5 – Captain America - Too scrawny and frail to enlist in the U.S. Military during World War II, Steve Rogers volunteered to receive the experimental Super-Soldier Serum. Enhanced to the pinnacle of human physical potential he became Captain America. Now leader of the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Captain America is a living legend and embodiment of freedom. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a response to the booming popularity of patriotically-themed super heroes in the 1940's. Though it was rare for any character, let alone a new one, to get a self-named title in those days, he debuted in Captain America Comics #1 (March,1941). He was depicted fighting Adolph Hitler himself on the cover even though the United States had not yet entered World War II and wouldn't for another 9 months. The film in the Marvel phase 1 in my eyes could be the best out of all the others. If it wasn’t for the film I wouldn’t have picked up the comics. Cant wait for the next film and the new Avengers instalment.
4 – Superman - Rocketed to Earth as an infant from the doomed planet of Krypton, young Kal-El was adopted by the loving Kent family and raised in America's heartland. Using his immense solar-fuelled powers, he became Superman to defend mankind from oppression while championing truth, justice, and the American way! Its about time the old Superman came to this list. The thing with Superman he is DC’s Captain America, clean cut and wholesome, he fights for justice and truth, but sometimes that’s not enough, we like the antiheroes, and because of that Superman isn’t at the top of this list.
3 – Ironman - After he was kidnapped by terrorists and gravely injured, billionaire industrialist and brilliant engineer Tony Stark was pressured to create a weapon of mass destruction. Instead, he created a suit of power armour to escape. Now vowing to protect a world he helped endanger, he became the Invincible Iron Man. He was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. Tony's character was loosely based on the life of the rich and successful playboy Howard Hughes. It may be argued that Iron Man symbolized the meritocracy of capitalism. In the 1960's when Iron Man was created, the threat of Communism from the USSR was huge. Not only did Iron Man fight communists and people from the Eastern Block, but he sent the message that great things could be achieved through thrift, risk and hard work, as opposed to Spider-Man's origin story a year previous whereby Peter Parker gained powers from being bitten by a spider. Like Captain America, the recent films projected Ironman to the top end of this list, when I first heard that Ironman would be the first Marvel film, I really thought they would fail, but lucky for us all I was wrong. Not only has Ironman become a huge fan favourite, but Robert Downy Jr has made Ironman his own.
4 – Batman – Now for those who know me, I can hear you now “Batman? Number 2?” Yes he is number 2 in my top 20….. Bruce Wayne witnessed the murder of his billionaire parents as a child, swearing to avenge them. He trained extensively to achieve both mental and physical perfection, mastering detective skills, martial arts, and criminal psychology. Costumed as a bat to prey on criminals' fear and utilizing a high-tech arsenal in his crusade to rid Gotham City of crime, the legendary Batman was born. Batman, one of the most influential comic book characters to be penned, was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, though Kane, who designed the character, often receives credit as the sole creator. Batman is unique for the simple reason that he has no superhuman powers and is an ordinary human relying on intelligence, money, inventiveness, detective skills, martial arts, and fear to defeat his opponents. He currently makes the most money for a single publishing character and is widely considered to be one of the most popular superheroes in comics. The world of Batman is full of unique bad guys, each with his own story. The story lines are clever, sad, heart-warming and brutal, all in a single comic. I like the way he integrates with Superman, their odd friendship is compelling and again their stories are well written.
1 – Daredevil – Yes, yes, yes I said Daredevil, and no I haven’t lost the plot, forget the film for two seconds read on, As a child, Matt Murdock was blinded by radioactive waste while saving a stranger. In turn, his other senses were heightened to superhuman sharpness, and he gained a form of "radar sense". By day he is a successful trial lawyer, but by night he guards Hell's Kitchen as Daredevil. Daredevil was created by Stan Lee. His original skills, story, and persona are all products of Lee's creation; however when Frank Miller took over writing duties, he decided the story needed to be revamped. Miller left the foundation of Daredevil's history intact, but added the idea that he was trained in combat by someone like him, a blind master ninja named Stick. Stick had begun training Murdock at a young age and taught him many Ninja techniques, further explaining his radar sense and his amazing martial arts prowess. In Millar's run on Daredevil it is suggested that Daredevil's radar sense was not something that Daredevil gained as a result of his heightened senses but something that was learned. When Daredevil's abilities become faded; Stick teaches Daredevil again how to use his radar sense. Ok I can still see you looking at me like “What the hell?!” the beauty of DD is he could be like me and you, he sometimes loses, he never gets the girl, and when the bad guys are in the court they sometimes get away with it because of the justice system. DD is great reading because it’s not a perfect world, there is no light at the end of the tunnel or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; in fact DD’s life is terrible. He has a full time job not many superheroes out there have to actually work to survive. His stories allow for character arcs like no other hero, have you ever read a story just about Bruce or Clark? Take Frank Millers “A Man With No Fear” Daredevil costume isn’t worn till the last page. He has a genuine weakness, it says a lot about a hero who’s powers are also his weakness. Daredevil’s been defeated or pained because of an ill-placed screech or gunshot. Some of Daredevil’s finest moments come in his moments of weakness, which is something that goes pretty unseen by mainstream comics. His relationships are amazing too, but no other hero can compare to the relationship he had with Karen Page, Her relationship with Matt takes so many turns, is so off-and-on, and even puts her in a different country that it’s one of the most epic and entrancing tales ever published. She starts out as their secretary, ends up dating Matt, learns that he’s Daredevil, learns that he’s been disloyal to their relationship, runs away to find stardom, becomes a crack addict, sells Daredevil’s identity to drug lords who give it to the Kingpin, makes her way back home thinking she’ll save Matt, and restarts their relationship. That’s not even close to the end; when Kevin Smith took over with the writing he did something that would change the Daredevil world……….. Bullseye kills Karen. Suddenly, Daredevil is lost. He loses the greatest woman he’s ever known, ever loved and he lives with that to the point of near suicide. I can’t say enough about Karen Page. She’s such a strong, fantastically interesting, genuine character that I’ve never seen another in the comic world like her. She’s thoughtful, forgiving, and kind, but never compromises her own integrity (aside from the run that leads into Born Again). And, ultimately, it’s her loss that leads us to the number one reason why Daredevil is the greatest superhero of all time…
Daredevil Loses… When you read a Daredevil story, you may notice that they’re often-times small victories. Matt Murdock has learned, through the loss of the most important people around him, to the loss of his eyesight, to the loss of some of his law cases, to the loss of a normal life, that it’s the small victories that keep you going. Through the pain, he’s managed to find a reaffirmed faith in both his friends and in his religion. It’s this reason why he is able to move on and forgive himself. Too many things have been taken from him, too many times has he gone through the ringer, and too many times has he lived in a darkness that greatly surpasses that of his blindness. But Murdock is also a character who understands that even though he may never rid all of Hell’s Kitchen of evil and corruption, even though he may not be able to save every person there is to save, and even though he may ultimately meet death by accepting these impossible responsibilities, that it’s not enough to keep him from being the man his father hoped he’d become.
Always seeking justice, humble, and good-hearted, Matthew Murdock is one of the finest examples of a hero in all of comic book history.
