Monday was the total solar eclipse and you best believe I left work to go watch that magic happen! I live in Upstate New York and was in the path of totality! I set up a chair in my friend’s yard and had a good time staring at the sun. It was freaky deaky! And to celebrate, we’re doing a sun-themed superhero list!

There are plenty of superheroes out there with fire and heat-based powers, so I tried to narrow this list down to characters with a specific Sun theme. Maybe they just have fire powers, or maybe they have a ray gun that shoots a blinding flash of sunlight. Either way, they make this list if they a tied to the sun! And one of these days, I’ll have to do a moon list. The moon played a big role in the eclipse too! I’ll get around to it one of these days.

Join me after the jump for the six brightest sun-based comic book characters!

Honorable Mention: Solaris the Tyrant Sun

So I made it all the way through this list before remembering the existence of Solaris the Tyrant Sun! Not wanting to remove anybody else from the list, let’s just squeeze old Solaris into as an honorable mention here. A creation of writer Grant Morrison, Solaris is an artificial sun created in the 853rd century that is the greatest enemy of Superman’s future descendants. He’s got a whole weird background history, but has only made a few comic appearances, including in my all-time favorite Superman comic, All-Star Superman! Solaris is a weird one, as only Grant Morrison can write them!

6. Sun Girl

Sun Girl is a superhero from the Timely Comics days of Marvel, who starred in a 3-issue series 1948. She definitely looked the part. Mary Mitchell was an acrobat who had a ray gun that shot a very bright blast of energy, which is how she lived up to her moniker. She was also a sidekick to the original Human Torch, so she wasn’t just some nobody. She knew people! A modern Sun Girl appeared in some New Warriors comics in the 2010s, but not much else has been done with this overall character.

5. Solarr

Why can nobody spell right? Anyway, Solarr started out as a Captain America villain back in the 70s. He’s a mutant who can absorb solar energy and manipulate the light and had a pretty pathetic super villain career. He’s main claim to fame, probably, was an appearance in that 90s X-Men animated episode where he and Toad ran a mutant community that kidnapped Cyclops. That was a weird episode.

4. Lightray

Lightray is one of the New Gods, from Jack Kirby’s original New Genesis characters. He’s one of the good guys in the battle against Darkseid and the forces of evil. He’s an immortal being, like all of his kin, and then he specifically has the power to generate and harness solar energy. He uses this for energy blasts and nova explosions and whatnot. Always good to have the bright, heroic types on the good guy’s side.

3. Sunfire

Sunfire is a mutant who has been on and off the X-Men at various times over the decades. He was a mutant that the team encountered early on, hailing from Japan. And he later joined up (and quit shortly thereafter) when the team expanded to include more international mutants, like Storm, Colossus and Wolverine. He’s got the power to absorb solar radiation and turn it into fiery plasma blasts! He’s also based his costume on Japan’s moniker as the Land of the Rising Sun, so he definitely makes this list.

2. Sunspot

Sunspot has been on a role recently, and is the one new character really taking off in the X-Men ’97 cartoon revival! He’s been around since the 1980s as a member of the New Mutants, the junior X-Men at the time who have grown into their own heroes. He’s even led some Avengers teams! Roberto Da Costa is another mutant with the power to absorb solar energy and turn it into physical strength, flight and energy blasts. He also transformers into a badass looking solar energy warrior, which is always cool when you’re a superhero.

1. Sun Boy

From Sun Girl to Sun Boy, here comes Dirk Morgna, a member of the futuristic Legion of Super-Heroes! Unfortunately, his story is insane. Dirk used to hang out at his dad’s nuclear power plant, when an explosion kills one of the workers. Dirk is blamed by the chief scientist, who throws the kid into areactor, granting him the powers of heat and light generation. He was then rejected by the Legion at first, only to get accepted later down the line. He was leader of the team during a period of great upheaval and quit himself to join the Earth government, where he became the PR lapdog of the Dominators, and was branded a traitor. And then he died a horrific death! And then he died several more times in various Legion reboots. Life has not been good for poor Sun Boy.

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