Worst Rogues Gallery?


You Know Who

Recommended Posts

Batman and Spider-Man have arguably the best rogues galleries of any comic book superheroes, but which one(s) has the worst? A lot seem to have a few great villains with the rest possessing varying degrees of weakness--like Daredevil with Kingpin and Bullseye--but are there any that are lackluster all over?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Punisher has nothing but mobsters, which gets old after a while.

I've never been impressed by Wolverine's foes, either. "Look! It's another guy with adamantium claws... or skin... or shell... or spine... or cock."

And, honestly, Superman's foes do very little for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think Superman can be considered to have a weak rogues gallery though. Lex, Brainiac, Zod, Darkseid, these are pretty well known bad guys.

I should clarify that my comment on Iron Man's roster would be from before Fraction's run. In the end Zeke Stane, the Mandarin, Controller, Ghost, Living Laser, Madam Masque, Spymaster, used right it's actually quite a strong array. Its just that until Fraction no-one put those pieces together.

Martian Manhunter always got a raw deal though, I mean how many last survivors of Mars can he fight?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not disagreeing with most of what's being said so far, especially about Nightwing. I think it's also telling that in each of the Iron Man films, the villain to some extent was a weak point.

I'm tempted to say the rogues galleries of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Fantastic Four are pretty weak too, but haven't read enough comics to know for sure. I don't doubt that Spawn has a weak one, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Superman has Lex Luthor, one of the greatest villains of all time (up there with Joker, Darkseid, Magneto, and Doom). He's also got Brainiac, Darkseid and the rest of Apokolips, Metallo, and Parasite. It's no Batman or Spider-Man rogues gallery, but it's decent at worst, epic at best.

I concur with Iron Man and Nightwing. Tony's villains are lame and Nightwing's aren't iconic or important enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I should clarify that my comment on Iron Man's roster would be from before Fraction's run. In the end Zeke Stane, the Mandarin, Controller, Ghost, Living Laser, Madam Masque, Spymaster, used right it's actually quite a strong array. Its just that until Fraction no-one put those pieces together.

If I recall correctly, the same can be said of Geoff Johns and The Flash's foes.

And, to me, that's the joy of comics. Weak or underused characters can be turned around in a snap with the right creative team. Look at all of the characters from the 1970s (eg Power Man, Iron Fist, Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel) that have been made major stars in the past 10 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Green Lanterns have a pretty weak rogues gallery, too, don't they? I mean, after Sinestro and Star Sapphire, who else is there that really stands out as a good recurring villain for them?

I'm not an expert, but outside of Sinestro and Star Sapphire, the Green Lantern rogues gallery consists mostly of lanterns of other colors, the avatars of those other lanterns (such as Parallax), and a few wacky aliens like Despero. O, and Hector Hammond. On the surface of it, not a very impressive one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think having a strong Rogue's Gallery kinda makes a superhero ineffectual. The Punisher only has a few because he's actually good at what he does.

I say all of this understanding that my stance on what superhero comics should be is vastly different than most.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think having a strong Rogue's Gallery kinda makes a superhero ineffectual. The Punisher only has a few because he's actually good at what he does.

That's a great point, actually.

I take issue with anybody talking down the FF's enemies: Doom, Namor, Galactus, Mole Man, The Wizard, all awesome.

And lest you forget, The Red Ghost and his Super Apes.

And Klaw. Let no one forget Klaw, The Murderous Master of Sound!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think having a strong Rogue's Gallery kinda makes a superhero ineffectual. The Punisher only has a few because he's actually good at what he does.

That's a great point, actually.

It's a great point for the real world, but in the mythic world of comics, it's totally different. The way in which ideas are expressed is more important than practical realism for the most part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most mainstream superhero comics are written with vastly archaic and oversimplified ideas; one giant bubble formed out of self-fulfilling prophecies. It feels like the people creating and reading them just want to watch someone make the same ship in a bottle over and over.

It's not really a stance worth arguing because I learned a long time ago I'm not going to change anyone's mind. If I want any sort of tension and consequence, there is a ton of other stuff for me to read. So I do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Green Lanterns have a pretty weak rogues gallery, too, don't they? I mean, after Sinestro and Star Sapphire, who else is there that really stands out as a good recurring villain for them?

I'm not an expert, but outside of Sinestro and Star Sapphire, the Green Lantern rogues gallery consists mostly of lanterns of other colors, the avatars of those other lanterns (such as Parallax), and a few wacky aliens like Despero. O, and Hector Hammond. On the surface of it, not a very impressive one.

Mongul, Black Hand, the Controllers, Krona, Nekron, Major Force, etc. Again, I think before John's run you might have had a point but the modern GL has a wide ranging effective group of villains.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thinking about it, Spider-Man's rogues are actually really overrated: you have a couple of cool villains like Norman Osbourne, Doc Ock and Kraven, then you get seven or eight knockoff Goblins, like three symbiotes, a bunch of douches in animal costumes, and losers like the Shocker, Big Wheel and the Spot.

Meh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He does fight a lot of animals.

May be controversial, but I think the X-men's villains tend to suck hard outside of Magneto. It's the extremely ragtag band of whoever makes up the Marauders, the Hellfire Club or the dudes in charge of the Sentinels. By the time you're getting into the uber-esoteric guys like Bastion I'm just begging for something more grounded. It's like the X-men are always on these epic quests or infighting so they never actually save anyone. They're a totally inward-facing part of the Marvel U. Or they were until that Avengers/X-men merger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

May be controversial, but I think the X-men's villains tend to suck hard outside of Magneto. It's the extremely ragtag band of whoever makes up the Marauders, the Hellfire Club or the dudes in charge of the Sentinels. By the time you're getting into the uber-esoteric guys like Bastion I'm just begging for something more grounded. It's like the X-men are always on these epic quests or infighting so they never actually save anyone. They're a totally inward-facing part of the Marvel U. Or they were until that Avengers/X-men merger.

I agree to a point. I think Sinister and Mystique stand above most of the others, who are just standard bad mutants and people who hate mutants.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.