Here are some more of my fave heroes from outside my Top 20.

Black Panther

It's clear that the Black Panther is one of the most popular superheroes today. He is one of the most iconic characters. He is a positive role model for black people in his stature as one of the most intelligent men on earth, one of the richest, is a king and respected by all. That's not to say that all black people are going to look at T'Challa (Black Panther) as a pipe dream. No, I'm saying that his image is a welcome one. For a while we have seen ethnic superheroes take on the role as the token sidekick but never a mainstream one. But Black Panther has always been the one ethnic superhero that is equal or surpasses the mainstream white heroes. But let's be clear, I'm not saying that Black Panther's race is the only reason for his popularity. No, his popularity is because, quite simply, he is a fantastic character. His own image is that of a caring king who not only cares passionately about his people of Wakanda but to the other nations. He is a representative of peace but will fight whenever there is an injustice.

Checkout the issues in the attached pics.

STAN LEE co-created the Panther with Jack Kirby.

Iron Fist

Now a Netflix series, Iron Fist was created to be a superhero who did kung fu but the character slowly became much more than that- but then again, created by Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane (comic fans will know) what else could he become? The basic story is rich kid and parents betrayed by business partner and only Danny survived, vowing revenge. Taken in by strange monks, he is taught kung fu and other martial arts and eventually masters the art of Iron Fist, literally making him a living weapon of explosive proportions. Over the decades he's had amazing artists and writers including John Byrne. Check out the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu black & white magazine, the run in Marvel Premiere and of course Iron Fist 1 up from the 70s

White Tiger

Created by Bill Mantlo and George Pérez, Hector is the first Puerto Rican superhero in the history of comics, and Marvel's first superhero of Hispanic descent. Hector is the uncle of Angela del Toro (the current White Tiger) and the brother of Ava Ayala. Hector Ayala was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a college student at New York's Empire State University,[2] he discovered the tiger amulets that were formerly worn and thrown away by the Sons of the Tiger. Donning all three amulets, he transformed into the superhuman White Tiger. He discovered that wearing all the pendants at once increased his strength and gave him nearly superhuman skill in the martial arts. After many years, having gained an unhealthy psychological and physical addiction to the tiger amulets, Hector abandoned his identity as the White Tiger. He gave the amulets to a private detective nicknamed Blackbyrd, who returned them to the Sons of the Tiger. Hector then moved out west with his girlfriend Holly Gillis.

After a while, the call to don the amulets and fight evil became too strong and Hector once again became the White Tiger. Soon after, Hector was wrongly accused of murder and convicted despite the efforts of his lawyer, Matt Murdock (a.k.a. Daredevil). Ayala was shot dead trying to escape, shortly before evidence emerged that belatedly proved his innocence.

Check out Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.

More just outside the Top 20.

Valkyrie

This is Valkyrie. Val has a strange convoluted origin in that her first appearance wasn't even her! In the Avengers, written at the height of women's lib movement, she mesmerises the female Avengers to turn on the male members before being revealed as long time foe, the Asgardian goddess, the Enchantress. Later, in The Defenders, Enchantress returns- but as a prisoner along with Dr Strange, Nighthawk, Namor and the Hulk and a mad woman. Enchantress casts a spell to bind the spirit of a Valkyrie to the body of the mad lady.

Valkyrie then becomes one of the most interesting female characters that Marvel created as she, a demigod, struggles with who she is in a mortal world. Check out the Avengers Treasury to see the awesome artwork of John Buscema in oversize glory, plus Defenders 1 to 50, and The Fearsome Defenders 1 -12.

Stan is indirectly involved with Valkyrie's creation in that he co-created with Jack Kirby The Enchantress.

Red Sonja

Set in the same world as Conan, Red is THE warrior woman before all other warrior women. Please forget the terrible movie with Stallone's ex in it, Sonja is a magnificent, fierce, passionate, sexy and chain-mail-bikini wearing goddess- most brilliantly drawn by Frank Thorne. She's now with Dynamite Comics but really, Marvel in 70s had the definitive run.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 18: Power Man Luke Cage, also known as Power Man (real name Carl Lucas), is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Luke Cage first appeared in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Goodwin, John Romita, Sr. and George Tuska. He was the first black superhero to be featured as the protagonist and title character of a comic book. Created during the height of the Blaxploitation genre, Luke Cage is an ex-convict imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, who gains the powers of superhuman strength and unbreakable skin after being subjected involuntarily to an experimental procedure. Once freed, Cage becomes a "hero for hire" and teams up with fellow superhero Iron Fist as part of the duo, Power Man and Iron Fist. He later marries the super-powered private investigator Jessica Jones, with whom he has a daughter. In 2005, writer Brian Michael Bendis added Luke Cage to the lineup of the New Avengers, and he has since appeared in various Avengers titles, and became the leader of a group of reformed supervillains called the Thunderbolts.

Actor Mike Colter played the character in the first season of Jessica Jones, a live-action television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and headlined his own series, which premiered in September 2016 on Netflix. Colter is set to reprise his role in The Defenders.

Power Man in the original 70s title was Shaft on acid, "You're jivin' me man!", hit first, ask questions later. At first he would portray himself as that hero for hire, often rubbing other superheroes up the wrong way, almost delighting in it, as he wanted paying to help save the world. Deep down though, he was a man of the people and he would help the helpless and weak for free. Rich and powerful people, he would charge.

The new Netflix series was excellent by the way and I can't wait for The Defenders, and the scene where Cage had to steal a yellow silk shirt to escape was awesomely funny.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 17: The Hulk The Incredible Hulk is an ongoing comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero the Hulk and his alter ego Dr. Bruce Banner. First published in May 1962, the series ran for six issues before it was cancelled in March 1963, and the Hulk character began appearing in Tales to Astonish. With issue #102, Tales to Astonish was renamed to The Incredible Hulk in April 1968, becoming its second volume. The series continued to run until issue #474 in March 1999 and after that it just became plain silly (Marvel really lost the plot for over a decade, although, thankfully, there are signs they are finding their own voice again).

That's the basic info, but what is the Hulk and why is he in my top 20? I first encountered The Incredible Hulk in the UK reprint weekly Mighty World of Marvel in 1972 and what a story he had to tell. Obviously inspired by Frankenstein and Jekyl & Hyde (Stan Lee admits it), the strip, written by Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby, and later Steve Ditko, told the story of a monster that is, to quote the TV series, fuelled by rage.. but had the gentle heart of a human and who showed more compassion for those who were not his enemies than most humans. It is a story of a misunderstood and feared being who simply wants to be left alone. And Marvel were brilliant at those kind of stories in the 60s and 70s.

Being a massive fan of gothic horror even at a young age (I LOVED the Universal films thanks to BBC2's regular Saturday night double bills of classic horror films) the Hulk made for must read activity. Later, in the late 70s, I would discover the US black and white magazine The Rampaging Hulk which took the Hulk back to his early days, when he had basic intelligence and speech (both these skills would greatly vary over the decades of the US colour comic) and a lot of anger. Sadly, that run only lasted 9 issues before Marvel lost its nerve with the b&w titles, and Hulk became a full colour modern Hulk, but those 9 issues blew my mind with the savage artwork (and this magazine also introduced me to Shanna, see Outside my Top 20).

The Hulk also introduced what would become THE best series of punchups in Comic history- The Hulk vs the Fantastic Four's Thing. Every single one of those battles from the late 60s to the early 80s is simply awesome to read. The Hulk was also a founder member of The Avengers but his savagery would mean that he would become a foe of them after just a couple of issues. Later, when he becomes more simple in mind, he would join The Defenders with Dr Strange and Namor, the Submariner (and later Valkyrie, see Outside my Top 20 posts here) (first issue Marvel Feature 1 and then the first 50 issues of the colour comic- or you could get the UK Rampage Weekly for the reprints).

In the 80s, with the success of the TV series with Bill Bixby & Lou Ferrigno, Marvel UK gave Hulk his own comic and, for the first time, original stories from the UK- well worth checking out the 50 issues or so (go contact Sumyra at Lucky Target Comics (she's on Facebook) to see if she still has a set for sale), and another great place to start is the 3 or 4 Marvel Treasury's featuring the Hulk- huge oversize full colour reprints of key stories.

If not for the mess Marvel made after 1999 with the Hulk, he probably would have been higher up in my Top 20.

The HULK was obviously created by Stan Lee, with early collaborations with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 16: Daredevil Matt Murdock, blinded by a radioactive isotope, develops incredible sensory abilities including being able to "see" via a kind of sonar imaging in his brain created by the sounds he hears. Matt becomes a hot shot lawyer but after his father is murdered for refusing to take a dive in a big mob boxing match, Matt uses his abilities to train hard and become the athletic Daredevil, the man without fear.

Ok, so getting away from the fact that everyone got their powers from radioactive substances or waves, DD has always been that special character and comic book that rarely stopped being a great read in the 40 odd years the title has been running. DD never quits, he pushes himself all the time, is driven to bring justice to the streets. For DD the cosmic battles are unimportant, what matters to him is how the people in his city behave, live, are protected and so on. He is probably the most human of all the Marvel creations, and because he has always fought on that level, it might be the reason why his title has always had that extra grit, extra level, that other comics don't have.

Getting hold of the Vol 1 series will cost you a fortune, but if you want to be in at the ground level, look out for the British reprint weekly Mighty World of Marvel, which started to feature Daredevil early in its run (issue 21 or so??). Also YOU MUST check out Frank Miller's run from Daredevil 158 to 191 or so, which introduced Elektra and the hand (see also the netflix Daredevil series which is awesome it has to be said) and saw DD go up against the HULK in an incredible display of bravery that gets through to even the dim brain of the green giant.

But to be fair, any run of DD is going to be great. I have a very high regard for the series from issue 100 to 157, which saw DD become slightly more mainstream superheroic, but still with that humour and dark grittiness.

Stan Lee created Daredevil.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 15: Spider Woman

Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and original Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, is the one I am talking about here.

Her creation was not particularly auspicious. Marvel Comics' then-publisher Stan Lee said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's SOLO debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb. 1977) and the start of the character's 50-issue self-titled series (cover-dated April 1978 – June 1983), the character originated because, "I suddenly realised that some other company may quickly put out a book like that and claim they have the right to use the name, and I thought we'd better do it real fast to copyright the name. So we just batted one quickly, and that's exactly what happened. I wanted to protect the name, because it's the type of thing [where] someone else might say, 'Hey, why don't we put out a Spider-Woman; they can't stop us.'"

Created to be a super-agent by HYDRA, Spider-Woman's powers include the ability to glide, shoot bio-shocks from her hands, super strength, agility and speed. Thankfully she escapes the brainwashing of Hydra and becomes instead a superhero, initially battling villains of a supernatural basis in her own title, before becoming more mainstream as the series developed.

She was created by Archie Goodwin and Marie Severin, but for her own series Marv Wolfman was asked to take the writing reins. Wolfman introduced Spider-Woman's mentor Charles Magnus and archenemies Morgan le Fay and the Brothers Grimm. He left the series after issue #8, citing a heavy workload but later admitted, "If truth be told I never felt comfortable writing her. I never found a handle for her and kept trying until I finally decided to leave the book." Neophyte Mark Gruenwald became the writer, while the series's regular penciler, comics legend Carmine Infantino, remained on board, having developed a fondness for the character and her stories. I think it's true to say Carmine also did some of his best work of the later 70s on this title!

Gruenwald continued with the macabre themes Wolfman had used, while putting more focus on Drew's struggles to deal with her social awkwardness, shyness, and the negative reactions she produced in nearly everyone she met. The last of these is revealed to be caused by fear-inducing pheromones, a previously unrevealed ability. Gruenwald also introduced outgoing aspiring actress Lindsay McCabe, who became Drew's best friend and the mainstay of her supporting cast.

Marvel had been heavily advertising the series from the start, and during Gruenwald's run an animated TV series began airing. But Roger Stern, who replaced Wolfman as editor, recounted that Spider-Woman had already lost her status as a top seller by this time. Despite her differing origin and powers and Wolfman's deliberate effort to avoid Spider-Man guest appearances or crossovers, readers still tended to see the character as a female Spider-Man. "They saw her, and later the She-Hulk," Stern explained, "as running a good idea into the ground, much as DC had done in the ’60s with its then-ever-growing families of Super- and Bat-characters."

Issue #20 saw the departure of Gruenwald, Infantino, and Stern. New writer Michael Fleisher gave Spider-Woman a career as a bounty hunter, abandoned both the series' macabre tone and outstanding subplots such as Charles Magnus' mysterious disappearance, and replaced them with such superhero standbys as criminal masterminds and a love interest who is enamored with the protagonist's costumed guise but oblivious to her in her civilian identity. Many fans criticized that Fleisher had taken away everything that made the character special. Fleisher would be retained on the series up until #32, after which Chris Claremont, already a big-name writer for his work on Uncanny X-Men, took over and switched Jessica Drew's occupation from bounty hunter to private investigator. Steve Leialoha was drawing the series by this time.

The series had already come under criticism for its rapid turnover of writers, and like all of its writers, Claremont had a fairly short stay on Spider-Woman. After 13 issues, both he and Leiahola were compelled to leave for other projects. Their final issue marked the return of Gruenwald, this time as editor. He was promptly informed that due to dwindling sales, Marvel was canceling the series, and issue #50 would be the last.

Gruenwald hired comic book novices Ann Nocenti and Brian Postman as writer and penciler for the final four issues, under the theory that their inexperience in the medium would give them a unique perspective and perhaps take the series out with a bang. Under Gruenwald's direction, the series returned to its macabre roots and resumed the long-abandoned subplot of Magnus's disappearance. The final issue used a photo cover of Marvel staffers (including Gruenwald and Nocenti) in costume as the issue's cast and had Spider-Woman perish in a climactic battle with her nemesis Morgan le Fay. Nocenti reasoned, "These are licensed characters and you want them to have a forever life. At the same time, they live in a violent world and occasionally you feel like someone has to die, otherwise it’s too unreal."

Readers were outraged at the character being killed, and Nocenti and Gruenwald both came to feel remorse over their decision. Gruenwald took the readers' reaction especially to heart, and became determined to fix what he saw as a major mistake. He and Stern had been paired up again on Avengers, but with their jobs swapped, and he instructed Stern to write a story reviving Drew. Less than a year after her death, Spider-Woman was resurrected in The Avengers #240-241 (Feb.-March 1984).

None of this history actually explains WHY SW is so loved- especially the series from the 70s/early 80s. Sometimes a character comes along that is just always true to the character and no matter what the writer does or who they are, they find it impossible to make the character do something out of character. And so it is with Jessica- and why she is so high in my all time fave characters list.

Check out Marvel Spotlight 32, Marvel Two in One 29 to 31, Spider-Woman Vol 1 1 to 50 in particular (all 70s and into the very early 80s for the solo comic) and you will see what I mean.😎

Stan didn't create Spider-woman, but he TOLD Marvel Comics to create her.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 14: STAR LORD

FORGET THE PARODY OF STAR LORD THAT MARVEL DO NOW IN COMICS AND IN THE GUARDIANS MOVIES-

I am talking about the original Star Lord that saw life first in Marvel's excellent line of black and white magazines from the 1970s.

The character first appeared in the black-and-white magazine publication Marvel Preview #4 (Jan 1976). Creator Steve Englehart had plans for the character that went unrealized. He later reflected on his website:

"I conceived something very large. My hero would go from being an unpleasant, introverted jerk to the most cosmic being in the universe, and I would tie it into my then-new interest in astrology. After his earthbound beginning, his mind would be opened step by step, with a fast-action story on Mercury, a love story on Venus, a war story on Mars, and so on out to the edge of the solar system, and then beyond. But – after his earthbound beginning, where I established him as an unpleasant, introverted jerk, I left Marvel, so no one ever saw what he was to become."

Origin wise, Peter is born after an alien fugitive and Peter's mother fall in love and consummate their affair. Years later, aliens hunting for Peter's father, savagely murder his mother in front of him and so begins his quest for vengeance! Joining the space corp, he encounters a powerful being, a guardian of the universe, who gives Peter his powers but who also sets him on a grander path than vengeance.

Star-Lord continued to appear in Marvel Preview, with writer Chris Claremont revamping the character and using science fiction adventure stories like the Heinlein juveniles for inspiration. The story in #11 was the first teaming of the celebrated X-Men creative trio of writer Chris Claremont, penciller John Byrne, and inker Terry Austin. Star-Lord made sporadic appearances over the next few years in the titles Marvel Super Special, Marvel Spotlight, and Marvel Premiere. In February 1982, a colour reprint of the black-and-white Starlord story from Marvel Preview #11 was published with a new framing sequence by Claremont and artist Michael Golden.

I need to give a special mention to Marvel Preview 14 and 15 too. Once again Claremont took up the writing, but the art was by Carmine Infantino. Now, at the time, Carmine was already ancient, being one of the first regular artists on DC's The Flash in the 60s! I had seen his art on more modern comics and found it too angular, too old fashioned. When it was announced he would be artist on MP14 and 15 I was crest fallen.

How wrong could I be!?! Carmine produced his best art ever on these two magazines and storywise they rank as two of my favourite from the era- especially as Star Lord's ship is a sentient being, fashioned from the heart of a dying sun, and who, secretly, is in love with Peter. Brilliant!

Sadly, when Marvel went through it's many revamps they made him little more than a cosmic thief and out went Ship et al. But man, those black and white first appearances and the oversize full colour magazines stories are great fun and Star Lord has so much potential it's painful to see what Marvel have done with him now!

My Top 20 Superheroes: 13: MISTY KNIGHT

Misty Knight is difficult to explain. She is a cop, a chick with attitude,a former NYPD officer turned superhero, a minor supporting character who demanded that she become so much more, and who has survived all the various Marvel Comics reboots more or less intact as, well, Misty Knight (this latter fact being no mean feat!) Created by Tony Isabella and Arvell Jones, Knight was first mentioned (by name) in Marvel Premiere #20 (January 1975 in the Iron Fist series) and appeared in the next issue, although a later retcon in Marvel Team-Up (1st series) #64 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne would reveal she had previously appeared as an unnamed character in Marvel Team-Up (1st series) #1 (March 1972), written by Roy Thomas and penciled by Ross Andru.

Within the context of the Marvel Universe, Knight is a former NYPD police officer, whose arm was amputated following a bomb attack. After receiving a bionic prosthetic from Tony Stark, she started a private investigation agency with close friend Colleen Wing. The two would later form the crime fighting duo, Daughters of the Dragon. As private investigators, Knight and Wing frequently work with Heroes for Hire: Luke Cage and Iron Fist. In 2013, Knight became co-leader of the Valkyrior with Valkyrie in Fearless Defenders #1 by Cullen Bunn and Will Sliney.

Comics in which Knight and Colleen Wing have starred include a storyline first printed in Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu #32-33 (January — February 1977) and Bizarre Adventures #25 (March 1981) by writer Chris Claremont and penciller Marshall Rogers. The original depictions of Knight, a bionically enhanced black female detective with martial arts skills, were strongly influenced by the blaxploitation and Kung Fu crazes of the 1970s.

She was a longtime supporting character in comic books such as X-Men and Power Man and Iron Fist (falling in love with Danny Rand and having an on-off relationship with him, as well as having an affair with Luke Cage); she also had a major role in the Deathlok story arc 'Souls of Cyber-Folk' that ran from issue 2-5 of the 1991 Deathlok series (Vol. 2). The character, alongside her partner Colleen Wing, starred in Daughters of the Dragon, a 2005 six issue limited series by writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and penciller Khari Evans. Knight is one of the stars of the 2006 Heroes for Hire series as well as a supporting character in the ongoing series The Immortal Iron Fist.Her friendship with Colleen endures many spats- not least of which is over Danny Rand- and breakdowns, but the two always mend their differences, behaving more like sisters than friends (hence the "daughters" of the dragon moniker).

In 2010, Knight appears in the crossover event "Shadowland", and is the central character in the spin-off title Shadowland: Blood on the Street. She then goes on to star in the new version of Heroes for Hire. Knight appears in the 2013 series Fearless Defenders, by Cullen Bunn and Will Sliney, easily one of the best Marvel Comic titles for over a decade. In it Misty shows her natural leadership skills as well as that sassy attitude that made her so noticeable in the first place.

Simone Missick portrays the character, so far without a bionic arm, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series Luke Cage and has not as yet met the TV versions of Iron Fist and Colleen Wing.

So, why is this character so high up on my list of fave superheroes? Simply because she has always been a fascinating character who grew in importance within the Marvel Universe slowly and surely, almost without the creators realising she was taking a bigger and bigger slice of their pie. And if you read her very first scenes, you will see Misty always wanted more of the pie.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 12: DOC SAVAGE

Doc Savage isn't just a Marvel character- he's been all over comics, books and magazines since 1933!

The Doc Savage Magazine was printed by Street & Smith from March 1933 to the summer of 1949 to capitalise on the success of the Shadow magazine and followed by the original Avenger in September 1939. In all, 181 issues were published in various entries and alternative titles.

Doc Savage became known to more contemporary readers when Bantam Books began reprinting the individual magazine novels in 1964, this time with covers by artist James Bama that featured a bronze-haired, bronze-skinned Doc Savage with an exaggerated widows' peak, usually wearing a torn khaki shirt and under the by-line "Kenneth Robeson". The stories were not reprinted in chronological order as originally published, though they did begin with the first adventure, The Man of Bronze. By 1967, Bantam was publishing once a month until 1990, when all 181 original stories (plus an unpublished novel, The Red Spider) had run their course. Author Will Murray produced seven more Doc Savage novels for Bantam Books from Lester Dent's original outlines. Bantam also published a novel by Philip José Farmer, Escape From Loki (1991), which told the story of how in World War I Doc met the men who would become his five comrades.

Clark Savage, Jr. first appeared in March 1933 in the first issue of Doc Savage Magazine. Because of the success of the Shadow, who had his own pulp magazine, the publishers Street & Smith quickly launched this pulp title. Unlike the Shadow, Clark Savage, "Doc" to his friends, had no special powers, but was raised from birth by his father and other scientists to become one of the most perfect human beings in terms of strength, intelligence, and physical abilities.

Doc Savage set up base on the 86th floor of a world-famous New York skyscraper (implied, but never outright stated, as the Empire State Building; Phillip Jose Farmer, in his Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, gives good evidence that this is likely the case). Doc Savage fights against evil with the assistance of the "Fabulous Five".

The best comic book version simply has to be black & white magazine Doc Savage, featuring full length novelisations in each issue, produced by Marvel Comics in the 1970s. The quality of this magazine is simply awesome, and the art of Tony DeZuniga and others never looking better, this was MY introduction to the character. Sadly, the flop of the movie by George Pal starring Ron Ely, killed the magazine, especially as the film had the camp feel of the Batman TV series rather than the dark tones of the original series, a dark tone that the Marvel Magazine properly captured.

The Marvel Comics colour comic was okay, as have been the other titles produced by various comic companies, but none of them match the quality of these 8 issues and his placing at number 12 in my all time fave superheroes is mostly based on just those issues.

We played a Doc Savage radio drama on the special show I did, and it's just been confirmed that Dwayne Johnson (the Rock!) will play Doc Savage in a new movie version. Let's hope that it avoids the campness of the 1970s movies. In the meantime do whatever you can to secure Doc Savage Magazine 1-8!

My Top 20 Superheroes: 10: The Scarlet Witch

I first encountered Wanda Maximov in Avengers Weekly and even as a 9 or 10 year old, I was drawn to her. By the time the title had finished and merged into Mighty World of Marvel Weekly, I was 11 years old and was really noticing her... charms (yes, pun intended lol).

Scarlet Witch actually debuted, together with her brother, Quicksilver, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Men #4 (March 1964). They were depicted as reluctant villains, uninterested in Magneto's ideologies. Scarlet Witch is depicted as calm and submissive, as with most female comic book characters of the time. Her costume was mainly composed of a bathing suit with straps, opera gloves, short boots, a leotard covering her body, a superhero cape, and a wimple, all of which were coloured in shades of red.

After several appearances as a villain in issues #5 (May 1964); #6 (July 1964); #7 (September 1964); and #11 (May 1965), Wanda and her brother were added to the cast of the superhero team the Avengers in Avengers #16 (May 1965).Scarlet Witch was a semi-regular member of the team until issue #49 (February 1968), and then returned in issue #75 (April 1970) and was a perennial member of both the main team and several affiliated teams—such as the West Coast Avengers and Force Works—until Avengers #503 (December 2004), the final issue of the first volume. Upon her return to the Avengers she was given a long-running love interest in the form of fellow Avenger the Vision. Writer Roy Thomas recounted:

"I felt that a romance of some sort would help the character development in The Avengers, and the Vision was a prime candidate because he appeared only in that mag... as did Wanda, for that matter. So they became a pair, for just such practical considerations." The two characters were married in Giant-Size Avengers #4 (June 1975).

Thomas's successor on The Avengers, Steve Englehart, considerably expanded Scarlet Witch's powers, adding genuine sorcery to her mutant "hex" power. He later explained, "Having decided she would be a full-fledged player, she then naturally developed a more assertive personality, and I wanted to know more about her rather vaguely defined powers since she'd be using them more. I could certainly have pushed her more toward the mutant end of the spectrum, but the name 'Witch' seemed like it could be more than just a superhero nom de guerre, so I went that way."

The character made occasional guest-appearances in other Marvel titles such as Marvel Team-Up #41–44 (January–April 1976), and Marvel Fanfare #6 (January 1983). Scarlet Witch starred in two limited series with husband and fellow Avenger the Vision: Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1–4 (November 1982 – February 1983), by writer Bill Mantlo and penciller Rick Leonardi, and a second volume of the same title numbered #1–12 (October 1985 – September 1986), written by Englehart and penciled by Richard Howell. Howell later wrote, penciled, inked, lettered, and colored a Scarlet Witch solo story which appeared in Marvel Comics Presents #60–63 (October–November 1990). A solo limited series, titled Scarlet Witch, ran four issues in 1994. A one-shot titled Mystic Arcana Scarlet Witch was published in October 2007 and an Avengers Origins: The Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver one-shot followed in January 2012.

Artist George Pérez designed a new costume with a strong Roma influence for the character in 1998.This design has rarely been used by artists other than Pérez. Alan Davis stated that when he became the artist on The Avengers, he "asked to change the Scarlet Witch just because I didn't feel the design George Pérez created worked with my drawing style. I tend to go for simpler, more open lines and don't do lots of detail in rendering."

The character eventually had a schism, having "lost" her children, being possessed by Mephisto, manipulated and possessed by several other dimension beings, losing the Vision, having her memories tampered with so she wouldn't remember her children etc etc. Because of this she would turn dark, unleashing her full power and therefore played a pivotal role in the Avengers Disassembled storyline and related limited series House of M, during which she altered reality, killing several Avengers and X-Men, and setting up her father, Magneto, as ruler of this new Earth.

Eventually, her true nature would breakthrough and she restored the world to what it was, becoming a hero again and finding the inner strength that she had always had.

Don Markstein asserts: "The Scarlet Witch is unique among superheroes, and not just because she's the only one who wears a wimple. Her super power is unlike any other—she can alter probability so as to cause mishaps for her foes. In other words, she 'hexes' them."

Scarlet Witch is a regular character in Uncanny Avengers (2012), beginning with issue #1. The Axis crossover revealed that Magneto was not her father after all, doing away with a relation that has been canon for decades. It also revealed that she was not a mutant, but a common human that received powers with the experiments of the High Evolutionary. This plot twist was published when Marvel and Fox had a legal dispute over the film rights to the character, as Fox has a film license for the X-Men, mutants, and their related characters.

Under the All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, the character received her own ongoing solo series[ written by James Robinson in late 2015. Robinson explained that he has been influenced by the work of Matt Fraction and David Aja on the Hawkeye title stating:

[Matt Fraction and David Aja] managed to stay true to the character in the Avengers while also taking it in a fresh direction, so it wasn't just that same Avengers character doing solo things, which I don't think ever really works for any sustained period of time for any of those second-tier characters."

Whilst I object to calling Wanda a second tier character, I do note that he did produce probably 1 of the best 5 Marvel series in years but sadly the title has been cancelled in the last month or so. The reason why is such a favourite of mine is because I saw her character grow in The Avengers Weekly just as I was growing up too. She may have started off as a bit of a shy, doubting creature, but that was not her true nature. She is The Scarlet Witch after all, and why choose the colour and title of Scarlet if she weren't someone with a fiery, tempered bit of steel inside her? :)

Stan Lee created the Scarlet Witch.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 8: Cpt America (Steve Rogers)

Captain America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic super-soldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned following the war and the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964 (his body having being found frozen in ice by the Avengers), Captain America has remained in publication.

Captain America wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with a nearly indestructible shield that he throws at foes. The character is usually depicted as the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum to aid the United States government's efforts in World War II. Near the end of the war, he was trapped in ice and survived in suspended animation until he was revived in the present day. Although Captain America often struggles to maintain his ideals as a man out of his time with its modern realities, he remains a highly respected figure in his community which includes becoming the long-time leader of the Avengers.

Captain America was the first Marvel Comics character to have appeared in media outside comics with the release of the 1944 movie serial, Captain America. Since then, the character has been featured in other films and television series, more recently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) portrayed brilliantly by Chris Evans (who KNEW he could act!?!) in Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and its untitled sequel (2019).

Ok, that's the history, but why is he so popular with me?

First off, I should say I haven't followed the good captain in comic form for a couple of decades (I tried Civil War and TBH he was the only believable character in the entire crossover event- everyone else was decidedly OUT of character!!!) so his ranking here is based purely on what I read in the early 70s through to the mid 80s (and retro reading his 40s adventures since). But man, WHAT reading!!!

I think to properly understand why Cap has such a lasting impact on readers across the world you need to understand more about his history. In 1940, writer Joe Simon conceived the idea for Captain America and made a sketch of the character in costume. "I wrote the name 'Super American' at the bottom of the page," Simon said in his autobiography, and then considered:

'No, it didn't work. There were too many "Supers" around. "Captain America" had a good sound to it. There weren't a lot of captains in comics. It was as easy as that. The boy companion was simply named Bucky, after my friend Bucky Pierson, a star on our high school basketball team."

Simon recalled in his autobiography that Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman gave him the go-ahead and directed that a Captain America solo comic book series be published as soon as possible. Needing to fill a full comic with primarily one character's stories, Simon did not believe that his regular creative partner, artist Jack Kirby, could handle the workload alone:

I didn't have a lot of objections to putting a crew on the first issue ... There were two young artists from Connecticut that had made a strong impression on me. Al Avison and Al Gabriele often worked together and were quite successful in adapting their individual styles to each other. Actually, their work was not too far from [that of] Kirby's. If they worked on it, and if one inker tied the three styles together, I believed the final product would emerge as quite uniform. The two Als were eager to join in on the new Captain America book, but Jack Kirby was visibly upset. "You're still number one, Jack," I assured him. "It's just a matter of a quick deadline for the first issue."

"I'll make the deadline," Jack promised. "I'll pencil it [all] myself and make the deadline." I hadn't expected this kind of reaction ... but I acceded to Kirby's wishes and, it turned out, was lucky that I did. There might have been two Als, but there was only one Jack Kirby ... I wrote the first Captain America book with penciled lettering right on the drawing boards, with very rough sketches for figures and backgrounds. Kirby did his thing, building the muscular anatomy, adding ideas and pepping up the action as only he could. Then he tightened up the penciled drawings, adding detailed backgrounds, faces and figures."

Al Liederman would ink that first issue, which was lettered by Simon and Kirby's regular letterer, Howard Ferguson.

Simon said Captain America was a consciously political creation; he and Kirby were morally repulsed by the actions of Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the United States' involvement in World War II and felt war was inevitable: "The opponents to the war were all quite well organised. We wanted to have our say too." Captain America Comics #1 — cover-dated March 1941[8] and on sale December 20, 1940, a year before the attack on Pearl Harbour, but a full year into World War II — showed the protagonist punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler; it sold nearly one million copies.While most readers responded favourably to the comic, some took objection. Simon noted, "When the first issue came out we got a lot of ... threatening letters and hate mail. Some people really opposed what Cap stood for." The threats, which included menacing groups of people loitering out on the street outside of the offices, proved so serious that police protection was posted with New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia personally contacting Simon and Kirby to give his support.

This wouldn't be the only time Cap and his creators would face threats. Later in the war period, Cap stood against the KKK, and again upon his revival by Stan and Jack in the 60s, he would stand against the KKK again! Somehow, the character developed his own voice and really did stand for all the best of humanity (and not just Americans) against the worst. This is no better illustrated than when, during the Vietnam War, Marvel Comics and Captain America, said no, enough is enough, this war serves no purpose. The amount of flack this created was immense but Cap resisted. Rogers reunites with his old war comrade Nick Fury, who is similarly well-preserved due to the "Infinity Formula". As a result, Rogers regularly undertakes missions for the security agency S.H.I.E.L.D., for which Fury is public director. Through Fury, Rogers befriends Sharon Carter, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, with whom he eventually begins a romantic relationship.

Rogers later meets and trains Sam Wilson, who becomes the superhero the Falcon, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books.[77][78] The characters established an enduring friendship and adventuring partnership, sharing the series title for some time as Captain America and the Falcon. The two later encounter the revived but still insane 1950s Captain America. Although Rogers and the Falcon defeat the faux Rogers and Jack Monroe, Rogers becomes deeply disturbed that he could have suffered his counterpart's fate. During this period, Rogers temporarily gains super strength.

Cap also dealt with the Marvel Universe's version of the Watergate scandal, making Rogers so uncertain about his role that he abandons his Captain America identity in favour of one called Nomad, emphasising the word's meaning as "man without a country". During this time, several men unsuccessfully assume the Captain America identity but Rogers eventually re-assumes it after coming to consider that the identity could be a symbol of American ideals and not its government; it's a personal conviction epitomised when he later confronted a corrupt Army officer attempting to manipulate him by appealing to his loyalty, "I'm loyal to nothing, General ... except the [American] Dream."

Throughout almost every title he then appeared in from 1964 to the final issue of Vol 1 of Captain America (454, Aug 1996), Cap was Cap- he stood for honesty, bravery, and decency as the rest of world sank into money grabbing excess. Since then of course he has fallen victim to Marvel's incessant relaunches and no 1s although thankfully the numbering returned to the original numbering with issue 600 (adding ALL the subsequent series to 454).

Oh and apart from the awesome Jack Kirby artwork and epic storylines (leaving aside Jack's stilted dialogue skills), let's not forget one Jim Steranko and his amazing run in the 1970s!

All in all, Cap deserves to be in anyone's Top 20. Oh and if you can get the oversize Marvel Treasuries do, or better yet the hard cover, high quality paper Omnibus editions (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Captain-America-Jack-Kirby-Omnibus-Marvel/0785149600 and https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Captain-America-Omnibus-HC-New-Ptg-Marvel/1302901613/) then do and be prepared for some epic reading!!

Stan Lee wrote the stories that brought Cap back to modern comics (in the 1960s lol), that is, back to the modern Marvel universe.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 7: Spider-man (Peter Parker)

Spider-Man is, of course, one of the most famous superheroes ever. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Lee and Ditko conceived the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime-fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs using wrist-mounted devices of his own invention, which he calls "web-shooters", and react to danger quickly with his "spider-sense", enabling him to combat his foes.

When Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the role of sidekick to the protagonist. The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, the high school student behind Spider-Man's secret identity and with whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. While Spider-Man had all the makings of a sidekick, unlike previous teen heroes such as Bucky and Robin, Spider-Man had no superhero mentor like Captain America and Batman; he thus had to learn for himself that "with great power there must also come great responsibility"—a line included in a text box in the final panel of the first Spider-Man story but later retroactively attributed to his guardian, the late Uncle Ben.

In 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee was casting about for a new superhero idea. He said the idea for Spider-Man arose from a surge in teenage demand for comic books, and the desire to create a character with whom teens could identify. In his autobiography, Lee cites the non-superhuman pulp magazine crime fighter the Spider (see also The Spider's Web and The Spider Returns) as a great influence, and in a multitude of print and video interviews, Lee stated he was further inspired by seeing a spider climb up a wall—adding in his autobiography that he has told that story so often he has become unsure of whether or not this is true.

Although at the time teenage superheroes were usually given names ending with "boy", Lee says he chose "Spider-Man" because he wanted the character to age as the series progressed, and moreover felt the name "Spider-Boy" would have made the character sound inferior to other superheroes. At that time Lee had to get only the consent of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman for the character's approval. In a 1986 interview, Lee described in detail his arguments to overcome Goodman's objections. Goodman eventually agreed to a Spider-Man tryout in what Lee in numerous interviews recalled as what would be the final issue of the science-fiction and supernatural anthology series Amazing Adult Fantasy, which was renamed Amazing Fantasy for that single issue, #15 (cover-dated August 1962, on sale June 5, 1962). In particular, Lee stated that the fact that it had already been decided that Amazing Fantasy would be cancelled after issue #15 was the only reason Goodman allowed him to use Spider-Man.

Regardless, Lee received Goodman's approval for the name Spider-Man and the "ordinary teen" concept, and approached artist Jack Kirby. As comics historian Greg Theakston recounts, Kirby told Lee about an unpublished character on which he had collaborated with Joe Simon in the 1950s, in which an orphaned boy living with an old couple finds a magic ring that granted him superhuman powers. Lee and Kirby "immediately sat down for a story conference", Theakston writes, and Lee afterward directed Kirby to flesh out the character and draw some pages. Steve Ditko would be the inker. When Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic". Lee turned to Ditko, who developed a visual style Lee found satisfactory.

Ditko recalled:

"One of the first things I did was to work up a costume. A vital, visual part of the character. I had to know how he looked ... before I did any breakdowns. For example: A clinging power so he wouldn't have hard shoes or boots, a hidden wrist-shooter versus a web gun and holster, etc. ... I wasn't sure Stan would like the idea of covering the character's face but I did it because it hid an obviously boyish face. It would also add mystery to the character...."

Although the interior artwork was by Ditko alone, Lee rejected Ditko's cover art and commissioned Kirby to pencil a cover that Ditko inked. As Lee explained in 2010, "I think I had Jack sketch out a cover for it because I always had a lot of confidence in Jack's covers."

Kirby disputed Lee's version of the story, and claimed Lee had minimal involvement in the character's creation. According to Kirby, the idea for Spider-Man had originated with Kirby and Joe Simon, who in the 1950s had developed a character called the Silver Spider for the Crestwood Publications comic Black Magic, who was subsequently not used.[note 4] Simon, in his 1990 autobiography, disputed Kirby's account, asserting that Black Magic was not a factor, and that he (Simon) devised the name "Spider-Man" (later changed to "The Silver Spider"), while Kirby outlined the character's story and powers. Simon later elaborated that his and Kirby's character conception became the basis for Simon's Archie Comics superhero the Fly. Artist Steve Ditko stated that Lee liked the name Hawkman from DC Comics, and that "Spider-Man" was an outgrowth of that interest.

Simon concurred that Kirby had shown the original Spider-Man version to Lee, who liked the idea and assigned Kirby to draw sample pages of the new character but disliked the results—in Simon's description, "Captain America with cobwebs". Writer Mark Evanier notes that Lee's reasoning that Kirby's character was too heroic seems unlikely—Kirby still drew the covers for Amazing Fantasy #15 and the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Evanier also disputes Kirby's given reason that he was "too busy" to draw Spider-Man in addition to his other duties since Kirby was, said Evanier, "always busy". Neither Lee's nor Kirby's explanation explains why key story elements like the magic ring were dropped; Evanier states that the most plausible explanation for the sudden change was that Goodman, or one of his assistants, decided that Spider-Man as drawn and envisioned by Kirby was too similar to the Fly.

Author and Ditko scholar Blake Bell writes that it was Ditko who noted the similarities to the Fly. Ditko recalled that, "Stan called Jack about the Fly", adding that "Stan told me I would be penciling the story panel breakdowns from Stan's synopsis". It was at this point that the nature of the strip changed. "Out went the magic ring, adult Spider-Man and whatever legend ideas that Spider-Man story would have contained". Lee gave Ditko the premise of a teenager bitten by a spider and developing powers, a premise Ditko would expand upon to the point he became what Bell describes as "the first work for hire artist of his generation to create and control the narrative arc of his series". On the issue of the initial creation, Ditko states, "I still don't know whose idea was Spider-Man". Kirby noted in a 1971 interview that it was Ditko who "got Spider-Man to roll, and the thing caught on because of what he did". Lee, while claiming credit for the initial idea, has acknowledged Ditko's role, stating, "If Steve wants to be called co-creator, I think he deserves [it]". He has further commented that Ditko's costume design was key to the character's success; since the costume completely covers Spider-Man's body, people of all races could visualize themselves inside the costume and thus more easily identify with the character. Writer Al Nickerson believes "that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created the Spider-Man that we are familiar with today [but that] ultimately, Spider-Man came into existence, and prospered, through the efforts of not just one or two, but many, comic book creators".

Whatever the convoluted means of his creation, Peter Parker spoke to many comic book readers who identified with his uneasy place in the world. As Spidey he could be someone else, someone with power and the ability to change the world around him. Certainly I was one of those nerdy youngsters and teens, into reading, music, film and science and could see elements of my life in Peter's struggle to be accepted by his peers. To this day one of my most uttered phrases is... "My spider-sense is tingling!" when I feel something isn't right.

But Spidey's success isn't just down to the character. The bloody stories were awesome too. He was blessed with some of the best writers and artists of the 60s and 70s in particular, and everything made sense and was consistent, even his origin. In Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Midtown High School student Peter Parker is a science-whiz orphan living with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. As depicted in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), he is bitten by a radioactive spider (erroneously classified as an insect in the panel) at a science exhibit and "acquires the agility and proportionate strength of an arachnid". Along with super strength, Parker gains the ability to adhere to walls and ceilings. Through his native knack for science, he develops a gadget that lets him fire adhesive webbing of his own design through small, wrist-mounted barrels. Initially seeking to capitalise on his new abilities, Parker dons a costume and, as "Spider-Man", becomes a novelty television star. However, "He blithely ignores the chance to stop a fleeing thief, [and] his indifference ironically catches up with him when the same criminal later robs and kills his Uncle Ben." Spider-Man tracks and subdues the killer and learns, in the story's next-to-last caption, "With great power there must also come—great responsibility!"

Despite his superpowers, Parker struggles to help his widowed aunt pay rent, is taunted by his peers—particularly football star Flash Thompson—and, as Spider-Man, engenders the editorial wrath of newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson. As he battles his enemies for the first time, Parker finds juggling his personal life and costumed adventures difficult. In time, Peter graduates from high school, and enrols at Empire State University (a fictional institution evoking the real-life Columbia University and New York University), where he meets roommate and best friend Harry Osborn, and girlfriend Gwen Stacy, and Aunt May introduces him to Mary Jane Watson. As Peter deals with Harry's drug problems (incurring the wrath of the Comic Code Authority!), and Harry's father is revealed to be Spider-Man's nemesis the Green Goblin, Peter even attempts to give up his costumed identity for a while. Gwen Stacy's father, New York City Police detective captain George Stacy is accidentally killed during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (#90, Nov. 1970).

Then in issue #121 (June 1973), a truly shocking tale would occur- the Green Goblin throws Gwen Stacy from a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text). She dies during Spider-Man's rescue attempt; a note on the letters page of issue #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her." The following issue, the Goblin appears to kill himself accidentally in the ensuing battle with Spider-Man.

Working through his grief, Parker eventually develops tentative feelings toward Mary-Jane Watson, a romantic relationship eventually develops but their relationship becomes a true soap opera.

From 1984 to 1988, Spider-Man wore a black costume with a white spider design on his chest. The new costume originated in the Secret Wars limited series, on an alien planet where Spider-Man participates in a battle between Earth's major superheroes and villains. He continues wearing the costume when he returns, starting in The Amazing Spider-Man #252. The change to a longstanding character's design met with controversy, "with many hardcore comics fans decrying it as tantamount to sacrilege. Spider-Man's traditional red and blue costume was iconic, they argued, on par with those of his D.C. rivals Superman and Batman." The creators then revealed the costume was an alien symbiote which Spider-Man is able to reject after a difficult struggle, though the symbiote returns several times as Venom for revenge.

But in a moment of commercially driven madness, Marvel made the decision to have Peter reveal his secret identity to the world during the events of the (badly written, badly conceptualised and badly implemented) Civil War series (to this day I do not know HOW Marvel Studios made such a great Cpt America movie out of a truly terrible comic crossover event).

Here's why this was so bad. For the entire series to that point, in over 40 years of stories, Spider-man had fought furiously to protect those he loved, to make sure no one knew he was Peter. Peter's entire raisen d'etre was driven by an obsession to keep his secret so his family and friends wouldn't be targeted. The fact is, that no matter what the influence, what the pressure, what the situation, Peter would NEVER have put his family and loved ones in danger.

Worse, after Civil War, the story lines became even more silly and unbelievable. Too silly to even bother to recount here.

But he reaches number 7 based on the amazing adventures, thrills and fantastic stories we received from the 60s to the 80s alone. Oh and if you want to know WHO Spider-man is, read the 3 consecutive pages from Amazing Spider-man 27 with the awesome art of Steve Ditko. Remember, this was the 60s but the narrative and the art is incredibly modern. The situation is this: Aunt May is dying, and only a special serum can save her. But in the process of obtaining it, Spider-man is trapped under tons of machinery in a cellar slowly filling up with water.... now read the following 3 pages.... :)

How fab is that!!!??

Check out the various Marvel Treasury editions, the UK Spider-man Comics Weekly (with Thor and Iron Man initially as the back up stories), and the Spider-man Annuals from the 1970s produced by Marvel Uk for some of the greatest stories.

In the meantime, the story of Spidey's origin and initial adventures are one of the radio plays we will be doing on the tribute show.

Stan Lee was deffo a co-creator of Spider-man, and drove forward the concept of a teen superhero, with all the angst that brought, that would not be relegated to the role of sidekick. The rest,as they say is history.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 6: Doctor Strange

By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, Dr Strange was the very first Marvel superhero I ever encountered and I did so via the marvellous entrepreneurialism of one Alan Class, when I would be about 7 or 8 years old, at Pontins Holiday Camps. Who is Alan Class? Alan Class was a comic distributor in the UK who initially imported limited numbers of remaindered copies of American movie, romance and detective magazines. To avoid the cost, supply and importation difficulties he had encountered, in 1958 he set up a publishing business to produce his own magazines and entered into an agreement with an American comic and comic strip syndication company for the rights to reproduce U.S. comic strips and titles under their control for a U.K audience.

The various Alan Class black and white anthology titles that appeared in the UK from 1959 to 1989 contained reprints of stories ranging from the 1940s to 1960s. These were from U.S. comics publishers such as Timely, Atlas - and their later incarnation, Marvel Comics - ACG, Charlton, Archie and their Red Circle and M.L.J imprints, Fawcett, King Features comics and newspaper strips, Lev Gleason and Sterling. Included in these reprints were many early mystery, superhero and monster stories by artists such as Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby that are now regarded as classics of the 1950s and early 1960s. During the 1960s and 1970s these reprints were the main, if not the only, medium through which most British children were introduced to the aforementioned monster and mystery stories and most non-DC or Marvel superheroes. And so it was for me- as the on site shop at Pontins in Morecambe carried these titles! And a regular 5 page strip in them were the first stories of one Doctor Stephen Strange.

Created by artist Steve Ditko and writer Stan Lee, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as the Sorcerer Supreme, the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats. Inspired by stories of black magic and Chandu the Magician, Strange was created during the Silver Age of Comics to bring a different kind of character and themes of mysticism to Marvel Comics.

The character's origin story relates that he was once a brilliant but egotistical surgeon. After a car accident severely damages his hands and hinders his ability to perform surgery, he searches the globe for a way to repair them and encounters the Ancient One, demanding that the mystic use his magical powers to heal his hands. However, Strange stumbles upon a plot by the Ancient One's disciple Mordu to steal his power and in probably the first unselfish act he had done in decades, he risks his own life to warn him.

After becoming one of the old Sorcerer Supreme's students, he becomes a practitioner of both the mystical arts as well as martial arts. Along with knowing many powerful spells, he has a costume with two mystical objects—the Cloak of Levitation and Eye of Agamotto—which give him added powers. Strange is aided along the way by his friend and valet, Wong, and a large assortment of mystical objects. He takes up residence in a mansion called the Sanctum Sanctorum, located in New York City. Later, Strange takes the title of Sorcerer Supreme.

Artist Steve Ditko and writer Stan Lee have described the character as having been originally the idea of Ditko, who wrote in 2008, "On my own, I brought in to Lee a five-page, penciled story with a page/panel script of my idea of a new, different kind of character for variety in Marvel Comics. My character wound up being named Dr. Strange because he would appear in Strange Tales."

In a 1963 letter to Jerry Bails, Lee called the character Ditko's idea, saying,

"Well, we have a new character in the works for Strange Tales (just a 5-page filler named Dr. Strange) Steve Ditko is gonna draw him. It has sort of a black magic theme. The first story is nothing great, but perhaps we can make something of him-- 'twas Steve's idea and I figured we'd give it a chance, although again, we had to rush the first one too much. Little sidelight: Originally decided to call him Mr. Strange, but thought the "Mr." bit too similar to Mr. Fantastic -- now, however, I remember we had a villain called Dr. Strange just recently in one of our mags, hope it won't be too confusing!"

Doctor Strange debuted in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963), a split book shared with the feature "The Human Torch". Doctor Strange appeared in issues #110–111 and #114 before the character's eight-page origin story in #115 (December 1963). Scripter Lee's take on the character was inspired by the Chandu the Magician radio program that aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System in the 1930s. He had Doctor Strange accompany spells with elaborate incantations, such as the "Eye of Agamotto", the "Wand of Watoomb", and "Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth" (something you will hear me say often, along with my other favourite Dr Srange utterings: "Gods of above, below and beyond!") though these often referenced established mythological figures, Lee has said he never had any idea what the incantations meant and used them simply because they sounded mystical and mysterious. Ditko showcased surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly vivid visuals that helped make the feature a favourite of college students at the time and certainly blew the mind of a 6 to 10 year old who collected as many of the Class comics on his Pontins holidays as he could!

Comics historian Mike Benton wrote,

"The Dr. Strange stories of the 1960s constructed a cohesive cosmology that would have thrilled any self-respecting theosophist. College students, minds freshly opened by psychedelic experiences and Eastern mysticism, read Ditko and Lee's Dr. Strange stories with the belief of a recent Hare Krishna convert. Meaning was everywhere, and readers analysed the Dr. Strange stories for their relationship to Egyptian myths, Sumerian gods, and Jungian archetypes."

"People who read Doctor Strange thought people at Marvel must be heads [i.e., drug users]," recalled then-associate editor and former Doctor Strange writer Roy Thomas in 1971, "because they had had similar experiences high on mushrooms. But I don't use hallucinogens, nor do I think any artists do." Originating in the early 1960s, the character was a predictor of counter-cultural trends in art prior to them becoming more established in the later 1960s, according to comic historian Bradford W. Wright: "Dr. Strange remarkably predicted the youth counterculture's fascination with Eastern mysticism and psychedelia."

As co-plotter and later sole plotter in the Marvel Method, Ditko took Strange into ever-more-abstract realms. In a 17-issue story arc in Strange Tales #130-146 (March 1965 – July 1966), Ditko introduced the cosmic character Eternity, who personified the universe and was depicted as a silhouette filled with the cosmos. As historian Bradford W. Wright described,

"Steve Ditko contributed some of his most surrealistic work to the comic book and gave it a disorienting, hallucinogenic quality. Dr. Strange's adventures take place in bizarre worlds and twisting dimensions that resembled Salvador Dalí paintings. Inspired by the pulp-fiction magicians of Stan Lee's childhood as well as by contemporary Beat culture, Dr. Strange remarkably predicted the youth counterculture's fascination with Eastern mysticism and psychedelia. Never among Marvel's more popular or accessible characters, Dr. Strange still found a niche among an audience seeking a challenging alternative to more conventional superhero fare."

Golden Age artist/writer Bill Everett succeeded Ditko as artist with issues #147-152, followed by Marie Severin through #160 and Dan Adkins through #168, the final issue before the Nick Fury feature moved to its own title and Strange Tales was renamed Doctor Strange. Expanded to 20 pages per issue, the Doctor Strange solo series ran 15 issues, #169-183 (June 1968 – November 1969), continuing the numbering of Strange Tales. Thomas wrote the run of new stories, joined after the first three issues by the art team of penciler Gene Colan and inker Tom Palmer through the end.

After plans were announced for a never-realized split book series featuring Doctor Strange and Iceman, each in solo adventures, Strange next appeared in the first three issues (December 1971 – June 1972) of the quarterly showcase title Marvel Feature. He appeared in both the main story detailing the formation of superhero "non-team" the Defenders, and the related back-up story. The character then starred in a revival solo series in Marvel Premiere #3-14 (July 1972 – March 1974).

This arc marked the debut of another recurring foe, the entity Shuma-Gorath, created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Frank Brunner. In issues #8-10 (May – September 1973), Strange was forced to shut down the Ancient One's mind, causing his mentor's physical death. Strange then assumed the title of Sorcerer Supreme. Englehart and Brunner created another multi-issue storyline featuring sorcerer Sise-Neg ("Genesis" spelled backward) going back through history, collecting all magical energies, until he reaches the beginning of the universe, becomes all-powerful and creates it anew, leaving Strange to wonder whether this was, paradoxically, the original creation. Stan Lee, seeing the issue after publication, ordered Englehart and Brunner to print a retraction saying this was not God but a god, to avoid offending religious readers. The writer and artist concocted a fake letter from a fictitious minister praising the story, and mailed it to Marvel from Texas. Marvel unwittingly printed the letter and dropped the retraction.

The Marvel Premiere series segued to the character's second ongoing title, Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts, also known as Doctor Strange vol. 2, which ran 81 issues (June 1974 – February 1987). Doctor Strange #14 featured a crossover story with The Tomb of Dracula #44, another series which was being drawn by Gene Colan at the time.

In the UK of course, Marvel UK took back the publishing rights from Alan Class and placed Dr Strange as the back up story in Avengers Weekly, and I got to experience those original stories all over again but this time in bigger panel sizes! Eventually I would go on to collect all the issues mentioned above except for the very first Strange Tales appearances, which I currently have in a Marvel Masterworks series of hard cover volumes. When I am rich again, I will begin a quest to get those issues too.

Note: Dr Strange also introduced me to one Cat Yronwode,who wrote the most amazing letters in the Letters pages of many Marvel Comics that had a mystical or cosmic vein (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Yronwode). Cat's letters helped my young mind understand a lot of the mystical themes in Strange, and, being the cool lady that she is, she even responded in later years to emails from myself.

Oh and let's not forget Clea, the Doc's on-off romantic lead, who grows from meek and frightened servant of the Dread Dormammu to kick ass sorceress, and Umar, probably the sexiest villainess in the early Marvel Universe. All in all, the good Doctor well deserves his high ranking here.

Check out Marvel Treasury edition 6 (with Frank Brunner's incredible art even more incredible in the oversize format) and the Doctor Strange Classics editions (4 issues), reprinting on high grade paper the original tales by Ditko! (try Sumyra at Lucky Target Comics!)

Stan may not have created per se Dr Strange but he certainly has Godfather privileges.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 5: CAPTAIN BRITAIN

On October 13th 1976, Marvel UK launched a comic with its first UK commissioned work- the titular Captain Britain! Until this moment, Marvel UK had existed solely as a reprint house, repackaging Marvel USA comics in the standard UK weekly format- black and white, roughly A4 size, anthologies featuring 3 or 4 strips per comic per week. The new comic continued some of this tradition- A4, anthological (initially Steranko’s Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD and the Fantastic Four), but with two major differences.

First, two of the strips were in colour. Secondly, one of those strips, Captain Britain, was original work only published in the UK.

Captain Britain was created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe- who are on record as saying they got the job because Chris had been born in the UK and Herb had visited London on occasion. The fact that both were based in the US meant of course that they saw the UK very much through visitors’ eyes and would create some amusing mismatches between Captain Britain’s Britain and real life Britain! Before we discuss these though, let’s start by explaining who Captain Britain is.

Captain Britain starts life as Brian Braddock, a brilliant physics student from the University of London. We know he is both English and a brilliant young scientist because he smokes a pipe- despite being only 20 or so years old. After being selected to be part of a research team at a top secret nuclear centre in Darkmoor (yes, DarKmoor- either a mistake for Dartmoor or an attempt to suggest the magical goings on that were to follow- you decide!), Brian is caught up in an attack by hi-tech thieves (so not so secret a base then) and in the confusion escapes on a motorcycle. In the ensuing chase, he crashes and finds himself in a circle of stones and confronted by Merlin and Roma, Merlin’s daughter.

They give him a choice between the Amulet of Right or the Sword of Might. Considering himself to be a scholar and not a warrior and unsuited for the challenge, he rejects the Sword and chooses the amulet and becomes Captain Britain. His pursuer grabs the sword and becomes the Reaver. Both adversaries are supernaturally powered, with enhanced fighting skills part of the spell but Brian triumphs and takes on the role of this Britain’s champion.

I say THIS Britain because years later we will learn that there is a multiverse and ALL Britain’s have a Captain Britain whose job it is to uphold the laws of the Britain of that world. Merlin and Roma are part of the Omniversal Guardians. But I am reaching ahead of myself.

Over the next 39 issues we discover much more about Brian. Born and raised in the small town of Maldon, Essex and educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh, Brian was a shy and studious youth, living a relatively quiet life and spending a lot of time with his parents and siblings (older brother Jamie and fraternal twin Elizabeth, who would eventually go on to become Psylocke!). The family were an aristocratic one who were no longer rich enough to fraternise with their peers, leaving Brian (too proud to fraternise with lower classes) a lonely child who immersed himself in the study of physics. He takes the fellowship at Darkmoor after the death of his parents (Sir James and Lady Elizabeth) in what seemed to be a laboratory accident.

It is only much later that it is revealed that Braddock is only one member of a much larger, inter-dimensional corps of mystical protectors, long after the original Captain Britain weekly was cancelled.

So, as his career as a superhero begins, Brian fights as the champion of Great Britain, often clashing with S.T.R.I.K.E, the UK version of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Welsh anti-superhero police officer Dai Thomas, as well as the usual assortment of mad scientists and slighted villains who become super creative to get revenge on those who had slighted them (see Hurricane). We are also introduced to the assassin Slaymaster and the crime matriarch Vixen. As with other Marvel heroes, Brian was viewed as a coward by others because he always vanished whenever trouble started. However Betsy and Jamie become aware of his secret identity when he saves them from Dr Synne, a villain terrorising the land around Braddock Manor.

We also discover that Synne is in fact controlled by the sentient computer Mastermind, a device Brian's father had created. During this particular battle Brian also learns that his parents did not die in an accident but had been deliberately killed by the computer. In the middle of this story arc, Chris Claremont left as writer, citing creative differences between him and the editor (this would not be the last time that the good Captain would be involved in creative disputes). Gary Friedrich took over the reins and continued the Americanised view of British life.

Shortly after this Captain Britain thwarts a neo-Nazi takeover of the country with the aid of Captain America, Nick Fury, and S.T.R.I.K.E. and is responsible for both saving Prime Minister Jim Callaghan from the Red Skull and from stopping the Skull's germ bomb from killing everyone in London.

During this story however the format of Captain Britain as a comic changed dramatically- out went the colour in issue 24, with art duties taken on by one of the hottest artists at Marvel at the time- Mr John Buscema and later by Ron Wilson with Pablos Marcos. I think it would be bad form for me not to mention the fact that I think Herb Trimpe produced some of the best artwork of his distinguished career on Captain Britain weekly- the first couple of story arcs are captured in the 1978 Captain Britain annual on high grade paper, and you can really see the art at its best.

But for the Captain, his early career was coming to an end. Issue 39 of Captain Britain weekly was the final issue, as the title was merged (by popular demand no doubt, an in-joke with Marvel Comics at the time!) with Super Spiderman weekly with issue 231. Following more revelations from Merlin about the true mystical nature of his powers and heritage (plus the transformation of his Quarterstaff into the Star Sceptre bringing flight to the Captain’s powers) Brian begins fighting more supernatural enemies rather than regular supervillains, all retroactively revealed to be part of Merlin's overall plan to mentally prepare him for the much later Jasper's Warp.

After limping on in Super Spiderman until issue 253 at least he went out on a high- Chris Claremont and John Byrne teamed the Captain up with Spiderman for a greatly entertaining showdown with Arcade and his Murderworld (basically reprinting Marvel Team Up 65 and 66), as Brian joins a student exchange programme in the US of A. This was December 1977, just 18 months from the launch of “the greatest superhero of all.”

After this he was not seen again until he played a supporting role in the excellent British creative team produced Black Knight strip in Hulk Comic which began in March 1979, where we are once more drawn into the dark magicks at the heart of the Captain Britain saga. This story arc also laid the groundwork for the complete relaunch that was to follow in Marvel Superheroes Monthly 377 in 1981, in which he got new powers, a new costume, and the brilliant rising stars of Alan Moore and Alan Davis on creative duties.

So what are we to make of the Captain from his first appearance as discussed here? Well, let’s be honest, the strips are not going to win an award, and they provide a source of unintentional fun with their depiction of how our American cousins pictured life in the UK in the late 70s. Everywhere is smog and fog, our police officers wear rain capes, carry pistols and ride horses. Everyone says “cor blimey” and “mate” and even “chum”. I swear reading those early issues again I half expected Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke’s cheerful cockney chimney sweep to pop up dancing through the streets of London going “cor blimey guv’nor!”. Of course at the age of 12 when I first read Captain Britain weekly, I didn’t really know that coppers in London didn’t ride horses and carry guns either (by the way, this concept was continued on in the Marvel Two In One Thing-Spiderwoman-Modred story arc also published in 1977), nor that not everyone in London called everyone guv’nor or mate. So I just enjoyed the fun innocently at the time.

But to call simply decide that the comic was “quaint” and “of its time”, doesn’t really do the title justice. True Brian was the caricature of the English upper class son, living in a mansion with acres and acres of land and no other houses nearby. True all the non-upper class people wear caps and braces, and also true that every village has a ring of stones contained within it. Brian also follows the Peter Parker/Rich Rider formula of doubting his abilities, his suitability to be hero, and has a tragic family history. But even in these early stories, we see both his undoubted bravery and the roots of the mental frailty that would see him psychically over-whelmed between the end of the team up with Spider-man and his amnesic broken drifter return in the Black Knight strip.

Furthermore, the stories are just great fun. They move on at a cracking pace and had an innocent appeal that is a cheerful antidote to a lot of the angst ridden anti-hero strips that would follow in the 1980s. Brian, for all his self-doubts, displays an intelligence that would be sadly lost once he joined the mainstream Marvel US universe- the “Brian smash!” run in Excalibur and beyond- always trying to think and strategize his way out of trouble. And his costume was superb, especially visual with the staff weapon that he originally had (sadly the star sceptre that replaced the staff looked like a prom queen award). Just look at the covers for the weekly too and tell me that Herb Trimpe didn’t do some of his best ever work on the good Captain!

When the good Captain was relaunched in issue 377 of Marvel Superheroes monthly all the elements that I mentioned in the start of the series were brilliant recrafted and/or unified first by Alan Moore and then Jamie Delano (Moore and Marvel fell out BIG time, leading to decades of litigation now thankfully settled) in which we finally get to see the full extent of the multiverse that would extend into the mainstream USA universe. Sadly, once the Jasper Wars and the UK produced run (in MSH, Captain Britain monthly, Daredevils and Mighty World of Marvel monthly) came to an end, Cap joined the mainstream USA universe (as a member of Excalibur, part of the X-Men canon) and basically lost everything that made him so lovable and British as a character (he really did become "BRIAN SMASH!").

All in all however, it is well worth checking out those early editions of Captain Britain, either in the original weeklies (which remember had the 70s Fantastic Four and Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD), the 1978 annual which reprints his origin and early battle with Hurricane on high quality paper, or the recent Captain Britain Birth of a Legend Vol 1 omnibus produced by Marvel USA (printed of course on high grade glossy paper).

Yes you will laugh at the innocence of it all, and yes you will shake your head at the skewed depiction of life in Great Britain. But I also bet you have fun and get lost in this slice of comic book history from yesteryear. And thanks to the litigation settlement between Moore and Marvel you can now also get the entire UK produced relaunch series in a full colour high quality Omnibus edition.

As a joke The Guardian newspaper suggested that Marvel should do a Captain Britain movie in their third wave. If they do (after all everyone laughed at the Ant Man film notion too), I really want them to do THIS Captain Britain first, before he becomes all Hulk-like. Just imagine, Merlin, a costumed pipe smoking student superhero with a staff, secret nuclear research centres surrounded by mystical stone rings and fog…

Well, okay, maybe not.

My Top 20 Superheroes: 3: The She-Hulk She-Hulk, or Shulkie to her friends (or simply Jen to those of us who love her) belongs to that pantheon of characters who simply will not let even a bad writer change who and what she is at her core. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in Savage She-Hulk #1 (cover-dated Feb. 1980) and is a cousin to Dr. Bruce Banner. Walters received an emergency blood transfusion from him when she was wounded, which led to her acquiring a milder version of his Hulk condition. As such, Walters becomes a large powerful green-hued version of herself while still largely retaining her personality; in particular she retains her intelligence and emotional control, though like Hulk, she still becomes stronger if enraged. In later issues, her transformation is permanent.

She-Hulk has been a member of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Heroes for Hire, the Defenders, Fantastic Force, and S.H.I.E.L.D. A highly skilled lawyer, she has served as legal counsel to various superheroes on numerous occasions.

The reason behind the character's creation had to do with the success of The Incredible Hulk (1977–82) and The Bionic Woman TV series. Marvel was afraid that the show's executives might suddenly introduce a female version of the Hulk, as had been done with The Six Million Dollar Man, so Marvel decided to publish their own version of such a character to make sure that if a similar one showed up in the TV series, Marvel would own the rights.

All but the first issue of The Savage She-Hulk were written by David Anthony Kraft and penciled by Mike Vosburg, and most issues were inked by Frank Springer. Vosburg later remarked, "The oddest thing about that book was that Frank drew really beautiful women, I drew really beautiful women, and yet, the She-Hulk was never overly attractive." The Savage She-Hulk series lasted until 1982 where it ended with #25 (March 1982). Very much a title of its age, SSH retains an innocent charm that is hard to resist- none of the stories are particularly stand out but they ARE, like the Dazzler series, great fun nevertheless- and a reason for this is the character of our Jen itself.

She-Hulk then made guest appearances in other characters' books. Her earliest guest-starring adventures followed no specific story line, besides her recurring bad luck with automobiles. She-Hulk also appeared in the limited series, Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions (June to August 1982), in which numerous superheroes are kidnapped from Earth to fight in space.

She-Hulk becomes a member of the Avengers in Avengers #221 (July 1982). Her early Avengers appearances continued the running gag about her car troubles. She-Hulk also made occasional guest appearances in The Incredible Hulk. Her appearance in Avengers #233 (July 1983) was drawn by John Byrne, who would later become strongly associated with the character.

At the conclusion of the first Secret Wars miniseries, She-Hulk joins the Fantastic Four (Fantastic Four #265, April 1984). During She-Hulk's tenure with the Fantastic Four, she appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #16: The Aladdin Effect, Marvel Graphic Novel #17: Revenge of the Living Monolith, and Marvel Graphic Novel #18: The Sensational She-Hulk. All three graphic novels appeared in 1985. The last, #18, appearing in November 1985, was written and illustrated by then-Fantastic Four writer/artist John Byrne (I think it's true to say that it was THIS GN that Jen finally became Jen/Shulkie, a very distinct character in her own right and no longer Bruce Banner's cousin!).

She-Hulk regained a solo series in 1989, The Sensational She-Hulk (maintaining the 1985 graphic novel's title). The Sensational She-Hulk ran for sixty issues. Issues #1 to #8, #31 to #46, and #48 to 50 were written and drawn by Byrne. Byrne's She-Hulk stories satirised comic books and introduced She-Hulk's awareness that she is a comic book character. Two issues tested the limits of the comics code: #34 makes reference to the 1991 Vanity Fair cover in which actress Demi Moore appeared nude (and pregnant); in issue #40 She-Hulk's breasts and genital area are covered by blur lines as she is depicted jumping rope, implying that the character is nude. Other writers to contribute to this series include Steve Gerber (#10, 11, 13–23), Simon Furman, and Peter David. The series, by utilising Jen's direct talks with the readers, further established her characteristics as being intelligent and funny, almost a prankster at times, and certainly as a strong minded, sexually aware (but not aggressive), determined, driven and above all beautiful and compassionate about the plights of others.

During Sensational She-Hulk, the character continued making numerous guest appearances. In 1990, She-Hulk appeared in the two-issue limited series She-Hulk: Ceremony.

The Sensational She-Hulk ran until issue #60 (February 1994), making it the longest-running solo title of any Marvel superheroine up to that point. After the cancellation of She-Hulk's second solo series, she continued making backup, one-shot, and team appearances in Fantastic Force (starting with issue #13 in November 1995), the 1996 miniseries Doc Samson #1–4 (January–April 1996), Heroes for Hire #8 to #19 (February 1998 through the series finale in January 1999), and The Avengers. Her next major appearance was in the May 2002 one-shot titled Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night.