111) REGGIE MANTLE
Whose brilliance is responsible: Bob Montana & Co.
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
1 (the distant fifth-most important character)
Pathos (x2):
0Multi-Faceted (x2):
1 (RARELY shows the Heart of Gold, but he's still normally friendly with the gang)
Epic:
0Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
1 (a dominant prankster)
Good Design (x2):
0Relevance:
0Relatable:
0Conflicts & Relationships:
1 (plays nicely off of his rival Archie, his enemy Jug, and potential girl Ron)
AWESOME FACTOR: 6 (70% jerk, 30% good friend)-Reggie was just a rival at first- attempting to steal Ron from Archie, and often succeeding (he had money, whereas Archie never did). He also pranked most of the gang, focusing on Jughead. Eventually, though, he became a friend to the gang, often hanging around with them in spite of his prankish nature, as his wise-guy gags made him more of "that friend who mocks everybody and is sarcastic" than an outright villain like he had been. Still, Reg is a scoundrel. He still pranks Jug more often than not, tries to steal Ron from Arch and Midge from Big Moose (which makes him nearly suicidally psychotic, in most people's view), and always makes fun of his friends, but they occasionally show his brighter side. OCCASIONALLY... as in much less than Ronnie (who still has Betty as a best friend)- he usually hates kids and is usually the least helpful person ever (making you wonder why anyone even HANGS OUT with the guy), ruining people's dates for fun, but even HE shows a positive side once in a while.
-Reggie's always had a tough row to hoe, as you can see. Constantly flitting between being a villainous rival and a "nice guy at heart" (most later, or more serious, stories showcase the latter), he's never maintained his own solo series for very long. The semi-famous (amongst Archie fans) Reggie & Me, Reggie's Revenge, and Reggie's Jokebook are ALL very short-lived attempts at solo stardom. He's very much the odd man out: Archie is the Core book, Betty & Veronica are the most popular books given the mostly-female fanbase, and Jughead has the most potential for comedy (both slapstick and snarking), as well as the largest male fanbase. Reggie is just left out of that- he's got his supporters, but his character isn't as deep as the rest of the "Big Five", so despite having "Headliner Status" (ie. his head is up there in the Dan DeCarlo-drawn "Five Floating Heads" set-up at the top-left corner of many books -when did comics get AWAY from that, anyhow? I always loved that mini-roster pic), he's pretty much a constant "also-ran". He's higher up than everybody else on the Popularity Tier, but lower than the main four who can actually have ongoing books.
110) DEADSHOT
Whose brilliance is responsible: Bob Kane & David Vern Green
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
1 (major face of villainy- charter Secret Six guy)
Pathos (x2):
0Multi-Faceted (x2):
1 (amoral but honorable)
Epic:
1 (lots of aiming feats)
Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
0Good Design (x2):
2Relevance:
2Relatable:
0Conflicts & Relationships:
1AWESOME FACTOR: 11 (Omega-level Deadpan Snarker with scarcely a single moral fibre)-Deadshot's a hoot in the "Secret Six" book. Where Catman gets a little TOO much shilling from other characters sometimes, Scandal is kind of whiny, and Bane can be a little boring, Deadshot's hilarious. Totally the snarkiest, most deadpan bastard who ever lived, all the while gunning guys down with automatic rifles in his wrist-guards. There's a reason he's the only guy to live through all the variants of the concept over the years.
109) OMEGA RED
Whose brilliance is responsible: Jim Lee & John Byrne
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
0Pathos (x2):
1 (he always needs that Synthesizer thingie or else he always needs to drain people)
Multi-Faceted (x2):
0Epic:
2 (he's beaten whole groups of X-Men by himself before)
Original:
1 (not another character like him, really)
Iconic/Influential (x2):
0Good Design (x2):
2 (the whole "Giant albino in red armour" thing looks cooler than it perhaps should)
Relevance:
0Relatable:
0Conflicts & Relationships:
0AWESOME FACTOR: 9 (bad-ass look, killer power-set. Very under-used)-Omega Red is one of my faves from back in the day, mainly because of his awesome, unique Jim Lee-drawn appearance. A giant albino with huge freaking tentacles, a death-effect, red armour, and the whole badass aura of being Russian? I was there, dude. The fact that he could absolutely kick the CRAP out of an entire team of X-Men made him a real terror. Unfortunately, they demoted him pretty quickly, having him lose to Generation-X (no, really- Chamber WHUPPED him), and be the lackey to the one-time villain Soul Skinner. Later revisions haven't made him the elite villain he could've been early on, but I'm still waiting. He's one of the X-villains with potential, who WASN'T driven into the ground from over-use. He's supposed to be "dead" now, but c'mon, he's nigh-impervious to death- he's got "Death" in his power's NAME!
108) THE HUMAN TORCH (Johnny Storm)
Whose brilliance is responsible: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
1 (major FF character)
Pathos (x2):
1 (has it the best out of his team, but half his girlfriends end up dead or leaving him)
Multi-Faceted (x2):
1 (shows a good side once in a while)
Epic:
1 (his Nova Flames are the stuff of legend- some of comics' "Best Showings" in terms of Energy guys)
Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
1 (the first "superteam annoying kid" guy I think)
Good Design (x2):
1Relevance:
0Relatable:
0 (used to be the 'everyman kid's dream of what a teen should be', but kind of lost it with his modern douchebaggery)
Conflicts & Relationships:
2 (like the rest of the FF. He & Ben are an awesome team)
AWESOME FACTOR: 12 (one of the funnier characters around, since he's always complaining and being a pain in the ass-Johnny Storm has "wannabe idol of young boys" all over him. Think about it: handsome, rich, a RACE CAR DRIVER, a mechanic, hot girls chasing him- it's like he was designed to be the symbol of what young men are supposed to be like. But Stan 'n' Jack were clever; they ALSO made him a giant tool, an enormous, egotistical pain in the ass and troublemaker, basically being the Reggie Mantle of the Marvel Universe. This made him a thorn in Ben's side, something to make Sue worry over, and a distraction for Reed, again showing the familial nature of the FF and how everyone works perfectly against each other. His crush on Crystal was always hilarious to me- they're together for all of a minute or two, and Johnny's fully CONVINCED that he's in love with her, and that they must be inseparable- and he goes into conniptions when they're forced apart. Then again, he was frickin' sixteen- Truth in Storytelling?
-I should point out that in a field FULL of "Energy Blaster Guy"-types, Johnny is by FAR the most well-known, popular and successful, which is definitely saying something. When "Fire Guy" has become the most generic and copied archetype of all for super-tights types, there's one that everyone knows above all others... Johnny almost seems to have regressed over time, being even more of a prima-donna these days, but it all depends on the writer with him.
107) CROSSBONES
Whose brilliance is responsible: Mark Gruenwald & Keiron Dwyer
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
0Pathos (x2):
0Multi-Faceted (x2):
0Epic:
0Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
0Good Design (x2):
2 (just a giant skull-faced Nazi bastard)
Relevance:
1 (every villain needs goons, forevermore)
Relatable:
0Conflicts & Relationships:
1 (the weird respect thing he has with the Skull is interesting)
AWESOME FACTOR: 6 (a killer flunky)-Crossbones was a regular occurence in Cap's monthly book for years under Mark Gruenwald's pen, as he was the Red Skull's "Top Flunky", often sent out in field missions against Cap & others, where he'd do a good job of holding the Avenger off before eventually going down, not to mention being a constant source of anguish for Diamondback (Cap's partner in more ways than one *wink wink*), since he'd brutalized and raped her in the past. He was a nasty piece of work, but I liked him as a kid because he had BY FAR the coolest costume among all the villains in the Marvel U at the time, with a bad-ass white skull motif and these giant Ron-Lim-sculpted arms. Guy LOOKED like a fighter. He's actually made a comeback in recent years as a soldier of fortune/Cap killer, as he's' integral to the Skull's current plans. I love his origin story- the guy was part of a gang that got shot up by the Skull's goons, and ol' Brock decided to swear at Johann, taunting him and challenging him to a mano-y-mano fist-fight. The Skull, impressed despite winning the fight, decided to mold Crossbones into the perfect henchman.
106) IRON FIST
Whose brilliance is responsible: Roy Thomas & Gil Kane
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
0Pathos (x2):
2 (lost his parents as a boy)
Multi-Faceted (x2):
1 (kind of a guilty rich-boy thing)
Epic:
2 (does increasingly-awesome things in his own series, but is usually surprisingly reserved)
Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
0Good Design (x2):
2 (looks pretty sweet now that he's dropped the '70s open shirt)
Relevance:
1 (added martial arts mysticism has done wonders for this formerly-dated character)
Relatable:
1 (acts surprisingly normal for a wealthy guy trained by super-monks)
Conflicts & Relationships:
1 (his love affair with Luke Cage)
AWESOME FACTOR: 15 (he's totally been made something, and has awesome fight scenes)-Talk about guys who came from nothing to BECOME something again. Danny Rand was a part of Marvel Limbo off-and-on for YEARS- he was brought about in the 1970s by Roy Thomas to capitalize on the kung-fu trend of movies (along with Shang-Chi), even before Bruce Lee hit it big, but his series was always pretty minor. He bounced from "Marvel Premiere" (an anthology/trial run-style title, back when those still existed) to his own book (which produced the first-ever team-up of Chris Claremont & John Byrne, who would go on to do the X-Men together- and Claremont would use his token "put some of my old work into the X-Books" like he did with Carol Danvers, by including Sabretooth as an X-villain). Of course, Danny's own book would be cancelled within two years, and he'd be latched onto Power Man/Luke Cage on a permanent basis, as the twoi acted out a good bottom-rung book.
-And bottom-rung they were... very few big-name villains, and I've met very few big fans of their run. The late '80s and 1990s were VERY bad to Danny, as he couldn't BUY a good run in a book. The "Heroes For Hire" book in the mid-90s was more of an excuse to plug every single hero without a book onto one team (Golden Age Human Torch! Iron Fist! She-Hulk! Black Knight!), and it suffered the same results as every other new book in the 1990s (ie. early cancellation). That all changed with the recent "The Immortal Iron Fist" series, which was so good, it not only brought Danny back as an important character, but it got him on The Avengers, where he currently resides. Of course, the book seems to have been lost after an ill-decided writer-switch, but at least we have Danny back.
Good ol' Mike Grell. Always willing to give the men skimpy costumes, too. You SHOW true equality, you pervert, you!105) COSMIC BOY
Whose brilliance is responsible: Otto Binder & Al Plastino
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
1 (the standard Legion commander)
Pathos (x2):
1 (lost love and the loneliness of leadership)
Multi-Faceted (x2):
1 (not afraid to have fun, but he's still the leader)
Epic:
0Original:
3 (I think he's the first magnetic character ever. He predates Magneto by five years)
Iconic/Influential (x2):
1 (many other magnetic types came later)
Good Design (x2):
1 (somehow both made being pink look fairly stylish, AND gave the ladies some skin at one point, counteracting Mike Grell's slutty outfits for the female characters)
Relevance:
0Relatable:
0Conflicts & Relationships:
2 (I like how he plays off the rest of the Legion Trio, as well as Superboy and Night Girl, his girl)
AWESOME FACTOR: 14 (classic Team Leader guy)-Cosmic Boy's as old as they come in the Legion, appearing in the three-man squad in their very first appearance. Since then, he's pretty much been the resolute leader of the squad, leading the team more often than not. Despite his name making NO sense (he gets "Cosmic" from Magnetic powers?), and his PINK costume (about the ONLY male super-anything I can think of wearing it- and that's INCLUDING all the gay heroes!), he's one of the top Legion characters of all time. But that's what the Grandfather Clause earns you- tenure. And being a magnetic character who's THAT old is pretty rare. He's basically the first of his type EVER, including ol' Magneto at Marvel. I actually like this character, despite him seeming boring to a few people. A good, solid "leader"-type guy, who's a strong centre to the rest of the team.
"Me Thundra want SNU-SNU!!"104) THUNDRA
Whose brilliance is responsible: Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
0Pathos (x2):
0Multi-Faceted (x2):
1 (a Straw Feminist who learns to appreciate a FEW guys)
Epic:
2 (basically kicks ass every time she shows up. Is well ahead of The Thing)
Original:
1 (a big amazon with a chain)
Iconic/Influential (x2):
0Good Design (x2):
2 (hot AND tough-looking. Very distinctive look)
Relevance:
0Relatable:
0Conflicts & Relationships:
1 (had a good thing with Ben Grimm)
AWESOME FACTOR: 10 (I would wish for Snu-Snu)-Always liked Thundra. I mean, what's not to love? A giant, amazonian redhead who beats the snot out of men and brags about how useless they are. What is she, the living embodiment of dork fetishes? The cool design (mixing sex appeal with ACTUAL muscle mass- unlike most Wonder Woman designs- alongside a red single-strap outfit, long pants and a giant chain) adds to it to make a memorable Fantastic Four supporting character. She mostly stuck around those books, dealing with a rivalry/crush over The Thing of all people, and then we got that whole AWFUL (in that fun way) early-60s sci-fi story of the superfeminist future society, which is just SO comics. She's been more of an also-ran for nearly two decades until JUST recently, as she's added to the never-ending supply of Green-skinned super-heavyweights (GAWD, what is it with writers adding new versions of heroes to everyone's mythology?) by impregnating herself with The Hulk's cells and making a new She-Hulk. OK, it was an alternate Thundra, but what-ev, same character. For being totally hot, a super bad-ass, and a high-tier powerhouse, Thundra is awesome.
103) ALTAR BOY/CONFESSOR II
Whose brilliance is responsible: Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
1 (a major part of ONE story, anyhow)
Pathos (x2):
1 (lost his father at a young age, and often resented him)
Multi-Faceted (x2):
2 (wants his whole life to be a special super-hero, but has to deal with the consequences. Loves the glory, but figures out what it truly means)
Epic:
0Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
0Good Design (x2):
0Relevance:
2Relatable:
2 (who WOULDN'T want to be a super-hero in a world full of them, really?)
Conflicts & Relationships:
1 (the mentor/student relationship with Confessor is done VERY well)
AWESOME FACTOR: 12 (an under-rated part of the Astro City legend)-This seems like an odd pick (I almost never hear people talk about Altar Boy when they refer to "Astro City"- it's all about the Honor Guard, Samaritan, Jack-in-the-Box, and the Confessor), but this guy really stuck with me. Altar Boy is actually the main character of "Confessions", depicted as a bright, fast, strong young man who can kick some ass if he needs to. He's still a bit naiive in the way of super-heroics, and still thinks he needs to be recognized as a hero (based off of issues with his deceased father, a doctor who went poor because he let people slide on their bills) to do good. He's among the more well-rounded characters I've ever seen, and a great "man's eye view" of the super-hero world from someone just coming up in it.
102) AUNT MAY
Whose brilliance is responsible: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
2 (a HUGE part of Spidey lore)
Pathos (x2):
2 (has lost everyone BUT Peter, really)
Multi-Faceted (x2):
2 (used to be just a one-note delicate old biddy, but she's gotten a lot more interesting over the years)
Epic:
1 (once scared the hell out of the Chameleon, and that airport security incident- read below)
Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
0Good Design (x2):
0Relevance:
1Relatable:
1 (fairly recognizable to those with cooler old-lady relatives)
Conflicts & Relationships:
1 (a very unique thing with Peter, as well as MJ- she was one of the few who understood her)
AWESOME FACTOR: 14 (a huge part of Spider-Man's mythology)-Aunt May was a huge part of the Spidey Mythos for years- arguably the only reason he couldn't reveal his identity sometimes, and the mother figure and "load" in his life. Between her and being a hero, he was always busy saving SOMEBODY. It wasn't until years later that we got more of the full character behind May- she wasn't some doddering old widow, she was actually quite bright, and saw right through most people's deceptions (like Mary Jane's "Party Girl" facade).
-My favourite version of her was J. M. Straczynski's, as she was among the strongest characters in the Spidey books, coming to terms with his heroic role, talking back to people like Wolverine, and getting Peter through airport security by insisting what set off the metal detector was her "gynecological device" instead of Pete's Web-Spinners. Though her early death scene in the '90s was done perfectly, as she slowly aged away while nobody could do anything, and revealed to Peter that she'd known all-along that he was Spider-Man, it came out a few years after that the books just DIDN'T WORK without her in them. So I think most fans were able to give up that one beautiful scene just to have May come back.
101) SABRETOOTH
Whose brilliance is responsible: Chris Claremont & John Byrne
Signifiers of Awesome:Important:
1 (a frequently-appearing villain they're always trying to use more)
Pathos (x2):
0Multi-Faceted (x2):
0 (hah, no)
Epic:
1 (truly scary villain)
Original:
0Iconic/Influential (x2):
2 (plenty of "animalistic psychopathic villains" have come from this)
Good Design (x2):
2 (often VERY frightening-looking)
Relevance:
1 (as the '90s came closer, he got more relevant. Lost a bit later on)
Relatable:
0Conflicts & Relationships:
2 (the ultimate Villainous Counterpart to Wolverine. Has a good "I'm gonna get you" thing with various Wolvie cast members, too)
AWESOME FACTOR: 13 ("Chaotic Evil" often gets over-done with crazy villains. But sometimes, it works)-"Mirror Image Villains" are among the most common tropes used in comic books, and for good reason. Who better to fight the super-hero than a guy with nearly the exact same powers, but used for evil, letting the hero confront himself in a more literal kind of way. Now, it tends to get over-done, especially if the hero fights DOZENS of guys with a similar concept to himself (Iron Man and his endless Evil Armoured Guys, Spider-Man and his Symbiotes & Animal-Themed Guys, The Flashes and their Fast Guys, and especially Wolverine and his Claw Guys), but when there's an epic villain, it seems to work.
-Enter Sabretooth, a pretty forgettable Iron Fist villain, who ended up being one of those freelance guys who just bounced from book to book as a Filler Villain (like Mr. Hyde), but he was a Chris Claremont guy... which of course, means that he just HAD TO take part in the X-Books EVENTUALLY, and thus he showed up with The Marauders partway through the story arc, almost as an afterthought. He wasn't part of the big X-Fight, but just casually showed up dealing with Power Pack and making fun of Blockbuster for failing against Thor. Right away though, he ended up squaring off with Logan, who claimed to remember him- and the next X-Men issue featured a non-stop Sabretooth battle as he tore through the X-Mansion, nearly killing Rogue and Psylocke (who proved herself against him), before Wolverine chased him off.
-That pretty much led to the eons-long war between the two, as Wolverine quickly became Marvel's most popular character, which made this one-time Filler Villain an EPIC bad-guy, which had all the requisite good and bad effects. Thus, he got a HUGE backstory as a former Weapon X operative, Logan's old mentor then rival, the murderer of Logan's love Silver Fox, and such. It was also established that Creed was just plain BETTER than Wolverine, and he'd do crazy bad-ass things like hunt him down every single time on his birthday, and beat him within an inch of his life, just to prove that he could. There was also a "Luke, I Am Your Father" subplot, but it was dropped when Larry Hama (Wolvie's writer) rejected Claremont's idea.
-The bad things came in the 90s, though, as Wolverine got more and more prevalent. Sabes got over-done as a villain, showed up way too often in his own Limited Series and such, had TWO X-Books feature him as a member of the team against his will (while faking an innocent animal's mind in one time, and using the trademark Make You A Good-Guy By Force Shock-Collar), and he even got 'killed' a few times. This kind of 90s Anti-Hero crap did away with both him & Venom as important characters pretty quickly, even though he was still a feared enemy. Even in modern times, you don't see nearly as much of him as you used to.
by Narsil » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:12 pm 
