Greatest Marvel Comics Detectives:
Marvel does not have its Batman. But that does not mean it has a shortage of detectives. Although they may not be as good or popular as DC Comics’ caped crusaders, they are also legendary in their own right. Marvel Comics has a lot of characters that do detective work and solve supposedly ‘unsolvable’ cases regularly. While there are several, only a few had the requisite skills to fit into the list. Take a look.
10. Dominic Fortune
The vigilante known as Dominic Fortune used his huge inheritance and his gifted and brilliant intellect to fight the Nazis in World War Two. It is now a mantle that has been passed from a father to his son and later to the grandson. But the one that has always been the most popular is the World War Two version. Dominic Fortune is proficient in armed and unarmed combat and has extremely potent experience in formulating strategies and tactics. He has at least four different ways to get out of any sticky situation all the time.
He is also one of the few superheroes on our list with good deductive abilities necessary to be seen as a detective. The first Dominic Fortune was so good at his job that he was hired by Shield to do what he did best – investigate and solve crimes even Shield could not.
9. Detective Phantom
Detective Phantom is only one of the two women entries in our list. Marvel needs to do a better job at representing more women in this domain. Louise Grant was a secretary for a popular Private detective agency when she decided she could contribute more to her boss by doing the things he did by her-self. She donned a red gown, high heels, and a domino mask and went crime-fighting in the night.
Louise Grant soon gained a fearsome reputation at solving the most critical and complicated cases. She is a highly-skilled fighter and is known to use her beauty to her advantage to enamor men and women while interrogating them for extracting information.
8. Kraven the Hunter
Kraven was born Dimitri Kravinoff, the son of a Russian bureaucrat. He was constantly the subject of abuse as his father hated him. After the Bolshevik revolution took over the USSR, Dimitri and his brother ran away and started living a life of stowaway nomads. Later, Dimitri started his career as a game hunter when he first landed in Africa. After realizing s local witch doctor was in possession of a special herbal potion that supposedly granted superhuman physical attributes, Dimitri drank it and gained incredible abilities.
Dimitri may have gained superpowers but his primary ability has always been tracking and using the slightest of hints or clues to get to his opponent. This makes him not only the world’s greatest tracker but also a damn good detective.
7. Blade
The vampire hunter Blade has made it his life mission to destroy the network of vampires that ranges in millions and scattered all over the world. He does not possess the weaknesses of vampires but all of their strengths, which makes him the ideal vampire hunter. There is a reason Blade is on this list. His immortality has made him a repository of experiences and knowledge. Moreover, he is almost invincible as an espionage expert.
Since he is a vampire, he cannot be captured on Camera or films and that makes him the ideal candidate to sneak into any protected area or compound using his superhuman speed and agility and gain access to any proof or clue that could help him either track down his prey or solve a crime. The blade has actually solved a lot of cases that way.
6. Wolverine
In the detective world, it is all about finding the right clues to track down the real culprit. That is pretty much like hunting a big game. Wolverine is good at that because his mutant abilities include a superhuman sense of smell. Wolverine also has a huge life span and has lived for more than 200b years. He has immense knowledge about people and knows how to read them and anticipate what they are doing or about to do just by looking at their body language. Using his sense of smell, Wolverine can track down the slightest of scents left by the culprit in the crime scene or use it to get to someone he wants to.
5. Daredevil
People see Daredevil as just a martial artist in a costume. And that is a very wrong notion to have. Matt Murdock is more than just Daredevil. He does not switch off radar sense when he is not wearing the mask. Matt listens to his clients on a daily basis and measures their heartbeat and pulse rate. If someone is lying, Matt knows how to spot the difference. He is basically a human lie detector. If you have done something wrong, the last thing you want to do is bump into Matt Murdock. In comic books, Matt uses this ability to imprint on a crime scene and remember the most minuscule of details to solve any crime.
4. Jessica Jones
She is better known as a private investigator than a superhero. That sure does put her as third in our list. Jessica Jones developed superpowers of her own and tried her hand in super-heroics. She failed miserably, realizing that the world of superheroes is not for her. She then took on the job of a Private Investigator and detective.
Jessica Jones is not a good detective because she is extraordinarily gifted at the powers of deduction. She is good at what she does because she is more than willing to bend a few rules and get her hands dirty if the situation demands it. The fact that she has super strength means that most people won’t try to attack her if she breaks and enters their house in search of clues.
3. Spider-Man
The Wall-Crawling Vigilante is one of the smartest kids on the planet. Spider-man also regularly uses gadgets and devices that are mostly associated with detective work. Believe it or not, he is a highly adept crime scene investigator. Spiderman’s wall-crawling ability also gives him the added advantage of listening to the most secretive of conversations and sneaking into the most protected of buildings. Spider-Man has helped the Avengers a lot of times.
He was the one who figured out how to beat the Collective. He has also put that brilliant mind of his to use to help the Avengers in the New Avengers storyline. There is no problem or case in the Marvel Comic Book Universe that Peter Parker has had too much trouble solving.
2. Jamie Madrox
Jamie Madrox is called the Multiple Man. His mutant ability allows him to create copies of himself. Madrox’s clones can then be sent to do different tasks, post which they are re-absorbed into his body. The experiences and skills learned by those clones will be a part of the original Jamie Madrox. This is also an asset for him in the battlefield since his clones could be used to infiltrate organizations or look for clues at multiple locations all at the same time. Jamie Madrox is so good at his job that he heads the X-Factor Investigations – the crime-solving unit of the X-Men.
1. Hannibal King
He may not have the gadgets or the money of the rest of his counterparts. Hannibal King may be no Batman but he is a God when it comes to being a detective. Hannibal King was bitten by Deacon Frost and turned into a vampire but he has since fought his primal vampire urges to hunt and drink blood, and used his powers to assists blade in killing vampires and has a part-time role as an occult investigator who likes solving cases related to the Supernatural. Hannibal King is also a sorcerer. He can use magic to aid him when his detective skills fail to do so.
