As we hit the final five, I don't have to worry anymore about whether somebody has beaten me to a pick. Good thing, since we've already seen

My #5 - Captain Cold


 


This is one of those designs that tells you what you need to know about the character. The dude's dressed for the cold, right?

His heavy parka and fur-lined hood stand out in a world of skin-tight outfits. The color scheme further suggests cold, maybe more subtly than the white of Iceman or the Icicle. And the blue and white make a nice contrast to the bright red of the hero he usually faced.



When I started buying my own comics, I branched out from the Superman and Batman my brothers had bought. The Flash was an early favorite. And Captain Cold was my favorite out of the distinctive Rogue's Gallery. He may not have the flashiest costume around,* but it looked great to me then, and it stands up today.


*sorry about that, eh?

I'd never heard that before -  Yeah, makes a lot of sense.

Wow, great and unexpected choice, berkley ! We can never get enough Druillet!

It’s been years since I read Gail, but at the time it came out it was without a doubt my favourite illustrated book. 

It was never made clear who those two characters were, the dark one and his flunky... but they thrived on death and chaos, and were perfectly sinister. 

After Gail, Druillet’s Lone Sloane would star in a gorgeous three-part adaptation of Gustave Flaubert’s Salammbo... and then stay out of sight for decades, before  returning for the thoroughly underwhelming Chaos and Delirius II. Were I Cei-U, I would summon the disappointment!

5. Joker

Particularly when drawn by Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang the early depictions of the clown prince of crime are incredibly creepy. You can definitely see the influence of the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs and the similarities to the character Gwynplaine. The exaggerated features particularly the elongated nose, chin and smile along with the pale white skin really add to how disturbing the character comes across. The green hair and purple suit manage to give off a fun vibe which is almost in contrast to the dark nature of the character.  He's also in my opinion one of the greatest villains ever.

#5   Loki        Silver Age, Jack Kirby

His lithe form was attired in relatively simple garb, but the bad-guy green was paired with primary color yellow and the color combo popped. Top it off with his signature horned helmet and you have a singular look for an enduring character.  Here's some Loki by Kirby:



And here's the most gorgeous opening splash I have ever seen--by Big John. 
 

5. Starro the Conquerer originally by Mike Sekowsky (penciller) and Gardner Fox (writer)


Gardner Fox had one foot firmly in the Lovecraftian traditions, and it showed with this first opponent for the Justice League of America. It probably wasn't an especially challenging design for Mike Sekowsky to realize--it's a giant starfish with a single eye in the middle--but it's effective in a way that, I think, a similar but more grotesque creature, like, say, M'Nagalah isn't, because of that inhuman, emotionless look. Yes, it's an eye, but it's not a window into this thing's soul! It's an unblinking, hypnotic gaze, that is even more disturbing when, in later development, Starro began creating little starfish duplicates, attached Alien-style to its victims' faces:

Icky! And with those suckered tentacles, it's easy for us to imagine the feeling of having a baby Starro plastered to our faces--how then would we be seeing the world, through that ominous red eye?