DontAskJusTckle
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I used to collect and read comics avidly. I've seen some great stuff and some terrible stuff. I imagine the writers sometimes get crunched for time and end up submitting some material they've held on to when they have writer's block. Even a bad idea is better than missing a deadline. But for the most part, for the time I collected comics as a young man in the 1980s, I'd have to say that most of it was pretty good.
There is no short supply heroes. A single hero like Spider-Man can carry up to three monthly titles. The challenge for the writers is to come up with villains for the heroes to fight. During this time in the early 80s, Roger Stern was writing the Amazing Spider-Man. His strategy, at least for a while was to let Spider-Man fight villains associated with other comic book heroes. Villains like Mr. Hyde, Juggernaut, and even Firelord. It was a good strategy and a break from Spidey's traditional rogues gallery.
Whether created spontaneously or dredged up from obscurity, some small percentage of villains were just beyond awful. And yet even in their awfulness one can experience a kind of fascination, like watching the movie Reefer Madness. Here are three such villains. And awful though they be, the extreme nature of their hokeyness made them awesome in a very weird but real sense.
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1. Goody Two Shoes - An oversized, over-muscled Swede with a pair of atomic powered shoes. He actually was getting the upper hand when fighting Ben Grimm, who ultimately pulverized him. They say that every super villain has a vulnerability, but Goody's is rather large and easy to exploit. His power is in his feet. All a hero has to do is get close to him and attack from above.
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2. The Spot - Yet another science experiment gone awry, the Spot, trying to duplicate Cloak's interdimensional darkness resulted in several dimensional portals all over his body. While the dimensional portal thing has potential, the costume and the name doomed this villain to obscurity. He might have easily been named Polka-Dot Man.
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3. Tatterdemalion - My personal favorite of the bunch. A former dancer and gymnist who's life was ruined by business tycoons, this fellow's mind snapped. He donned a ragged costume with a hat and scarf and called himself Tatterdemalion, and went around not stealing money, but destroying it. You know, root of all evil, that kind of thing. He looks kind of like a blue and red scarecrow. He was supposedly physically enhanced by some cabal of men. His scarf was weighted on one end and he uses it as a weapon. His gloves were coated with some kind of acid. His costume was coated with an oily substance that made him difficult if not impossible to hold onto. As I recall, even Spider-Man's web couldn't stick to it.
<hr />
So, how about the rest of you? What villains do you love to hate?
There is no short supply heroes. A single hero like Spider-Man can carry up to three monthly titles. The challenge for the writers is to come up with villains for the heroes to fight. During this time in the early 80s, Roger Stern was writing the Amazing Spider-Man. His strategy, at least for a while was to let Spider-Man fight villains associated with other comic book heroes. Villains like Mr. Hyde, Juggernaut, and even Firelord. It was a good strategy and a break from Spidey's traditional rogues gallery.
Whether created spontaneously or dredged up from obscurity, some small percentage of villains were just beyond awful. And yet even in their awfulness one can experience a kind of fascination, like watching the movie Reefer Madness. Here are three such villains. And awful though they be, the extreme nature of their hokeyness made them awesome in a very weird but real sense.
<hr />
1. Goody Two Shoes - An oversized, over-muscled Swede with a pair of atomic powered shoes. He actually was getting the upper hand when fighting Ben Grimm, who ultimately pulverized him. They say that every super villain has a vulnerability, but Goody's is rather large and easy to exploit. His power is in his feet. All a hero has to do is get close to him and attack from above.
<hr />
2. The Spot - Yet another science experiment gone awry, the Spot, trying to duplicate Cloak's interdimensional darkness resulted in several dimensional portals all over his body. While the dimensional portal thing has potential, the costume and the name doomed this villain to obscurity. He might have easily been named Polka-Dot Man.
<hr />
3. Tatterdemalion - My personal favorite of the bunch. A former dancer and gymnist who's life was ruined by business tycoons, this fellow's mind snapped. He donned a ragged costume with a hat and scarf and called himself Tatterdemalion, and went around not stealing money, but destroying it. You know, root of all evil, that kind of thing. He looks kind of like a blue and red scarecrow. He was supposedly physically enhanced by some cabal of men. His scarf was weighted on one end and he uses it as a weapon. His gloves were coated with some kind of acid. His costume was coated with an oily substance that made him difficult if not impossible to hold onto. As I recall, even Spider-Man's web couldn't stick to it.
<hr />
So, how about the rest of you? What villains do you love to hate?