The Surprising Comic Book Characters with Deep Texas Roots
If you grew up with comic books, 2025 is a great year for you. There's some fantastic comic book based movies and TV shows out right now - from Peacemaker to the Fantastic Four. The sale of actual comic books are rising again. Basically, it's a really good time to be a 'comic book nerd'.
As a comic book lover myself, I love going to my local comic book store on Wednesdays and seeing new people every single time checking out books and getting back into things. It's awesome.
And the cool thing about comics, aside from the art & stories, is there a character for everyone. Heroes are from all over the place and could be anybody. In fact, I got curious about what comic book characters call Texas home. Everyone knows Spider-Man is from New York and that Batman is from Gotham. But, believe it or not, there's at least a dozen heroes (or villains) that hail from the Lone Star state.
READ MORE: Meet Texas' Favorite Superhero
Some you may have never heard of, some you probably just never realized were Texas natives. Below is a list of some comic characters who hail from Texas:
The Blob aka Fred Dukes - If you've watched or read or played any video games related to the X-Men, you've run across the Blob. What you may not know is that according to his origin story, Fred Dukes is from Lubbock, Texas. The Blob was the main villain in X-Men 3 way back in 1964 and recently appeared in the Deadpool & Wolverine movie. So, he's probably the longest running and most recognizable comic character from Texas.
Jamie Reyes aka Blue Beetle: Jamie Reyes is a more recent addition to this list. Reyes is the 3rd character to be the Blue Beetle in comics and was created in 2006. However, since his creation, has appeared in comic books, movies, tv shows and video games. He even got his own stand alone DC movie, which came out in 2023. In the comics, Jamie is from El Paso, Texas. However, in the movie, Jamie hails from the fictional Texas town of Palmera City.
Rafael Sandoval aka El Diablo: If you're thinking "Hey, I saw the Suicide Squad movie, I know this one!"...you're only half right. In comic books, there have been 3 different characters to take up the El Diablo mantle...and only one of them is from Texas. The one from the Suicide Squad is a different character. The second El Diablo is Rafael Sandoval and hails from Dos Rios, Texas. Unlike the other El Diablos, this El Diablo is a city councilman and fights for his city. The others have more criminal or supernatural origins.
Abraham Ford: Whether you read the comics or just watched the TV show, Sgt. Abraham Ford is a force of nature who proudly hails from Houston, Texas. Known for his aggressive nature, volatile tendencies and sometimes vile mouth, Ford was a hit with fans on the show and in the books.
The Rangers: As a group, the Rangers (consisting of Firebird, Living Lightning, Fifty-One, Red Wolf, Shooting Star, Armadillo, and Texas Twister) were basically the Avengers of the Southwest. They were based out of Texas and most of their members are from Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas. Some of the Texas members of the crew include Shooting Star who is from El Paso, Armadillo who is from San Antonio and Texas Twister who hails from Amarillo. The Rangers aren't exactly A-list players like the Avengers, but still pretty cool there's a Texas Superteam in the Marvel Universe.
Veronica Cale: This Dallas native is basically the female Lex Luthor. She has served as a big time adversary of Wonder Woman since her creation in 2003. Cale is a brilliant scientist and absolutely ruthless. Unfortunately, Cale hasn't broken through as a character yet to the big screen. She was set to be played by Elizabeth Hurley in the 2011 Wonder Woman TV series and be the main villain...but the show was never picked up after the pilot. Who knows, maybe Cale will make her way into James Gunn's DC Universe.
Wild Bill and Law & Order from G.I. Joes: Both characters are from Texas. Will Bill started out as an action figure in 1983, appeared in issue #11 of the G.I. Joe comic book and then ended up in several iterations of the G.I. Joe cartoons. He's from Brady, Texas.
Law & Order has a similar journey in pop culture. His action figure was released in 1987 before he appeared in issue #60 of the G.I. Joe comics. His appearances in the animated universe aren't as many as Will Bill's, but he did appear in the 1987 G.I. Joe movie and G.I. Joe: Renegades. He's from Houston, Texas.