No Powers? NoProblems (part 2)

We looked at some of these a while back, but here are a few more. These are the heroes who don't have anything more going for them than spandex and cool moves, yet we still see them go toe-to-toe with heroes like Superman and the Hulk. The funny thing is that you probably never notice they don't have any powers because they're in the fight just as much as the big guys.

Union Jack

Now here's a guy who's gone up against vampires, terrorists, and other super-baddies, but has never backed down. Armed only with a silver-bladed knife and a revolver, Union Jack's latest incarnation (Joey Chapman) carries on the tradition started in World War 1 by Lord Falsworth.

Another cool thing about the character is the fact that he's one of the few that hasn't changed costumes that much over the years. Considered the UK's version of Captain America (even though Captain Britain would make a better choice to me), this hero proves you don't have to be super-powered to fight evil. It was even brought to the forefront in his "London Falling" miniseries as he was teamed with powerful heroes and actually made leader of the team.

Catman

While this guy might not be classified as a hero per se, he's done enough in "Secret Six" to show he has the potential to be quite the hero. He has superior tracking skills, incredible fighting abilities, and a really nasty looking blade. The thing that makes him different is his leadership style.

This is one guy who actually leads his team. He doesn't always make the right decisions necessarily, but at least he sticks to his decisions and runs with them. Unfortunately, when you're leading a group of psychopaths, it doesn't always go smoothly. Still, you've got to give him credit for keeping most of them alive this long.

Moon Knight

The Fist of Khonshu makes the list with the most gadgets, vehicles, and other toys of all of them. He even has more secret identities than anyone else!

For a while, Marvel took him down this incredibly dark road where he killed everyone he fought in an attempt to make him some super-dark version of Batman, but now it appears Marvel has changed their mind and doesn't mind having a hero who doesn't kill.

Even though he doesn't kill, he's probably the most brutal hero on this list. The criminals definitely know not to mess with him again.

Adam Strange

This was a suggestion by a reader from our last list.

I've never really understood the value of this character, but there's no denying he's just a normal guy doing a bang-up job in the hero world. He teleports to Rann on the Zeta Beam and has managed to keep a fairly normal life for himself there with a wife and child.

The recent Rann-Thanagar War was a pretty cool storyline that saw him leading the fight against Hawkman's home world. He also had a pretty big role in "52" with Animal Man and Starfire as they tried to get back to Earth. And keep in mind these are just recent adventures...he's been around for over 40 years!

Green Arrow

Yet another example of a "normal" guy keeping up with the super-powered titans around him, Green Arrow has been a member of the JLA off and on for years. He's faced off galactic threats and even those closer to home. And let us never forget that he's the man who shot Deathstroke in the eye during their fight in Identity Crisis.

He's an incredible archer with a hot temper who never seems to back down from any fight. He's been the yang to Hal Jordan's yin for years. He's one of those heroes that you just take for granted has some super power because he always holds his own in every fight. And yet, through it all, he's just a normal guy with some mad archery skills.

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)

I know it's weird to finish out this list with a dead hero (especially since his lack of superpowers didn't help his death by gunshot), but you have to give credit where it's due. While Green Arrow held his own around other heroes in the JLA, Blue Beetle held his own in the JLI around guys like Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, and Martian Manhunter.

Another "gadget guy", it was Blue Beetle's last adventure that took the time to turn him from a comic relief character into one bad dude. He single-handedly snuck into Maxwell Lord's fortress and found out the truth of what he was doing. Forget Batman's stealth, Beetle had potential too from what we saw there! Unfortunately, they finished him off rather permanently and the Black Lantern version we're seeing is a pale imitation of the real thing. Of course, with so many heroes dying in "Blackest Night", you know DC will have to bring many of them back in the end. Here's hoping Ted Kord is one of the lucky ones.

Looking Back at the "0*"s - The Busiest Hero of the Decade

So in closing out our look at the past decade, who would be considered the busiest hero of all? Well, Hal Jordan came back from the dead, and so did Barry Allen. Superman got kicked out of Metropolis, and Aquaman died and came back again. Martian Manhunter bit the dust as well, and Dick Grayson moved into the cowl and cape of the Dark Knight.

But of all these heroes, the busiest 10 years had to belong to one man: The Batman.

Let's see why... 


His sidekick came back from the dead

After Jason Todd was killed by popular vote in the 90's, the possibility of him ever becoming cool again would have been blasphemy. He remained this ominous failure in Batman's life that always reminded him he was human and could fail from time to time. Like Bucky to Captain America, Batman had the shadow of Jason over him at all times.

Then one day he came back. During the "Hush" storyline, Jason Todd was briefly thought to actually be Hush himself (a really cool plot twist). Later we found that he wasn't but had been working with him to throw Batman off. Now, the weird thing was how he died a teenager but came back as an adult...but whatever.

Eventually Jason came on strong as Red Hood and then Red Robin, then even trying to become Batman before disappearing in the final battle with Dick Grayson. He'll be back, there's no doubt, but it was his return that really started the Caped Crusader reeling. 


He became a baby-daddy

Oh, we know he had those urges, but to think that Batman had actually done the nasty with Talia A Ghul was a little beyond him. Then we find not only did he make it happen in the desert, but that he was unsafe at the time! Years later, we find a young dude named Damien when Talia shows up on Bruce's door with a little surprise. Like my grandpa always told me: "You play, you pay."


Taught by ninjas in wonderful methods of fighting and killing, Damien wasn't your average kid. Batman had his hands full early on with this one.

The kid is currently Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman, but before he calmed down he was one mean little dude. He even tried to kill Tim Drake for the title of Robin! 


He's had two hit movies and a video game that finally didn't suck!

Not being mean here, but the steam had run out of hearing "We're going to make a Batman movie." After "Batman and Robin", we were pretty much through with that franchise...or so we thought.

Jonathan Nolan wrote a killer screenplay and Christopher Nolan directed the fire out of it. We ended up with the retelling of Batman's origin that made sense and was very true-to-life. With "Batman Begins", we saw light on the horizon. With "The Dark Knight", it was a nuclear blast.

The Joker wasn't just a funny bad clown, he was a serious psycho! For once we could understand why they had such hatred for each other, and if Heath Ledger had lived there's no doubt we'd have seen him return to the role that he'll always be remembered for. Will there be a third Batman film? Only time will tell, but I hope so. It's safe to say that Superman won't be "returning" anytime soon though.

On top of all that, we had the announcement of a new Batman video game. Again, there had been enough failures in this arena to keep most fans leery, and again we were slapped silly by the finished product. "Arkham Asylum" gave us the Batman game we'd always known was possible but had never seen. You actually got to try and scare the bad guys before dropping down on them and beating them up! How much fun was that! The icing on the cake was Kevin Conroy stepping in to voice the character. To me, he'll always be the voice of Batman I hear when I read the comic books. All in all, fans of interactive media had a lot to cheer for this decade!

Batman Becomes a Lantern...Three Times

You want tough? Batman fits the bill. And of course the question became why wasn't he ever chosen as a Green Lantern for Earth? After all, he's about as "without fear" as they come. Well, this was the decade we saw for just a fleeting moment what it would be like if he had a green power ring. Batarangs made of willpower...that would have been epic.

Now flash forward a little further and we see another aspect of Batman we hadn't paid attention to. He strikes fear into the hearts of criminals everywhere. He's been doing that for years! Who would have thought that was all it took to be a Yellow Lantern as well? And again, for just a brief moment, we are treated to the prospect of what he might be like if he could use that fear as a real physical weapon. Batarangs made of fear? Yes please!

But it doesn't stop there. Dead and gone, he's still a prospect for a ring. This time, however, he becomes a Black Lantern! As before, it's only for the briefest of moments (though this time he makes it three whole pages before it's gone), but we see just how tough this dude really could be. And this time it's Batarangs made of black lantern rings. The fun never stops!

While Hal Jordan may have been more Lanterns than Bruce, it's safe to say this guy is a close contender for the "most coveted Lantern" title by the guys handing out the colored rings.

He's Died...Twice!

This poor hero was so tough he had to be killed twice, baby! Once in Final Crisis, and once in Batman R.I.P., both by Grant Morrison.

Bruce was soon replaced by Hush, who has given the world a Bruce Wayne to see running around while Batman is supposedly dead. No doubt the confrontation when Bruce comes back will be awesome. 

And then we find out he's not dead, but is in a cave in the past (a fact that Red Robin recently found out in his own series). So he dies twice but doesn't really.

Of course, the recent announcement of "The Return of Bruce Wayne" miniseries sets us up pretty easily to know he's on his way back. Will he take the cowl from Dick, or will he pull a "Captain America" and let the sidekick have it? Time will tell.

And as for the future...well, my son came up with what he believes will be the next logical step:

 

And with that, we close out our look at the "oughts". Thanks for joining me through it all! Back to business as usual next week.

Looking Back at the "O*'s" - The 5 Best New Characters of the Decade

We got a lot of great new characters in the past 10 years. Here are 5 that deserve mentioning.

Winter Soldier

While Bucky Barnes has been around forever, it was his rebirth as Winter Soldier that turned this teen sidekick into a serious character of his own. Rather than destroy his earlier image, Marvel chose instead to go back and show us the "unseen" parts of his past. In other words, he might have looked like just a kid, but he was actually a serious secret weapon. Don't believe me? Just pick up the Avengers/Invaders story from last year.

When Captain America died, he stepped into the boots and kept the character alive. Unfortunately, this meant we lost Winter Soldier and it's apparently for good. Steve is back, but isn't Cap so I guess Bucky will continue to fling the shield for the foreseeable future.

The Sentry

What can I say? I love this character's potential. Unfortunately, it appears he will forever be crippled by Marvel from being all he could become. That final battle in World War Hulk where he got to cut loose gave us a glimpse of what he could become.

Yes, he's Marvel's answer to Superman...though they have yet to figure out what to do with him. For some strange reason they think giving him the mental crazies is a great way to make him unique. It's not. Stop it. Stop it now.

Currently working for Norman Osborn and the Dark Avengers, Sentry's future is uncertain. I just hope Marvel someday decides to let this character get a normal mind and just become a hero. 

Red Robin (twice) as Jason Todd and Tim Drake

One of the truly iconic moments of Kingdom Come was a single page where Red Robin shows up to stop the aliens inside the Statue of Liberty's head (read it if you're confused by that statement). I guess it could even be considered cheating to say Red Robin came from the "0*'s", but I'm going to anyway. This decade finally gave us that character...even though it was Dick Grayson who wore the suit.

While three different people became Red Robin this decade, the two who make the biggest impression were Jason Todd and Tim Drake. Hands down, Jason Todd was the better of the two, but DC in their "infinite" wisdom decided to erase his time in the suit after Countdown to Infinite Crisis was over. Still, the short time he wore the suit allowed us to see him take the character in this "Batman" direction of beating down criminals and taking no prisoners. He even killed the Joker during one of his trips to the multiverse after watching that incarnation of Batman die! And yet all of that was over in an instant.

Tim Drake is currently the Red Robin, and it's an interesting fit. He has yet to really do anything that makes the character stand out any differently from his stint as Robin, but there are possibilities.

Red Arrow

Speedy's had a rough life of being a sidekick, to becoming a drug addict, then eventually turning up as Arsenal, and finally going back to the bow with Red Arrow.

What makes this character so interesting is how he eventually replaced Green Arrow (his mentor) in the Justice League. It was a changing of the guard that really showed his worth in the eyes of the elder heroes he'd grown up around.

He's had his fair share of moments as well. Perhaps the best was when he and Vixen were trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building. She was powerless, and he was hurt, yet he still managed to get them both out of there alive.

While he'll soon be leaving the Justice League and returning to his "Arsenal" name, his time there was a great move for the character.

Hush

We'd never heard of him until he got his own 12-part storyline. While you might think Damian, Batman's son with Talia, should rank a place in this list, I think this new villain gets the spot.

After tormenting Batman with hints of who he might or might not be, he turns out to be a childhood friend with a lifelong hatred of Bruce Wayne. While that might not sound like the most original supervillain idea, there was a twist on this one in the aftermath of Batman R.I.P. -- he became Bruce Wayne.

Imagine Lex Luthor getting to become Superman, his arch-enemy. Now you see how cool this moment really is.


Next week we close down this look back over the past decade at the single character who has had the busiest and most eventful years. I'll give you a hint: it's a DC character.