Hourman

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. Time travel is a tricky topic that can often trip up a story, but when it's done right it can be one of the most exciting and rewarding tropes in superhero fiction. This week, we're counting down the very best time-hoppers in all of superhero comics, in a brand new edition of Fantastic Five.

The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow follows a time-traveling team of misfits that includes historian Nate Heywood, Arrow’s Atom and White Canary, both halves of Firestorm and Flash rogue Heat Wave. Recappers Matt Wilson and Dylan Todd are on hand to deliver our Legends of Tomorrow post-show analysis, Stuff of Legends. In this week's, “Justice Society of America,” the Legends team up with a classic grouping of superheroes. If only there was some way to remember their name. Michael Grossman directed the episode, which was written by Chris Fedak and Sarah Nicole Jones.

Q: Why does Jimmy Olsen work so well as Superman's Pal when Snapper Carr doesn't work as the Justice League's? -- @luckyrevenant A: I honestly hadn't considered it until I saw this question, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that you're right. Snapper Carr, the finger-snapping teenage mascot of the Justice League from back when it actually wasn't that unusual for the Justice League to have things like teenage mascots, really is the direct descendant of Jimmy Olsen --- at least from a character standpoint. They fill that same role, the kid who gets to hang out with all your favorite superheroes so that you too can imagine yourself hanging with Batman and Superman. And yet, while Jimmy ranks at #3 in my illustrious and immutable list of the greatest comic book characters of all time, Snapper is one of the most ignored and forgotten characters of the entire Silver Age.

The CW seems like it's one step closer to being the DC network. Arrow is already one of the network's top-rated shows, The Flash is on the way, and now, the network is developing a series based on the Golden Age hero Hourman.