I still haven’t figured out if it’s “super villain” or “supervillain.”

In my quest to let everyone know how lame I am, my quest to get a list of my top ten favorite super villains continues with this the second (and final) part of the honorable mentions from my list.

Growing up, there was one villain that I always thought was Spider-Man’s true arch nemesis.   More than anyone else in Spidey’s rogues gallery, this guy just seemed the natural foil to all of Spider-Man’s antics.  I’m referring to the multi-armed menace known as Doctor Octopus.

Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock as Stan Lee so affectionately called him, was one of several villains that Spider-Man faced over the years that took his name from a member of the Animal Kingdom. A brilliant scientist who was ridiculed because of his use of his mechanical arms before an accident fused them permanently to his body became a foe who, due to his multiple limbs was able to keep Spider-Man at bay time and time again. Years after it was established that Doctor Octopus was a menace to be reckoned with, he began a rather awkward relationship with May Parker. This, of course, freaked Peter out to no end, and I still don’t quite understand how whole thing happened.

As I said previously, I always saw Doc Ock as Spider-Man’s arch-enemy. I guess it’s because I believed more his ability to take Spider-Man in a fight. He didn’t have super strength, or any other amazing powers or abilities, but how many times did we see Spider-Man tangled up in those arms.

In the nineties came my favorite incarnation of the good Doctor. The suit-wearing, cigar smoking orchestrator of the reunion of The Sinister Six was an outstanding and more menacing than ever take on Doc Ock. In fact, one of my favorite Doc Ock moments came in the second reunion of the Sinister Six in the pages of Spider-Man (Not Amazing, Spectacular, or Web of…just Spider-Man). In it he threatened the family that Sandman lived with to gain Sandman’s help in his dastardly plot. When Sandman finally stood up to Doc Ock, he pulled out a ray gun and used it to turn Sandman to glass, as he did so he referenced an encounter the Sandman had with The Hulk YEARS before. I had the obscure comic so it was neat to see it used in what was then a modern day context.

I also always liked the visuals of Doc Ock’s arms and the different things he could do with them, from standing above everyone, to fighting, to lighting a cigar, he’s just a visually fun, exciting villain to challenge Spidey with.

Next in my honorable mentions list is another villain from Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. (Actually, I like a LOT of Spider-Man’s rogues.)  My favorite types of villains are the ones that are almost the exact opposites of our heroes.  The darker versions of the good guys.   It’s a little more interesting when someone comes along that is a twisted version of a villain.  The only time I’ve seen this done is with a guy that calls himself THE HOBGOBLIN.

The Hobgoblin came about as a huge mystery in the Amazing Spider-Man title. Roger Stern laid out clue after clue and red herring after red herring. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that Stern ever actually got to give the answer to the mystery he set up. The Hobgoblin was really nothing more than a cheap knock off of the original Green Goblin, or so it would seem. Then, during the Inferno storyline Hobgoblin was changed into a demonic looking being and was driven crazy by the experience. He only got scarier in each appearance following his change.

I can’t really put a finger on why I like the Hobgoblin. I really like the concept. I enjoy the twist of him actually becoming a goblin. I like the fact that though Spider-Man knows how to face a goblin now, Hobgoblin is still a threat. (or is he dead?)(Should have done my research.)(Give me a minute here…..reading…studying…fact-checking)(Oh…come to find out…Roger Stern DID finish up the mystery….13 YEARS LATER…I missed that.)(WOW!!! That’s really messed up.)

You know what, I liked the whole transformation into an actual goblin, and the fact that it was someone stealing the idea of the original Green Goblin and running with it.

ahem…moving on…

Before Ned Leeds, or Roderick Kingsley, or whoever else tried to mount the glider, there was Norman Osborn.   Norman was/is a crazy cuss.  Osborn attempted to create a serum based on the formula of a former associate at Oscorp unsuccessfully.   The serum blew up in his face, giving him greater strength, intelligence, and making him insane.  He adopted the persona of the next villain on our list…THE GREEN GOBLIN.

Many would argue that The Green Goblin is Spider-Man’s ultimate arch-enemy. I totally see that. He killed Peter Parker’s girlfriend. Everytime he’s come back to life, he’s made it his goal to make Spider-Man’s life a living hell, apparently just for the fun of it.

I think that’s what makes me like him. The Green Goblin’s not out to rule the world, or take over New York’s mob. He’s just crazy. He hates Spider-Man. He’s just nuts. That can be scary. It can be fun. It can make for some great stories, and while he doesn’t make my top ten proper, he only JUST missed it.

Ok…confession time.   I like the goblins, green and hob, because they are colorgul villains.

Finally, we come down to the last of the honorable mentions.  There is a villain that is so narcissistic, so egotistical, so….bound and determined to make sure that everyone knows he has committed a crime that he never really gets away with it.  He wears bright green in a world of dark colors.  His symbol is a punctuation mark.  He’s the villain that so many people on the internet are clamoring to see in the sequel to The Dark Knight.  He is, of course, The Riddler.

I love The Riddler. I like the fact that he is so stuck on himself and so hellbent on outsmarting the Caped Crusader that he gives himself away everytime. He’s a bit crazy, but so calculating at the same time.

If well-written, the Riddler is a fantastic counter to Batman’s detective skills.  In fact, at the time of this posting, The Riddler has apparently gone straight and is making a living as a private detective in Gotham City.  Of course, none of bat-family trust him, and as a reader, I have to agree with them.  I am waiting for that return to the dark side.  (Granted that’s happening a bit in Trinity right now.)(For my thoughts on that title and using parentheses too much in a blog post, listen to future episodes of Geek Out Loud.)

From the comics, to cartoons, to Frank Gorshin to Jim Carrey, and even to John Glover, I have always enjoyed the Riddler, and seen him as a force to be reckoned with by Batman and his Bat-family.

He may not be strong, or a ninja-trained fighter, or even a former acrobat, but his brain and calculated schemes always give the Dynamic Duo and friends a run for their money and makes for a fun story.

So, The Riddler brings us to the end of the honorable mentions.   I wanted to mention people like Rhino, Sandman,Venom,(that would have been too many Spidey villains though) Mxyzptlk (For a correct pronunciation watch this.) Hush, Metallo, Annihilus, Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, and others, but there’s only so much space on the web. The official top ten starts soon. Get ready to tell me how wrong I am.

I don’t know if it’s the Party conventions of the past week and a half (political joke uhthank you) or the fact that I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but I think it’s time to break out my top ten favorite super villains.  While I don’t know that a hero is only as good as his villain, (Superman started out fighting corruption and mobs, Batman was a detective) I do admit that a good villain makes for a great story.   Over the years we’ve been given more villains than heroes it seems as writers attempt to bring on the next legendary foil for our heroes.  but only a handful have had staying power to torment our heroes again and again and again.  What follows is a list of my favorites.  This is not a list of the greatest villains ever.   This is not a list that I think should be anyone’s definitive list.  It’s simply my favorite super villains to come along since the dawn of the super hero.

As with my favorite super heroes, I will begin with the honorable mentions.

First on the list is the newest villain on the scene lately, THE RED HULK.  I can hear the collective groan of you the fearless readers.  Allow me to expound just a bit.   I’m a huge fan of the Hulk. In fact, you can read just how big of a fan I am by reading this article from my top ten list. The thing about the Hulk is that he has seldom ever found himself actually beaten down. There are very few villains that can match his strength. Enter THE RED HULK.  I know that a lot of comic book readers are shaking their heads in disgust right now, but let’s look at the facts.

At the time of writing this,  the actual identity of Big Red is still up in the air.  Granted there have been some obvious clues as to his identity, but let’s face it, when things are spelled out that much in a mystery like this one, the first thought is “red herring.”  So, I’m not convinced that Doc Samson has gone all red and hulked out on us.

Couple with the mystery, a character who calculatingly beat the Hulk near enough to unconsciousness to subdue him, but kept him conscious enough to keep him from turning into Banner.  In fact, he dispatched the real Hulk long enough to have an unimpeded fight with The Mighty Thor.

His motives are unclear, but his power is unmistakeable, and I’m a huge fan of the “dark reflection” type villains as this top ten list will clearly show.

Next on the honorable mention list is a villain that is not so much a villain as a force of nature in the worst sense.  With an insatiable hunger (for planets) and practically limitless power, GALACTUS makes for one of the most formidable foes in the Marvel Universe. Let me clarify before I go on to prevent any confusion. I am referring to Galactus of the 616 Marvel Universe, not the cosmic swarm Galactus of the Ultimate Universe.

I don’t know if it’s really fair to call Galactus a villain. It has been stated many times in comic history that Galactus is neither good nor evil, he simply exists to feed. The problem is that when he feeds worlds die. When worlds die, beings die. That’s not really a good thing. I think it’s a combination of the hopelessness for the inhabitants of the worlds that Galactus chooses to devour along with the fact that Galactus exists beyond the concepts of good and evil in a sense. On one hand, he must know the billions of lives lost when he feeds, on the other hand, if he cared at all for anyone other than himself, he would simply not feed and allow himself to fade into non-existence.  One of my favorite arcs involving Galactus was in Walt Simonson’s run on the Fantastic Four back in the early nineties.  Right after The Acts of Vengeance, Simonson came onto the Fantastic Four title as writer and artist.  In his firt adventure with the team, Simonson took our heroes on a time-spanning journey along with Thor and Iron Man into the not so distant future where the Universe was ceasing to exist.   At the end of the second or third issue of the arc it was revealed that Galactus was at the core of the destruction of the Universe as he had grown exponentially in size and was devouring space and time accordingly.   In the end, to save the future, Galactus had to use the Ultimate Nullifier to destroy everything.  Great story, great “villain.”

The next honorable mention goes to another somewhat cosmic being.  Like Galactus he was made famous through the art of the great Jack Kirby.  In fact, while Kirby collaborated with Stan Lee to bring Galactus to the pages of Marvel,  the next villain on the list was a creation all Kirby’s own.  Surprisingly, this villain wasn’t introduced in a Crisis or huge crossover event as you would expect given his current reputation, rather he was introduced in the unlikely pages of SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN.  I’m referring to the anti-life equation seeking Lord of Apokolips, Darkseid.
I was first introduced to Darkseid on Saturday mornings while watching Superfriends. I knew then that he was a much bigger threat than Lex Luthor and his Legion of Doom ever were, but I didn’t know just how evil he really was in the source material from which his character was taken. Throughout the years, I’ve come to enjoy stories involving Darkseid and his search for the anti-life equation. His battles with Superman and the Justice League are the stuff of legend. His uneasy truce with the New Gods of New Genesis is always engaging to read. His treachery knows no bounds and he has surrounded himself with a truly creepy group of lackeys from his right hand man Desaad to Granny Goodness and all the others.

On Superman: The Animated Series, and later Justice League Unlimited, Bruce Timm and crew gave us a Darkseid that brought out the anger and frustration in Superman like no one else could. Anytime Superman can cut loose of someone it’s fun to watch. Anytime someone can make Superman angry enough to do so, it’s even funner (or more fun if you like). However, Darkseid is a bit limited in what kind of stories can be told with him in conjunction with our major characters, so he merits an honorable mention rather than a top ten spot.

Finally, in this part of my list of honorable mentions comes one of the more interesting villains on the list at all.  He was a hero turned villain.  In fact, he has become one of the more vile villains in the galaxy.  He turned his back on a brotherhood, and on those who needed his protection to pursue selfish means and unwarranted vengeance.  This isn’t to say he was always good.  In fact, he obtained his powers through less than heroic means.  While it may sound like I’m talking about Darth Vader, I am referring to Sinestro.

Since most of my initial exposure to comic book characters came from Saturday morning cartoons, it follows that I learned of Sinestro while watching THE CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS. Sinestro appealed to me as kid because he was the antithesis to Hal Jordan. In fact, he carried a weapon that was fueled with an energy that presented itself as Jordan’s one weakness – yellow. Silly? Maybe. However, to a kid on the living room floor in front of his television it made perfect sense as well as good television.

Recently, the rogue Lantern from Qward returned in force to the comic book world, spawning a war with Green Lanterns across the galaxy. For what makes Sinestro evil is not the color of his ring, but the desire to rule as a dictator, to strip away the freedom that sentient beings should enjoy. His battles with the Green Lantern have been some of the best battles in comic books as he trained Hal Jordan and (as previously stated) used Jordan’s weakness as his weapon.

If a villains ability to go toe to toe with a hero makes him a good villain, then Sinestro’s got it. Couple with that the history Sinestro has with the Lanterns along with the agenda he brings to the table and you have yourself an interesting villain that makes his appearance in a comic worth checking out.

So, there you have it, the first installment of my list of favorite Super villains. There are five more honorable metions to go before we jump into the list itself. As always, offer your thoughts on these or predictions on favorites in the comments section. Remember, though, this is a safe place to geek out. So, while I encourage you to be critical, I also encourage you to be cordial. Let’s not go the route of the peopel this blog is about.

Dragon Con has come and gone, and we had a great time.

I have to give a couple of shout outs:

First, Derek who has gracioiusly allowed me to co-host Starkville’s House of El and Skynext and Graham from Tenth Wonder were great roommates and we had a great time hanging out together all weekend long.  (And now a few inside jokes for them) “HOW!”  “I miss Graham already.” “I HATE THIS INTERNET!” “We smoke ‘em peace pipe together.”

Secondly, Kelly, who headed up the panels that Graham, Derek, and myself were on was a great hostess and header upper.  Even though she busted my chops about updating the podcast and the site.

Then, (and forgive me if I miss anyone) Dave (Phantom Slasher), John (coolest guy at the con), Chad (Worst example of a teacher ever), Sleeptech (I refuse to publish your real name), Tim (Sexy Russell Crowe guy), CHICO! (new listener?), and Steve (The Canadian guy from This Week in Geek) were a few of the guys we got to hang out with while there.

Datatron – who’s real name escapes me – a listener of Skynext who really helped keep the Terminator panel focused on me and Derek, (which I take a certain selfish joy in) and who also brought a book to give me.  While I’m not gonna mention the title here, suffice to say the premise creeps me out and furthers my resistance to the Robot Lovin’ Act of 2027.  How neat, though, to have a listener show up with a gift.

There were several listeners who wanted pictures with us, and I can’t tell you how incredibly cool that was.  Thanks guys for making me finally reach AA-list (Right behind the Z-list of celbrities) in my celbrity status.

Finally, my good friend Michael Bailey from Views From the Longbox, one of my favorite podcasts to listen to that doesn’t feature me, and The Fortress of Baileytude, his Superman blog. We recorded for his podcast and ended up talking for close to four hours. He and his wife were awesome to meet and so friendly. Hanging with him was a definite highlight of the weekend for me.

As for the actual Con, I probably didn’t take advantage of all that was going on as much as I should have.  There were tons of people dressed up in a variety of ways.  (I’m still not sure what the goth and steampunk stuff is about.)  I didn’t even get any pictures, but there is a cool video that represents the latest episode of SHoE showing a bit of me at the Con.

I found out when I got home that on the Star Wars track there, they showed the first episode of the new Clone Wars series. I HAD NO IDEA THAT SOMETHING LIKE THAT WOULD HAPPEN. I didn’t really go to any of the celebrity panels. In fact, I didn’t do much but hang out with Derek and Graham. BUT, I had fun, and meeting people was good enough for me.

So, I don’t have a lot to report. I will say, if you live in the southeast, DragonCon is definitely worth checking out if for no other reason it’s just a good time to not feel like an outcast for your geekdom. (If you ever feel like an outcast for your geekdom, that is.)

Next year, if I’m able to make it, I will go prepared to run myself ragged with a camera, making it to as many panels as humanly possible, and even trying to score some interviews. Until then, though, if you go to any Cons, feel free to write up a report and send it in.