{"id":2779,"date":"2020-10-05T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2779"},"modified":"2024-01-10T09:18:51","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T17:18:51","slug":"maggies-world-085-vacuous-villainy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/maggies-world-085-vacuous-villainy\/","title":{"rendered":"Maggie\u2019s World 085: Vacuous Villainy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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MAGGIE’S WORLD BY MAGGIE THOMPSON<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie\u2019s World 085: Vacuous Villainy<\/h1>\n\n\n
Maggie Thompson<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The\u00a037th\u00a0Maggie\u2019s World<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0focused on evildoers and their motivations and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The motivations were summarized as: Hunger. Control. Insanity. Vengeance. Occupation. Plot Necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, even while the funny-animal villain Big Bad Wolf was mentioned, most of the ones discussed in 2016 were memorably menacing. Recently, though, I came across an article that my late husband, Don, and I wrote in 1982 for LOC<\/em> magazine #5. We began, \u201cA man may be judged by the company he keeps, but a comic book hero or heroine often is judged by the villains he or she fights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsider: Would Spider-Man have become a hit, if, instead of battling Dr. Octopus, The Vulture, and Electro, he had been forced to fight such costumed dregs as Porcupine, Leapfrog, and the Unicorn? Those maladroit malefactors helped hold back Iron Man and Daredevil for years. It\u2019s hard to build a rep by fighting born losers, which these yutzes certainly are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Remember The Word? Man-Elephant? No? That was kinda our point in 1982. Both of them menaced She-Hulk in\u00a0The Savage She-Hulk<\/em>. The Word was in #9 (October 1980), and Man-Elephant was in #17 (June 1981). \u00a9 2020 MARVEL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerhaps, just perhaps, the She-Hulk might still have her own comic were she not pitted against villains who were boring (The Word [introduced in The Savage She-Hulk <\/em>#9]) or simply silly (Man-Elephant [in #17]).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mind you, Marvel\u2019s She-Hulk has had a heck of a lot of titles since 1982, with the longest coming years later. (The Sensational She-Hulk <\/em>ran May 1989 to February 1994, and one of several She-Hulk <\/em>series ran December 2005 to April 2009.) Nevertheless, consider the point\u2014that a lame opponent can affect the reputation of a hero. (Man-Elephant only appeared in two later stories, though The Word made it to seven.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others we mocked in \u201cDangerous but Inept\u201d more than three decades ago included Scorpio (introduced in Marvel\u2019s Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D <\/em>#1). And there were a bunch from DC, some with pre-Silver Age debuts: Killer Moth (Batman<\/em> #63), Tattooed Man (Green Lantern<\/em> #23), The Turtle (Showcase<\/em> #4), and Hellgrammite (The Brave and the Bold<\/em> #80)\u2014and we went on at length about The Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime (originally appearing in Hulk<\/em> #3). Concerning that last-named, we wrote of \u201ca long, unbroken descent into loserdom that culminated with Howard the Duck pounding the poo out of The Ringmaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essay ended on a note of hope: \u201cIf Chris Claremont can make a good villain out of Magneto, there may still be hope for the Ringmaster and his shopworn Circus of Crime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comedic Cads<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Back then, we pointed out that no examination can cover all the instances\u2014and that some seemingly idiotic opponents turned out to be memorable in the years that followed. In fact, some are downright delightful. Heck, fans can even find themselves in sympathy with a few of the sillier scoundrels. Amusingly (to me), I long credited as a forgetful felon the one-shot Pete Puma in Warner Brothers\u2019 Merrie Melodies<\/em> episode \u201cRabbit\u2019s Kin\u201d (1952). He was definitely not bright\u2014but research eventually nailed the actual character I\u2019d taken as symbolic my occasional memory losses. It was, simply, The Big Bad Wolf (also a one-shot villain, sharing the spotlight with Sylvester) in Looney Tunes\u2019 \u201cRed Riding Hoodwinked\u201d (1955). (\u201cNow, where was I going? Oh, yeah, Grandma\u2019s house!\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, heck, if you try to build a list of such cartoon characters, you\u2019ll quickly lose count because of so many bad guys whose traits includes dimness. That\u2019s partly because the comedy is often aimed at kids who can enjoy such silliness. Maybe it\u2019s Noodles Romanoff or Solenoid Robots causing trouble in the Roger Ramjet<\/em> series. Maybe it\u2019s\u2014oh, just make your own list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Just because a character lacks intellect doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be a menace. The Heap survived to become \u201csupreme master of his primeval domain.\u201d\u00a0Air Fighters\u00a0<\/em>#3 (December 1942) introduced the Heap in a \u201cSky Wolf\u201d short story, but the first challenge from shambling Solomon Grundy took an entire issue to combat.\u00a0All-Star Comics\u00a0<\/em>#33 (February-March 1947) TM & \u00a9 DC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Mindless Menaces<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

More intimidating threats can also be seriously impaired. These include The Heap (introduced in Hillman\u2019s Air Fighters<\/em> #3, then brought back to life by Eclipse), Swamp Thing (DC\u2019s House of Secrets<\/em> #92 and then morphed in Saga of the Swamp Thing<\/em>), Solomon Grundy (DC\u2019s All-American Comics<\/em> #61), Walking Dead (The Walking Dead<\/em> #1), Man-Thing (Savage Tales<\/em> #1), and a bevy of other muck monsters. There\u2019s even a vast assortment of animated mummies, \u201czuvembies,\u201d zombies, and other walking dead. (For years, they were forbidden by the original Comics Code in the 1950s: General Standards Part B 5: \u201cScenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism and werewolfism are prohibited.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They shamble, they persist, they endanger folks so as to necessitate the intervention of one or another hero. They\u2019re a danger, even though they lack the intellect of even the aforementioned Big Bad Wolf. Their plodding determination can be scary all by itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mixed menaces: Bizarro was a problem\u2014but a tragic one.\u00a0Superboy<\/em>\u00a0#68 (October 1958) TM & \u00a9 DC With a different approach, even in his first outing, the barbarian hero [Spoiler!] turned out to be a danger. \u201cGroo the Wanderer\u201d \u00a9 2020 Sergio Aragon\u00e9s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
But \u2026<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Do keep Bizarro in mind. Even those who have never read a DC comic book may know the concept expressed in the word \u201cBizarro.\u201d [It\u2019s even the title of delightful panel cartoons by Dan Piraro.] The concept was milked for hilarity in a plethora of stories (\u201cBreaking mirror will bring me seven years good luck!!\u201d). But the character\u2019s first outing (in DC\u2019s Superboy<\/em> #68, October 1958) was heartbreaking. And, although Bizarro was resurrected from the tragic origins of that Otto Binder tale to become a humorous tradition, DC occasionally revisits the idea for its tragic possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That Bizarro introduction took an entire issue. Another powerful dim-bulb menace entered the world in a mere four pages\u2014in Eclipse\u2019s Destroyer Duck <\/em>#1 in 1982. That short-short story only hinted at the output that was to come, and Groo remains a consistent classic example of a mighty misadventurer. (Wiki summarizes that he stars in \u201cone of the first widely successful creator-owned comics \u2026 and one of the longest-running collaborations in comic book history.\u201d) Sergio Aragon\u00e9s\u2019 team of Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai, Tom Luth, and himself have made a wild success out of a character whose charm comes from causing frequent disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Any Case \u2026<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

While I\u2019m dealing with pathetic goofs, is this the time to admit one of my own? In Maggie\u2019s World<\/em> #82 (\u201cWho Was That Masked Man?\u201d),<\/strong><\/a> I managed to mess up, perhaps because of the challenges of compiling lists. If you followed my advice to go for safe cosplay in imitating comics characters who encased their entire heads, well, gosh. My list was Golden Age Sandman (1939), Doctor Fate (1940), Red Tornado (1940), Ghost Rider (1949), Spider-Man (1962), Doctor Doom (1962), Iron Man (1973), Silver Age Daredevil (1964), The Question (1967), Deathstroke (1980), Rorschach (1986), The Mask\/Big Head (1987), and Deadpool (1991). Good gravy. Did you spot it then? Now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just in case, let me point out that you won\u2019t get into venues that require masking, if you try going as The Man without Fear\u2014because even fearlessness should include polite caution and concern for fellow-shoppers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s to wise ways, even as we celebrate often-fallible individuals!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maggie\u2019s World by Maggie Thompson appears the first Tuesday of every month here on<\/em> Toucan!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Written by<\/p>\n\n\n

Maggie Thompson<\/div>\n\n\n

Published<\/p>\n\n\n