by Mark Engblom

So…is that old saying “opposites attract” really true?

If we’re talking romance? Probably not.

If we’re talking about me and “Opposite Number” supervillains?

Absolutely!

Rest assured, I love all the obvious A-List Bad Guys like the Joker, the Green Goblin, the Doctors Doom and Octopus, and all the rest. However, there’s something about those Evil Duplicates, Dark Reflections, and Twisted Doppelgangers I just can’t get enough of.

Is there some Deep Psychological Underpinning responsible for that fixation? Could it be that Opposite Number villains mirror the struggle between good and evil that rages in every human heart? Are they a symbolic representation of how easily power can corrupt? Is it the sense of cosmic symmetry these equally powerful yet morally twisted characters represent?

Frankly, I have no idea.

Here’s what I do know. One of the first dozen comics I’d ever read was Marvel’s Greatest Comics #57 (reprinting Fantastic Four #75), which dropped me into the middle of nothing less than the Second Coming of Galactus. As you can imagine, I had no idea what was going on…but thanks to the charismatic scripting of Stan Lee and the eye-popping Kirby-Sinnott art, it didn’t seem to matter.

Then, about midway through the story, the off world Galactus creates a eerie distraction to occupy Reed, Johnny and Ben (Sue was pregnant and on bed rest). Rising from the ocean shore like zombies, a trio of dark duplicates ruthlessly attacked the boys using their identical powers.

Of course, the evil counterparts were eventually defeated, but not before sparking a fascination with Opposite Number villains that continues to this day.

So, what exactly is an Opposite Number Supervillain? As I see it, we’ve got four broad categories:

1. Opposing Teams: Though not technically an “opposite number” in the classic sense, this category includes the villain groups that use a negative spin of the opposing super team’s name.

This includes such teams as The Injustice Society, The Injustice Gang, The Frightful Four, Omega Flight and The Legion of Supervillains. These teams seldom include bonafide Opposite Number villains (which we’ll get to in a minute), and are generally “opposite” in name only. In other words, they’re the evil “Yang” to the good team’s “Yin.”

2. Similar Powers, Different Look: This category includes the nasties that mirror a particular superhero’s powers and skills, yet have a distinctly different appearance. Their backgrounds and motivations are many. Some are fallen heroes (Sinestro), a few former mentors (Merlyn), others desperate imitators (Abomination), and some created for the sole purpose of countering a specific superhero (Master Man or the Crimson Dynamo).

Still others originate from alternate realities, where divergent twists of fate create warped versions of the heroes we know so well. A good example would be DC’s Crime Syndicate of Earth-3, composed of corrupted versions of Superman (Ultraman), Wonder Woman (Superwoman), the Flash (Johnny Quick), Green Lantern (Power Ring) and Batman (Owl Man).

3. Similar Powers, Similar Look: These villains are Opposite Numbers in the truest sense, in that they not only possess similar (if not identical) powers, but strongly resemble their corresponding superheroes as well.

Their ranks include those who were duplicated versions of the original superhero through the use of sorcery or science…

Others are corrupted predecessors, contemporaries, descendents, or even future versions of themselves….

…while still others are imitators from alternate earths or distant futures.

Our fourth and final group is kind of a special case, so indulge me in a little set-up:

Remember wondering who would win in a fight between Superhero A and Superhero B?

Well, sometimes these prayers would be answered when a publisher would pit two fan favorites against each other (usually the result of some kind of misunderstanding). But what if the characters you wanted in your match were owned by two different publishers? Even as a kid, I was aware of a mysterious, insurmountable barrier that prevented cross-company heroes from meeting, battling or even mentioning the other.

However, as one of the very first fans-turned-pro, writer Roy Thomas figured out a clever solution to this seemingly intractable problem by creating evil analogs of the competing company’s characters!

In Avengers #70 (1969), Thomas pitted the Avengers against The Squadron Sinister, obviously a criminal version of DC’s Justice League.

Hyperion (Superman), the Whizzer (Flash), Dr. Spectrum (Green Lantern) and Nighthawk (Batman) later expanded their membership to include doppelgangers of other 70’s era Justice League members, including Tom Thumb (the Atom), the Golden Archer (Green Arrow) and Lady Lark (Black Canary).

DC answered back a few years later with The Crusaders, a barely disguised version of Marvel’s WWII era Invaders. The team included the shield-slinging Americommando (Captain America), Rusty (Bucky), Fireball (Human Torch), Sparky (Toro), and Barracuda (Sub-Mariner).

Weighing in with the largest population of cross-company counterparts yet, Marvel’s X-Men title featured the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, an army of super-aliens mirroring DC’s sprawling Legion of Superheroes. Their most powerful member, Gladiator (top left corner), went on to appear in other titles, playing out “proxy Superman” battles with Marvel heroes like the Fantastic Four and Thor.

So there you have it…Opposite Number villains in all their darkly-reflective glory. Whether they’re antithetical teams, evil approximations, twisted duplicates, or cross-company analogs, this special class of supervillain reminds us that evil is not only a force to be reckoned with, but can also be disturbingly familiar.

Hey…that’s it! My Deep Psychological Underpinning!

Mark Engblom is a professional cartoonist and life-long comics fan who’s still waiting for an epic clash with his Opposite Number (who he just knows is out there somewhere). In the meantime, Mark hosts a blog named Comic Coverage, a look at the lighter side of comics and comic book collecting. Mark is also the proprietor of Secret Identity: Geek Gear & Gifts, an online shop featuring cool comics-inspired stuff.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 at 10:34 am and is filed under I ♥ Comics, Version 1.0 Blog@. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.