If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics.

This week we're counting down the top five face turns in comics, which doesn't mean times when someone turned their head to face another direction. It turns out it is some wrestling business where a bad guy turns good; that's what we're looking at. A surprising number of villains have become popular enough that fans want to see them as headliners, fighting crime in their own formerly villainous ways. This list takes a look at those whose changes have stuck the longest, have had the greatest influence, or who just generally feature in the best stories.

Show notes:

  • Look, guys, this is a pretty common trope, to the point where even though this list actually features nearly three times as many characters as promised in the title, there is a possibility that your favorite won't be featured. It is not, I assure you, intended as a personal slight on you or your favored creative team.
  • I'll go ahead and tell you that Catwoman is not on this list. While pre-Crisis Catwoman (especially Earth-2 Catwoman) went straight and fought crime, post-Crisis Catwoman has straddled the fence a lot more. "Morally ambiguous crime boss" doesn't scream "superhero" to me, you know?
  • All right, here come some vaguely worded links.
  • If number five was a spoiler for you, you should probably grab this and catch up.
  • You can see one entrant of number four begin to go straight here (and not so straight here).
  • You can see the two characters from number one get introduced and then turn good here.
  • Some of the stories and characters from the honorable mentions list can be found here, here, here, and here.

 

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