My Heroes Haven't Always Been Cowboys

As I attend more and more science fiction and comic book conventions, I'm finding that Nightcrawler has a much larger fanbase than I was aware of.  Growing up in a rural area, there weren't many people out there who shared my love of Kurt Wagner and his prehensile tail.  While Nightcrawler wasn't my first favorite superhero, he has definitely developed into my favorite.  I was first drawn to the character because he was dashing and extremely outgoing despite his physical appearance.  These were qualities I longed for.  I also wanted his power of teleportation, since it could be used to easily escape or to help others.  As I grew older (and Nightcrawler developed even more), I converted to Catholicism and was surprised to find out that my favorite hero had actually become a priest in the comics.  In my world, I was always considered one of the least likely people to become Catholic, and in Wagner's world, he was the most un-Christian looking person to become a priest.  For his misfit qualities, Nightcrawler tops my list.

While I was drawn to Nightcrawler's outgoing ways, it was Thor's strength and self-assuredness that drew me to him.  I loved the fact that Thor could walk into just about any situation and know without a doubt that he would be walking out the victor.  Of course, being the God of Thunder would make just about anyone confident, so it was no surprise that Thor's ego often got in his way.  I'm also drawn to Thor because he is one of the few things that myself and my father have in common.  My dad rarely read anything, having grown up working in rice fields and spending much of his free time either hunting or making mischief in the woods around his childhood home.  He told me that the only thing he would ever read was comics, and that was only when he would join his family in town on their monthly trip to the grocery store.  He never owned a comic book, but he would go to the newsstand and read as much of Thor as he could until it was time to leave the store.  That adds sentimental value to Thor in my book, and he'll always be one of my favorite heroes for this reason.

Gambit popped up in my late childhood, but he quickly became a favorite character of mine for the simple fact that he was from Louisiana.  There aren't many Louisiana heroes out there, so I immersed myself in this shady mutant from the Bayou State.  Heck, I even started playing card games more often in the hopes that one day I could charge up a card and blow something up with it.  I often struggled over whether or not he or Nightcrawler was my favorite member of the X-Men, but knew in my heart that if Gambit weren't from Louisiana, he'd be lower on my popularity list.  Still, I love the fact that he's one of the most popular X-Men out there, which gives my home state a little more attention. 

Daredevil is one of my favorite superheroes for the fact that he shouldn't even be a superhero. He has a lot going against him. For starters, he's blind, which you would think puts him at a disadvantage in a fight, but actually works for him. Secondly, I know of very few characters who have had a tougher life than he has. He has lost a lot of people in his life, including his father who was murdered and a wife who was driven insane. Despite all of this, he manages to deliver an endless onslaught of buttwhippings to a large group of villains. On top of all of this, he's Catholic, which gives me something in common with him.

Very few of the heroes on this list are as cocky as Thor, but Hellboy is definitely a close second.  He's a demon meant to destroy mankind who is raised as a do-gooder by his adopted father, Professor Broom.  He spends his days as part of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense fighting apocalyptic bad guys and pretty much keeping the human realm safe from evil.   

I think the primary reason that I like Hellboy so much is that he's such a hilarious character.  He's a demon but is afraid of his father seeing him smoke cigars.  He loves kittens.  He thinks he's ugly because he's so different from everyone else.  In short, he's a walking, talking oxymoron. Oh, and he's Catholic to boot!

Batman has always been one of my favorite superheroes.  Why?  Probably for the same reasons that everyone else loves him.  He's a normal guy with abnormal wealth, wisdom, and abilities and one of a very short list of heroes with absolutely no superpowers or supernatural gifts.  This makes him a lot more interesting than someone like Superman, who comes off as boring in my book.  Superman is too super.  I enjoy the fact that Bruce Wayne is an emotionally scarred character who sometimes goes over the edge.  He's the most human superhero out there.

Much like Batman, the reasons for loving Spider-Man are obvious.  I'm a nerd.  He's a nerd.  I had a major crush on a pretty girl in school but was too shy to talk to her.  So did he (although eventually he got around to asking MJ out and eventually the two hit it off quite well).  We both dealt with bullies.  In short, Peter Parker was every nerd who has ever walked the halls of a high school but unlike every other nerd out there, he was granted amazing abilities that helped him rise above his problems.  With that said, however, his powers brought him even more problems, usually in the form of villains like Venom, the Lizard, and Doctor Octopus.

After a very brief stint of not regularly reading comics in high school, the summer of 1994 (my first in college) found me reading Top Cow/Image Comics' brief series Codename:  Strykeforce.  Image was still a very young company and Marc Silvestri's Top Cow Productions released a number of titles that I enjoyed.  Killrazor quickly became my favorite member of the Strykeforce team, simply because he was the most mysterious.

His power was strong and lethal, but also very painful.  He could make blades portrude from any part of his body at any time.  The blades grew as long as he wanted them to, but they also left his body scarred beyond belief.  On top of this, he was a martial arts expert and hired hitman.  Although Codename:  Strykeforce didn't last very long, it made me a big fan of Killrazor.

As I grew older, my taste in comics grew darker and more violent.  Like Batman, the Punisher lacks superhuman powers.  Unlike Batman, he has no money or desire to let his enemies live.  Punisher is hellbent on cleaning up the streets and will stop at nothing to get that job done.  Punisher uses any and every means necessary to remove criminals permanently, and he is quite possibly the most violent hero you'll ever run into.  Criminals cringe in fear when they see that white skull bearing down on them.  From guns to grenades, Frank Castle always gets the bad guy.

Jae Lee's Hellshock was a kick in the teeth to a guy like me who grew up reading Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men, but it was a nice kick.  Hellshock is actually a being born out of forbidden love.  An archangel named Jonakand gives in to lust and impregnates a teenaged girl.  Her son, named Daniel, is given up and ends up in a long chain of foster homes.  For his carnal actions, Jonakand is tossed into Hell.  Not happy with his living situation, he attempts to find the young girl whom he loved and bring her back to Hell with him.  Daniel is beginning to realize that he's something special, and eventually finds himself protecting his mother from his father.  This comic was a cool, albeit brief, ride for me.  Lee's artwork was amazing, and the Hellshock character has stuck with me ever since.  I recently learned that the complete series is now available in a graphic novel, and the college guy in me wants to pick up a copy.

I first discovered Hawkeye while he was the leader of the West Coast Avengers.  While he lacks superpowers, his abilities with a bow are super.  What I loved most about this character is the fact that he gets into fights with just about anyone.  I also loved his cool purple costume and the fact that he married Mockingbird, one of the hottest female comic heroes in Marvel's stable.  He recently popped up in the Thor film, and I was so happy to see him there.  I've also learned that he'll  be in the upcoming Avengers flick as well. 

I'm fat.  I've always been fat, and one aspect of being fat is that I am slow.  Needless to say, I was drawn to the Flash for the fact that he is fast and I am slow. As I look back on my life, I've come to realize that I loved a lot of the DC characters as a child because they were the most "fantastic" beings.  As I grew older, I started to enjoy Marvel's more human, gritty heroes and the numerous social issues they faced.  The Flash is one of those gee-whiz DC characters that I loved as a child, and as soon as I skinny myself up a bit, I'm going to get one of those Flash costumes for Halloween!

A born leader, Cyclops is responsible for keeping the rest of the X-Men in line.  For the most part, he does a pretty good job of it.  I love the fact that Cyclops can blast the snot out of anyone with just a flick of his visor.  I also love the fact that he isn't afraid to butt heads with good guys or bad guys, particularly Wolverine.