Tintin and Haddock, right?

t-bomb from Tuomas!

no idea this happened, due for a refresh during covid imo

Spiderman
The Creeper
Mysterio
The Lizard
Green Goblin
Madcap
Ghost Rider
Eternity
Dormammu
Clea
Dr Haunt
Winnie The Witch
Mr L. Dedd
Mr Bones
Impy
Uncle Creepy
Cousin Eerie
Crypt Keeper
Old Witch (sorry, no Vault Keeper)
Dr Death
Kenshiro
Shin
Rei
Devilman
Lady Death
Chicken George

The Hulk