] type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>

Saturday, May 07, 2011

Aquaman On The Web: Top 100 Comic Book Heroes

sg
IGN has a "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes" list up now; a bunch of Aqua-Fans sent the Shrine messages about the Sea King's placement on the list--#52.

Of course, when making a list like this, you're inviting complaints from almost everyone except die-hard Superman fans as to where their particular hero is ranked. So there's no point in whining about Aquaman being way back at #52.

That said, let's look at some the people who were slotted ahead of him--Mitchell Hundred (#48), Hawkeye (#44), Tim Drake Robin (#32), and my favorite--one of the frigging Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Raphael, at #23!

I think it might be appropriate to send some dead fish to the IGN offices, what about you?

13 comments:

Dennis said...

Agreed

Russell said...

Who the hell is Mitchell Hundred? Sheesh.

Joe Slab said...

I've already registered a formal complaint with the IGN comics editor, who is in fact a HUGE Aquaman fan. He stated if it was only his list, Aquaman would be in the top 5 but it was a group consensus project and of course was meant more in fun than anything else!

Joe Slab

Diabolu Frank said...

As one of the foremost fans of the Martian Manhunter on the internet, even I concede that his ranking nine spaces ahead of Aquaman is a crock. Hell, I'm already tearing this thing apart line by line. Their 100 villains list was solid enough, but this one is just a bunch of ignorant biased baby jerks talking out if their butts. I was talking with Shag and Boosteriffic about the hierarchy of super-heroes a month or so back, and Aquaman is one of about 20 I place in the "A" list. Superman, Supergirl, Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man. These are the characters you can spin a globe, point at a random location, and expect someone in that region to light up at seeing their picture.

Aaron said...

How does a hero with a steady run 70+ years, founding member of the Justice League of America, Superfriend, etc. go from being so recognized that he appears on a can of soda from somewhere in North Africa or the Middle East to placing somewhere behind a Ninja Turtle. This isn't 1988.

@rob!- did it trouble you that, once again Aquaman was two steps behind Captain Marvel??

Also, I think it's a little unfair to spread out the X-Men and the FF accross the list, as they were created as team books.

And, while I like to stay positive... Spawn MY ASS!

David J. Cutler said...

I'm a big fan of all those characters you mentioned--and Tim Drake's had a well-selling book consistently for more than 15 years now. Plus the ladies love him.

rob! said...

David-

Fair enough, but I think Tim Drake is still a stretch.

The one that really made me laugh was Raphael: definitely the "break-out" Ninja Turtle.

David J. Cutler said...

Maybe you have to be from my generation, the late 80s/90s kids. Thought it was pretty cool to see him so high haha.

My 5 favorite DC heroes are Aquaman, Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne and Barbara Gordon. Always loved the bat sidekicks intensely, so I'm glad to see a few of them in the top 50. I wish Aquaman was higher but it feels like splitting hairs since I know it's still an uphill battle with his rep in the nerd community. (I was very surprised he topped Namor.)

Shellhead said...

I have to agree with David. I'm actually surprised Arthur did as well as he did. IGN skews pretty young (the under 30 crowd), and you have to be at least a Gen Xers to have experienced Aquaman in his prime. Here's hoping for a new golden age for Aquaman, so that when they do another such list in the future, he'll rank in the Top 25 where he belongs.

JD said...

IGN lists always seem irrelevant anyways, just ignore them. Love how they act like they have gravitas or something making lists for every little thing when it's only their editors opinions and not voted on by the public at large.

Anthony said...

Speaking as one of the "Superman fanboys"... :-p

Yes, I wondered about the average age of the responders, as well. Suspect it's younger, otherwise, Wolverine wouldn't remotely rank *that* high if I threw in my Baby Boomer parents/coworkers' input (a generation that probably likes/recognizes the Hulk way more than "that guy Hugh Jackman played").

Re: Aquaman: yes, he should've ranked higher...if he can get parodied on SpongeBob SquarePants and be the subject of a recurring sketch on "Craig Ferguson", I think he's bigger than "Yorick Brown" (from a comic nobody but comic fans has heard of).

David J. Cutler said...

I don't think they were ranking famousness, Anthony--just greatness, which is subjective. If it was famousness, Aquaman might be in the top 10.

Jakethy said...

Wow - I may have to lodge a complaint too. He shoulda beat Raphael... with a cold mackerel.
I just found your awesome blog after my own post went up today. I'm looking forward to watching the 70th anniversary celebration happen here.