Captain Atom. They both suck now, but Captain Atom was at least cool once upon a time.
This, for mostly the same reasons, although reversed. I always liked Hawkman growing up, but they pretty much ruined him after
Hawkworld got turned into an ongoing series (the mini-series would have been fine as a standalone, though, and is indeed quite good). I never liked Geoff Johns' interpretation of the character, though, and now he's even more ruined.
Captain Atom, I've always liked, too, but he was likewise screwed up by bad stories and ridiculous out-of-character actions in recent years. Unlike Hawkman, though, he was featured in a good story in
Generation Lost, and in the relaunch he still
sort of feels like the same character, albeit with a grossly more diverse (and seemingly overpowered) power-set now.
So,
Captain Atom gets my vote.
convoluted history or not and cause i shall never every vote for that sorry ass taking ordesr lapdog ATOM!
HAWKMAN BABY!
Have you ever read the 1987 Bates/Weisman
Captain Atom series? He's far from being characterized as a lapdog therein. In fact, the only stuff he does for the government, he's practically blackmailed into doing.
JLU is really the only time I've seen the character so overtly portrayed as a blind follower of the military.