My Super List of Top 10 Superheroes
My turn to rank my favorites
See the first installment in this collection of lists ranking favorite superheroes:
I seem to have instigated ranking our favorite superheroes, so here’s my contribution.
This list primarily refers to the comic book versions of the characters, drawing from my 30+ years of reading comics, but movies and TV certainly have influenced the selections.
Given the vast quantities of interesting characters I’ve encountered on the panels over the decades, it’s hard to settle on precisely who is better than whom, so I’ll cheat a bit and present numbers 11-25 as a list of honorable mentions in no particular order, and then force myself to sort my 10 favorites. I reserve the right to change my mind every five minutes.
So, the honorable mentions:
Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Black Canary, Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Magik, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Lantern (John Stewart), Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Batgirl/Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Robin (Tim Drake), Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Black Widow, Madrox the Multiple Man
A round of applause for these honorees. I hope those fictional characters feel sufficiently honored by those mentions. Now on to the top 10. (The pictures are of comics I semi-randomly pulled from my own collection.)
10. Zatanna
Zatanna is the bright, cheerful light in DC’s dark, magical underbelly. Unfortunately, unlike other characters on this list, there’s no definitive run of excellent Zatanna comics, though there are some good ones, mostly written by Paul Dini (of Batman: The Animated Series fame). Nevertheless, I’ve always had a soft spot for the character. She’s easily one of the most charismatic members of the Justice League. And as an old theatre major, I may be a bit biased in favor of this stage magician.
9. Spider-Man
No superhero has a better origin story than Spider-Man, and it’s no wonder that generation after generation is drawn to this character. Peter Parker is not a natural superhero. Without the unconditional love of his aunt and uncle, the bitter teenager could easily have become a bitter villain. He learned the hard way about the importance of doing the right thing. Spider-Man is a hero who always has to keep working at it—he’ll often screw up, realize what an idiot he was being, and then go to great lengths to set things right. We’ve all got some Spider-Man in us.
8. Nightwing
A kinder, gentler Batman. Dick Grayson, the original Robin, finally grew up in the 1980s and adopted his own identity after establishing his independence as the leader of the Teen Titans. He’s got much of the same drive and determination as his father figure, but he’s also much better at establishing genuine friendships (#7 on this list is among his best friends). His relationship with Batman is always an intriguing one, as his mentor shows him both how to be and how not to be.
7. Flash (Wally West)
Newer fans are probably more familiar with the Barry Allen version. Older fans, too. But when I started reading comics, Barry was dead, and his nephew Wally West, the former Kid Flash, was attempting to fill his shoes—and he needed to grow into them. The Flash series that starred Wally was essentially one long coming-of-age story. He began as a self-centered 20-year-old, developed into a responsible and respected superhero, and ultimately became a devoted family man. The entire time, he kept his uncle’s example of selfless service and sacrifice in mind as the ideal to aspire toward.
6. Iron Man
Tony Stark wasn’t a good enough man, so he built himself into a better person. Literally and figuratively. The armor, which of course he invented and built himself, not only keeps him alive in earlier stories but it’s also the cocoon in which he develops into a hero. Iron Man stories are at their best when they’re about continuous improvement and reinvention. He’s always striving to improve the armor, but he’s often his own worst enemy.
5. Jessica Jones
Jessica failed as a superhero years ago, and that’s what makes her so interesting in the present. Her first comic book series, Alias, is her definitive story, and it’s a complete story almost to a fault. Jessica gets more character development in those 28 issues than other characters have received over the course of decades. The comic is more episodic than the Netflix series while still maintaining a strong overall arc—it shows private investigator Jessica Jones working unconventional cases in the dark corners of the Marvel Universe as she tries to distance herself from her traumatic superhero past. Fascinating stuff all around.
4. Wolverine
The X-Men work best as an ensemble, but Wolverine is among the few to successfully break out as a solo star as well. Though his backstory sometimes gets too convoluted for its own good, Wolverine is indeed the best there is at what he does—and what he does best is walk that fine line between man and animal. There’s a ton of humanity in Logan, but his own personal never-ending battle is making sure that humanity doesn’t all slip away in a fit of bestial rage.
3. Batman
He may not have any powers, but Batman is one of the most versatile superheroes of all time. He can star in campy fare like the Adam West show, gritty films like the Christopher Nolan trilogy, and even the greatest superhero cartoon of all time, which can appeal to Batman fans of pretty much every age. And in the comics, he’s been all of this and more at various points. In any incarnation, though, Batman is pure drive, dedication, and competence. Read any good Batman story, and you’ll find yourself just a little more motivated to develop yourself into the best you can be.
2. Daredevil
To steal a bit from one of my upcoming posts at And the Quest for Pop Culture … Daredevil is like a Batman who has to work ten times harder. He’s blind. He grew up poor, and even as a lawyer, he’s not always flush with cash. His mental health has faltered more than once. He’s frequently pushed to the breaking point, and he sometimes comes closing to giving up—but he ultimately pulls through. He gets knocked down, he gets up again, you’re never going to keep him down. Daredevil is perseverance personified.
1. Superman
The original superhero provides the template for the entire genre. I’ve written about Superman at length on my own Substack as I’ve thought about what makes him so great. He represents the best of us, and he demonstrates values that we can all emulate even if we can’t fly or change the course of mighty rivers. As I’ve said before, Superman’s greatest power is his incorruptibility.
If you haven’t already, please share your favorites!
Daredevil and Nightwing!!! My boys! ❤️