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So I jumped on the "list" bandwagon. Pick up any
newspaper or magazine these days and you'll find a
"Top 10" list of some sort. I'm sure if you look
online, you'll likely find someone's own personal list
of comic book catch-phrases; I doubt I'm the first.
Admittedly, I didn't give this much research or
thought. I thought of the ones that came to me off
the top of my head, jotted them down, and ranked them
accordingly where I thought they should go.
- [TIE] "Snikt" and "Bamf" -- Okay, so they're
sound-effects. It's my list, so I thought I could
cheat. Still, with X-Men's popularity, which hasn't
seemed to wane since the 1980s, I doubt anyone calling
themselves a comics fan would not know either of these
and not think of Wolverine's claws or Nightcrawler's
transporting.
- "Suffering Sappho!"/"Merciful Minerva!"/"Shades of
Pluto!"/"Thunderbolts of Jove!" -- Ah, the Silver-Age
Wonder Woman spout many an exclamation back in the
day.
- "Excelsior!" - Face front, true believer! Stan Lee
would close every monthly "Stan's Soapbox"
long-running column that means "upward."
- "Great Cesar's Ghost!" -- The only catch-phrase
from a supporting character, Perry White; editor of
the Daily Planet. From the '50s TV show thru the
Silver Age, I think Perry did encounter the apparition
in both mediums. Be careful what you say (or wish
for).
- "Face it, Tiger. You just hit the jackpot!" -- Who
could forget when Mary Jane Watson's face was finally
revealed to Peter Parker, and her words to him said
with such sex-appealing confidence?
- "Avengers assemble!" -- Sure, the Avengers lineup
has changed a LOT of times since the inception of the
team, and even though he wasn't an original member of
the team, you could always count on Captain America
(at least back then) to say this rally cry during a
roster change announcement.
- "This looks like a job ... for Superman!" -- Sure,
Superman also said "Great Krypton!" a lot. But this
phrase, which starts with Clark's tenor voice and then
shifts to a baritone/bass as Superman, still gives me
a chill when I hear it watching the old Fleischer
cartoons from the '40s.
- "It's Clobberin' time!" -- I don't know if there is
any hard research on the topic, but I'd venture this
exclamation by Fantastic Four's Thing just might be
the most-often said and used by any one character.
- "Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot ... "
-- Bruce Wayne muses and contemplates in deep thought
on how to strike fear into criminals just before a bat
breaks a window into the room. An omen, and the
Batman is born.
- "With great power comes great responsibility" --
The moral from arguably the best superhero origin in
comic book history. Thank you, Stan Lee for giving us
Spider-Man.
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