So after talking about the more obscure Batman villains the other day, it was only fair to cover Superman.
The big difference is Batman’s were all spun off into animated and live action media, so people were aware of them to some degree. Not so true with Superman, his rogue’s gallery is kind of lame and the obscure villain’s are reeaally obscure. In fact while Batman’s obscure villains are still impressive enough to be liked, the more I looked into Superman’s the more I found..not so much. It makes sense, it’s doable to stand toe to toe with Batman. But in order to be a true Superman villain you need to challenge him on some level. And that’s not always easy.
Oh sure some can do it. Take Silver Banshee, she had a cool look, a different and unusual power, and a very well thought out backstory so she not only stuck but became very popular with all sort of appearances not just in the comics but live action and animated DC productions. Not all are so lucky, and here five examples of what I mean :
Amazing Grace
Not everything John Byrne created turned to gold. In a storyline where Superman is sent to Apokolips and ends up with amnesia she convinces him they are a couple. And that’s it, she didn’t last long for obvious reasons. She was G Gordon Godfrey’s sister and had the same powers he had, so what did they need her for anyway?
Maaldor the Darklord
Some villains are just so over the top. In pre-Crisis era Maaldor was an inter dimensional being of tremendous power who fought Superman because, he had nothing else to do. Yeah that’s pretty much it. He appeared a couple times before dying in Crisis on Infinite Earth’s. He has never appeared since, understandably since there was no character here at all.
Sleez
I think most who follow comics know about the infamous storyline that had Superman making a porno with Big Barda. The big baddie in that was Sleez, a little troll creature from Apokolips. How despicable can you be if Darkseid can’t stand to have you around? He had strong telepathic abilities and was an empath who fed and the depraved emotions from people. Sadly he didn’t appear often and was returned, and then killed, in Countdown.
SkyHook
Maaldor had nothing going for him. Skyhook on the other hand had real potential. He was something right out of a horror movie. Skyhook holed up in a church where he would kidnap kids, mutate them so they had wings, and then send them out to commit crimes for him. Wow, and yet the character never really went anywhere past his first appearance. He became an agent of hell or something and disappeared.Until DC Rebirth anyway.
Conduit
Oh what a good idea turned to crap! Kenny Braverman was born the same time Clark landed on Earth, and his car was bathed in radiation by the pod carrying the baby. No this was not a Smallville episode! Any he was sick child who was always jealous of Clark and when he learned Clark’s identity as an adult he sought revenge by attacking his family. Sounds cool, but he had nothing cool about him and his motive wasn’t even good. I mean really, he was just a jealous whiny baby who couldn’t be less sympathetic. Ok to be fair he did appear in the animated series and Man of Steel as a stock bully, because that’s all he was. The storyline “The Death of Clark Kent” was a neat idea, testing Superman in a way that he never had been, but the villain was just so boring with a terrible 90’s costume, and he get defeated way to easily.
There are lots more, let me know which Superman villain you remember that didn’t quite stand the test of time.
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