Wouldn't the most powerful be the old Mister Mxyzptlk character? The only limitation on his magic being he's just goofing around amusing himself. Similar in a way to Kirby's Egghead whose power in limitless although Egghead wants to serve and purposefully limits himself in the interest of fair play.

Is he a magic user or is he just operating in a different set of physics? That’s a wonderful splash page

I'm not sure how people define magic. Does it require a wand or incantation or deck of cards?

I read this to my wife when I first saw it and prefaced it with “I know you don’t follow comics at all, but everything I’m about to read to you is true.”

Has Tim been written out of continuity?

Who do you mean by Tim?

Tim Hunter, created by Neil Gaiman. The two easiest reasons for leaving him off the list are (1) Vertigo is canon-debatable, or (2) he’s DESTINED to be the most powerful, ONE DAY.

Ohhh I wasn’t sure if he meant Tim Drake and I was very confused a moment

And (3) he's created by Neil Gaiman

look, "magic user" is an incredibly debatable term but I feel like Mordru oughta be SOMEWHERE on that list

I thought this too, but didn't want to "Well Actually" such a fun post. Also Mxyzptlk is probably the top of any list I'd make.

I don’t think Mxy is a magic user he’s more of a being of magic from a realm that doesn’t even consider that magic

yeah I was gonna say, there's definitely delineation between people who just ARE Magic (Spectre, Phantom Stranger, Zeus) and people who USE Magic (Prince Ra-Man, Dr. Occult, Dr. Mist)

Completely fair distinction

This seems reasonable, and I’d also think there’s a robust debate to be had about Phantom Stranger’s ranking, depending on what his actual powers are.

Elana is it bisexuality if I half had to consider dating any of these 3 ? ( I am a light dc reader )

I don’t know but I’d bet on yes.

I’m a bit behind on my comics knowledge. Is The Spectre still around? I figure the embodiment of God’s vengeance has to rank pretty high up there as well.

He is and he’s embodied by somebody different now though I don’t even know who

And if you read "The Books of Magic" you get all three! :)

I’m really appreciating the Constantine respect here. One of the best parts of the Arrowverse.

And he wasn't even originally part of it. Had his own show on NBC, got cancelled then Matt Ryan and Stephen Amell got chatting and Constantine guest starred in an Arrow episode and a lil while later had two episodes in Legends of Tomorrow season 3 before becoming regular from 4 on. :)

As a Green Arrow comics fan I cannot stand the verse, but he is such a good casting—- you can tell he was cast for a non arrowverse series because he’s great hahaha 

The bit where he asked for the peacock feather just to scratch his back was great. LOL

Yep, a fun cheeky lil dig at his old network. :D Love that Matt Ryan also got to voice Constantine in animation too, the Arrowverse, DC Animated Movies and even an episode of Harley Quinn's cartoon. Just shows how well-liked he is as the character he gets to play different universe versions :)

hey the second is also a furry (or whatever the term is when the animal is a shark)

who are they? (asking for non-comic readers)

Third most powerful = Zatanna (she speaks backwards to cast spells which is a neat effect to read on the page). She’s often in the Justice League. But just as often she’s in Vegas performing.

Second most powerful = John Constantine. He’s originally from Vertigo Comics series aimed at adults so his stories have always been able to go to darker places (& he gets to smoke). His character design was based on Sting originally. He dated a shark-man recently.

Also worth noting that Alan Moore claims to have met him twice. (I'd say he was originally a DC character, as that was where Swamp Thing was when he first appeared in that book.)

Yeah, but that confuses the point of what his strongest association is, and what the tone is of his origin

Yeah, I know you know comics, hahaha. I should have worded that differently.

Kind of like retroactively vertigo

Most powerful = Doctor Fate. He’s a hat. No literally. A mystical force, Nabu The Lord of Order, inhabits this helmet and if you put it on your head you get all of the mystical powers but he (the hat) also controls you.

Outstanding. Thank you for such a detailed and cool history lesson

We love to be asked! Or at least, I do!

🤝

Is Nabu running around solo these days? Because I'm about to go work up a Head Detective crossover to pitch to Damon Wayans

I have never ever heard of this hat. The other two I recognised.

The hat is sometimes a she.

It’s a hat so it’s pretty flexible on the gender question. But the whole most powerful thing it’s pretty clear on

Yep.

And to be clear, I consider its genderfluidity a good thing.

Yes! Possessed hats deserve self determination too.

sting? lol

Yup in Swamp Thing Alan Moore, Rick Veitch & John Totleben

😍

The original working class warlock. Alan Moore co-created him

Recently watched a bunch of the animated DC movies with him in it (along with the Keanu Reeves live-action one) - shockingly an animated film from 2020(!) credited Alan Moore as one of his co-creators, and I have no idea how that happened (especially since he hadn't been credited in the other films)

City of Demons? "originally made to be sequel to the live-action series Constantine and a part of the Arrowverse franchise, but writer J. M. DeMatteis stated that the direction of this series was changed and that it was set in the DC Animated Movie Universe" Matt Ryan played him in all of those :)

i was in a bar restroom with a friend who knew the movie was in dev. they were telling me all about the character. they run through the backstory and ask me, ok, whos the worst actor they could have picked? and from a stall we didn't even know was occupied: 'Tom Cruise!' i think about this often

Rofl. Love this. You speaking of the old Constantine movie?

yeah, beautiful moment. the Keanu punchline was completely wrecked

heck yes

Number 2 is John Constantine, sometimes known as Hellblazer. Con artist, punk rock fan, part of a lineage of magician, dabbler in the occult and dark arts, and summoner of demons. A chain smoker slowly dying of cancer who sold his soul to multiple demons to play them off each other.

Zatanna Zatara, John Constantine, and the Helmet of Fate

Love Zatanna! Constantine is cool! Me and helmet head have beef and I mostly know him from the animated shows.

Lol, I get the gag here, but Constantine isn't that powerful directly. He's more of just a real good conman.

I might substitute "prominent" for "powerful"; I don't think Constantine and Zee *ought* to be that powerful, compared to more cosmic beings and what have you. But that's a nuance.

This is why comics are great.

And you just have to roll with it, which is truly part of the wonder of comics.

A new fighter has entered the ring.

I love him too. Especially Grant Morrison & Frazer Irving take. He’s fun in The Demon too but I like how they complicate him later

That twerp and I only vaguely remember one of his animated versions. He’s entertaining

I remember Grant Morrison’s version from about 20 years ago, and the weird 1990s event where whenever somebody said his name, Klarion would go “bom bom BOM!”