Thursday, January 19, 2017

Rank and File: The Villain Teams!


Martinex1:  I recently read a list that rated comic book villain teams and I felt that it really missed the mark, so I decided to conduct my own artificial and unscientific poll for today's edition of  "Rank and File."

Who is your favorite team of villains?  Rate them from one through five and also share a choice for a team that you felt was woefully underdeveloped or pathetic.   I only have two brief rules for today's round:  1) A team is merely a group of more than one - so dastardly duos do indeed count, and 2) the team should not have any heroic tendencies; we are looking for true antagonists - so the reformed Thunderbolts do not count but the Masters of Evil do.

Down below are a number of examples to choose from; but don't let that stop you from finding others from the annals of comic history on which to comment.

My top 5:

1) The (newer) Masters of Evil - There have been many iterations of this team over the years, but I am focused on the large group that Zemo assembled during the siege on Avengers Mansion arc by Roger Stern and John Buscema.  I thought this was the epitome of grand and dangerous teams.
2) The Frightful Four - Likewise there has been some variation in team members over the years, but I always enjoyed the Wizard and his rather motley group and their usually less than adequate plans.   Perennial underachievers, I still rooted slightly for them during their Bronze Age exploits. 
3) The Legion of Doom - You cannot grow up in the 70s without garnering some influence from the Superfriends.  I thought this was a formidable group and would have liked to see a similar representation in the comics.
4) The Hellfire Club - Heavily influenced by their major first appearance heading into the Dark Phoenix storyline in Uncanny X-Men, I cannot dismiss how powerful this group can be.   The later incarnations left me feeling flat, but just the fumes of their glory days carried them into my top five.
5) Flash's Rogue Gallery - I have to say that I like the teaming of the Rogues very much.  In many ways the Flash's enemies are just as crazy and iconic as Spider-Man's villains.

And a team that needs some revamping:

Hammer and Anvil - When I was young I enjoyed this rather one-note duo when they appeared in Marvel Team-Up and The Incredible Hulk, but there is truly not much to them at all.   Just knock their hard heads together and be back to your morning tea before even the rooster misses you.

So what are your choices for the most villainous assemblages?   Are they sourced more heavily from Marvel or DC?   Don't forget about the Madmen or Punch and Jewelee from the Charlton days!  Make your picks, send in your comments, and let's rate the raucous!






























































14 comments:

david_b said...

Busy day today for me.., but you've got quite a list there, Martinex1. Very impressive.

I suppose if I can ascertain an actual 'theme' or identity for their combined forces, then it holds my interest.

Examples are the Frightful Four, Flash's Rogue Gallery, Zodiac, and the Wrecking Crew. At least you're clued in to their modus operandi, or specific purpose rather than putting a bunch of villains together because they were all in jail cells together. For example, teams like Brotherhood of Evil.., well, are not quite so specific and perhaps change membership nearly every other appearance.

Great topic today.

Anonymous said...

Fun topic Martinex! Love villain teams. Especially loved their in-fighting, name calling - "Dolt!", "Buffoon!", etc.

Personal faves from my time of reading were Zodiac, Squadron Sinister, Wrecking Crew, Frightful Four and for a duo, how about the Blood Brothers?

Pathetic entry - gotta be the Ring Master and his Circus of Crime.

Tom

Edo Bosnar said...

Tom beat me to it, as I was also going to mention Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime as the loser entry - along with the eternal question of why they kept appearing as villains in various comics well past their "use by" date.

Otherwise, I definitely agree about Zemo's Masters of Evil and the Hellfire Club - with White Queen, who should never have been turned into a hero (another entry for what-I-would-change topic of the other day).
Another one I would add as a top-tier group of baddies is the Fatal Five. They were a pretty formidable and quite nasty bunch.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Marti- Thanks for the panel from FF 42(?) with Ben and the Frightful Four!!! That was such a great story culminating in "Lo There Shall Be An Ending!!!" Face Front True Believers!!!

ColinBray said...

So many options today so in brief:

The trippy Headmen...

The sappy (but visually interesting) Royal Flush Gang...

The improbably dynamic duo of Mr Hyde and Cobra...

The blue-collar Wrecking Crew...

The second (Ultron) Masters of evil...

The third (Egghead) Masters of Evil...

Molecule Man and Volcana...

As I said, so many options...

Mike Wilson said...

Hmmm, well for Marvel I thought the early Frightful Four stories were good ... the bad guys actually (briefly) won! Spidey had some great fights against the Sinister Six, and I also liked the Sinister Syndicate (Beetle, Rhino, Hydro-Man, Speed Demon, and Boomerang); their first fight against Spidey, Silver Sable, and Sandman (Amazing #280-281) was a classic, and I liked the Deadly Foes miniseries too.

For DC, I always liked the Brotherhood of Evil's fights against the Titans, and the Fearsome Five had some good Titans fights too. Speaking of alliterative groups, I like the Fatal Five in LSH; they always gave the Legionnaires a tough fight ... kind of ironic since the Legion were the ones who brought them together in the first place! I also have a soft spot for the Secret Society of Super-Villains, especially the team led by Ultra-Humanite in JLA #195-197 ... but then you all knew that since I already wrote about 'em on BAB!

pfgavigan said...

Hiya,

I've gotta stop reading these columns before having my coffee. My first thought was that the Brotherhood of Evil (Mutants) were some sort of Union organizers advocating better working conditions.

My second thought was wondering if I had misread that and the group was really the Brotherhood of Elvis.

I'll be back when I'm awake.

Seeya later

pfgavigan

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Hey Gang,

I had to wait until I got home from work (can't have the boss see me googling DC COmic Villains can I? Or can I....?) Anyhow, wanted to add the Fatal Five (vs. the Legion of Superheroes e.g., Adventure 352).

Also Martinx I would love to hear how you came across a copy of the Cpt Atom from "Modern Comics." I have the exact same one. Got it at a local Hooks Drug Store chain which only had a handful of comic titles any given month. (It must have been one of those desperate months were I was peddling my bike all over God's creation to any and every store that ever sold a comic book!)

Redartz said...

My picks:

The Sinister Six- all my favorite Spidey villains, almost...

Fatal Five- Validus is cool, Emerald Empress is cooler.

Frightful Four- Greater than the sum of it's parts.

Headmen- Great Gerber weirdness (and I couldn't think of a Threesome)

Squadron Sinister- always loved the pseudo Justice League...

Anonymous said...

Hooboy well OK here's my list, just my personal favourites, not ranked in any order -

The Squadron Sinister - gotta love Roy Thomas's ode to Marvel's answer to DC's JLA. Thanks for giving us Nighthawk!

The Wrecking Crew - I actually first read them in an issue of Iron Fist, and boy when they beat up Danny Rand you know these guys were a real threat!

The Secret Society of Super Villains - let's face it, these guys by their very nature were never going to get along but it was fun seeing Sinestro trying to interact with Funky Flashman!

The Masters of Evil - if there ever was one team which utterly gave the Avengers a legitimate beatdown it was this team; Stern really wanted Earth's mightiest heroes to eat some humble pie!

The Sinister Six - if these Spidey foes really put their differences and egos aside our favourite wallcrawler would have been pushing up daisies by now!


- Mike 'until Trump buys over Avengers mansion' from Trinidad & Tobago.

WardHill Terry said...

I loved the Secret Society of Super-Villains! Especially the Machiavellian intrigues and back-stabbing! Villains are villains! I was sorry to see no depiction of the 30th century bad guys, the Fatal Five and the legion of Super-Villains. I was not surprised to note the absence of the Superman Revenge Squad. They never quite had the same cache as the Rogues of either Flash or Batman.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Red - you are correct about Validus! Validus IS cool. I have strong memories of seeing the Adventure Comic with him on the cover (352) and then a few issues later in a boxing ring with Superboy. I was fairly young so I was looking at my cousin's comic collection since I don't think I owned one yet, and I must've looked at that Validus "brain head" cover and panels a million times over the weekend. Quite an impression making design!

Martinex1 said...

Thanks for joining in guys. Believe it or not I had no idea who the Fatal Five was - so they did not make it into my panel offerings. I was never a Legion follower so I guess I may need to look them up. Always something new to add to my list, but it seems like many of you liked that evil FF.

Charlie, that Modern comic capture was just from the internet, but I did own some Modern comics (the Charlton reprints) that I got in 3 pack poly bags at a local independent drug store. I had some Blue Beetles and Captain Atoms that way - they are long gone. I believe I had that Punch and Jewelee issue but I can't remember if I had the original Charlton from my cousin or if it was the reprint. But I distinctly remember the Ditko art.

Anonymous said...

The Royal Flush Gang, the Squadron Sinister, and the LMD Zodiac from Defenders #50!
Those who speak of me in the dead of night call me...

M.P.

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