Favorite Superheroes Besides Superman & the Superman Fam

[MatterEaterLad]

I liked those aspects of Hawkman as well, unfortunately, I can't follow the twisty tale of Hawkman through the last 20 years for the life of me...

[lastkryptonianhere]

Marv Wolfman & George Perez on the New Teen Titans - especially Robin/Nightwing, Wonder Girl and Cyborg

Outstanding series from the early and mid 1980's

(Superman connection --- when Dick Grayson gave up the Robin idenity he then took up the mantle of Nightwing --- due to the influence Superman had on his life and career)

Hawkman by Murphy Anderson

Batman (epecially when the art was handled by Neal Adams and Jim Aparo)

[TELLE]

In the 80s, right before I stopped reading most superhero comics, I enjoyed Steve Rude's Nexus.  I think it still holds up (I might even buy a new issue of it).  And Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.  Moore gave a dimensionality to many superheroes I was ambivalent about previously (Deadman, Spectre, Demon, the Trenchcoat Brigade).  His War in Heaven annual is almost a textbook on reinvigorating old aspects of the multiverse.

In retrospect, there is still some fun to be had in 80s pre-Crisis DC besides the Superman comics I pursue.  Just learned about Alan Brennert, for instance.  Oh yeah, I loved Chaykin's Blackhawk as well!  Not a kid's comic, but I thought it was quite sophisticated.  Of course, of the 2 major WWII-themed US comics from that period, I still prefer Maus.

Glad to see this thread reanimated.

[TELLE]

Of course, Blackhawk was post-Crisis.

[Dial H For Hero]

After Superman it's difficult to pick one favorite hero, but the O'Neill/Adams era Batman and the Infantino era Flash both stand out fondly in my memories. On pure concept alone, I'd pick Green Lantern, although in general I was not an avid reader of his stories.

[TELLE]

Golden or Silver GL?

I just found an old Green Lantern Corps annual at Value Village with that Alan Moore story and a great early story by Busiek (nice Garcia Lopez art, I think).  I would have ignored this comic when it came out (the last GL comic I bought as a teen had a Perez cover but disappointing interior art and the Omega Men featured prominently --I wish Alan Moore wrote it).

 The concept of the GL Corps makes for a fun sic-fi universe but I don't think it compares to the Superman family universe.

[Gangbuster]

My favorites are:

Silver Age Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Spider-Man

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing (I don't know if it could be classified as "Superhero" comics, but in a way it is)

and of course, the whole Justice League, unless you consider it "Superman Family"

[Dial H For Hero]

Golden or Silver GL? ...

I had Hal Jordan in mind, although the original was cool in his own way. I think it's true of many comic book heroes that they are better in concept than they are in execution, and any of the GLs would fit into that category. You could even argue that Superman has only rarely been used to his full potential, either because his writers were afraid to take risks with the established continuity (as in the silver/bronze age until COIE), or because they thought Superman had to be less powerful to be believable (Byrne and his successors). It's been said that Batman is the most fully realized of the major heroes, and I would probably have to agree, even though I am (and always will be) much more of a Superman fan.