50 Best DC Characters (30-21)

I'm now about 40% done with this writeup, and I'm already realizing what characters I inadvertantly left off the list. Highly disappointing. Anyway, plunging onward.

#30. Guy Gardner

Now, I'm not nearly the level of Guy Gardner fan that some people are, but I have always liked the character. Like most of the characters in the Giffen/DeMatteis JLI, he was basically a flat joke, with occasional moments of really effective characterization thrown in. It's a very odd writing style, but one that managed to both suck me in completely at age 12 and give me something to chew on now that I'm significantly older. I'm only just now starting to read Warrior, but I really like the new, non-brain-damaged Guy. He's still argumentative and confrontational, but it seems to be a much more self-aware attitude used more for reaction. As mentioned before, I have a bit of a soft spot for self-aware jerks (or so it would seem). Plus, he's always had a bit of a thin shell - there's pretty clearly a fairly emotional Guy just below the surface.

#29. Martian Manhunter

Another character I grew to love in JLI. He had the thankless role of straight man in a mostly comedic series, and, as has been mentioned elsewhere, is really ludicrously overpowered for much use. On the other hand, I kind of like that this guy who is (on paper, at least) on par with Superman prefers to spend his time sitting behind monitors, sneaking about invisibily, and generally playing a support role. His general inability/disinterest in establishing a long-running secret identity puts him into one of the categories of superhero archetype that seems to work for me (i.e., "Alien Whose Entire Purpose Is Superheroing") His motivation isn't particular well-defined, other than that it's something he can do that doesn't discriminate against him for his differences.

#28. Blue Devil (Danny Cassidy)

I'm not entirely clear on what happened to Blue Devil inbetween the end of his own series, his death at the hands of the Mist, and his current revival in Shadowpact. Still, his series was one of my favorites as a kid. It was playful and chock full of cameos from the other vaguely supernaturally-themed heroes that weren't getting much coverage in the DCU at the time (e.g., Zatanna, The Demon, The Creeper, Black Orchid, Cain and Abel). Plus, the intial origin concept is probably my favorite of the "Ordinary Guy Who Accidentally Becomes a Hero." Being mistaken for a demon isn't a plotline that's used often enough. The writers of Blue Devil also really realized the necessity of giving him a solid supporting cast. Within a couple years, he had a boss, a love interest, a kid sidekick, a magical house that allowed for teleporting between Malibu and the East Cost (North Carolina?), and a mystical advisor. Of course, it was then cancelled and Danny seems to have become fully demonic (as did Eddie - how did that happen?), but I'm hoping that Willingham will do a nice job with the mystic/humorous tone the character originally had.

#27. The Phantom Stranger

Speaking of mystical characters that are under-utilized by DC, I love the Phantom Stranger. I think what really gets me about the character is that he went from mysterious plot device to groovy supernatural entity who apparently has a girlfriend. And may be Jewish. Again, I look forward to him getting some nice treatment from Willingham (whom seems to have claimed a large number of my favorite characters - he at least has good taste)



#26. Matter-Eater Lad (Tenzil Kem)

I think he was the second character on this list when I started up. Like Proty II, he's one of the Legionaires who eventually realized that superheroing wasn't for him and decided to go into politics instead. And I'm a sucker for superheroes-turned-politicians. Maybe DC can steal Vaughan away to do Ex Machina in the 30th Century. Starring Tenzil and Proty II. It'll be fantastic.




#25. Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)

Still more JLI-influenced character love. But, even before that, I enjoyed his solo book and the one Charlton issue I got my hands on. I think a lot of what I liked about his original series was his closer ties to his corporation than most other billionaire businessman superheroes in the DC universe - he was much closer to Tony Stark than the Bruce Wayne. Sadly, Grant Morrison didn't think of this when he was casting about for an Iron Man analogue for his JLA run - I liked Steel well enough, but maybe a recent, high-quality use of Ted would have saved him from his grisly fate. Of course, I enjoyed his JLI incarnation as well - though I think I prefered the recent pair of Giffen/DeMatteis presentations of Ted better. He seems fairly happy to have returned to his coprorate lifestyle, gained a bit of a belly, and left superheroing behind - but can't really resist the opportunity to go hang out with his buddies some more. Certainly a motivation anyone can understand.

#24. Manhunter (Kate Spencer)

My grousings about the series' presentation of LA aside, I really enjoyed Manhunter quite a lot. I'm disappointed it's going away, but I'm hoping they do find something interesting to do with the character. She works pretty well with a large supporting cast, so I'm not sure she would suffer that much in a team book (as long as Andreyko keeps writing her). I still have some complaints about Kate's sort of shifting motivations in pursuing superheroing, but I still think she's a pretty solid creation.



#23. Darkseid

Some people seem to take issue with Darkseid's role as the walking embodiment of evil. And, yes, he's a little flat. But, for a universe that tends to deal in absolutes, DC was a little light in pure evil prior to Darkseid's introduction. Plus, if that introduction in Rock of Ages doesn't make you like appreciate Darkseid just a little bit, there's something wrong with you.




#22. Power Girl (Karen Starr)

I realized when I was writing about J'onn that a lot of what I was saying about him applied to Karen as well. She doesn't really fit it - even though she looks human, she doesn't really seem to have the subtleties of humanity quite down. Normal jobs don't seem to stick, even if she's good at them (as J'onn was as a police detective). Certainly, the endless rewrites don't help, but the recent integration of her continuous rewriting as part of her character has actually made her more relatable. Really, the only version of her I haven't liked was her presentation in JLI, which flattenned her down to touchy, man-hating "feminist" parody. Out of character and not funny.

#21. Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson)

As a kid, Dr. Fate combined three of my favorite elements of superhero stories - Golden Age WWII heroes, Egyptian-themes, and magic. I'm not convinced there's really been a Dr. Fate series that lives up the potential of those three elements to date, but I'm holding out hope.