Rank & Phile #3: Marvel Superheroes
nweathington
Posts: 6,748
“Rank & Phile” is an idea that spawned out of a discussion in the 2017 Reading Thread, where some of us were ranking the artists of an Epic Collection: Captain America volume. Everyone around here seems to like lists like this, so I thought I'd come up with some more. I'll do one a week, and to try to prevent topic confusion and having to sift through pages of posts (assuming people play along), I'll start a new thread for each new list. Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to rank the five subjects on the list below however you see fit. Why rank my list of subjects rather than have everyone come up with their own list of subjects, you ask? Personally, I find that the more options I am given, the more difficult it is to rank them. This is meant to be a quick, hopefully fun, process that you won’t have to spend too much time on. Also, it might get us talking about characters, creators, or stories we might not talk about otherwise. On the surface, ranking the artists of the Cap Epic Collection seemed to be an impossible task, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy. It still resulted in some interesting conversation though, and that’s what I'm hoping for here.
This week’s list comes fresh on the heels of a discussion in the Wonder Woman movie thread. I'm going to list some slightly off-the-beaten-path female female superheroes of the Marvel universe. Rank ’em how you like ’em. As always, some any insight into the whys and why nots of your list are both welcomed and encouraged, but no obligation applies. Have at it!
Elsa Bloodstone / Hellcat / Misty Knight / Tigra / Valkyrie
This week’s list comes fresh on the heels of a discussion in the Wonder Woman movie thread. I'm going to list some slightly off-the-beaten-path female female superheroes of the Marvel universe. Rank ’em how you like ’em. As always, some any insight into the whys and why nots of your list are both welcomed and encouraged, but no obligation applies. Have at it!
Elsa Bloodstone / Hellcat / Misty Knight / Tigra / Valkyrie
Comments
2. Tigra - Greer is a great character design, and she wore the original Hellcat (Cat) costume.
3. Valkyrie - Defenders alumni, 'nuff said.
4. Elsa Bloodstone - Wasn't a fan of Elsa when she first arrived on the scene, with her Brittany Spears/Buffy inspired character. But I was won over when Ellis revamped the character during Nextwave
5. Misty Knight - Although Misty is cool and I very much enjoyed the 2005/2006 Daughter of the Dragon mini series, I've never been terribly excited about her.
Valkyrie - As someone who grew up loving mythology of all cultures, it was hard not to like Valkyrie. Even if I couldn't figure out how she kept those boob-armor things on her chest in her original costume. :)
Hellcat - I love that she's getting her due/more attention these days thanks to the tv show appearances and I hope that continues.
Misty Knight - Not as big a fan of her as I am of Colleen Wing, her partner in Daughters of the Dragon/Heroes for Hire. If I can replace Misty with Colleen, she'd be further up the list.
Elsa Bloodstone - at the bottom just because I know the least about her. She was great in NextWave (Agents of HATE) though...
She's actually been two established superheroes in her career. Greer Grant was the predecessor of the Patsy Walker version of Hellcat, calling herself the Cat when she debuted, eventually evolving into Tigra. As a superhero, she's been around the longest and has had several series. She's one of my favorite "slightly off-the-beaten-path" Avengers.
2) Misty Knight
I was a fan of her from the moment she was introduced in an Iron Fist story in Marvel Premiere. I liked that she had a bionic arm which was an incredible coincidence since I don't know if she precedes Jaime Sommers or not. Both debuted in March 1975, and in fact, Misty was mentioned two months earlier (using Marvel's cover dates versus publishing/shipping dates). I think it was merely a serendipitous coincidence for Marvel. Misty's most recent series, the poorly received (and poorly titled) Black Panther & the Crew, will end with issue #6. I don't believe she has ever been on the Avengers roster.
3) Valkyrie
I liked the late-70's version of The Defenders, and Brunnhildene is one of two official Defenders on this list, Valkrye was also an Avenger at one time. This Asgarian and one-time love interest of Thor has never been that popular though, as she has only warranted a single one-shot way back in 1997.
4) Hellcat
The last character I actually know anything about on this list. She's been around the longest (as Patsy Walker since 1944). She was an Avenger briefly, but my introduction to Hellcat was through the Defenders. I didn't care for her that much then, and she has never grown on me. She's had several short-lived series and a long and storied publication history.
5) Elsa Bloodstone
I'd never heard of this monster-hunter until today. I had only heard of the name 'Bloodstone' from the bargain bins. She's never been an Avenger, but was apparently a Fearless Defender, but somehow got her own series aptly called 'Bloodstone' in 2001 which was written by Abnett and Lanning.
2) Misty Knight - a good, uncomplicated character - ex-cop with a cyborg arm - whose worst moments are long forgotten and possibly out of continuity.
3) Tigra - nobody knows what to do with her in modern comics. But even with a half-human / half Skrull baby her history is far less troublesome than the two remaining characters.
4) Hellcat - In the past 10 years people have figured out how to write good Hellcat comics. She has a novel origin in being Patsy Walker. You just have to forget about that whole going mad, committing suicide, going to Hell, coming back as vengeful undead, Hawkeye being tricked into bringing her back from Hell and the like.
5) Valkyrie - But that's a walk in the park compared to Valkyrie. A character whose first appearance was the Enchantress pretending to be her in the boneheaded Avengers #83 (whenever people sing Roy Thomas' praises, remind them of this embarrassment).
Roy Thomas then gave us another imposter Valkyrie in 1971, before Steve Gerber gave us the actual Valkyrie in Defenders in 1973. Sort of. It would be a long time before she was fully Brunhilde. Leading to the weirdness of Thomas later writing a guest appearance of the Defenders with his imposter Valkyrie in the team, when she was never a Defender until much later (in a story that arguably plays with this confusion - Nighthawk recruits the wrong Valkyrie into a new Defenders team).
2) Elsa Bloodstone - In the Kirby rank I said limited sample size hurt machine Man. Here I'm going the opposite direction because my feelings on the competition is far more indifferent. She was one of the best characters in Nextwave. I loved that book.
3) Tigra - the character design is interesting... I remember liking her West Coast Avengers.
4) Hellcat - she's problematic, but I really enjoy the she-hulk/Walker dynamic. You can place these 3-5 in almost any order, but I'm trying to rank them.
5) Valkyrie - she's part of the Defenders team I always thought was the F-list Defenders. That's not as bad as say being on the b-list Champions, okay not even as bad as the a-list Champions, but I never really liked her.
2) Elsa Bloodstone — Again, it’s her most recent take that I thoroughly enjoy. Nextwave was fantastic, and I really liked the Hopeless/Doe Legion of Monsters miniseries too.
3) Misty Knight — What’s not to love about a Foxy Brown/Six Million Dollar Man mash-up? And of course, there’s the Power Man & Iron Fist connection.
4) Valkyrie — Valkyrie is a character I always wanted to like, but no one has really done much with her.
5) Tigra — Like Valkyrie, she has a great look, but is pretty shallow in the character development department.