This post originally ran November 7, 2014.
Reading comics, you’ll note that the vast majority of characters hail from a couple of cities, be they real (Marvel, mostly) or fictional (DC’s marquee metropolises). However, close readers will also note that there are more than a few seemingly throwaway references to home cities and birthplaces throughout the US. With thousands of potential home towns for heroes and villains, I had to find out; can every state claim a character as their own? As it turns out? Totally. Here you have it, folks. A character from every state in the union. In most cases, I tried to pick the best-known character from each state, but in a few pickings were admittedly slim. It also leans pretty heavily on Marvel – hey, those 50-State Initiative and mutant books pull from everywhere, but wherever I had the option I erred on the side of greater variety. So, who’s your hometown hero? Any I missed or, heaven forbid, got wrong?
Alabama – Marvel’s Zombie, Simon William Garth. Alaska – Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, everyone’s favorite fun-hating mutant. Arizona – Former villain and X-Force member Warpath. Arkansas – Woodbury fence guard Caesar Martinez. California – The Sensational She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters. Colorado – Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Guardian of the Galaxy. Connecticut – Spider-Man archnemesis and Tommy Lee Jones lookalike Norman Osborn. Delaware – Iron Man rogue Blizzard. Florida – Domino, cohort of Deadpool and Cable. Georgia – John Walker, US Agent and Captain America fill-in. Hawaii – Loa, mutant and former member of Alpha Squadron and the Defenders. Idaho – Samuel Sterns, better known as Hulk nemesis The Leader. Illinois – Quantum tunneler Kitty Pryde. Indiana – Jon Arbuckle; cat owner, sadsack, and possibly insane person. Iowa – Hey, bro. Hawkeye is a genuine hawkeye. Kansas – While their boy is from off-planet, Jonathan and Martha Kent are from Kansas. Kentucky – Avengers Initiative member Michael Van Patrick. Louisiana – Drawlin’ X-Man Remy Etienne LeBeau, better known by his codename Gambit. Maine – Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing MODOK. * Maryland – Guy Gardner, all-around tough guy and replacement Green Lantern. Massachusetts – White Queen / Black Queen / Ice Queen Emma Frost hails from Bahston. Michigan – Anti-hero and 90s comics icon Spawn. Minnesota – GI Joe Team missile specialist Bazooka. Mississippi – Rogue, the southern belle of the X-Men. Missouri – Golden Age Marvel née Timely hero The Whizzer. Montana – Enforcers member Montana shares his name with his home state. Nebraska – First Kid Flash, third Flash, and nephew of Iris Wally West. Nevada – The original Oddball, Elton Healey. New Hampshire – Marvel Comics’ Blue Ear. ** New Jersey – Kamala Khan, Marvel’s new Ms. Marvel and teenage superstar. New Mexico – Atlantean\Human hybrid Kaldur’ahm, who took up the mantle of Aqualad during Brightest Day. New York – Peter Parker, your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. North Carolina – Ruth Aldine, who debuted in Astonishing X-Men as Blindfold. North Dakota – Mentallo, SHIELD turncoat and AIM Minister of Public Affairs. Ohio – “The Strangest Man of All Time,” The Incredible Hulk. Oklahoma – Daredevil and Captain America Z-lister Trump. Oregon – New Mutant Mercury hails from Portlandia. Pennsylvania – Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Stephen Strange, is a Philly native. Rhode Island – Lucas “Snapper” Carr, DC Comics audience surrogate. South Carolina – Circus of Crime snake charmer Princess Python. South Dakota – Institute for Supranormality Research founder and Spider-Woman foe Karl Malus. Tennessee – Machinesmith, another of Captain America and Daredevil‘s foes from the 60s. Texas – Mutant and “immovable object” The Blob. Utah – Peepers, a late 70s creation of Jack Kirby. Vermont – GI Joe Team covert ops office (and proud Dartmouth grad) Claymore. Virginia – Before absconding to Mars, John Carter was a Virginian. Washington – Eco-terrorist Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, better known as Poison Ivy. Washington DC – 1940s Marvel superheroine Miss America. West Virginia – Abby Holland, the psychic-powered wife of Swamp Thing. Wisconsin – Marvel’s cosmic everyman Quasar. Wyoming – Archibald Morton, the second Chemistro and Power Man foe.
- – A few years ago, a one-shot retconned MODOK’s origin from Bangor, ME to Erie, PA. However, MODOK will always be a Mainer in my heart. For what it’s worth, Marvel’s The Druid and Controller are both also from Maine. ** – While it’s not stated anywhere that Blue Ear is from New Hampshire, the story of this hero – created to inspire hearing-impaired child Anthony Smith – is just too good to pass over. Plus. the only other “fictional” character I could find from NH was two different incarnations of the 14th President.
