Top 5 Superheroes

Don your tights and capes ladies and gentlemen.  Here, in no particular order, are my top 5 superheroes.

Superman is no brainer.  He’s the original superhero.  He’s got it all, super strength, flight, invulnerability, and whatever the plot needs him to have. Superman is the hero who inspires us to be better than we are.  He’s a mixture of Space Moses and the American immigrant.  He inspired every super hero who came after him and launched an entire new type of hero.  His unwavering belief in the goodness of mankind and pure, honest desire to help other makes him possibly the greatest hero of all time.

To every light there is a shadow and in Superman’s shadow lurks Gotham’s Dark Knight, Batman.  Batman is the opposite of Superman in many ways.  Superman inspires hope and good intentions, while Batman inspires fear.  And Batman has to use everything he’s got in his never ending struggle to clean up Gotham.  Batman doesn’t have the benefit of superpowers.  He’s only got his intellect, his skills, and his wonderful toys.  And money, lots and lots of money.  He’s a more down to Earth superhero.  He’s cynical because that’s what life has made him.  He does what he does because of his desire to make sure that no one suffers like he and his parents did.  He wants to make Gotham a better place.  In that regard, he is like Superman.  His intentions are pure, even if he always isn’t.

Spiderman is the superhero for the nerds.  High school nerd Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and develops amazing new powers.  After a bout of tragedy, he decides to use these powers for good and fight crime.  Why is he here?  Because Spiderman is the superhero for the everyman.  He’s not a privileged son, or alien with amazing powers.  Spiderman is a guy just trying to make the world a better place.  He’s smart, witty, and always ready to lend a hand to someone in need.  His life is a never ending parade of suffering, but he powers through it all because he believe he needs to.  He’s a superhero with pathos and a great history.  He’s been around for 50 years and I hope we get 50 more.

 

Next is the best man to don the red, white, and blue,

Captain America!  Steve Rogers got his superpowers the good old fashioned way, drugs.  Captain America is great because while he started out as basically a propaganda icon for WWII, he evolved into his own character.  He’s patriotic to be sure, but even more than that he’s got a strong sense of morality.  He follows his conscience no matter what his superiors think and this has gotten him into trouble more than once.  Captain America embodies the ideals of America and is probably the best representation of the country.  He fights for what he believe in and never gives up.  Also, he punched out Hitler, so yeah.  He’s pretty cool.

Lastly we have my favorite superhero.  To be honest, my bias weighed pretty heavily into this one, but it’s my list I’ll do what I want.  It’s Green Lantern.  Not one in particular, Kyle Rainer, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Jon Stewart, I love ‘em all.  I do have a little more preference for Stewart and Kyle because of the DC Animated shows though.  I love Green Lantern because it was Geoff John’s run on the series, particularly Blackest Night, that got me really into comic books again, notably superheroes.  Without Green Lantern, I probably wouldn’t be writing this article, so it’s a mixed blessing depending on your opinion. The Green Lanterns are really great characters who literally fight using only their incredible will and ability to overcome fear.  Those really hit home for me and if I could be any superhero, I’d be a Green Lantern.

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