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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 22, 2022 8:47:16 GMT -5
3. Chantinelle and the First of the Fallen.
 An unlikely pair, and one that worked together only once, so they could get back at John Constantine. Chantinelle and the First of the Fallen also managed to score such a win that I believe later writers simply decided to ignore its consequences. For those not that familiar with Constantine: Chantinelle, or Ellie for short, is a succubus who used to be a friend of the main character (after he saved her from both the forces of Heaven and Hell). The First of the Fallen, meanwhile, is a fancy name for the devil. During the long stints of Garth Ennis and Paul Jenkins, John Constantine managed to really irk those two. First, he angered the devil by tricking him into drinking holy water (holy stout, actually, but it led to the same unpleasant effet). Then John tricked him again into curing his lung cancer, and finally managed to "kill" him for a while using an ominous-sounding magic protocol. Some time later, for reasons we won't get into here, John needed to reconnect with his "bad" side; he had previously purged his soul of its nasty aspects, but that had left him feeling bland and empty. And how can one feel a little evil again? By having sex with a succubus, apparently. John seduced Ellie and got what he wanted, but she quickly realized that he had done so solely for his own ends. Extremely angry at having been used, she promised to get even. Then came the time to pay the piper. Having both the devil and Ellie out to get back at him, John nevertheless allowed himself a few months of happiness with a new girlfriend. Bad idea to lower one's guard in such circumstances... The devil, far from his usual fire and brimstone modus operandi, elaborated a long-term plan that sapped John's new-found stability. He also enlisted Ellie to destroy John's relationship with his new girlfriend, in a rather well-executed "no, darling, it's not what you think" moment. Constantine was out-manipulated at every turn, and although he expected the devil to simply kill him in the end, what he got instead were thanks... the First of the Fallen thanked him for getting his creative juices flowing again, claiming that his vendetta against John had been invigorating. He let John go and accepted to stop harassing his friends, but of course insisted on Constantine signing away his soul -just for appearances' sake, don'tcha know. I really liked the way Jenkins had the devil act in that final story of his tenure. No longer a vituperative and angry immature bloke, he was a debonair and manipulative adult who finally accepted that he had nothing to prove to anyone. He could take his bloody time and didn't need to be petty. He was all the scarier for it! Poor Ellie didn't get a lot from the partnership, as the devil remembered that she had participated in his earlier downfall. To cut to the chase: those two managed to get John Constantine to willingly sign a contract with the devil, condemning his own soul to hell. Lots of points for this partnership, then, on account of having been so successful.
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Post by commond on Dec 22, 2022 8:50:57 GMT -5
I thought long and hard about including some Constantine villains. I'm not up to that story yet in my read through. I'm kind of desperate for the Paul Jenkins run to be over. I take it you're more of a fan?
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 22, 2022 9:05:39 GMT -5
I thought long and hard about including some Constantine villains. I'm not up to that story yet in my read through. I'm kind of desperate for the Paul Jenkins run to be over. I take it you're more of a fan? I rate Jenkins' run as equal to Ennis's, surpassed only by the brief Eddie Campbell run! I loved the way Jenkins used really, really mundane settings for his stories. His stuff was all very restrained and subtle, usually, and well served by Sean Philips' amazing art. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,199 
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Post by Confessor on Dec 22, 2022 9:11:08 GMT -5
#3 – The Sinister SixAs seen in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964)  We've seen this one before in this year's Classic Comics Xmas event – in fact, we've seen it earlier today, courtesy of Jeddak 's entry. Led by Doctor Octopus – who, I guess, was probably considered Spider-Man's arch-enemy at the time – the Sinister Six were a group of some of the Wall-Crawler's most dangerous foes. The set up for the story sees Doc Ock break out of prison and form an alliance with Sandman, Electro, Mysterio, Vulture, and Kraven the Hunter, who've all crossed paths with Spidey in the past. Doc rationalises that where one villain failed to destroy the Web-Slinger, a group of them could finally beat him. The alliance of super-bad guys quickly set about snatching Peter Parker's then-girlfriend Betty Brant from the Daily Bugle building, as bait to lure Spidey into their trap, but they also manage to kidnap Peter's Aunt May too. The six villains then take turns laying traps for Spidey, but of course, our hero eludes them and takes the Sinister Six down one by one. He also frees Betty and Aunt May, before alerting the police to the Sinister Six's whereabouts, who are then duly packed off to jail – hilariously, they end the story all sitting dejectedly in the same cell! The Sinister Six story is a stand out adventure from the early years of Spider-Man comics, partly due to its relentless pace of repeat "Spidey vs. bad guy" scenarios, partly because it's just very cool to see all those villains banding together, but mostly because Stan Lee and Steve Ditko absolutely bring their A-game to this comic. There have been follow-up stories to this annual, such as "The Return of the Sinister Six" in 1990 and "The Revenge of the Sinister Six" from 1992, but none of those later re-treads come close to the magic of Lee and Ditko's original story. 
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2022 10:50:54 GMT -5
On the Tenth Day of Christmas, the Ghost of Christmas Villainy filled my stocking with a passel of monsters led by the Mole Man including The 3-Headed Guardian of Monster Isle, Gigantus, Gorgilla, Grottu, and Kro of the Deviants.  Featured in Marvel Universe #4-7 and facing off against "The Monster Hunters" a team consisting of Ulysses Bloodstone, Dr. Druid and others, this titanic collection of Marvel Monsters is sheer joy to read, throw in the Mole Man and a disguised Kro of the Deviants and you have a recipe for pure fun comics. And Monster Isle, 'nuff said. -M I had intended another choice here that had been seen a few times, but then I thought of these the other day while sorting some comics and knew I had to find a spot for this lovable collection of monstrous baddies, so somebody had to be bumped and since that alternate choice already got some love, here they are. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 22, 2022 10:54:35 GMT -5
3. The Beagle Boys There was just no way I couldn't have the Beagles high on this list. They do every thing they can to make Uncle Scrooge's life miserable. They don't have a huge amount of individual personality (at least the core Beagles) but that's okay. You can definitely tell them apart by their numbers. I also remember having quite a few issues of the Beagles own comic back before I started buying my own books. Have no idea how they would hold up after all these years, but It's pretty impressive that these villains got their own magazine. I had seriously considered using the team-up with Magica and Flintheart. But, as much as I love Don Rosa, my Duck-heart belongs to Barks. So have some everything Beagles. 
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2022 10:59:52 GMT -5
and the one I bumped gets even more love. -M |
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Post by commond on Dec 22, 2022 19:08:03 GMT -5
I thought long and hard about including some Constantine villains. I'm not up to that story yet in my read through. I'm kind of desperate for the Paul Jenkins run to be over. I take it you're more of a fan? I rate Jenkins' run as equal to Ennis's, surpassed only by the brief Eddie Campbell run! I loved the way Jenkins used really, really mundane settings for his stories. His stuff was all very restrained and subtle, usually, and well served by Sean Philips' amazing art. Interesting. The only parts of Jenkin's run I've enjoyed are when he returns to ideas that Ennis set up. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2022 19:38:16 GMT -5
I goofed on the number of days. I posted the Thunderbolts (Zemo original evil team) originally for today, but I have a top remaining 3 I should have been referring to. I'd regret not posting all of them, so my bad for those who already gave a like earlier, but I've deleted my earlier post. So, on this 10th day, I present "Take 2": Frightful Four (with Electro) Spider-Man is my favorite superhero period, and he and the FF are hands down my favorite Marvel properties. In fact, add the Legion from DC, and you have my top 3 of all time. Electro was always my favorite Spidey villain of all time. It might have been because he was pictured on the cover of the late 70's Pocket Books volume 1 collection (one of my earliest Spider-Man reading memories), or the snazzy costume, or his appearances on the 60's cartoon. But regardless, he's my number one (with Doc Ock a VERY close second). On the FF side, after Annihilus, the Frightful Four take it for me. The earliest version with Medusa still feels the most "classic" to me, but I also love how over the years they had to struggle with a rotating open spot. And in early 1980, Bill Mantlo helmed a 2-part crossover story (in both the Peter Parker and FF books) in which Electro joined the Frightful Four. I loved the story, loved the roster for the reasons stated above, and it earns my spot for today (now that I've learned to count days again). |
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Post by Rob Allen on Dec 22, 2022 22:00:15 GMT -5
3. Enchantress & ExecutionerThey weren't given actual names until the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe in the 80s, which was after I dropped out of comics for a while. So I'm not going to call them Amora and Skurge. When I was reading about them, their names were Enchantress and Executioner. Beside their conflicts with Thor, these Asgardian evil-doers made a lot of trouble on Earth, especially for the Avengers. They appeared in Avengers #7, 9, 15, 16 and 21, during which they played a major role in the events that led to the retirement of the original Avengers and the formation of Cap's Kooky Quartet. That's why they, Melter and Black Knight are the only villains on the iconic cover of #16. Later on, they were involved in the story of Valkyrie joining the Defenders. So I'm saluting the duo's effect on Marvel superhero teams. BTW, "executioner" is kind of a weird word. People who do demolitions are not called "demolitioners", and people who do terminations are not called "terminationers". Why are executions different? Now I want to see comics titled Deathlok the Demolitioner and Deathstroke the Terminationer.  
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 23, 2022 0:15:09 GMT -5
10. Captain America and Bucky  ![Captain America 153-167]() This left me scarred for years, a quivering mess, no longer able to function in modern society. Cap fights ... Cap??? wait what??? Old Old Cap vs New Old Cap, this cant be, unthinkable and Bucky, alive I dont know what it is about this that meant so much to 12 or 13 year old me, I know it was years before I ever got to read it entirely. For my money the single best comic story, and man I love watching Sal have guys punched across a page. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 23, 2022 2:44:10 GMT -5
Led by Doctor Octopus – who, I guess, was is probably considered definitely Spider-Man's arch-enemy at the time – and always has been and will be. Made some fixes for you. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 23, 2022 2:45:59 GMT -5
3. Enchantress & ExecutionerBTW, "executioner" is kind of a weird word. People who do demolitions are not called "demolitioners", and people who do terminations are not called "terminationers". Why are executions different? Would you prefer he be the Executor. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Dec 23, 2022 2:55:21 GMT -5
3. Enchantress & ExecutionerBTW, "executioner" is kind of a weird word. People who do demolitions are not called "demolitioners", and people who do terminations are not called "terminationers". Why are executions different? Would you prefer he be the Executor. I might spell it "Executer" to distinguish it from the legal term. Or I might just go with "Killer". Come to think of it, "Enchantress" is a problematic name as well. Polite people don't use that kind of gendered language anymore. She's an enchanter, just like the guys. So there you have the Asgardian Deadly Duo for the 21st century - the Enchanter and the Executer. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 23, 2022 3:03:55 GMT -5
3. Dormammu and Baron Mordo
Strange Tales #130, Marvel, 1964  This is somewhat fortuitous timing if you'll permit some light pimping of my own blog. My read-through of the Marvel Universe has just now taken me to the great Eternity Saga I've spent the last couple weeks on, starting here with Strange Tales #130. This very day, I'm intending to get out an entry on the climactic chapter in Strange Tales #141, at which point I intend to pause the extended arc to check in with the rest of the Marvel Universe before returning for the grand finale. Strange Tales #135-141 nicely also give us the classic Hydra Saga, so there's a lot of good stuff there. Great time for Marvel in fact, with stuff like the Master Planner Saga and the Galactus Saga all at about the same time. I think this is one of the best stories in Marvel's history, and it really stands out in the context of reading through Marvel. They'd spent so long doing 1-part stories that the occasional 2-part story really stood out. Ditko first toyed with the concept of even longer sagas in his Hulk comics with the Leader Saga. But the Leader Saga is incoherent, and Ditko didn't even stick around to finish it. It starts off well enough, but becomes a string of barely related cliffhangers soon passed off to lesser artists. But this was entirely coherent, and indeed, rather engaging for the 12 chapters. Dr. Strange stories had been among the best Marvel stories already, but had all fit in 10 pages. Until the introduction of Dormammu 4 issues earlier, a saga which needed 20 pages to tell. Then all of a sudden, Ditko needd 170 pages to tell one story. This was the second extended story arc of the Marvel Age*, and they soon after became the norm. For that page count, you'd think there'd be some fluff. Maybe a page of Dr. Strange and the Ancient One sipping tea. But no, we get 2 panels of Dr. Strange and Ancient One going about their routine. By panel 3, Mordo, empowered by a mystery ally (err, spoilers, I guess), is attacking. Within a couple pages, the Ancient One is comatose, Dr. Strange is humbled and on the run. In the issues to come we get a globe-trotting espionage thriller that introduces us to the wider mystical world within the Marvel Universe before taking us to mind-bending cosmic places as Dr. Strange learns the secret of Eternity. All with a super-charged Mordo always hot on his heels. It goes on for 10 issues before Dr. Strange and Mordo have their final clash, and Dormammu realizes he's allied himself with an incompetent, and that he needs to deal with Dr. Strange himself in a final showdown. Just amazing storytelling from Ditko, who left the title and the company on a resounding high note. * I think extended arcs were pretty rare anywhere in Marvel's history, but Namor's story was essentially a continuous flow in the beginning in 1939. A series of adventures that all kind of blurred into each other as he wreaked his revenge on the surface.
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