A few months back I spent a lot of time talking about my favorite
characters in the DC universe. I covered heroes, villains, supporting
characters, and even favorite teams. But there is one small group I left
off, and since we are in October it seemed to the perfect time to go
through them. The magic based characters.
DC has a very rich line of supernatural characters, from heroes like
Animal Man to villains like The Floronic Man. But which one’s to do I
especially love?
#5.Deadman
Deadman is another one of those characters I know from his crossovers
with other characters, like Superman and Batman. He is a, well, dead man
who was once a circus performer. After he was killed his spirit is
given the power to possess any living being by a Hindu god named Rama
Kushna. The cool thing is that the guy has a very strong personality and
the character is one that is easy to like. The best thing he ever did
was infiltrate the alien alliance during the “Invasion” even in 1988.
#4.Zatanna
One of the first comic books I ever read had the mistress of magic in
it, and I had no idea who she was at the time. But I learned. Daughter
of a golden age hero named Zatarra, Zatanna was awesome! She had
unlimited magic, well ok limited to the fact that she had to recite her
spells backwards. Which was kind of cool! She was a member of the
Justice League of America back in the day. At first we was a novice hero
and her powers were pretty basic. As time went on as her character
evolved so did her powers until she was more mystical in nature, even
resurrecting the devastated city of Metropolis in one appearance.
#3.The Spectre
The Spectre is literally the servant of god, and he is freaking awesome!
Well Ok not a first. In fact the golden age version was kind of,
boring. And silly. But they kept rebooting the character until he got
more and more awesome. Jim Corrigan was shot in the line of duty and
afterward become an avenging spirit out to punish evil doers. He was
really cool and I already talked about two of his appearances a couple
weeks ago. And yes I know he has been given other identities including
Hal Jordan for awhile, but the classic version will always be the best.
#2.Dr.Fate
I am not really sure when my first exposure to Fate was, but I loved
this guy. I had the action figure as a kid and thought he was awesome.
Now there were a few versions over the years but I preferred the classic
Kent Nelson version. He put that golden helmet on and was possessed by
the spirit of a Lord of Order. I even bought his mini series in the
80’s…which was confusing, but whatever. He is just awesome, even making
what is kind of a goofy costume into something classy and badass! As I
said they have changed him up over the years, at once point he was a
woman which was weird.’
#1.The Phantom Stranger
The Stranger is just…cool! No one really knows who is or where he comes
from though there has been speculation. It seems that unlike Spectre, he
serves god (or the lords of order) as a punishment for something. In
fact the two often find themselves at odds. He often offers supernatural
aid to everyone like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Firestorm and most
notably to the Justice League of America. He was even an honorary
member for a time. I talked about two of his appearances a few weeks ago
(one which was lame, but whatever). He often appears in the oddest
places, even being around to observe Darkseid during the Legends even in
the 80’s. I always enjoy it when he appears in a book, the cryptic talk
and the way he can do pretty much anything. He also seems to be
clairvoyant and just know everything that is going to happen. I have
literally bought books because he was in it, and when used he’s
correctly a story with him involved is never boring.
Now I’ll be honest, and I never read much of the supernatural stuff.
As I said these characters I liked because of their interactions around
the DC Universe, not from their own books (the Dr.Fate mini-series
notwithstanding). I just never got into the “mature” stuff especially
the stuff from the Vertigo line. That is why obvious choices like The
Demon are not here. And one other obvious choice is missing, but
deserves a mention. That is :
Swamp Thing!
Swamp Thing never grabbed me, heck I didn’t even know the backstory
until I saw Longbox of the Damned! It’s a really tragic story and gets
into really mystical stuff that is a bit over my head. There are more
qualified out there to go into this character’s background, so I will
just mention that there was one story he was in that was great. It was
an issue of DC Comics Presents written by Alan Moore. I will spare you
the plot breakdown, but this was a great issue, worth a read if you find
it.
And no I never watched the TV show or the movies or animated series.
So what about Shazam? That’s a stretch. Raven from Teen Titans? Yeah
she should be on here. She was an empath but had some pretty occult
abilities. Call her a #6 spot, she was pretty awesome.
So if I missed your favorite comment and let me know. I could do a
list of supernatural villains but that would be a lot harder. Hmmm…
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