What makes a classic, timeless comic book moment? I'll be damned if I know! What I do know is what I like, and that's what this list will contain. The following list details those comic book moments that have stuck out in my mind. These are some of the scenes that have made me into the comic book fanatic typing these lines today. Before I get started though, a quick disclaimer. These are the moments I actually remember offhand. I'm sure there are tons of great moments I'm forgetting, so this list is far from perfect.
One more thing before I get started, comments are(as always)highly appreciated. Tell me what you think about my list(whether you agree or disagree)and please, tell me which moments caused you to realize, "Yes, I'm a comic book fan!". First off, some honorable mention. These are a few moments that nearly made the top ten, but were just edged out.
-The breaking of the Batman
-The death of Superman
-The wedding of Cyclops and Jean Grey
-The aftermath of the nuclear blast in "Kingdom Come"
-The battle between Geoforce and Deathstroke from "DC: Last Will and Testament"
-The death and subsequent funeral of Ted Knight
-The "death" of Batman
10)The Return of Bart Allen(from Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3)- When I began reading DC comics a little over a year ago, the first complete DC series I purchased was Peter David's "Young Justice". It was that series that first introduced me to Bart Allen, who was using the moniker of Impulse at the time. I immediately became a fan of Bart, and went on to buy the "Impulse" series along with the current run of "Teen Titans", where Bart became Kid Flash. After the events of the "Infinite Crisis" x-over, Bart wound up aging several years and succeeded Wally West as the Flash. Unfortunately, Bart's run as the Fastest Man Alive was short lived, as he was killed by his crazed clone, Inertia with help from the Rogues. Needless to say, I was bummed. Bart was dead, and since he wasn't one of the big name DC characters, I had little reason to believe he'd ever make a return. Imagine my delight upon reading the "FC: LoTW" mini-series and slowly realizing that all signs were pointing towards Bart making a comeback. Then on the final page of FC: LoTW #3, Bart made his triumphant return to the DCU. The smile on my face after closing the back cover of that comic was literally from ear to ear.
9)The stand-off between Jason Todd, Batman and the Joker(from Batman #650)- I have a confession to make... I'm a big fan of Jason Todd. Yes, I'm a fan of the most reviled Robin in the history of the Batman comic book series. I thought Jason's death at the hands of the Joker in the "A Death in the Family" storyline was unnecessarily brutal, and I was quite pleased to learn that Jason wound up returning to life after the events of "Infinite Crisis". Of course, once Jason came back, you had to know it was just a matter of time before he ran into the man who "killed" him, the Joker. This reunion of sorts took place in earnest in Batman #649. Sure, Jason ran into the Joker once before after his return and proceeded to beat him with a crowbar, but that meeting lacked any real satisfaction, since the Joker wasn't in his right mind at the time(is the Joker ever really in his "right mind?). In Batman #649, Jason manages to capture the Clown Prince of Crime, tying him up and holding him hostage. The real fireworks take place in Batman #650, as Jason and his former mentor, the Batman battle each other. During the battle, Jason leads Batman to the location where he was holding the Joker hostage, and asks how Batman could possibly allow the Joker to continue to live after what the Joker had done to Jason. The dialogue between Batman and Jason was extremely well done(nice job Judd Winick!)and the scene climaxes with Jason holding the Joker in front of himself while holding a gun to the Joker's head, leaving only his head exposed to Batman. Jason tells Batman he was going to kill Joker on the count of three and the only way Batman could prevent the death of his arch-enemy was to hit Jason with a(fatal)head-shot. Jason gets to two-and-a-half, and Batman throws a Batarang that catches Jason in the throat, freeing the Joker to blow up the building the three were in. The thing that pulled me into this scene was the way Jason just couldn't comprehend why the Batman couldn't/wouldn't kill the Joker after Jason's death. That scene has to be one of the most emotionally charged, dramatic stand-offs in recent comic book history.
8)The decapitation of Magneto(from New X-Men #150)- This is really a pretty easy moment to explain. Magneto disguises himself as a teacher at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, secretly puts together an army of evil students, and tears the X-Men apart from the inside out. Mags then takes over New York City, and pretty much runs amok. Eventually the X-Men manage to confront Mags, and he kills off Jean Grey with a electro-magnetic pulse wave. Jean's death sends Wolverine into one of his patented berserker rages, and Wolvie actually beheads Magneto with his claws! Magneto's death at the hands of Wolverine was really perfect. It fit Wolvie's character fully, and it was really the ideal way to end that particular storyline. Magneto killed off Jean Grey, one of the most beloved of all the X-Men. Magneto's punishment definitely fit his crime. Then Marvel brought Mags back... In like 2 months time! For some reason, everything Grant Morrison did during his New X-Men run had to be undone, so Chris Claremont brought Mags back in the pages of "New Excalibur". But wait, how did Magneto survive decapitation??? Marvel simply explained Mags death away by blaming the Scarlet Witch... Sure, why not blame Wanda, she gets blamed for everything else!
7)Superman vs. Thor(From Avengers/JLA #2)- It's time for another confession. I really don't like Thor. I can't even really explain why, but I've never liked him. Didn't like him when I was a kid, and I don't like him now. Maybe it's the way he speaks, maybe it's the fact that he always turns up to save the day, maybe it's his holier-than-thou attitude, or maybe it's just his hair. I don't know. When Superman and Thor met in battle in Avengers/JLA #2, I was totally expecting a stalemate. Sure, common sense tells me Superman would win, but I figured there was no way Marvel would let Thor look inferior to Superman... Boy was I wrong! The two powerhouses fought for three pages, neither one giving or gaining any ground, until Thor swung Mjolnir at Superman, and Supes stopped the momentum of the hammer with his bare hand! Thor(and myself!)was stunned by the fact that Supes had halted the progress of Mjolnir, and Supes used that momentary lapse of concentration to knock out the arrogant God of Thunder! And when I say "knocked out", I mean KNOCKED OUT! Sure, after Thor was KO'ed, a group of angry Avengers attacked Supes and took him down, but in a one-on-one fight, Superman proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was indeed mightier than Thor.
6)The Death of Captain Marvel(From the Marvel Graphic Novel, "The Death of Captain Marvel")- This really isn't so much a single moment as much as it is the entire graphic novel. The backstory here is that while fighting c-list villain Nitro, Captain Marvel is exposed to a carcinogenic which eventually leads to Captain Marvel getting incurable cancer. The "Death" graphic novel chronicles Mar-Vell's final days on Earth as well as Saturn's moon Titan, the home of the Eternals. Like I stated earlier, there's not really one particular moment that grabs my attention in this story, it's the overall feel of the story. From the start of this GN, you KNOW Captain Marvel is going to die. When I first purchased this comic a few years ago, I knew going in Mar-Vell would die. He's been dead for over twenty years. However, knowing he was destined to perish did little to soften the blow. As someone who has been touched by the big C, Captain Marvel's losing struggle with cancer is particularly touching, and Jim Starlin did an amazing job of capturing the dignity Mar-Vell faced his death with... Jeez, just thinking about this GN is making me bleary-eyed! This graphic novel definitely provided me with one of the most emotionally draining experiences I ever had reading a comic book. Without a doubt, "The Death of Captain Marvel" is a credit to the comic book medium.
5)Legion killing Professor Xavier(From X-Men #41)- This is one of those comic books that still manages to give me goosebumps to this day. That's how awesome it is. The set-up here is Prof. X's son, Legion, goes back in time to kill Magneto in an attempt to make his father's life easier. Legion figures no Magneto would mean no hardship for the Professor. So Legion uses his immense mutant powers to travel into the past, but is pursued by a couple of the X-Men, who are trying to prevent his callous act of murder. Not only do the X-Men fail, Legion himself winds up killing the wrong man! As Legion prepares to deliver the killer blow to Magneto, Prof. X leaps in the way, taking Legion's deadly payload himself. While the X-Men and Legion stand around dumbfounded, reality itself begins to crystallize and break all around them as the Universe re-writes history. Eventually the crystal wave arrives in the present, and the X-Men who remained behind watch helplessly as their very existences are wiped away. Not only was Prof. X's death and the subsequent crystallization effect a truly awesome sight to behold, but it was the death of Prof. X which heralded the beginning of the greatest comic book crossover of all-time, "The Age of Apocalypse"!
4)Professor X mindwipes Magneto(From X-Men #25)- This action took place during the X-Men 30th anniversary storyline, "Fatal Attractions". If not for the Age of Apocalypse, Fatal Attractions would be my favorite comic book x-over of all time. Prof. X's mindwipe of Magneto actually wound up having some far reaching ramifications in the Marvel Universe, eventually leading to the Onslaught x-over. Why would Prof. X mindwipe his old friend you ask? Well, the simple answer is that Magneto really had it coming. Over the course of Fatal Attractions, Magneto builds a new space station home(Avalon), tears Cable apart(literally!), taunts the X-Men at the funeral of Illyana Rasputin, encourages Colossus to betray the X-Men, kills all power to the planet Earth, and finally, the coup de grace, tears the Adamantium right off of Wolverine's bones. After Magneto nearly killed the ol' Canucklehead, Prof. X finally realized it was time to stop treating Magneto with kid gloves. The panel where Prof. X unleashes the totality of his mental abilities was really a sight to behold, as was Magneto's reaction, one of total surprise. That act helped me realize that Prof. X wasn't just some old guy who sits in a wheel chair bossing the X-Men around, he was a real force to be reckoned with!
3)Hal Jordan vs. Sinestro(From Green Lantern #25)- Hal Jordan and Sinestro have a long history, and have butted heads on numerous occasions. However, to me, their fight towards the end of the Sinestro Corps War storyline was the defining battle between these two arch-enemies. After Sinestro and his Corps had attacked the Green Lantern headquarters on Oa, the villain decided to set his sights on the planet Earth. Hal and Sinestro's climatic battle ended up taking place in the rebuilding Coast City, Hal's hometown. Although Kyle Rayner was also on-hand for the big fight, it was Hal and Sinestro who stole the show. After their rings were drained, Hal and Sinestro resorted to a dirty, visceral, no-holds-barred brawl. The fight was wrought with emotion as the two former friends tore into each other with any object they could get their hands on. It was truly a wonderfully ugly street fight. In the end, Hal managed to knock Sinestro out cold, and proceeded to arrest his one time mentor. That fight is probably my favorite comic book battle of all-time.
2)Magneto is revealed to be Xorn(From New X-Men #149)- This was one of the first scenes I thought about when I decided I wanted to do this list. I've already spoken at length about what led to this scene in #8 of this list, so I'm not going to repeat the backstory. The way Grant Morrison and Phil Jimenez actually played out Magneto's shocking revelation was what made this scene into an unforgettable classic. It was just Prof. X and Xorn alone in a classroom at the school when Xorn began to show the ability to close doors and lock windows with but a thought. Xorn then took away the Professor's ability to walk(prior to this scene, Xorn had "cured" Xavier's paralysis)and began to make Magneto-ish statements. From there, the scene switches to Xorn, who proceeds to take off his helmet, revealing the familiar visage of Magneto. The way the whole scene played out was just perfectly done, and to me anyway, totally and completely unexpected!
1)Magneto tears the Adamantium out of Wolverine(From X-Men #25)- The first time I read X-Men #25, I was 12 years old and I was really hitting my stride as a young comic book fan. That's probably why this event had such an impact on me(and still does to this day). Here was Wolverine, far and away the most popular X-Man, facing off against Magneto, the greatest adversary the X-Men have ever dealt with. From the start of X-Men #25, there was a feeling that the confrontation between Magneto and the X-Men was going to lead to something special. It had to! With all Magneto had done, and the promise made by Prof. Xavier that Magneto wouldn't harm anybody ever again, this comic book just had a big event feel. That big event came when Magneto, distracted by the combined telepathic assault of Prof. X and Jean Grey, was attacked by Wolverine, who cut an "X" shape right into Magneto's chest. After getting over the initial shock that Wolverine would assault him in such a manner(remember, Wolvie and Mags served as teammates together in the 80's), Magneto grabs a hold of Wolverine with his magnetic powers and tears every last drop of Adamantium from his body while quoting Aeschylus' Greek Tragedy, "Prometheus Bound"(which I obviously didn't realize as a 12 year old!). The panel where Magneto is standing in the background with his fist clenched, magnetic energy coursing from his body, and Wolvie is in the foreground, literally being torn apart is without a doubt my all-time single favorite comic book panel. Andy Kubert more than did himself proud with that piece of art. After Magneto's vicious assault on Wolverine, I was hooked on comics big time. Today, I can point back to that scene as the defining moment in my comic book collecting career. Without a doubt the biggest, most important comic book moment in my life was Magneto's destruction of Wolverine.
Huh, I didn't realize just how X-Men heavy my favorite moments list was until finishing up. I guess that just goes to show how important the X-Men were/are to me. Well, those are my favorite comic book moments, what are yours?
Showing posts with label List. Show all posts
Showing posts with label List. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The Fifteen Greatest Super-Villains in Comics.
Not that long ago, IGN.com put up a list of who they considered the top 100 comic book villains. Since I'm a bit of a stickler for lists(and villains), I happily read through their list to see who they placed at #1. According to IGN, the #1 top villain of all-time was Magneto. Magneto?!? Sure, Magneto is a great villain with an awesome look, but there is NO WAY I'd classify him as THE greatest villain of all-time... Hell, I wouldn't even call Magneto the #1 villain in the Marvel Universe! Since I've been looking for a weekly feature to add to this blog, and as I've already stated, I LOVE lists, I figured I'd give making a list of my favorite villains a try.
In order to create my list, I dug through both my Marvel and DC Encyclopedias, jotting down names of those who I felt deserved a place on my list of infamy. It should also be noted that I'm only listing characters from the big two, the Marvel and DC Universes. Obviously I haven't read EVERY comic book ever published, so my facts on some characters may be incomplete. That's where my fellow comic book fans come in. My main reason for making this list is to get a dialogue started with those of you who would also consider yourselves comic book fanatics. Whether you agree or disagree with my picks, I'm hoping for some comments from you, the readers. Well, without further ado, onto the list.
15)Doomsday- Doomsday's claim to infamy is the fact that he was the creature who "killed" Superman back in the 1990's. Unfortunately, that's about the only thing Doomsday has ever done... Since then, Doomsday has popped up sporadically throughout the DCU to create havoc, but has always been summarily defeated. Most recently Doomsday was beaten to death by an angry mob of Kryptonians on the moon. Although recently Doomsday has been portrayed as little more than a c-list villain, I'll always remember him as the bruising monster who finally brought down the Man of Steel.
14)Mr. Sinister- Mr. Sinister has always been a favorite of mine based on look alone. The guy just LOOKS evil! However, this isn't a list of who looks the most evil, it's a list of who has DONE the most evil. Right from the start Sinister was bad news. Prior to gaining his powers, Sinister was a scientist in 19th century England, who was obsessed with the theory of human mutations. Sinister went so far as to dissect the corpse of his own dead child to further his scientific research. After gaining his vast powers thanks to Apocalypse, Sinister continued his study of humanity in as amoral a fashion as possible. Sinister's most infamous act would probably be his role as the mastermind of the Mutant Massacre. Sinister hired a band of assassins(the Marauders)to wipe out a society of sewer dwelling mutants called the Morlocks. Before they were ultimately stopped by several X-teams, the Marauders managed to kill hundreds of Morlocks.
13)Magneto- Yes that's right, I wouldn't even place Magneto in the top ten! Magneto is a great villain, when he wants to be... That is my main issue with Magneto. He isn't always a villain. I almost hesitate to refer to Magneto as a villain. Magneto's goals are at times almost admirable. Sure there's crazy Magneto who wants to kill/subjugate humanity in the name of mutant supremacy, but then there's also the other Magneto who is willing to isolate himself and like-minded mutants away from a hateful humanity. For a portion of the late 1980's, Magneto was actually the reformed leader of the X-Men! While Magneto does have his moments of good behavior, bad Magneto is almost unsurpassed in his acts of vengefulness! Magneto's most infamous actions occurred during the "Fatal Attraction" storyline where he struck the planet Earth with a massive electro-magnetic pulsewave, which knocked out all power to the planet and downed all airplanes. Think about all of the death a planet-wide blackout would cause in hospitals alone... However, Magneto wasn't done yet. Before he was finally stopped by Prof. Xavier, Magneto managed to tear the Adamantium coating off of Wolverine's bones... Through his skin! The scene where Magneto completely and utterly destroys Wolverine is among my favorite comic book scenes of all-time.
12)Cassandra Nova- Yes, it's yet another X-villain. I grew up reading X-Men comics, so their enemies are closest to my heart. Cassandra Nova is the "twin" of Professor Chareles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. While still in her mother's womb, Cassandra attempted to kill her twin brother, but was stopped by a telepathic blast from Prof. X. Cassandra's body was stillborn but her mind lived on until she became powerful enough to create a new body for herself. Cassandra's most infamous act would have to be the decimation of the mutant island of Genosha. Cassandra sent a cadre of wild Sentinels to Genosha, where they murdered some 16 million mutants. Although Cassandra has done little else since that act, killing that many mutants easily earns Cassandra a spot on this list.
11)Deathstroke the Terminator- What can I really say about Deathstroke? He's one of those characters I just can't get enough of. Deathstroke is the DC Universe's top assassin, as well as one of the deadliest hand to hand fighters around. Deathstroke has repeatedly butted heads with the Teen Titans as well as most of the DCU's top heroes. At one point, Deathstroke convinced his daughter Ravager to wear a fake eye made out of Kryptonite in an attempt to kill Superman. Although instantly deadly to Kryptonians, Kryptonite will eventually cause cancer in humans, as it did to Lex Luthor. While Deathstorke's awful act of child abuse was pretty bad, his most infamous moment would have to be his role in the destruction of the city of Bludhaven. It was Deathstroke who dropped Chemo on Bludhaven during "Infinite Crisis", killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in that city.
10)Apocalypse- An immortal mutant from ancient Egypt, Apocalypse is destined to plague the X-Men not just today, but into the far-flung future as well. Possibly the first mutant, Apocalypse has been around since 3,000 BC. With assistance from alien Celestrial technology, Apocalypse managed to become(virtually)immortal. Being immortal, Apocalypse has the luxury of waiting for the right moment to strike at his enemies, the X-Men. In almost every timeline, Apocalypse emerges victorious, if not in the present, as seen during the "Age of Apocalypse", then in the distant future, such as where Cable grew up. While Apocalypse has many evil acts under his belt including his creation of Mr. Sinister and Exodus, the transformation of Angel into Archangel, or the time he merged with Cyclops to become Cyclopolypse, his true moment of infamy would have to be when he poisoned the infant son of Cyclops with a deadly techno-organic virus. Cyclops' son, who would grow up to become Cable, was one of the few beings in creation Apocalypse viewed as a potential threat, and to prevent a future battle with the infant, Apocalypse poisoned the child. If not for the intervention of a member of the Clan Askani(who were a group from the future dedicated to defeating Apocalypse), the infant who would grow up to become Cable would have died a very painful death.
9)Brainiac- The intergalactic conqueror named Brainiac has been repackaged into a much more interesting/dangerous character in recent years thanks to the genius of Geoff Johns. The pre-Action Comics #850 history of Brianiac is quite confusing and contradictory. First he was a humanoid creature, then a cyborg, then a hybrid humanoid/robot, in other words, it's pretty difficult to pin down who or what Brainiac is. For the sake of keeping things somewhat simple, I'm just going to concentrate on the current incarnation of Brainiac. Brainiac stays to himself on his ship, sending out an army of drones to conquer alien civilizations. The Brainiac drones then bottle and shrink down the conquered alien cities and transport them onto Brainiac's main starship. Brainiac then studies and absorbs all of the knowledge he can from these captured alien civilizations. Brainiac's moment of infamy would have to be his role in the death of Superman's adopted father, Jonathan Kent. After being defeated by Superman and having the bottled cities of Metropolis and Kandor stolen from him, Brainiac launched a missile at the Kent farm which resulted in Jonathan Kent suffering a fatal heart attack.
8)Darkseid- Right off the bat, you kind of know that a guy who rules a planet named Apocolips is going to be bad news. Calling Darkseid bad news is probably a bit of an understatement. Darkseid is pure, unadulterated evil. Plain and simple. Many villains are interested in conquering a country, while the more ambitious villains want to take over an entire planet. Darkseid's goal is to conquer the entire universe! That's setting your sights high. In order to accomplish this feat, Darkseid is perpetually in search of the Anti-Life Equation, which would allow Darkseid the ability to control the thoughts and actions of anyone who has come in contact with said Equation. While Darkseid has done plenty of lousy things, among them the murder of his own son, the hero Orion, Darkseid's moment of infamy has to be the whole "Final Crisis" story which climaxed with the "death"/displacement of Batman. After finally activating the Anti-Life Equation on Earth and taking control of most of the beings on the planet, Darkseid struck Batman down with his Omega Effect, presumably killing the Dark Knight. While it appears the Batman wasn't killed, instead he was sent backwards through time, ridding the present of one of the greatest heroes of all-time is a major accomplishment, and is reason enough to include Darkseid on this list.
7)Ultron- Ultron's "life" started off inauspiciously enough, it was created to assist Dr. Hank Pym with dangerous lab work. Unfortunately for Pym and the world, Ultron was created too well, and developed its own free will, along with a hatred of its father, Pym. Since those early days, Ultron has continually upgraded itself in an attempt to destroy Pym and his teammates, the Avengers. Ultron wants nothing more than to rid the Earth of bothersome humans in order to create a robot Utopia. To that end, Ultron has created several other robotic characters in the Marvel Universe, most prominently the longtime Avenger, the Vision. With every loss, a newer model of Ultron inevitably sprouts up with a new plan to dominate humankind. Some of Ultron's plans border on the ridiculous, such as the time it attempted to cover humans with metal in an attempt to help humanity attain robotic perfection, to the horrendous. Ultron's most infamous moment is the genocide of the entire nation of Slorenia. Ultron systematically murdered every man, woman and child in Slorenia is order to create a headquarters for itself and its robot army. Although the Avengers were able to halt Ultron's plans at further genocide, that act proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ultron is one villain not to be trifled with.
6)Cyborg Superman- The man who would become Cyborg Superman started out as a scientist by the name of Hank Henshaw. Henshaw and his crew of three others, including his wife Terri, took a spaceship built by Henshaw into space for scientific exploration. Sounds like Marvel's Fantastic Four, no? Like Marvel's First Family, Henshaw's ship was struck by cosmic radiation and the ship wound up crash landing back on Earth. That's where the similarities to the Fantastic Four end. Two of the crew members die almost immediately upon returning to Earth and Henshaw's body falls apart. Eventually Henshaw is able to place his consciousness into a robotic body and he rushes to his wife, the sole remaining crew member not affected by the cosmic radiation. Terri goes nuts at the sight of her presumed dead husband running around in the body of a robot(and really, who wouldn't go crazy if faced with a similar situation?)and she winds up committing suicide. Not having any reason to remain on Earth, Henshaw places his consciousness in the craft that brought the infant Superman to Earth all those years ago and goes out into the universe to explore. While in the Kryptonian spacecraft, Henshaw discovers that the cosmic radiation that hit his spacecraft and wound up killing his crewmates and his wife was accidentally created by Superman. From that moment onward, Henshaw has dedicated his existance to avenging himself on the Man of Steel. Henshaw has done much, including becoming the leader of the Manhunters and joining the Sinestro Corps. However, Henshaw's most infamous act would easily be the destruction of Coast City. While posing as Superman following Superman's "death", Henshaw(with some assistance from Mongul)destroyed Coast City, as part of a plan to transform the Earth into Warworld. Besides being the home of over 7 million people, Coast City was also the home of the most famous Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Hal was in space during the destruction of Coast City and upon learning of its destruction, Hal slowly went mad, eventually being taken over by the Parallax entity. So not only was Henshaw responsible for millions of deaths, he was also directly responsible for the breakdown of one of DC preeminent heroes.
5)Thanos- Thanos was born on Saturn's moon Titan to Mentor, the leader of Titan's Eternals. However, Thanos was born with a genetic defect that had him resemble a member of the Deviants, the sworn enemies to the Eternals. Due to his unusual look, Thanos was an outcast in Titan society. Thanos eventually became obsessed with Death, and wanted to do everything in his powers to please "her". To win the affections of Death, Thanos embarked on a mission of genocide of nearly unmatched proportions. Thanos killed millions of fellow Eternals by destroying a nuclear reactor on Titan and dissected his own mother(while she was still alive!)to determine why he was born different. From there, Thanos began travelling the galaxy killing whatever he could to please the object of his affections. Without a doubt, Thanos' moment of infamy came during the "Infinity Gauntlet" saga. After attaining the 6 ultra powerful Infinity Gems, Thanos became a god. Still trying to win the affections of Mistress Death, Thanos killed half of the beings in the universe with but a thought. Eventually Adam Warlock managed to wrest the Infinity Gems from Thanos and undid his evil deeds, but Thanos can always lay claim to the fact that for a time he had caused the death of trillions of beings, a feather in the cap of any self-respecting villain.
4)Lex Luthor- The greatest foe of the greatest hero in the DC Universe. Lex Luthor is among the smartest men in the DCU, and he uses all of his intellect and resources to "save" the citizens of Metropolis from that alien "invader", Superman. In Lex's mind, Superman, with his amazing powers and acts of super-heroics, is causing the people of Earth to become lazy and complacent, never bothering to lift a finger to help themselves since Superman will gladly do the job. In reality, Lex is insanely jealous of the handsome and popular Superman, and covets Superman's position as Metropolis' hero. Lex feels he should be the man the public adores, not an alien from another world. Throughout the years, Lex Luthor has put dozens of Machiavelian plans into motion with the express purpose of ridding the planet of Superman, by any means necessary. Lex became president of the United States, was indirectly responsible for the destruction of Topeka, Kansas, turned Superboy against his teammates, and that's just for starters! Even though those previously mentioned acts are bad, I'd consider Lex's role in the destruction of Metropolis to be his most infamous act. Although he wasn't directly responsible, it was Lex's missiles that wound up leveling the city of Metropolis.
3)Dr. Doom- Dr. Doom is probably one of the most recognizable villains in all of comicdom. The armor, the mask, the attitude, referring to himself in the third person, Dr. Doom is a true classic. Doom's battles with the Fantastic Four are legendary, and it would be impossible for me to list them all. Doom's longtime feud with the Fantastic Four stems from little more than professional jealousy. Doom considers himself Mr. Fantastic's intellectual superior, and he will not rest until his claim is proven right once and for all. Besides ruling the nation of Latveria with an iron fist, Doom has also stolen the power cosmic from the Silver Surfer, stolen the powers of the all-powerful Beyonder, scarred the face of the Thing, tried to trade Franklin Richards to Mephisto for the soul of his mother and nearly killed Mr. Fantastic(he would have too, if not for the last second interference of Hyperstorm). Dr. Doom's most infamous act would come in recent years, when in an effort to defeat the Fantastic Four once and for all, he resorted to using only magic and transported Franklin Richards to Hell, where the child was tormented by the many demons there. It takes a special kind of evil to banish a child to Hell to get at the child's parents.
2)Red Skull- The Red Skull is a Nazi who served in World War II directly under Adolph Hitler. That alone should get him mention on this list. However, it is the Skull's actions not just during the War, but after as well that earn him such a lofty place on this list. During the waning days of WWII, the Red Skull was placed in suspended animation and he was eventually awakened in the modern era by the forces of HYDRA. From that point on, the Red Skull has plagued Captain America in particular and the world at large in general. The Red Skull has many nefarious acts under his belt, but most of his really evil actions would involve his usage of the Cosmic Cube, an item with the ability to warp reality itself. The Skull has used the Cube to switch bodies with Captain America, alter the personality of the Falcon, and basically torment his arch-nemesis, Captain America. The Red Skull was eventually "killed" thanks to possessing the Cube by Russian businessman, Aleksander Lukin. Before dying though, Skull managed to switch his mind into Lukin's body, causing the two to share one body. While in Lukin's body, the Red Skull managed to reach the pinnacle of his villainous career, the assassination of longtime foe, Captain America. Although Skull didn't deliver the killing stroke, it was his plans that wound up ending the life of the Star-Spangled Avenger(although it seems that accomplishment may soon be null and void). Regardless if Captain America returns or not, his death, along with all of the Skull's other crimes are reason enough to place the Red Skull at #2 on this list.
1)The Joker- For a character with no real superpowers, the Clown Prince of Crime as been responsible for a horrific amount of crimes over the years. It's not just the amount of criminal activity that makes the Joker such a menace to the citizens of Gotham City, it's the seemingly random way he'll attack the denizens of the city. There is very little rhyme or reason to the Joker's antics, by his very nature he is completely chaotic. From the "Last Laugh" storyline where the Joker sent out an army of "Jokerized" super-villains to do his bidding, to the "Emporer Joker" story where he gained the powers of Mr. Mxyzptlk and created trouble on a global level, the Joker is one of the gravest menaces of the DC Universe. From basic street crime to planetary trouble, the Joker has done it all. The Joker has taken a special interest in not just his arch-enemy, the Batman, but also Police Commissionor Gordon. The Joker has paralized Gordon's daughter, Barbara(the former super-hero Batgirl)as well as gunned down his second wife, Sarah Essen. The Joker's reasoning for his attacks on Gordon seems to be little more than wanting to prove that anybody can be driven insane. Although the Joker has taken a special interset in Gordon, nothing compares to the relationship between Joker and the Batman. The Joker has managed to push Batman as close to the brink of murder as possible with his actions. During the "Hush" storyline, if not for the intervention of Commissionor Gordon(of all people), it seems likely the Joker would have finally met his end at Batman's hands. The first Robin(and current Batman)Dick Grayson also came close to killing Joker, nearly beating the villain to death during the "Last Laugh" story. While I could choose from several acts, to me, the Joker's most infamous, horrible crime is his role in the "A Death in the Family" storyline. In this story, the Joker manages to capture Batman's teenaged sidekick, Robin(Jason Todd), and proceeds to beat him nearly to death with a crowbar. After finishing with the gruesome(and gory!)beatdown, the Joker blows the boy up, just seconds before the Batman arrived to rescue his sidekick. Although Jason wound up returning several years later due to the events of "Infinite Crisis", nothing could erase the monsterous actions of the Joker towards Jason. The Joker's beating of Robin with that crowbar will go down(in my mind at least)as one of the most appalling acts of evil in comic book history. Joker, you have definitely earned your place atop this list of villainy
Whew... I'm FINALLY done! Hopefully somebody out there will enjoy reading this list as much as I've enjoyed concocting it. I'd love to hear some comments on whether you agree or disagree with my list, as well as why. If you made it this far, I appluad your effort and thank you!
In order to create my list, I dug through both my Marvel and DC Encyclopedias, jotting down names of those who I felt deserved a place on my list of infamy. It should also be noted that I'm only listing characters from the big two, the Marvel and DC Universes. Obviously I haven't read EVERY comic book ever published, so my facts on some characters may be incomplete. That's where my fellow comic book fans come in. My main reason for making this list is to get a dialogue started with those of you who would also consider yourselves comic book fanatics. Whether you agree or disagree with my picks, I'm hoping for some comments from you, the readers. Well, without further ado, onto the list.
15)Doomsday- Doomsday's claim to infamy is the fact that he was the creature who "killed" Superman back in the 1990's. Unfortunately, that's about the only thing Doomsday has ever done... Since then, Doomsday has popped up sporadically throughout the DCU to create havoc, but has always been summarily defeated. Most recently Doomsday was beaten to death by an angry mob of Kryptonians on the moon. Although recently Doomsday has been portrayed as little more than a c-list villain, I'll always remember him as the bruising monster who finally brought down the Man of Steel.
14)Mr. Sinister- Mr. Sinister has always been a favorite of mine based on look alone. The guy just LOOKS evil! However, this isn't a list of who looks the most evil, it's a list of who has DONE the most evil. Right from the start Sinister was bad news. Prior to gaining his powers, Sinister was a scientist in 19th century England, who was obsessed with the theory of human mutations. Sinister went so far as to dissect the corpse of his own dead child to further his scientific research. After gaining his vast powers thanks to Apocalypse, Sinister continued his study of humanity in as amoral a fashion as possible. Sinister's most infamous act would probably be his role as the mastermind of the Mutant Massacre. Sinister hired a band of assassins(the Marauders)to wipe out a society of sewer dwelling mutants called the Morlocks. Before they were ultimately stopped by several X-teams, the Marauders managed to kill hundreds of Morlocks.
13)Magneto- Yes that's right, I wouldn't even place Magneto in the top ten! Magneto is a great villain, when he wants to be... That is my main issue with Magneto. He isn't always a villain. I almost hesitate to refer to Magneto as a villain. Magneto's goals are at times almost admirable. Sure there's crazy Magneto who wants to kill/subjugate humanity in the name of mutant supremacy, but then there's also the other Magneto who is willing to isolate himself and like-minded mutants away from a hateful humanity. For a portion of the late 1980's, Magneto was actually the reformed leader of the X-Men! While Magneto does have his moments of good behavior, bad Magneto is almost unsurpassed in his acts of vengefulness! Magneto's most infamous actions occurred during the "Fatal Attraction" storyline where he struck the planet Earth with a massive electro-magnetic pulsewave, which knocked out all power to the planet and downed all airplanes. Think about all of the death a planet-wide blackout would cause in hospitals alone... However, Magneto wasn't done yet. Before he was finally stopped by Prof. Xavier, Magneto managed to tear the Adamantium coating off of Wolverine's bones... Through his skin! The scene where Magneto completely and utterly destroys Wolverine is among my favorite comic book scenes of all-time.
12)Cassandra Nova- Yes, it's yet another X-villain. I grew up reading X-Men comics, so their enemies are closest to my heart. Cassandra Nova is the "twin" of Professor Chareles Xavier, founder of the X-Men. While still in her mother's womb, Cassandra attempted to kill her twin brother, but was stopped by a telepathic blast from Prof. X. Cassandra's body was stillborn but her mind lived on until she became powerful enough to create a new body for herself. Cassandra's most infamous act would have to be the decimation of the mutant island of Genosha. Cassandra sent a cadre of wild Sentinels to Genosha, where they murdered some 16 million mutants. Although Cassandra has done little else since that act, killing that many mutants easily earns Cassandra a spot on this list.
11)Deathstroke the Terminator- What can I really say about Deathstroke? He's one of those characters I just can't get enough of. Deathstroke is the DC Universe's top assassin, as well as one of the deadliest hand to hand fighters around. Deathstroke has repeatedly butted heads with the Teen Titans as well as most of the DCU's top heroes. At one point, Deathstroke convinced his daughter Ravager to wear a fake eye made out of Kryptonite in an attempt to kill Superman. Although instantly deadly to Kryptonians, Kryptonite will eventually cause cancer in humans, as it did to Lex Luthor. While Deathstorke's awful act of child abuse was pretty bad, his most infamous moment would have to be his role in the destruction of the city of Bludhaven. It was Deathstroke who dropped Chemo on Bludhaven during "Infinite Crisis", killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in that city.
10)Apocalypse- An immortal mutant from ancient Egypt, Apocalypse is destined to plague the X-Men not just today, but into the far-flung future as well. Possibly the first mutant, Apocalypse has been around since 3,000 BC. With assistance from alien Celestrial technology, Apocalypse managed to become(virtually)immortal. Being immortal, Apocalypse has the luxury of waiting for the right moment to strike at his enemies, the X-Men. In almost every timeline, Apocalypse emerges victorious, if not in the present, as seen during the "Age of Apocalypse", then in the distant future, such as where Cable grew up. While Apocalypse has many evil acts under his belt including his creation of Mr. Sinister and Exodus, the transformation of Angel into Archangel, or the time he merged with Cyclops to become Cyclopolypse, his true moment of infamy would have to be when he poisoned the infant son of Cyclops with a deadly techno-organic virus. Cyclops' son, who would grow up to become Cable, was one of the few beings in creation Apocalypse viewed as a potential threat, and to prevent a future battle with the infant, Apocalypse poisoned the child. If not for the intervention of a member of the Clan Askani(who were a group from the future dedicated to defeating Apocalypse), the infant who would grow up to become Cable would have died a very painful death.
9)Brainiac- The intergalactic conqueror named Brainiac has been repackaged into a much more interesting/dangerous character in recent years thanks to the genius of Geoff Johns. The pre-Action Comics #850 history of Brianiac is quite confusing and contradictory. First he was a humanoid creature, then a cyborg, then a hybrid humanoid/robot, in other words, it's pretty difficult to pin down who or what Brainiac is. For the sake of keeping things somewhat simple, I'm just going to concentrate on the current incarnation of Brainiac. Brainiac stays to himself on his ship, sending out an army of drones to conquer alien civilizations. The Brainiac drones then bottle and shrink down the conquered alien cities and transport them onto Brainiac's main starship. Brainiac then studies and absorbs all of the knowledge he can from these captured alien civilizations. Brainiac's moment of infamy would have to be his role in the death of Superman's adopted father, Jonathan Kent. After being defeated by Superman and having the bottled cities of Metropolis and Kandor stolen from him, Brainiac launched a missile at the Kent farm which resulted in Jonathan Kent suffering a fatal heart attack.
8)Darkseid- Right off the bat, you kind of know that a guy who rules a planet named Apocolips is going to be bad news. Calling Darkseid bad news is probably a bit of an understatement. Darkseid is pure, unadulterated evil. Plain and simple. Many villains are interested in conquering a country, while the more ambitious villains want to take over an entire planet. Darkseid's goal is to conquer the entire universe! That's setting your sights high. In order to accomplish this feat, Darkseid is perpetually in search of the Anti-Life Equation, which would allow Darkseid the ability to control the thoughts and actions of anyone who has come in contact with said Equation. While Darkseid has done plenty of lousy things, among them the murder of his own son, the hero Orion, Darkseid's moment of infamy has to be the whole "Final Crisis" story which climaxed with the "death"/displacement of Batman. After finally activating the Anti-Life Equation on Earth and taking control of most of the beings on the planet, Darkseid struck Batman down with his Omega Effect, presumably killing the Dark Knight. While it appears the Batman wasn't killed, instead he was sent backwards through time, ridding the present of one of the greatest heroes of all-time is a major accomplishment, and is reason enough to include Darkseid on this list.
7)Ultron- Ultron's "life" started off inauspiciously enough, it was created to assist Dr. Hank Pym with dangerous lab work. Unfortunately for Pym and the world, Ultron was created too well, and developed its own free will, along with a hatred of its father, Pym. Since those early days, Ultron has continually upgraded itself in an attempt to destroy Pym and his teammates, the Avengers. Ultron wants nothing more than to rid the Earth of bothersome humans in order to create a robot Utopia. To that end, Ultron has created several other robotic characters in the Marvel Universe, most prominently the longtime Avenger, the Vision. With every loss, a newer model of Ultron inevitably sprouts up with a new plan to dominate humankind. Some of Ultron's plans border on the ridiculous, such as the time it attempted to cover humans with metal in an attempt to help humanity attain robotic perfection, to the horrendous. Ultron's most infamous moment is the genocide of the entire nation of Slorenia. Ultron systematically murdered every man, woman and child in Slorenia is order to create a headquarters for itself and its robot army. Although the Avengers were able to halt Ultron's plans at further genocide, that act proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ultron is one villain not to be trifled with.
6)Cyborg Superman- The man who would become Cyborg Superman started out as a scientist by the name of Hank Henshaw. Henshaw and his crew of three others, including his wife Terri, took a spaceship built by Henshaw into space for scientific exploration. Sounds like Marvel's Fantastic Four, no? Like Marvel's First Family, Henshaw's ship was struck by cosmic radiation and the ship wound up crash landing back on Earth. That's where the similarities to the Fantastic Four end. Two of the crew members die almost immediately upon returning to Earth and Henshaw's body falls apart. Eventually Henshaw is able to place his consciousness into a robotic body and he rushes to his wife, the sole remaining crew member not affected by the cosmic radiation. Terri goes nuts at the sight of her presumed dead husband running around in the body of a robot(and really, who wouldn't go crazy if faced with a similar situation?)and she winds up committing suicide. Not having any reason to remain on Earth, Henshaw places his consciousness in the craft that brought the infant Superman to Earth all those years ago and goes out into the universe to explore. While in the Kryptonian spacecraft, Henshaw discovers that the cosmic radiation that hit his spacecraft and wound up killing his crewmates and his wife was accidentally created by Superman. From that moment onward, Henshaw has dedicated his existance to avenging himself on the Man of Steel. Henshaw has done much, including becoming the leader of the Manhunters and joining the Sinestro Corps. However, Henshaw's most infamous act would easily be the destruction of Coast City. While posing as Superman following Superman's "death", Henshaw(with some assistance from Mongul)destroyed Coast City, as part of a plan to transform the Earth into Warworld. Besides being the home of over 7 million people, Coast City was also the home of the most famous Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Hal was in space during the destruction of Coast City and upon learning of its destruction, Hal slowly went mad, eventually being taken over by the Parallax entity. So not only was Henshaw responsible for millions of deaths, he was also directly responsible for the breakdown of one of DC preeminent heroes.
5)Thanos- Thanos was born on Saturn's moon Titan to Mentor, the leader of Titan's Eternals. However, Thanos was born with a genetic defect that had him resemble a member of the Deviants, the sworn enemies to the Eternals. Due to his unusual look, Thanos was an outcast in Titan society. Thanos eventually became obsessed with Death, and wanted to do everything in his powers to please "her". To win the affections of Death, Thanos embarked on a mission of genocide of nearly unmatched proportions. Thanos killed millions of fellow Eternals by destroying a nuclear reactor on Titan and dissected his own mother(while she was still alive!)to determine why he was born different. From there, Thanos began travelling the galaxy killing whatever he could to please the object of his affections. Without a doubt, Thanos' moment of infamy came during the "Infinity Gauntlet" saga. After attaining the 6 ultra powerful Infinity Gems, Thanos became a god. Still trying to win the affections of Mistress Death, Thanos killed half of the beings in the universe with but a thought. Eventually Adam Warlock managed to wrest the Infinity Gems from Thanos and undid his evil deeds, but Thanos can always lay claim to the fact that for a time he had caused the death of trillions of beings, a feather in the cap of any self-respecting villain.
4)Lex Luthor- The greatest foe of the greatest hero in the DC Universe. Lex Luthor is among the smartest men in the DCU, and he uses all of his intellect and resources to "save" the citizens of Metropolis from that alien "invader", Superman. In Lex's mind, Superman, with his amazing powers and acts of super-heroics, is causing the people of Earth to become lazy and complacent, never bothering to lift a finger to help themselves since Superman will gladly do the job. In reality, Lex is insanely jealous of the handsome and popular Superman, and covets Superman's position as Metropolis' hero. Lex feels he should be the man the public adores, not an alien from another world. Throughout the years, Lex Luthor has put dozens of Machiavelian plans into motion with the express purpose of ridding the planet of Superman, by any means necessary. Lex became president of the United States, was indirectly responsible for the destruction of Topeka, Kansas, turned Superboy against his teammates, and that's just for starters! Even though those previously mentioned acts are bad, I'd consider Lex's role in the destruction of Metropolis to be his most infamous act. Although he wasn't directly responsible, it was Lex's missiles that wound up leveling the city of Metropolis.
3)Dr. Doom- Dr. Doom is probably one of the most recognizable villains in all of comicdom. The armor, the mask, the attitude, referring to himself in the third person, Dr. Doom is a true classic. Doom's battles with the Fantastic Four are legendary, and it would be impossible for me to list them all. Doom's longtime feud with the Fantastic Four stems from little more than professional jealousy. Doom considers himself Mr. Fantastic's intellectual superior, and he will not rest until his claim is proven right once and for all. Besides ruling the nation of Latveria with an iron fist, Doom has also stolen the power cosmic from the Silver Surfer, stolen the powers of the all-powerful Beyonder, scarred the face of the Thing, tried to trade Franklin Richards to Mephisto for the soul of his mother and nearly killed Mr. Fantastic(he would have too, if not for the last second interference of Hyperstorm). Dr. Doom's most infamous act would come in recent years, when in an effort to defeat the Fantastic Four once and for all, he resorted to using only magic and transported Franklin Richards to Hell, where the child was tormented by the many demons there. It takes a special kind of evil to banish a child to Hell to get at the child's parents.
2)Red Skull- The Red Skull is a Nazi who served in World War II directly under Adolph Hitler. That alone should get him mention on this list. However, it is the Skull's actions not just during the War, but after as well that earn him such a lofty place on this list. During the waning days of WWII, the Red Skull was placed in suspended animation and he was eventually awakened in the modern era by the forces of HYDRA. From that point on, the Red Skull has plagued Captain America in particular and the world at large in general. The Red Skull has many nefarious acts under his belt, but most of his really evil actions would involve his usage of the Cosmic Cube, an item with the ability to warp reality itself. The Skull has used the Cube to switch bodies with Captain America, alter the personality of the Falcon, and basically torment his arch-nemesis, Captain America. The Red Skull was eventually "killed" thanks to possessing the Cube by Russian businessman, Aleksander Lukin. Before dying though, Skull managed to switch his mind into Lukin's body, causing the two to share one body. While in Lukin's body, the Red Skull managed to reach the pinnacle of his villainous career, the assassination of longtime foe, Captain America. Although Skull didn't deliver the killing stroke, it was his plans that wound up ending the life of the Star-Spangled Avenger(although it seems that accomplishment may soon be null and void). Regardless if Captain America returns or not, his death, along with all of the Skull's other crimes are reason enough to place the Red Skull at #2 on this list.
1)The Joker- For a character with no real superpowers, the Clown Prince of Crime as been responsible for a horrific amount of crimes over the years. It's not just the amount of criminal activity that makes the Joker such a menace to the citizens of Gotham City, it's the seemingly random way he'll attack the denizens of the city. There is very little rhyme or reason to the Joker's antics, by his very nature he is completely chaotic. From the "Last Laugh" storyline where the Joker sent out an army of "Jokerized" super-villains to do his bidding, to the "Emporer Joker" story where he gained the powers of Mr. Mxyzptlk and created trouble on a global level, the Joker is one of the gravest menaces of the DC Universe. From basic street crime to planetary trouble, the Joker has done it all. The Joker has taken a special interest in not just his arch-enemy, the Batman, but also Police Commissionor Gordon. The Joker has paralized Gordon's daughter, Barbara(the former super-hero Batgirl)as well as gunned down his second wife, Sarah Essen. The Joker's reasoning for his attacks on Gordon seems to be little more than wanting to prove that anybody can be driven insane. Although the Joker has taken a special interset in Gordon, nothing compares to the relationship between Joker and the Batman. The Joker has managed to push Batman as close to the brink of murder as possible with his actions. During the "Hush" storyline, if not for the intervention of Commissionor Gordon(of all people), it seems likely the Joker would have finally met his end at Batman's hands. The first Robin(and current Batman)Dick Grayson also came close to killing Joker, nearly beating the villain to death during the "Last Laugh" story. While I could choose from several acts, to me, the Joker's most infamous, horrible crime is his role in the "A Death in the Family" storyline. In this story, the Joker manages to capture Batman's teenaged sidekick, Robin(Jason Todd), and proceeds to beat him nearly to death with a crowbar. After finishing with the gruesome(and gory!)beatdown, the Joker blows the boy up, just seconds before the Batman arrived to rescue his sidekick. Although Jason wound up returning several years later due to the events of "Infinite Crisis", nothing could erase the monsterous actions of the Joker towards Jason. The Joker's beating of Robin with that crowbar will go down(in my mind at least)as one of the most appalling acts of evil in comic book history. Joker, you have definitely earned your place atop this list of villainy
Whew... I'm FINALLY done! Hopefully somebody out there will enjoy reading this list as much as I've enjoyed concocting it. I'd love to hear some comments on whether you agree or disagree with my list, as well as why. If you made it this far, I appluad your effort and thank you!
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