Welcome back, nerd squad.
I love talking about the 90s so I am super psyched to be bringing you this list today.
Where we will be discussing heroes that originated in the 90s and maybe one or two that weren’t
born in the 90s but did thrive there.
For a lot of superheroes the 90s were not so kind time, Marvel and DC seemed to be fueled
during this decade by just straight up selling comics and they went to some outrageous lengths
to do so.
Remember Spider-Man clone saga?
What a time to have been following the Marvel continuity.
Anyways the heroes on this list have to worry about less of the typical 90s drama, as they
are some of the strongest heroes to come out of the era.
Proving that with some cringe-worthy moments, we also got some great stuff from this decade
as well.
If you want to hear more lists based on the 90s comic book world, let us know in the comments
below.
Anyone want a 90s superhero themed cartoon list?
Cause I got you, if you do.
Alright, let’s get counting.
10
Gambit
This X-Men was one that was born in the 90s.
I’m not gonna lie, I was actually surprised.
I thought I would have a slew of X-Men for coming out of the 90s for you.
But surprisingly, Gambit it one of the few X-Men 90s babies.
Rounding out our number 10 spot, Gambit is a character who is kind of underrated.
When a lot of people think of them, they just think of a guy throwing cards but his real
ability and the reason why he wears those weird partially fingerless gloves, is that
he can basically explosively charge items through touch.
He typically goes with cards because they are quick to charge.
And these powers work on a molecular level.
What does that mean?
It means he can not only charge objects but also dissolve objects, making them molecularly
fall apart so to speak.
So yes he is pretty powerful and yes, those gloves are not just a weird 90s fashion choice.
9
Copycat
Also known as Vanessa Carlyle you might recognize this character as Deadpool’s girlfriend
in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and she was also in fact his girlfriend in the comics
too.
But did you know that she is a mutant?
Yes.
In fact if they had turned her into a mutant in the MCU, she probably would have been a
member of Deadpool’s X-Force in Deadpool 2.
A difference from her cinematic counterpart, she actually has blue skin and white hair.
Her abilities allow her to mimic any person on the level of Mystique except that she can
only shapeshift into other humans.
And her powers work on the genetic level of things meaning she can also adopt others powers
and abilities.
In fact it has also been insinuated that can she even replicate other’s memories, in
effect completely become them.
She can also make her own avatars, effectively making it easy for her to shed her identity.
She was introduced to the comics in the guise of Domino, another hero born in the 90s, in
the New Mutants.
8
Power Rangers
I know they are not in the comics but I have to give the Mighty Morphin teenagers with
attitude some love.
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV show first aired in 1993.
The original team featured Jason Lee, the Red Ranger, the leader of the group; Zack
Taylor, the Black Ranger, often second in command; Trini Kwan, the Yellow Ranger; Kimberly
Hart, the Pink Ranger; and Billy Cranston, the Blue Ranger.
The teens go through everyday life at school, coping with schoolwork, bullies like Bulge
& Skull and they work out a lot.
When they are not living their everyday lives they are the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,
here to defend the world for supervillainous threats like ancient sorceress, Rita Rupulsa.
If you love the 90s, I’m sure you agree that when they team up with their zords and
are armed with their megazord they can be pretty powerful.
8
Deadpool
Everyone’s favourite merc with a mouth.
Except for those characters within the Marvel universe as Sasha pointed out in her list
about heroes who deserve the hate.
Deadpool was first introduced The New Mutants series in 1991.
Since then his character has grown immensely in popularity despite being well more of an
anti-hero and mercenary slash assassin for hire.
Most of his commercial success is owed to the portrayal of him on the silver screen
and Ryan Reynolds for bringing the character back to the silver screen after his awful
appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he was also played by Reynolds.
Just not as well.
Deadpool is definitely a force to be reckoned with and a character who has been responsible
for the death of the Marvel universe twice.
6
Batman
Wait a minute?
Didn’t Batman originate in the 1930s?
You are right, he did.
But do you know what originated with him in the 90s?
The Batman Animated series!
With Kevin Conroy voicing Batman and Bruce Wayne and Mark Hammill voicing the Joker,
this animated series has some of the best voice actor performances EVER!
And with Batman being one of the strongest heroes I know, in regards to capability and
strong will, I had to include him and more importantly the series on the list.
For many people, cartoons were their first introduction to the comic book world.
And got kids who maybe had never read a comic in the 90s to actually get interested in reading
them, and maybe even reading in general.
Yay!
The power of the spoken word!
The show featured a slew of amazing episodes including Almost Got ‘Im where the villains
get to tell their side of the story in regards to their run in with the Bat, Mad Love, and
Demon’s Quest where we see the Batman dance with the worthy rival and criminal, Ra’s
Al Ghul.
5
Hellboy
That’s right!
Hellboy came out of the 90s too!
He made his first appearance in 1993 in San Diego Comic Con Comics #2.
Yay!
Comic con!
And his comics have been published by Dark Horse Comics.
Rooted in the world of the paranormal and horror, he is a half-demon who was summoned
by from hell by Nazi occultists.
However he was only a baby at the time and when he was discovered Allied Forced, Professor
Trevor Bruttenholm decided to take him in and raise him as a son.
Sort of.
The Professor had never had a child before so he did his best to give him a normal upbringing
while also founding the BPRD, Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.
Hellboy ended up also working for the BPRD as the years went on and as an adult he is
portrayed as having a wry humour and being somewhat gritty and messy.
Being half-demon a still undetermined level of strength and resilience, but he has been
shown to be super sturdy and strong in both comics and films as well as a rapid healing
factor and disease immunity.
Two films created by Guillermo Del Toro and as well as a recent reboot with Neil Marshall
at the directing helm have been made about this anti-hero and his comic series.
4
Spawn
You knew it was coming.
I cannot make a 90s superhero list and not include Spawn.
Or would we call him more an anti-hero?
Hmmm.
He has some anti-hero vibes for sure.
Spawn is the main character of the comic series by the same name, which came out in 1992.
The series, published by Image was almost instantly popular, selling 1 point 7 million
copies.
And in fact the comic is still going strong today.
With its popularity, increasing and decreasing over time but cyclically coming back to great
sales every now and then.
In fact Spawn is once again on the upswing.
If you’re not familiar with Spawn, you should not only read the series but also go watch
the film and get this--HBO animated series which also came out in the 90s.
HBO should make more adult targeted animated series; Spawn was good.
The character him was originally Al Simmons, who returns to earth from Hell after being
murdered by his best friend who then took his place.
He made a deal with Malebolgia, who is basically the Devil, that allowed him to return to the
land of the living as one of his Hellspawns, granting him necroplasmic powers.
Fun fact the movie version when I watched it as a kid, reminded me of Ghost.
To me the Spawn film was like spooky superhero version of Ghost.
3
Superboy
Commonly referred to as Experiment 13 in the comics, Superboy was originally introduced
in the Adventures of Superman series in 1993.
He is a sort of clone of Superman.
What he really is human clone made to look like Superman, as the Cadmus Project which
created him could not actually get access to Superman’s DNA via his corpse.
As he was dead at the time.
So instead they made a clone and had it hangout near Superman’s corpse.
This resulted in the clone developing Superman’s powers but not being a genetic Kyrptonian
which makes him pretty unique.
The teenage leather-jacket wearing Experiment 13 also developed a unique power as a result
referred to as tactile telekinesis which basically involved a force field of sorts that protected
him from getting tears in his uniform or getting dirty.
Yeah, pretty specific power.
He recieved his name Kon-El after Superman called him to his Fortress of Solitude and
in Superman volume 4, issue 59 and confessed that he thought of Superboy like family and
offered him a Kryptonian name.
D’aww.
2
Silver Surfer
While Silver Surfer himself was introduced in 1966 to the comics in the Fantastic Four
series, I want to talk about his 1990’s animated series.
Yeah, did you know the Silver Surfer had an animated series all to himself?
And it was good too!
It only had one season but was sort of critically acclaimed at the time.
One thing that it did really well was embody Jack Kirby’s style.
Jack Kirby was the creator of the Silver Surfer character and was responsible for that iconic
cosmic surfboard which he decided to draw and create because he was tired of drawing
spaceships for cosmic characters in Marvel.
The series blended cel shading and computer animation to get it’s unique look which
was pretty fancy at the time, and I still think holds up quite well today.
The series follows the Silver Surfer’s space adventures including his transformation from
Norrin Rad to the Silver Surfer upon meeting and agreeing to become Galactus’ herald.
The show also features such alien races at the Skrull and Kree and characters as Adam
Warlock, Nova, Mentor and even Gamora and is narrated by the Watchers.
1
Kismet
First appearing in The Adventure of Superman, Kismet is an all-powerful cosmic entity.
She is often serves as a protector of Superman in the DC universe and often a protector of
the DC universe as well itself.
She is omnipotent and can control time and space.
She doesn’t pop up often in the comics but when she does, her power is apparent.
During the crossover event JLA slash Avengers and Avengers slash JLA she fell in love with
the cosmic entity belonging to the Marvel universe, Eternity, who is kind of like her
equivalent.
Cute.
Thank you so much for watching, nerd squad.
I had a really fun time making it so I hope you enjoyed watching.
Who are your favourite superhero staples of the 90s?
Who do you remember standing out the most for you during that decade?
And what were some of your favourite 90s comics storylines?
Let us know in the comments below and while you are on your way down there, remember to
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This has been top 10 nerd and I’m your host Amanda McKnight, reminding you as always to
stay nerdy, YouTube.