Top 10 Black Superheroes - Part 2

Hey guys! Welcome back to Top 10 Nerd, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey. You guys have been giving part 1 a lot of love, so I get to come back with a second part to this series. I can fill in some that I sadly wasn’t able to include last time, and talk about some others that originated outside of comic books. If you finish this and want more, check out part one of this list! And as always, if you enjoy this, please throw us a thumbs up down below. But first, get ready, it’s time for the Top 10 Black Superheroes – Part 2! Number 10: Bumblebee. Sorry Aqualad, ya got bumped. Maybe I’ll see ya in part 3, but I’m going to talk about Bumblebee because I find her story more interesting. Karen Beecher was actually the scientist girlfriend of Herald, a member of the Teen Titans. Being the amazing girlfriend that she was, she decided to make a super-suit so she could fake an attack on the Titans, to make her boytoy look good. It worked, but she later fessed up, and ended up joining Titans West. Sadly, her physiology was later altered by the Zeta Ray, shrinking down to 6 inches, and requiring special medicine to prevent her heart from arresting. What a rollercoaster. Number 9: Frozone. With The Incredibles 2 fast approaching, I know I can’t be the only person with Incredibles on the brain. And of course, Frozone, voiced by the incomparable Samuel L. Jackson, was one of the best parts about the first movie. With the powers of ice manipulation, basically a black Iceman, he was a super useful hero in his day. However, he’ll probably be best known not for his powers, but for the classic line: Where’s my supersuit? Looking forward to some more Frozone in the next film, looks like he’ll be getting a bit more screentime! Number 8: Hancock. Yep, Hancock’s another one that’s a bit out there but I really wanted to expand somewhat outside of comics for this video. Hancock was the incredibly reluctant superhero known for his alcoholism and lack of respect. Thankfully, later on he gains a sense of duty, thanks in part to the discovery of his female counterpart. He had all the usual super powers, strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, yadda yadda yadda, but his attitude really separated him from other heroes. He had amnesia, only later learning that he was a member of an ancient race that had previously been revered as gods. The movie wasn’t super well received, but personally I thought it was great to see someone so damn cynical as a superhero. Number 7: Icon. Augustus Freeman the Fourth was created by Milestone Comics, a company led by a team of African-American artists and writers that strove to increase representation of minorities in comics. Icon might be a bit of a cheat since he’s technically an alien, but he took the form of an African American man when he came to Earth, so I think he counts. Icon is kind of like a black superman, minus the more ridiculous powers. He comes from another planet, can fly, is invulnerable, and has super strength, just like Supes, as well as the ability to manipulate positrons to shoot energy blasts. But his invulnerability isn’t nearly as ridiculous as Supes, and he doesn’t turn back time as far as I know, so he’s got that going for him. And if I’m talking about Icon, I can’t forget… Number 6: Rocket. Raquel Ervin is the sidekick of Icon, originating in Milestone but later going over to DC alongside the other Milestone characters. She uses the alien Inertia Winder from Icon’s ship in her heroics, which gives her special powers, including flight and an inertia field. The inertia field is pretty cool, it lets her absorb and redirect kinetic energy used on her, allowing her to put out more power the stronger her enemy is. She clashed with Icon fairly often, because she had a much more liberal viewpoint than him, and it’s nice to see a sidekick standing up to their hero. Number 5: Invisible Boy. Yep, it's time for some Mystery Men. If you want to hear more about them, check out our video on Funniest Superheroes. Invisible boy, as you’ve probably guessed, had the ability to turn himself invisible, but with one caveat: He can only do it when nobody is looking. Yeah. Is this a metaphor for the plight of the black man in a society where he can feel ignored by those in power? Eh, probably not, I don’t think Mystery Men was that deep. But he’s pretty funny. Number 4: Falcon. I suspect many viewers will know Falcon from the recent Marvel movies, but Sam Wilson has been around since 1969, making him the second mainstream black superhero. Pretty impressive. He acts as Cap’s partner in, well, I almost said partner in crime, I guess partner in crime-fighting, with the help of his jet-powered wingsuit. The coolest thing about him is that in the comics, he actually has a psychic connection with his bird Redwing thanks to the cosmic cube, and later can actually link up with any bird in the world. Awesome. PLUS he later went on to become Captain America himself, yet another amazing accomplishment. And hey, if I’m talking about Cap’s black friend turned superhero, I’d better talk about Tony’s black friend turned superhero… Number 3: War Machine. War Machine is definitely one of my faves, sometimes I actually prefer him to Iron Man himself. James Rhodes is a staple of the Iron Man comics, taking on the role of Iron Man when Tony wasn’t able to for a time. However, the helmet cybernetics weren’t properly calibrated for his brain, which started messing him up a bit. But later, he got a new, totally awesome set of armour with loads more firepower than the usual suits, which let him take to the skies as the incredibly badass War Machine. And I love him. Number 2: Static. I’m not gonna lie, I had no idea so many people loved Static Shock until I saw the comments from last video, but I was pleasantly surprised! Guess the show was a lot more popular than I thought. For those of you who don’t know, Static was another creation of Milestone Comics that went on to be published by DC. Virgil Hawkins gained electromagnetic powers when he was exposed to chemicals after inadvertently stumbling into a gang war. He went on to join the Teen Titans, although he’s best known nowadays as the star of the Static Shock cartoon. I could talk about him for hours but I gotta move on. Number 1: Cyborg. Yep. It was tough leaving Cyborg off the last list, but you guys definitely made it clear that you love the guy, and frankly, I do too. Cyborg has been a staple since he was introduced in 1980. After a tragic accident, Vic Stone was saved by an experimental procedure that replaced many of his body parts with cybernetic enhancements. While this caused him some understandable distress, he ended up using these powers to do a hell of a lot of good, and become an awesome hero on the Teen Titans and later the Justice League. Booyah. That’s it for today! Hope you guys enjoyed, if you did please smack that thumbs up button and subscribe to Top 10 Nerd for more videos! Let me know if I missed any more of your favourites in the comment section down below, if this gets enough love I can do a part 3! And if you want a sweet playlist to watch so you can just relax and let the nerdiness wash over you, check out our Top 10 Alternate Versions playlist on the channel! Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Top 10 nerd. Later nerds!