Best and Worst Cartoon and Comic Characters

Best Hero:

Having read many Green Lantern stories (although not nearly enough), I'm convinced that Hal Jordan is the very definition of a "hero" - so much so that I'm very much looking forward to JLA: Cry for Justice even though I hate the JLA overall.

Best Villain:

I know he's from the same series and there are some better villains out there, but "the Joker" is such a clichéd answer that some other genuinely good villains, such as Sinestro here, get overlooked. Sure, his name is a bit lame for a villain you want to take seriously, but you get over that when you realise just how brilliant this character is. I can actually sympathise with him while at the same time opposing him, and it's clear even to newcomers that he's got a past with the Green Lantern Corps' most prominent member even without reading any origin stories or the like. I seriously think that because of this, Sinestro is one of the best villains I've read about.

Originally Posted by Laikra

Superman

I always thought the real problem with Superman is that he is invulnerable to everything except kryptonite or someone from his own planet, and the stories are not as engaging as they could be because you are not worried about Superman. You have to put the hero in danger to make a good story. So as a result, you always have to put kryptonite in the story to make Superman vulnerable. That is kind of a cheap device, isn't it? =/

While I'm not a big fan of Superman, you don't need Kryptonite to make a story with him interesting - for example, I really want to read the Death of Superman arc for obvious reasons, and Red Son is probably one of my favourite alternate history stories (what if Superman landed in Soviet Russia instead of America).

Best:
Rorschach


V


The Question


Green Arrow


Worst:
Batman (the All-Star Batman & Robin version)


Supreme & Suprema

Best:
Clint Barton

There's about four Avengers books being released right now, and for my money Clint Barton is the most consistently good character on any of the teams. Keeping in mind that the teams include characters like Spider-Man, Hank Pym, Wolverine, Hercules, Luke Cage and more. Since rejoining the New Avengers Barton has been hard to keep the spotlight away from. While before it was a Cap/Iron Man book, then a Luke Cage book, ever since he joined the team it almost functions as a Ronin book. Hot-headed, impulsive, and utterly fearless, Clint has a strong sense of what is right or wrong in a Marvel Universe that is mostly made up of shades of grey these days. He's just rad.

Oh, and his Ultimate counterpart killed a room full of armed guards while tied to a chair by removing and flicking his fingernails down their throats. So. rad.

Bigby Wolf

I'm still not entirely sure what it is that made the Big Bad Wolf of Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs fame turn to the 'light side' so to speak, but I'm glad he did. Despite the fact that he is fighting with the good guys, Bigby is still utterly ruthless, scarily cunning, and extremely powerful. Nobody better could be chosen to be the Sheriff of Fabletown.

Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue in popular memory is just a horn player from a little rhyme. In the world of Fables he seems to be an unassuming clerk working for the mayors office. But delve into his past and you find out he is actually a war hero, a covert spy, and an all-around awesome character. Over the story we go from seeing Boy Blue as a side character to being one of the stars of the show, and a worthy star he is.

Jesse Custer

The Reverend Jesse Custer has a moral compass that points so strongly in one direction that not even the might of God could move it. In fact, Jesse Custer is so strong-willed, he decides that he actually wants to take on God, to hold him accountable for abandoning mankind. And while he might have the power of the Word of God to aid him, he doesn't often use it. He prefers to use his fists and feet to get his message across (that or he just forgets about his 'gift'). Custer is far from being a perfect person, but he is an amazing character, and probably the most badass in any comic I have ever read.

Nico Minoru

When Runaways first begins, the main character is clearly someone else. Come the end of the first volume, it is obvious that Nico is actually the one in charge of things. Nico is the head of a family that has no desire to actually be anything like a family, a challenging task to say the least, and yet somehow she manages to hold it together. She isn't infallible, she makes more than her share of mistakes, but what great characters don't?

Peter Parker (Ultimate)

Don't get me wrong, I like the 616 Peter Parker as well (the current Spidey arc is in particular doing a good job with the character), but Ultimate Peter is the real star of his book. Not Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Bendis had that goal in mind, and he has done a spectacular job of achieving it. The book isn't about how Spidey will beat the bad guys, its about how Peter is going to cope with his life while fighting the bad guys. How that is going to impact him, how the people in his life and work are effected. And it makes for compelling story-telling.

Beast

If you were to ask me who the most interesting X-Men character there was right now, I'd probably have a hard time answering. But I think that Beast would probably be one of the first to spring to mind. Following the decimation of the mutant population following the House of M, it was Hank McCoy who immediately started taking steps to figure out how to reverse the situation, how to prevent the extinction of the mutant populace. In Endangered Species he went through unimaginable lengths and turned to unimaginable people to try to solve the problem, and currently has brought together a new team to help solve problems that specifically impact mutantkind. Among a few other things, Hank McCoy is shaping up to have a big year (or two) in comics.

Worst:
Vulcan

When first introduced in Deadly Genesis, the third Summers brother had potential to be a really interesting and compelling character. Sadly, many story-arcs, mini-series, and events later, Gabriel Summers has become one of the most boring villains is comics. "BECAUSE I'M EEEEEVVVVIIILL" seems to be what drives him, rather than any actual purpose, he is ridiculously overpowered (and I'm still not sure what his power is exactly), has no personality other than being a raging angry person, and just is boring.

The Sentry

Pretty much everything the same as above, but a good guy instead of a villain (well, kinda these days). So over-powered that they actually need to find ways to write him out of events because if he's in them he basically wins for whatever side he is on with no effort. So devoid of any real personality that they actually needed to give him psychological issues to try to make him interesting (and failed). Really, they might as well draw him like a cardboard cut-out, because that is pretty much how he comes off.

Best Cartoon Character

Evil baby genius. Need I say more?

Worst Cartoon Character

thought he was the most pointless caharcter ever

Best Comic Character

Batman, best hero of them all. Even able to take out Superman.

Worst Comic Character

Just look at the picture

To all you guys who mentioned Robin, you should pick up some of the recent Batman comics, and see how badass the new Robin is.