Han vs. Mal... who's the better space bastard?

In the spring of 1977, one of the worst directors in history created one of the most popular movies of all time: Star Wars- A New Hope. God only knows how someone so obviously retarded created the most epic space opera ever... but I like to think it had something to do with that year: 

1977 was the ONLY year in history that it has snowed on the beach in Miami, Florida. It was the year that Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning for the SEVENTH time and survived. It was the year of Elvis' death. It was the year that SETI heard the "WOW!" signal from deep in space. It was the year food stamps were invented. It was the year Orlando Bloom was born...but, I digress. 

Putting aside my distaste for George Lucas, the point is that on May 25, 1977, the most bad-ass character in history was born: Han Solo.

He was cocky, arrogant, good looking, and just all-around fucking awesome. He was the first space cowboy... and no, I don't mean that shitty Clint Eastwood movie. 

Han wielded a futuristic blaster that still had its roots in a Colt 45 revolver, and when mixed with his cavalier attitude, he become possibly the most well loved hero of any movie. Ever. 
Especially when compared to how much of a pussy Luke was...


Han Solo's popularity remained pretty much unrivaled... that is, until September, 2002, when writer/ director Joss Whedon released his scifi/ western series: Firefly. As I'm sure anyone who's read this far and is still interested already knows, Firefly was promptly cancelled by Fox, but received one of the biggest cult followings of all time. It is now a staple centerpiece for any nerd's DVD library, and a topic for far too many drunken debates. 
If you haven't seen it, I'm sorry. I'm not going to try and describe it or give you a synopsis... because, frankly, that's what Google is for. Or just go torrent the show... it's only like 10 hours in it's entirety. I'm sure you have nothing better to do. (You're reading this...)

The point is, Joss Whedon had succeeded in finally, after almost 30 years, creating a character who could rival Han Solo: Captain Malcolm Reynolds. 

He fought on the losing side of a galactic civil war. He's mysterious... full of compassion, yet cold-hearted. Tormented by inner issues, he had this way of pulling people in; an intrigue. 
He was the perfect space cowboy: huge revolver, suspenders, leather duster, bad-ass spaceship. He even rides horses in several episodes!

Now, take a look at the two photos above- do you notice the similarities? Almost an identical pose. Han and Mal may have a lot in common, but they are very different. In the end, I think that Han presented a more shallow, likable character. Even his unpredictability was predictable- you knew when he was going to be a cocky jerk... that's just who he was. Mal was deeper... he was plagued with loss and personal issues, and you never knew how he would react. In essence, he was more real.

But all in all, this isn't for me to decide. I don't claim to have an answer, just a question. And an opinion... but my opinion isn't what this is about, so I'll leave it out. 
You decide- who is the better space hero? Who's the most memorable of these two cocky, pistol-toting, arrogant space bastards? 

Comments welcome. 



Writing credit: Steven Dye