Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Undead Characters in Comics

It's time to rise for another Top 5 Friday! It's getting to that time of year where grocery stores start putting out candy, clothing stores get a costume department, and any place that serves coffee begins to sell pumpkin spice flavor. Yup, the time of Halloween is quickly approaching once again Halloween brings up a lot of thoughts(mainly how many boxes of Count Chocula can I buy),  but the most common thing that runs through my mind at this time of year are the undone. There are so many undead Characters that fill up our TV screens, movies and even comic books, which is what will be covering today. The rules of this list are that the comic book character has to be identified as undead. This means zombies, vampires, ghosts, etc. as always this is an opinion based list, so if you see something that you don't like, I apologize. Enough talk! Time to dive in with these characters from the crypt!

5: Solomon Grundy

Let's kick things off with the original DC Zombie that was born on a Monday, christened on- Okay, you know the rest. When I think of Zombie in the DC universe, my mind goes right to this guy. My favorite appearances of the zombie that always comes back are in Earth 2 as the Avatar of Gray, As the titanic boss battle in Arkham City, and his more emotional side in the Justice League cartoon. In a way I think those 3 ways are the only real ways to make him a character. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it actually proves that a simple zombie can have range with the right writers. One series could have him as an malevolent master of death, another as a 'big gun' for an actual mastermind, or even a hero. A hulking brute that can even come to blows with the Man of Steel, Solomon Grundy can always return on Monday.

4: Black Hand

Okay, we know this guy is undead, he wouldn't have made the list otherwise. He is actually more than undead; he is the wielder to the Black Lantern ring, which is basically a phone to the land of the dead. The guy can summon an entire horde of not just zombies, but zombie LANTERNS. It doesn't even restrict to humans, he's made TITANS into his army! So why is a guy with that much power so high on the list? Well it actually has to do with his character development. When he came back for blackest night, he felt menacing and it terrified people. By the time he returned in Godhead, he was so over the top and in love with death that even Thanos would tell him she isn't worth it. Hopefully one day he will come back from the source wall as the menace he was when the night was blackest.

3: Anton Arcane

To those who don't read Swamp Thing comics, Anton is an Avatar of the Rot. What that means is that everything he does is to push the Rot's agenda while having his own sick version of fun along the way. He has made it onto this list because he is by far the most sick and twisted individual in the DC universe, as well as being undead. While I can't go into detail over some of the terrible atrocities he's committed without feeling physically sick, he was able to take over the entire planet and turn some of our greatest champions into mindless eating machines. Before you non-readers say, "and superman will beat him." Who do you think was the first group to fall? This undead madman took over the world through his control of the rot, and it still freaks me out with how much power he wields.

2: Frankenstein 

Fun Fact: I love the story of Frankenstein. Frankenstein's monster has always been a personal favorite creature of mine, so I was curious when I heard there was a version of him in the DCU. Little did I know that DC's version of the character is the most badass character in the Dark line of DC Comics. He's a monster hunter who seeks to bring God's Justice on Earth. He's like a giant green knight with a huge sword and a steam powered gun. Every time he appears in a more popular book, it makes me hope that he gets the fans and book that he deserves. Nowhere is this more seen than in the Main Future's End series. Out of all the stories that were jammed into it, the best had to be Frankenstein's team going off to find Stormwatch. His epic battle with Black Adam in the Phantom Zone alone could prove how badass this character is. Frankenstein proves that the best way to kill a monster, is with a better monster.

Marvel Mention: Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a notorious womanizer. You can believe it or not, but in the case of the 2012 -2015 run of Deadpool, it's played up for humorous effect. Whenever I see this guy on page, I nearly bust a gut with how he reacts to modern day life. That's not to say he's all laughs. In fact, in the earlier story arcs, he was the one convincing Deadpool not to take extremely dark measures. When Deadpool refuses to listen and ends up killing one of their friends, Benjamin leaves him till Deadpool can be trusted to do the right thing... And he goes to distract himself at a strip club. What? Did you expect a Deadpool comic to be appropriate for all ages?

1: Deadman

When I heard of this character, I won't lie when I say I thought he was meant to be more of a comedic character. I mean his only real power is that he's a ghost. He phases through things and possesses people. How much fun would it be to have that power. That's when I actually learned his backstory. His is the story of redemption, from being a jerkbag of a human being to one of the most compassionate heroes on the planet. His story came full circle in the events of Brightest Day, where he helped locate the heroes that would restore the life entity and learned to live life to its fullest before returning to his position as the hero of the dead. Boston Brand deserves his rest, but if he were resting, he wouldn't have helped save the world time and time again.

That's it for this week's Top 5 Friday! Who is your favorite undead character? Leave a comment and I'll see you next time!