Comic Genesis Forums

Hey, the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye is holding a contest to pick the best superhero of all time. You can cast your vote here:

http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/entert ... 19.special

Should be a lot of fun.

Man oh man, the Red Eye.

They have Batman up against The Spirit in the first round? That's the final pick right there!

Edit: AND IT'S NOT EVEN A CLOSE MATCH! BATMAN IS WINNING 96.1% TO 3.9%. THAT IS INFURIATING. [rant] I mean I fully expected Batman to win even before seeing the voting just because he's more relevant in modern times. BUT THE SPIRIT IS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL COMICS EVER (even if the fact that he's on this list is kind of ironic because his comic was meant to be a detective comic, not a "Super Hero" comic) how can it be so far to one side!?!? Have people forgotten their comic book roots?![/rant]

IVstudios wrote:how can it be so far to one side!?!? Have people forgotten their comic book roots?![/rant]

Um, yes. Yes they have.

Frankly I'm shocked Batman isn't at 100%.

Well it's true that the poll doesn't say "which is the most influential superhero comic" or even "which is the best superhero comic". It says "which is the best superhero" which can mean just about anything. And Batman is the most well known superhero character, because he's milked the most of all superheroes (though competition is though).

People always complain about how characters are paired in things like this. That said...what on earth are they thinking? I cannot detect much rhyme or reason to it. The Spirit vs Batman thing is just...wow. And other matchups...like Hellboy vs Daredevil. I guess they both have a demonic form, but...I guess I don't understand what their basis for the duels is.

Well, I imagine this is in response to Wizard Magazine's recent list, and they probably paired everyone off based on those rankings. Tournament style, y'know.

It's also important to note that the Red Eye is a Chicago paper that has nothing to do with comics, and that the last two Batman movies were filmed here.

They must have paired Batman with Spirit because neither of them has a superhuman abilities.

I'd vote for Bananaman, frankly. You can't beat the banana power.

I bet they don't even mention Matter Eater Lad.

That's because the list is about fictional heros, not real people. (Scroll down to #5)

Now if they included Deadpool, I'd be really torn as to who to root for.

Thor vs Buffy the Vampire Slayer... seriously?

Wonderwoman vs Spawn?

these pairings are just bizarre.

I'd vote for Matter Eater Lad. How can you beat the ability to consume?

This sort of thing is always a reminder of why non-geek publications should just stay away from geek subjects, unless geeks themselves are really heavily involved. It causes me to recall a few years back, when Maxim had a top 25 Lamest Superheroes, and Superman made the top 10. I may not like Supes, or anything he stands for, but that made no damned sense at all.

What I don't understand in this competition are the bracket names. Fine, Stan Lee is a given, but they couldn't come up with better bracket names than celebrities who like comics?

To be fair, Kevin Smith wrote for several comic books (such as Spider-man and Daredevil). And even though I really like a lot of his stuff, I will agree that putting him in the same category as Stan Lee is odd to say the least.

kevin smith retconned Black Cat's origin to a rape. or something like that, there was a rape involved.

So I don't like him >:(

Just saying.

And the best hero is Spider-Man

Rkolter wrote:I'd vote for Matter Eater Lad. How can you beat the ability to consume?

Throw him in lava.

Bet they didn't even bother to include Captain Euro... ='(

its because he's actually a massive racist. THE SECRET SHAME.

As opposed to the public shame that his uniform is?

CaptainClaude wrote:kevin smith retconned Black Cat's origin to a rape. or something like that, there was a rape involved.

So I don't like him >:(

Just saying.

I think that was "The Evil That Men Do" story-line, which I never finished reading so I can't really comment on. But if Wikipedia is to be believed the whole thing was quite a black mark on his record.

I still like his stuff in general though.