The Bullpen

[Night (Travis) Nurse]

I'm celebrating an early Fathers day with the family and I got to thinking about father figures in comics. The pages of these books are filled with bad dads, daddy issues and fathers who did wrong and are trying to make amends. From main stream to indy these books cut out remarkable and despicable father figures alike. But who are the good ones? The ones that protect, teach and mold their children either as mentors to the heroes or as the heroes themselves. Is Luke Cage a good dad? He does whats right but how many times has he put his child in danger  ? Reed, a good dad .. please. 

My choice, first is pretty obvious. Pa Kent - his role in bring up Clark has been the corner stone of decency and morality in comics for many many years. He was a good man doing the right thing and definitely a figure I look up to.

But for me, in a scary fucking world Rick Grimes does the best to keep his son out of harms way and does some despicable things to people who get in his way. But isn't, ideally if pushed how far we believe we could go to protect our children. In a world where learning basic social skills means nothing. Rick is the best father he can be. Maybe not the ideal father for our world but a good father for their world.

Happy Fathers Day (early)

Travis

[Farrell]

I'm not sure you'd call a guy who takes his son on "the road to Hell" a good dad, but Itto Ogami and his son Daigoro are one of, is not the most, interesting father/son pairings in comics.

Happy father's day to Travis and Matt and all the other great dads out there.

[Jon O]

My mind immediately went to Wally West.  I always think the Flashs are good family men.  A lot of the arcs toward the end of Johns run dealt specifically about Wally's love for Linda, and the lengths he'll go to protect her and her children.  And though it wasn't very well recieved both of Wally's kids were center stage in his life and his books until DC hid Wally and (presumambly) geared up for Barry's return.

[legion of daves]

ted knight/jack knight.  starman is possibly the best exploration of a father/son relationship in comics. 

[Tom Morris]

Uncle Ben Parker!

He trumps Pa Kent every time!

[BoomerZ]

ted knight/jack knight.  starman is possibly the best exploration of a father/son relationship in comics.  

I could not agree more.

There was a lot about how that relationship was depicted that resonated very strongly for me. Without diving too deeply into this - because honestly if I do elaborate on this to a greater degree, I am sure I will just break down in tears today - my father was in the last stages of his battle with leukemia when the Grand Guignol arc was being published.  For me, the most important change from where Jack and Ted were at the beginning of the series to where their relationship was at the conclusion was that there was absolutely nothing left unsaid between the two of them in the end.  And I count myself extremely lucky that my dad and I were in a similar position when he passed.

To the fathers here on the board, I hope you all had a great day.

[scoundrel3000]

Alfred/Bruce

Bruce/Dick

[Mike]

Al Simmons! .......


probably Dragon( see recent events)

[SimonH]

Just started Invincible this weekend, so the Invincible/Omni-Man relationship sprang to mind. 

Ok, so maybe best dad is a bit of a misnomer, but from what I've read so far he's coming from a genuine love for his son, if his aim is a little skewed. 

[itullus]

[Tom from West Chester]

Uncle Ben Parker!

Uncle Ben was my first choice here too.

Also, I really liked what Geoff Johns set up with Wildcat in JSA.  He was a figurative Dad to younger members of the Justice Society, but then when he was revealed to have his own biological son he didn't know how to handle it.  There seemed like a deep well of storytelling possibilities there that didn't realize in the Geoff Johns run, as the releationship between Ted and Tommy seemed to skip ahead to where they were in a good place.  I don't know if anyone else ever followed up on this.