Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Supporting Characters

I've been thinking (from time to time) about putting together a list of the best ever comic book supporting characters. Your favourites. I'm not sure exactly how big a list or whatever, but I'm thinking a cumulative vote thing, so even if someone else has mentioned your character, feel free to mention them again.

My definition of a supporting character, for the purposes of this thread, is a non super-hero / non super-villain character who wasn't the star of a series...someone who never had their own code-name, or at least didn't use it regularly. So Robin or Kid Flash don't count.

The only characters that don't quite fit the above bill that I can think of that I still would count are Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen: even though they each their own series at one point, and that occasionally Jimmy became a superhero, for both of them the general use has been as a co-star or supporting character.

So the ones that occur to me right off the bat that are faves of mine are:

Lana Lang (Man of Steel onward)
Pete Ross (pre-crisis)
Jim Gordon
Rond Vidar

If I start thinking about it, I'm sure that there will be lots more. But let me hear from you...

Jarvis from the Avengers. Alfred from Batman.

Butlers rule.

Off the top of my head, I would say all of these should be on your list:

Pete Ross
Lana Lang
Rond Vidar
Alfred
Commisioner Gordon
Gigi Cusimano
Ma & Pa Kent
Lori Lemaris
RJ Brande
Dr. Gym'll

I'm sure I'll think of more later

Mine are:

Pete Ross (Silver Age)
Doreen Day (Firestorm)
Leslie Tompkins
Etta (woo-woo) Candy
Alfred
Stevie Hunter (X-Men)

Just came back to add another name (I wanted to add Steve Trevor to the list) but have to ask: who is this? I can't place the char.

No one on this board has listed:
RJ Brande
Marla
Shvaughn Erin
President Marte Allon (pre Crisis)

Stevie Hunter was Kitty Pryde's dance teacher. She also showed up in the New Mutants as a PE instructor for the school. I like her because she wasn't shown as not being weirded out by discovering her friends' powers.

Sure I did but he did get kind of lost in the list Glad you mentioned him again though, RJ needs lots of lovin' these days. He hasn't been seen in public in a long time.

Thanks Quis. This must have beed after I stopped trying to keep up with all of the X titles.

RJ! Love him. And Dr. Gym'll! Hee. Miss those boys.

Personally, I always dug the Flash wives-- Iris and Linda. (Shocking, I know.) And Piper! The gay in green! So great. Also, Max Mercury made me so very happy. (I miss him.) Actually, all of Impulse's supporting cast was really awesome, IMHO.

I too have a soft spot for Stevie Hunter. Random how she, like, showed up one day again for a big crossover and then flittered back into obscurity. Kinda dug Val Cooper, too, before... the excess weird was added into her storyline. And Candy Southerland! Tee hee. Old skool~

Y'know what's interesting, though, is how sometimes supporting characters become main ones. Like, Sasha Bordeaux. I loved her as a supporting Bat character. Not that I don't like her now, mind you, I just liked her then, as well. Same with Forge as a supporting X-Character (and supporting in Mystique's awesome series).

Also, where's the line between main and supporting? Like, is Xavier a supporting character in the X-Books? Most of the time he's just a spectator... What about those books with rotating casts? Like Magno who was on the team for a little bit but mostly... not. I liked him...

Okay, ramble off!

I liked Magno too! And he was an actual Legionnaire so that makes him a STAR! ... if only for a moment.

Supporting characters I have loved -

* Lucius Fox
* Snapper Carr
* Pete Ross (the way he's been treated post-Crisis is criminal though!)
* Jimmy Olsen
* Lana Lang (see Pete Ross!)
* Sue Dibny (if she counts as 'supporting')
* Catherine Colbert
* Cat Grant
* Gigi Cusimano (in the reboot)
* basically everyone in Aquaman's supporting cast (Vulko, Mera, Tula, Aquababy, Tusky, Topo, Garth, Koryak, etc - the way most of these guys have been treated is criminal too!)
* and on and on - I think I prefer the supporting cast more than the main stars of a book sometimes. I'm weird.

Eustace and Ellen Dolan!

Well, I have kind of a lot, but…

Shvaughn Erin and Rond Vidar – to me, these are my favorite two Legion supporting characters (with one exception, see below). Shvaughn and Jan’s romance is probably my favorite of them all, which is why I don’t like that Sean nonsense.

Pete Ross – however, if I have to pick one, Pete is my favorite supporting character for the Legion and Superman. Pete Ross knowing full well that Clark is Superboy, but doing everything he can to protect his best friend’s identity, without ever expecting anything in return speaks volumes to me about what true heroism really is, and about how every single one of us can do the right thing when we need to. When Marla and Jo induct him into the Silver Age Legion as a Honorary Member, its one of the best endings to a Silver Comic I’ve ever read.

Alfred – honestly, there are few supporting characters anywhere near as good as Alfred.

Commissioner Gordon – Despite that above comment, Gordon is probably my favorite supporting character of them all, in all comics. He brings so much, and has truly been the mold for that type of role that all other comics follow. No matter what happens in Bat-continuity, Gordon will always return as the Commish, and that is how it should be.

J. Jonah Jameson – there is no other analogue to JJJ, and his relationship with Spidey. One of the most creative characters in comics history, JJJ’s back and forth with Spidey has helped define the Spider-Man mythos like no other supporting character. AND, he’s had tremendous character growth over the years. He totally rocks. I hated him as a kid. I LOVE him now.

Gwen Stacey, Alanna, and Mera – because, as a young boy, you need something to base your future girlfriends and loves on . I loved Tinya, Alanna and Mera as a kid, and Kitty Pryde too, when I was an early teen. But Gwen Stacey will always be my first true love Her and Peter’s relationship in Spider-Man is my favorite romance in hell, fiction, and she really was the perfect girlfriend, in that not only was she pretty and sweet, she was smart, popular and sure of herself, understanding and truly believed in doing the right thing.

To be honest, I’m a bit jaded, so I’ll just admit it: Joe Robertson, Captain Stacey and Harry Osbourn are favorites too. Most of Spidey’s cast is

Baldur the Brave – It really was awesome to know that when it came down to it, there was someone who always had Thor’s back. He had Sif, the Warrior’s Three and others, but Baldur was truly his brother, and though Thor was a greater warrior, Baldur had a genuine compassion for all living creatures and was Thor’s equal in bravery and honor.

Pepper Potts and Happy Hogun – The early love triangle with Pepper and Happy was so perfect that it defined the Silver Age Iron Man, and they have continually retreaded this old ground ever since. They can’t recapture the magic though, as seen, because it was done so damn right the first time.

Rick Jones – out of all the sidekicks and mascots every super-hero has had, there is only one that stands head and shoulders above the rest, and that’s Rick. Rick is as heroic as the majority of Marvel’s heroes IMO, and he’s shown countless times why. I love him best in Hulk (thanks PAD!), but he works great in Captain Marvel (both), Avengers and Cap all the same.

Slam Bradley (in Catwoman) – a mix of old clichés taken in a whole new direction and a character you love and respect all at the same time as recognizing his many flaws.

The Shade – Almost as much as star in Starman as Jack, the Shade is one of the best written characters of the 90’s.

Father Cramer – I always loved the role he would play when he showed up Ostrander’s Spectre & Suicide Squad.

Linda Park – Linda is probably the best love interest a character has had since the 70’s. It’s a shame we aren’t seeing her and Wally, and that’s yet another reason why I feel DC dropped the ball. She was so important for so long, and being married to Wally only made it work more, which is so rare for a writer to get across in comics.

I also love Jarvis and Ben Urich!

Recent issues of Iron Man would indicate they've stopped trying completely.

I think we had a thread like this sometime before - and I chose Slam Bradley as one of my favourite supporting characters. It still holds.

The butlers are great too. I'd like to see an all-butler crossover event.

It was great the first time. Then Pepper and Happy were married off and adopted kids or something. yay. Instead of trying to recreate something new Kurt Busiek brought it back...the kids were gone or something. Whenever Pepper and Happy show up I drop Iron Man. Cause it's only a matter of time the old love triangle starts again. they work better as sppt characters no love triangle.

Lots of great ideas, guys! Jim Gordon is probably my favourite supporting character of all time as well. I think the way he came across in Batman Begins is one of the reasons I really enjoyed that film, and his relationship with Bats was one of the best things about Batman Year One.

Father Cramer from Suicide Squad was one that I'd forgotten, but is one of the best, too. I guess as a Christian I particularly appreciated his presence.

As a kid I was a big Rick Jones fan.

And back in the 80's I remember thinking they should do some sort of Alfred - Jarvis team up where they save the universe.

Supporting characters do make the world go round

I'd support an Alfred-Jarvis team-up

Big fan of the Legion's Shavughn (pre and post ZH), Gigi, RJ, Doc. Gym'll and Rond meself. Winema Wazzo was likewise interesting - I loved to hate her, but ended up sympathizing with her a lot too.

Does Ma Hunkel on JSA count as a support character?

I'm also all for the old mentor-figure types,

Alfred
Jarvis
R.J. Brande
and, since he's about to be a comic book character, I'll go ahead and add Rupert Giles.

and the mother hens,

Mrs. Arbogast
Agatha Harkness
Aunt May

I also like most of the other Legion of Super-Heroes and Spider-Man supporting cast-members;

Mary-Jane Watson-Parker
J. Jonah Jameson

Marte Allon
Winema Wazzo
Dr. Gym'll
Antonio Steffanuci (sp?)
Shvaugn and Gigi

and a huge favorite, the original Gen 13's robot maid, Anna. Anna rocked. How can you go wrong with a leggy blonde in a french maid's outfit with an attitude, superhuman strength, and the ability to pop .50 caliber chain guns out of her forearms?