What is Best in Life?
People, I don’t have much of anything I want to blog about today, so I’m just gonna sit here and deliberately stir up trouble.
What I am about to reveal here is the complete, objective truth.
For example:
Who was the best Green Lantern?
Answer: Kyle Rayner.
No, definitely not Hal Jordan. He’s always been a shallow, generally uninteresting character. “Fearless test pilot” isn’t a personality all by itself, and the people out there who seem to freakin’ worship Hal strike me as some of the weirdest people on earth. Yes, that includes the “Hal’s Emerald Attack Team” fanatics and Geoff Johns. As for the rest of them, Guy Gardner’s generally fun, but he’s mostly a gag character. I like John Stewart, especially in the Justice League cartoons. Simon Baz is too new. But Kyle, the last Green Lantern, uncertain, awkward, crab-masked, completely aware of his own fears, freelance artist with the no-yellow-impurity power ring? Kyle was the best.
Who was the best Flash?
Answer: Wally West.
Definitely, definitely not Barry Allen. Having a crew cut and a bow tie makes him the *worst* Flash. Wally was funnier, cooler, more interesting in every possible way — and of course, he was far, far, far faster.
Who was the best Robin?
Answer: Dick Grayson.
Really, I guess the best answer would be “Anyone but Jason Todd.” Because I really like all of the Robins. But Dick was the first Robin, he was Robin for the longest time, and he eventually ended up being the best possible Nightwing, so I’m giving the circus kid the crown.
Who was the best Batgirl?
Answer: Stephanie Brown.
Not to take anything away from Barbara Gordon or Cassandra Cain, because they were pretty cool, but as grim and gritty as the Bat-verse generally is, it was just plain awesome to get to read a Bat-title every month where the lead character wasn’t an emotionally-crippled basket case. Steph was fun and funny and had the best dialogue.
Who was the best Aquaman?
Answer: Bearded, hook-handed Aquaman.
Because I don’t care who writes him, the clean-shaven, orange-shirted nonentity from “Super Friends” just sucks on every possible level.
Who was the best Hawkgirl?
Answer: Kendra Saunders.
Mostly because I liked the idea of a Hawkgirl who, at least initially, didn’t want to be the back half of “Hawkman and” — she didn’t love Hawkman, and she wanted to be her own person. She was even in relationships with people other than Hawkman. Eventually, she fell in love with Hawkman in a way that felt more organic, realistic, and worthwhile, and that was fine with me. She certainly didn’t deserve to get exit-stage-lefted the way she did…
Who was the best Green Arrow?
Answer: The one with the beard.
I liked Connor Hawke, but he’d never be the equal of his dad. And Ollie without a beard just looks like a dork, so he’s gotta have the ridiculous beard.
Who was the best Hulk?
Answer: Angry green stupid Hulk.
I liked the Professor Hulk, actually. And the Green Scar was cool. Joe Fixit is always fun. But angry green stupid Hulk is the strongest one there is.
Who was the best Spider-Man?
Answer: The Peter Parker married to Mary Jane Watson.
Because Spider-Man isn’t Otto Octavius, and he doesn’t make deals with the Devil.
What are the best zombies? Fast or slow?
Answer: Slow zombies.
To quote Max Brooks: “Ha ha, there are no such things as fast zombies!”
So there we go, friends and neighbors, all the mysteries of life cleared up. Go on about your business, please.
Andy Said,
February 18, 2013 @ 12:26 pm
The best Spider-Man is obviously multi-armed Spider-Man from the Mobius saga. THEN Otto Octavius.
JD Said,
February 18, 2013 @ 1:35 pm
I pretty much agree with everything– except I don’t have much experience with Hawk-heroes. I liked the original Peter Parker, but the one who married MJ was a natural development of that one. Steph Brown should still be Batgirl, Babs should be Oracle, Barry Allen died tragically and stayed dead, and Superman’s outfit doesn’t have a collar.
grumble grumble comic-writers these days grumble
I always wondered if Ollie’s beard shouldn’t be a part of the costume. It defines the character, but it takes something special to look lame next to Clark Kent’s disguise, and Ollie’s manages it.
scottslemmons Said,
February 18, 2013 @ 10:34 pm
Andy: You are entirely wackypants.
JD: The beard really was a great element to GA’s look. It’s a great visual hook, and it’s just hard to believe they didn’t understand that. But Jim Lee has a fanboy’s love of redesigning everything he can, no matter how little they need to be redesigned…
Buryak Said,
February 19, 2013 @ 4:51 am
I agree with most everything, except a few.
I’ve grown to hate the Green Lantern. I like the Batman Beyond “Buddha Boy” Green Lantern and the idea of the Corps., but I don’t like Hal or Kyle. Stewart always seemed like a place holder and Guy should only be a bit player. I would like to see the Green Lantern as a team book only. I’m so sick of Hal.
I like Jay Garrick. The primitive writing during the Golden Age aside, I liked how he was a swashbuckling speedster, who’s speed wasn’t “time travelling” ridiculous. How fast Barry and Wally are is a little too over the top for me. Barry was bland and Wally was a tad too Spider-Man cocky for my liking.
I hated the bearded/hooked Aquaman, because it seemed they were trying to Namor him. I liked the Brave and the Bold Aquaman. All “Huzzah!” and adventurous, always with a smile on his face. He was like a cross between Captain Marvel and Errol Flynn.
Everything else was bang on for me. Especially Green Arrow. Hulk IS a monster. Dick Grayson will always be Robin to me. I’ve never read the Stephanie Brown Batgirl, but from what I’ve heard, I think she would be fun to read. And slooooooooooooooooooooooow zombies are always more fun.
Voodoo Ben Said,
February 19, 2013 @ 6:08 am
Seconding Aquaman-voiced-by-Bender. “I call it, ‘The Time I Sounded Like a Robot From the Future’! Huzzah!”
scottslemmons Said,
February 19, 2013 @ 12:48 pm
Buryak, if you can find Steph’s comics in TPB, try to pick ’em up. Might be difficult, because as far as I can tell, the first volume of the TPBs is out of print and only available from Amazon for about $85, which is just too much to pay…
And yes, Buryak and Voodoo Ben both: Animated BTBatB Aquaman is just astonishingly awesome. 🙂
Notintheface Said,
February 19, 2013 @ 10:39 pm
No John Fox love? http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/fox.html
scottslemmons Said,
February 19, 2013 @ 10:42 pm
I’ll be honest — John Fox’s greatest moment was in the JLA One Million story where he gets beat up from inside Plastic Man’s digestive tract.