10 Best Comic Book Characters NOT From Marvel Or DC

1. Hellboy (Dark Horse Comics)

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Dark Horse

The top three of this list was a brain teaser for who would be at the top. Both Spawn and Alana had more than ample reason to warrant being put at the #1 spot as the best character the big two could never make. But at the end of the day, there is only one Hellboy. Accept no substitutes.

Mike Mignola's legendary series has not only helped to put Dark Horse Comics on the map and help it become a force to be reckoned with in the late 90s and into the 2000s, but Hellboy is one of the most consistent characters in comic history. No rewrites, no retcons, no games.

And on top of that, his character is insanely compelling. Whereas other comics, even the best independent stuff, relies on a strong supporting cast (which Hellboy has), some of the best Hellboy adventures have very few, if anyone tagging along.

He is at once a gruff, world-weary soldier, a defiant would-be bringer of the apocalypse, and a quiet, contemplative, kind soul. There's a reason most of the supporting cast that makes up the B.P.R.D have the shared backstory detail of "and then Hellboy showed up and was nice to me, so now I'll follow him into hell".

His latest cinematic outing may have been the kind of bad superhero movie we foolishly believed just couldn't be made anymore, but that has not diminished what a gift to the comic book medium big red has been, and continues to be.

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John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?