Comic books are no longer just about men in tights defeating dastardly criminals. Admittedly, the men in tights still do defeat the dastardly criminals, but there’s a lot more to comics than that. This list compiles ten of my personal favourite characters in Western (British and American) comics (Japanese manga is too big a field to be tackled in conjunction, and “funny papers” comics like the Beano and the Dandy have also been excluded from the list). I’ve tried to make this list cover a wide range of titles, universes and publishers, as well as explaining the “world” each character is a part of.

Johnny C a.k.a Nny

Character: Johnny C, known as Nny, is the eponymous star of the quirky alternative comic “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac” by goth supremo and creator of cartoon series “Invader Zim”, Jhonen Vasquez. Johnny is a young man who likes killing people in very nasty ways, particularly if they are rude to him. A lot. He is, quite simply, insane: delusional, paranoid, depressive, he talks to inanimate objects such as a rabbit nailed to the wall and two Styrofoam figures. Oh and he just has to go on killing people to keep his wall covered in blood to stop a monster from another dimension coming through it. Apparently. He deeply dislikes people, physical contact, bodily functions and, on occasion, himself. He also writes and draws a comic called “Happy Noodle Boy” (popular with the homeless insane) which features a stick figure that shouts non-sequiturs at people from a soapbox. “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac” is not, however, just a gory horror book. Aside from being strangely cathartic and extremely funny, the series acts as both a parody of nineties goth subculture and mainstream comics, as well as a curious study of insanity. Unlike the usual comic book killer, Nny has no given origin or background, though some fans have suggested that some form of creative breakdown, turning him from a brilliant artist to a drawer of stick-figures, could be responsible for his condition.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: Aside from cameos in Vasquez’s other comics, Johnny appears briefly in the Halloween Special of “Invader Zim”. There have been rumours of a film, but it’s not likely. Johnny has become something of a phenomenon in indie comics, a fan favourite, particularly in the counter-culture

Why I like him: I suppose to some extent Nny is on this list as a representative of the comic as a whole, and for indie comics company Slave Labour Graphics, who published the series, which I love. Johnny is a great character in his own right, too, and as we see the world (and Heaven and Hell, but let’s not get into that) through his eyes, thus making all his victims seem far worse individuals, it’s fair enough to use him as such. Although he’s insane he’s oddly likeable, and certainly not evil (at one point he “saves” the kid next door from a paedophile), he’s just very disturbed.

Jesse Custer

Character: Jesse is the hero of the “Preacher” series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (published by Vertigo, DC’s mature reader’s imprint), he’s a small-town Texan reverend who is attacked by a supernatural force called Genesis, which attaches itself to him giving him the power of the “Word of God” which allows him to order someone to do something and they HAVE to obey (usually indicated by red text in the comics). Sounds ridiculous? That’s what I thought before I read the series. “Preacher” is certainly a strange comic: laced with dark humour and strange characters, we follow Jesse, his gunslinging girlfriend Tulip O’Hare and the charismatic Irish vampire Cassidy as they confront Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, a sinister religious organisation called the Grail, the mysterious cowboy Saint of Killers, and even God himself. The “western” theme is partially due to Jesse’s obsession with cowboys (his “guardian spirit” or “imaginary friend” is John Wayne), and the dusty deep south settings of many of the stories.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: None as yet, though there are plans to make a tv show of the comics for American network HBO. A film version was in the works for some time, slated to star James Marsden as Jesse and Samuel L Jackson as the Saint of Killers, but the film was never made.

Why I like him: Since “Preacher” is one of those sneaky series that plays with your expectations, Jesse remains as the one figure who remains largely trustworthy throughout. He’s neither a bad man nor a particularly good one, he’s just an ordinary guy thrust into extraordinary circumstances, not only changing his life but also his views on the universe.

John Constantine

Character: Ahhh John Constantine, one of Vertigo’s flagship characters: blue-collar occultist, chain-smoking cynic, ex-punk and total bastard. What makes Constantine great is that despite his profession as an occultist, warlock and protector of London from nasty supernatural things, he’s a very ordinary and very believable character. He first appeared during Alan Moore’s run writing “Swamp Thing”, the popular ecological horror comic, and became something of a recurring character, portrayed as an immoral, scruffy sorcerer in his suit and trenchcoat (with features inspired by the musician Sting), manipulating and conning other characters into doing what he wants them to. Since then, John has been given his own, extremely popular comic series “Hellblazer”, which has attracted star writers such as Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Mike Carey and even crime novelist Ian Rankin. John’s powers are numerous: he can raise demons, create illusions, erase memories, use divination, and so on, but more often than not he refuses to use them, preferring trickery, even tricken the First of the Fallen (the Devil) into curing him of terminal lung cancer! His relationships with others usually end tragically, he has a habit of attracting trouble and is often haunted by ghosts, yet despite this, he remains cheerful, sarcastic and promiscuous.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: “Constantine” the film, starring Keanu Reeves as Constantine, turned the character from the manipulative Liverpudlian we know and love into just another American action hero, sadly, even changing the pronunciation of his name! Battling against the forces of Hell (rather than Heaven, Hell, Hades and whatever else, as in the comics) this version is a very Catholic-based mythos. A sequel is now in the works. In other media, John has appeared briefly in a crowd in one of the “Justice League of America” cartoons, and has appeared in many other Vertigo and DC comics, including the award-winning “The Sandman” series and “The Books of Magic”, as well as numerous homages in other comics, novels and films.

Why I like him: I have to say I’m a big “Hellblazer” fan. To me, Constantine is the epitome of modern day magic: practical, cynical and down to earth. The London he inhabits is so close to the real one and the series brilliantly captures that strange otherworldliness that certain parts of the city have. John Constantine is also remarkable for being one of the most realistic characters in modern comics because he actually ages (he will turn 55 this year), as well as interacting directly with “real world” issues, one recent issue had him moaning about the smoking ban in England!

Death

Character: Death is, quite simply, the personification of death. A character from Vertigo’s remarkable “The Sandman” written by bestselling writer Neil Gaiman, this version of Death is not your average Grim Reaper. Death from “The Sandman” is a bubbly, sensible young goth girl, pretty, cheerful and practical. Her sigil is an ankh (the Egyptian hieroglyph for life) and she usually wears a large silver one around her neck. For those of you who have not yet read “The Sandman” (and I highly recommend you do, whether or not you usually read comics, “Sandman” is something quite extraordinary), the comics follow the exploits of seven entities known as The Endless (by order of age) Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delirium. Each one has a different domain and attributes fitting the thing they personify. They are not gods, more of ideas, they look different depending on who is looking at them, and have different “aspects” which can die. The series follows Dream of the Endless (the titular Sandman) and his interactions with various mortals, gods, demons, angels and other entities, and is arrestingly inventive. It was extremely tempting to just fill this entire list with Sandman characters!

Death is one of the most popular characters from the series, partially thanks to the innovative portrayal of a familiar figure, partly for her position as an antidote to Dream’s gloomily formal nature, and partly because she’s the sort of person you would want to be friends with.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: Death’s popularity have leant her several spin off comics, including “Death: the High Cost of Living”, which adds further mythology to her character, and “The Girl who Would be Death”, as well as numerous appearances in comics like “The Books of Magic”, “Hellblazer” and “Lobo”. She also appears in a sex education pamphlet for high school classes, where she places a condom on a banana, with the help of a very embarrassed John Constantine. Death-like goth girls have apparently “appeared” to some of the creators since her introduction in Sandman, and her design has become something of a counter-culture icon. A film adaptation of “Death: The High Cost of Living” has been rumoured for some time.

Why I like her: How could you not like her? She’s funny, she’s sweet and she offers good advice. She also appeals to me thanks to a life-long obsession with Egyptian imagery, especially ankhs (I have one tattooed on my arm), and let’s face it, what comic-book-reading girl hasn’t copied the swirly makeup?

Judge Dredd

Character: Judge Dredd is one of the most popular characters (and longest lasting) from the slightly mad British comic magazine “2000 AD”. In a post-apocalyptic world, Joe Dredd is one of the Judges, an elite force that runs Mega City One (which covers most of the east side of America). The Judges act as police, judge, jury and executioner, their decision is final and their word is the law. They ride massive motorbikes called “Lawmasters” (which have AI, canons and obey the Judges’ commands implicitly) and guns called “Lawgivers” (encrypted so that only one Judge can use them, and firing a vast number of projectiles on command). Dredd is the most famous and feared of these Judges (he’s actually a clone of the Chief Judge, although his face is never seen in the strip, he might even be deformed). Confused? Good.

Welcome to the world of the Mega-Cities; totalitarian, violent states but full of stories laced with satire and black and topical humour. Dredd himself is a bludgeoning, relentless creature, with little compassion and a penchant for shouting “I am the law!” at people. Dredd’s heyday, for me, was the 1980s, which not only saw the comic’s satirical edge taking on Thatcherites and yuppies as well as adding two of the title’s best recurring villains: the mutant cyborg Mean Machine Angel (who has a dial on his forehead to control his emotions, ranging from “Surly” to “Brutal”) and Judge Death, a Judge-like creature from a parallel dimension who believes that, since only living things commit crimes that life itself is a crime. Dredd remains 2000AD’s most popular and bankable character.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: Despite a dreadful (pun not intended) film adaptation in 1995, starring Sylvester Stallone as Dredd, the character has continued to do well for himself outside of 2000AD. There are now Dredd roleplaying games, videogames, boardgames and audiobooks. There have also been different versions within the comics, including one aimed at younger readers and a DC comics version. Dredd has also appeared in numerous cross-over comics pitting him against the Xenomorph aliens from the “Alien” film franchise, the Predator, Lobo and Batman. In pop-culture, he’s received a large number of celebrity fans from bands such as the Human League, Anthrax and the Manic Street Preachers, to individuals such as Simon Pegg, Terry Pratchett and Lemmy.

Why I like him: He’s just so horrible he becomes cool. He’s the embodiment of a terrifying totalitarian state and he has a big gun, by rights he should be a villain! Dredd strips are great fun for their invented slang and sneaky humour, I suppose in a way, Dredd himself is the “straight man” for the world he lives in.

Nightcrawler a.k.a Kurt Wagner

Character: A curious-looking mutant with teleportation powers, Kurt is an occasional member of the X-Men, Marvel’s futuristic team of mutant humans. Unlike some of the X-Men, Kurt’s mutation was obvious from birth: he has blue, slightly furry skin; three-fingered hands and feet; yellow eyes; and a prehensile pointed tail. He is highly agile, an expert swordsman and can teleport over short distances. As for lineage, it was eventually revealed that Kurt was the son of mutant terrorist Raven Darkholm (better known as Mystique) and the warlord Azrael (not to be confused with the “Batman” character of the same name). So far, so much like an ordinary X-hero. What makes Nightcrawler an unusual and interesting character is the mixture of contradictory characteristics and ironic traits. Despite his demonic appearance, Kurt is a devout Catholic and ideally wants to be a priest, although his life as a superhero gets in the way of that. He is also effortlessly heroic, styling himself on Errol Flyn, and has a knack for sly humour and practical jokes. Originally written as a tragic character whose life is made difficult by his appearance, he has since become more content and more comfortable with what he is (and no longer using the holographic device he once used to disguise himself). Now his only tragedy is the choice between his vocation as a superhero and his vocation as a priest. As a deeply spiritual character, Kurt has a certain sort of peace about him unusual in comic books, which makes him a very friendly and open creature, particularly good friends with Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat of the X-Men) and the notoriously difficult Wolverine.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: Nightcrawler also appears in some of Marvel’s alternate worlds: a darker version can be seen in the Age of Apocalypse, whilst in Exiles he has had a daughter known as Nocturne. He had a brief appearance in the Marvel Zombies series, and a more developed role in the Ultimate universe, where he is forced to join the X-Men to battle against Weapon X. He first appeared on television in the cartoon series “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends” along with other members of the X-Men. In 1989 he was featured in the pilot for the abandoned cartoon series “Pryde of the X-Men”, in which he seems rather lecherous and refuses to leave Kitty Pryde alone. The 1992 “X-Men” animated series featured two episodes involving Nightcrawler, but he does not join the X-Men because he feels he is needed elsewhere. Many fans first ecame aware of him in the “X-Men Evolution” series, as a much younger, more impetuous version, more reliant on his holographic machine. All references to his religious beliefs were removed from this version. The 2003 “X-Men2: X-Men United” live action film featured a far more spiritual, but less impish Nightcrawler, played by Alan Cumming. Here he does not have fur, but has angelic symbols tattooed around his body, and seems uncharacteristically vulnerable, presumably due to his being controlled by the evil William Stryker. Cumming was due to reprise the role in the third film, but the crew decided that it was unfair to put him through the arduous makeup process for a few short scenes. In the videogame which links the two films, he leaves the X-Men because he does not like their violent lives. He also appears in the impressive-looking videogame “Marvel: Ultimate Alliance” and is due to appear in the new cartoon series “Wolverine and the X-Men”

Why I like him: I know fans will be shouting at me for including Nightcrawler over Wolverine or Gambit or whoever, but to me he’s a far more interesting character. Cute, good natured and stoic, despite a difficult life, he’s the sort of guy you could sit and chat to for hours, despite being bright blue. His devotion to his religion is an unusual and admirable feature as well, even a dyed-in-the-wool pagan like myself can see that.

Rebecca Buck a.k.a Tank Girl

Character: Post-apocalypse, post-modern, post-feminist…post-box… “Tank Girl”, the wildly insane, punk-influenced indie comic which launched the careers of Alan Martin and Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett, is an anarchic comic set in post-apocalyptic Australia and staring Rebecca Buck, a scruffy-looking girl who collects pencil-sharpeners, dyes her hair, drinks a lot, smokes cigars, attacks things, drives a personalised tank and is currently dating a perverted mutant kangaroo. Not that it really matters, “Tank Girl” never had much of a coherent plot, but it did have a bra made out of missiles. A British comic, it draws heavily on early eighties pop culture and became a feminist phenomenon. It’s utterly brilliant in an absurd sort of way, and the news that the characters is to be resurrected in 2008 (and presumably back to her old tricks) is certainly welcome.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: Tank Girl’s biggest impact on pop-culture came following the Section 28 legislation limiting “promotion” of homosexuality as rebellious lesbians held “Tank Girl Nights” in London. A Tank Girl film surfaced in 1995, but it was a disappointment to fans and to the creators. It’s an enjoyable enough piece of nonsense, but lacks the impact of the original comic strips.

Why I like her: Not only is she an empowered feminist icon, she’s also completely mad. There’s also a panel in “Tank Girl: The Odyssey” in which she has “full of custard” written on her forehead. For some reason that really strikes a chord with me.

Peter Parker a.k.a Spiderman

Character: Imagine you’re a young man, just out of high school. You’re an orphan, and you live with your aunt and uncle, but your uncle’s been shot and it might be your fault. Your boss hates you, the girl you’re in love with is dating someone else, your best friend is addicted to drugs, you’re the school geek and no one likes you much. To make matters worse there are lots of crazy people trying to kill you, including your best friend and his dad, you’ve suddenly got special powers you don’t know how to use and to cap it all you’re grounded. Welcome to the world of Peter Parker, the world’s unluckiest superhero. Thanks to the success of the recent films and the myriad cartoons, the mainstream is pretty familiar with Spidey now (the photographer bitten by a radioactive spider who gained the wall-crawling, web-slinging abilities of a spider). Spidey caused a sensation when he first appeared in the sixties. A teenaged superhero? An ordinary superhero living in New York? These things just weren’t done. These days, in the wake of the X-Men and the Teen Titans, the teenaged everyman hero may not seem as big a surprise, but at the time it was extraordinary, and his appearance changed the face of superhero comics. Since then, Spidey has appeared in at least ten separate solo comics, and has been part of some of the most powerful comics Marvel have ever produced (notably Amazing Spiderman vol.2 #36 released to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks). So why is Spidey Marvel’s most popular character? Perhaps it’s his everyman persona, maybe it’s the iconic outfit, maybe it’s the fact that he stays wisecracking and cheerful no matter how bad things get. To be honest, it’s hard to pin down just what it is about him that makes him fun, but I love him, and millions more readers and viewers love him too.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: Alternate versions of Spidey appear in various forms, including the “historic” 1602 version, futuristic versions, versions from other dimensions, an Indian version and even a zombie version (who doesn’t love that Marvel Zombies Spidey action figure?) The most effective alternate version in comics is that of the Ultimate universe, returning Peter to his roots as a teenager but updating him for modern audiences, replacing the radioactive spider with a GM one, and featuring gorgeous art by Mark Bagley. He’s also appeared in numerous cartoons and television shows, most notably the 1967 cartoon (the one with the brilliant theme tune) and the mid-nineties “Spiderman: The Animated Series”. Then of course there’s the massively successful and hugely enjoyable film franchise, directed by Sam Raimi and staring Tobey Maguire. Not to mention various videogames, books, a stage show, theme park rides and of course spin off toys!

Why I like him: He’s one of the greatest superheroes ever created, and considering the popularity of superhero comics, that’s saying something, as much a pop culture phenomenon as a character.

Joker

Character: Certainly the most disturbing character in mainstream comics, possibly the most disturbing comic character ever, the Joker is the epitome of vicious criminal insanity. Inspired by the silent movie “The Man Who Laughs”, when Joker was first introduced into the Batman mythos, he was designed as a throwaway villain, intended to be killed off in the next issue. This version of the Joker was a simply killer, a grinning mirthless ghoul. Since then, he’s evolved into something far worse, and far more intriguing. His background is kept deliberately vague, he might have been a small time crook, he might have been a stand up comedian, he might have had a pregnant wife who died tragically, he might have been master criminal the Red Hood, no one knows for sure, not even the Joker himself, as he says in the influential Alan Moore graphic novel “The Killing Joke” – ” if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!” Whatever he was before he was the Joker, his life met a drastic turning point when he fell into a vat of chemicals bleaching his skin white, turning his hair green and staining his lips bright red (and, depending on which comic you’re reading, giving him a rictus smile, though in some comics, due to the difficulty to show emotion, he has been depicted as capable of an unnatural smile). This incident turned him completely insane. He is dangerously intelligent and inventive, sadistic, vain, unhealthily obsessed with his nemesis Batman, and equally obsessed with the concept of comedy and his own hilariousness. His tendency to get distracted, along with unpredictable nature, violent mood swings and sadism mean he’s the one villain that even other villains are apprehensive to work with.

In the Modern Age Joker has become the villain responsible for some of the most appalling crimes in mainstream comics, including the shooting and rape Barbara Gordon (daughter of Commissioner Jim Gordon and the first Batgirl), the murder of Jason Todd (the second Robin), shooting Sarah Essen Gordon (Jim Gordon’s wife) in a nursery, and even killing an entire kindergarten class. He has supposedly killed well over 2,000 people, but not all his crimes are quite so horrific. In one of his crazier schemes, the Joker poisons fish with a form of his “Joker Toxin” and then attemptsto copyright them!

His relationships with others generally run to nothing more than manipulation, but the animated series added an important new aspect to the Joker’s private life, in the form of his on/off girlfriend and devoted “hench-wench” Harley Quinn (introduced into the comics in 1999), a former psychiatrist driven insane by her manipulative patient. While she is utterly depenant on him, whether or not he has any feelings for her is a different matter. He is abusive towards her, occasionally trying to kill her, but not entirely opposed to shows of (possibly fake?) affection. And then, of course, there’s his obsession with Batman. Batman can never be completely rid of the Joker as because the Joker is insane, he cannot be given the death penalty, and the Joker will not kill Batman unless he finds a fittingly “magnificent” way in which to do it. In his own warped way, Joker seems to rather like the Batman, he’s elated whenever his nemesis appears, he frequently teases him with lines like “I though you didn’t love me anymore” and “do I get a little kiss?”, and they even share a joke together at the end of “The Killing Joke”. Often portrayed as “different sides of the same coin”, Joker often serves to ask the question, is Batman insane too?

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: Ahhh DC comics and their 52 parallel universes… Over the years we’ve had a female Joker, a vampire Joker, a nineteenth century Joker, a pirate Joker, a transvestite Joker, a sane Joker and even a heroic Joker! His first on-screen incarnation came with the memorably campy sixties Batman tv show. Player by Cesar Romero (who refused to shave off his moustache leaving it obviously visible under his makeup) this Joker was little more than a petty thief and an eccentric (rather like the character as he became due to the introduction of the Comics Code in the fifties). A darker version appeared in the 1989 Batman film, directed by Tim Burton, and featuring Jack Nicholson as a maniacal but not overly Joker-ish Joker.

The most effective portrayal so far remains the version from the 1992-1995 “Batman the Animated Series” cartoons (and the subsequent “New Adventures” and spin offs). Portrayed in the series’ trademark stylised film-noir iconography and brilliantly voiced by Mark Hamill (of “Star Wars” fame) this version fuses a child-like flamboyance with a surprisingly dark vicious side (particularly noticeable in the “Mask of the Phantasm” spin off movie, and the Batman Beyond “Return of the Joker” spin off).Hamill also voices the Joker in the pilot of the live action series “Birds of Prey”, for a brief “Killing Joke” inspired flashback sequence. Since then, Joker has appeared in in various fan films (including the highly enjoyable “Patient J”) and the new “The Batman” cartoons as a wild haired, barefooted lunatic, less menacing but still mad. Joker is set to be the star villain of the upcoming “The Dark Knight” movie (the sequel to the impressive “Batman Begins”) and will be played by Heath Ledger.

Why I like him: Okay, so why do I like an insane mass murderer so much? Well, partly I guess I just like to be scared, partly the fact that he is often genuinely funny, partly it’s the catharsis of extreme violence, and partly it’s the treatment of him as the epitome of insanity and the flip side to Batman. Joker represents an utter release from the conventions of sanity, morality and gender stereotypes, in fact even from conventional views of insanity. He just does whatever he chooses, for better or worse. As Batman’s nemesis, he’s also perfect, like Batman he has no “powers” as such, other than his own ingenuity, and it often seems that he knows more about the Bat than Batman himself…

Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman

Character: By rights the top of this list needed to be a superhero, and what superhero offers more room for thought, pop-culture references and all round scary grittiness than Batman? Probably the darkest “hero” in mainstream comics, Bruce Wayne, as everyone knows, became a crime fighter after a troubled childhood following the gunning down of his parents after they took him to see the “Mark of Zorro”.

Billionaire playboy by day, grim vigilante by night, he’s unusual in that unlike most superheroes, his “true identity” is the Batman, and his “mask” is the dumb but good-natured Bruce Wayne. Part of what makes him so unusual as a superhero is the fact that he has no “powers”, instead he has years of training, billions of dollars and an analytical mind, in a way he’s a better role model than more accessible heroes like Spiderman or Superman, in that he achieves his goals as a crime fighter without the aid of radioactive animals, aliens or other assorted mishaps, he is, simply, a man in a mask. The darkness of Batman as a character (and as a comic book series) caused trouble with the establishment of the Comics Code Authority in the fifties, forcing the writers to go for a campier variant, similar to that of the sixties tv show, the success of which also forced writers not to use the “New Look” darker version prepared in 1964. When at last the tv show faded, Batman could at last return to his roots, and has een terrifying small children and unnerving adults ever since.

As protector of Gotham City, possibly the most miserable place to live in any comic universe, the modern Batman has gone through some pretty hellish situations. Some of his sidekicks have been murdered, he’s been “broken” by steroid-enhanced muscle man Bane, he’s witnessed a cataclysmic earthquake and helped protect the ruined city from marauding gangs. He’s a hardened, frightening creature, so hard to work with that even his long term friend and ward Dick Grayson, the original Robin, stormed off and left him. His relationships are often short lived, thanks to his secretive nature and the risk, though he has had a son, named Damian, by Talia al Ghul, the daughter of supernatural supervillain Ra’s al Ghul, and he has a long term on/off relationship with the former thief and vigilante Selena Kyle, better known as Catwoman.

He’s also one of the most realistic superheroes. If such people really existed, the likelihood is they would be considered urban legends, rumours perhaps, and that’s what the Batman is, a half glimpsed terror, a bed time story, a legend.

Alternate versions, mass media and pop culture: The modern incarnation of Batman is one that lends himself to retellings, re-imaginings and alternate versions, so in a way I’m cheating by putting him at number one in this list, since he’s really so many different characters in one. Most famous of these is Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns”, in which an aging Batman is forced out of retirement to save Gotham city from a gang of thugs calling themselves the mutants. The graphic novel was highly influential in creating the tone and mood of the modern Batman. The creation of “retelling” series such as “Year One”, “Batman Confidential” and numerous others add further variant continuities.

Then there’s the 52 parallel universes, populated mostly by Elseworlds versions (such as a vampire Batman, a Russian anarchist Batman, an evil Batman, a Dr Frankenstein-like Batman, a tyrannical Batman, a silent movie Batman and so on). Batman lends himself to such variations for a number of reasons; there’s a gothic slant to Batman that fits nicely with the supernatural versions, a film noir aspect, a gritty realism, and yet a stylised element, and so on. As a member of the Justice League of America, he’s also prone to cross-overs (allowing him to meet characters as diverse as Judge Dredd, Spiderman, the Xenomorph aliens, and the Mask). But he’s also something of a pop culture phenomenon thanks to the numerous mass media adaptations, especially the television series. Whether you like it or not, the campy fun of the series was many people’s first encounter with the Dark Knight, and even today if you shout “holy (whatever) Batman!” people know the reference. Plus, the “Batusi” dance (involving making V-signs with your fingers and drawing them in front of your eyes like a mask) has become one of the standard “sixties dances” mimicked in everything from “Austin Powers” to “Pulp Fiction”. Early cartoons including “the Super Friends” and a “Scooby Doo” cross-over continued in this endearingly silly vein. In 1989, Tim Burton cast Micheal Keaton in an impressively dark and strange version, the first of the film franchise. Keaton plays Batman as a slightly awkward billionaire but a very effective crime fighter, he reprised the role in the even darker “Batman Returns” three years later.

The wake of these two films allowed for the production of the very effective cartoon series “Batman: the Animated Series” and “The New Adventures” with Kevin Conroy voicing a more sensible, thoughtful Batman. Alas, despite the best efforts of the cartoon creators, the film franchise went a bit wrong, 1995’s “Batman Forever” allowing Val Kilmer’s forgettable Batman be dwarfed by the villains, whilst 1997’s dreadful “Batman and Robin” has proved something of an embarrassment for all involved. The film franchise was at last revived with the darker, grittier and more believable “Batman Begins”, featuring Christian Bale as a truly remarkable Batman. Hopes are high for the sequel “The Dark Knight” due out this year. The new child-friendly “The Batman” cartoon series is also going strong, playing up the urban legend side of the character, whilst numerous videogames, theme park rides, novelizations, toys and lord know’s what else, are still in circulation.

Why I like him: I love Batman, he’s the first superhero character I ever came across. I used to sit and watch the “Batman: The Animated Series” cartoons on a Saturday morning before swimming lessons, before one episode frightened me so much I couldn’t watch it anymore. I only really rediscovered him when I started reading comics again, about five or six years ago, and oh thank god I did. To me, Batman is the thinking man’s superhero, with so much room in his world and his mythology for innovation and experimentation. Granted, not all Batman stories are brilliant, a series running for over 70 years can’t be expected to be, but those stories which are good are very very good.