Heroic Hangouts!

Every hero needs a place to call "home"...even though it's not. Let's just say it's a really cool clubhouse and go from there. These bases would really make fun places to live!

The Fortress of Solitude

The commute for this one would be killer if you didn't have super-speed or flight on your side, but you have it admit it would be a pretty nice place to hang out. Now I'm not talking about the "ice castles" version you see in the movies and on Smallville...I'm talking about the one in the comic books. 

This thing had gigantic statues, a bottled city called Kandor, a full-sized cruise ship (just for decoration!), a private alien zoo, and so much more. Not to mention the fact that it virtually guaranteed no solicitors at your doorstep. They wouldn't even be able to find the place or lift the gigantic arrow key!

Of course, between all the world-saving and the Daily Planet day job, I don't see how Superman spent any time in the thing.

The Baxter Building

Home to the Fantastic Four since the beginning and almost constantly since, the Baxter Building is the antithesis of the Batcave: It's located right in the heart of the busiest city in the U.S. so everyone knows where it is! Add to that the fact that no one in the team has a secret identity and you get the feeling it was begging for visitors.

Filled to the brim with scientific do-dads and even the entrance to the Negative Zone, the Baxter Building packs a lot of function into a small amount of space.

It took several years and multiple battles before Reed Richards finally bought the place. Before that happened, it couldn't have been fun working in that building.

"What's that sound? Oh great, Doctor Doom's attacking the top floor again. Now I'll have to take the stairs to go home! 35 flights of stairs! I'm getting another job!"

The JLA Satellite

A base in outer space is another way to keep the unwanted visitors off your doorstep. Unfortunately, there are those of us who have crippling fears of heights which would immediately strike this off the list of potential heroic hangouts. 

This is definitely the most unsafe of the bases in this list, as any puncture to the hull would result in immediate and terrifying death for those who weren't built for outer space.

This base got a really bad rap during Identity Crisis, when Sue Dibny was assaulted by Doctor Light in it. To me that was something that could have been skipped over altogether.

The JLA no longer have this place, choosing instead to work out of the Hall of Justice. Those of us who grew up in the Bronze Age of comics still think of this place as the JLA's true home. Even the moon base they had for a while didn't seem as cool as your own satellite in space.

The Avengers Mansion

This one is cool because...well, it's a mansion. It's located in Manhattan (where all the cool heroes hang out) and has been the sight of several titanic battles over the years. Tony Stark originally paid for and built the thing for the Avengers back before they knew he was Iron Man and it's served them well over the years.

The mansion has been the site of several heart-wrenching battles. The "Avengers Disassembled" storyline saw the death of Ant-Man and Hawkeye there before it was destroyed. The Masters of Evil also came in the ripped the place to shreds at one point, almost killing Jarvis in the process.

The Avengers moved to their own floating island/building for a while. Big surprise here, but it was eventually sunk during an attack in the "Acts of Vengeance" storyline. Recently it was rebuilt by Stark and given to Luke Cage as a base for the "New Avengers" after the events of Civil War.

The Batcave

Hands down the coolest place to live on Earth, the Batcave won our reader's poll of best overall base and it's easy to see why. Besides being hidden in a cave (and what guy doesn't think that's cool?) it's filled with the latest gadgets and goodies...along with an awesome car, boat, and plane at your disposal at any moment!

Don't feel like being in the dark? Well, you get the best of both worlds here by just walking upstairs to stately Wayne Manor! Now it's nothing but fireplaces and flat-screen televisions in every room, along with your own butler! No more cleaning up after yourself!

Actually though, there's a possibility Batman could have been a bit of a hoarder with all that junk he kept in there (a giant penny and a mechanical dinosaur? Seriously?). Also, what's the point of having such a boss base and never letting anyone else see it? I'd have friends over all the time, which is probably why I'm not the Batman (or am I?).

Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters video game is out soon!

I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone, but there is a Green Lantern video game coming out just in time for the new movie. Video games have been tied in to movies for years as a way to boost sales for both, but sometimes they aren't the best match.

This year we've seen a Thor game that's actually pretty fun because you get to start out as the real thing rather than slowly build up a power set that takes forever to create. Now it would appear the Green Lantern game will be following that model.

Just looking at the various screenshots available out there from the PR firm doing a real bang-up job of getting the word out to everyone, I think this game is going to be amazing. The movie already has my vote for best trailer of the summer.

Now it would seem the game will allow you to actually create things to fight with, just like you would if you had a ring for real (admit it, you'd make some fun stuff like a giant glove or something). Whatever you build, you can fight with.

I am by no means a hard-core gamer and finish very few of them, but this looks like one I might be tempted to stick with for a while. It comes out right before the movie on June 7th, so make plans to get out there and scream the oath in your own living room for the fun of it!

Captain...?

I have no idea what makes the rank of "Captain" so important, but it seems like everyone wants to be one. Just take a look at all these:

Captain America

This is probably one of the first you think of when you hear someone mention a hero named "Captain...?" The shield-slinger has been around for decades, and is just now apparently getting a fairly decent movie treatment.

For a while, he was Steve Rogers, then Bucky Barnes took over, then Steve came back and Bucky went to jail. Technically this leaves us with no clear Captain America as the movie is coming out, but I'm sure that will all be fixed up quickly.

Any way you look at it, the guy is popular with more statues and figures out there than any other hero on this list.

Captain Marvel (Marvel version)

This is one of the few "Captains" who actually has a military rank for his name. Granted, it's in the Kree army, but it counts. Mar-vell died in the very first Marvel graphic novel ever created called (surprise) "The Death of Captain Marvel".

The story did so well it paved the way for many more graphic novels over time. Unfortunately now every TPB is branded a graphic novel which cheapens the title. Read the original story in light of the comic books coming out at the time and you'll see why it was such an amazing story.


Captain Marvel (DC version)

This poor hero had a hard time of it for a while. When he first came out, DC included him in their rash of legal challenges against any and every hero who even remotely resembled Superman. Even though he was a popular hero with a lot of differences from the man of steel, DC won and the character spent years in comic book limbo. Ironically enough, DC bought the character and later brought him to his own series of stories that proved very popular.

He has fought Superman a lot over the years, though their titanic battle in Kingdom Come remains my favorite. In that one he truly cut loose against Superman and took him down, answering once and for all who would really win if the gloves were off.

Captain Carrot

One of those "funny animal" heroes, Captain Carrot really is a pretty cool dude. I remember reading that first issue as a kid and being hooked from that point forward. Spending years in limbo, they were brought back two years ago in a mini-series that ended up making them real animals in our world. They did get to come back in Final Crisis, but nothing has happened with him since.

To me, I think a Captain Carrot action figure would be a huge hit. The costume was cool and I'd love to see it in 3D as a figure, though I doubt he'll ever get one. Then again, if Animal Man can get a figure, surely some custom figure guy will try his hand at Captain Carrot and put him on Ebay!

Hey, tomorrow's my birthday, so if you're good at that thing and feel generous, it would be one of the coolest geek birthday presents I've gotten in a long time!

Captain Britain 

There are rumors he'll be a cameo in the upcoming Captain America movie. If he is, I highly doubt he'll show up in his awesome 70's outfit with the medallion and staff. Oh there are plenty of haters on the internet who hate that thing, but it beats out his later spandex outfit to me.

This character started out as Marvel's answer to Captain America for England, but he eventually made his way over the pond to team up with Spider-Man against Arcade in Murderworld. Years later he proved popular enough to lead a team called Excalibur (Marvel's attempt at a British version of the X-Men with a few mutants thrown in for the mix).

Captain Comet

Known as "The Man From the Day After Tomorrow", Captain Comet showed up for several issues as the lead hero during the run of "Society of Super Villains". After that he was pretty much banished to guest-star-only status for over a decade.

Even though he's been in several books since then, he has yet to really make a long-lasting impression on many readers. Most of the titles he appears in tend to be canceled shortly after he joins the roster. It makes no sense to me though, because I think the guy is pretty fun to read about. Great costume too!

Captain Universe

I still remember Micronauts #8 where we first saw this hero. Though the idea of a person becoming a hero to help in a situation and then losing that power isn't new (remember "Dial H for Hero"?) the way the character moved into his own series later on was a nice touch. Each issue would see a different person get the power and use it their own way. Sometimes they helped people, and once a cat burglar got it and tried to use it for his own selfish gains (it didn't end well for him).

The Uni-Power has even taken over a number of superheroes. Spider-Man was the first, then later the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, Sue Storm, and Daredevil all got their chance at unlimited power.

Captain Atom

Another hero who got his "Captain" title from military rank, Captain Atom was originally a Charleton character that was bought by DC. One of only three that really made an impact in the DC universe (the other two are the Blue Beetle and the Question), Captain Atom is the only one of the three still the original character from Charleton. 

The good Captain even made his way into a nice Justice League Unlimited story arch on television, working for the government to stop the Question and Huntress. He's recently rejoined Justice League International members Booster Gold, Fire, and Ice in Justice League: Generation Lost.