STEPHEN COLBERT

AGE: 42
OCCUPATION: Comedian, host of The Colbert Report
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 1

PRO: Emmy-winning host one of Comedy Central's highest-rated series—which casts him as a right-wing pundit styled after Bill O'Reilly—that along with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is often credited as many television viewers' only source of news. Following the death of Captain America last month, Marvel Comics bequeathed Cap's legendary shield to Colbert.

CON: His performance at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association dinner stirred controversy, raising concerns over the biased nature of his satire.