Doctor Q wrote a list about super beings recently and since
I love Superheroes and Free Comic Book Day just passed, I figured I would try
to do a list of my own. If only to spark some debate among the Pop Trends crew.
Batman is a source of debate here at PT. Personally, I love
Batman. But let’s be realistic. He is seriously overrated. I understand that he
is a master detective, above average fighter and a brilliant mind in every
aspect, which has more than earned his spot in the Justice League, but the fact
is that he is not the best human in the universe. Batman’s strength lies behind
the scenes and people tend to forget that. Hollywood hasn’t helped alleviate
that image either. People often tend to forget that Batman was created around
the height of Superman’s popularity and as intentionally made the complete
opposite of Superman, in order to capitalize on a market that wasn’t into god-like
beings that punch things who suffer from rock allergies.
But Batman is far from the only human able to kick butt and stand
beside Superman and Wonder Woman in the DC universe. A lot of people, DC
included, tend to forget that.
Now, I intend to do a Marvel list too but since I’m a DC
girl through and through, I figured I’d start with them. Now, my criteria is
simple enough. The heroes must be fully human, with absolutely no super powers.
Obviously, they may have technology with them to assist (as Batman does) but no
innate super powers like say for example, heat vision or telepathy.
So without further ado, here are my picks for eight DC
Heroes that are human and kick butt:
 |
| Renee Montoya as The Question |
8. The Question
(Renee Montoya)
The Question has
had many incarnations, forms and purposes. Whatever the case, they all have the
same thing in common and that is that they are all brilliant detectives, to the
point where all other heroes respect and occasionally consult him/her
(depending on the incarnation) regarding their cases. The Question’s sole
superpower is detective work and in the case of Renee Montoya, whatever she
learned as a cop and martial arts. That’s pretty much it. Even so, The Question
has managed to take down a lot of Gotham’s organized crime gangs, including
Intergang. Sure, it might not be the same as taking down Doomsday or Metallo,
but considering the cesspool of crime Gotham city is, being able to intimidate
mafia bosses without the aid of bat ears should be enough to earn a spot on
this list. You also have to give credit to The Question’s choice of allies,
which include Huntress and Batwoman, also humans with no superpowers who put
some metahumans to shame.
7. Katana (Tatsu
Yamashiro)
 |
| Katana knows how to use that blade by the way. |
Katana has been
reinvented in many ways, but Tatsu Yamashiro is the one with the cool, if
clichéd backstory. Katana, as her name implies, fights with an enchanted blade
that may or may not keep the soul of someone it has killed. She operated
heavily with The Outsiders, a team that liked to bend the rules every once in a
while to get the job done. In newer incarnations, she’s also banded with the
Birds of Prey and even the Suicide Squad. Having trained under numerous martial
artists, which include assassins and Samurais, she’s not above honorably
killing someone to get the job done. During the Blackest Night arc, Katana
held her own against the Black Lanterns and even made peace partially with her
checkered past. Katana has no other superpowers and even though the New 52
attempted to give her a new storyline and book, it never seemed to take off.
It’s a shame, really. She really is an interesting character, intelligent and
well versed in combat. It’s just that somehow she can’t seem to get her feet
off the ground.
 |
| Also, he invented/made that stupid looking airship too. |
6. Blue Beetle
(Ted Kord)
Ted Kord is kind of
like Iron Man and Batman. He’s super rich, super smart and a massively
brilliant inventor. He was the Justice League resident scientist for some time
and has often collaborated with Bruce Wayne to develop new technologies. It
should also be noted that at any point could’ve had superpowers with his
scarab, but never used it. He did just fine with his brain, money and athletics
and the entire league respected him for those attributes. One of his crowning
achievement lies in the 90’s, when he faced down Doomsday along with the
Justice League. Doomsday annihilated the league, but Blue Beetle still faced
him, knowing how that would go. Obviously he lost the fight and was put in a
coma but not before gaining time for Booster Gold, his eternal Bro, to get
additional help from Superman. For facing Doomsday, while knowing you’re going
to most likely die from being pounded into ground beef and giving nifty gadgets
to the league that make Bruce Wayne wish he were you, he gets a spot on this
list.
5. Booster Gold
(Michael Jon Carter)
 |
| His personality matches his picture too. |
Booster Gold is
what happens when you have no super powers whatsoever, but somehow you travel
back in time with a power suit and some gear that gives you some powers.
Booster is a time traveler from the 25th century and without his
power suit, can do absolutely nothing. Still, he’s found a way to make it work
and is even more famous for pretty much pimping himself to every possible
company and product to make money. He’s part of the Justice League though they
don’t really know why and is also Blue Beetle’s carefree, irresponsible best
friend. Way before the word “Bromance” was ever conceived, Booster and Beetle
had been bros for years. His suit allows him to shoot beams and his other gear
allows him to make force fields and fly. He also has a robot sidekick named
Skeets that is a legitimate smart ass. Booster Gold isn’t an entirely lost
cause however. He is actually a really good strategist and highly intelligent,
it’s just that he rarely chooses to use those two things, especially if someone
else can do it too. He genuinely always tries to help, even going through time
streams trying to find Batman when he got lost in time and standing up to
Doomsday with the rest of league. He also tried to replace Superman during his
absence out of a need for a leader and was a wreck when Blue Beetle was in his
Doomsday-induced coma. Say what you will about Booster Gold, but the fact
remains that he is one of the more loyal Justice Leaguers and is always willing
to fight when needed, even when he’s pretty sure he won’t be able to make a
difference.
 |
| "I SAID NO ONIONS!!" |
4. Wildcat (Ted
Grant)
Superman usually resolves
things by punching them. A super punch obviously hurts and solves pretty much
any problem. Wildcat does the same thing. Except he has no super strength to
back it up. He has above average strength though, gained through the many years
he spent boxing and training in other martial arts, the same as any other human
fighter would. Wildcat is a simple enough concept. He’s a grizzled old boxer
who knows how to properly punch things and make them stay down. His butt
kicking exploits can often be seen throughout the pages of the Justice Society
and since he’s older now, he’s a mentor and martial arts trainer to younger
heroes. However, keep in mind that among the people he’s trained are Black
Canary, Green Arrow and Batman. So what puts him in this list is that not only
he’s a hero in his own right who isn’t afraid of punching evil meta humans stronger
than him (as seen in every major arc of DC), he’s also responsible for the
other heroes who are known for kicking butt with their fists.
3. Steel (John
Henry Irons)
 |
| Oh my God, he's lifting the hammer! RUN! |
Steel came about
during Reign of the Supermen story
arc. When Superman died, this steelworker decided that Metropolis needed a
hero, made himself a suit of, you guessed it, steel, grabbed a huge hammer and
proceeded to dispense justice to street gangs. His back story has been done a
million times before, which basically consists of a ballistics experts whose
work fell into the hands of terrorists and street gangs. What sets him apart is
that he has no money and no additional powers or abilities other than knowledge
in ballistics and engineering. With his steel suit (that doesn’t shoot lasers,
by the way) and huge-ass hammer, he proceeded to put 90’s Superboy in his
place, fought the Visor Superman AKA the Eradicator to a legitimate stand still
and with his armor broken to pieces, singlehandedly stopped a kryptonite
powered engine, the size of a city, that was built on the remains of Coast City
using nothing but his hammer and basic knowledge of engineering. Then he mocked
the Cyborg Superman and fought alongside the real Superman during that story
arc. Did I also mention that he basically told Lex Luthor to suck it when he
was offered a job as a private Superman to him? Exactly. And all this was just
in the Reign of the Supermen arc.
Never mind when Batman asked to put him on the Justice League because they
needed more brains than brawn in their roster. Even though eventually Steel
upgraded his suit with plenty of features, let’s just focus that at first this
man dispensed justice using nothing but a steel suit that does nothing (except
fly with the aid of self-invented jet boots) and a big ass hammer which has met
Cyborg Superman and Mongul in the face.
2. Robin/Red Robin
(Tim Drake)
 | |
| He's not Batman, Ra's. He's got friends! |
Now I wasn’t going
to put any of the Bat-Family members on this list, but the reality is that Tim
Drake rarely gets the respect and credit he deserves, which is why I made an
exception and put him on this list. Outside of comics Tim Drake is virtually
non-existent. In the Young Justice
animated series, credit for founding the team was given to Dick Grayson and Tim
was relegated to a supporting role. Whereas in the books, Dick Grayson doesn’t
even make an appearance. Out of all of Batman’s sidekicks, Tim is the smartest
one, versed in chemistry, history, computer science/hacking, criminology, forensics,
theology, cloning sciences and at least four languages. Tim is known to have
contingency plans for everything, including plans to take out heroes in case
they go rogue. Contrary to Batman though, his plans are Machiavellian in nature
and set up in a way where the heroes take each other out in a domino effect,
effectively keeping his hands clean. Mind you, he also has plans in case that
fails too. To add to his achievements, Tim has also (by himself) taken down the
entire League of Assassins, earning Ra’s Al Ghul’s respect and the nickname
“Detective” from him, a name he used to use exclusively for Batman. He founded
Young Justice and successfully led the Teen Titans. He has also defeated Lady
Shiva, the greatest assassin ever, after learning all he needed from her and
faced Superboy when he went on a rampage, knowing he would lose, not because he
couldn’t take him but because that was his friend. Suddenly Batman doesn’t
sound quite as awesome, considering that Tim has done everything Batman has
done(including dead parents) but slightly better and in his teen years.
1. Green Arrow
(Oliver Queen)
 |
| Where's your mom now? |
You can’t have a list of human superheroes without Green
Arrow. Personally, I dislike him. But let’s give props where they are due.
Green Arrow has often been more of a progressive superhero, considering it’s
his comics that often dealt with society based issues like drugs, racism and
even an illegitimate, gay, mixed race son back when no comics even dared to
address these issues. Green Arrow has had to deal with everything. From
Superman going haywire and trying to kill him to having a junkie for a sidekick
and even with being exiled from his own city. Though he may wield an outdated
weapon, to the point where it’s even campy sometimes, something has to be said
for a man who can hold his own against Superman, an army of Black Lanterns,
beat Deathstroke and hide from an entire city looking for him. Let’s not forget
that he also partners up frequently with Green Lantern and Black Canary, which
makes him even more prone to face creatures out of league. But it also makes
them more prone to a serious butt-whoop by a guy dressed as Robin Hood with an
attitude and an ego to match.
So there you have it folks. What are your thoughts? I know
more members of the Bat-family should've been on this list, but let's face it
people, Bats and kin aren't the only intelligent humans out there.
Besides, since DC obviously hates Tim Drake, let's give him
a little love here in Pop Trends, okay?
No comments:
Post a Comment