L is for…Leonardo

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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are some of the most fun, creative, and original characters of the comic book world. And fans all have their favorites from various comic books, television, and movie versions. My favorite is the version on Nickelodeon currently. My husband and daughter were watching it together and I got pulled in. I even finally learned which turtle was which, something I've always had trouble with.

Leonardo is the leader, the guy with a blue mask, a pair of katana, and the difficult job of trying to lead his brothers in their battles. Of all the turtles, he's the one who takes the whole hero-gig the most seriously, aspiring to the be the best he can be and help the most people he can. I enjoy this young idealistic character, trying hard to be responsible, but still also be little more than a kid himself.

I like him, because he's the most like me: responsible to a fault, hard working, with a work before play ethic. He always has a plan, and it's often a good one, if only others would follow it. Like me, he gets picked on for being a stick-in-the-mud or un-spontaneous, but it's not that he doesn't know how to have fun. It's that he loves his brothers so much, that protecting them is his top priority at all times.

Yep, if I were a ninja turtle, I'd be Leo.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

K is for…Kid Flash

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Flash has had several versions out there in the comic-book/TV/Movie universe. He can be a bit of a madcap: a happy, lighthearted, joke-telling, flirtatious sort of fellow. He's always got a good heart, and a lot of love and loyalty. One of my favorite incarnations has been Kid Flash from Young Justice, AKA Wally West.

On Young Justice, Wally is making his first foray out there into hero-dom on his own, having been a sidekick for a while. Despite his joking nature, he wanted to be taken seriously for what he could do.

What I love about Wally is that humor. A lot of superhero stories are dark, about tortured souls and ugly temptations. You see a lot of the theme that power corrupts, or that massive self control and denial is the only way to deal with superpowers. But Wally is full of joy and fun. He delights in his own skill and in making a difference in the world.

And, while he loves to flirt, I don't know what he would do if anyone took him up on it, besides stammer and blush. He's adorable.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

J is for…James Bond

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James Bond is maybe not typically touted as a superhero. There's no supernatural, mad science, or otherworldly explanation for him. But then again, Batman and Ironman are "just human," too. Definitions of what actually constitutes a "super" hero vs. just an ordinary hero are sketchy.

The character definitely plays as a superhero for me, though. A different sort depending on which iteration we're talking about. Clever and slick, charming, sociopathic, with killer instincts (pun intended), he's a dangerous man, who is at least mostly on the side good. His instincts might be his superpower. Or maybe it's luck.

Choosing which Bond is yours is like choosing your Doctor in Doctor Who. It may say more about you than you realize. Whether you prefer the lighter interpretations or the grittier ones, the gadgets or the hand to hand combat, the smarmy or the deadly serious.

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I grew up watching Roger Moore with my mother, but in my head, the voice that says "Moneypenny" belongs to Sean Connery. I saw the Dalton and Brosnan flicks, but they didn't stick with me. I think Daniel Craig might be "my" James Bond though. I like darkness in my heroes, and Craig's Bond is full of that. He's damaged goods, with a heart seeking redemption. He's dangerous, not just for his weaponry, but because part of you wants to save him, even if it gets you killed in the process.

Yeah. That's my Bond.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

I is for …Ironman



Robert Downey, Jr. as Ironman is one of the most perfect castings in all superhero movies ever. Whether it's that he's a fantastic actor, or that he just understands brilliant, selfish egoists because he is one, I don't know, but it's the first time I ever had any interest in Ironman as a character.

The character, as portrayed by Downey, Jr. comes across in all his self-centered, self-important glory, yet is somehow still sympathetic enough to keep me watching. Generally, I don't have much patience with self-aggrandizing people, in real life or in fiction, so it's a surprise that I'm interested in Tony Stark.

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Maybe it's his enthusiasm, his mania. I do like a good mad scientist character, and Tony Stark definitely qualifies (Hello? Ultron?). Maybe it's that bad-boy charisma. I'm not generally susceptible to that either, but Downey, Jr. suggests a vulnerability beneath, and maybe I am snowed by that, at least a little.

Some characters you love to hate…this one, I hate to love.  But I do.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

H is for …Hawkgirl

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Hawkgirl won my heart during her stint on Justice League Unlimited.

Shayera Hol of the planet Thanagar is a complicated woman. She was sent to Earth as a spy and advance scout for a planned invasion by her people. She infiltrated the Justice League, fighting alongside the other heroes as Hawkgirl.

Hawkgirl is a "hit first" sort of woman. She loves a problem that can be solved with a solid swing of her electric mace. She's not a touchy-feely sort of woman, her feelings for Green Lantern John Stewart not withstanding. Her sense of humor is biting.

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When she is revealed, and unmasked (shocker: that IS a mask--I wasn't sure if it was her face or not), she becomes the heart of whole second story about the nature of loyalty, betrayal of forgiveness. Yep, complicated. And awesome.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

G is for …Gamora

Of all the green women in science fiction and fantasy, my current favorite is Gamora of the recent Guardians of the Galaxy film.

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Gamora was adopted by Thanos, an evil blue warlord, who killed many, including Gamora's own family and raised Gamora to be an assassin. Sent by Thanos to retrieve a relic called "The Orb," Gamora falls in with Quill, Groot, Rocket Racoon and Drax, who became The Guardians of the Galaxy.

I admired Gamora in the film for her determination to do the right thing, despite having suffered much. Of all the gradations of "hero" among that ragtag group, she had the clearest moral compass. She was an amazing fighter, too. The hand-to-hand combat scene between Gamora and her "sister" Nebula was athletic and emotional and wonderful. She and Quill saved each other, so Gamora was anything but a victim character.

The movie was so much fun! I hope they bring all the characters back for future Marvel movies, but especially Gamora.

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories:

F is for…Flash Gordon

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The first time I saw Flash Gordon was with my Dad. We both have a taste for cheese: on our sandwiches, and in our movies, and this movie delivers a nice cheese platter. It's one of those movies I like to watch once every couple of years, along with Bladerunner, Big Trouble in Little China, and The Quiet Man. It pleases the little girl's heart that still skips along in my chest after all these years.

Flash is an old character, starting with a comic strip in the 1930s, and moving to the big screen serial, and then to television. I've seen some of all of those, but the Flash Gordon I love is from the 1980s movie starring Sam J. Jones. It hit so many of the pulp tropes that are near and dear to my heart.

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You've got an American hero, fighting his way through an alien world (in this case, literally alien). He's a very pulp version of American hero, who wins by strength of will and heart over villains who are about control through force. You've got a heroine who can hold her own against the villain and the hero, and look amazing while she does it. You've got a creepy villain out to destroy it all! You've got wonderfully cheesy costumes. And such scenery chewing dialogue!

And don't forget the song. If Freddy Mercury was involved, then you know it's got style :-)

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This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I'll be writing about superheroes I love all month. You can check out other bloggers and see their creative takes on the challenge here.

Don't forget to check out my own superhero stories: