That's right, it's another goddamned reboot. It feels like every year there's a new number one on the shelves. Get back to legacy numbering, you jerks!
Anyway, the topic for this one is a favourite of mine: superheroes! They are now more popular than ever, featured in popular TV show, movies, video games and occasionally in something called comic books. But who even reads those any more. A little under 10 years ago, the Rifftrax forum covered this topic. But things are different now: we have new heroes, new forum members and, in general, tastes can change a LOT in that time. So this is a topic I'm eager to revisit.
I've loved superheroes for a long time. I remember being scared of comics for a long time as a kid, having seen some stuff that made me think it was all killing. But a friend showed me the best seller X-Men #1 from '91 (the one with all of them Jim Lee covers) and I was into it pretty quick. It's funny that I got into it at that point, because that's arguably an era when superhero comics were at their lowest point (maybe second to the 50's). They were still popular but plagued by bad story ideas and continuity so think you could cut it with a chainsaw and some elbow grease. But I didn't care, I loved them. I feel like at first they were just fun colourful characters to me, but a series called Astro City, as well as the Batman and X-Men cartoon series, clued me into the ability to tap into more story telling potential beyond "super people punching each other is cool" (for the record, it is).
They can be powerful aspirational figures, or characters we can connect with (which is why I think diversity in superhero fiction is really important), or simply interesting superdudes. Right now, I think a lot of people are feeling frustrated and powerless and that's when these characters might be most important. Recently, I was reading the classic Superman comics and it was fascinating. The character was kind of a bully, but one who would target other bullies who represented the social ills at the time (and, on occasion, chose some ill-advised targets). But there's this core idea that there's someone who can do the things we can't that has staid with the genre. Sometimes it bends back, examining corruption and abuse of power. Sometimes it is truly inspirational, as you can find a lot of powerful stories online of people moved to improve their lives by, as Stan Lee once called them, the "long underwear crowd"). But this is a topic I feel very passionately about and hope you can join in on.
Now, for you first timers, here's how our very easy activity works:
HOW IT WORKS:
Create a list of your favorite superhero, each numbered from 1 to 25 like so:
1. Your favorite TV Show.
2. Your second favorite TV Show.
3. Your third most favorite TV Show.
And so on until you get to #25.
Once the list is complete, send it to me via Personal Message, not via this thread.
When all submissions are in, I'll score them. Your #1 choice gets 25 points, your #2 choice gets 24, all the way down to your #25 choice, which gets 1. I add up the points, and then rank the characters in a list here in this forum for your enjoyment. Should you submit a list of less than 25 items, then your points are reduced accordingly. A list with only 5 songs only gets 5 points for the number one choice, so the more you can think of, the better.
Qualifications:
1) It must be a superhero. This is the tricky part, as superhero isn't a rigidly defined term. There are quite a few pulp characters who existed before the term superhero that I would except like Zorro or the Lone Ranger. They don't necessarily need powers, the don't necessarily need costumes and in some cases, they can even be evil. Just don't mix up an evil superhero (Captain Hammer, the main character of Irredeemible) with straight on supervillains. An "evil superhero" should probably be someone who is pretending to be good or has a certain public image). But again, there's no 100% solid rubrik for this so follow your heart and if you want some advice, you can ask me or bring it up on this thread to hear peoples opinions.
2) No teams. That should be its own thread. This is just for individual characters. Mostly. I will accept some duos, but only if they are sort of a package deal. No Batman & Robin as a single entry, but I will accept Menos Y Mas from the Teen Titans as a single entry. Again, if you have a question about this one, don't hesitate to ask.
3) They can be from any medium. Comics, TV, Movies, Video Games. But to simplify things, please don't differentiate to much. I don't want a list that has the movie and TV versions of Superman as separate entries. For my sake, please keep it simple, sunshine.
I think that covers everything, since this is a pretty easy topic. Though I am expecting a WIDE range of shows and a lot of different entries.
The due date is June 10th! That gives you almost TWO WEEKS.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask below.
Topic: List of Crap #103: Top 50 Superheroes (Read 2628 times)
