Jeannette of The Secret Six

One of the coolest titles currently on the market is DC's The Secret Six. A team of rag tag mercenaries who take on the jobs that no one else will. Like taking down power mad dictators and evil armies. The team consists of Bane (yes, Bane who broke Batman's spine back in the day); Ragdoll, Deadshot, Catman, Scandal and Jeannette. Jeannette has one of the more intriguing origins of any current character in comics today.

Jeannette was born centuries ago into a tenuous lineage of Hungarian nobility. Noble but poor, her family sold its belongings so that it could send her at the age of nine to the Castle Csejtein order for her to serve Countess Bathory and learn the ways of the court. What no one outside the castle realized was that Countess Bathory was perhaps the most horrific female serial killer of all time. Jeannette was forced to watch as the Countess and her four assistant horribly tortured, mutilated and killed young girl after young girl. The horror was so great Jeannette lost the ability to speak. She was told that she was the favoritate and would therefore being saved for last.

Eventually, the Countess and her assistants were tried and punished. Jeannette managed to have herself remain the Countess' servant to care for the dark lady while she spent the rest of her days locked away in a room, bringing meals and removing the waste. But the truth of it was Jeannette sprinkled tiny quantities of broken glass into every meal.

Jeannette's RevengeThe process took years, but soon Countess Bathory could not experience even a day without pain. Medical attention was denied her, and she went mad from the endless torture Jeannette inflicted upon her.

Jeannette died by the blade of an executioner's axe for reasons unrevealed. She paid off the executioner with her mother's necklace, the only piece of jewelry she had left. This was to ensure the executioner would make it quick, but he did not. The first three swings of his axe missed their mark, cracking and breaking her body without killing her. The horrible trauma of this caused her to lose touch with herself and who she had been. She found and became the banshee.

Origin provided by Comics Vine

Jeannette: It seems to me, that we were, all of us, never meant to live a life decided by the fears and habits of others. If we know our destination is hell, then our job is not to think of sin and salvation. It's to shine as bright as we may. With skin like salmon. So people will look up each moonlit night...and remember we were here.

Monty's Top 25 Favorite Comic Book Characters Part Two (#1 - #12)

Here is the second part of my top 25 favorite comic book characters. The final 12. Six are male, six are female. And two villains make this portion of the list. So here we go:

12.) DEATHSTROKE - Slade Wilson is one of the craftiest and bad ass villains ever. His constant hatred of The Titans has pretty much fueled his entire career. But he has also managed to tangle with the big boys, the Justice League. His battle with some of their members in the Identity Crisis series is classic.

11.) FLASH - Barry Allen/Wally West. I always thought super-speed was a cool power to have. And Flash is about the best speed character there is. I was devastated when he died in Crisis. But when Wally West (Kid Flash ) took over I liked the character even more. Wally matured into a great hero. And I personally think by bringing Barry back,DC messed up. That's just me.

10.) BLACK CANARY - Dinah Lance. Superb female character that can kick ass with the best of them. Armed with her powerful canary cry, bad guys beware. Her rocky relationship with Green Arrow over the years has been one of the best relationships in comic books. She is a proven team leader and works great with The Birds of Prey.

9.) DONNA TROY - One of my favorite sidekicks that matured into her own heroic self. Growing up in the shadow of Wonder Woman couldn't have been easy but Donna quickly became a fan favorite as Wonder Girl. Her years with the The Teen Titans were great and her very confusing origin was finally explained. She has gone from Wonder Girl to Troia and is now a member of the Justice League.

8.) MAGNETO - My highest ranking villain is Magneto and he is awesome. Regal but can be ruthless. When his character was brought to the silver screen, Sir Ian McKellan nailed it. And was one of the best things about the X-Men films, besides Wolverine. This guy is one of the best characters ever! And I dare you to say anything bad about mutants if front of him. I dare you. He'll turn the iron inside out of your bloodstream.

7.) WONDER WOMAN - Diana Prince. Amazon. Warrior. Hero. Friend. These all describe the first major female hero to grace comic books. Her career has spanned some 60 years and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.

6.) BATMAN - Bruce Wayne has been around forever. Through the good and bad, he has always come out on top. This character is definitely one of my favorites. And the fact that he has no super-powers, just gadgets and one of the greatest minds ever, just make him even better.

5.) SARA PEZZINI - The New York cop who became the bearer of the powerful weapon called the Witchblade. I have read every single issue of this amazing series since day one. And it started back in 1995. Sara Pezzini is a take charge, no bullshit kind of a character and I love her. I can't believe this series is actually still as good since it first came out some 15 years ago.

4.) MS. MARVEL - What started out as a Marvel version of Wonder Woman has become something more. Carol Danvers has had a life of ups and downs, probably more downs but she is back in form now as a team player on The Avengers. I have loved Ms. Marvel since her early days and love her even more today. Her connection to my next favorite comic book character makes her and said person even more of my favorites.

3.) ROGUE - Not talking about the movie version but the real deal. Rogue started out as a super villain, stealing Ms. Marvel's powers completely, because she wasn't able to control her own power stealing powers. But after coming to the X-Men for aid, she became a true hero. I love Rogue as she is my favorite X-Man. Lately she has lost those original Ms. Marvel powers but she is still one great character.

2.) NIGHTWING - Dick Grayson always known as Robin, sidekick to Batman. Once he became Nightwing and his own man, things really took off for him. He is a natural born leader and his detective skills rival those of Batman. Hell he even stepped in to fill Batman's shoes while Bruce was missing and did one hell of a job. Nightwing is one of the best comic book characters ever created.

1.) SPIDER-MAN - And finally my favorite comic book character of all time...Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man. I could relate to Peter because of his nerdiness, his struggles with the ladies, his lack of money...you know, realistic things. And even while dealing with some of the most dangerous super-villains ever created, he was always ready to dispense with a quip or wisecrack. I love Spider-Man. I enjoyed the TV series from the 70's, the very cool Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon in the 80's and I was in total bliss when the movies finally came out and Tobey Maguire nailed it as Peter/Spider-Man. So, there you have it Spider-Man is my favorite character ever and that is my complete top 25 list. Hope you enjoyed it. Would love to hear everyone's own list, doesn't have to be 25..top ten is cool.

Monty's Top 25 Favorite Comic Book Characters Part 1 (#13 - 25)

Finally got around to making my top 25 favorite comic book characters list. I split it into two parts and I will start at no. 25 and work down. As The Joker would say...Here...we...go.

25.) SUSAN STORM AKA THE INVISIBLE WOMAN - Sue is  my favorite member of the Fantastic Four and not just because she's a beautiful blonde. But Sue is one bad ass woman. Early in her career all she could really do was turn invisible. But things quickly changed and Sue became really powerful. Remember her force fields has held The Incredible Hulk in check. And let's not forget that awesome display of power back in the 80's when she maintained a large force field on the entire Manhattan island after baddie Terrax flung it into space. WOW!

24.) THE SILVER SURFER - Speaking of Terrax, here is another former herald of Galactus..actually Norrin Radd is the first and most famous herald. He rebelled against Galactus and gained his freedom. Over the years he has been a pain in Galactus side. But for the most part Surfer scours the universe looking to help those in need. Occasionally he stops by Earth from time to time. Plus he is one of the coolest looking characters in comics ever.

23.) POWER GIRL - Karen Starr, cousin to Superman, was once known as a joke in comic books. Mainly treated as a sex object thanks to her amazing body. But lo and behold over the years, she has become a fully developed character. While part of the Justice League back in the late 80's/early 90's, she started to show signs of improvement as a really good character. And when she became leader of the JSA years later, she had really arrived. Now she is kicking butt in her own monthly series that is one of my favorite reads.

22.) GREEN ARROW - This character really came into his own in the late 60's when Denny O'Neill and Neal Adams were doing the Green Lantern series and decided to pair Hal Jordan with Oliver Queen. They like oil and water and the rest is history. Queen's longtime love and fellow crime fighter Dinah Lance (The Black Canary) would enter the picture and they would form one of comic's most unlikeliest of trios. Green Arrow is close to Marvel's version of an ace archer named Hawkeye. But I like Ollie just a little bit more. Not by much mind you.

21.) KITTY PRYDE - When young Katherine Pryde joined the X-Men during the early 80's, fans finally had a young person they could relate to. She was smart, adventurous, and was always getting into trouble. I loved her relationship with Storm and her forever crush on Colossus. She has matured into a well rounded character.

20.) STORM - One of the coolest and most powerful female characters in comics. Ororo Munro was a welcome addition to the X-Men and she proved very worthy as she was named leader of the team  after Cyclops left for awhile. Years later she has married The Black Panther and still has time to do some super-heroing. Cool.

19.) CATWOMAN - The first villain to make my list and she is really not a full villain but Selina Kyle does love jewelry. Her relationship with Batman has been up and down and all over the place over the years and recently Selina has become more heroic. I love her new look too.

18.) GREEN LANTERN - Hal Jordan is my favorite Green Lantern. Hands down. Even when he went bad, through Parallax and try to take down the Guardians. He has been reborn as the guy we always love and respect. Well except maybe for Batman. But that guy trusts no one. Hell he keeps a Kryptonite ring hand just in case Superman goes crazy. Anyway, Jordan is definitely one of my all time faves.

17.) CAPTAIN AMERICA - Aw yeah, the symbol of America. Steve Rogers stands above most heroes and when he questioned the Hero Registration Act in Civil War, he gained even more respect. I can't wait for the movie to finally come out.

16.) JEAN GREY - No other character has had more of a tragic history. A mutant born with powers similar to Professor Xavier, Jean soon became more. Phoenix and then eventually Dark Phoenix. I remember reading her first death when I was about 12 and was devastated. Of course Jean would return and die several times over but now she appears to be gone for good as her boyfriend Scott Summers has settled down with Emma Frost. But I'm still hopeful Jean will return someday.

15.) SHE-HULK - How can you not love Jen Walters AKA She-Hulk. Whereas her cousin Bruce for the most part had no control over his alter ego, Jen could change and come and go as she pleased. Plus her always happy attitude made for great reading. She has shown she is a valued team member during her time with The Avengers and The Fantastic Four. But I love Jen the most when she is doing her own thing.

14.) WOLVERINE - You know my boy just had to be on here somewhere. Logan is the most popular X-Men ever and just one cool character. He may have gotten over-exposured during the 90's but he is still the best there is.

13.) BLACK PANTHER - Regal and stoic and can kick some major ass. T'Challa has always been one of my favorites. Whenever he walks into a room, he owns it. Now he's married to hottie Storm. This guy is all that.

So there you have it, part one of my top 25 favorite comic book characters. Look for part 2 within a few days.