From Captain America to Darkseid, the entirety of modern superhero stories owe a debt to Jack Kirby. And his immense influence extends well beyond the four color pages, deep into the heart of American pop culture. As THE AVENGERS opens we pay tribute to the genius behind it all.
The latest inductee into the Badass Hall of Fame is a woman whose writing has impacted milions of young lives, and whose books continue to be banned from libraries across the country. Are you there, Judy? You're a badass.
As the Great Detective celebrates his birthday (and has a movie in theaters and his show return to TV), we induct him in the Badass Hall of Fame.
The Man of a Million Faces.
Activist, prankster, revolutionary, media star, Groucho Marxist. Abbie Hoffman brought street theater and showmanship to political protest while helping define the counterculture for decades to come. He was a total badass.
Our latest Badass Hall of Famer: the Texas millionaire who convinced Jimmy Stewart to smuggle Yeti bones to America.
Ape from the future. Revolutionary. Seeker of peace. Born Milo, reborn as Caesar, he is the ultimate hero of the incredible, insane PLANET OF THE APES series, and he is a badass.
A good critic doesn’t just give opinions about art, a good critic shapes the course of art. There has never been a film critic as good, or as important, as Pauline Kael.
She was a superwoman - belted, buckled and booted. Tura Satana transcended film to become one of the most iconic badass women of all time.
John McClane is the great American action hero of the modern age. An answer to the cartoony, unstoppable heroes of the 80s, McClane’s DIE HARD films brought us a real human being at the center of awesome, thrilling action. His dedication and his bravery are not superhuman but totally relatable. And he’s got some great one liners.
He was born Julius Henry Marx, but he will always be known as Groucho. 2010 was the 120th birthday of Groucho Marx, one of the most important and hilarious comedians in American history.
The second inductee in the Badass Hall of Fame is revealed and it’s the ancient Sumerian goddess of beer brewing. But we’re not just celebrating her because beer is awesome. We’re celebrating her because beer helped create civilization. Think about that the next time you have a cold one at lunch.
If there were to be a patron saint of badasses, it would be Warren Oates. Not because he was particularly tough, although he could - at times - hold his own. Not because he was all that handsome, although he had a certain roguish charm to his smile. What made Warren Oates so badass was the way that he simply didn’t give a shit what people thought. Oates lived his own way - hard and rough, leading to his untimely early death - and worked his own way, staying out of the spotlight. There was a period in the early 70s when Oates - almost always relegated to supporting roles from which he handily stole entire films - was the best actor working in Hollywood.
