Emma over at Girls Read Comics Too is doing “30 Days of Marvel” where she gives various superlatives about the Marvel Universe. It’s good reading and since I’m a fan of both Marvel and Girls Read Comics Too, I’m going to steal the idea and give my responses as well. I’ll do 5 today and more later… (Go to the links to see Emma’s choices).

1. Favorite Character: Spider-Man. Peter Parker started out as the perfect geek fantasy of “revenge” on the bullies and idiots that badger the smart kid in high school. Pete gets what anyone in that situation would want — strength and power — and instead of using it for revenge, he uses it to make the world a better place. And as perfect as that situation is, he still has problems — money, family, women — that we all have and they frequently are bigger problems for him than the villains he fights. Yet he still manages to keep his sense of humor and a constant stream of awesome jokes and pop culture references. Even when joins the Avengers, he’s the fun one. In the middle of another universe-shattering crisis, he’s the one that breaks the tension. And yet he still has trouble paying the rent. That’s just awesome.

2. Favorite Villain: Norman Osborn. He starts off as the greatest of Spider-Man villain of all-time, the Green Goblin, a character that he is fine as for decades. Then through his days with the Thunderbolts and eventually Dark Reign, he kicks it up to a level that few characters ever reach. His reach is broad and his menace outshines many more powerful villains. Plus, he has the greatest hair in Marvel comics.

3. Your Favorite Diva: I’m not a fan of the term “diva,” but if it is going to apply to a Marvel character, Emma at Girls Read Comics Too is right, it has to apply to Emma Frost. The costume, the history, the personality, the powers, they all fit.

4. Favorite Mutant: Cyclops. I’ve talked about this a number of times before, but clearly Cyclops is the key character in the history of the concept of the “mutant” in Marvel comics. The first X-man and the leader of the X-nation now, he has clearly shown that he is the baddest ass in the X-comics and maybe in all of Marvel.

5. Favorite Team: The obvious answer is the X-Men, but I write about them all the time, so I’m going to go with a second choice here and go with the current version of the New Avengers. Spider-Man is my favorite character of all-time and Wolverine is Top 5. Luke Cage, as written by Brian Michael Bendis, is rising up the list quickly. Jessica Jones and Ms. Marvel are becoming my two favorite non-mutant female Marvel characters and you throw in solid characters like the Thing, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist and others and you get a great line-up that has a lot of versatility in terms of characters and personalities, but also in possible stories. I hope this run lasts for a long, long time.