When Grant Morrison tried to retrofit the Justice League of America so they more closely resembled the Greek pantheon of gods, it wasn't without precedent. And not just because of Wonder Woman, who basically is a Greek goddess; a significant portion of DC's heroes and villains alike have power sets that border on the mythical, far beyond the imaginations of mortal men, to the point where most of the characters are borderline indestructible. There's also a frightening number of individuals who have the power to control reality, but let's not talk about Dan DiDio. It's one of the major criticisms that gets thrown at DC characters, and Superman especially - if these characters can't be killed, or harmed in any real way, where's the drama? What are the stakes? Which is a total fanboy fallacy, since we've had decades of entertaining Superman stories, and centuries of tales about mythical beings who are are actual gods. Like the Greek pantheon, for example. In the hands of a good storyteller, these characters face the sort of odds that superpowered people would, with tricky ethical dilemmas and the like. In the hands of a bad storyteller, the super strong people hit each other until one falls down. Which isn't to say that having such hugely overpowered characters is always a good thing. For every Batman or Blue Beetle there are a dozen DC heroes that have more powers than you can count on both hands, who seem to just be a little too adept at dealing with any situation. A little too perfect, to the point that coming up with interesting stories or trying to introduce any tension with them can be difficult. We've managed to narrow the long list to just ten, so allow us to humbly submit our most ridiculously overpowered superheroes in the DC Universe.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
