After nearly 1,400 ballots were cast, YOU the reader ranked your favorite comic book characters from 1-10. I assigned point totals to each ranking and then tabulated it all into a Top 50 list. We're now revealing that list throughout September. Here is the master list of all the characters revealed so far. The countdown continues...
I'll do write-ups later, but for now, here are the results!
45. Loki– 423 points (6 first place votes)
Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby (well, the comic book version of Loki, at least. I think you get the picture), Loki has been involved in Thor comics since practically the first appearance of Thor! It is a great twist on the standard idea of brains versus brawn (similar to Superman and Lex Luthor), where the muscle bound Thor has to always find a way to stop the various schemes of his trickster half-brother.
Loki's schemes often go awry, including when he got a bunch of heroes to fight the Hulk, only to see them join together as a group of heroes known as the Avengers.
Fairly recently, Loki joined forces with Norman Osborn, Doctor Doom and the Hood as part of an evil cabal designed to rule the world. As part of Loki's plans, he helped convince Norman Osborn to invade Asgard. Asgard was destroyed in the battle and Loki sacrificed himself to help his fellow Asgardians (which, in and of itself, was a plot, as he knew he would be reborn).
He has returned in the form a young boy. This new version of Loki has all of the wiles of the adult evil version of Loki, but he does not seem to be working from the same level of evil. Instead, writer Kieron Gillen has given us a character who seems to be moved more by familial bonds to Thor than anything else, using his schemes seemingly for good so far. Loki is awesome in Journey into Mystery.
44. Thanos – 424 points (3 first place votes)
Jim Starlin created Thanos as basically DC’s answer to Jack Kirby’s Darkseid, and he lived up to the billing, as Starlin used the villainous alien creature in a number of great cosmic stories.
Thanos was obsessed with Death (who was later interested in him enough to come to him, personified as a woman), so he would do anything to please her, so he devoted his life to, well, death.
He clashed many times with both Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, with his battles with the latter leading to Thanos’ demise.
When you’re friendly with Death, death is not permanent, and Thanos was soon loose, and this time looking for the Infinity Gauntlet, which he used to wipe out HALF the universe!
Ultimately, though, Thanos’ plans were thwarted. Since then, Thanos has been a bit less willing to do all the murder stuff – he got a lot more laid back. This was just in time for Drax the Destroyer, a creature designed for the sole purpose of killing Thanos, to do the deed.
Thanos eventually returned from the dead (as is his wont) which naturally enraged him (as he was quite happy to stay with Death). The Guardians of the Galaxy enlisted his help in fighting an other-dimensional threat from an alternate universe known as the "Cancerverse," where nothing could die. Only Thanos, the personification of death, could stop them. He succeeded in destroying all the inhabitants of the Cancerverse (and causing the universe itself to implode), but discovered that Death did not want him back. Outraged, he vowed to destroy the universe. Nova and Star-Lord sacrificed themselves to trap Thanos within the Cancerverse as it ceased to exist.
43. Human Torch (Johnny Storm) – 426 points (6 first place votes)
Johnny Storm, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, liked to hang around his big sister. He was even willing to follow her on an unauthorized space mission with her boyfriend.
The end result was that Johnny gained the power to turn his body into flames. He used said power to make himself fly, as well as shoot flames.
Calling himself the Human Torch, Johnny joined the newly formed Fantastic Four, where he has served with ever since, becoming probably THE most consistent member of the entire team, never really taking any substantial leaves of absences.
That is until recently, when Johnny seemingly sacrificed himself to protect his nephew, his best friend, Ben Grimm, and a group of young children from an invasion from the Negative Zone.
42. Colossus – 428 points (6 first place votes)
Piotr Rasputin was a farmer on his family’s farm in Russia when Professor Charles Xavier recruited him to join the X-Men (like most of the other new X-Men, he was created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum).
Known as Colossus for his ability to grow in size and strength (and turn into metal), Rasputin became a longtime, and valued, member of the X-Men. He entered into a relationship with his teammate, Kitty Pryde, which Piotr sorta screwed up by falling for an alien lady during Secret Wars.
Piotr is a sensitive, artist-type, which is a cool irony with his powers, which are basically aggressive ones. After serving with the X-Men for many years, Colossus, distraught that his sister, Illyana Rasputin, was killed by a mutant virus, Colossus actually left the X-Men to join Magneto!
After awhile, Colossus realized that that was silly, and ended up joining up with Excalibur, and when that team disbanded, he re-joined the X-Men, staying with them until he seemingly perished in an attempt (a successful one, at that) to cure the virus that killed his sister.
Recently, he has returned to life, and once again began a relationship with Kitty Pryde.
More recently, Colossus has taken on the role of the Juggernaut when Cain Marko became one of the Serpent's hammer-wielding Worthy.
41. Iceman – 432 points (6 first place votes)
Bobby Drake was the youngest of the original X-Men, and was the goofball of the group. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Bobby had the ability to freeze the moisture in the air around him and turn himself to ice (although at first, he looked mostly like a snowman).
Bobby was a valuable member of the X-Men for years. Once the original team disbanded, Bobby enrolled in college in California, where he became a founding member of the superhero team, The Champions, alongside his friend and fellow original X-Man, Warren Worthington (The Angel).
After the Champions disbanded, Bobby returned to school and earned a degree in accounting. However, another of his former X-Men teammates, Hank McCoy (the Beast) roped Bobby and Warren into joining yet ANOTHER superhero group, the Defenders.
After THAT team disbanded, Bobby began his career as an accountant. However, that was short-lived, as he was roped into yet another reunion, this time in X-Factor, which was made up of the original members of the X-Men.
Bobby stayed with the team for awhile, until the members of X-Factor merged with the X-Men to form one BIG X-Men team.
Bobby served on the X-Men on and off for a number of years, but a few years ago, he devoted himself more fully to the X-Men, and has been on the team for probably the longest continuous tenure since his run on the original X-Men.
Now a little older, Bobby is a veteran member of the team, and has begun to use his powers in more and more creative ways.
Come back tomorrow for DC's #41-40!!