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Favourite Western Comic/Cartoon Characters


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#1 Kamina-Yoshi

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 05:53 AM

What are you favourite characters in the West?

My all-time favourite one would have to be Magneto, and two concrete depictions of him: X-Men Evolution, and the X-Men film series version. There's just something amazing about a character who can be the villain, yet be so justified in what he does that you realize he's not only a villain, but a misunderstood hero/anti-hero.


#2 Dragunov

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 05:58 AM

I'mma have to go with Batman. Dude can pull off kitten most heroes can't, and he aint got powers at all. Nuff said.

#3 Toasty Warrior

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 08:30 AM

Besides the big name hero comics, I'm a big fan of the Sonic The Hedgehog comics.

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#4 Darth Krypt

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 09:17 AM

Spiderman will always be my favourite western comic book character.

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#5 desaix

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 10:11 AM

Hm...

You put Comic/Cartoon, and not just one or the other, so that makes this a very tricky question. There are a vast number of American superhero cartoon characters I love, but I feel the comic books have\are utterly destoyed\destroying their characters (recent example: Starfire. Turning her from the Starfire I liked from the animated Teen Titans (and was starting to develop an interest in her grittier comic book versions) into the "sex goddess with the memory of a goldfish; oh, and Robin doesn't really care about her any more, but that's okay because she doesn't remember him anyway" just ticks me off).

That leaves picking characters who are entirely comic book or entirely cartoon (or, at the very least, have zero character differences between comic book and cartoon versions). If I were to pick a single comic book character... maybe Squirrel Girl? But that's difficult to say for sure, because while I know OF her character, and find the whole concept as simultaneously amusing and interesting as hell, I've never actually read one of her comics.

Okay, now that we've just eliminated almost the entire superhero pantheon (for both Marvel and DC, anyway), let's consider other alternatives that I watch:

There's Gargoyles (seasons 1 and 2; I refuse to believe in the existence of season 3), in which my favorite characters are Xanatos (best villain\wildcard ever!), Elisa, Macbeth, Hudson, and Goliath. Oh, and Puck. And maybe Fox. Oh, and then there's Titania. And then there's the pie guy. And maybe... uh, ya know? Let's just say "most of the cast." Well, except for Matt Bluestone -- they had him entirely too sane for such a conspiracy wackjob.

There's Jonnie Quest. The characters differ somewhat throughout their different incarnations, but I pretty much always have liked Jessie's character (whether she was Bannon's daughter or not). Most of the other characters... well, it depends. I pretty much liked everyone in The Real Adventures version, except for the recurring villains (not a fan of Surd or Rage at all) I pretty much DISliked everyone in the Classic version (too campy)... except for some of the recurring villains (Dr. Zin in particular). I really wish the TRAJQ quest family were in the Classic series, because I like the Classic version's story elements better... but I'm getting sidetracked, here.

There are several Disney characters outside of Gargoyles, I suppose. Aladdin and Jasmine, for example (I'm a sucker for action-girls, and Aladdin was a good romantic foil in the TV series). Tarzan and Jane (though I disliked most of the animal characters). Tailspin's Baloo, Becky, Sher Khan, Louis, and Kit... (Tailspin, though, was something of an animated anthropomorphic rip-off of one of my favorite, though short-lived, live-action TV series of the 80s (whose name escapes me for the moment), but since that series only lasted a dozen episodes or so and they didn't co-exist I suppose I can view it as a quasi-remake-and-continuation). Gadget (the mouse that launched a million furries! I'm not one of them, but I do understand where the attraction came from) and Monty. Fenton\Gizmoduck and Launchpad. Darkwing and... I forget his daughter's name.

A whole host of characters whose names I will probably never remember from Exosquad (why can't they release the complete series on DVD? It's TORTURE to watch just part of it, dammit!).

Do movies count? If so, then Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, Gobber, Stoick, and Ruffnut from How to Train Your Dragon. Tigress from Kung Fu Panda. The entire cast of the Incredibles. Kale and Akima from Titan AE. Sinbad, Marina, Proteus, and Spike from Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. Milo, Kida, Helga, Sweet, and Audrey from Atlantis.

I'm starting to realize just how long I could spend at this. There's Thundercats and Silverhawks and more movies and Gummi Bears and Smurfs and the Tick and Mighty Mouse and Tiny Toons and Transformers and GI Joe and Pinky and the Brain and ambiguously Western shows like Avatar and more movies and more classics and all KINDS of additional childhood favorites; I could go on for hours. I've done enough....

Edited by desaix, 25 January 2012 - 10:13 AM.

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#6 KonaKonaFan

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 04:28 PM

Spiderman and Sonic the Hedgehog. I grew up with those two as my heroes.

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#7 Konohakitten

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 05:06 PM

Hmmm well lets see if I had to say favorite cartoon characters I'd have two that are close to my heart. First there's the blue blur that's just way past cool biggrin.gif Sonic of course. Then I'd pick Yakko from animaniacs, I know he's not a hero but the topic just says Cartoon characters, so I had to included my favorite Warner Brother. Now when it comes to Western Comic I'm agreeing with Dragunov, Batman is the man. He's just a human, that's it yet he can hold his own. Plus he's part of the Justice league or at least helps them out when he sees fit tongue.gif I mean come on he has no super powers, he can't fly nor does he have super strength, but he has no problem making up for it in badassness.

Edited by Konohakitten, 25 January 2012 - 05:08 PM.

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#8 Mik3

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 09:31 PM

Batman was a favorite of mines due to over exposure, older brother had the comics and action figures, the animated series was running(still my favorite super hero animated series) the burton/schumacher movies were coming out etc. Used to play any batman game coming out on sega genesis. And this was during a time a lot of kids still liked superman in my neighborhood. Spiderman and Cyclops from X-men were awesome too.


Adrien Veidt from watchmen is one of my favorite villains ever.
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#9 CloudMountainJuror

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 10:22 PM

The god-damn Batman.

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#10 Derock

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 10:47 PM

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I'm also a big fan of Sonic the Hedgehog comics (and even bigger fan of the current issues!). But for the cartoons there are tons of favorites for me! Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck for starters since I love Looney Tunes.

Did someone mention my OTP in Disney?! I love Aladdin and Jasmine (she was kicking ASS in the series). Hell, behind Gargoyles, another favorite, Aladdin was one of the best Disney action series. Plus, all of their adventures were canon.

Yes, Batman is the awesomeness of them all! Hell, he was still kicking ass in Batman Beyond! Old Bruce was still badass.

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#11 desaix

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Posted 25 January 2012 - 11:06 PM

(tangental, but relevant) Question: Batman vs. Xanatos, who wins?

Both have the resources (Xanatos' a bit more magical in nature, but financially and technologically they've got to be pretty darned close). Both are pretty much the smartest people on the planet. Both have a TVTrope.com trope named after their tactical methodology. Both have an indispensible butler (one an ex-spy -- at least in several versions -- while the other is an outcast Elf).

Talk about crossovers which should have been made, but never were (and never could be). A confrontation between the two of them would have been epic. (I'd try to write it, myself, but I don't think I could do it justice)

Edited by desaix, 25 January 2012 - 11:13 PM.

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#12 dl316bh

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 01:53 AM

I won't bore you all with my fawning over Batman, so I'll just get to some of the others.

Keep in mind I read a LOT of American comics, so what I get to in just this post won't be all of them or even a fraction. I'm sure I'll post more later.

Jonah Hex



Pretend the movie doesn't exist.

There are plenty of western characters in American comics - hell, sometimes it seems like comics are the only medium that still bothers with westerns, save Red Dead Redemption and the occasional film that doesn't do so hot no matter how good - but Jonah Hex is my favorite. Easily one of the more complex characters I've ever read about, there's no clear cut way to describe him. He's a bounty hunter - the best there is - and former Confederate soldier. He's probably not the nicest man to ever ride the west, but he's not evil. If there's justice to be done, Hex is your man.



For me, it all starts with Batman: The Animated Series - everything comes back to Batman for me, I know - and the episode "Showdown", which was essentially a full episode of Jonah Hex, told to us because one of his adventures happened to bring him against Ra's Al Ghul. I loved it - hell, it's one of my favorites of the series and Batman's barely in it - and still watch it from time to time.

The comic is ridiculously consistent in its quality. Pick up a random Jonah Hex trade - A Face Full of Violence, Luck Runs Out, Six Gun War, it doesn't matter, you don't need to know Hex continuity to read any of the Hex stories - and you'll be treated to a good time from cover to cover. Volume 2 of the comic - the one I'm mostly referring to and the one that's from recent times - probably hasn't had a bad issue.

Better still, the adventures of Hex continue in All Star Western, where Hex is currently in wild west era Gotham.

Punisher



Forget all the noise some people spew about how he's "one dimensional" and uninteresting. Not only is it a crock - well, sometimes the Punisher can be a bit one dimensional, depending on the writer - but Castle is a character that has had, well, an embarassment of riches as far as great stories go.



From the time he got his first ongoing up to the 90's, his book was consistently enjoyable. Of course, the 90's blew. But starting with the "Welcome Back Frank" miniseries, The Punisher has had stellar story after stellar story. The Marvel Knights run by Garth Ennis was heavy on black humor. Then there's the Punisher MAX series, which is completely unrestricted and WILL show boobs, guts and swears; don't let that fool you, it's not all for shock, as the series deals heavily with Frank against child slavers, outwitting Russian generals, the Military Industrial Compex, his own past in Vietnam and many other serious stories. The ten volume Garth Ennis MAX series is easily one of the definitive - if not THE definitive - Punisher story. The second volume of PunisherMAX, by Jason Aaron, is similarly great and just wrapping up.

If you want your Punisher in the Marvel universe, well, there's been plenty of great stuff on that front too, since the writers take that oppourtunity to let MAX do the gritty, realistic stuff. Meaning, we get awesome stuff like guns that shoot swords, Frank being hacked to pieces and revived as FrankenCastle, dude wearing a Captain America inspired outfit and smacking around the Hate Monger and just... so much ridiculousness of the awesome variety. The recent book in Marvel continuity is by Greg Rucka and goes back to more serious stuff in the MU, but with MAX ending for now I suppose that niche needs to be filled, only without the boobs, blood, cursing and guts. Because, you know, it's a Marvel Universe book and not its own thing.

Teen Titans



I don't know whether the New 52 book is any good yet, but prior to the DC relaunch this was my favorite team (with JLA a close second). The Geoff Johns run was the best of the prior volume and had a lot of great team dynamics. In those days, the Teen Titans were pushed as the "family" of the DCU as far as teams go and it showed. Johns had a tendency to tell stories that told us something about these characters, leaving us understanding them better for it. Probably the height of it was "The Future is Now".

I'll probably review the current ongoing at some point, but it lacks my favorites in Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire and so on, so I'm not as gung ho about it as I might be.

QUOTE
I feel the comic books have\are utterly destoyed\destroying their characters (recent example: Starfire. Turning her from the Starfire I liked from the animated Teen Titans (and was starting to develop an interest in her grittier comic book versions) into the "sex goddess with the memory of a goldfish; oh, and Robin doesn't really care about her any more, but that's okay because she doesn't remember him anyway" just ticks me off).

Speaking as a comic fan, I disagree with you to some extent. There will always be bad books and bad takes on characters. But the beauty of it is it can be fixed and the next classic run with your favorite character is just around the corner. Take Batman; prior to "Under the Hood", where Jason Todd returned, the Bat books were getting worse and worse. Then after that story - which was genuinely good - Grant Morrison took over and the Bat book have probably never been better. Even the spin-off character books - Batwing, Batwoman - are great.

But as a Teen Titans and Starfire fan, I also have to agree with you. At first glance, that comic pissed me off. But from what I've heard, that comic got much better and it's become clear that Jason may not have known what he was talking about when it comes to Starfire - we find out quickly her most cherished memory was when she stood up for herself as a child slave and would not let anyone push her around, which is not exactly "memory of a goldfish"-esque - and she was probably just lying about not remembering anyone so she doesn't have to talk about it. This is what I've heard from spoilers.

It's also fairly difficult for me, since we got SO MANY great books out of the New 52 - Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Frankenstien, the Batman line, Action Comics and so on - that I had a hard time getting mad after a while. I've got a lot more on my read list than I did before the relaunch. Even WONDER WOMAN sounds interesting, to the point where for the first time I'm going to pick up the series in trade. She bored me to tears prior.

I review a lot of comics at my blog and I plan on trying Red Hood and the Outlaws at some point. Reviewing it too, of course. I'll have a better idea and opinion then. Regardless, even if it ended up as bad as it sounds, it won't be forever. Trust me on that. The backlash ALONE very likely means DC won't make that mistake again; that was quite a PR mess for them.

If you're interested, I could come around and give my opinion on it when I get to the book; I actually don't even talk about my blog at all on here - or anywhere really - so saying "read that" doesn't necessarily work, eh?

Edited by dl316bh, 26 January 2012 - 01:54 AM.

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#13 Cursed Wind

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 01:55 AM

Hmmmmm tough one but i'm going to have to go with Spiderman and maybe Robin.

Edited by Cursed Wind, 26 January 2012 - 01:55 AM.


#14 Kamina-Yoshi

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:15 AM

Somehow I knew there were going to be hundreds of Batmen. : D

#15 dl316bh

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:18 AM

QUOTE (Kamina-Yoshi @ Jan 25 2012, 09:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Somehow I knew there were going to be hundreds of Batmen. : D

You mean Batman, Inc?

Some don't like the concept - though the book has been uber popular - but I freaking love it.

Oh, wait, you probably mean hundreds of Batman answers.

Edited by dl316bh, 26 January 2012 - 02:21 AM.

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#16 Kamina-Yoshi

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:41 AM

QUOTE (dl316bh @ Jan 25 2012, 09:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You mean Batman, Inc?

Some don't like the concept - though the book has been uber popular - but I freaking love it.

Oh, wait, you probably mean hundreds of Batman answers.


Both, actually. A thousand points to you for getting to the reference first.


#17 CloudMountainJuror

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:44 AM

QUOTE (Kamina-Yoshi @ Jan 25 2012, 08:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Both, actually. A thousand points to you for getting to the reference first.

Is that a Whose Line is it Anyway reference?

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#18 Phantom_999

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:45 AM

Don't really read western comics that much, favorites? Hmm, Batman, Spiderman, Captain America, Blade. In no particular order. cool.gif

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#19 Kamina-Yoshi

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:51 AM

QUOTE (zacrathedemon5 @ Jan 25 2012, 09:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Is that a Whose Line is it Anyway reference?


Yes indeed; I always loved that show, and even wanted to (And still do, actually) to be an Improv-comedian when I grew up. (I also included a 'thousand points a piece' joke in my first episode. Drew Carey <33)

#20 CloudMountainJuror

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Posted 26 January 2012 - 02:54 AM

QUOTE (Kamina-Yoshi @ Jan 25 2012, 08:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Yes indeed; I always loved that show, and even wanted to (And still do, actually) to be an Improv-comedian when I grew up. (I also included a 'thousand points a piece' joke in my first episode. Drew Carey <33)

I grew up on that show biggrin.gif I watch the reruns and realize that it's ten times funnier than I remembered.

"The time has come at last for you to learn everything . . .

Fare thee well, Albert, my friend."

 

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