It's been asked of me a few times over the course of my life, who is my favorite superhero? I never have a satisfactory answer. Sort of like, what's my favorite movie, song, or book--how do I pick one? But I just watched the trailer for Wolverine and I was reminded how much I truly, truly loved Wolverine as a kid; plus, the trailer has Gambit in it and Gambit was more than a little crush through my teen years. I can't give you my favorite superhero, therefore you understand, but I am going to attempt my top ten favorites. These numbers are malleable and, ten years from now, these might not be my favorites anymore, but I'm going to try and offer here, for the first time, a satisfactory answer. There are going to be some big names missing and rather than try to anticipate everyone's thoughts I'll just offer to clarify via comments any questions. Also, I realized as I made this list every name is from either the X-Men, or JLA (except Batgirl and Huntress but they kind of count) and my reasons for that are two: 1) I wanted to keep the list to tights and "super" powers--we'll consider the "Bat" family's dedication super. 2) Those were and are my favorite comic books. It's as simple as that.

Top Ten Favorite Superheroes:

10. Wonder Woman

It seems odd, perhaps, for her to be at #10, but I was never much of a Wonder Woman reader as a kid. Her story was consistently boring through most of the 90's when I was seriously buying comic books, and while I've always liked her character, what it stood for and all that, I was never particularly intrigued by her story. This all changed, however, with the addition of two things. The first, a romantic plot line between her and Batman that never worked out and left me angry and screaming at the comic book. The second, a more comprehensive look at what it means to be the only Amazon out and about in the world, fighting for equality of all things on top of saving people regularly. Wonder Woman has a really, really hard life. Her stories finally reflecting that have made her character and her character's motivations drastically more interesting and thought-provoking.

9. Phoenix/Dark Phoenix

I'm cheating here because Dark Phoenix is definitely not a superhero. She is, however, the biggest, baddest, and meanest superhero gone bad to ever grace the pages of a comic book. I hate Jean Grey. I hate Cyclops. They're both whiny, irritating, boring characters that keep dying and coming back. But, when Jean Grey become Phoenix and then went bad becoming Dark Phoenix? That was the first time in my memory I said "whoa" out loud while reading a comic book. Dark Phoenix ate a star--because she was hungry. Millions of people dead in the blink of an eye after she wipes out a solar system. That's badass people.

8. Huntress

Huntress never gets the love she deserves. She's angry; she's feisty. She doesn't bow down to Batman's sanctimonious attitude. Her character has finally started to receive the development it deserves in Birds of Prey, but prior to that Huntress filled the role of the "bad" child of the Bat family. I connected with that, and also found her willfulness vastly entertaining. She also stood strong in front of an army to keep the Joker from killing babies. What isn't to love about this girl?

7. Gambit

I can't lie to you. Gambit is here because he's hot, and I crushed on him as a teenager. He wanted Rogue and I wanted to be Rogue and I wanted him. I still maintain if Rogue would have trusted him, Gambit could have found a way. The boy was a Cajun pickpocket--you know he knew some kinky stuff.

6. Batgirl

It's hard to put Batgirl at only #6, but from here on out consider the list malleable. My love of Batgirl ties back directly to watching the Adam West Batman t.v. show as a kid. Every time Batgirl was in the opening credits I got excited; my love for her has never waned since.

5. Rogue

Young girl whose constantly isolated by her superpower. Rogue can never touch another person skin to skin. As a teenager how could I not associate with her character? I loved her before Gambit came into the picture, but after Gambit and she started to dance around each other...it was all over. I was a goner. It never occurred to me how much not being able to touch skin to skin would suck at sixteen, but maybe that was because at sixteen, when no one was touching me anyway, anything seemed like an improvement. Rogue is the teenage girl archetype and the part of me that remembers and even, on occasion, still feels that way will always feel a kinship with her.

4. Wolverine

He's the best at what he does. He also perfectly fulfills the role of older crush. Wolverine takes you under his wing, teaches you to be a ninja and stays the same age so that your crush can be returned when you're age appropriate. Many a young fantasy revolved around this character. Probably most of my love of writing started because I had to concoct entire novels around Wolverine and myself as a superhero who fought along side him, got older (me being twelve or so meant I had to grow older--at least I knew that much) and us falling in love. He was sort of like my bad boy immortal before I knew how hot bad boy immortals were. Suddenly my whole life is making more sense...

3. Shadowcat

I wanted to be Shadowcat. It's a toss up if I wanted to be Shadowcat more or Rogue. Shadowcat could walk through walls, but she learns to be a ninja from Wolverine. More importantly, though, when I was reading the older comic books she was fourteen, I was around that, she was from Chicago, I was from Illinois, she had brown hair, I had brown hair...obviously I was Shadowcat. As I rewrote X-Men stories in my mind she was the obvious choice for writing myself into a character. Like every other character on this list, though, Shadowcat was also surprisingly strong. She saves the team; she fights evil when no one else can. She's not the flashiest or the most badass, but she perseveres. I think that's worthy of serious recognition.

2. Batman

Like Gambit, Batman is hot. To say he doesn't rank #2 for his undeniable hotness is like saying...I don't know, but like not saying something obvious. Totally. In any case, Batman is also one of the original brooders. Here's a hero with drive. He's as fallible as he is remarkable. He carries love and hate in equal doses and sometimes he walks a fine line of moral and immoral, ethical and unethical. His stories are fascinating for that reason--his character is fascinating. Batman, maybe more than any other character, makes me ask myself, what would I do?

1. Storm

I never wanted to be Storm. I aspired to be like Storm. Storm is, in my opinion, the most misunderstood and underrated character in comic books--certainly amongst superheroines. The weather responds to her emotions so she has to keep herself under control at all times. She worshiped the Goddess before it was in vogue to do so. She is wise, patient, unbelievably strong, and incredibly caring and compassionate. She can also make necessary tactical decisions which is what makes her a great leader. Without her powers she still defeated Cyclops for control of the team, and she grew up a pickpocket and an orphan alone. Worshiped as a goddess it never went to her head. Storm has never had a satisfactory love interest because no one knows how to write her a lover that stays true to her character. I don't know that I can ever forgive Halle Berry for what she did to her. And Dracula falls in love with Storm. That, if no other reason is good enough, makes her #1. You woo Dracula and you're an automatic rockstar.