Marvel Comics and DC Comics are the main homes of superheroes in the comic industry, but they aren’t the only place that publishes them. Over the years, many different publishers have told superhero stories to varying levels of success. Publishers like Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics started their own lines of superhero books and many others have followed suit, creating all kinds of superheroes. Sometimes, these heroes were based on popular Marvel or DC heroes, other times they were wholly original. Many of them have amazing powers, but some don’t.
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Powerless superheroes are some of the most interesting characters in the genre, as they don’t have the advantages that their superpowered fellows have. They have to work harder and indie comics have given readers some of the best powerless heroes ever. These are the ten best powerless superheroes from the indies, great characters with years of stories under their belts.
10) Savage Dragon
Image Comics has become an iconic company, started by seven of the greatest Marvel artists of the late ’80s/early ’90s. One of these was Erik Larson and he created The Savage Dragon. While the titular Dragon has superhuman physical abilities, he’s not actually human. So, his physical attributes aren’t actually superpowers; they’re just the way he is. He was the best cop in Chicago for years, battling against the biggest threats and helping out the superheroes of his city in battle, eventually replaced by his son Malcolm (who si half-human, so his abilities would be superpowers). This might seem like something of a cheat, but it counts.
9) The Phantom
Superman was the first superhero, but there was a whole legion of what were called “adventure heroes” that existed before him. After the success of the superhero concept, they would be referred to as superheroes and several of them have become icons that have stood the test of decades. The Phantom is one of these. He’s been around since 1936, created by Lee Falk, battling evil from his home base in the fictional African country of Bangalla (Africa was considered a place of mystery back then, so a lot of the adventure heroes of the day hung out there). He was an icon for decades and while he isn’t as popular as he once was, he’s still around fighting evil.
8) Jack in the Box
Astro City is the best superhero comic you’ve never read. Started in the ’90s by Kurt Busiek, this superhero universe combined ideas from both Marvel and DC to create its own lore, with numerous homage heroes. Jack in the Box is one of these. The character was based on the Creeper and the other powerless heroes created by Steve Ditko, a vigilante who used his own inventions to fight crime in his city. He’s one of the most important characters in the Astro City mythos and an amazing hero.
7) The Confessor II
There were two Confessors in Astro City’s history. The first was a man named Jeremiah Parrish, a Catholic priest who was turned to a vampire and decided to use his abilities to help others, battling evil in the city since the 19th century. He would eventually recruit a boy named Bryan Kinney to be Altar Boy and Bryan would learn the Confessor’s terrible secret. Jeremiah ended up sacrificing himself to save the city from an alien invasion and Bryan ended up taking up his mantle. Bryan has no powers, but has proven to be just as great as his mentor, acting as the Batman of Astro City.
6) The Tick
The Tick was created by Ben Edlund in 1986 as the mascot for a chain of Boston-area comic stories and would eventually get his own comic. The big galoot didn’t have any powers but tried his best to be a hero, along with his sidekick Arthur. His adventures were more about the comedy than the thrills and he become a low key indie icon over the years, even getting several chances at TV stardom (Patrick Warburton played him in the first adaptation and Peter Serafinowicz in the reboot). If you want to laugh, hunt down some of his books.
5) The Slam
Black Hammer is brilliant indie superhero storytelling, paying homage to some of the greatest heroes in comic history while telling its own unique story. Series creator Jeff Lemire created numerous heroes for the book, including the Slam. Abraham Slamkowski was a Spiral City resident who wanted to make a difference in his city, putting on a costume as the Slam to battle evil in the city. He is basically every Golden/Silver Age hero without superpowers, fighting the good fight for decades. He’s one of the best characters in a book full of best characters.
4) Kick-Ass
So, technically, you could argue that since Kick-Ass premiered in Marvel’s Icon line (a creator-owned line they seemingly put out to keep Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar happy; they created the most books for it) he’s a Marvel character, but Millar has since taken him to other publishers. Kick-Ass was Dave Wizewski, a teen who lost the ability to feel pain and decided to become a superhero. His adventures were violent and profane, and he made such a splash he starred in two movies. Millar characters aren’t always the best in the world, but Kick-Ass will always be a favorite of a certain generation of comic fan.
3) Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd made 2000 A.D. iconic. Created by John Wagner and Carlo Ezquerra, Dredd was one of the Judges of Mega-City One, one of the massive cities that dot the wasteland Earth in this dystopian future, upholding law and order with extreme violence. Dredd is basically the most popular character created by the British comic indsutry, his stories having been worked on by some of the UK’s greatest creators. Dredd isn’t as popular in the United States as he in United Kingdom, but he’s still something of a legend here, to the extent that he’s had two different feature films. Dredd is one of the greatest comic characters ever created and his adventures are some of best ever.
2) Shadowhawk
Shadowhawk is honestly the best of the early Image characters, and you probably have no idea who he is (I’m sorry for doing this bit twice, but it’s true for most of you). He was created by Jim Valentino, who was the least popular of the Image founders but the best all-around creator (he was a way better writer than most of them, other than Larsen, and understood the business end of things, still holding an executive position at the company). His Shadowhawk comics never sold as well as the other founder’s books, but they were always awesome. Shadowhawk was a vigilante who broke criminals’ spines, wearing some rather cool armor. He was Valentino’s attempt to take the things that bothered him about Batman and fix them. Hunt down his books and prepare to be amazed.
1) The Spirit
Will Eisner was one of the greatest comic creators ever. The comic industry equivalent of the Oscars is named after him and he created numerous amazing stories and characters, including the Spirit. While the character has been published by DC Comics before (when Darwyn Cooke was given a chance to work on the character), he’s indie to his core. Denny Colt was a private eye who survived what everyone thought was a fatal encounter with criminals to become the Spirit. The character is a legend, a pulp hero who had been around for almost a hundred years (and had a terrible movie written and directed by Frank Miller). There are few characters from outside Marvel and DC with the legacy of amazing stories as the Spirit.
What’s your favorite non-superpowered, non-Marvel/DC hero? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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