"It is my joy and prayer, that by making a fool of myself, you will be led to Christ."

I have some knack on making people laugh

Those who know me can attest to this

However, though I have wit, the best comedy I’ve ever created was not through cleverness

But through crazy, over-the-top antics

I’m somewhat of a clown

A jester

A fool

I have no problem in making myself ridiculous and nutty if necessary to arouse laughter

So there was not much difficulty when I was given the chance to do miming

(Technically, it’s pantomiming.  But those guys have been calling it “miming”, so…)

I can still remember

It was about four and a half years ago

Just about half a year had passed since transferring to this new church

It was in a summer youth camp

The poster paint made my face burn and itch 

(The discomfort from using poster paint as a replacement for face paint would continue on being my most disliked part about miming)

And from then on, I’ve been a staple and key member of our church’s mime team  

Mime has always been one of the usual performances in each special event of our church

Again andagain and again

I put white paint on my face and clown around on stage two or three times a year

On that stage

Acting out as a mad albularyo (Filipino witch doctor) – the most popular character I’ve played

Being ridiculous and all

My face burning and itchy

Along with others who have the same heart as mine

Whether we inspire an uproar of laughter or merely amused chuckles

Always has been a glorious experience

Why is it glorious?

Well…

To play the fool in the King’s court is a great honor

It’s not merely for the sake of making the spectators laugh…

But, most importantly, to please the King

And it’s promised that, someday, my silly jester hat will be replaced with a magnificent crown

Thus, I am proud to be the King’s fool

It is my joy and prayer, that by making a fool of myself, you will be led to Christ.

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Top 10 Cyborgs

There are times in fiction that the word “cyborg” is misused to identify some robotic or android characters.  Technically, a cyborg, which is short for “cybernetic organism”, is someone that has both organic and synthetic parts – a combination of flesh and machine.  Most of the time, cyborgs are depicted as former humans that have been given cybernetic or mechanical parts, whether as replacement for body parts that have been lost in a tragedy, or due to the desire to improve their capabilities or desire to attach weapons on themselves.    

There are plenty of cool cyborgs in fiction but here are my ten favorite picks:   

10.) CYBORG

Cyborg is a cyborg superhero.  In spite of having several cool functions – which includes super strength, enhanced durability, flight, various weaponry, an internal computer system, etc. – due to the advanced prosthetics that replaced a large portion of his body, Cyborg is only number 10 for the reason of having a very lazy and unoriginal superhero name.   

9.) CYBORG SUPERMAN

When ask to name a cyborg enemy of Superman, Metallo will always be the first to come to mind.   However, I find the Cyborg Superman – Hank Henshaw – a most interesting villain, at least, during the first time he appeared in comics.  

Henshaw was an astronaut, and because of the effect of a previous solar flare accident (which claimed the life of his crewmates), his body started to rapidly decay.   But before his body expired, with the help of Superman, he was able to save his wife from phasing to another dimension (brought by the same solar flare accident) by the use of LexCorp facilities.  His physical body would eventually disintegrate, but the radioactive exposure from the solar flare accident gave Henshaw the ability to transfer his consciousness into the LexCorp computer mainframe.  With now the ability to control technology, Henshaw embodied himself in robotic form and appeared to his wife.  The shock of his appearance drove his wife to insanity and suicide.  Henshaw would then find himself transferring his consciousness to the birthing matrix that transported the infant Kal-El to Earth.  He re-made this birthing matrix into a space craft, and went to travel from planet to planet, gaining more and more knowledge from different worlds.  

Being able to exist in electronic state makes him nigh indestructible since he can just transport his consciousness from machine to machine.  His power to possess and manipulate any machine or technology is seemingly unlimited.  This makes him a very powerful and fascinating character.  But, at this point, he is still not a cyborg (to qualify in this list).  But we’ll get there… this gets more interesting…              

During his space travels, Henshaw started to become delusional and insane, that will lead him to conclude that the blame of all the tragedy in his life directly falls on Superman.  Henshaw would meet the war lord Mongul, and upon learning of the villain’s own encounters and hatred with Superman, Henshaw would force Mongul to serve under him in his plan to destroy Superman. 

Henshaw would re-appear on Earth as Cyborg Superman, and one of the four Supermen that would rise during the “Reign of the Supermen” storyline after Superman’s supposed death at the hands of Doomsday.  Due to his encounter with the birthing matrix of the infant Kal-El, he was able to become familiar with the entire history of Superman and Krypton, as well as familiarity of Kryptonian physiology and technology.  And with these, Henshaw was able to construct a cyborg body – that is a combination of organic and genetic compositions similar to those of Superman’s (which allowed him to have the powers of Superman) and mechanical parts made up of Kryptonian alloys – for himself.  Thus, he became the Cyborg Superman.  He would claim that he was the one true Superman revived in cyborg form.  He was even able to make the President of the United States endorse him as the “true” Superman after saving him from an assassination attempt.  Of course, it was all part of his ploy to destroy Earth, Superman’s adopted homeworld.  However, the “resurrected” original Superman and other heroes would stop Henshaw in the end.  

8.) GENERAL GRIEVOUS

Grievous was the Supreme Commander of one of the political blocs that the Galactic Republic was at war with.  He was trained by the Sith Lord Count Dooku in all seven forms of lightsaber combat.  With this training and the capability of wielding four (!) lightsabers at once (because of having four arms), Grievous was indeed a very formidable and dangerous lightsaber combatant.  He was an aggressive, brutal and badass warrior, and a very capable and callous killer.  He was able to kill countless Jedis, and for this, he was given the notorious nickname of “The Knightslayer.”  At first appearance, Grievous seem to be purely a robot (droid), but during the scene of his demise, it was revealed that Grievous has a beating organic heart, which Obi Wan Kenobi shot, showing that he’s a cyborg.           

7.) BARTHOLOMEW KUMA

Kuma was a former Revolutionary and is currently one of the Shichibukais, powerful pirates allied to the World Government.  He has the ability to transport anyone anywhere in the world.  Kuma is arguably one the most powerful characters in One Piece since he was able to beat the Straw Hat Pirates singlehandedly in two separate occasions (though, they were already weakened when they encountered him at both times).  Nonetheless, he doesn’t desire the destruction of the Straw Hats and had actually favored them in both circumstances with: a.) first and foremost, by sparing their lives in both instances considering that he was ordered to kill them; b.) probably seeing the Straw Hats were not ready in entering the New World, during his second clash with them, he used his power to separate the crew and transported them into different faraway locations that were perfect environments for each respective member to train on to become stronger; and c.) in his last moment of human personality, he asked to be programmed to defend the Straw Hat’s ship, the Thousand Sunny, until a member of the Straw Hat Pirates returns on the spot.  

Kuma served as the prototype of the Pacifista, the powerful cyborgs commissioned by the Marines, thus the Pacifista have their appearance modeled after Kuma.  Kuma was already strong prior to being a cyborg but became more so when he had his Pacifista modifications.  During his first encounters with the Straw Hats, he was still undergoing the process of being turned into a full Pacifista cyborg, thus, he still had his personality with him.  But later on, when Kuma had already finished modifications, he lost his free will and it was merely a program that he had requested to be installed in him before losing his personality completely which allowed him to protect the Thousand Sunny till the Straw Hat returns.  

The Straw Hat Pirates know that they owe Kuma a great debt since, not only did he protect their ship during his absence, but it was because of his insight and preparation – by forcibly separating and sending them to different places where they found the appropriate conditions and opportunities to train and improve themselves – that made them stronger.  However, they are also aware that when they encounter Kuma again, he would already be a heartless weapon of the Marines.  

6.) FRANKY

Kuma is indeed pretty awesome, but he’s not my most favorite cyborg in One Piece.  That title goes to the Straw Hats’ very own Franky.  Being a cyborg, Franky is very durable, strong, and possesses a variety of weaponry, and is powered by cola, which is pretty amusing and remarkable.  He is considered as the strongest member of Straw Hat Pirates out of the Monster Trio (Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji).  

He is a very talented engineer and builder, thus, he is the Straw Hat Pirates’ shipwright.  He’s the one who designed and supervised the building of the Thousand Sunny, the current ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, which was a significant upgrade to the Straw Hats’ first ship, the Going Merry.  His skills as an engineer are indeed very excellent considering that he’s the one who does the modifications on himself!  Thus, though his front is heavily armored due to his self-installed cybernetics, his back, however, being out of his reach for him to modify, is vulnerable.  After the two year time skip, Franky has greatly modified himself more, that he was now even able to discharge the same powerful laser that the Pacifista have in their arsenal.  He also built a giant motorcycle and a battle tank that can combine and transform into a Franky-like mecha which he himself pilots!  

5.) ANDROID 18

Despite the name, most of the Androids in Dragon Ball Z are in fact cyborgs.  Android 18 and her twin brother, Android 17, were notorious delinquents when they were still humans.  They were captured by Dr. Gero and fitted them with cybernetics, which greatly increased their power.  During their initial meeting, the Androids handedly beat the Z Fighters, which was highlighted by Android 18’s domination of Super Saiyan Vegeta.  She, along with her brother, was absorbed by Cell, but would be regurgitated after Cell was given a hard punch on the gut by Gohan.  She would eventually become an ally of the Z Fighters and wife of Krilin.           

4.) INSPECTOR GADGET

Inspector Gadget is a cyborg detective.  His outfit is similar to that of Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther.  But the clothing is not the only thing similar between the two but the intelligence as well.  Like Clouseau, Inspector Gadget is very dim-witted and clueless.  He is only able to “save the day” because of sheer luck and the secret help of his niece Penny and dog Brain, who aids Gadget in his cases and foils the enemy’s plans with him unaware of all of these. However, despite being a clumsy buffoon, Inspector Gadget is quite lovable, with his “Swiss army knife”-like arsenal of gadgets as his redeeming factor.   He has arguably the richest and most enjoyable collection of functions among all of the cyborgs in this list.     

3.) DARTH VADER

As far as cool cyborg functions and gadgetry are concerned, Darth Vader lacks of it.  Nonetheless, Darth Vader doesn’t need a cool cybernetic-job to be the solid number 3 in this list (take note that Darth Vader is being evaluated here as a cyborg, and not as a character.  He would take the highest spot in this list if this is about the quality as a fictional character.) His sheer badassery and awesomeness are enough!  Just look at that kickass mask!  Even just that is reason enough.       

He was originally a powerful Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker but would eventually succumb to the Dark Side of the Force.  In the epic lightsaber duel between Anakin Skywalker, fresh from turning to the Dark Side, with his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the latter severed most of the former’s limbs.  This left Anakin immobile to avoid getting too close to a lava flow, igniting him, and making him suffer nasty life-threatening burns.  Palpatine – Darth Sidious – was able to rescue him from perishing.  He was re-constructed into a cyborg to survive and be functional again.  Ergo, the beloved Darth Vader design.     

2.) THE TERMINATOR (T-800, T-850, T-101)

The Terminator, one of the characters that have the most impactful heel-face turn in fiction, is unique when compared to other cyborgs.  Usually, a cyborg is a former human – or an organic base – which had undergone mechanical or cybernetic modifications.  The Terminator, however, is the reverse of this: a machine nature with human tissue modification.  The Terminator’s interior, being a machine, is heavily-armored and is covered with living human flesh, skin, blood, and hair.  The rationale for the machine’s tissue add-on and taking human appearance is for the purpose of being able to infiltrate human environments and to get close for assassinating a target.  The Terminator was meant to be a highly-effective assassin for taking down leaders of the human resistance.  Also, in the Terminator universe, only human tissue can go back in time (time travelling to the past is an important part of the story’s plot), hence the necessity of the Terminator for a human tissue exterior.              

1.) ROBOCOP

After police officer Alex Murphy is brutally murdered by gang members, he was revived into a cyborg police officer by the mega-corporation OCP.  Being bullet proof and having superior mechanical shooting accuracy, Robocop was capable on taking on entire criminal gangs at once.  Thus, Robocop was able to single-handedly and dramatically lower the crime rate of the city.  I find it so cool whenever Robocop does a cowboy-style spinning of his large gun before holstering it.  Robocop is arguably the first cyborg I adored, and the character that made me aware of the concept of cyborgs.  

A reboot is currently being filmed and, unfortunately, the initial pictures released of the new-look Robocop don’t look promising at all.  All available signs are pointing that it’s going to be a terrible reboot, but, hopefully, I’m wrong.      

You judge for yourself.  

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Top 10 Fictional Characters That Have Super Strength

Super strength is the most cliché among superpowers.  The power of flight is its only rival for the title of “most unoriginal power there is.”  So with super strength being the most common of superpowers, there are tons of fictional characters that have this as his power.  My ten here are the characters who I think brought something novel about super strength and whose character developments and portrayals were significantly helped made interesting by it.  That’s how the characters are ranked in this list and not by who is the strongest.

Moreover, to limit the characters evaluated for the list, I excluded characters with super strength that have other super powers besides it.  So no Superman or Spider-Man in this list.  Also, I excluded those that gain super strength by increasing size like Giant-Man and Maul.  However, those who have super strength as primary power and have secondary powers that can be somehow related to or were off-shoots of the main super strength power were still considered.        

10.) WRECK-IT RALPH

I have two to three others in contention for the tenth spot but I finally gave it to the new guy (since the movie was of this year’s offerings), the title character of the great movie Wreck-It Ralph.  Ralph is the bad guy of an arcade game called Fix-It Felix, Jr.  The game is set on an apartment building where Ralph uses his super strength wrecking the apartment building with his large fists while his adversary, the game’s hero, Fix-It Felix, Jr., fixes all the damages Ralph does with his magic hammer.  This was only as far as the game goes, but behind it all, once the arcade closes, it’s all a job for Ralph and Felix, and the two are in good terms.  However, while Felix is revered and beloved by the apartment’s inhabitants, only fear and loathing are bestowed on Ralph for being the “bad guy” of the game.  After 30 years of this, Ralph finally gets tired of being the disliked bad guy.  And to prove to the inhabitants of his game that he has what it takes to be a hero, Ralph game-hopped to another game called Hero’s Duty in order to win a hero’s medal. But due to an accidental detour, he found himself in the game Sugar Rush, and it was during his time there where he finally learned that being a real hero is more than about getting a medal.                   

9.) MR. INCREDIBLE

Mr. Incredible, real name Robert “Bob” Parr, is the main protagonist of the classic Pixar film, The Incredibles.    During his prime, the super strong Mr. Incredible was one – if not the greatest – of the greatest superheroes in the world.  He even had a cool car loaded with gadgets named “the Incredible”, which was a throwback to the Batmobile or the cars that 007 drives.  But because of major collateral damages due to superhero activities, the government created a “Super Relocation Program” which forced superheroes to abandon their superhero identities, stop using their powers, and fit in and live a life among the civilian populace.  Bob got married with his sweetheart, Helen (who was the superhero “Elastigirl”), raised children (who have superpowers due to having superhero genes from both parents), and took a white-collar job in an insurance company.  However, Bob is bored with this tedious lifestyle that he still secretly sneaks out with his bestfriend, the superhero Frozone, to fight crime.  Bob would be manipulated by the villain Syndrome to return to his Mr. Incredible persona, in which he does, so that he will be able to destroy him.  But Syndrome’s plan would backfire since the return of a Mr. Incredible – with the help of his superhero family – would lead to his defeat.  The best, unforgettable memory I have of Mr. Incredible’s display of super strength in this film was when he used trains for his workout (e.g. using a train car to bench press) to get back in shape. 

 

8.) LUKE CAGE

 

Due to being experimented on while in prison, Cage gained superhuman strength and an impervious skin.  He is an adept fighter – being an exceptional athlete and street fighter even before gaining superpowers, and obtaining some knowledge of martial arts due to years of hanging out with Iron Fist – and has learned how to successfully utilize and combine his powers and skills to increase his combat efficiency, even allowing him to fight more powerful opponents.  What I like most about him is that he is a superhero that refuses to wear a costume, which adds to the street grittiness to the character.     

    

7.) JUGGERNAUT

 

He is the only villain in this list, and is the earliest villain with super strength that greatly appealed to me.  He is referred to as “the unstoppable Juggernaut” and there’s a reason for that.  Cain Marco (Prof. X’s half-brother) has been given tremendous superhuman strength by the Crimson Gem of Cyttorac.  Moreover, he also has a mystical force field that greatly enhances his durability.  He is “unstoppable” since, once in motion, he is physically impossible to stop.  However, he is very vulnerable to mental attacks, thus, he wears a trademark helmet which protects him from such.          

6.) CAPTAIN HAMMER

 

Captain Hammer is the nemesis of Dr. Horrible, the... anti-hero? Villain? Anti-villain?... of the epic short movie Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog (if you haven’t seen it yet, you should!).  Despite being a superhero, Captain Hammer is very much unheroic.  He is narcissistic, reckless, and self-centered.  The public, though, adores him and perceives him as a real hero.  Captain Hammer possesses super strength and invulnerability, thus, he had never been familiar with pain until Dr. Horrible’s damaged death ray gun exploded in his hand and sent him flying across the room.  The explosion never really gave Captain Hammer any physical damage at all, but it made him feel pain for the first time in his life.  Being unfamiliar with pain throughout his life gave Captain Hammer a very low tolerance for pain that when he experienced it for the first time, he was greatly traumatized.  The last time we saw him, he was wailing in a session with a psychiatrist.  I find it brilliant how it was explored through the character’s super strength and extreme durability the idea that there can be a disadvantage when one has been shielded from pain throughout his life, that when he finally experiences pain – whether serious or minor – he won’t have the mechanisms to deal well with it which would lead him to fold.

5.) STRONG GUY

 

The X-Factor Guido Carosella has one of the laziest superhero names ever conceived.  Nonetheless, I found him one of the most interesting characters out there that has super strength.  His super strength power is somewhat unique since it is dependent on kinetic energy.  Strong Guy’s mutant power is the ability to absorb kinetic energy and then use it to enhance his physical strength.  Example, if he gets hit by a bus, he can absorb and store the amount of force from the impact, and then release the energy through – let’s say – a punch and that punch will have the same amount of power as the force of the bus’ impact.  Pretty cool, eh?  The downside, however, is he needs to physically release the energy within 90 seconds of absorbing it or the stored energy will permanently distort his body.  That’s the reason why his body shape is unusually top-heavy.  He is constantly in pain from the distortions happening inside his body, but because of having a cheerful disposition, he is able to hide the pain very well.  He is very witty and smart, and is very fond of making jokes, probably as a way of coping with the physical pain.   

 

4.) POPEYE

 

In the comic strip, I can find no indication that Popeye has super strength in that version.  But in the animated TV series, super strength is a recognized characteristic of Popeye.  The climax sequence of each episode is almost always the same: first, the villain – usually Bluto – beats up Popeye; second, a weakened Popeye eats a can of spinach which gives him super strength; third, a recovered and greatly empowered Popeye turns the tables on his foe, overpowers him, and saves the day (“the day” – more often than not – pertaining to Olive Oyl).  Sometimes, it is established that Popeye already has super strength prior to eating up his can of spinach, and after he consumes spinach, his super strength significantly increases.  Watching Popeye’s ridiculous depiction of super strength – which includes turning a raging bull into an entire meat market with one punch or even clobbering inanimate and intangible things, like storms, into submission – was a lot of fun to watch.   

  

3.) THING

 

The Thing is arguably the Fantastic Four’s most popular member (Or I’m just being biased since the Thing is my most favorite FF member?).  Aside from possessing super strength, the Thing is also extremely durable because of his rock skin.  Also, it was mentioned that when the Thing is in his rock form, he doesn’t age, thus, making him immortal!  He is also known for his catchphrase “It’s clobberin’ time!” which is one of the catchiest catchphrases ever coined.   

2.) HERCULES

The half-god Heracles, son of Zeus from a mortal woman, is the greatest among all heroes of Greek mythology, though he is more famously known by his Roman name, Hercules. Through the centuries, the name “Hercules” has been synonymous to super strength.  And in modern times, he has been many times depicted in different media.  But three notable reinterpretations of Hercules are my favorites (as suggested by the accompanying image above): the struggling hero-in-training from the Disney animated movie (and its TV series spin-off), Kevin Sorbo’s portrayal in the awesome Hercules: The Legendary Journeys TV series, and the Marvel superhero (who was even able to absurdly pull Manhattan Island!).      

1.) HULK

 

If there’s someone that rivals Hercules as the epitome of super strength, then it is the Hulk.  Hulk is potentially the strongest among all the characters in this list – or among all characters with super strength for that matter.  I say “potentially” since the Hulk’s strength is proportional to his rage.  The angrier he is, the stronger he is.  When the Hulk’s rage is at its peak, the Hulk’s super strength is limitless!  Still, even when calm, the Hulk is still capable of lifting or pressing up to 70 tons.  He uses his powerful legs to leap long distances and he can create a shockwave through merely clapping his hands together.       

The Hulk’s entire characterization is incredibly interesting.  His human alter ego, Bruce Banner, is extremely the Hulk’s antithesis.  Banner is wimpy and meek, while the Hulk is savage and tremendously vigorous.  Banner has one of the most brilliant minds in the world, while the Hulk speaks in broken English and has the intelligence comparable to that of a toddler or a retard.   However, this doesn’t mean that the Hulk is dumb, gullible, and dim-witted because it is shown that he can be scheming, cunning, creative, and capable of reasoning.  The “Dr. Jekyl-Mr. Hyde” relationship between Banner and the Hulk is a major factor of the character’s awesomeness.   

 

The most interesting thing that I find about the Hulk is, in spite of being considered a superhero and generally recognized to be aligned with good, the Hulk is nonetheless a menace and a major threat to people and property.  He is susceptible to going uncontrollably berserk when greatly enraged; and with no consideration to collateral damage, safety of others, and conditions of his environment, he would brutally pour out his wrathful power until he destroys his target.  He is as much danger to his allies as to his enemies.  He is an unpredictable, difficult to control weapon of mass destruction.  However, despite of these things, he is more frequently inclined to save the world than destroy it.    

The Hulk is handily number one to me.  And no matter how catchy “It’s clobberin’ time!” is, nothing can beat “Hulk smash!”    

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Top 10 Superhero Teams

When I wrote my “top 10 fictional organizations” list, I explained that I haven’t considered any superhero team to be included in it since a whole new list can be made from the subject.  This is that list.  

10.) LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

This team is not actually made up of the traditional costumed, superpowered individuals that we identify as “superheroes” but it instead consists of iconic characters of Victorian era literature.  Nonetheless, the idea of an all-star team of literary characters is just too brilliant to ignore that it just needs to be included in this list despite not being a “superhero” team of the traditional sense.  It also counts that Alan Moore – the creator – originally intended it to be a Victorian-themed “Justice League” of superheroes before settling with a mash-up of established fictional characters of Victorian literature.  My main beef with the team, though, is it has no Sherlock Holmes – arguably, not only the greatest fictional detective ever, but the greatest Victorian fictional character ever – in it!   

   

9.) SUPER SENTAI/POWER RANGERS

The concept of a Super Sentai series – rip-offed and known in the States as Power Rangers – has always been the same.  It usually starts with the introduction of the main characters and the bestowment of powers to them – either through technological or magical means – to fight evil threats (usually, alien in nature).  A Super Sentai team consists of, usually, five members who wear color coded costumes with the red being the usual leader.  Each episode, they have to face off with a monster summoned by the antagonist group’s leader/s; this monster is usually accompanied by the antagonist group’s generic minions.  The finale of the encounter would always be the enlargement of the monster that would force the Super Sentai team to summon their giant robotic animals/vehicles that can combine into one giant mecha to combat the now enlarged monster.  In each series’ final story arc, the Super Sentai heroes are finally pitted against the antagonist groups’ leader/s.  Super Sentai has been around since 1979 and each year, a new series – consisting of a new team and motif – is produced.  In 2011, to commemorate the 35th year of the Super Sentai series, the film Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Great Battle was released, which featured all Super Sentai teams – consisting of 199 heroes – as of date.  I grew up watching both Super Sentai and Power Rangers and absolutely adored the franchise as a kid, thus, even though I don’t watch it (regularly) now, I have a soft spot for it in my heart.  

8.) THE AUTHORITY

This controversial team is probably the first superhero anti-hero team I ever encountered.  They aren’t bounded by any moral codes like other superhero teams.  They do what any means necessary to get the job done, even through unethical or violent means.  This uniqueness has made the team very popular and interesting.  The two most popular members of the team are Apollo and Midnighter; despite being a gay couple, they are thrilling characters for being enhanced versions of Superman and Batman, respectively.  

7.) EXILES

What makes this team unique is it consists of characters (mostly alternate versions of established characters of the regular Marvel Earth-616 continuity) – usually X-Men-related – from the different universes or realities of the massive Marvel Multiverse.  It has a rich roster history due to continuous line-up changes (usually, due to death of members), but the mission remains the same: to fix any reality problems or deviations – known as “hiccups” – of the universes and timelines of the Marvel Multiverse.   

6.) THUNDERBOLTS/DARK AVENGERS

Now, what’s so special about the Thunderbolts?  This superhero team is consisted of former and reformed supervillains, or supervillains who are forced to work for the good side (with a full-time superhero sometimes serving as the leader/handler of the team).  This has always been the general identity of this team.   At the present, the Thunderbolts’ book – carrying the Thunderbolts’ “a superhero team made up of former supervillains” concept and roster with it – has been renamed into Dark Avengers (its original identity being villains pretending to be heroes) and – through Marvel NOW! – the “Thunderbolts” team name is now possessed by a new group of anti-heroes led by the Red Hulk.  To be honest, I haven’t thoroughly checked out this team’s D.C. counterpart, the Suicide Squad; therefore, I haven’t considered the Suicide Squad for this list.  The point is I really love the concept of a superhero team consisting of members with supervillain backgrounds – a concept that I encountered with the Thunderbolts.  The Suicide Squad – a team with the same concept – could be the better team, but I won’t be able to tell since I didn’t quite follow its comicbook.           

5.) FANTASTIC FOUR

This team has the smallest roster in this list, but they are nonetheless quite a beloved and dynamic team.  There had been many temporary lineup changes due to fill-in members replacing absences of the original members (at one time, the entire original four was absent and the team had an interesting roster consisting of Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Gray Hulk [Joe Fixit], and the Spirit of Vengence) but the core members remain to be Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing.  The charm of the Fantastic Four is that they have always been a family more than a team.  And this bond as a family is their greatest strength, making them a great and formidable superhero team.        

4.) THE ULTIMATES

The Ultimates is the version of the Avengers in the Ultimate Marvel Universe (Earth-1610).  The members of the Ultimates are more realistic than their Avengers counterparts, i.e. they are flawed and likely to act like real people, i.e. the Ultimates can behave like real jerks.  Unlike Earth-616’s Avengers, the Ultimates was created by S.H.I.E.L.D. and was intended to be a government-sponsored superhero strike team that would have to deal with the most extreme of threats.  What I like most about the Ultimates is the fact that though they don’t have the ample amount of heroes in their roster that the Avengers have, but working under S.H.I.E.L.D., they have the benefit in their missions of having the help of “support teams” and “strike teams” made up of S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers, agents, engineers and scientists; and elite reserves/support teams like Rocketmen and Giant-Men.  Moreover, it also greatly enhances the value of the team considering that their leader, Captain America (Ultimate-version), is the President of the United States of America.   

3.) JUSTICE LEAGUE & 2.) THE AVENGERS

Everyone already knows what the Justice League and the Avengers are all about: the Justice League is D.C.’s all-star superhero team and the Avengers is Marvel’s all-star superhero team.  Everyone knows this, so I will just combine my discussion about these two teams.  However, don’t mistake that their spots in this list are interchangeable.  Clearly, the Avengers are superior to the Justice League – so no. 3 is for the Justice League while no. 2 is for the Avengers.  However, I haven’t always thought so.  I used to consider the Justice League as the better team.  It has just been a few years ago that my sentiments switched.  I have grown up more of a Marvel fan than DC fan, however, the Justice League had appealed to me more than the Avengers.  Maybe because the Justice League has always had all of D.C.’s popular heroes in its roster as far as I can remember.  This was not the case with the Avengers.  The Justice League had Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash.  But though the Avengers had A-list heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor as regulars, the Avengers didn’t have Marvel’s two most popular superheroes: Spider-Man and Wolverine (who is an X-Man).  Aside from the two, other popular heroes like Daredevil and Dr. Strange aren’t members, too.  With arguably four of the six most important and popular superhero teams – Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, and Defenders – Marvel had to “distribute” its prominent heroes among the four teams.  Moreover, guys like Spider-Man and Daredevil had always been the solo-type of heroes.  Thus, the Avengers was not able to have as rich as a roster as the Justice League’s back then.  This all changed a few years ago as heroes like Spider-Man, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Wolverine, Storm, and the Thing (the last three becoming simultaneous members of the Avengers and their parent team) finally became members of the Avengers, greatly making the roster more packed and more interesting than the Justice League’s!  And because of Marvel NOW!, for the first time, Marvel’s top six superheroes – Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man – are all going to be in one Avengers team.       

1.) X-MEN

The X-Men – a superhero team made up of mutants, those who were born with an “X-gene” that gives them supernatural abilities – have always been my most favorite superhero team.  The founder of the X-Men, and whose dream the philosophy of the team is grounded, was Professor Charles Xavier.  From his initial recruits of five – Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Iceman, Angel, and Beast – the team would grow on through the years until it became the most varied collection of the most interesting superpowered individuals you can find in comics.  The struggle of the X-Men in “protecting a world that fears and hates them” really moves me.  In spite of the discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry they receive from most the humans they do good for, they continue to hold on to the idea that mutants and humans can co-exist in the world peacefully.  If that’s not true heroism, then I don’t know what is.  Oh, they aren’t perfect individuals.  They sometimes have conflicts among themselves (especially at the present, there are two to three X-Men factions) and do wrestle with their personal demons.  However, in spite of these, they would remain united when mutantkind or the X-Men’s dreams are attacked by external forces.  Aside from the thematic and moral appeal of this team, I love the X-Men because they are just too friggin’ kickass!

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