Superheroes
Capes, emblems and secret identities — the characters that built the genre.
Aquaman
DC Comics
Aquaman spent roughly thirty years as the punchline of superhero comics and then stopped being one.
from $11.98
Bane
DC Comics
Bane is routinely reduced to the drug-enhanced strongman who breaks Batman's back, which misreads him entirely.
from $19.99
Batman
DC Comics
Batman is the rare superhero defined by absence.
from $16.99
Black Panther
Marvel Comics
Black Panther was the first Black superhero in mainstream American comics, arriving in 1966.
from $17.99
Black Widow
Marvel Comics
Black Widow entered Marvel in 1964 as a Cold War antagonist.
from $17.99
Captain America
Marvel Comics
Captain America was a political act before he was a franchise.
from $13.58
Catwoman
DC Comics
Catwoman has spent eighty years being the character DC cannot decide about.
from $17.99
Deadpool
Marvel Comics
Deadpool began as a fairly straight 1991 mercenary.
from $14.99
Doctor Strange
Marvel Comics
Doctor Strange is Steve Ditko's book far more than Stan Lee's.
from $17.99
Green Arrow
DC Comics
Green Arrow spent his first thirty years as an unembarrassed Batman imitation.
from $15.99
Green Lantern
DC Comics
Green Lantern is DC's science-fiction franchise wearing a superhero costume.
from $14.99
Groot
Marvel Comics
Groot spent forty-six years as a forgotten monster before becoming one of Marvel's most merchandised characters.
from $17.99
Harley Quinn
DC Comics
Harley Quinn is the most successful character in modern comics to have been created for television rather…
from $19.99
Hawkeye
Marvel Comics
Hawkeye is the Avenger with a bow, standing next to a god.
from $17.99
Iron Man
Marvel Comics
Iron Man was designed as a provocation.
from $17.99
Jean Grey
Marvel Comics
Jean Grey is the centre of the most influential storyline in superhero comics.
from $17.99
Leonardo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Leonardo is the responsible one, which in this franchise means he is the character the others resent.
from $17.09
Lex Luthor
DC Comics
Luthor's modern form dates from a 1986 revision that turned him from a mad scientist in a jumpsuit into a…
from $15.99
Loki
Marvel Comics
Loki is the most successful redemption-adjacent villain Marvel has.
from $17.99
Michelangelo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Michelangelo is the youngest brother and the one the 1987 cartoon leaned on hardest.
from $13.99
Miles Morales
Marvel Comics
Miles Morales is the most successful legacy replacement in modern superhero comics.
from $17.99
Poison Ivy
DC Comics
Poison Ivy started as a femme fatale with a plant gimmick and has been steadily rewritten into something…
from $15.99
Robin
DC Comics
Robin invented the sidekick, and the commercial logic behind him is unusually well documented.
from $19.99
Rocket Raccoon
Marvel Comics
Rocket is a genetically and cybernetically modified raccoon.
from $17.99
Scarlet Witch
Marvel Comics
Wanda Maximoff began in 1964 as a reluctant villain with a vaguely defined hex power and became.
from $17.99
Shazam
DC Comics
In the 1940s this character outsold Superman, and the resulting lawsuit is one of the most consequential…
from $15.99
Spider-Man
Marvel Comics
Spider-Man changed what a superhero could be by making one who was not admired.
from $17.99
Storm
Marvel Comics
Storm arrived in 1975 as part of the international X-Men relaunch and quickly became something the roster…
from $19.99
Supergirl
DC Comics
Supergirl is Superman's cousin and, more usefully, his counterexample.
from $17.99
Superman
DC Comics
Superman is the character that invented the category.
from $14.99
Thanos
Marvel Comics
Thanos in the comics is in love with the personification of Death, and everything he does is an attempt to impress her.
from $17.99
The Flash
DC Comics
The Flash matters to comics history out of all proportion to his profile outside them.
from $10.99
The Hulk
Marvel Comics
The Hulk is Marvel's monster, and the fact that he is on the hero side of the ledger has never quite…
from $12.82
The Joker
DC Comics
The Joker works because he is the exact structural opposite of Batman and nothing else.
from $19.99
Thor
Marvel Comics
Marvel's Thor is an adaptation of a genuine Norse deity.
from $17.99
Venom
Marvel Comics
Venom is a design that outgrew its story.
from $17.99
Wolverine
Marvel Comics
Wolverine was created to give the Hulk a Canadian opponent and was very nearly a throwaway.
from $17.99
Wonder Woman
DC Comics
Wonder Woman was created with an explicit political thesis, which makes her unusual among superheroes.
from $14.99