10 Criminally Overlooked Characters In Comics

10. Kevin Matchstick (Mage)

Kevin Matchstick and the Mage series of comics is the “allegorical autobiography” creation of the incredible Matt Wagner. Kevin is a common if somewhat alienated man who met a strange homeless vagrant who turned out to be the powerful World-Wage named Mirth. Matchstick discovered that he was super strong and nigh-invulnerable, which came in handy because all manner of magical beasties began to plague his life. He eventually met a young woman with a magical bat named Edsel and they fought monsters like the Umbra Sprite

It was later revealed that Kevin is the Pendragon, an amalgamation of King Arthur and Gilgamesh, among other heroes. Mirth was Merlin, the Bat was Excalibur and Edsel was a modern-day incarnation of the Lady of the Lake. Matchstick would encounter many other modern avatars of classic heroes that were fighting supernatural evil forces such as Kirby Hero who was Hercules and Joe Phat who was a reincarnation of the Native American mythological being Coyote.

The fact that this continuation of the Arthurian legend is not more well-known is perhaps the most criminal of all. It takes an accessible Everyman hero and thrusts him into incredible situations. He's cynical, he's annoyed, and he is grumpy about everything. In essence, he is us. Kevin Matchstick is one of the most accessible characters ever created and he should be much more appreciated for it.