5: WOLVERINE- Now I am going to say this right off the bat. I like Wolverine best as a solo character. I think the X-Men are awesome, and have great stories. But my favorite portrayal of Wolverine is as the wanderer, going around just helping the little guy, sort of like Bill Bixby in the Incredible Hulk TV show. Like Batman, I love that he has a gruff and mean exterior, but is actually a really nice and caring person when he wants to be. The whole mysterious past, Weapon X thing is awesome, and my favorite thing about Wolverine is that he is a loner, is not very nice a lot of the time, but the reader truly feels sorry and roots for him.
FAVORITE PORTRAYAL: Hugh Jackman. I think he brought all of what I talked about above to the character, and I am glad he is going to be in at least two more X-Men movies.
FAVORTIE STORY ARC: The Japan story arc. Just a classic Wolverine story, he is all alone for the most of the story and just trying to rescue one of the only things he has ever loved. Great story.
4: HULK- Just one of the coolest characters ever created. My favorite portrayal of him is like Wolverine, the wanderer, on the run, and just helping out the common man. Some of the best stories of the Hulk have been when they show him as a monster who wants to do good, like Boris Karloff in the original Frankenstein movie. All of that rampaging monster stuff is really cool, but when the Hulk becomes an actual character as opposed to just a raging monster, that is when you have a really good story. Also, I don't like it when the Hulk gets too large in size. A lot of times he is portrayed as a twenty foot tall monster, I prefer when artists depict him as being about ten feet. The stories seem a little bit more intense because it looks like he could possibly be beaten, and it makes him seem more human in a way.
FAVORITE PORTRAYAL: Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno. What a great show. I love how Bixby played Banner as a tormented man, but he was still able to connect with people as opposed to just being a tormented shut in. Ferrigno played the Hulk as a creature who actually cared about people and was able to be calm once in a while, instead of just smashing everything all the time.
FAVORITE STORY ARC: Hulk Gray. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale were able to include all of the classic Hulk elements into the story. They showed him as a raging monster and as a sympathetic character as well.
3: SPIDER-MAN- Spider-Man not only looks cool and has great villains, but he has a personality and is characterized as someone who could totally be real. You really feel like Peter Parker is a person who could be living just down the street. And I am not talking about the relatable problems like no money and romance troubles, I am talking about the deep emotional pain that he had to endure. One of the main reasons I love Spider-Man is because no matter what kind of tragedy he has had to endure, he can always stay happy and funny, at least as Spider-Man.
FAVORITE PORTRAYAL: Tobey Maguire. I know a lot of you do not like him as Spidey, but to me, he brought everything to the role that I thought Spider-Man needed. He was able to convey the fact that Peter is a deeply conflicted person, but he never went too dark or depressing. Those movies are THE definititive Spider-Man for me.
FAVORITE STORY ARC: Spider-Man Blue. Again, Loeb and Sale deliver a knockout story with a real emotional punch. This has tons of classic villains and is one that I can go back and read again, and again.
2: BATMAN- Now, I am not one of those people that only saw the Dark Knight trilogy and are like "I love Batman cuz he's cool!" You ask them why and they are like "cuz he's cool!" No, I truly love Batman as a character all around and not just because he has had some cool movies. Bruce Wayne is a very deeply disturbed individual, but is able to overcome that to become a symbol of good. He took a tragedy in his life and channeled it into making sure it never happened to anyone else again. I always say that the difference between DC and Marvel are that DC's characters are gods that walk among men, and Marvel's characters (with the exception of Thor) are men that are granted the powers of gods, and must struggle to become the gods we all know they can be. Well, Bruce Wayne is just a man, but he is able to stand equally among the gods known as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Flash and he is just a man. But you never look at him as weak, or fragile among them. He stands as their equal.
FAVORITE PORTRAYAL: Kevin Conroy in the Arkham games. I thought they were everything a Batman fan could ever want. They were dark and realistic, but were still able to include some of the more fantastical villains like Clayface and Solomon Grundy, and they weren't seen as silly. A dark, yet still comic book-y Batman. What more could you ask for?
FAVORITE STORY ARC: Batman Year One. I loved the Dark Knight Returns, but I liked Year One because it showed Bruce Wayne becoming Batman. He makes mistakes, but he never gives up and always gets back up as the Batman. I also liked that it showed his friendship with Jim Gordon, and how they are both just fighting for the good of Gotham City. One wears a badge, the other wears a mask. Brilliant.
1: SUPERMAN- The greatest super hero ever created. He represents all that is good and right in the world, and is the greatest symbol of hope. He always sees the good in everybody, and no matter what, when you're reading a Superman story, you know everything will eventually be okay. He has the power to rule the world, but he never even tries. He walks among us as a human even though he could rule us as a god. You know that no matter what, he will always be the good guy. Some of my favorite stories are the ones where Superman tries to be human, instead of them showing him as an alien living among humans. Because even though Superman is technically an alien, he is human and wants to be human. He has a great respect for humanity, and Superman: The Movie pretty much sums up everything that I love about Superman.
FAVORITE PORTRAYAL: Christopher Reeve. To me, he will always be the greatest Superman ever. He played him as a man who truly believed in good, and that everyone had good in them. He never acted like he thought humans were any less than him, and that is why he is my favorite Superman.
FAVORITE STORY ARC: Superman Birthright. I thought Mark Waid brought everything Chris Reeve did to the character. I loved the scenes of him trying to fit in among the humans, and become one of them. As Superman, he was a hero who even when people were afraid of him, he never hated or resented them, he just kept helping them.
What are your top 5 favorite heroes? Sound off below, and let me know! Thanks for reading!