With such movies as Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War each grossing over $1 billion worldwide, it seems like Marvel is a company that can do no wrong. However, that was not the case back in the 1990s. In 1996 the company had filed for bankruptcy, but years before, the company had another problem it had to deal with: many of its artists were unhappy, citing a lack of acknowledgement for their work and efforts. "The X-odus" occurred in 1992 and was referred to as such because the bulk of people leaving were former X-Men artists, but amongst the ranks of people leaving were also Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen.

Thus, Image Comics was created, a company that would allow creators to own their own work. Under Image, studios were formed such as WildStorm Productions owned by Jim Lee and Extreme Studios owned by Rob Lieield. Some endeavors were more successful than others, but during the 1990s Image gave us some very memorable characters. When it comes to the company's homegrown superheroes, which one was the strongest? Was it Spawn? What about Badrock? Where did Grunge place? Let the debates begin as CBR ranks the most powerful Image superheroes from the 1990s!

26 GROO THE WANDERER

When you think of great barbarians, who comes to mind? Obviously you have Conan the Barbarian, a Cimmerian warrior who was a highly accomplished fighter and swordsman. There's also Thundarr the Barbarian, who was from the future and his ties to Star Wars could clearly be seen with his Sun Sword (that looked a lot like a lightsaber) and his companions Ookla (who was Wookie-esque) and Princess Ariel (a nod to Leia). However, those in the know are familiar with the greatest barbarian of all time. Forget the ones we just mentioned and forget even He-Man! The best barbarian of all time might possibly be Groo the Wanderer.

Groo was indeed mighty... but he wasn't all that smart. Sporting two Japanese katanas, Groo has laid waste to whole armies, walking away without a scratch. Although Wolverine may claim to be the best at what he does, Groo's catch phrase before going into battle is "Now Groo does what Groo does best!" When it's rumored that Groo is approaching, chaos ensues due to the general worry that either his bad luck or his sword-swinging will destroy everything in his path. In an interview, Groo's creator oddly enough said that the object holding his swords to his chest was a Beta cassette tape. Originally Groo began at Epic Comics which was owned by Marvel. Due to infamous financial difficulties in the 1990s, creator Sergio Aragones brought Groo to Image. It's his sheer savagery (albeit dim wittedness) and of course his incredible strength that placed him on our list.

25 CYBORG DONATELLO

Wait, when did Donatello become a cyborg? Is there some other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle that we don't know about that's half robot/half turtle? TMNT made its debut in May 1984, and was originally published by Mirage Studios, and its popularity was impressive given the popularity of the Big Two (Marvel and DC) at the time. Its popularity created a number of animated series and several live action movies. Throw your sais in the air if you played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness, a role playing game where you could design your own turtle character, or a character that was a mutated animal like hamster or dog.

Donatello was severely injured in a battle where he was both shot and dropped out of a helicopter, after which the tech-savvy turtle found himself with cybernetic parts. At first glance, a turtle with martial arts abilities and robotic limbs sounds pretty awesome, but he was in a constant battle over control of his body with his robotic self. What he gained in power he lost in mental stability, which is why he placed so low on our list of characters. Eventually he was able to shed his robotic parts and even grow back his shell, but arguably he was never the same turtle again.

24 JACK-IN-THE-BOX

Yes you're looking at a clown, but a clown that takes his crimefighting quite seriously. No he doesn't have any sort of superpowers but he is a very capable athlete and acrobat. His crime fighting gadgets are on-par with his clown theme, such as spring-boots that allow him extraordinary leaping ability, gloves which extend to increase his punching range, and party streamers that harden when they solidify and trap whomever got sprayed by them. Why go to these lengths and have all of these clown gimmicks? Probably for the same reason Batman has batarangs, a Batmobile and Bat-shark repellant: heroes like branding!

Multiple people fought crime using the Jack-in-the-Box moniker. The first was Jack Johnson, a toy manufacturer in the 1960s. After the Whamco company stole his toy inventions, Johnson created the identity Jack-in-the-Box to get revenge and eventually fight crime. After his death, Johnson's son Zachary filled his clown-shoes. Zachary has a short crime fighting career but stepped down after he had visions of the future where he is killed. He retired but not before passing the Jack mantle onto a man named Roscoe James. Jack-in-the-Box's crime-fighting ingenuity places him on the list, but his choice as a clown puts him near the very bottom.

23 PSILENCE

Although some people say that silence can be deadly, Psilence takes it to a new art form. Her name says everything you need to know about her character: she has extremely powerful psionic abilities and she is also mute. Monica Caine stopped talking ever since her abilities manifested, so it's not clear if she is unable to speak or simply unwilling to speak. The need to verbally communicate may not be important for her; while on the team Bloodpool she psionically connected all of her teammates together, allowing for mental communication amongst people within the group. It sure saves money on buying batteries for walkie talkies!

With her mental abilities she's able to render someone unconscious. Her psionic abilities can also be used to telekinetically enhance her fighting style, with Psilence using telekinetic attacks coupled with physical assaults on her enemy. She was a member of the Bloodpool, a government superhero group that was sort of a "minor league" team that screened potential for the main team, Youngblood, a group that Psilence also was a member of. Members of Bloodpool were often altered by medical procedures and through treatments. If Psilence could speak we're not sure what she would say, but her awesome name and powers are enough to earn her a spot in the bottom five on the list.

22 BOOTLEG

Yeah, we know... naming an Image Comic character Bootleg is kind of asking for it. Considering that Image creators received a lot of criticism for their characters resembling other characters in the pages of DC and Marvel, naming someone Bootleg seems like you're painting a target on their back. Nevertheless, Jamie Forester has the ability to copy the powers of others, similar to Rogue from the X-Men. Unlike Rogue, she does not have to be in physical contact to copy someone's ability; she just has to be within the vicinity. She's also able to copy regular abilities, such as someone's ability to throw a ball or to drive.

After learning that she had the Nu-Gene, a genetic quirk that gives people superhuman powers, Jamie joined the New Men, a group of superpowered teenagers. She joins the team after the group's leader John Proctor, identifies her as having special abilities. Jamie was excited to join the group; she found her life boring even though she was raised in a wealthy family, leading people to draw parallels to her and the X-Men character Jubilee. Given all of the powerful people in the Image Comics universe, having the ability to copy someone's powers is a great gift to have, and having that ability is what got her on our list of the 25 most powerful!

21 GRUNGE

If you thought we were going to do a list about superheroes from the 1990s and not include a character named Grunge, we ask you to rethink your relationship with CBR. Percival Edmund Chang was a member of the group Gen 13, teenagers with totally rad superpowers. Although you think his name might relate to his power, Chang did not have the ability to impersonate the band Nirvana or other alternative rock groups. He did, however, have the ability to absorb the properties of materials around him, the way that the Hulk villain Absorbing Man copies the substances within reach.

Grunge initially couldn't absorb the powers of another person the way that Rogue from the X-Men could, but in the past he has absorbed physical characteristics of a person; his attempt at absorbing Caitlin Fairchild's superhuman strength resulted in him gaining breasts. In recent issues, however, it appears he has gained the ability to mimic other people with superpowers. Grunge tries to downplay his intelligence and prefers to be seen as a kind of surfer bro. He's a skilled martial artist and possesses a photographic memory. Grunge is a huge fan of comic books and action films by Jackie Chan and John Woo. Once he maximizes the potential of his powers, he might move up higher on our list!

20 SHADOWHAWK

The Image characters at the bottom of our list consist primarily of "street-level" superheroes. When it comes to power ranking, you can't really compare someone that fights crime with someone who killed the Devil and rules over Hell. Among those that help out the little guy and stop thugs, purse snatchers and robbers, ShadowHawk is the Image character you want in your corner. He can't fly or shoot energy beams, though. Instead, ShadowHawk wears a power suit of armor that boosts his physical abilities and protects him from gunfire.

Similar to Batman, ShadowHawk menaced street thugs and became somewhat of an urban legend. He didn't kill criminals but unlike Batman, he was willing to use excessive force. ShadowHawk's calling card was breaking the spine of the criminals he caught. There were several people that wore the ShadowHawk armor. The first was Paul Johnstone, whose crimefighting career was cut short due to AIDS. Another person to wear the mantle was Edward Collins, who learns through the ShadowHawk helmet that Collins, although currently a teenager, was a reincarnated Egyptian shaman. It was also later revealed that ShadowHawk was a sort of spirit of justice in a similar fashion to Ghost Rider or Khonshu without the superpowers.

19 MIDNIGHTER

midnighter in the middle of a battle

Yes, Midnighter is now firmly established in the DC Universe, but he started out at the Image imprint, WIldstorm. Only later, in 1998, did the publisher's head, Jim Lee, sell the imprint to DC Comics. In any event, at first glance, it's easy to look at Midnighter and say he's a knock-off of Batman. He's dressed in black and fights crime, so what else is there to the man? When you look further, you learn why he's one of the most dangerous men around. His bio-engineered enhancements increased his strength, agility, stamina and fighting savvy. Midnighter's thought process in battle is almost unmatched; before a fight starts, he runs through his mind all the possible outcomes of the fight, almost making certain you'll lose before you throw the first punch. In the past he's lost to people that either don't attack first or characters like the Joker that are extremely unpredictable.

Midnighter is as tough on the inside as he is on the outside. He's been able to recover from extreme injuries, even bouncing back from his neck being broken moments later. His blood is resistant to almost every virus on the planet and was used to revive a fellow teammate that had overdosed. Also floating around in his body is an auxiliary heart in case the first one is damaged. Although he started out as a regular person, he received bio-engineered enhancements by a the next man on our list, Henry Bendix.

18 HARRY BENDIX

Harry Bendix is a little hard to talk about. This list is all about superheroes and Bendix at one point was definitely a hero. It's also easy to confuse him with an alternate reality Harry Bendix who pretended to be him from time to time. Also, his son William looks exactly like him, adding to the confusion of trying to figure out which Bendix did what. In the 1970s, he had the mantle of Weatherman, leader of the United Nations Special Crisis Team known as Stormwatch. He had cybernetic implants that allowed him to access information directly from the Skywatch data net.

Bendix did have a dark side, though. He had a hidden agenda that he kept from his teammates, and his alternate reality counterpart masqueraded as him and killed several superheroes. Before he turned over to the dark side, however, he accomplished a number of things that benefited humanity. He was an accomplished strategist and was also brilliant enough at a young age to have designed the cybernetic implants that empowered Midnighter and Apollo. He also discovered a section of space referred to as The Bleed, which allowed for travel between realities (and worked to explain how the Wildstorm universe was integrated into DC's).

17 WITCHBLADE

Ah, now we're beginning to power up! Until now, we've mostly seen people on our list with excellent physical abilities or cybernetic enhancements, but when we look at Sara Pezzini's Witchblade gauntlet, we clearly have entered the realm of the supernatural. Sara started out as a New York City Police Detective and while on a case was injured. She was found by the Witchblade, which healed her and granted her supernatural powers to fight evil. At first glance, the Witchblade is like a steampunk version of Lion-O's gauntlet; however, it possesses a variety of supernatural abilities. Besides providing Sara with superhuman strength, agility and endurance, the Witchblade can project fire, heal and create armor for Sara.

Whereas Marvel and DC struggle with having to explain just how old Batman or Iron Man are, a fair amount of Image characters, such as ShadowHawk and Witchblade, are legacy characters, meaning that multiple people have held the position before the current hero, and will probably have successors after holding the position. A great number of people have possessed the Witchblade over the years, but Sara's story as a superhero who is also a cop and a mother is compelling. Now let's get her a proper uniform to wear, shall we?

16 APOLLO

As his name implies, Apollo has superhuman strength derived from absorbing energy from the sun. He can also shoot energy beams from his eyes. It's easy to draw parallels between Apollo and the Man of Steel, due to the fact that both are solar batteries. Apollo doesn't have the same squeaky-clean values that Superman possesses, though. Apollo was a member of the Authority, a superhuman group that was not afraid to fight dirty. At one point, the Authority even took control of the United States government!

Apollo's base of operations was The Carrier, a sentient ship that was literally miles long. Since the ship was so big and traveled in a part of space called the Bleed, sometimes Apollo would not be exposed to the sun to charge his body. The Carrier could open portals to almost anywhere, though, so when he needed solar energy, Apollo could open a portal right next to the sun and recharge within seconds. Apollo has great strength due to the sun but also draws strength from the love of his fellow teammate Midnighter. The two are in a relationship and at one point marry and adopt Jenny Quantum, the reincarnation of Jenny Sparks.

15 BATTLESTONE

Battlestone looks good for his age! He was born in the 1920s and fought in World War II for the Allied Forces. Unlike other people on the list, John Stone didn't get his superpowers from exposure to a meteorite or from cybernetic enhancements. Instead, Battlestone obtained super-strength, agility and endurance from being a mutant... uh, we mean due to "having the Nu-Gene," a genetic mutation that grants those with it extraordinary abilities. He fought alongside Diehard during WWII and rose to the rank of Colonel, also gaining a reputation for being quite violent and intense. While fighting the group Cybernet in the 1980s, Stone was betrayed by his teammate Dutch and was killed. But his story doesn't end there.

Stone's body was brought to a project called Born Again, where technology was used to resurrect him from the dead. He came back stronger and more durable than before, but his hair and skin turned pale and some considered him mentally unstable. After a failed mission with Youngblood, Stone, in a fit of rage, killed his fellow teammate named Gamble. He was discharged from Youngblood but was asked back to lead a new team called Brigade. Battlestone's leadership abilities and strength place him on our list.

14 BATALLION

Jackson King makes it on our list for literally having the biggest helmet anyone could possibly wear. It dwarfs what the Juggernaut has on his head and probably would be a loose fit if Galactus tried to wear it. Fashion sense aside, Jackson is known as a "Comet Enhancile" due to the fact that he gained his powers thanks to the radiation of a comet that passed over the Earth. Jackson became an extremely powerful telekinetic, using his mind to move objects and create shields. He used a special costume called a Cyber-Trans suit to boost his ability, which he used to increase the firepower of his weapons. It's later revealed that he's holding back for fear of becoming like his father Isaiah, who had similar powers and went mad.

Working with Harry Bendix, King joined one of the Stormwatch teams, specifically Stormwatch Prime, taking the name Battalion. Members of the Stormwatch Black team left Stormwatch and formed a group called The Authority. As a counter, Battalion, along with his wife Christine Trelane, created a team called the Monarchy to fight Chimera, a group that contained alternate reality members of the Authority. Jackson King's heroism as well as his desire to be better than his father places him in the top 15!

13 VELOCITY

Some say if you want to test the skills of an expert cook, you don't have them make an elaborate dish, but a simple one. The artist Giotto was able to get an art commission from Pope Boniface VIII by submitting not a lifelike painting of a person but a  drawing of a perfect circle freehand without any mechanical assistance. Although you have characters like Phantomex, Cable and Doop with multiple elaborate powers, sometimes simpler can be more entertaining. Velocity as her name states has the ability of super speed. She's been clocked at running at speeds near Mach 13 and is afraid if she runs faster she could destroy the Earth!

Cyberdata, the group that gave her the cybernetic enhancements that provided her with super speed, also implanted kevlar under her skin to prevent extreme damage from running at high velocities... but that doesn't protect the Earth. Traveling at such extreme speeds at ground level could do terrible things to the Earth's atmosphere, as well as possibly incinerating anything on or near its path. This is assuming there's no equivalent of the Speed Force in Image Comics that allows super-fast runners to bend the laws of physics a little. A cybernetic device called the Brain Box allows her to process information at hyper speeds. Speed saves, which is why this member of the team Cyberforce is in our top ten!

12 MIGHTY MAN

Similar to ShadowHawk and Witchblade, Mighty Man is less a person and more a power that is passed on from person to person. Mighty Man is a tall, handsome, ruggedly built blond man, and if you obtain the Mighty Man power, that's exactly who you'll become no matter who your alter ego is. The current Mighty Man is actually a woman named Ann Samantha Stevens, who becomes Mighty Man whenever she taps her wrists together. The power was passed onto her by accident from the previous host Robert Bergman, who fought in World War II and was Mighty Man for close to half a century. When she's not a superhero she's helping out superheroes: Ann was the nurse that helped the Savage Dragon recover when he was first found with no memory in a burning field.

Mighty Man eventually joined the Freak Force and fought crime alongside the Savage Dragon with super strength, speed, flight and unbreakable skin. Creator Erik Larsen said the character is an homage to Captain Marvel, with Ann's method of transforming into Mighty Man similar to Captain Marvel tapping his Nega Bands together. Mighty Man's strength and invulnerability gives him his spot on the list, but he's not as strong or as durable as our next entry.

11 MEGATON MAN

Warning! If you take Megaton Man seriously at any point, you may have to re-evaluate your priorities. Megaton Man reads less like a comic book and more like a Mad Magazine parody of all comic books. He's muscles on top of muscles on top of satire and parody (with another layer of muscles for good measure). MM's real name is Trent Phloog and he hails from Megatropolis. The Man of Molecules (wait, aren't we all made of molecules?) received his superpowers after being bitten by a radioactive frog. He can fly, is super strong, and explodes whenever he yells the word "Overkill!" Woo!

You could also say Megaton Man is powered by pure parody. Megaton Man was a part of the VW Gang who were less like the Avengers and more like Mystery Men. In the Gang was Yarn Man (who was made entirely out of yarn) and his side kick X-Ray Boy, who in a mixup with the mail was given actually X-Ray glasses. MM is married to Stella Starlight, whose superhero name was Earth Mother. It's never a good idea to take yourself too seriously, and Megaton Man is in the top 10 to remind everyone on the list to lighten up for once!

10 SAVAGE DRAGON

Erik Larsen made a name for himself after he replaced Todd McFarlane on The Amazing Spider-Man, staring with issue #329. Considering how iconic McFarlane's run was on the series, it resulted in Larsen having some very big spider-boots to fill. His take on Spider-Man was well-received, and when artists from Marvel jumped ship in the early 1990s to start their own creator-owned books, Larsen was no exception. His character, The Savage Dragon, actually made its debut as Dragon in Graphic Fantasy #1 in June of 1982 with his run in Image starting in July 1992.

The Savage Dragon woke up sans-clothing and with no memory in the remains of a burning field. He was a giant green man with a big fin on the top of his head. He had superhuman strength, stamina and healing abilities. Instead of joining a superhero team, the Dragon wound up being a member of the Chicago Police Department. He fought against the evil team Vicious Circle and helped form another one called the Freak Force. The Dragon was always loyal to his friends and was an outstanding officer, which ironically contradicted his origins. He actually was an alien conqueror named Kurr who originally came to Earth to conquer it, but was betrayed by two scientists. The Savage Dragon makes the top 10 list also due to his power and his longevity; it's one of the few comics that launched when Image premiered that is still in print today!

9 PITT

He's mean, he's muscular, he's Pitt! If he looks like a diesel dude it's because he's a creation of Dale Keown, who before Pitt, spent years drawing one of the mightiest mortals around, The Incredible Hulk. Like most artists around that time, Keown jumped the Marvel ship and created Pitt at Image Comics. Whereas Marvel focused on mutants, most of the Image Comics characters were aliens that found their way to Earth, and Pitt was no exception. He's a combination of human DNA mixed with genetic material from a race known as the Creed. He escaped from the laboratory where he was being studied but was captured and trained to be an assassin. While on a mission, a child's consciousness was melded with his. After his merger, he fled to Earth and found a young boy who is his genetic relative.

Pitt is as strong as he looks, and you've also probably noticed by now his incredibly long and sharp claws which can cut through almost anything. Whereas the Hulk gets stronger the madder he gets, Pitt uses pain as a stimulant, making him an even more aggressive killing machine. He has limited mind reading powers and can target his enemies based upon sensing their level of aggression. He may not be as strong as the Hulk but arguably is just as savage. His rage and strength is what makes him in our top ten, but he doesn't quite outdo the next person above him.

8 BADROCK

Badrock might get a bad rep due to the fact that he's a creation of Rob Liefield. Although Liefield has some die hard fans, there are a number of vocal critics who are off-put by the proportions (or lack thereof) of his characters in his artwork. But you should give Badrock a chance... he's only sixteen years old, after all! Thomas John McCall had the misfortune of swallowing some chemicals in his father's laboratory that transformed him into the behemoth that he is today. He's got super strength, super endurance, and rock-hard skin, which is why his original name was Bedrock. Blame the 1990s on his name changing to Badrock, as well as the fact that he's still a young teenager.

His youth was a factor in getting him into trouble. Badrock picked a fight with The Savage Dragon as an initiation to join the Youngblood superhero team. Dragon responded by arresting him for attacking a Chicago Police Officer. Not only does Badrock mature, he's also been shown to have been alive in the year 3000, still serving as a hero protecting the Earth from the alien Katellan race. Although initially labeled a knock-off of the Thing, Badrock's strength, youthful energy and innocence make him one of the more memorable characters that came from Image during the 1990s. Welcome to the top ten, Badrock!

7 VOID

When Void first made her appearance in WildC.A.T.S. in August 1992, she was quite enigmatic. The team was fighting against alien invaders, where Void's most helpful power was teleportation. She was able to transport her teammates anywhere on Earth, giving the WildC.A.T.S. team a great tactical advantage when fighting the Daemonites. Her greatest ability was being able to see fragments of what the future held. Void at one point met the Valiant Comics character Solar, and when the two became lovers, their universes merged in a crossover event called Deathmate. Instead of having numbers, the issues had colors, and to this day people debate the actual order you were supposed to read it in.

Void's real name was Adrianna Tereshkova, a Russian Cosmonaut who, while on a space mission, had her craft destroyed by a silver orb that bonded with her. The orb was part of an entity named Omnia who had died but had formed herself into several energy orbs that found its way to various hosts. Void was true to her name; during a battle, her face is literally knocked off her body, revealing nothing but energy inside her metallic shell. Feeling she lost her humanity, Adrianna eventually separated herself from Void, with Void now bonding with the robotic body of Jack Marlowe. Given Void's ability to see the future as well as fuse to separate comic universes together, she earned a spot in the top ten!