Six Comic Book Parents Who Raise the Bar for Us Mortals
Number Six – The Green Arrow
Oliver Queen first met his son Connor when he escaped to an ashram for spiritual cleansing. Ollie had just killed Hal Jordan to stop the Parallax entity from destroying the universe and needed some soul searching. Conner Hawke revealed that he was a love-child of Ollie’s former flame Moonday and helped his father recover his confidence.
What makes him a good dad: Ollie didn’t put the kibosh on Connor’s dreams of becoming the next Green Arrow once he decided to hang up the bow. In fact, he encouraged and trained Connor so that he wouldn’t get hurt in the process.
Number Five – Wolverine
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does; unfortunately, he doesn’t do parenting all that well. Wolverine has a son named Daken, who has similar bone claws and the healing factor of his father. He also has the insatiable drive to murder Wolverine. The two first met when Wolverine was restrained in a SHIELD holding cell; Daken took the opportunity to infiltrate the compound and literal gut his father. Wolverine survived, but never had the desire to do any fatherly bonding after that.
What makes him a good dad: When Daken was about to undergo the same treatment that Wolverine experienced to lace unbreakable adamantium to his bones, Wolverine put a stop to it to save his son from irreparable damage. That or he didn’t want a rival that was as tough as him. Either way, he didn’t kill his son when he had the chance, so that has to count for something, right?
Number Four – Batman
Batman’s son Damian is brash, arrogant, and ill-tempered. Since he was raised by the League of Assassins, the first thing he wanted to do when he met his father was kill him. Nevertheless, Batman still took him in and tried to train him to be a respectful crimefighter. After Batman’s death, Dick Grayson – the original Robin – recruited Damian to be his own sidekick and finish what Bruce started with the boy.
What makes him a good dad: Bruce treats his sidekicks like his own children. He gives them loving support and dedicated training for life. He can be demanding at times, but also knows the importance of taking care of his own. When Tim Drake (Robin number three) lost his father in the Identity Crisis, Bruce Wayne legitimately adopted him as his son and brought him into his home full-time. Batman treats Dick, Tim, and Damian as his sons, even when they try to use his own training to kill him. It takes a good dad not to go ninja on his son.
Number Three – Mystique
The shape-shifting Jezebel of the Brotherhood of Mutants is actually the legitimate mother of X-man Nightcrawler and the adoptive mother of Rogue. She is clearly on the wrong side of the law more often than not, but she continually uses her deceptive mutation to keep close tabs on her kids.
What makes her a good mom: When Mr. Sinister tried using an unconscious Rogue to kill Hope, the mutant Messiah, Mystique put a bullet in the man’s head. She feared that the evil geneticist would use Rogue against her. Granted, she helped Sinister to put Rogue in the compromising situation, but when push comes to shove, she protected her adoptive daughter.
She may not have packed her kid’s lunch every day, but at least she was packing when she needed to watch out for her kid.
Number Two – Cyclops
The overly repressive leader of the X-men is actually the father of senior citizen Cable. When Cable was a baby, he was infected with a techno-organic virus that would have claimed his life. Cyclops made the hardest decision any man could and gave his son to a woman who could take Cable into the future, where the technology would be able to keep him alive until the boy could be taught how to use his telekinesis to keep the virus in check.
What makes him a good dad: Cyclops eventually traveled to the future and disguised himself as a man named Slym. He did so in order to be there for his son during his formative years. Cyclops kept his identity from Cable, knowing that his sudden revelation would have disrupted the boy’s training and potentially let the virus take control. When was the last time your dad slipped to the timestream just to check on you?
Number One – Mr. Fantastic
He’s an inter-stellar adventurer, a government consultant, multiple patent holder, sole guardian of the chaos-spewing Negative Zone, the most brilliant mind on the planet… and, oh yeah a father of two adorable kids. Reed Richards hits the number one spot not only because he is an attentive father who keeps his whole family under one room no matter how tough the economy gets (yes, the Fantastic Four have gone broke and been forced to share an apartment); he gets the top stop because he actually teaches his kids. Richards has strict rules about his lab, but when Franklin and Val come snooping around, he never kicks them out. He takes the time to explain things to his son and daughter so that they can become as brilliant as he is.
What makes him a good dad: When the Fantastic Four make the identity shift into the Future Foundation, Val manages to recruit Dr. Doom by agreeing to help him kill her father. When Reed learns this shocking detail, he reacts with the appropriate amount of anger and disapproval, but he still makes sure his daughter knows that he loves her. Keep that in mind next time your kid sneaks out after curfew.
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