Re: Worst. Hero. Ever.
Just wanna put in a few thoughts, then all of you have fun ripping me to shreds (or agreeing with me, or whatever) if you like for I will not revisit this thread.
There are all sorts of reasons for disliking a character, or just for disliking what somone did with the character. here are a few of my greatest dislikes.
1) Wolverine - gets my vote for all-around worst. IMHO he is an example of the worst concepts of hero-making rolled into one. He fights with deadly weapons, he is pretty much indestructible, he seems to have little control (and in my opinion not much moral fiber) and he's a detriment, not an asset, to team coordination. The only thing good I can say about him is that he was considerably less cheesy and less obnoxiously anti-social in the X-Men movies (my wife forced me to watch).
2) Superman - I like Supes, and everything's been said before. My own opinion is that he was fine character, got a little stupid in the 50's and 60's (but kinda fun), then rebounded in the late 70's and early 80's. Let someone be printed long enough and someone's gonna do stupid stuff with the character...but Supes is still cool despite a few bad stories. Also, the whole thing someone said earlier about his morals and duty is spot on. Check out the portrayal in Superman Returns..got the mindset necessary to make Superman work spot on. Great movie.
3) Punisher - This guy is supposed to be a hero ? Yes, i know, I know, he's an anti-hero but let's get real. Comics are psychologically wish fulfillment for some people...so there must be a lot of people out there who wanna commit murder and call it justice.
4) Animal Man - Great hero, especially when they re-introduced him in the late 80's, but he's also a perfect example of what can go horrifically wrong when a comic gets too bizarre. The storylines that developed in the early 90's just became soap-operaish descents into just how sucky we can make 1 guy's life.
5) and finally, not the absolute worst, but definitely my least favorite...Spiderman - I'm sorry to be the first to say this here, but this comic ruined much of the genre for me. Many people hail the title for changing the face of comics, I despise it for the very same reason. Summary of Spiderman: My life sucks - I get beaten up - I do some good - no one appreciates me - I try to help - my life continues to suck....next month, even more sucking life...maybe after a few issues something can go right, so that we can take it away and achieve new and deeper levels of how much it sucks to be a superhero.
Okay, those are just a few thoughts from a comic reader who was alive when much of this stuff was first published. (man I feel old)
Cheers, folks, enjoy the comics (that's why they're here, whatever it is you like), and remember....it's just a ride.
