... When A List Cometh!

One of my Christmas gifts this year, (from my ever-tolerant wife) was a book entitled, "500 Comic Book Villains". While the book is not ranked as such, there are larger entries for the major characters. So inspired, I have attempted here to list the Top 10 Comic Book Villains.
Here goes:

10. The Riddler - Although many see Edward Nigma as the "poor man's Joker", I have always enjoyed this character. I always got so much enjoyment out of Riddler stories as a kid. You could read the silly riddles he left, answer them yourself, and then turn the page to see Robin yell out the answer and Batman derive the meaning of the clue. Very "Encyclopedia Brown". As the villain that brought out the most "detective" in the Batman, Riddler gets the nod.

9. The Red Skull - Ranks high if only for his longevity. Cap and the Red Skull have been throwing down since WWII, and the crazy Ratzi just keeps turning up. Plus depictions of him have been engraved in my memory, especially those by Jack Kirby.

8. Bullseye - Make no mistake, those of you unfortunate to see the motion-picture butchery that was "Daredevil", this guy has major appeal (shown by the critical acclaim for his current mini-series). Nothing is cooler than a guy that can kill with random found objects. In one of the better uses of the "cinema" style panel sequence, Bullseye is in a mob meeting, absent-mindedly fiddling with a paperclip, and during the meeting snaps a rubber band and plucks an annoying fly out of mid-air with his homemade projectile. Frank Miller made us as readers examine props in an establishing shot to try to figure out what Bullseye was going to use next to "off" someone. Add to that his status as the guy that actually killed his enemy's gal pal (forget the fact that Elektra gets brought back to life), and Bullseye is way more engaging than your "average" homicidal hitman

7. Lord High Papal - from the lesser-known but cutting edge 80's/90's series "Dreadstar". When Jim Starlin first began the tale of Vanth Dreadstar for Marvel's offshoot "Epic" imprint, it was clear this was no ordinary super-fare. Way more sci-fi than spandex, Dreadstar was great because he changed and developed with each issue in a very novel-like style. Lord Papal was depicted as an unreachable, stoic symbol of "the establishment" to Dreadstar's reluctant revolutionary. When Dreadstar and Papal finally go toe-to-toe, you knew that the battle was a major event. Like a good wrestling plotline, nothing beats Papal's machinations for making a "slow burn".

6. Darkseid - Speaking of power, Darkseid is the textbook example of the "big bad" (thank you Buffy fans for that term). There is a level of nobility to Darkseid, mostly because of the revere with which his minions regard him. Read some history on Darkseid, then watch the Star Wars trilogy. See any similarities?

5. Magneto - Ranks high for his power level, but also for the depth that has been added to him over the years. You know he has to be an interesting character if Hollywood is planning a Magneto solo movie examining his early years. The Malcolm to Xavier's Reverend King, Magneto is the most sympathetic and noble of all comic villains, with the most realistic motives.

4. Galactus - How can you not rank this guy high on the list, HE EATS PLANETS! As Stan Lee would say, 'Nuff said!

3. Lex Luthor - In all his incarnations, Lex has been a great foil for Superman. Superman is the great agent of humanity, using his physicality to protect humanity against (most often) agents of intellect gone awry (giant robots, lab accidents, natural disasters). Lex is human intellect and ambition personified, especially in his current role as the DC Universe's President of the United States.

2. Dr. Doom - If the FF are the original "super-team", Victor Von Doom is the original bad guy. One part Sauron, one part Dr. Frankenstein, Doom is a great villain because he is an exaggeration of his counterpart's own vanity and ambition. Doom goes too far, pushes the envelope back too much, and sees nothing as being beyond his grasp. Not that far from Reed Richards, whose family was turned into the Fantastic Four as a result of a similar kind of unchecked ambition. Plus, such a great visual character, with the whole medieval-meets-technology thing going on.

1. The Joker - Frank Miller once said that the essence of the Batman is a man who believes the natural state of the world is chaotic, and it's his mission to impose order on it. If so, the Joker is the perfect foil, as the agent of Chaos. As for his aesthetics, no villain has as much iconic status as the Joker. While many of the others on the list try to justify themselves and their actions, the Joker is a pure sociopath, who acts from the "id" and accepts his role.

Honorable Mentions: Even though they don't rank with these heavy-hitters, who can't like the following rogues?
"Mr. Glass" from Unbreakable
Cobra Commander
Zoltar from Battle of the Planets
The Shaggy Man from Justice League of America #186 (my all-time favourite issue)
The Sentinels

Please to be discussing!