1. Darkseid by Jack Kirby



Here's the genius of Kirby's design for Darkseid: he's not designed for action. He's designed to look imposing as hell just standing there, like the statue his granite-like face suggests. An immovable force, a massive block of a being, not something that will hit you with a stone fist, but whose stare alone will paralyze you with intimidation.
And I consider as part of the character's design his Omega beams:

Another ingenious visual innovation by Kirby, these obliterating parallel beams that dart, curve, pursue relentlessly...while Darkseid stands, patient, brooding, looming, and eternal.

1. The Shade

My computer ate my homework, and I don't have time now to rewrite everything, so I'll explain this in full when we do our also-rans breakdown later.

Pvt. Johnny Doe, Our Army at War 233, June 1971, Kanigher and Kubert
     

Here’s a villain designed to be the most non-descript, but frightening of all villains, because he was someone you knew. He might have been your classmate, your neighborhood pal, a guy you worked with, the one who sold you your car or fixed your furnace, or went out with your sister.

Or he could have been the guy you saw in the mirror every morning.

He was Private Johnny Doe, and he looked like every other GI in Rock’s fabled Easy Company. His helmet cocked to one side, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, a bit of stubble darkening his chin, and a uniform that showed the wear and tear of long months in combat.

Thank Joe Kubert for that. As he proved for decades, he could draw men at war.

But this one was slightly different. Doe’s face was a portrait of indifference, all hooded eyes and a know-it-all smirk. That look and Johnny Doe’s unflappable coolness under fire from the enemy and from Rock himself only added to Doe’s mystique.

Because Johnny had a knack for finding and killing the enemy. Always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Always pulling Easy’s bacon out of the fire.

But the problem with Doe was that he liked the killing. He shot enemy soldiers about to surrender, because, as he tells Rock, “ I didn’t see them throw down their weapons… Did you, Sarge?... How many times d’ya think Nazis’ve faked surrenderin’ and chopped our guys down?”

Doe, like any villain, followed his own rules, but he was crafty. He could always hide behind the official rulebook when he had to. After all, the more Germans he killed, the quicker the war would be over, right?

Like any formidable villain, Johnny Doe was galvanic; Easy was taking to Doe “like a starvin’ kitten to sweet cream,” as Rock put it. When the civilians Johnny shot proved to be German soldiers in disguise, when the prisoners he shot were found with guns, when he sneaked out at night on his own to kill Germans, Doe impressed the men of Easy with his native instinct for dispensing death.

Only Rock knew that every night Johnny Doe carved notches on the stock of his gun, one for each of his kills.

Nobody who read this story in 1971 was expecting to see the confusing villainy of Pvt. Johnny Doe. There's a reason the cover of OAAW 233 was on the cover of the New York Times Sunday Magazine on May 2, 1971.

Thank Kanigher for all that. Every so often he could carve a damn good story out of familiar materials when you were least expecting it.

And when they reached the French village of Alimy, it all became even more eerily familiar. ("Alimy" is an anagram.) How Johnny’s story ends, I’ll leave for you to find out.

Here’s a link that will help: sequart.org/magazine/10602/on-the-sgt-rock-story-head-count-by-robert-kanigher-and-joe-kubert/

The scariest of comic book villains pale next to Johnny Doe. Nobody’s ever seen Galactus or the Joker or Dr. Octopus except in funny books or on movie screens.

But everybody knows Johnny Doe.

What’s worse, anybody can become Johnny Doe. And in 1971, everyone in America knew that for a fact.

Wow, I wouldn't have thought of him in a billion years but that's a powerful pick Hal. If this was a game with winners and losers I can safely say you wouldn't be in the latter group.

Most of my list was pretty malleable. As with every year, it's simply impossible for me to rank things in any concrete way, so I write down some ideas and sort of play it by ear. But as soon as I saw what this year's subject would be, I knew my #1 would be

Mysterio



I think my first exposure to this character might have been on the late 60s Spider-Man cartoon. He was a bit different there. Obviously animations (especially then) did not allow for as much detail as illustration. I distinctly remember him having a sort of vertical frequency line on his helmet that vibrated when he spoke.

I love the mystery of the faceless foe. Steve Ditko's design was very creepy to me. In addition to the featureless dome, those eyes on the chest... quite bizarre! And fascinating to me. Was he even human?

It's always the stuff we encounter when we're young that makes the deepest impression, so I don't think anyone else will ever surpass Mysterio for me.

1.  The Kryptonian Thought Beast



I don't talk enough about the Kryptonian Thought Beast. So, for the record - I frickin' looooooove the Kryptonian Thought Beast.  

So the designs on this list have generally slotted into one of two categories (A) Goofy comedy, and (B) pants-wetting terror.

The Kryptonian Thought Beast is both.  

He's a big frilled triceratops type thing with a frill that projects what he/she is thinking.  That's hilarious!

But the KTB is usually thinking about tearing you apart.  Not only is there a 97% chance of death, you can see exactly what's going to happen in all the gory details.  

This is EVERYTHING (plus dinosaurs!) that I want in a villain.  And my solid # 1.  

Coming in at number one, with a bullet, is



ELF WITH A GUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's an elf, with a gun!

What more do you need?



Merry Christmas everyone!