Super-Villains: The Complete Visual History

161 Pages·2014·183.99 MB·English

by  Daniel Wallace

S U P E R - V I L L A I N S

S U P E R - V I L L A I N S
T HE C OMP L E T E V I S U A L HI S T OR Y
WRITTEN BY DANIEL WALLACE
FOREWORD BY KEVIN SMITH
San Rafael, California

CONTENTS
Foreword by Kevin Smith 08
Introduction 10
01 Menaces of Metropolis 14
02 Gotham City's Rogues Gallery 38
03 Adversaries of the Amazing Amazon 70
04 Evil Overlords 78
05 Enemies of the Emerald Knight 92
06 Lives of Crime 100
07 Foes of the Fastest Man Alive 110
08 Mad Science 120
09 Monsters, Experiments, and Freaks 130
10 Strength in Numbers 146
Epilogue 158

F O R E W O R D
ON BEING BAD
If you're ever in conversation with someone who
suddenly speaks with admiration about his or her
favorite serial killers, walk away.
Conversely, if you’re ever engaged on the subject of comic book were uncovered, so you could see the greedy humanity and angry
baddies by a fan of such, buckle up for the show of a lifetime— eyebrows employed to distinguish the bad guys and girls from
because our type tends to speak with the eloquence of Socrates their law-abiding counterparts. Manta’s face, however, was buried
when discussing super-villains. We carefully measure psychotic in a giant metal helmet, his humanity hidden completely, so you
deeds against questionable haute couture to arrive at a metric for could easily imagine him as a deep-voiced killbot who swam with
our criminal affection that is so complicated (both mathematically sharks. The Black Manta in Challenge of the Super Friends was the
and psychologically), it’d make Pythagoras quit numbers forever. villain of choice for any kid who loved both Jaws and Star Wars.
When I was a kid on the school playground and my classmates Thank Grodd we have comic book villains to assuage any real
were choosing who’d play which position in Wiffle Ball, I’d always interest in being bad. And nobody does a Rogues Gallery better
wind up in left field—where no Wiffle Ball ever travels. Sports than DC Comics. Whether tragic victims of circumstance or evil
were not my thing: The world of cartoons and comic books was incarnate, the villains of the DC Universe loom large throughout not
where I lived and breathed. So every afternoon, I pushed to play just pop culture but the culture in general. In a world where even
“Challenge of the Super Friends”—based on the Saturday morning my mom could describe the Riddler for a police sketch artist, DC
cartoon renditions of all our favorite DC Super Heroes. It was this Comics super-villains have captured imaginations and built a big,
simple: If I could sway enough of my classmates to choose fantasy bad brand that travels far beyond the fan base.
over the dopey tetherball line, we’d leave the athletics to the And it’s fine to be a fan of these shimmering psychopaths,
athletes and head for the Hall of Justice. each colorful character more hell-bent on domination than the
Now, whenever Wiffle Ball bats were cast aside for Batman, it next. We have to quietly cheer them on—if for no other reason than
was my job to assign the roles. In a prototypical exercise of what to invoke the heroes who always vanquish these nefarious foes and
would later become my profession (telling people to pretend to be fools. It’s omelets and eggs: You can’t have good guys without the
someone else for a little while), I’d cast our lunchtime adventure bad guys.
based on my friends’ personalities. So Janine would be Wonder So as you flip through these pages, should you feel an
Woman. John would be Superman. Mike would be Batman. Chris inexplicable affinity for Captain Boomerang or Doomsday,
would be Aquaman. But with the big guns spoken for, which role it doesn’t mean you need to talk to a therapist or priest. Rooting
would the game master play? Each and every time we trod the boards for a DC Comics super-villain is half the fun of reading a DC comic
as the Super Friends during grade school recess, I’d squeeze into an book. And as long as the other half of the fun involves wanting
imaginary wet suit and become Black Manta. the DC Super Heroes to bust with the justice and make it all better
The Joker? Lex Luthor? Cheetah? Morons. My favorite again, you’re doing it right.
villain in childhood had always been Black Manta. Black Manta’s But if you hate Batman and love the Joker, seek help.
creators gave him an elegant Darth Vader-ish black suit with
giant, illuminated eyeholes. And as depicted in Challenge of the —Kevin Smith
Super Friends, he spoke through a voice modulator—which made
him sound like a bad guy, too. The faces of the other villains