Who are they and why? What about them excites you?
Here's mine...
1. Batman. He’s not some jacked up alien or mutant or a god…he’s a super intelligent and super driven mortal man. He’s widely considered to be a more formidable foe than Superman in the DC universe. He’s a rich man that could live a life of careless luxury but has taken upon himself a dangerous and all consuming responsibility while pretending to be the carefree playboy that he really should have been. His real self is Batman, not Bruce Wayne. I love his dark persona but for all of this darkness the man doesn’t kill and I love that about him. In this, he’s a champion of my ideals and as such, I have a special bond with him. (to say nothing of the fact that I’ve loved him since I was, like, 3 years old)
2. Joker…I love his style. I love his view of the world (although I don’t share it) He is chaos incarnate and is the perfect foil for the dark and serious Batman. I thoroughly enjoy the contradictions of their relationship….the good man shrouded in darkness…the bad man bringing bursts of terrible light to that darkness. I don’t believe his relationship with Batman is symbiotic but it is complementary.
3. Catwoman . Whats not to like about a voluptuous dominatrix turned cat burglar? Whats more, she’s a fucking badass that can give Batman a run for his money in a toe to toe fight. She 's beautiful, graceful, and completely unpredictable. To my mind, she is the sexiest comic book character there is by far.
4. Green Lantern. I love GL for two reasons. First off…the idea of the ring. This ring gives him powers that are limited only by his imagination (and the need to recharge of course) This is appealing to me as imagination is something I’ve always admired and enjoyed. The idea of harnessing it and using it to fight evil is just fucking awesome. Then there’s the GL outfits; the symbol, the green on black. Easily one of the coolest looking superheroes there are. I like Hal Jordan’s suit the best but I dig them all.
5. The Hulk. Always loved the premise. You have this guy…who is essentially a skinny geek…running around with this monster with unlimited strength and unharnessed rage abiding inside of him; waiting to be unleashed by Bruce Banner's anger to do untold destruction. Banner's life is a constant battle for self control. One comes to admire and respect the steel of this “geek” because of how he deals with the burden he carries. He's every bit the hero (and really even more so) than Hulk himself. And, of course, the Hulk is just cool as all get out; capable of both great harm and great good. He’s the ultimate wild card in the realm of comics and more...he's the trump.
6. Lex Luthor (the modern Lex…the cold, manipulating CEO of Lex Corp that became President Lex, not the mustache twirling, bank robbing dildo of yesteryear) I view him as a shadowy reflection of Bruce Wayne. I’d go so far to say that he would have made an excellent Batman villain but at the same time, I thoroughly enjoy the fact that a “mere man” is Superman’s arch-nemesis
7. The Punisher. As Lex Luthor is the shadowy reflection of Bruce Wayne, The Punisher is the shadowy reflection of Batman. He’s everything Batman tries so hard not to be. While Batman skirts the slippery edge of the dark, all consuming pit of vengeance and murder Frank Castle freely flung himself into it and his soul is blackened by it. He’s one mean motherfucker. But, in the end, he’s a force for the greater good. He’s the ultimate champion of the saying, “The end justifies the means.”
And notice that almost all seven are mortal people with no special powers. The Hulk and the Green Lantern being the exceptions. Even GL is a normal man that happens to have a bitchin' ring.