Judged by Their Villains?

I have always believed that a great hero can be judged by their villains. I think this is one of the challenges that new books starting off these days have. Many of the great heroes have villains that fans love to see appear.

Spider-man has his menagerie of animal-themed villains: Vulture, Rhino, Doctor Octopus, Tarantula, Puma, Scorpion, Chameleon, Lizard, Jackal. And I probably missed a few. You could also include Venom and Carnage here, as they are at least somewhat spider-based. In fact, if you go to the wiki page on his villains, it is amazing just how many are themed after animals. And those are not even necessarily the best - Green Goblin has always been my favorite Spidey foe.

There are similar lists for all kinds of heroes. Think through Batman's gallery of rogues. Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Hush, Bane, Scarecrow, Mr Freeze, Ra's Al Ghul... a great group of villains. And just like many of Spider-man's villains are animal-themed just like he is, many of Batman's villains are suffering from "one bad day" syndrome. On one bad day, Bruce Wayne lost his parents. Two-Face was scarred for life. Joker was disfigured. Mr. Freeze's wife was frozen. Many times, a villain is a dark reflection of the hero.

Spider-man and Batman have two of the greatest Rogue's Galleries in comics. Flash isn't too bad either. Some other well-known heroes are kind of passable (Superman, for instance. Lex Luthor is a good villain, but some of his others just aren't that memorable. The Hulk is the same way) and still others have real challenges in this area. The Punisher has problems because he keeps killing his villains. So, either he doesn't get recurring villains, or he really sucks at his job.

I think this concept might have been part of the problem with the recent Green Lantern movie. As I have mentioned, I still liked it, but I don't know that Paralax was the best villain to feature. A kind of embodiment of a concept might not be the best villain, and Hector Hammond wasn't really given enough screen time to be a proper villain. I actually think that once upon a time, Hal had a really good group of enemies. Some of them relied a little too much on the color yellow, it's true, but even so, Goldface, The Shark, Doctor Polaris, Sonar, Hector Hammond, Black Hand, Major Disaster, Star Sapphire and of course Sinestro. I think for the first movie, something a little more human would have made for a better opponent.

X-Men first class went classic - the big bad worked with the Nazis. The opposing characters had clear motivations, and some of them looked downright sinister.

In many cases, a hero is judged by his villain. Having a great villain is the difference between emotional investment and intellectual detachment, in my opinion.

The Death of Ultimate Spider-Man

It's happened: the death of Spider-Man. Sure, this isn't Marvel's mainstream Spider-Man we are talking about, but it is Peter Parker, and it is a version of the character who has been consistently published for over 10 years. Marvel is killing Ultimate Spider-Man.

And to be honest, I think this is a long time coming.

Don't get me wrong. I love this take on the character. But I think this is what the Ultimate Universe should be about. Being willing to take chances. Being willing to kill a character if it means better stories. Spider-Man kicked off the whole Ultimate Universe, and now they are going to be experimenting with what happens when he dies.

Spider-Man is perhaps an even more influential figure in the Ultimate Universe than he is in the mainstream Marvel Universe. He has crossed over with just about everyone, and his power level feels a little more impressive to me in that universe. Maybe that is just me, but I always love seeing Spidey being thought of as in the upper tier of heroes. In this world, where there are fewer cosmic-powered types running around, Spider-Man really is a very impressive hero. He deals with the same challenges that the mainstream Spider-Man always has, but there were also changes. Like the movies, he generates his webs organically. Also like the movies, he shares his secret with Mary-Jane Watson early on in his career. Many of his rogues have made appearances as Ultimate versions of themselves, and some of the classic stories have been touched on or re-told with a more modern twist. All of this has been a great ride. But now, that ride is coming to an end.

I am happy to see the original creative team back together for this. Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley worked on 111 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man together, the longest run ever on a Marvel comic by two people. They passed Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's work together on Fantastic Four. Bagley's art suits this character so well. I'm thrilled that Bagley came back to help write the end of the version of Peter Parker that he helped to define for so long.

As much as I love this character, I hope they leave him dead, and I hope that the lack of a Spider-Man has far reaching consequences for the Ultimate Universe.