Superman has lot of enemies, but which are the best?
Here's my top 10:
1. Darkseid. Clearly dark and powerful, he's the most cunning of Superman's foes.
2. Brainiac. Another alien, but one who has it out for Kryptonians,in particular.
3. Doomsday. The only foe to kill the Man of Steel.
4. Cyborg Superman. Part machine and part Kryptonian, he is formidable.
5. Time Trapper. Clearly the most mysterious of all foes of the Man of Steel and master of time.
6. Mongul. Another alien with great power and evil ambition.
6. Lex Luthor. The most overused Superman villain.
7. Zod. A fellow Kryptonian with military style.
8. Drax. An underused alien villain from Superman's past.
9. The original Gog. Simply awesome.
10. (tie) Parasite, an energy sucker and Metallo, powered by Kryptonite, However, neither are very smart.
Note that Luthor is only sixth. He's so overused in the Silver Screen Superman movies that it is simply pitiful.
1. Darkseid..Perfect enemy for Superman (Created by Jack Kirby, who else?) Powerful and cosmic, right up Superman's alley.
ReplyDelete2. Cyborg Superman...The guy was quite capable of wreaking all kinds of destruction.
3. Brainiac
4. Doomsday Good for a Earth shattering knock down drag out, but lacks in personality
5. Mongul
6. Conduit
7. Composite Superman (All though by today's standards this character might seem hokey, I'd really like to see an imaginative writer tackle updating the Composite Superman for this generation. The original beat Superman and Batman both.)
8. Parasite
9. Gog
10. Lex Luthor (I hate even listing Lex..He's been so OVERUSED and run into the ground as a villain for Superman in BOTH films and comic books..Lex is one character that I wouldn't mind seeing DC kill off once and for all.)
Jerry, I like your picks and rather than post my own, would just comment on yours.
ReplyDeleteFirst, whether the rules of the game allow me, I would differentiate between the Silver Age Luthor and the Silver Screen Luthor. The latter has definitely been overused, as we've discussed before.
But the Silver Age Luthor, even the version with the battle suit who was given a new (and more realistic) reason to hate Superman, which was Superman's accidental destruction of Lexor, is my #1 Superman villain.
I would rate Gog as #2 because he was absolutely terrifying and all-powerful in "Kingdom Come".
Composite Superman is #3 merely because of his power.
Darkside is #4 although he has often stayed in his own region of space and not bothered Superman, which is why I'd rate him no higher than #4.
Brainiac is #5. His force field and shrinking ray are formidable. Remember that he & Luthor almost killed Superman in that classic story with the bird cage on the cover.
I don't care about the order for the rest. Yes, Doomsday "killed" Superman, but Superman ultimately came back from the dead, and in my book that renders Doomsday a little less scary. I realize that that may not sound logical.
Anyway ... great topic. I see that Bizarro and Mxyzptlk weren't included. They're on the border - not villains - but they're not heroes or friends of Superman, either.
Also, there was a version of Mxyzptlk that would make him #1 if not for the fact that this was one from what appeared to be an imaginary story - the one from "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" That Mxyzptlk was all-powerful, killed most of Superman's friends or was indirectly the cause of their deaths, and looked nasty!
Take care everyone.
-Bruce
Bruce, RE: Luthor..
ReplyDeleteIF DC would return to the Lex Luthor who is an evil scientific genius, I could readjust my list.
I realize I'm in the minority on this, but I'm sick to death of the "corporate" Luthor as a villain for Superman. (Things may have changed at DC regarding this subject, I don't know because I haven't bought a comic in years.)
Luthor as a "Untouchable" corporate executive that always manages to stay out of Superman's reach by legalities to me is boring. The story settings may as well be in courtrooms with Superman attempting to file legal action via a lawyer while Luthor is always wriggling free with his lawyer.
I'd much rather see a scientific genius full of malevolence and hatred for Superman who would stop at nothing to kill him.
You tell me which is more interesting. A guy in a suit sitting behind a desk confronted by an impotent Superman who can only glare at his foe, or an evil genius who creates deadly scientific marvels and machinations and plots all geared for one purpose,..To kill Superman.
But the Luthor of films and his corporate equivalent of the comics bore me to death, and I think deserves to be trashed and forgotten.