BSP Round Table: Breaking Down The 50 Greatest Super Heroes

Now that our list of the 50 Greatest Super Heroes has been out in the wild for a few days, we’ve heard from many of you on social media. Some of you gave us a thumbs up for our rankings of the most significant costumed (for the most part) crime-fighters of all time. Others openly questioned our sanity. And still more readers wanted to know exactly why one particular member of the X-Men was nowhere to be found.

It’s not easy forming a consensus on something like this, where every comic fan’s personal list is bound to be different. Did any of our writers or editors experience voter’s remorse after seeing the final product?

Maybe a little. Just as a refresher, we asked a dozen of our FanSided comic book and super hero staffers (plus our CEO!) to turn in their personal top 30 lists, then assigned 30 points for each first-place vote down to a single point for 30th and added up all the points to come up with the list.

With that in mind, we asked everyone who voted for our top 50 a few questions over the weekend to see how they felt about the way the final rankings turned out.

Q: Were you surprised at the way the voting turned out at the very top: Batman #1, Superman #2 and Spider-Man #3?

Roger Lee, Bam Smack Pow Staff Writer: Not really, though I had Captain America at #3, Wonder Woman at #4, and Spidey at #5. I cannot see any other Marvel hero above Cap. He was the first big one for Marvel/Timely, and he is, in many ways, THE central character in the Marvel Universe. Plus, he is on the cinematic upswing, while Spidey ‘s last couple of films had major issues. I had Wonder Woman above Spidey as she was the first major female superhero, and is probably the best known female hero worldwide.

Steve Lam, Bam Smack Pow Staff Writer: I was surprised that Wonder Woman or the Flash weren’t higher ranked than Captain America.  Hey, I have no hate for Captain America whatsoever.  He’s one of the top heroes that I share a first name with.  On top of that, since I myself started out as a scrawny kid who later gained some mass, I feel a sort of kinship with Steve Rogers.  The reason I was surprised with how low the Flash and Wonder Woman were ranked has to do with the current landscape in terms of film and television.  All of these heroes are classic heroes.  The Flash has his brand new series, which puts him back in the limelight.  Wonder Woman is part of the DC Trinity, so to me, after Superman and Batman, she’ll always be next.  And with Dawn of Justice coming out, her popularity should be skyrocketing.  In the end, I wouldn’t make too much of a fret about it.  Captain America’s got the same personality as Superman and is a true American hero.

Matt Conner, Bam Smack Pow Staff Writer: I am a Marvel guy, but I put Superman #1 and Batman #2. The Superman shield and Batman symbol are two of the icons recognized most widely around the world. I love Spider-Man, but when 4-year-old boys play hero, they throw on capes.

Amanda Chrisman, Bam Smack Pow and Caped Crusades Staff Writer:  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised since Superman is the original super hero, but  I was just a little disappointed at the outcome for the top three, as I expected Spider-Man to beat out Superman for the number two slot. He is, as far as I know, Marvel’s biggest super hero, and I think he even outsells Batman by a small margin  in terms of merchandise. As a very big Batman fan, I was not surprised in the least to see he got the number one spot. It is, after all, no less than he deserves.

Daniel Wood, Whatever a Spider Can Editor: I was a little bit surprised actually, but as the editor of a Spider-Man site, I’d fully expect everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to be sitting at the top. As Amanda already mentioned, Spider-Man easily outperforms every other super hero in terms of merchandise sales, which clearly indicates he’s the most popular worldwide. You don’t see many children walking around wearing Superman or Batman costumes, but then again maybe that’s just because of the capes …

Adam Best, FanSided CEO: Those are still and might always be the big three, even if Iron Man and Captain America are doing their best to change that up. What is interesting, is how DC has two of the top five heroes and overall can’t seem to figure out their cinematic universe quite like Marvel has. This millennium, anyway. Last century, things were the exact opposite.

Nick Tylwalk, Bam Smack Pow Editor: I voted Batman-Superman-Spider-Man as my top three. It was close, because without Superman we aren’t even having this discussion, but I feel that Batman has been more relevant from comics to TV to movies for at least the last 25 years. Also, I tallied the votes, and the top three came out in the same order I voted them. Coincidence? I think not! Just kidding — as far as you know.

Next: Too high or too low?