Lame Supervillains

Stuck Between a Rokk and a Rotten Comic! “Mommy! Rick said a bad word! I saw him reading a comic book and then saying the “s” word!” Having heard my younger sister calling out from the bottom of the stairs, I know what’s next. “Is that true?” Since I’m in my upstairs bedroom, I don’t have to look my determined mother in the eye for what I’m about to say next. “Of course not. What I actually said about this new issue of Iron Man is that it’s an absolute hit.” Knowing that

When your Rogues Gallery is as dreadful as Iron Man’s (we’re looking at you, Mr. Doll!), it’s perhaps understandable that our hero would unintentionally elevate the competency of any decent villain that makes an appearance in his series. And let’s face it. Over the years, Iron Man’s found multiple and even downright embarrassing ways to make several of his villains seem far more daunting than any reasonable comic book collector should have to accept. With that in mind, it’s

Was This Issue Created to Drive Readers Away? Ow! Cramp! Cramp! Oh my! It’s been too many issues since I had to go that deep into the well for a criticism. I’m out of shape. Let’s try a few stretches. Ahh.. That’s better. Where was I? Oh yeah. I was just getting started my review of Iron Man #61. It’s part two of the Masked Marauder’s battle with our hero. I didn’t like either part of this story when I read it as a 12-year-old and it hasn’t aged any better. Not the

Iron Man's Most Overrated Villain? Does anyone remember looking really forward to meeting someone only to have them truly disappoint you? That was me with Firebrand in the early spring of 1973. I mean, when I rejoined this book, it seemed that his name came up every other panel. “Firebrand knocked out the FM reception in my armor” or “I now only eat my steaks well-done after facing the intense heat from Firebrand.” Our guy seemed to be going through PTSD because of this dud

Iron Man's "Lamest" Villain & Some Guy Named Jim Starlin “Good morning, Marvel. I’m the agent for the Black Lama and here to say that I think you really need to put him into one of your comic books. And let’s face it, you owe me after what you did to my client, Cyborg Sinister. That guy had potential and you know it.” “Alright, so what’s this Black Lama’s schtick? “He’s the leader of a mystic cult with followers around the world, trained to channel their emotions to gene

A New Low! For his 50th Anniversary Issue, Iron Man Fights a ...Snake! We’re all friends here, right? If so, it’s okay to say that Princess Python is hot. I don’t mean to go overboard with objectifying someone, but those scaly green leggings and that wavey brunette hair combined with that whole “wrap yourself in reptilian coils” thing is sexy. Why in the world am I bringing this up? Because I’m guessing that either writer Mike Friedrich or penciller George Tuska also thoug

I think we can all agree that when it comes to villains, Iron Man’s Rogues Gallery leaves "a lot a lot" to be desired. The Seventies in particular presented the Golden Avenger with a true cast of pathetic losers and laughable buffoons. Having delved into nearly all of his 70's run with my blog (see below ), I'm allowing my biased opinion to rank worst of them in ascending order. And if you don't recognize some of them, then consider yourself lucky! 10. Princess Python.