Thursday, September 24, 2009

Worktime Blog Randomness!

The Return of the Random Blog From Work

Well here I am sitting at a desk again, and because this new job is still very new and training is not anywhere near completion yet, I thought I'd bring back an old concept but a fun one. I pick something random in pop culture and just start typing about it.

This weeks issue: Rogue's galleries, and no this does not mean pictures of Anna Paquin.

Myself and my buddies Danny and Steve got into a semi-heated debate about who has the best rogue's gallery in comic book history. Superman and Captain America were among the first discussed but then quickly dismissed when we quickly realized that after Lex Luthor and The Red Skull, there's not much depth there. I brought up the Teen Titans but then was shot down because it's a combined rogue's gallery, and that isn't really fair. Though for the record Slade Wilson is one of my favorite comic book villains of all time.

On and on the debate went until we finally narrowed it down to two heroes, both with impressive arrays of villains of varying complexity and danger. Those two heroes are Batman and Spider-man. And I will analyze both before giving my opinion, though I'm sure anyone who knows me knows who I'm gonna say.

We'll start with Batman and I'll give a Top 5 list of at least my favorite villains for the Caped Crusader.

1.The Joker – Easily Batman's chief rival, and really epitomizes what Batman goes up against. Joker is just insane but hilarious at the same time, and easily has had the best material. From Cesar Romero's makeup covered mustache to Nicholson “rubbing another man's rhubarb” to Mark Hamill being completely and fully awesome in the animated series and Batman Beyond (the movie Return of the Joker is a must watch) all the way to Heath Ledger's amazing portrayal of the Crown Prince of Crime.
2.The Riddler – Okay I'm going to get flak for putting Riddler this high on my list, but these are all my opinion because this is how I grew up with the Bat. The Riddler was always such a fun villain for me because he didn't need to resort to physicality, and it was more of a reason why Batman is a great detective, not just a strong semi-ninja badass.
3.Ra's Al Guhl – Now I know he's higher on most other people's list, and truth be told, I'm not that high on him. I mean I do respect that he is reallt the guy who can get to Bruce Wayne and not necessarily Batman and that's always the mark of a good villain. They know the secret identity and explot it, but don't expose it.
4.Two Face – Oh man do I loves me some Harvey Dent. It's great to see Batman always show a bit of remorse when he is up against Two Face because he knows that he is partially responsible for turning public servant Harvey Dent into a coin flipping murdering madman.
5.Poison Ivy – Female villains are tough to come by, especially really credible ones. But when you give someone an outlook on life that is good and then take it up to insane proportions, then give her control over all the world's fauna, that's a force of nature. Plus Ivy plays off her looks and uses it to capitalize and gain the upper hand on the bat and bird. Plus deep down she's a chemistry nerd, and who doesn't love a good chemistry nerd?

Is this list complete? Of course not. Will you agree with all of my choices? I sure hope not, but these are Batman's Top 5 Villains in my humble opinion. All due respect to Misters Cobblepot and Freis.

Now moving on to everyone's favorite webslinger, Spider-man. Here's a brief rundown of my Top 5 favorite Spidey villains.

1.Norman Osborne – Oh man where do I start with the awesomeness of Normie? He's got the political stroke of Lex Luthor and the criminal genius of The Joker. And his glider's got jets. But serious Norman was a huge threat to Spidey even BEFORE he knew who was under the webbed mask, but once Norman found out Peter's little secret, he made the young Parker's life a living hell. That and he likes to throw blonde women off of bridges.
2.Venom – Eddie Brock regardless of what backstory you follow has always been a huge threat to Spidey for the simple reason that Venom has all the same powers as Petey does, and doesn't register as a threat to the ever present spider-sense of the wall crawler. But also the fact that the alien symbiode bonded to Brock's skin only has very few weaknesses and is powered by the overwhelming hatred Eddie has for Parker and Spider-man.
3.J. Jonah Jameson – Peter's boss being on this list probably surprises some people but it really shouldn't. Beyond being able to torture Parker at work, he also is a huge detractor of Spider-man. Jonah was the one responsible for spider slayers to try and taken down the webbed wonder, and the creation of Scorpion. And recently in the Brand New Day in the comics, the dynamic between Jonah and Peter has gotten so much better as Jonah is now the step brother to Peter Parker, but Mayor of New York City with a whole team dedicated to take down the anti-registration criminal known as Spider-man.
4.Doctor Octopus – Otto Octavius has spent a lifetime trying to make things difficult for Spider-man. He is truly a geek gone bad as the mechanical limbs bonded to his spine has basically driven him to the point of madness. He even tried to marry Peter's Aunt May once. And the writer's of spider-man look highly enough on Doc Ock to feature him in ASM 600, where Otto hacks into the city grid and actually has the whole of New York City attack Spider-man. He is probably the biggest threat while being the physically weakest because of his mental acumen.
5.Burglar – Honestly I had a hard time coming up with the fifth because I was running through a whole list of guys like Lizard, Kraven, Chameleon, Kingpin, etc. But there is one guy who, with one simple act, has haunted Peter for years, decades even, and this guy was never even given a name. It really illustrates why Spider-man works as a hero. This random guy, the one guy Spidey really just let slide, ends up being the person who has impacted and shaped his life more than Norman Osbourne would even hope to take credit for. The murder of Uncle Ben, made Spider-man who he is today, and is the prime motivation for Pete to continue leading this dual life because with great power there must also come great responsibility (had to fit that line in somewhere).

Now you may be wondering why there was no mention of Catwoman in Batman's list, and honestly it's because Spider-man has Black Cat who is essentially the same character, only done better. And yes I think Spidey has better villains just because they seem more well rounded than Batman's villains, and also they don't have to rot in an Asylum and then break out every time they want to do something criminal.

Well hope you enjoyed this rant...if anyone even reads this anymore.