Top Ten Heroes of 2010

Marvel recently released their Top Ten Heroes of 2010. Although I agree with some of the characters they listed, some I really dont.

Poor  Tony Stark spent the first part of the year brain dead after sacrificing his magnificent mind to keep its secrets out of Norman Osborn’s hands, but Iron Man would rally to play a key role in Siege as well as bringing the  Avengers back together.

Having led the Avengers through tough times in the absence of the “big guns,” Luke Cage got to enjoy some well-deserved blowing off of steam once Steve Rogers and company came back on the scene, kicking ass and taking names during Siege and then finally putting the kibosh on that pesky Hood.

The greatest champions rise in the most trying of times, an axiom Thor proved true this year. He fended off his mad clone, Ragnarok, and even played peacemaker between his friends Tony Stark and Steve Rogers for the good of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The Intelligencia, in their near-infinite wisdom, seemed to account for everything in their complex plan to bring about the fall of the Hulks, but could not predict the heroism at the heart of Bruce Banner. Despite seeming to have shed his longtime curse once and for all, Banner stepped back into the breach, becoming The Hulk once again in order to bring down his enemies and defeat his crimson counterpart.

T’Challa found himself in the unenviable position of being the first monarch of Wakanda to let the nation be conquered under his watch when Doctor Doom took over the African kingdom and pilfered its valuable Vibranium. The only mistake Doom: underestimating his foe’s willingness to sacrifice anything for victory and the greater good, including giving up the love of his people to stop a villain by rendering that Vibranium inert. Now the Panther labors on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, unafraid to work at regaining the status he gave up and always looking out for the cause of justice.

This could probably be said just about every year, but in 2010, nobody had a tougher time of it than Spider-Man. The Webslinger endured a grueling gauntlet arranged by the Kraven family that saw him face his oldest foes up one after the other, from a juiced up Electro to a more savage than ever Lizard to finally a resurrected Kraven himself. Spidey somehow survived the onslaught, and despite taking his lumps, ultimately saved himself and New York City. He would cap it all off by rescuing his best friend Harry Osborn’s child from the clutches of Doctor Octopus, proving all’s well that ends well—though it never ends for Spider-Man.

Another year of leading the X-Men meant another year of crushing responsibilities and impossible choices for Cyclops, but as always, Scott Summers bore his burden and safeguarded his people. When Bastion laid waste to Utopia, Cyclops remained calm in the face of madness, tuning out the screams of those around him and guiding the forces following to him to a victory even Steve Rogers commended. Later, when Xarus and his vampire hordes attempted a similar invasion, the X-Men’s general organizing a clever battle plan with his very own “Trojan Horse” and repelled more would-be conquerors of mutantkind.

Telling a young girl she’s the “mutant messiah” and placing the destiny of an entire race on her shoulders already means you’re asking a lot, but to then place said young lady up against a killer robot from the future set on destroying her and anybody like her seriously seems like you’re pushing it.

In the past, Hercules has been accused of being cocky, brusque and even foolhardy—and he remains all those things, but this year he also saved all of reality more than once! The Prince of Power led an assemblage of Avengers against his mother, Hera, and the mad Typhon, sacrificing his life to prevent them from overwriting existence.

Most would contend the truly dark days for the Marvel Universe began with the “death” of Steve Rogers, thus it’s only fitting that it took the return of the original Captain America to bring them to an end. Battling back after being stranded in the timestream, Rogers defeated his archenemy the Red Skull yet again, then barely rested and rediscovered the world he left behind before heeding the call, picking up his shield, and heading off to Asgard to bring down Norman Osborn.