I'm guessing Sandman?
No particular order ...
1. Spider-Man villain,
2. Vertigo comic series
3. Wesley Dodds
4. Joe Simon/Jack Kirby Golden Age hero
5. Joe Simon/Jack Kirby 1970s hero
6. Stan Lee's 'Just Imagine' version
7. Batman TV version played by Michael Rennie.
Have I missed anyone out?
Replies
How about Robin?
1. Pre-Crisis Earth-2 Dick Grayson (died in crisis)
2. Post-Infinite Crisis Earth-2 Dick Grayson (still living on Earth-2
3. Earth-1 Dick Grayson (now Nightwing)
4. Pre-Crisis Jason Todd (circus performer origin)
5. Post-Crisis Jason Todd (street urchin origin)
6. Timothy Drake (now Red Robin?)
7. Stephanie Brown (deceased)
8. Stan Lee's Just Imagine version
9. Robin 3000 (Elseworlds)
10. Carrie Kelly (Dark Knight)
I've probably missed a few, and that's not even counting the TV and movie versions.
You're counting three Dick Graysons and two Jason Todds on your list, Jeff -- I think what Dandy is getting at is the name applied to different personas.
Still, your list has seven characters, so it's a tie.
... and Stephanie Brown's dead? But didn't they reveal that she wasn't dead?
Stephanie Brown is the current Batgirl but then Damian Wayne is the current Robin so that makes eight!
What about Green Lantern (of Earth)?
...Well , Dan's covering , at least in part , literally different characters , and even at least one example of characters belonging to different companies !!!!!!!!! Specifically , the " Big Two " , at that .
Marvel's Sandman was a hero/almost-hero for a while , one of Silver Sable's crew in her title , IIRC , too...
Let's see........." Ghost Rider " ?
The Atomic Age ME character , then Marvel's Westerner ( sometimes Phanom Ride rand - eeeeek ! - " Night Rider " - Considering that GR goes about on a horse , in an all-white costume , the similarity to thre Ku Klux Klan , who were sometimes even called " Night Riders " , especially , even by those who admired them , at least in part...)...Um , anyway:
I think Marvel's continuity has had there be several Western Ghost Riders , with at least two having their own title or strip , too , hasn't there ???????
Of course , Johnny Blaze ,
then ____ ____ , the " Nineties " one .
And , Americomics has acqqired the ME version and both reprinted old stories and produced new ones calling him " Haunted Horseman "...
There was a Golden Age " Doc Strange " , an early Marvel villian in Iron Man named Doctor Strange , and the " real " Marvel one , hasn't there been ?????????
I recall the Legion Of Super-Heroes fighting a " Spider-Girl " during the SA , or was it a " Spidewoman " ?
Stephanie Brown is the current Batgirl…
Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. (Didn’t read it; didn’t “happen.”)
Damian Wayne is the current Robin so that makes eight!
That’s the one I couldn’t quite think of this morning (and I did read some of those stories).
There were also several other “one off” Batman and Robin teams I can’t quite put my finger on [such as the series of “fictional” stories of Batman II (Dick Grayson) and Robin II (Bruce Wayne, Jr.) written by Alfred the butler).
That reminds me… Bruce Wayne, Jr. did appear in several “real” Elseworlds adventures written and drawn by John Byrne, plus Bruce Wayne himself was the first to don the Robin costume in the pre-Crisis Untold Legends of the Batman mini-series, bring the Robin tally up to ten.
Yes, just to clarify: completely different characters and new takes from one name, rather than reboots or versions.
Simon & Kirby's Golden Age Sandman had no connection to their Bronze Age Sandman, am I right?
It does seem that Sandman is a generic name anyone can use - and have. Have any of these 'Sandmen' ever met?
Hector (Silver Scarab/Doctor Fate IV) was also DC's Sandman III.
My count for Sandman in superhero media are:
Marvel villianess Quicksand was a female version of their Sandman.
Including Stan Lee's version opens the door to any alternative-universe version, and the Batman TV show opens the door to other media. At that point, there are fine lines to walk.
Certainly, Superman and Batman have appeared in billions of alternative-universe comics (Imaginary Stories and Elseworlds like Stan Lee's version) that would swamp Sandman.
Likewise, once we add up all the TV and movie Supermen and possibly Batmen who have different origins, even if they end up in the same costume, there's no comparison.
But if we go with the spirit of the law rather than the letter, we can still consider Starman. Here, from the listing at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starman_(comics)) are the characters:
1. Ted Knight
2. Starman of 1951 (aka Dr. Mid-Nite)
3. Batman’s identity in Detective #247.
4. Batman villain.
5. Mikaal Tomas from First Issue Special
6. Prince Gavyn (Adventure #467)
7. Will Payton
8. Jack Knight
9. David Knight
10. Legionnaire Thom Kallor
11. Alternative-universe adult Starman, member of the JSA
12. Farris Knight, Starman of the 853rd universe
13. Victor Sono, Star Man of the Old West (Jonah Hex)
14. Starman from the JLA: Age of Wonder
15. Starman the intelligence agent from JSA: Unholy Three
16. More alternatives from Countdown: Arena, including an intelligent gorilla from Earth-17 and a feral Mikaal Thomas from Earth-4818.
17. Jeff Bridges' Starman
-- MSA
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