Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is?

"Wonder if Bram Stoker ever suspected, back in 1897, that his tale of an Eastern European nobleman turned undead menace would continue to enthrall readers more than a century later? . . . It's a complicated story; the pacing is not what modern audiences are used to, there are plot holes and problems, and so many of the film, book, and comic versions of Dracula people have created in the past - even the 'serious' ones - have been edited down for convenience's sake . . . As for errors in science, for instance, I might argue that they're not so much errors as indicators that the book is not set in the real late 19th century but in a fictionalized one." (Leah Moore, daughter of Watchmen writer Alan Moore, and John Reppion, writers of the upcoming Complete Dracula comic adaptation, Comic Shop News, February 11, 2009)

Who's your favorite fictional character? It could be anyone or anything from books, movies, TV, video games, or even your imaginary friend. I have yet to consider who my favorite of all time is, but after doing a little inventory of my comic book collection, I can definitely say which characters are featured the most in the issues that I own. They say that numbers don't lie, and for all my talk of "I don't really like that character," I was surprised to learn that my purchases, when put together from over the years, tell a different story. Not including teams (like Fantastic Four or the X-Men), here are my top five comic book characters by how many issues I own with them:

1. Spider-Man - I have over seven years' worth of issues featuring him and I've long known he was my favorite comic book character; I was raised on the '60s quasi-stop motion animated series and the '70s forgotten live action series with the blonde Peter Parker and disco soundtrack; Spider-Man's my favorite because he could be anybody underneath that mask, plus his superpowers are perfect for his urban setting (sticking to walls and webslinging)

2. Batgirl - yes, even more than Batman; the character was actually invented just for the '60s campy TV series and multiple women have been Batgirl/Batwoman in the comics; the best-known is Barbara Gordon, niece of Commissioner Gordon, who was shot and paralyzed by the Joker; now she's Oracle, genius leader of the Birds of Prey but confined to a wheelchair; if you didn't know, Batman died this year in the comics and there's a big event going on called Battle For the Cowl, which will decide who replaces Batman; I think they should miraculously cure Barbara and have her take over as Gotham City's primary protector; either that, or have her mind-meld or switch bodies with the most recent Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, who is a better fighter than Batman but not as smart

3. Robin/Spoiler - there was a girl that actually did take over the mantle of Robin for a while, and I pretty much only own issues of Robin that feature her; she used to be the current Robin's girlfriend but she died; then they brought her back and I'm kind of bitter about the whole stunt but it leads into a great San Diego Comic-Con story; the first year I went, I attended a panel talking about all the Bat-books; I caught writer Judd Winnick on his way out, asked him what the future for the girl Robin would be, and he blew me off by saying, "it's not my book" and walked away

4. Superman - I've always told people I can't get into Superman, but then, here he is, number four on my top five list; how is this possible? it has nothing to do with the character, I'll tell you that much; I think just because he's such a huge character (the first superhero and all), he gets the best talent to write and draw him, and such is the case for the issues that I own: John Byrne, Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison; I still don't like that he's an alien and a farmboy (if such a thing still exists) and practically a god, and yet I own over two years' worth of comic books with him

5. Courtney Crumrin - I love the noseless little goth sorceress-in-training, but I think I would love any character that creator Ted Naifeh came up with

There are other characters that I have in multiple trade paperback collections: Archie, the Dead Boy Detectives from Sandman, the Goon, Judge Dredd, Swamp Thing, and Zatanna. There are also guest stars and villains that I'm a sucker for (see my 12/3/08 post), but I don't own any individual issues starring them: Doctor Doom, Electro, Havok, Hawkeye, Magneto, Polaris, Raven, and the Riddler.