Libertarian Librarian

Not a lot of comments lately, so either I'm getting boring or you guys are getting lazy. Either way, I figure nothing stirs up discussion like a "best of" list. And I happened to watch Bravo's Ultimate Super Heroes of All Time last night. So, we'll start there. Bear in mind, this list goes along with their Ultimate Villain and Ultimate Super Vixen lists to be aired later, which partially, though not entirely, explains the near total absence of women from the list:

20) Men In Black
19) Blade
18) Conan
17) Austin Powers
16) The Tick
15) Daredevil
14) The Mask
13) Flash Gordon
12) Hellboy
11) Spawn
10) The Hulk
9) The Fantastic Four
8) The Incredibles
7) X-Men
6) Luke Skywalker
5) Indiana Jones
4) James Bond
3) Batman
2) Superman
1) Spiderman

My initial reactions: Austin Powers? He's a parody, how does he make the list? Why are there so many obscure comic book heroes on the list? Where the hell are Wonder Woman and Batgirl? Spiderman as #1? Are you kidding me-- it has to be either Batman or Superman, those two are like the Beatles and the Stones in rock and roll. Putting Spidey ahead of either of them is like saying Led Zeppelin is the best rock band ever-- there are some odd docks out there that will make the case, but 90% of all rock n rollers older than 20 will put those two first and second. I'll grant you the two spidey movies have been better than most super hero movies, but you have to look at more than that. Superman started the whole superhero thing, and Batman was the first superhero with a darker side, plus he's still the hero with the coolest gadgets. They have to be 1-2, though I think a case can be made either way for which one is #1. I'll happily put Peter Parker at #3, but not above Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent.

Some other thoughts. No cowboys? The folks at Bravo never heard of Davy Crockett, Roy Rogers or the Lone Ranger? I mean if it was the ultimate super heroes in the sense that the hero had to be super, i.e., have special powers, okay, leave the cowboys out, but if you're throwing in James Bond and Indiana Jones, how do you leave out the Lone Ranger? For that matter, how do leave out Robin Hood and Tarzan? Two of the models on which many of the heroes that did make the list are based? The amazing thing is that during the Bravo piece they talk about how Lucas modeled Luke Skywalker after people like Robin Hood and King Arthur-- then they include neither of those heroes but put Luke all the way up at 6. Maybe they got a free tour of Industrial Light and Magic or something.

No Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? They STARTED the whole obscure comic book to big screen phenomenon that made films about Blade, Hellboy, Spawn, Men in Black, Daredevil and the Mask possible. To my mind this list is ridiculously overloaded with obscure comics, but if you're going to load up on that genre, how do you leave out the one comic that started the whole revolution? And the Heroes on the Halfshell are still as cool as, or cooler than, any of those other guys. Omitting them is just silly.

Luke Skywalker at SIX? Huh? I'm not sure I'd put him in the top 20, but I sure as heck wouldn't put him at 6. First, there were only three movies with that character in it (though there have been a number of subsequent Star Wars books featuring Luke and the gang), second, he's really only one part of an ensemble cast-- he does not carry the movies, and he's arguably not even the biggest hero in the cast. I also wouldn't put Indy as high as 5, probably more like 15, but at least he DID carry the movies, and he was definitely more of the prototypical hero/adventurer type than Luke.

How do the Incredibles rate higher than the Fantastic 4? The Incredibles was a great movie, and payed homage to all of the comic heroes that came before them, but it was ONE movie, folks. One. No comic books, no TV show, no novels. One movie. The Fantastic Four, whom much of the Incredibles' theme of a family of supers fighting together is based upon, has a long and storied history. They're right up there with the X-Men (who, in my opinion, should be #4). So, how do you put the Incredibles ahead of the Fantastic 4?

Okay, enough carping. Here's my top 20 without looking around on the Web to make sure I didn't miss anyone:

20) King Arthur
19) The Tick
18) Buck Rogers
17) Indiana Jones
16) Harry Potter
15) Sinbad
14) Conan
13) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
12) Robin Hood
11) Wonder Woman
10) Flash Gordon
9) The Lone Ranger
8) The Hulk
7) Tarzan
6) Fantastic Four
5) James Bond
4) X-Men
3) Spiderman
2) Superman
1) Batman

So, what do you guys think? No, in the grand scheme of things, none of this matters a whit. But it's Friday, and discussions about what's the best anything are always interesting and fun. Did I miss anybody significant? Does someone want to make the case that Spidey does deserve the #1 spot? Should there be other women heroes on the list?

Labels: Lists