SUPERHERO: “Supreme super-hero” Doctor
Manhattan of Alan Moore’sWatchmen (left)is^ the product of an accident during a nuclear
physics experiment. He can manipulate
matter on an atomic level and view reality
from a perspective outside of linear time.
SUPERVILLAIN:
The Anti-Monitor (right) isan omnipotent and omniscient being from the
planet of Qward in the anti-matter universe.
In^ Crisis on Infinite Earths,he consumes starsto power himself, killing thousands of universes
and many of their heroes.SUPERHERO: T’Challa, aka the Black Panther
(left), is the absolute monarch of the small African
kingdom of Wakanda, a nation that has become
wealthy thanks to the selling-off of some of its
deposits of the extra-terrestrial metal vibranium.
Thanks to careful reinvestment of the profits,
T’Challa has helped ensure that Wakanda’s
national reserve runs to trillions of dollars.
SUPERVILLAIN:
Fantastic Four nemesis Dr VictorVon Doom (right) is both a brilliant inventor and
the absolute ruler of Latveria. While he has been
deposed a number of times, he inevitably ends
up back in power, with the economic resources
of his^ homeland once again at his disposal.MOST POWERFUL
RICHEST
First mutant
The X-Men mutant
adversary Apocalypse
was born around 5,000
years ago, earning
himself the title “the one
that came first”. However,
in X-Necrosha #1, mutant
and psychic vampire
Selene Gallio, aka the
Black Queen, is seemingly
17,000 years old. She has
also been shown as having
links to the Hyborian age
before recorded civilization.
Slowest supervillain
A simple bank robber,
Turtle Man planned to
commit the perfect crime
by breaking into a high-
security bank vault and
hiding there, hoping to slip
out again later when the
bank staff were off-guard.
His plot was foiled by the
Barry Allen incarnation of
super-speedy superhero
The Flash. In comparison,
Turtle Man was called “The
Slowest Man on Earth”.
Most generic superhero
Making his debut in Marvel’s
tongue-in-cheek Generic
Comic Book #1, Super-Hero
gained his strength and
heightened senses from
his collection of glow-in-
the-dark items. As the
disclaimer on the cover put
it: “THIS COMIC CONTAINS:
One neurotic Super-Hero
type with a variety of
personal problems”, along
with “one bad-guy bent on
world domination through
arcane means”.MOST UNBEATABLE
SUPERHERO
Even the strongest superheroes
taste defeat at some point in their
career. But not Doreen Green, aka
Squirrel Girl (right). First appearing
in Marvel Super-Heroes Vol. 2#8,she graduated to
The UnbeatableSquirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel
Universe!, in which Doreen and/or
her misguided duplicate Allene beat
up, take down or equitably resolve
conflicts against all-comers.Youngest superhero
The tradition of teenage
superheroes in comics
stretches back at least to
the debut of Dick Grayson
in Detective Comics #38
(1940), but there are super-
youngsters who started
their careers earlier than
the Boy Wonder. Franklin
Richards was just four-
and-a-half when he joined
child superheroes Power
Pack in Power Pack # 1 7.
Yet this is positively elderly
compared to Winter Moran,
who in Miracleman #9
saves the world at birth!
She inherits her father
Miracleman’s powers,
which he received via
technology belonging
to the alien Qys. This is
enough to convince the
Qys and their traditional
rivals, the Warpsmiths,
of humanity’s ascension
to an “intelligent-class”
world, and they decide
not to destroy Earth.