The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters according to Empire Online

Hey, at least Captain Haddock immediately follows him.

That alone elevates the list in my opinion...one of my most prized possesions is a book of Haddock's insults, with its correct uses and meanings.

Constantine and Judge Dredd are way too high. But, it's a British list. Bias is to be expected.

The real winner of this list? Stan Lee.

How do you figure? The top three people are all DC Comics.

I haven't clicked the link but...Batman, Superman and...Morpheus?

No Reuben Flagg? No Ogami Itto?

Constantine. Morpheus is at 6.

I have to raise my eyebrow at putting Hal Jordan behind Scott Pilgrim. Sheesh.

And how many other characters can appear consistently for eighty years in a seventy year span?

And Spidey should be no lower than 3rd.

He created more characters on the list then anyone else.

Well, it helps that DC actually made iconic characters.

I mean, Spiderman's gimmick was...

"He's a superhero...WHO HAPPENS TO BE A KID WITH ORDINARY TEENAGE PROBLEMS"

Lame. It's been done better.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how Thing should be higher than Cap.

It's all about personality. Cap's a one note character up until Mark Millar really redefined him in the Ultimates while the thing has some complexities. Like, seriously.... is he rock all over? If so, how does he get his rocks off? and if so... do they come out like pebbles? You see, there are layers here.

Would have never been done if Spidey hadn't done it first.

Cool, he pioneered it, so what?

Just because your the first one to do something doesn't mean your the best.

Spidey has one of the best rogues galleries out there. He's got well defined powers and capabilities and has stories that are just as interesting in costume as out of costume. There's a reason he's been in the pages of the Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men and every other group out there. He's well liked and well defined and a strong asset to the comic book universe.

Not to mention the movies kicked major ass and took in more money then god.

I'm still baffled by the appeal of Deadpool. His name is so contrived and nonsensical I wince as I type it. Coupled with the requisite '90s pouches, guns, 'n' swords, a healing factor, and costume/wit cribbed from Spider-Man, he's, like, the most derivative character ever.

Not really had the forum/motivation to express it before, but the list set it off. Did he have an amazing writer do his monthly or something? Because I've never seen why even smarter comics fans seem to cotton to him. He knows he's in a comic book? Awesome. So he's an amusing one-issue story turned into an actual character.

You know, I may disagree with the order, but that's a pretty great list for a movie mag. Denna Pilgrim? Nice one. And pretty good write ups too.

Yeah, forgot to mention that I liked the list on the whole. Even those picks I disagreed with, I could see their place.

I can deal with everything else besides this one. Granted, I have a huge bias towards DC villains, but can you really stick up for Rhino, Scorpion, and TWO electric based villains?

EDIT: Eh, I'm being to nitpicky, I mean who really likes Captain Boomerang and Mad Hatter?

Maybe not, but I can stick up for Kraven the Hunter, Venom (even if he was overused), and Doctor Octopus. Not to mention the Chameleon and Kingpin (didn't he start with Spidey).

Picking out the duds in Superman or Batman's respective galleries doesn't do them any favors either. Terra-Man? Calendar Man? The Penguin? (no amount of postmodern retconning will make him cool to me)

I should note I prefer DC to Marvel.

This list would probably be totally different if they included famous comic characters from Japan and China. I'm sure there are some that were more popular, sold more comics, than many listed by Empire.

I think the major problem that I have with this list is the same I had when I read the EW 25 years of pop culture list. The picks were for the most part accurate, but at the same time, there was no real cohesion between the picks. It almost seemed to me like there were 3 guys sitting in a room with a bunch of choices and they would blurt them out like a fantasy football draft and then mold the choices when they reached 100.

This list reminds me of that... if you're gonna judge the character by popularity, then the list is terribly off. Constantine at number 3? Spider-Man at 5? Judge Dredd in the top ten?

If the list is based on the importance to the genre, again... Constantine at 3? Spider-Man at 5?

I guess I just don't understand the qualifications of the list. If the list was most influential superheroes... you wouldn't see half of these heroes on this list. Same goes with most popular.

The only way I could agree with such a list even being made would be if you showed the way they were decided. Popularity, critical approval, sheer badassery, etc.

I am glad to see Supes at one though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Spider-Man_enemies

Batman's about the only one with a better Rogues gallery. It also boils down to the writing staff, you get a good writer in there and some of those villians can really spark to life. Look at what they did to Toyman last month. I'd call him a one note villian if ever there was one and he really shined in Superman (even though he's a Batman guy)

Really? I'd always pegged him as a Superman villain, with his kryptonite army men and whatnot.

Wait a minute...

(disregard if I'm totally confusing your avatar with someone else)

DOH! Yeah he is... I had to google real quick. I'm not sure what I was thinking... doesn't Batman have a guy who does toys too? Aside from Scarface?

I think you might be.

This is my avatar.

Ohhhh....damn masked heroes in reddish colors, you're all starting to blend together.

(Hunter Rose sounds pretty cool, actually)

The Joker's done a lot with toys over the years. That's the only one that's coming to mind, but I don't doubt they've recycled the concept for Batman.

I actually don't know all that much about him, having culled most of it from Wikipedia histories. I happened to sign up for the CHUD boards the day after I read the only Grendel GN the public library had (and have yet to change it).

Last EDIT, I promise:

I liked the list, but the exclusion of Jack Knight was fucking criminal (unless I missed it).

There was a character voiced by and based on Bruce Timm on the first season of the animated series that was obsessed with toys, and who used toy cars to blow stuff up. I don't think he's a 'canon' character though.

59% feel that Wolverine should be higher? Fuck that.

See just how fucking Super he is?

Only 6 female characters on the list and one of them is Emma Frost.

New X Men Emma Frost is pretty cool.

He's also another example of Rob Liefeld stealing from Wolfman/Perez.

It's damned silly when someone like Harvey Pekar or Art Spiegleman's father ends up on lists next to fucking Venom and Green Lantern. Apples and oranges.

Anyways, MODOK's bizarre exclusion from this list completely invalidates the whole thing in my eyes.

Ummm, when has it been done better? Lee and Ditko's original take was classic, and Bendis's ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN is the best modern teenage superhero bar none. I really like INVINCIBLE and all, but the character owes everything to Spidey.

I liked the inclusion of Scott Pilgrim and Spider Jerusalem but Superman as #1? Please. Supes is fucking boring.

Supes may be boring but he is iconic and launched a genre.

AH. Ok then, who would you have chosen for the number one spot then?

Superman is at number one because there is nobody more powerful out there. He leads and lives by example. He is the ONE hero all of his peers look up to.

Superman is boring because he's fucking hard to write and make exciting, due to his near-omnipotence. Just because a character is pretty much unbeatable doesn't make him boring. We've seen how excellent he can be in the hands of a good writer.

As a fan of Marvel Comics, I would place Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, The Incredible Hulk or DC's truly best characters...Either Wonder Woman or Batman...as the #1 character.

Again, it depends on what the list criteria is based on.

If its popularity and impact to the industry, there's no way Superman isn't number one.

Without Superman, the comic book industry would be a tenth of what it is today. Hell, the industry may not even exist at all.

Yes. Yes it does.

Oh fuck. Thanks for straightening me out!

No? No it doesn't?

Does that work too?