A half-Letterman pop-culture list? That’s a very difficult assignment for me. Today I don’t have much time to absorb any mass-media entertainment streams. Though I did consider subscribing to HBO just to be able to watch the documentary “Superheroes.” (I ultimately decided against it.)

When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait for Saturday morning so I could watch the Super-Friends in action. Today, I am much more interested in real-life social justice, than I am in the Justice League.

Today, through my aging eyes, super heroes just seem like fascist bullies (who must have never watched The People’s Court).

The best arguments by Karl Marx aside– I really don’t want a bunch of violent vigilantes to be the role models for my children. Worse, still– the genre typically depicts women in a sexist manner, all scantily clad and inhumanly proportioned.

So are there any supers left in the world that I can still respect and admire?

Maybe about a Rob Fleming list full:

5.) The Original Superman, Kal-L

The hospitality that Mary and Pa Kent (later rewritten as Martha and Jonathan Kent) showed to this undocumented immigrant is worthy of admiration alone. In Action Comics #1, Lois Lane also sets a good example for challenging the status quo and Superman tackles corrupt politicians. With SupermanÔøΩs second appearance in Action Comics #2, the hero confronts a munitions manufacturer hoping to profit on the war in Europe. In the next issue, he corrects a heartless mine owner who won’t give a crippled miner a pension after he was caught in a cave-in.

In a 1975 press release, Superman creator Jerry Siegel wrote, “What led me into creating Superman in the early thirties? Listening to President Roosevelt’s fireside chats, being unemployed and worried during the depression, knowing homelessness and fear, hearing and reading of the oppression and slaughter of helpless oppressed Jews in Nazi Germany, and seeing movies depicting the horrors of privation suffered, I had the great urge to help the downtrodden masses, somehow. How could I help them when I could barely help myself? Superman was the answer.”

The only thing keeping the 1930s Superman from a higher spot in the countdown would be the fact that his treatment of the baddies could sometimes make water-boarding look a little tame by comparison. Of course, this was all changed by the comics code of the 1950s– but by that point, Superman was already shying away from changing the system, taking down the KKK, demolishing slums, correcting exploitative business leaders, etc…. and was already evolving into the more jingoistic big blue boyscout that he would remain thereafter.

I briefly entertained the idea of putting Batman on the list after reading this, though, unfortunately, he was just flat wrong when he said that Batman doesn’t kill:

4.) Coming in at number four in the countdown: A tie…

Had any of these comics seen a larger mainstream run, they would be at the very top of the list. Because most of these titles are no longer in print, the number four spot is a 3-way tie between:

4.c.) Cyberella, Sunny Winston and ‘Lil Ella

Unfortunately this series lasted only 12 issues. So few graphic novels deal with systemic classism, but this was one that empowered us with the message that even in a society where those who have the gold make the rules, the human soul cannot be bought.

4.b.) Grace

Created by Barbara Kesel, Amazing Grace first appeared in Comics’ Greatest World: Golden City in 1993. Grace was a smart, powerful character who used her super powers to better the world in practical ways. She ran Golden City and defended it from many threats; the main one came from the United States.

4.a.) Winged Victory, Kristin (last name unknown)

Winged Victory is an independent heroine and champion of women’s rights. The hero established and maintained a number of women’s centers (originally shelters) and clinics, and is a vocal and passionate spokeswoman for the political, legal, and social emancipation of women. (Kurt Busiek’s Astro City is actually still being published, but Winged Victory is so rarely seen that the highest that she can go on our list is fourth place.)

3.) The Green Arrow, Ollie Queen

In 1969 Denny OÔøΩNeil miraculously transformed the Green Arrow from a cheap Batman/Robin Hood hybrid knock-off into an outspoken advocate of the underprivileged and oppressed. In the early 1970’s Oliver Queen became a heroic voice against racism and corruption. Writer O’Neil and illustrator Neal Adams paired Green Lantern and Green Arrow and sent them on an “easy rider” tour of the nation. The brief series dealt with pollution, overpopulation, drug addictions, and more. While Green Lantern was the straight-laced law-and-order type, Green Arrow was the indignant advocate of true social change. Unfortunately, though, a comic book character is only as good as the author and artist du-jour: While everything with this character before 1969 is really bad, everything about Green Arrow between 1987 and 2001 is even worse– the hero was rewritten as merely a cold-blooded, violent vigilante during the entire 1990s.

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Chris Skidmore: Top 5 Admirable Superheroes