THE TOP 10 MINOR SIDE-CHARACTERS IN COMICS

This is a reprint of a post from an older site…I haven’t updated it, just posting it for fun and content bloat.

This week, my ten favorite non-powered bit players.  In other words, minor characters.  Aunt May?  Lois Lane?  Foggy Nelson?  Too major for this list.  They’ve got to be someone you might see a few times a year, or who might appear in a few pages every couple months, and who rarely if ever gets a full story.

Here’s my list; drop me a comment and tell me who I missed!

10.  Malcolm Powder (Marvel). That persistent “kid” who kept annoying Jessica Jones in the pages of Brian Michael Bendis’ brilliant Alias series.  Malcom’s groupie worship was the perfect foil for Jessica’s neurotic insecurity.  First appearance: Alias #6.

9.  Terror the Dog (Dynamite).

In Garth Ennis’ gritty and often pornographic series, The Boys, Terror can always be counted on for a laugh.  Especially when he’s sexually assaulting cats on rooftops and/or the legs of people that his master, Butcher, doesn’t like.  First appearance: The Boys #1.

8.  Space Cabbie (D.C.). He’s a dude with an old beat up spacecraft.  The idea is so stupid, it’s funny.  He appears in random books at random times, making him a bit player for an entire universe, not just a single title.  First appearance: Mystery in Space #21.

7.  Eugene “Flash” Thompson (Marvel). Flash was the bully who helped inspire Spider-Man.  My only qualm with this character is that recently they made him all sympathetic by showing him as a veteran with a double amputee.  We aren’t supposed to like this guy! 

NOTE: As I read this over in 2025, having first written it 10 years ago, I realize Flash is not a minor character but…I’m too lazy to pick another to replace him.

First appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15.

6.  Jeryn Hogarth (Marvel). The lawyer for Iron Fist made many appearances in the classic 1970s title, “Power Man and Iron Fist,” always trying to keep the boys in line and get them to go on actual paying gigs.  Sometimes, Hogarth was the only indicator that the duo was actually trying to run a business, not just be superheroes.  First appearance: Iron Fist #14.

He got gender-switched in the not-as-awful-as-everyone-says-but-still-disappointing Netflix Iron Man show.

5.  Fabian Stankowicz (Marvel). A good bit player should bring something new to the table, and Stanky, who won the lottery and built the “Mechano-Marauder” fit the bill.  In his first appearance, in Avengers #217, he stands between the heroes and the door to the mansion, and each character must “defeat” him to gain access.  But most simply ignore him and go around his unwieldy weapon, which eventually sinks under its own weight.  Hilarious.

Fabian actually became the head of Avengers’ tech later on.

4.  Bambi Arbogast (Marvel). Tony Stark’s heavy-set, no-nonsense executive assistant during the Bob Layton years.  She was like Moneypenny from James Bond, which helped establish the “secret agent” vibe that Layton brought to the series. 

I love her so much that I actually tagged her, and she has no powers.

First appearance: Iron Man #118.

3.  Bertrand Crawley (Marvel). A homeless man who provides information to The Moon Knight, Crawley was great because he drank tea with his pinkie up and spoke with an affected air, while Bill Sienkiewicz always drew him with flies all around him.  First appearance: Marvel Spotlight #28.

2.  Harvey Bullock (D.C.). Bullock might be considered a major player in some storylines, but mostly he’s just a rough, brutal, bribe-taking cop with a heart of gold.  His character is so interesting that he made it into Tim Burton’s film, and was a semi-major player in Gotham Central, where was revealed to be an alcoholic

1.  Turk Barrett (Marvel). The rat fink from the docks who’d sell out Kingpin just to avoid a beatdown from Daredevil was often the source of comic relief in a series that desperately needed it, being that the main character is constantly beset with ills and maladies.  A lot of folks may not realize it, but Turk dates back to 1970 when he first appeared in Daredevil #69!  Haven’t seen nearly enough of Turk lately.