The geniuses of the comic book world (writers, artists,
producers and more) have stated that there are two heroes who have the largest
and greatest rogue’s galleries: Batman and Spiderman. In his 50 years in the
superhero biz, Spiderman has come across a large array of strange, creepy,
unique and ultimately timeless villains; villains who have become just about as
well-known or recognizable as Spiderman himself. I’ve chosen a select number of
rogues based on their popularity, individuality, how much I personally like
them and how large their impact were on our hero’s life.
Otto Octavious a.k.a Dr. Octopus
Doc Ock first appeared
in issue #3. He quickly became a fan favorite and soon appeared again, becoming
the first villain to make a second appearance. His character is one of the more
unusual of the rogues. A bright, scientific mind in control of four,
unbreakable mechanical arms, capable of matching all of Spiderman’s acrobatic
abilities. Counting all these factors and a lot more I didn’t mention, Doc Ock
is definitely one of the best villains, not only in Spiderman’s comics, but in
all comics.
Eddie Brock & Cletus Cassidy a.k.a Venom &
Carnage
Venom is the black
suit bonded to Eddie Brock making him, what the majority of fans call, their
favorite villain. Mainly because of his similarities to Spidey (same powers,
similar design etc). Venom is one of the deadliest of foes and always seems to
make an appearance in important story arcs. The black symbiote eventually had a
red and black offspring that bonded to serial killer Cletus Cassidy, creating
Carnage. An even more deadly and ruthless opponent then its “father”, it takes
the combined force of Spiderman and Venom to defeat him. The Carnage symbiote
even appeared in the “Ben Reilly Saga” after bonding with Reilly to create
Spider-Carnage. Venom and Carnage certainly are “the world’s favorite
symbiotes.”
“The Animal Kingdom”
The great thing about
Spidey’s villains is that the majority of them are based on animals, like
Spiderman himself. This makes for some interesting fighting match-ups and
creative titles. Well-known villains from Spidey’s Animal Kingdom include: The
Lizard, once Peter’s friend now transformed into a half-man half-lizard. The
Scorpion, initially created by J. Jonah Jameson and a scientist to capture and
destroy our hero. And The Rhino, a science experiment that permanently fused
unbreakable armor to his skin and making him mad for money and obsessed with
“squashing no good insects”, I mean arachnids. Many other animal based baddies
include Vulture, Iguana, Puma and even Doc Ock can be considered in this
category. Its not too often you get a large group of great villains, its even
more rare when they fall into a relatively similar category.
Prof. Miles Warren a.k.a The Jackal
Its funny, I did some
research before writing this article, not a whole lot but I checked other
people’s lists of Spiderman’s best villains and no one seems to have placed
Jackal among their ranks. But why not? The guy is capable of creating
duplicates of Peter’s loved ones, duplicating himself, convincing Peter that he
is just a clone and ultimately ruining Peter’s life over the course of several
years. That looks pretty good on a super villain resume. Sure, the stories he
was featured in did get a little out of hand and made you feel the way you did
when you started watching Lost half way through, but it wasn’t because of the
Jackal’s character. He did create all those clones to help complicate the
stories, but you can’t blame him for trying to be a good super villain. If
you’re still not convinced, pick up “The Clone Saga” and you’ll soon see how
great a nemesis the Jackal is.
Norman Osborn a.k.a The Green Goblin
The Green Goblin first
appeared in 1964, and 48 years later, he’s still causing trouble in the Marvel
Universe. The character Norman Osborn didn’t actually appear until 2 years
after, but it wasn’t long before Spiderman realized they were one and the same.
Green Goblin always had an edge over Spidey’s other villains, because he was
the first to discover his secret identity. Since then he’s caused Peter nothing
but harm, which would include throwing Gwen Stacy off a bridge to ultimately
meet her demise. Osborn’s character was interesting though, having a Jeckal and
Hyde complex. A successful, determined businessman on one side and an evil,
murdering super villain on the other. Many new characters have taken up the
mantle of the Goblin including Osborn’ son Harry, but none could ever surpass
the “greatness” of Norman Osborn.
Once again, I’ve only
chosen a select few of Spidey’s greatest villains and I’m sure your lists will
look slightly different then mine, but there is no denying these villains are
incomparable. Doomsday & Beyond continues to celebrate Spidey’s 50th birthday by examining his best supporting characters, so stay tuned.
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