DVD Josh

Spawn. He was EVERYWHERE for a time - movie, comics, HBO series, toys galore, cards, video games, etc. Deadpool has only a fraction of that.

dalbowski

Right now? Deadpool. Spawn had a higher peak though.

CaptainMarvel

Deadpool by far. He was popular from introduction and has continuously gotten more popular.

Hellboy would be second.

kodave

Spawn hasn't been relevant or popular since the 1990s ended. He had a good run for several years though. Venom, Deadpool, and Hellboy have all done better and over a longer period of time.

PhantomStranger

+1
Spawn really hasn't been relevant since the movie bombed and McFarlane got bored doing comics.

madcougar

I think the litmus test for this question is going to be, if you showed your grandmother a picture of X superhero, would she recognize him or her. It's interesting for me to think that she would not recognize Spawn or Deadpool, arguably the most popular comic book characters created in the last 25 years.

resinrats

My grandmother wouldn't recognize ANY comic book character created in the last 25 years. She'd know Superman, Batman & probably Spider-Man. Maybe Wonder Woman or Hulk (AKA they had TV shows years ago)

I can see people saying Wolverine, thinking he was created in the last 25 years since people not reading comics first heard of him in the X-Men movies (or 90's cartoon).

taffer

My grandmother wouldn't recognize any superhero period. Not even Batman.

stingermck

My dad will occasionally ask me about Spawn and if there are still comics, etc.

The Valeyard

My kids grew up around comics and they don't even know who Deadpool is. They know about Spawn because I had the action figures displayed around the house when they were growing up. But their most recent exposure to Deadpool was the video game that came out recently.

robin2099

I think people are underestimating Spawn's popularity and over estimating Deadpool's. Spawn was regularly selling 6 figures in his prime, he had a video game on the SNES and a video game on the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. He was a playable character in Soul Calibur 2. He had a cartoon series on HBO, a live action movie, and a toy line that lasted for over a decade. By far he was the most popular character created in the last twenty five years. On that note however, nobody cares about him anymore at all and he's basically non existent.

Deadpool is popular, but he's mainly popular with comic book fans, and he can never reach the level of pop culture impact that Spawn did in the 90's.

Trevor

I agree on the overestimating Deadpool's popularity. I eat breathe and live comic books and I was barely aware of him until fairly recently.

Timber

Spawn was selling 6 figures during the speculator boom. At least half of those probably have never been cracked open. Despite the movie and I just don't think Spawn was that popular outside of comic book circles.

madcougar

How is that even possible? The guy's had his own title, a title with Cable and lots of mini series?!

CaptainMarvel

I think the question needs refining. I'd agree that Spawn probably was the character introduced in the last 25 years that reached the highest level of popularity at some point, but he's a total nothing now.

It's a bit like my forum namesake. He was arguably more popular than Superman for a while, but from probably the 1950s up until the 1970s he was non-existent, and from the 1970s on he was at best a minor player.

CaptainMarvel

Seriously. The guy has been omnipresent for the last few years.

Groucho

Seems hard to miss Deadpool. Marvel pushes him pretty hard...include their video game and movie franchises.

Obi-Wanma

A few years back, right before I quit buying comics, there was a month where almost every title that Marvel published that month had an alternate cover with Deadpool on it. Even titles that had nothing to do with Deadpool. I think around that same time had 3 or 4 monthlies being published.

Trevor

Well, my 'fairly recently' means a dozen years or so. And looking into it he didn't get his own series until 1997, around the time I cut way back on Marvel stuff.

He's definitely up there in the second tier of characters barely known by a small percentage of the general public, but I bet it still below Spawn.

wlj

Deadpool

madcougar

I guess it depends on where/how you buy your comics, too. The reason I asked, is that I've seen his books and statues all over the place at my comic book store for many years.

robin2099

You don't get that much mainstream merchandising by only appealing to the comic book market. And even if Spawn was mainly selling during the speculator boom, that's still reaching heights that very few characters were able to reach.

I agree. But if you really think about it, with the exception of Spawn there aren't really any popular characters in the last 25 years who aren't either legacy characters or spun off of an established and popular franchise.

fumanstan

I don't think anyone is overestimating Deadpool's popularity at all. It's not like anyone is saying he's known among non-comic book fans or anything, just that out of all the new characters he's one of the few recent ones that really stands out as far as games, toys, and other merchandising.

CaptainMarvel

Hellboy. Unless you count John Byrne's Next Men as a popular franchise.

I'd say Hellboy actually has pretty high recognizability due to his movies.

PhantomStranger

Hellboy probably has more sheer name recognition due to the movies and his visual design. Deadpool looks like a fairly generic '90s hero, which he was.