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Post by Batflunkie on Sept 19, 2023 17:14:20 GMT -5
Was thinking about this earlier today and thought that it would be a fun idea for a thread
What were your favorite comic characters growing up? Do you still have that same attachment to them or has that affection changed and been replaced by new ones?
Mine were, as most of you already know, Green Lantern and Captain America. And I think as I've gotten older, that love has gotten even stronger, especially with me reading all of Tales Of Suspense and Volume 1. When I was a teen, I was more into Howard The Duck and Judge Dredd and I like to think that I'm still a fan but, to me personally, both of their respective glory days are long behind them
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 19, 2023 19:17:46 GMT -5
Was thinking about this earlier today and thought that it would be a fun idea for a thread
What were your favorite comic characters growing up? Do you still have that same attachment to them or has that affection changed and been replaced by new ones?
Mine were, as most of you already know, Green Lantern and Captain America. And I think as I've gotten older, that love has gotten even stronger, especially with me reading all of Tales Of Suspense and Volume 1. When I was a teen, I was more into Howard The Duck and Judge Dredd and I like to think that I'm still a fan but, to me personally, both of their respective glory days are long behind them
Most of them I think i kind of carried forward, in general, though I discovered some others, in retrospect. Captain America and the X-Men were early marvel favorites and that carried on for quite a while, though far longer with Cap then X-Men (which tapped out in 1982, apart from reprints). At DC, it was Superman, Batman and the JLA and those continued on for decades. However, I always had a healthy interest in non-superhero stories; so that interest always stood me well. Jonah Hex and Bat Lash hold up well, as westerns and have inspired some really good modern takes. Sgt Rock and Enemy Ace still invoke thoughtful ruminations on the nature of war and those who fight it. Humor was always a big part of my reading and I still have a great fondness for Uncle Scrooge, the Junior Woodchucks, Super Goof, The Three Mouseketeers, Richie Rich, Archie & Jughead and those that captured the same light spirit. However, I have lightened up more about some superhero comics and am more open to the goofy then I was in my teen years. I had my period of railing that the Adam West Batman held back the true Batman, until he got so damn grimdark that I realized that a good portion of that show (the first season and about half to 2/3 of the second, and the movie) was pretty damn entertaining and had more fun plots. Adam West was a heck of a lot funnier than Joel Schumacher and a better detective than either Michael Keaton or Val Kilmer (don't get me started on George Clooney.....that was worse than 3rd season Batman). Favorite characters today would be ones like Bone and Jack Knight, who came into existence later or books like American Century or Iron Empires, which wouldn't be done back then (Iron Empires might have, in a more dumbed down fashion). I also gained an appreciation for more than just American companies, though, back then (late 70s) I was just learning about them; and, later (1990s and 2000s) I was reading them.
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Post by commond on Sept 19, 2023 19:31:53 GMT -5
When I was a kid, my favorite characters were the X-Men, but for some reason I have a harder time reading modern takes on the characters than I do with say Spider-Man or Daredevil. The series has gone through so many iterations since I stopped collecting it that I find it daunting to jump in on a run like Morrison's or Whedon's.
As a teenager, I was primarily into Cerebus, Bone, Bacchus, Concrete, Madman, Nexus, and other characters of that ilk. Not exactly mainstream, but not wildly alternative. I still like these characters.
Since returning to comics as an adult, I have discovered a ton of new favorites -- Conan, Jonah Hex, Guts from Berserk, Francine and Katchoo, and many more.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 19, 2023 20:12:27 GMT -5
Growing up it was Batman, Spider-Man and The Thing, in that order. Followed by most any Earth-2 character.
Now…I don’t have favorite characters. A character is only as good as the creator working on the story. Bad creators are going to make any character stink. Good creators can make “bad characters” great.
Except Superman. He always stinks.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 19, 2023 21:05:14 GMT -5
Growing up it was Batman, Spider-Man and The Thing, in that order. Followed by most any Earth-2 character. Now…I don’t have favorite characters. A character is only as good as the creator working on the story. Bad creators are going to make any character stink. Good creators can make “bad characters” great. Except Superman. He always stinks. I cast thee out!
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 19, 2023 21:17:24 GMT -5
What were your favorite comic characters growing up? Do you still have that same attachment to them or has that affection changed and been replaced by new ones? Across early childhood and into adolescence? Short list: Batman, Phantom Stranger, Green Lantern, Robin, Spider-Man, Doctor Spektor, The Punisher (70s version), Enemy Ace, Captain America, Falcon, Secret Agent X-9, each member of the Fantastic Four, Alfred E. Neuman, Superboy, The Spectre, various Archie characters, a ton of horror "hosts"/mascots (e.g., Uncle Creepy, Cousin Eerie, Cain, Abel, Mordred, Mildred and Cynthia), Doctor Solar, et al. I still appreciate the characters from the period in question, so there was no desire to "replace" them with other characters.
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 19, 2023 23:58:01 GMT -5
My favorite characters as a kid were Pogo, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Popeye, Rocky and Bullwinkle, all the Hanna-Barbera funny animals, and the Universal movie monsters. I still love all of the above with Batman, Nexus, Tarzan, and the cast of Gilbert Hernandez's Palomar stories added to the list.
Cei-U! I summon the top of the heap!
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 20, 2023 2:42:56 GMT -5
My first favorite comic book character was Spider-man, and then many others followed. Now, though, I don't think I really have a favorite character.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 20, 2023 6:02:35 GMT -5
Very first favourites (4-8 years old) : Tintin and Tarzan. Then Lt. Blueberry and Dani Futuro, until I was about 12. Discovering American comic-books: Conan and Shang-Chi (and Thor, to a lesser extent). Late teen : Conan still, as well as Cyclops. Mid-to late-20s : John Constantine. Early 30s : Jaeger, from Carla Speed McNeil's Finder. Late 30s : Conan again After that : Maggie and Ray.
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 20, 2023 6:20:39 GMT -5
Except Superman. He always stinks. Especially Silver Age Superman.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 20, 2023 7:02:55 GMT -5
80s businessman Tony Stark was my first love in comics... followed closely by PADs Hulk and Aquaman. After that I was most into New Warriors and 2099.
These days I think I'd have to say Dick Grayson is my favorite character..Tony's still pretty close though. I'm just sick of them constantly tearing him down and giving him no time to get built back up. Conan is definitely in the top 5.. the rest would depend on my mood.
But really I'm more after stories than characters nowadays.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2023 7:04:10 GMT -5
Fun question!
Spider-Man was my first and still favorite after all these years. The closest of seconds however is the Legion of Super-Heroes, another early discovery as a kid, and likewise still a major favorite. Rounding out my top 3 is the FF, early childhood again, and while slightly behind the other 2, forms the trio that still towers over everything else for me.
There was a period in the early 80's where "Wolverine-mania" was going on and I got swept up in that for awhile. I would have said Wolverine was my #1 back then in fact. But eventually the character got pretty overexposed and for whatever reason, has not stood the test of time for me though I'm still an X-Men fan and like him generally.
Also from the 80's, for some reason the Badger just hit that right spot for me, favorite indy of all time. There were only so many years of material I liked and later treatments never did much for me, but I still have great sentiment for the character and absolutely consider him a favorite for life.
My last "favorite" is probably Deadpool, he was a fun addition in the 90's kind of bringing some of that wise-cracking Spidey style fun (in a twisted crazy way though of course!) and while he definitely got overexposed over time similar to Wolverine, for some reason I still have a good affinity for him. I love the oddballs, what can I say.
A few other honorable mentions would be JSA/Earth-2 characters (All-Star Squadron pre-Crisis hooked me, mostly Elseworlds stuff for later treatments), the Shazam Family, and the Superman Family (particularly Superman, Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, and of course my man Streaky).
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Sept 20, 2023 8:11:11 GMT -5
Not because of comics, I didn't have comics as a kid, but because of animated shows in the 90's (when I was a teen) Batman, Spiderman and X-Men were my favorite characters comics into comics in the mid 90's. Though I were to find out that the animated versions were very different from the actual comics. Other than Batman Adventures. Since then, outside of Batman (and even then I haven't read a modern Batman comic since Morrison) has been about the only one that stayed a favorite.
In my older age, I have since delved into non-superhero comics and have come to appreciate a story over a specific character. Even my name sake I haven't looked into most modern stuff, even that written by Starlin himself. I even have no interest in his cinematic portrayal. Or it is I am just at a burnout on superhero comics and so not much seems to interest me until I take the time to see what else is out there in comics. But life is really sucking up my time with family obligations which leaves little time for trying new comics. If anything my reading goal is to finally finish Cerebus, even though I have a long way to go. I really enjoyed what I have already read.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 20, 2023 9:35:35 GMT -5
I find it great to see how our different age leads to our having wildly different favourites!
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 20, 2023 12:05:48 GMT -5
I find it great to see how our different age leads to our having wildly different favourites! Well, it's hard to find people who saw Alley Oop, after the mid-70s.
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