Geekanerd rolls out its list of the “Top Ten Rogues Galleries in All of Geekdom” — TV cartoons and superhero comics, in any case — and, perhaps unsurprisingly, bestows the highest honors on Batman’s villains.
What may come as a surprise, however, is the blow delivered to Spider-Man’s foes. Blogger Degan swears this isn’t “just nerd-baiting”:
He’s one of the best and most unique superheroes in comics-so why doesn’t he have any unique villains? The Vulture, The Rhino, Dr. Octopus, The Lizard, The Scorpion, The Chameleon, (you see the pattern?) I get it… he’s a spider-does that mean he has to fight every member of the damned animal kingdom? Sure sure, there are others, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Mysterio, Sandman, Electro… but really are any of them that unique?
October 27th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Oh man. This guy is in trouble.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I completely agree. Batman’s rogues gallery SHOULD be at the top. I also agree with the author’s rationale for not including Spider-Man’s villains. Most of them are (with all due respect to Stan) obvious gimmicks with motivation and characterization only attached for the purpose of creating a plot. Batman’s villains, on the other hand, are based on their evil and flaws with the costumes and names derived FROM their neuroses.
Spider-Man’s villains are a snooze-fest by comparison.
The only thing that discredits the list is the fact that 5 entries (50% of the list) are parodies of rogues galleries. Those cartoons are SATIRE. That would be like saying your favorite US President is Darrell Hammond.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Any list that includes both Darkwing Duck and Freakazoid is okay by me. While the shows were comedy, the bad guys were interesting and diverse and sometimes very dangerous.
I sorta agree about the bulk of the Spidey foes. When pondering who I want to see in the next film, I usually don’t very far beyond Black Cat. There might be a reason that Green Goblin keeps coming back.
October 27th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
“Sure sure, there are others, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Mysterio, Sandman, Electro… but really are any of them that unique?”
Uh…yeah!? If not, which characters that came before them were they knocked off from?
Green Goblin: A villain with a truly secret secret identity, until it was revealed he was the dad of Peter Parker’s best friend? Add to that him being a person who clearly struggled with mental illness (another groundbreaking concept), and I think it’s safe to say the Goblin is pretty unique.
Mysterio: A villain who used special effects to give the illusion of magical power…and one of the eeriest costumes around? Say what you want about him, but to dismiss Mysterio as not being unique seems pretty ignorant of what came before the character.
Sandman: Can’t think of any characters that could turn to sand and shape himself into fantastic shapes before Sandman. Making the guy essentially an idiot thug was also an unexpected, innovative move on Stan and Steve’s part. What the hell? How is Sandman any less innovative than, say, the friggin’ Penguin? Or the Riddler? Please.
Electro: The bold, outrageous costume alone makes Electro a unique, visually dazzling character.
Add to that the “damned animal kingdom” category members of Dr. Octopus, the Lizard (with his sympathetic origins) and the Rhino (the first “cross-over” villain), and I think you’ve got an incredibly entertaining, unique group of bad guys. Certainly better than 90% of the rogues galleries in superhero comics.
And really…outside of the Joker, Two-Face, and Catwoman, which top tier Batman villains are any more or less compelling than Spidey’s A-listers?
October 27th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I want to like the list but I can’t agree with the Daredevil and Captain Marvel picks or the critique against Spidey’s foes.
October 27th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
“…the Rhino (the first “cross-over” villain)…”
Whoops. That should be one of the first cross-over villains. I think Sandman beat Rhino to the punch by becoming an F.F. foe with the Frightful Four. The Rhino’s move from Spidey villain to Hulk villain came much later. Anyway, my point remains that the Rhino was a bit more than just a guy with an animal suit. Outside of Spidey’s early meeting with the Hulk, you could argue that the Rhino was Spidey’s first encounter with an overwhelmingly strong, unrelenting physical force.
Yeah, some geeky distinctions to make in today’s sophisticated salons of comic book list making…but there you go.
October 27th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I enjoyed that so many rogues were from cartoons.
@D Peace:
Coincidently my favorite President is George Bush from ‘That’s my Bush’ – so.
October 27th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
While I completely agree that Batman has the best rogue’s gallery ever, and even agree with much of what he said about Spider-Man, the least this guy could do – if he wants to be taken seriously – is spell Lex LUTHOR correctly.
He redeems himself for putting The Powerpuff Girls on the list though. Seriously! My wife, daughter and I loved that show. What a shame that, after becoming Cartoon Network’s biggest hit (even spawning a feature film) the show suddenly ended, the merchandising juggernaut stopped, and it completely disappeared. They don’t even show reruns on Boomerang (even though they do show reruns of Dexter’s Laboratory from the same era). I never understood how or why that happened. It was great stuff!