The Best Comic Book Superheroes Of All Time

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Updated October 2, 2023 2.1M votes 134.9K voters 1.1M views
Over 134.9K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Comic Book Superheroes Of All Time
Voting Rules
Only superhero protagonist characters from comics. No villains or superhero teams (of course there is often a fine line between hero and villain).

This lists the most badass, inspiring, and iconic comic book superheroes ever created. This list includes central characters from both the DC and Marvel Universe, as well as more non-traditional or underground comic books. The definition of a "superhero" can be quite slippery, and often encompasses characters with questionable morals and behavior (your classic anti-heroes). If you love these superheroes, keep in mind that a few of them have really lame origin stories.

Traditionally, a "superhero" is a larger-than-life character gifted with special abilities, either organically or via their own genius or inventiveness, who uses his or her powers to protect and defend the public from threats - at times even while maintaining day jobs. Though the word "superhero" began to be used as early as the 1910s, the concept really took hold in the public's mind following the introduction of Superman in 1938.

Though Superman and other characters of his day were gifted with special talents and abilities, making them particularly suited to crusading for justice, many characters that followed were more "human" than the noble alien from Krypton, using their intelligence (such as Iron Man or Batman) to create a superheroic persona. 

Because of the massive popularity of superheroes – particularly at the start of the 21st Century, when superhero films reign at the box office – a number of deconstructions and analyses of the genre have also been done, culminating in the creation of "meta-superheroes" who comment on the concept of superheroism itself. So take a look at this list, decide who your favorite comic book superheroes are, and vote them up. We have your top 50 superheroes, your top 100 superheroes of all time… we even have your top 200 comic book characters of all time. We didn’t include the super villains on this top comic book characters list. Who are the top comic book heroes? Who is the best superhero? You tell us.

Most divisive: Superman
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