Splash Page Soliloquies presents: Top Marvel Superheroes by Phil Grippi

Greetings true believers. It appears to be National Superhero Day, so I guess I’ll do a thing. Since I’ve done DC heroes and villains, as well as Marvel Villains, I suppose it’s time I did my top Marvel Heroes. So buckle up, James Buckaroo Barnes, fateful Flight is about to take off.

#10

Lunella Lafayette aka Moongirl & Devil Dinosaur

Lunella Lafayette and her buddy, the Jack Kirby-created Devil Dinosaur are just plain magical. Their bond and dynamic is adorable, young genius Lunella’s precocious lack of patience for anybody’s nonsense is charming and frequently problematic for her, and dinosaurs are just awesome. I love them ok?! It’s a simple enough rendition of girl and her dog (except the girl can build complex, physics defying machinery and her dog is a massive red Tyrannosaur with glowing demon eyes) and works brilliantly as a modern update to the 1978 comic series by Jack Kirby that focused on an ape like child named Moonboy partnering with the Saurian king of his valley to dole out prehistoric justice. Now Devil’s in the big city and fighting crime, how can you not love that? Seriously check out the series, it started in 2015 and was penned by Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder with art by Natacha Bustos. It’s delightful. They’re also getting a Disney cartoon and I’m quite excited. Quite, indeed.

#9

Art by Peach Momoko

Logan/Laura Kinney aka Wolverine

I mostly love the iconography of Wolverine and the title being used a mantle, if that makes sense. That said…Logan is pretty awesome. Created by Roy Thomas, Len Wein and John Romita Sr in 1974, Wolverine became a staple of the X-men and other X-adjacent titles under the pen of Chris Claremont (and a slew of writers after that from Frank Miller to Jason Aaron), Gruff, vicious when he needs to be but also tender and paternal to a whole slew young mutants. He’s the mentor who never wanted to be one, yet here he is. Marvel’s personification of the “samurai without a master” archetype, James Howlett, aka Logan, aka The Wolverine has lived for over a century. Immune to the ravages of time and the ravages of men’s brutality, he’s made a name for self as a lethal, formidable warrior among the mob, yakuza, military and any other institution of violence you can think of. Then there’s his daughter (well, one of them) Laura, the current wearer of the Yellow and Black Badger Mask. Well, she’s technically a clone. But she’s been through the same tragic host of traumas (from adamantium bone grafting to killing for weapon X) as her father and come out a kind, heroic figure in the marvel community. Logan also has a douchey son in an even douchier haircut named Dakken who has occasionally calls himself Wolverine, usually up to no good while doing so. I think he might have redeemed himself recently. I don’t know, I am not Douglas Wolk and I have NOT read every marvel comic ever published. In terms of a nemesis he mostly fights fellow hairy clawed dude Sabertooth. Why are they always beefing? Nobody’s ever really sure, but it’s primal and intense. He also fights a Yakuza enforcer called Silver Samurai (because he wears silver and is a samurai) as well adamantium wielding assassin Lady Deathstrike and Gorgon, a high ranking member of The Hand (ninja cult, they usually fight daredevil). Anyway, Wolverine has pretty much been immortalized on film by a prolific nearly 20 year run of film performances by Hugh Jackman. He’s great in the role and it will be quite difficult to replace in the inevitable MCU reboot. I’m sure they’ll have something cool in mind but come on, Logan was a pretty awesome movie, guys. Even the second wolverine movie was pretty sick until the Jaeger from Pacific Rim showed up. So close. SO. CLOSE. Origins? We don’t talk about Origins. No, no no.

#8.

Art by Russell Dauterman

Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch

Her origin story? Who knows at this point. Could be a mutant daughter of Magneto. Could be the daughter a superhero witch with the same moniker. Maybe the high evolutionary gave her powers while experimenting on her as a baby. Her powers? Chaos magic. She makes chaos. “Oooh she did a thing, but HOW?!?” Chaos, that’s how. Mental stability? Tenuous. What happens when a young woman with the power to mold reality to her whim has a nervous breakdown? Bad…things…but she feels really bad about it you guys. She’s precious and in need and we need to love and support her OKAY…

Seriously though I think she’s an incredibly compelling character. All that trauma in one person mixed in with the power of a god. Terrifying origin story for a villain, right? Well, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby thought so while writing the X-Men in 1964. Even then she was just fighting against bigotry and injustice against mutants (because at the time she thought she WAS a mutant…her and her twin Brother Pietro). Whatever side she finds herself on, Wanda tries her best at every opportunity to do what she thinks is the right thing. Sure, she started out as a member of the brotherhood of mutants with her speedster brother Pietro aka Quicksilver…but then they quit and became Avengers. Since then, she’s been a staple of the Avengers mythology for decades. There was the whole accidental mutant genocide thing but again, SHE’S TRYING. She’s loved (Vision), she’s lost (also Vision). She’s had children (by willing them into creation with her reality warping powers). She’s been through so much but still she fights the good fight. Even in the movies she can’t catch a break. Her twin brother? Killed by Ultron. Her lovebot created by Ultron? Killed in front of her THREE TIMES. It’s hard out there for Maximoff. Wandavision was a rough emotional trip and Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness looks amazing. So while her life may be suffering, I just can’t look away. It helps that Elizabeth Olsen it great in the role.

#7

Art By John Romita Sr

Luke Cage, occasionally known as Power Man

SWEET. CHRISTMAS. So proclaims the bulletproof hero for hire. Listen, Luke Cage is just damned cool. He’s designed to be just that. He’s Shaft, BA Barachas and Youngblood Priest all rolled up together in chain bracelets and a metal Tiara. Created in 1972 as Marvel’s attempt to cash in on the popularity of Blaxploitation film, Luke Cage, born Carl Lucas, went to jail for a crime he did not commit. Framed by his best friend over the love of a woman, the only hope he could find was a reduced sentence in exchange for volunteering for a medical experiment. The experiment? Being doused in an acidic chemical compound that immediately explodes. Comics! But lo and behold, he emerges from the smoke super strong and impervious to physical harm. The newly reborn Black Superman busts out of the shackles of a system wracked against him and heads to Harlem, becoming their local hero for hire under the identity Luke Cage, otherwise known as POWER MAN. God I love the 70’s. Cage was the creative conception of the joint minds of Archie Goodwin and Roy Thomas, with design work John Romita Sr and subsequent art by George Tuska. Eventually Blaxploitation waned in popularity, paralleling the decline of Kung Fu cinema, and Luke Cage found new in a legendary partnership with the Immortal Iron Fist. The two become a prolific pair of best friends within the Marvel pantheon, dubbed the Heroes for Hire. On his own he mostly fights gangsters like Black Mariah, Cottonmouth and his nemesis, former best friend turned drug kingpin Stryker Willis/Diamondback. There’s a weird recurring snake motif among his villains, which even extends to his Heroes for Hire days with the Caribbean Kingpin, Bushmaster. What I love most about Cage is that he’s seen it all. He’s been a mercenary, an Avenger, a Defender (in the Netflix TV continuity), a member of the Marvel Knights, leader of the Thunderbolts and now Mayor of New York City after the epic Devil’s Reign event. From a wanted criminal, to celebrated hero and now elected leader of the City. His trajectory as a hero and a person is amazing, made all the more worth it by his marriage to former hero turned private Detective Jessica Jones (with whom he has a daughter, Danielle…who inherits her fathers strength and invulnerability and grows up to be the future Captain America). He’s just cool, you guys. He rocks and I love him and I hope the MCU brings him back with the daredevil resurgence. Mike Coulter was ok in the role I think, and we need closure after that season 2 cliffhanger! Seriously, the Luke Cage TV show was awesome and deserved at least another season.

#6

Art by Stuart Immonen

Elsa Bloodstone aka…Elsa Bloodstone (she’s got no time for code names)

Elsa Bloodstone may not be particularly popular, or have an ongoing solo series under her belt, but she’s got spirit and the awesomeness of the series Nextwave to guide her. The daughter of obscure 70’s monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone (created by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman and John Warner), Elsa first premiered in the Miniseries Bloodstone as the inheritor of her deceased father’s eponymous Relic the Bloodstone. It imbues its wielder with enchanted strength and physical prowess as well with mostly functional immortality. Invented by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Michael Lopez, I think Elsa’s staying power mostly comes from her hilarious character work in Warren Ellis’ Nextwave: Agents of HATE (yes, ew, Warren Ellis is a creep. But Nextwave still rocks). Since then she’s popped up in various titles from Legion of Monsters to Midnight Sons, Monsters Unleashed, and even the latest Deadpool run by Kelly Thompson. She’s sassy, she plays the guitar and hunts down monsters with a guitar case full of guns. She’s badass and I just think she’s neat. Apparently she’s in the MCU Halloween special and I cannot wait to see her on screen.

#5

Art by Mahmud A. Asrar

Betsy Braddock/ Brian Braddock aka Captain Britain

Marvel is seriously sleeping on the awesome wealth of Captain Britain lore they’re sitting on. Alan Moore wove a massive multiversal epic back in the 80’s with his Jasper’s Warp storyline and they keep relegating Captain Britain to being an ancillary X-Men captain, even with Betsy taking over the mantle in a rather awesome turn of events in the recent Excalibur series. Steeped in a masterful quantum physics and Arthurian legend, Captain Britain, despite sounding like a Captain America knockoff, is actually cosmic powerhouse who defends the multiverse from cosmic and mystical threats like Mad Jim Jaspers and the insane Wizard Merlyn. Occasionally they fight more human threats like Slaymaster and the British gang lord Vixen. It’s all quite British and very cool. I’ll be up front and admit that while Brian Braddock has a better wealth of interesting stories behind him from the Alan Moore days, he’s kind of a plank of wood and overshadowed by his twin sister Betsy in the role. She’s a skilled former assassin and powerful telepath with a glowing purple sword of psychic energy. How rad is that?

#4

King T’Challa Black Panther

Luke Cage may be the first Black superhero to headline his own title, but Black Panther is king. Created by Jack Kirby to debut in Fantastic Four in 1966, T’Challa wandered around from title until Kirby penned his own solo book in 1977 (though much work was done with the character under Don McGregor in Jungle Action up until then). Heir and eventual successor to the throne of the advanced African Nation of Wakanda, T’Challa assumes the ceremonial warrior mantle of Black Panther in order to govern and protect his people. He is intelligent, level headed, contemplative and equally kind and cunning in his leadership. This man joined the avengers not just to help save the world, but to gather intel on their power and shortcomings to assess their threat level to him home country. As King he operates on a level unfathomable to the likes of Spider-Man or Daredevil. Every action he makes ripples across not just a nation, but the world at large. He’s warred with Atlantis AND Latveria, grappling with Undersea King Namor and the Brilliant Romani Dictator Doctor Doom. He’s even wielded the Infinity Gauntlet and matched omnipotent wits Doom when he was God Emperor during John Hickman’s Secret Wars. More personal villains include his rival for the throne in the form of Man-Ape, the militant Killmonger, and the arms dealer seeking to pillage Wakanda of its Wealth of Vibranium: Ulysses Klaw. Vibranium, of course, is the powerful alien metal found only in Wakanda (the nation was built on a crashed meteor of the stuff), and makes up the bulk of Wakanda’s miraculous technology and Black Panther’s arsenal. Portrayed in the MCU by brilliant but tragically departed Chadwick Boseman, T’Challa first appeared cinematically in Captain America: Civil War seeking revenge for his fathers assassination by who he thinks is Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (framed by Baron Zemo). He goes on the steal the whole movie by having the best character arc, learning that revenge is poison that corrodes the soul. He spares both Bucky and the man actually responsible, opting to have Zemo rot in jail to answer for the other people he hurt along the way. A king in the making indeed. Boseman, and T’Challa by proxy, will be sorely missed in the world of the films and the world period. It will be interesting to see how they proceed without them.

#3

Art by Alex Ross

The Hulk

Come on, we should know this by now. I love monsters, and who else captures all the beauty and brutality of the atomic age creature feature like Marvel’s own Godzilla allegory (with hints of Jekyll & Hyde thrown in), The Incredible Hulk. Conceived in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Bruce Banner becomes the monstrous Hulk after a surprisingly non lethal but massive dose of Gamma Radiation (in the comics it was a bomb, ya know, like Godzilla). This releases the beast so to speak, so whenever Bruce becomes angry, his darker, more feral inclinations take hold and he becomes an explosive being of strength and rage. Since then the Hulk has become a flagship character in the Marvel Pantheon. Combining scientific brilliance with insurmountable, raw physical power, Hulk devastates his enemies at every turn, earning him titles like worldbreaker and “strongest one there is.” The problem is, sometimes, his enemies are difficult to tell apart from the innocent in his blind rages. Hulk is the prototypical tragic hero. He simply wants to live and be left alone, yet is feared and hunted as a monster in the vein of Frankenstein’s creation. Tragic still is the story of Bruce before the Hulk: abused by his deranged scientist father, young Bruce developed DID as a coping mechanism. His stifled rage became a being within him, waiting for the tools to lash out at anybody who deserves it. Then the Gamma explosion happened, and the world was never the same. That doesn’t stop Bruce from trying to do the right thing though. He learns to focus and aim his power against those who would abuse it, taking on other Gamma beasts like The Leader and the Abomination, and even his own Captain Ahab Archetype: General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. If you’re looking for a place to really get into the Hulk, definitely try the Peter David years and especially Al Ewing’s Immortal Hulk run. As for movies, personally my favorite is the Ang Lee film which gets unnecessary hate in my opinion. My favorite actor in the role is Mark Ruffalo, though, who was at his best in the first two Avengers movies and Thor: Ragnarok. His other appearances aren’t bad, but I’d like to see something different done with him before he retires from the role.

#2

Art by Mike Mignola

Doctor Strange

One of my earliest memories of getting into comics is one of two titles. One will be expanded on when I get to number one. The other is Doctor Strange. Volume one of the Essential Doctor Strange, to be more specific. I was mesmerized by the art and mind bending stories woven by creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. I remember the very first issue vividly. Man comes to doctor strange plagued by nightmares. Strange determines that he is actually being victimized by the the malevolent lord of dreams, Nightmare himself. He goes on to discover that the man is a murderer and that is why Nightmare targeted him. So many twists and turns in a short period of time. Trippy, kaleidoscopic imagery brought the abstract and metaphysical to life in the world of Stephen Strange, a weathered and wise man learned in the architecture of the soul and mind. While a bit cold and distanced from humanity, Strange operates on a cosmic scale, fighting back demons and gods alike; monstrous parasites feeding off of the fabric of reality itself. Both psychedelic and Lovecraftian, Doctor Strange captured pure imagination in its pages as it detailed the journey of an arrogant, selfish neurosurgeon who, after a calamitous car wreck, loses the dexterity in his hands. Broken and without what he thought was his purpose, and existentially lost Stephen seeks out the holistic aid of the Ancient One, thus beginning his tutelage and eventual mastery of the mystic arts. His dizzying array of adversaries includes The dread Dormammu (lord of the dark dimension), the Faustian king of hell Miphisto, rival Sorcerer Baron Mordo, and the Cthulu-esque transdimensional beast Shuma-Gorath. On film, he’s brought to life by the immensely talented Benedict Cumberbatch and the vastly impressive visual accumulation of Scott Derrickson, Taika Waititi, the Russo Brothers, Jon Watts and now the veteran master of Horror Sam Raimi. Multiverse of Madness is going to be huge and I cannot wait to see where they take Strange next.

And now, my number one best Boi

Art by Tim Sale

Matt Murdock aka Daredevil

I’ve spoken extensively on the larger scale heroes. Black panther and Doctor Strange; Hulk and Captain Britain. Yet one has to ask, with some many eyes on the sky, who watches out for us down below? Daredevil, that’s who. A blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen, gifted with enhanced senses beyond his darkened sight. Driven by his faith in God and the latent good in humanity, he throws himself into the dark every night to bloody his fist with the faces of gangsters, thieves, rapists and beyond. He fights costumed criminals, superpowers or otherwise enhanced. His most notable nemeses? Kingpin, Bullseye, the Hand, Typhoid Mary. Sociopaths, lunatics and men consumed with greed. What makes Daredevil so damn compelling is that he’s just as consumed as the villains he faces down. His vice is money or drugs. He thrives on the adrenaline of his violent lifestyle. A self professed catholic man can’t feel alive unless he’s jumping off rooftops and beating the shit out of criminals. Yet he takes his sin and channels it into something that helps people. He fights for the downtrodden in the court of law, then saves their lives on the streets at night. In recent comics he even tries to take on the systemic hurtles that victimize the masses, at first as a district attorney, then from inside a prison during the amazing arc by Chip Zsardsky (only the latest in a long, 30+ years of amazing writing on the character). I even like the movie, for all it’s faults. Affleck’s doing his best, and Michael Clark Duncan and Colin Farrell are having a blast as Kingpin and Bullseye. However, where the character really shine on screen is in the tv show formerly of Netflix fame. New to Disney+, Charlie Cox owns the character with enthusiasm and dedication to the role. Vincent D’Onofrio is amazing as Kingpin. Even Elektra is so much better in the show. It’s phenomenal and one of my favorite shows of all time. You cannot imagine who overjoyed I was seeing Cox return to the role in Spider-Man: No Way Home (followed soon by D’Onofrio as Kingpin in Hawkeye). What lies ahead, who knows? But I can’t wait to find out.

And that’s it. My top marvel heroes of all time. It may not be definitive but it’s mine. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much I enjoyed writing it. Til next time true believers!