who was the toughest marvel hero of the silver/bronze age

[daz71]

reading some old issues there doesn't seem to be much between the following
silver surfer
thor
the hulk
wonder man
hercules

[Hector]

Toughest? You might wanna be a bit more specific. Some are stronger, some overall more powerful etc.

To me, the one who loves to fight, he lives for it, can both dish it and take it...is Hercules. Hulk fights because he's mad, Thor is more similar to Hercules, but seems more refined to me. Didnt follow Wonder Man that much...and Silver Surfer is too noble.

I'd pick Hercules for sheer toughness.

BTW, the DC version of Hercules sucks...Wonder Woman can kick his butt, lol.

[Mr.Marion]

reading some old issues there doesn't seem to be much between the following
silver surfer
thor
the hulk
wonder man
hercules

Silver Surfer and Thor from that list.
Both were targeted by Mephisto. Perhaps because they are best examples of hope for what heroes of Earth could be.

[Hector]

But that's not exactly a tough trait, that's being more noble and heroic...like I previously mentioned.

Being plain tough is not necessarily being heroic. Hercules is someone who loves to fight for the heck of it...whether he wins or gets his arse handed to him...he just keeps on coming...drinks a gallon of wine afterwards...then beds some wench...that's a tough hombre, my humble opinion of course, lol.

The Thing comes to mind as well...

[Hector]

Now, who I think is the most powerful of those listed?

Hands down the Silver Surfer.

[Starroid Raiders Dagon]

Off my basic knowledge of fights from those eras that I read, I never saw the Hulk beat Thor. He had a go at the Surfer and he changed him back to Banner.

[daz71]

i've seen a stalemate between hercules and thor.i've read that wonder man nearly beat thor but was killed by zemo.never read the battles between thor & hulk and surfer & thor.

[Grimjohn]

The Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider was a tough S.O.B., could take a beatin' and dish it back out. I remember Captain America taking part in some slobberknockers back in that era. Powerman too.

[LordMudd]

Wonderman became Ionic energy, essentially indestructible, and immortal. The only one I can think of more powerful is Goliath/Atlas-Ionic energy + Pym particles.


CCC.

[thunderbolt]

Bronze age tough guys...Wolverine, Frankenstein's Monster, Luke Cage, Shang-Chi, Punisher, Man-Thing, Dracula, Blade, Werewolf By Night

[toys2cool]

Thor!!!!

[Riffster]

Thor, except for the whole lose the hammer for 60 seconds and he's Blake

[samurainoir]

[Random Axe]

The single toughest gut in Marvel is not on the list. Ben Grimm, the Thing, is the roughtest, toughest SOB in that universe. He's not the most powerful but he can withstand a lot and dish it out.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Agreed. Ben is a big lovable lug (although he is not dumb, despite some writers forgetting this. He's an Air Corps/Air Force pilot, for Pete's sake). BUT, he's got a lot of pent up frustration from being turned into a giant pile of rocks, and when he gets his mind set, he won't back down. Any other man would run from yet another beating from the Hulk, but he charges in headfirst, every time.

Chris