# Who are the Greatest Comic Book Superheroes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2002, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-greatest-comic-book-superheroes/129916 "2002-09-27T19:17:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-greatest-comic-book-superheroes/129916/21 "2002-09-30T17:27:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrFidelius \* > \*\*Plastic Man. > > The most powerful being in comix. > > I mean, when he takes on the shape of a lamppost, he LIGHTS UP! When he takes on the shape of a ballon, he FLOATS! > > And, as an added bonus, he is insane. \*\* Someone’s been reading too much Dark Knight Strikes Again (where “too much” = “any at all”). Let’s not forget **Green Lantern**. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-greatest-comic-book-superheroes/129916/22 "2002-09-30T18:48:50Z")
During my childhood- Spiderman. The geeky smart kid, who always gets the short end of the stick no matter how much good he does, has no money and lives with the his secrets and mistakes. During my Adulthood (the graphic novel era): Batman. Fear the dark. During my road rage commute- The Hulh- GGGGGGRRRRRRRR! Hulk SMASH puny left lane camper. GRRRRR!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MSU\_BigMoUndone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@MSU\_BigMoUndone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_BigMoUndone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2002, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-greatest-comic-book-superheroes/129916/23 "2002-09-30T22:19:03Z")
What about The Herculoids? Or Optimus Prime and the rest of the Transformers? Side note: Transformers Aramada is pretty cool, and does justice to the original. Or Yhe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles? Or G.I. Joe? Or Meteor Man, Gravity Girl, and Vapor Man (the green guy)? Or … oh wait… I like all the cartoons from my generation… but not all of them made it to (or started in) comics. But they at least deserve to be mentioned… right? ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-greatest-comic-book-superheroes/129916/24 "2002-10-01T03:32:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\* > > I only read the very first DP issues, but it was clear that DC saw the success of the Fantastic Four and wanted to capture some of that. So instead of The Human Torch, flying around all blazing, you’ve got Negative Man flying around, all blazing. Instead of Ben Grimm, The Thing, feeling sorry for himself as the powerful monster, you’ve got the robot guy. Instead of The Invisible Girl (later the more PC Invisible Woman), the lady with the odd power, you’ve got the giant lady. Instead of the brainy Mr. Fantastic, you’ve got the brainy leader. They just stole Prof. X’s wheelchair. > > I never read later issues. I understand it gor better. But at the beginning it was pretty lame. \*\* Nope, DC had The Challangers of the Unknown to stand in for the FF, same themes of exploration, same creator even. The Doom Patrol more closely matched the X-men, they were _freaks_, their powers were debilitating, their lives were ruined! Yet they were still heroes. IIRC, the two comics came out so close to one another that it’s unclear who was ripping off who. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-greatest-comic-book-superheroes/129916/25 "2002-10-01T03:56:12Z")
Batman is the best. He has no powers but his wits and his oodles of cash. He is in many incarnations one tiny step away from being a raving lunatic. His strategy for getting villians to talk is amusing no matter how many times you see it in the comic or cartoon. He has the best villians ever. Spiderman is a lot less dark than Batman usually but has similiar motivations for risking his life fighting villians. He has actual powers, less cash and the added power is responsibility angle to replace the vengance incarnate thing that Batman has. Superman’s power is only a flaw in that he isn’t as heroic if you factor in the fact he risks nothing. On the other hand he could rule the world. Seriously what are you going to do? He can hear you conspiring, kill you from a mile away and then destroy your whole family so others get the message. Instead he does good and feels the burden of all the things he can’t stop. As for the Sandman I’m not sure Superhero applies to it even though it and its spin-offs (Lucifer and the Death mini-series are the ones I’ve read but I think there are two others) are the best stuff I’ve ever seen in comics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-greatest-comic-book-superheroes/129916.md?page=1)