# Comic Book Superheroes known to the "general public"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138 "2006-11-28T22:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/21 "2006-11-29T14:57:55Z")
I’ve been a comic fan for 30 years (I’m 32) and I can name even some obscure characters (The Shroud!) I was interested in this subject some years back and I asked my wife, who never read a comic. Some of the characters you would THINK were “iconic” were not. Just being in Superfriends was not enough. Aquaman was “that fish guy.” Flash was the “guy who can run fast” (she remembered the name when I said it). She had never heard of Hawkman, The Fantastic Four or the X-Men (neither movie had been made). Now, of course, she can name every Teen Titan from Robin to Ding Dong Daddy because our four year old is obsessed with super heroes and likes to play a game where we all name characters until someone cannot name another. I’m raising me a geek! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/22 "2006-11-29T20:11:47Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] What exactly is the definition of Superhero? If it requires super powers, then Batman doesn’t count. But if you count ordinary humans, who wear costumes and battle evil, then you could also include Zorro and The Lone Ranger as instantly recognizable heroes. [/QUOTE] The working definition of superhero is someone with larger-than-life skills or abilities, with a distinctive costume or appearance, who fights for the common good. While comic books are the only medium built specifically around such characters (and after Batman and Superman, the list really drops off for public recognition; I doubt one random stranger in ten could identify “Diana Prince” or “Steve Rogers”), the definition covers radio characters (Lone Ranger, The Shadow), literary figures (Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond), pulp characters (Doc Savage, The Spider, Conan) and newspaper strip heroes (The Phantom, Mandrake. Flash Gordon). Super powers aren’t necessary per se. Batman’s abilities look like something you could do, if you happened to be the world’s best martial artist, detective, athlete and Green Beret. Guys like that don’t exist in nature. According to Jack Handey, there is one heroic legend that recurs in all cultures and eras, and that is the legend of Popeye. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/23 "2006-11-29T21:16:30Z")
I’ve never read comics but am familiar with virtually everyone mentioned in this thread and have at least a passing knowledge of them. The multiple bat people and such I didn’t know about, but the primary ones (Bruce Wayne/Batman Clark Kent/Superman etc) I do. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/24 "2006-11-30T02:08:10Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s multiple a LOT of characters in the DC universe. There’ve been multiple Batmen, even! (Although it’s never not Bruce Wayne for very long.) If you really want numbers, at one time in continuity history, there were literally thousands of Green Lanterns. They formed a sort of intergalactic police force, with members drawn from just about every sentient race in the Universe. The one or handfull one sees most often in the comics are just the ones who happen to be assigned to the Earth beat. And I don’t read any comic books (well, aside from PS238), but I don’t think I really count for purposes of this thread, since I do follow superheroes. I probably couldn’t pick out Captain Marvel from a lineup, though, even with my passing familiarity. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/25 "2006-11-30T02:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] If you really want numbers, at one time in continuity history, there were literally thousands of Green Lanterns. They formed a sort of intergalactic police force, with members drawn from just about every sentient race in the Universe. The one or handfull one sees most often in the comics are just the ones who happen to be assigned to the Earth beat. [/QUOTE] There are still. Well, I say still. Numbers have gone considerably down and considerably up. I’m pretty sure it’s back in the hundreds by now. Having said that, being Green Lantern is more like, as you say, a police force than a single role in the way that Batman or Superman are. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/26 "2006-11-30T03:03:26Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] There are still. Well, I say still. Numbers have gone considerably down and considerably up. I’m pretty sure it’s back in the hundreds by now. [/QUOTE] 7200+, specifically. Each of the 3600 Space Sectors have 2 Lanterns assigned to it - Earth’s sector has Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner, the other two currently living Earth-Native Corps-related Lanterns have special roles within the Corps - Guy’s part of the Honor Guard, technically assigned to Oa, and Kyle’s the Torch Bearer, the Corps’ backup plan. The top of the non-Job Title multiple uses of a single name, that doesn’t involve going to out-of-continuity characters, has to be Starman - the new one will be the **eighth** 20th/21st century bearer of the name. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/27 "2006-11-30T04:57:44Z")
Isn’t Kyle still Ion? I’m afraid i’m not a big fan of GL, so I haven’t been keeping up. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/28 "2006-11-30T05:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=Revenant Threshold] Isn’t Kyle still Ion? I’m afraid i’m not a big fan of GL, so I haven’t been keeping up. [/QUOTE] Kyle is Ion again, but it’s in his role as the Torch Bearer of the Green Lantern Corps. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138/29 "2006-11-30T05:21:51Z")
Ah, ok. I had a quick scan through his page on Wikipedia, so I think i’ve got it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comic-book-superheroes-known-to-the-general-public/382138.md?page=1)