As a kid, we all had our favorite superheroes that we wished we could be or wished that we had their superpowers. With them as our inspiration, they instilled in us hope that we could somehow change the world for the better one step at a time. The existence of superheroes did not exist till 1938 when American comic books gained popularity. During this time, Superman was first introduced to the world.
Since then, comic book characters have been marginalized and people started loving the superheroes that the creators have made. Up until now, people still admire the superheroes both in the comics and the big screen. Today, movies about the story of our beloved superheroes from both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC have been a blockbuster hit and talk of the town for days on end. So, here are the Top 10 Superheroes of 2017.
10. Superman
Superman was the first comic book hero published by DC comics. He was created by Jerry Siegel, a writer and Joe Shuster, an artist. Superman made his debut on the Action Comics #1 and then successfully appearing in different newspaper strips, radio serials, video games, tv series, and films. He is also known as Man of Steel.
Over the years, there are several alternative versions of Superman that have been characterized. His appearance have become distinctive and very iconic up to today. He wears a blue costume with a red and yellow emblem on the chest with the letter S in a shield shape and a red cape. Superman is considered to be an American cultural icon. Throughout the years, his character has been portrayed in tons of media adaptations like movies, tv series, and video games. Several actors have also played the part of Superman like Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin.
9. The Hulk
The Hulk is published under Marvel Comics with Stan Lee as the writer and Jack Kirby as the artist. The Hulk appeared in The Incredible Hulk which debuted in May 1962. In the comic book series of The Hulk, he is both the green- skinned, tempermental and muscular human possessing great amount of physical strength and Bruce Banner as his alter ego, a physicist who is physically weak and withdrawn. Both having independent personalities and having resent over the other.
Stan Lee has stated that the character was made with the inspiration of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The character’s color has changed throughout the character’s publication history but green is mostly used for the character. Hulk has two catchphrases which founded its way to a basis for numerous pop cultural memes and they are ” Hulk is strongest one there is” and ” HULK SMASH” which we eventually heard from the movie film ” The Avengers.”
8. Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn also known as Harleen Frances Quinzel is a supervillain comic book character published under DC Comics. The character was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timi, making her first appearance in the DC Universe in Batman: The Animated Series. She then appeared in the Batman comic books with her first comic book appearance in The Batman Adventures #12 which was released on September of 1993.
Harley Quinn is known to be the lover and frequent partner in crime of Joker. She met Joker when he was her patient back in Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum where she worked as a psychologist. Harley Quinn has often been depicted as an antihero and has teamed up with several villains like Poison Ivy and Catwoman. Harley Quinn is also part of the Suicide Squad.
7. Venom
Venom is a comic book character published under Marvel Comics and is also known to be associated with Spider-Man. This comic book character made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider Man #300 which was released on May of 1988. Venom is a symbiote, a sentient alien. It requires a host, usually a human to bond for its survival much like the real- life symbiote. After the symbiote bonds with its human host, it then supplies the human host its enhanced powers.
The Symbiote’s first host was Spider-Man himself but he eventually discovered its true nature and separated himself from it. The Symbiote then looked for another host, most notably, Eddie Brock with whom first became Venom and one of Spider-Man’s archenemies. According S.H.I.E.L.D. Venom is one of the greatest threats to humanity, together with Red Skull, Magneto, and Doctor Doom.
6. Batman
Published under DC Comics and created by Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, Batman first appeared in the DC Universe in the 27th issue of Detective Comics. His secret identity is Bruce Wayne who is a philanthropist, playboy, and the owner of Wayne Enterprises. After the death of his parents when he was a little child, he swore vengeance against criminals. He trains himself physically and intellectually and makes a persona inspired by the bat to fight crime.
Batman operates in Gotham city alongside his butler Alfred, a police commissioner Gordon, and Robin. But unlike most superheroes, Batman does not possess any superpowers. Batman became an instant hit right after his introduction in 1939 and gained his own comic book series. The success of the live-action feature films of Batman produced by Warner Bros. helped maintain the prominence of the character in the mainstream culture.