[I]I essentially love all the silver age heroes and teams because I grew up with them. Currently I am really enjoying unworthy Thor. It may be due to my Scandinavian heritage that I love Norse Gods, or it may be that the writer is fantastic. All the other heroes mentioned on this blog are great too.[/I]
Spiderman was a big deal to me when I was a young kid. At the time I mostly liked all the tricks he could do with the webs but he taught me a lot about responsibility and about doing good with the skills you've been given.
Later on I became a really big New Mutants fan through a really good friend of mine who happened to be a girl. I really connected with them because they were all teens like me so I could relate to a lot of their problems. I'm also a minority and I liked that the team was a diverse one so that made me feel even more connectioned to them. I think I felt closest to Magik though. Something about Illyana just drew me in. Maybe it was that she was a bit of a loner or that I liked her power set.
Ungh now I feel old.
Simply put, with some exceptions to his origin, he's the character that I dreamed about creating as a kid.
He is a polymath (and a polyglot, for that matter) with genius level IQ and inventions to aid him and his team. He is at his best in the halls of academia, imparting knowledge and challenging young minds.
His strength, nigh-invulnerability and combat skills enable him to go toe to toe with the with the strongest, most powerful characters in the MU, whether we're talking one on one, or as was the case when he fought the Avengers, one on many. His quietly kept x-factor is that the longer a fight goes, the more powerful and determined he gets. Don't ever count him out.
The true source of his power is potentially immeasurable and he is able to use his superhuman abilities to achieve a variety of cosmic level feats. This is probably his best feature, because it gives writers a chance to depict him either as a powerful energy manipulator, or a flying tank without it detracting from his overall effectiveness and prowess.
He is an officer and a gentleman, a father and a good man. He is circumspect and loyal to a fault. He's lived through times when his country was not at its best, yet he has never given up hope, or let their cynicism and hatred change him. He is inclusive and cares about the greater global community.
And lastly, no favorite hero of mine could be complete without a truly phenomenal woman at his side. In Monica Rambeau he has that. And then some.