Dr Kain's Top Favorite DC somethingsomething

[Dr Kain]

September is Villains Month according to DC, so what better way to celebrate it than to start listing my top favorite DC villains of all time. I will be posting my favorite DC villains throughout the month, just not every day as I did so with the Heroes.

And with that said, let’s kick start this list with:



While I knew of his existence beforehand, it was through “Superman: The Animated Series” that I truly learned about this character. I loved how they introduced him through the episode with in a similar fashion to the way Ra’s al Ghul was introduced years prior in “Batman: The Animated Series,” but it was really his work at the tail end of “Father’s Day” and then everything in “Apokolips Now” that made me love the character. He was a villain that was not meant to be trifled with. He was a true threat, even more so than the likes of Brainiac, and throughout the series, Superman never truly defeated him. I also love the fact that he does not have to have some complicated backstory to be evil, he just is evil, and at times, that is a better threat than someone who has a motive to be a villain.

Afterwards, it seemed like Darkseid became an even bigger threat throughout the DC universe as he and his minions started becoming big time villains throughout the more recent books with Darkseid being the main villain in “Final Crisis.” In fact, even in the New 52 reboot Darkseid essentially became the first villain the Justice League fought against.

I enjoyed what I have read from Jack Kirby’s original comics, and while I would love to have seen what Kirby had in store as far as a conclusion goes, in some ways, there were huge benefits for there not being one. Who knows if Darkseid would have been around past the 70s had Kirby completed his “Fourth Worlds” storyline. Sure, being dead is never really gone forever in the world of comic books, but you never know what would have been in store for the tyrannical god in Kirby’s original vision.

Nevertheless, outside of Darkseid’s psychopathic desires to destroy all life, I also love the amount of characters that resolve around him. Be it Granny Goodness and her insane Furies, Steppenwolf, who is Darkseid’s uncle, to his sons Kalibak and Orion, and all of those that surround even New Genesis such as Mr. Miracle, Metron, and Big Barda. Even Apokolips has an interesting mythology about it and its origins. Jack Kirby was a genius when he created this character and it was nice to see even more genius used when it came to Bruce Timm and his gang to utilize it.

[Dr Kain]

It is time to discuss another of my favorite villains in the DC universe, this time, let’s look at the clown prince of crime:



This may come as a surprise to some, but I actually did not care for the Joker all that much until about 2000. I hated the character in the Adam West show. I hated him on those Scooby Doo episodes. I thought Jack Nicholson was all right and I still was not a fan of his even in “Batman: The Animated Series.” It was not until “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker” that I started to like the character as that was my first time seeing the character actually be downright insane. Afterwards, I read “The Killing Joke” and “Death in the Family” (the real one, not the recent joke using that name) and that is where I started to take an interest in the character.

However, I still was not completely a fan of his until 2005 when I read Denny O’Neil’s “Joker’s Five Way Revenge” and Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns.” Now, I absolutely love the Joker and the portrayals he has received over the recent years. I still cannot say I completely like the version of him in BTAS, but I have found new enjoyment in those episodes he was featured in (especially in episodes like “The Laughing Fish”). Most all, I love the adaptations we have had with him in “Under the Red Hood,” the Arkham video game series, the movie version of “The Dark Knight Returns,” and of course, Ledger’s performance of him in “The Dark Knight.”

One of the things I have grown to love about Joker is how he is the exact opposite of Batman. Batman will do what he can to not kill anyone or to let someone die. Joker, on the other hand, does not kill, he will kill anyone or anything that gets in his way. He will do what needs to be done to get at Batman. Plus, he has also done the most damage to Batman by killing Jason and paralyzing Barbara out of any other villain.

While I consider Ra’s al Ghul to be Batman’s ultimate nemesis due to his, Joker is the most dangerous villain due to his savagery. Ra’s will think his actions through and plan, Joker will plan, but he will improvise as the situation needs regardless of who he hurts in the process. This is what makes Joker a formidable opponent and why he is one of my top favorite villains in the entire DC universe.

[MekaGojira3k]

The Joker is easily my favorite DC Comics villain.

[Dr Kain]

The next villain is a strange one to some, because he doesn’t seem like he would be a Flash villain, and yet, he is. Why? Well Flash normally fights petty criminals that would rather rob a bank than kill someone. He fights people who use weaponry that have the capability of slowing him down. Plus, all of his villains are usually just standard humans. This villain, on the other hand, is much more than that:



Gorilla Grodd is really a strange one, but I think it is also because at the time he was created, Flash was also battling aliens and beings from other dimensions. So maybe in the late 50s, it did not seem strange to have a talking gorilla. Nevertheless, Grodd is one of my favorite villains in the DC universe because he does stand out from others. I mean he is a talking gorilla. A TALKING GORILLA!!

Nevertheless, I find him to be pretty cool because he makes me think of the movie King Kong at times. Not to mention the performance Powers Booth did of him in the Justice League cartoons really helped seal him as a favorite character of mine. His abilities are simplistic, he uses mind control to stop his enemies and to get people to work for him. So what makes him special enough to be one of my top favorite villains? He just is. I like the idea of there being a city of intelligent gorillas hiding from the human world so they can live in peace. Once again, I love the original “King Kong” and think bad ass gorillas are awesome, especially when they are intelligent and try to take over the world.

Plus, as I said earlier, he really stands out from the rest of Flash’s rogues because he is not a petty criminal. He doesn’t care about robbing banks or stealing Scooby snacks. Unlike the other rogues, he DOES want to take over the world. He is a dangerous enemy to fight hand to hand with because he is a gorilla, so Flash usually has to be smart about battling this character more than anyone else.

[Dr Kain]

Yellow is my least favorite color. So how is it that this next villain can make yellow seem so bad ass? That’s right, the next villain on my list is:



Like the lanterns prior to Kyle, I only knew a little bit about Sinestro, but I never really paid attention to him until Johns brought Hal back and started to really turn Sinestro into a true threat. Sure, he had some great moments in “Justice League Unlimited,” but it was not until “Green Lantern: First Flight” and the post-Rebirth stories that I truly started to pay attention to Sinestro and found him to be a truly fantastic villain. He has several layers to his character, as he does not seem to be truly evil, but the loss of his friend and what he feels was a betrayal from the Guardians put him over the edge to the point where he wants to conquer the universe.

Another thing that sealed his character as a credible threat to me was the creation of the Sinestro Corp. The guy forges his own power battery, his own rings from the battery, and essentially builds the entire army by himself. That is freaking awesome!! How can you not like someone with that much motivation? Not to mention the oath he created really sounds like they are driving fear into those who even hear it.

Outside of that, I don’t really have too much more to add about the character other than it was interesting to see Johns put his daughter in charge of his Sector, so watching him go at it with her was a unique experience to read. It is just a shame that DC does not seem to know what else to do with the character, especially in the New 52. This is one of those reasons why, if they were going to do a rebooted universe, they should have done a FULL reboot, not a half-boot.

[Dr Kain]

As mentioned previously, Joker may be Batman’s exact opposite, and killing sociopath, but it is this man uses his intellect to combat Bruce, which to me, makes him the more dangerous threat. And that man is:



Like many others, I was introduced to Ra’s al Ghul through “Batman: The Animated Series.” However, not only did this series help propel Ra’s into being one of my favorite Batman villains of all time, it also helped me discover the comics written in the 70s by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano. The Ra’s al Ghul saga that is collected in the “Tales of the Demon” paperback is by far one of my most favorite Batman collections ever. I love nearly every minute of the story telling and the artwork found within is just phenomenal. Not to mention we got the introduction to Batman’s beloved Talia.

What is there to say about Ra’s? His name is Arabic for The Demon’s Head. He is the leader of the League of Assassins. And he has been alive for hundreds of years. This brings him a multitude of experience and knowledge of the world around him despite how narrow his views may be. Of course, are his views narrow or is he just using the wrong means to “fix” the world? This to me adds a layer to the character that no other Batman rogue can touch. Yes, he is just a man, but a very strong one at that thanks to the Lazarus Pits and his wit. On the other hand, he is very arrogant, which usually leads to his defeat, but that cannot be helped at times.

One of the other things I love about Ra’s is that he is not over used like some of the other rogues Batman faces are. As much as I love the likes of Joker and Penguin, there are times when they are used way too much that sometimes my thoughts are, “Oh, another Joker story.” Thanks to this, it is always a treat when Ra’s is featured. Unfortunately, I fear what DC will do to him soon as I don’t believe he has made an appearance yet in the New 52 universe. Obviously, he has to exist, as Damian and Talia exists (ed), but it does not mean DC is going to find some way to really mess up his character as they seem to be doing with many others. Next thing we know, the Ra’s Batman has been fighting against over the last 40 years will turn out to be an imposter.

Nevertheless, Ra’s al Ghul is my favorite Batman villain to date, not to mention one of my favorite DC villains, and I doubt that will change any time soon.

[klen7]

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

I finished the first volume of Swamp Thing and the tie in makes perfect sense to me now that I understand Animal Man's tie to the Red. So far i've been enjoying it

[klen7]

Wow. Just read volume 1 of Animal Man. I like it better than Swamp Thing.