Jonny Prophet and I have ridiculous geek conversations, such
as analyzing who would win in a fight between Superman and Goku (it depends on
what level there powers are at). One such topic was debating what
superheroes/superhero teams have the best set of super-villains. So being
insane from sleep deprivation, I will now reveal my top ten rogues galleries!
Honorable Mention: Legion of Superheroes – This might
seem like an odd pick, and true that none of these characters are that well
known, but the Legion has a great set of unique villains almost exclusive to
them. You have Cosmic King, Lightning Lord and Saturn Queen, as well as fellow
Legion of Super-Villain Earth Man, followed by the Fatal Five consisting of
Emerald Empress, Mano, Validus, Tharok and the Persuader. Then you have a heavy
like the immortally evil Mordru and the mysterious Time Trapper. I think the LOS have a great villain set that
exceeds many others in terms of originality and impact.
10. Invincible – Okay, this one is a pick just for me. I
have fallen in love with the Invincible comic. Its great writing and memorable
characters remind me why I love comic books. While Mark Grayson hasn’t been on
the scene for very long, he has accumulated a great set of villains including
at one point his own father Omni-Man. Invincible has also had to face the
Martian army of Sequids, Doc Seismic, Titan, the Lizard League, the Mauler
Twins, Conquest, Powerplex and possibly his biggest threat… Angstrom Levy. One
of the reasons why I pick Invincible’s rogues gallery is that over time the
comic actually follows their lives and progression. Rather than a baddie
popping up to do evil then disappearing we often see a glimpse into their
lives. We find out how Angstrom Levy came to be and why he hates Invincible. We
see how Powerplex was created by the ‘ripple effect’ of Invincible’s actions.
It makes for great storytelling, which is something many comics today really
lack.
9. Justice League – Here’s the thing about the Justice
League… they don’t have many of their own
villains. Seriously, they fight Lex Luthor (who is Superman’s villain) and
Gorilla Grodd (Flash’s villain) and Deathstroke (a Teen Titan villain) and Dr.
Polaris (a Green Lantern villain)… starting to see a pattern here? True, they
have fought Despero and Starro and every time Darkseid comes around it usually
isn’t just Superman who gets involved, but how many reoccurring villains do
they really have? It seems like their biggest threats are one time mega
villains like Imperiex or Nekron. I include the Justice League because by
default they have a good rogues gallery mainly because its members attract
their own villains.
8. Justice Society – Now the Justice Society of America, on the
other hand, have a great set of unique villains from various time periods. Just
for starters there are Injustice Society members like Vandal Savage, Johnny
Sorrow, Icicle, Gentleman Ghost, Shade, and Per Degaton. How about Black Adam?
That’s pretty bad ass. You can also add Eclipso, Solomon Grundy, Ultra-Humanite,
and more recent villains Extant and Gog. What I love about the JSA rogues
gallery is that they have a classic feel and a lot of variety. Somehow I get
the feeling that Earth 2 will lose something in its “translation” of them (if
Solomon Grundy’s any proof).
7. Superman – Okay, aside from the obvious Lex Luthor and
Darkseid, Supes actually has a great set of baddies, many of which are
exclusive to him in one way or another. This includes Intergang, the Parasite,
Toyman, Bizarro, Mr. Mxyzptlk, General Zod, Kryptonite Man and newer foes like
Livewire, Cyborg Superman and Doomsday. Many of his rogues gallery get
overlooked, but considering how few are actually evil cop-out versions of
Superman (and in Bizarro’s case he’s actually more complicated than that) I
would say he has a great variety. (Hulk villains should take note.)
6. Avengers – Yes, the same could be said for the Avengers
that I said for Justice League… the members attract their foes. After all, the
first villain the Avengers fought was Thor’s nemesis Loki. And how many times
have they fought Captain America’s
baddies like Red Skull and Baron Strucker? But the reason I place the Avengers
higher than the JLA is that they have some great villains all their own. For
starters, how about the time travelling despot Kang or the evil robot Ultron?
Baron Zemo may have started a Cap villain, but his Masters of Evil put him
above the pack. Add to that the Wrecking Crew and the Lethal Legion. I
personally feel that the Avengers have better villains than the Justice League.
Feel free to dispute that statement, but I can’t think of very many JLA baddies
that compare.
5. X-Men – These uncanny mutants might only have this spot
because of my love of the X-man (they were what first got me into comics, after
all) but I think they have a great array of villains. First and foremost is
Magneto, easily one of the greatest super-villains of all time. Combine that
with Brotherhood of Evil Mutants alum like Toad, Blob, Mystique and Pyro, then
add the Juggernaut! Don’t forget the Sentinels in all of their various
incarnations (Nimrod, Bastion and Master Mold). Not convinced? Okay, try the
Dark Phoenix, Mr. Sinister, Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen and the entire
freakin’ Hellfire Club! By the way, you can credit most of these great characters
to writer Chris Claremont’s legendary seventeen year run on the book.
4. Fantastic Four – The Fantastic Four have a slew of great
villains, some the most legendary in Marvel Comics. However, I give them spot
number four because of one supervillain in particular… Dr. Doom. I honestly
think he is the greatest super-villain ever. He encompasses everything you want
in an over the top bad guy. Evil genius? Check. Magic powers? Check.
Intimidating armor and mask? Check. Long flowing cloak? Check! Now, their
villain roster doesn’t stop there by any means. You can also add Galactus,
Namor (at times), Terrax, Annihilus, Mad Thinker, Dragon Man, Mole Man, the
Fearsome Four, Puppet Master, etc. Without a doubt this quartet has some of the
best bad guys around.
3. The Flash – I could not possibly forget the rogues
gallery so legendary they got to just inherit the name Rogues… the villains of
Central City. Flash’s villains are really unique in that most had no super
powers (at least until lately) but relied on gadgets. For instance, Mirror
Master, Weather Wizard, the Trickster, Heat Wave and the grand daddy of the all
Captain Cold all used various weapons and gadgets to commit their crimes and
attack the Flash. But then there are those with powers like Professor Zoom (or
Hunter Zolomon Zoom), Gorilla Grodd and Tar Pit. Flash has a wildly inventive
set of bad guys and what I find really interesting is that the Rogues (the core
group at least) is really like a criminal “union” where they operate not
necessarily as a team but do live by a code of standards and ethics. That alone
makes Flash’s set of villains truly unique in the world of comics.
2. Spider-man – The Web-slinger has some of the most diverse
and iconic villains in comics. Start with Norman Osborn, whether he is just a
asshole corporate mogul or as the evil Green Goblin, he has had a massive
impact in not just Spider-man’s life (Gwen Stacy anyone?) but also the Marvel
Universe (especially as of late as Bendis has made him the Marvel equivalent of
Lex Luthor). How about Doctor Octopus or his band of fellow villains that made
up various incarnations of the Sinister Six, such as Electro, Sandman, Kraven
the Hunter, Mysterio, Hobgoblin, and Vulture? Add Rhino, Shocker, the Lizard, Scorpion
and mob bosses like Silvermane and the Kingpin. Of course, this leads to Venom
and Carnage who radically altered both Spider-man’s books but, in a way, comics
in general. (They were two of the biggest pre-cursors to the ‘extreme’ 90’s
era.) I highly considered giving Spider-man the top spot but I can’t… and we
all know why.
1. Batman – The Dark Knight has, easily, the most well known
and iconic set of villains ever. A lot of this due to the successes of
television and movie franchises making so many of them household names, but
even the less well known characters carry a great deal of depth and variety.
Ask a random person on the street to name at least three Batman villains and I
bet they could… hell, they could probably name five. Of course you have to
start with everyone’s favorite… the Joker, definitely one of the greatest
villains ever. From there are the usual suspects like the Riddler, the Penguin,
and Catwoman. From there we move onto the more secondary villains that are
still pretty well known thanks to movies and cartoons, a list that includes Two-Face,
Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Bane and Ra’s Al Ghul. Even his more obscure villains interesting
such as Killer Croc, Clayface, Firefly, Professor Pyg, Hugo Strange, and the
Mad Hatter. I could go on and on, but why bother? Anyone could have guessed
Batman’s baddies would be on top. Honestly, it really came down to notoriety.
Batman’s villains are not only extremely unique, but are far more famous than
Spidey’s. Not one of the Webhead’s rogues are even close to the fame of the
four baddies in the original Batman movie (Joker, Riddler, Penguin and
Catwoman) and that puts Batman’s rogues gallery on top.
So there you have it. More proof that Jonny Prophet and the
F’N Toaster are massive geeks with no lives. Tune in for future geek topics
like “If Shazam (Captain Marvel) is doing some chick and when he climaxes yells
out “Shazam!” would he turn back into a little kid and how awkward would that
be for the woman to realize she is basically a pedophile?”
This shit keeps us up at night, people!
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