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Throughout the comic book genre there are those heroes that are often underrated and underestimated by the mainstream readers. They perform their tasks just as well if not better than the mainstream and more popular heroes. Who do you believe to be an underestimated hero? And why? ( This does not include characters like Superman, Hulk, Spiderman, Batman, Wolverine...etc. Those are all considered mainstream heroes. )

How about (the heroes from) Top Ten, from Alan Moore ? I'm not sure if we can talk about underestimated heroes, but I've got this feeling the comics are no way as popular as they deserve to be.

For those who do not know : go.buy.topten.now ! It's often described as Hill street blues meets the Marvel/DC universe, and it's quite brilliant !

Besides, how can a series with cool names such as Joe Pi, Jeff Smax and Toybox can be bad ?

sounds good, ill check it out

but imo black panther would be an underrated character, theres hundreds of others i could name with enough time, i dont know if certain people would agree though

Super Mario.

Well, from just about every thread argument I've been involved in so far, I'd have to say Captain America. But since he is DEFINITELY mainstream, I'd have to go with maybe Iron-Fist. He's not really a super popular character, although with his new book I'm sure his fanbase is growing. But it seems that in every thread I've read, he is always cast aside as a weak hero at best. Maybe it's the sunshine yellow ballet slippers.

lol, i love ironfist but i think his new comic really really sucks, sure some would like it but its drawn manga-ish and imo its always a boring story

but i do agree with you, ironfist is definitely an underrated character

captain america underrated? LOL try overrated.

I agree with that norrin. Not to say he's a bad character, just at some times he's just too much, mostly depending on the writer. I'd like to hear Capt.JK's opinions on Priest's Cap and Falcon. Cap isn't the infallible guy most writers have portrayed him as in the recent past, he's doubtful of his actions, he's been caught in a torrent of happenings and hasn't a clue of what to do about any of it. Some welcome it, Cap has been portrayed as a human again, while others are up in arms. IMO it's much better than his MK run, and with his story so far, I'm not even going to bother with Brubaker's Cap. And, as we all knew this was coming, any opinion on the New Invaders? Cap's old buddies not being the upstanding old gents they're supposed to be, and Walker wearing the Cap suit....

As for underrated heroes, I'm honestly having a tough time thinking of them. I can think of a few, but they're not so underestimated when you look at them in context. Mostly, I'm coming up with obscure heroes, who as a result of being obscure often blur the line into underestimated, but there is a difference between the two terms. Hmm.

Jewel/Jessica Jones

Vision, I love that guy, very cool. Does he count as under-rated?

I would say so. He hasn't really shone in a long time, being relegated to supporting characters, who go out in the field once in awhile. He only appeared in story arcs centering around Wanda or Simon, but never a story of his own. Though he used to be quite the cool cat.

How about sidekicks such as Bucky for Captain America or Kato for the Green Hornet?

***Do you see what I have to put up with around here?***

Actually, I do like the new story lines. Cap being a little indecisive (except on the battlefield) about what to do with all of the turmoil amongst his former comrades etc. is some pretty cool stuff. I was never really a big fan of the Falcon, but I like his grittier edge now (he's carrying a sniper rifle, for criminy's sakes). It plays well off of Cap's by-the-book boyscout style of soldiering, and the friction between them was cool. Unfortunately, in "Avengers Finale", Falcon states that he "may just hang up the wings for good." Just when I was starting to like him, too...

I think that's just Bendis being an out of the loop hack. The book is sticking around, and at some point it's going to diverge into a Falcon solo book, so both Sam and Steve will have books spotlighting only them.

i dont think vision is underrated at all, he's had his own solo comic around the late 70's or 80's and was a pretty big piece of avengers for a while

moonknight imo is one underrated character, i want to see someone re-make his comic

imo falcon is pretty damn cool in ultimate nightmare, his characters been getting interesting lately, as for cap being underrated, i actually think he is BUT only because comic books differ from person to person and although someone has read all or close to all of cap's comics i've only read a select few, i want to see a really well-made story arc for cap

shadowcat she's never had her own comic

she has had alot of comic time though, i mean she's a teacher in astonishing xmen now, had like four different aliases, owns a pet friggin dragon (lockheed) she's been getting alot of fame lately as writers consider her the "relate to teenagers" character, but thats just from my point of view

I think hercules is underrated, along with maybe dr strange?

yeah definitely, doc strange has his new solo comic though, he just hasnt become THE doc strange (mystical arts and all that stuff)

so eventually he wont be as underrated as before, but hercules is definitely underrated

My eyes are swelling with tears. Finally someone has acknowledged Heracules! And Doc Strange for that matter. I always believed herc was stronger than thor. And we saw how the good Dr. put the beatdown on Scarlet witch in Avengers so.......there!


Also what about Gladiator and Hyperion? You never hear much about them.

Hyperion and his pals are being reinvented over in Supreme Power which is a fun little series, I must say. Gladiator is more of a supporting character during big universal happenings, but I like him nonetheless.

Hercules is awesome, and he'll be appearing in She-Hulk 9 this month!

yayyyyy!!!

lol isn't she hulk apparently taking on the champion of the universe, good luck to her.

Thor has defeated Hercules in tests of strength and in hand-to-hand combat on numerous occasions. Thor is easily the stronger of the two. That's one of the reasons Hercules is underrated; he's a second rate Thor wannabe.

he's still cool

She already did, and kicked his ass.

i think puma is very underrated. he has what it takes to be just as good at crime busting as spiderman. i also think that sabertooth is too underrated for a villain.

i dont know who puma is, but im gonna google him

Puma was the man back in the day! He would always give Spidey a run for his money.

As far as Heracules being a second rate thor.....NO! Traditionally the tale of Heracules and the olympian gods are far more popular than Thor and the Norse Gods. In comics sure, Thor had the backing of the writers cause hey, he was a fun character. They had no clue what to do with Heracules. Also i'm not sure Herc jobbed out to thor as many times as you think. I'm sure Herc beat him at least once. Besides Thor is already established. Were talking about underrated right, Heracules is defiantly underrated.

Thor is awesome yes. But Herc is not far behind!

http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/english/vikingstudies/davidsen/herc01.jpg

how did she hulk beat the champion of the universe?

I've looked through my huge collection, and I can't find any fights where Hercules BEAT Thor in combat. All were good fights, but Thor seems to always be the victor on some level. But I agree with you that Hercules is underrated. In the JLA/Avengers crossover, he gets his behind handed to him for several panels by... Wonder Woman!

SHE HULK BEAT THE CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE! when did this happen?

Spoilers ahead....

Champion had found a world governed by the one rule "Might makes right". He fought their current champion, soundly defeated him and took his place as ruler. However, he idled in his responsibilities, letting the world fall into disorder and poverty. Adam Warlock, Gamora, Pip the Troll and others were looking for someone who could beat Champion, during this time, Gladiator and Beta Ray Bill both had their asses handed to them.

The Magistrati came to earth and took She-Hulk with them for her to practice intergalactic law at the behest of the Living Tribunal. Their aim was for her to defeat Champion. She went into the ring, and got the crap kicked out of her. So she called a rematch in a month's time. During this time she worked out as plain human Jen Walters, doubling her strength and stats in human form, thus when she transformed into She-Hulk her strength in that form doubled as well, as she has the potential to be exponentially stronger. She also trained in boxing (since the matches with Champion were in a boxing ring) and looked up all the intergalactic laws. No weapons are allowed in the ring, and previously they had declared Adam Warlock's soul gem a weapon. She went into the ring, declared Champion a cheater and made him take off his infinity gem. Without the infinity gem vastly enhancing his strength and stats, She-Hulk having doubled her already formidable strength and mastered boxing took him out quite easily.

What issue does that fight take place.

BTW: I totally hated Wonder Woman beating ol' Heracules. Again i do believe it all has to do with the popularity of the heroes involved. I'm sure Spidey would whip up ol' Herc in a spiderman title.

Can you imagine the horror of Herc's fans if he appeared in a Whizzer comic?

I think he did?.......... I'm sure he lost that one too!
I hear he's also due in a Power Pack issue....he's portraying an evil Santa Claus.

hercules was in a very small piece for avengers disassembled, it was cool to see finch drawing hercules though

Zan and Jana looked down upon the battered shell of the "god" known as Hercules... "He should've known better than to mess with the Wonder Twins, eh li'l bro'?" "Yeah, sis. Form of... an ass whuppin'!"

Champion's beat down at the hands of She-Hulk happened in issue 8 of her series, last month.

Nate Grey .

Dead people don't count. Besides he's overrated just like " God-like " Cable.

pretty true, he had his own solo comic and after all he's named X-Man

I needed a laugh, Thanks Capt.JK!!!!

banshee is an underrated character imo, he's had alot of comic book time but no one ever gives him any credit

hehe thats what I came in here to say.

who do you think is the most underrated hero?

The Black Panther and Silver surfer

batman i think people underestimate batman big time hes not too strong but not too weak and he can get the job done some way some how

yeah, he lost alot of popularity. Black Panther cuzz no one ever talks bout him

you guys are on crack! batman is the most overrated hero of all time and the other 2 are on the top 5 list!!!

whatever i still think batman is underrated just a little bit

Originally posted by Quick Freeze
you guys are on crack! batman is the most overrated hero of all time and the other 2 are on the top 5 list!!!

I think your the one on crack.
Silver Surfer is top 5?!?! Fuk outta here

read all the surfer threads on pages 1 2 and 3. and as batman is conscerned, this guy has no superpowers and defeats people way more powerful on a regualr basis. why do you think when ever someone makes a "who can beat so-in-so. . ." someone always puts "batman with preptime lol jk omfg etc" theyre making fun of his overatedness.

you need to cool down

Colossus, Black Panther, Cyclops, Bishop, Hawk & Dove, the list goes on and on.

Originally posted by lil player007
you need to cool down

ICEMAN....no one likes the guy yet he is like uber powerful......its depressing.....

Namor The Sub Mariner, Adam Destine, Daredevil, and The Punisher.

Cloak and Dagger.

I think Batman comes across as being underestimated because there's alot of haters always trying to put the man down. Another reason might be that Batman actually has to work for his victories, unlike so many other characters that just rely on there powers.

As always fanboys will overrate the character, but that could be said of any character who actually has fanboys, including all the ones that have been named in this thread.

Anyway I think Judge Dredd and Hellboy are often underated. Judge Dredd as far as ability and story goes, and Hellboy only powerwise.

Black Panther

I think BP gets hyped up as often as he's underrated. I say Booster Gold and Guy Gardner are underrated.

Blue Beetle...god rest his soul

NOVA

Most underrated,,,,,night crawler, robin, Strong Guy, Banshee, Polaris, Wolfbane, Cyborg, Vigilante, oh, and for the "older" crowd, (villian) Mixleplix,,,lol (i think thats the right spelling?)

I know it's been months since anybody posted here, but I'm gonna add my two cents and say Hawkeye was the most underrated hero. He started as a foe of Iron Man, trained with Captain America, and dated superspy Black Widow. I think the guy deserved a better rep than to be thought of as the weakest Avenger.