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Elongated Man. This is an acquired affection but a long lasting one.
I acquired my affection for Elongated Man because he was in the back of every DETECTIVE COMIC in the '60s--which obviously I bought for Batman. But Ralph's stories always featured the best artwork--by the likes of Carmine Infantino and Sid Greene and various guest artists.
And the stories by Gardner Fox and John Broome were mysteries. Whether I grew to love mysteries from my love of Elongated Man or I grew to love Elongated Man from my love of mysteries, I can't say. But every story presented an odd situation at the beginning that I knew would be cleared up by the end. So satisfaction. Not an endless tease.
And Ralph didn't bother with a secret identity. Being married, he wasn't always worried that Sue would find out who he was. So the stories weren't taken up with all that soap opera.
Ralph loved Sue and Sue loved Ralph. It was real love--not idealized. Like every husband and wife they could get on each other's nerves and they had their little arguments. But you always knew that they loved each other and maybe more importantly they respected each other.
They were like real people. Except they were rich which allowed them to travel the world. Each story took the reader to a new place, so there were always new things to discover.
Some say that Elongated Man was just DC's revival of Plastic Man. But that's an insult to both characters. Their powers are similar but not the same and they both do detective work--that's about where the similarities end. Ralph is not trying to be absurdly funny--nor are the artists trying to create a ridiculous world. The Dibnys are grounded in their reality. In fact, most of the villains are ordinary crooks--not supervillains--so Ralph is the only super-powered person in the stories, unless one of his super-friends happens to make a guest appearance.
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I have two. Omac and Power Girl
I like Buddy Blank Omac (Future Captain America, on crazy-ass Kirby Style adventures) and Kevin Kho (a big blue totally awesome hulk before Amadeus Cho was) They're fun characters to read about, and I wish they were back, but I love b and c list characters because they'res so much room for development. That and the Mohawks, mohawks are cool.
I like power girl a lot, she's a character that just loves being a hero and loves having fun, she has a great personality, and I just wish more writers would put more attention on that than how she looks.
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Batman when I was younger, Superman now that I'm older.
But there are a whole bunch of 3rd tier characters I buy no matter what (the Spectre, Animal Man, the Phantom Stranger, Deadman, etc etc).
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Mogo because he doesn't socialize.....I kid though Hal Jordan of course
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Aquaman - The nobility legacy, the abandoned aspect, the outsider trope both in Atlantis and on the Surface, Atlantis, the ocean, the ancient wisdom, magic and the architecture of Atlantis depicted as one parts Greek, one part Roman one part alien.
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When Green Arrow entered the Silver Age I became an even bigger fan of the character. I jumped on board with the Brave and the Bold #85 "The Senator's Been Shot!" Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams created a whole new character. Now Oliver Queen was a man of the people, an anti-establishment, wears his heart on his sleeve liberal with a big mouth, sporting a new costume and a dashing Van Dyke beard. The emerald archer has been my favorite character for 50 years.
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Captain Marvel. Since Shazam! on CBS in 1974. It led me to pick up various DC Comics featuring reprints from the original publisher, Fawcett Comics (Limited Collector's Edition tabloids, 100-Page Spectacular, etc) and I discovered the whole Marvel Family. I loved the zany tone of the epic stories that were nothing like any other modern comic at the time.
I also loved Cap in the World's Finest back up stories written by E. Nelson Bridewell with stunning art by the great Don Newton.
While I'm not happy with how little attention DC has been given to the character who headlined the most popular comic in America, Captain Marvel Adventures (albeit back in the 40's and early 50's), they have done a few wonderful things lately. I loved Jeff Smith's Monster Society of Evil. He perfectly captured the original comics' sense of whimsy with an underlying menacing darkness. Also fantastic were the more recent Thunderworld Adventures by Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart and Convergence:Shazam! by Jeff Parker and Doc Shaner. I would be remiss not to mention the New 52 Justice League backups that relaunched Cap as Shazam By Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. They created a very engaging origin story but 2 years after finishing, there's still no followup to the exciting epilogue where Dr. Sivana meets Mr. Mind.
This character is viable in todays market and it's a little perplexing as to why so little is being done with him.
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[QUOTE=Captain Craig;1712663]Aquaman - The nobility legacy, the abandoned aspect, the outsider trope both in Atlantis and on the Surface, Atlantis, the ocean, the ancient wisdom, magic and the architecture of Atlantis depicted as one parts Greek, one part Roman one part alien.[/QUOTE]
This. I like the character because of how noble he is and the responsibilities he feels forced to take when truthfully if he didn't want to he doesnt have to take the responsibility.
He fights for people who could care less about him and his interest he does thing for the better of others. I also like his world im into environment stuff so the Sea life, Ocean Protection and etc is perfect for men Hes a king of an awesome nation thats spread across the world and I feel like I can relate cause of his dual heritage but not feeling like he belongs to either.
In short hes a character that represents Honor, Nobility, Unity, Overcoming Tragedy, and Responsibility.
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Superman. All versions of him.
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My favorite all-time DC character is Jack Knight from James Robinson's Starman...I guess what I really responded to with Jack, other than his Golden Age lineage (which I'm a huge fan of in and of itself), was the fact that James had devised an overall character arc that featured a beginning a middle and (sadly, but appropriately) an end. How often do you get that in a mainstream comic book?
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More of a villain guy myself. So probably a tie between Lex Luthor, Ras, Joker and the Flash Rogues.
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[QUOTE=Godlike13;1712897]Dick is my favorite.[/QUOTE]
...I can't tell if this is supposed to be a joke or not...
For me its martian manhunter. he's like an interesting version of superman.
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GREEN LANTERN (Hal Jordan)
-- Fearless test pilot with "The Right Stuff." He had all the makings of a great hero as a man which is why he was tapped for the GLC.
-- Action hero - he's not reckless or arrogant. He's capable and confident - a prime example of someone who's use of rapid cognition can get him out of tough situations and who's willpower can win the day. When he had the yellow weakness and when the 24-hour time limit was used more often, he was able to think his way around it.
-- Hal was best friends with Green Arrow as well as The Flash and back in the day, was close to Superman. Hal is Hal - not angst-ridden and is (mostly) comfortable with himself in a way that Bruce and Clark aren't.
-- The "greatest Green Lantern", founder of the Justice League. Those are two great distinctions in the DCU.
-- Great outfit. Green and black are a great color combination and it's a cool stream-lined look :)
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My favorite should be obvious. Who else has ever outfoxed Fauntleroy Fox? :-)