I'm not sure that my list has ever been quite this in flux as this year.  To the point that a post today made me re-work my list (which was already fluid) again.  

#11 - The Rogues (Flash)




I'll admit that I find most Silver Age DC books almost unreadable at this point.  And, honestly, I struggle with a lot of Bronze Age books.  So this pick is 100% nostalgia.  Buying comics from the spinner racks in the late 70s my buying skewed heavily to books with Batman and Spider-Man.  An interesting third place was probably The Flash.  Not that I really liked The Flash or Barry Allen that much.  It was really for the villains.  And it was especially for them when they teamed up, be it in pairs, trios, or more.  Let's face it, logically The Flash should be almost unbeatable by anyone.  So teaming up the Rogues made a lot of sense.  And it was usually a lot of fun.  



I'll admit that when I was a kid I desperately wanted Mego figures of The Trickster, Captain Cold, Heat Wave, Mirror Master, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang and Weather Wizard.  They were fun.  And when you're 10 that's what comics are supposed to be about.  

11. The Ranger Killers

"All My Enemies Against Me"*

 

Another nostalgia-laced pick, this time decked in buckskin. Not that anyone would know, but I have the proverbial soft spot for Tomahawk, though I had never even seen an issue till January of 1968. As I became more of a comics hunter and went on the trail of back issues, it was surprisingly easy for me to assemble a complete collection from about #73 till the finale (#140). When I found Tomahawk 96, with “The Ranger Killers” the lead story, I immediately liked the idea that even in the 1770s backwoods, there could be a version of a truly Dirty Dozen (no nuance allowed in The Dark and Bloody Ground).

It's a story attributed to longtime Tomahawk chronicler France Herron, and I have no complaints, frankly, not even with the seemingly unimaginative names of these miscreants. Except for Cap’n Salt, which sounds like a brand of peanut-favored cereal, the generic names of the others -- Bull, Highwayman, Fly and the astonishingly reductive “Indian” – give the bad guys a bit of a creepy frisson one normally would not expect in the pages of a 1964 DC comic.

The notion that The Hood, a frequent Tomahawk nemesis, would assemble a group of colonial criminals to take on the Rangers was believable. Unlike Baron Strucker and his Blitzers (q.v.), The Hood just wanted to find a bunch of psychopathic prisoners from all corners of the Empire freed somehow by the influence of the Hood.

The Bull is an inhumanly strong prisoner held in Australia, though not an Aussie or a Brit if his syntax is any indication: “What good freedom if Bull have no boat? Bull can’t swim back to America!” the Fly is a Dwight Frye-type (typically, he is treated poorly and doesn't make the cover, just like his fellow victim of low self-esteem and a lack of self-advocacy, the Highwayman) who somehow is able to climb the stone walls of his New York prison cell (bitten by a spider infected with the bubonic plague, perhaps); the Highwayman, a superior marksman, is about to be hanged when he is sprung; Cap’n Salt is a pirate and “Indian” a “renegade tracker.”

This Imperial Missions Force is charged with eliminating the Rangers real good, but -- GASP! – they fail. The story is full of standard frontier episodes: Tomahawk and the boys riding elephants over mountain passes (in a nod to a certain Carthaginian general) to get to a dam they want to flood a valley full of Redcoats; the capture and imprisonment of several of the Rangers to draw Tomahawk and Dan Hunter out to free them; the latter riding elephants on log rafts down snow-covered mountains to rescue their pals; the self-unmasking of The Hood (A real shocker, backwoods buddies!); a risky escape for the Rangers; the Hood, like every recurring villain, sneaking away; and the vanquishing of the Ranger Killers, who sad to say, are never heard from again.

Where is Grant Morrison when you need him?

*Detective 526

He-Man's group of baddies was one of the first I thought of, but the only He-Man comics I ever read and enjoyed (other than the short lived digital comics DC did around 2012 which weren't eligible) were the comic strips (which weren't eligible either) so I couldn't figure out a way to include them. I've never heard of these though, were they ever collected?

That's too bad that they aren't readily available the art looks awesome!

In 1966 during the Vietnam War, an American recon patrol in Cambodia stumbled upon the ancient, hidden temple of a cult known as the Dragon's Breath, which had remained hidden for centuries. It had been built upon a well-spring of raw, primal energy called the "Well of All Things". The inhabitants decided to breed a superior race that would one day unite with the ways of the west. They believed that this union would produce children capable of harnessing the power of the Well. The members of the recon patrol were to be the fathers of these children. Most of the patrol agreed to this plan. Diego Casseas, one of the other members of the recon patrol, now calling himself the Left Hand, stole the power of the Well from his own child.

Left Hand then gathered the other children of the pact into a group called the Folding Circle; Night Thrasher, Midnight's Fire, Silk Fever, and Bloodstrike, in addition to himself.

The New Warriors and the Circle joined up at the Cambodian temple where it all started. The Circle attempted to take control of the Well away from Tai, who intended to sacrifice everyone but herself in order to gain power. Both teams suffered losses, as Tai knocked out several of the more durable members. Tai was seemingly slain by an Uzi to the chest wielded by New Warriors leader Night Thrasher. Casseas also apparently died. The surviving members of the Circle escaped in an Avengers Quinjet, an aircraft originally stolen by the New Warriors. The remaining members of the Folding Circle later crashed in Madripoor and attempted to usurp the role of Aardwolf, a mutant crime lord. They succeeded but were later taken down by Night Thrasher and Silhouette.

Left Hand - (Diego Casseas), the leader of the Folding Circle, possesses the ability to manipulate Darkforce energies, a power he stole from his comatose daughter.

Bloodstrike - (Eric Conroy), is a mutate who worked as an enforcer for a Chicago crime family before being recruited into the Folding Circle. He possesses superhuman strength and durability.

Midnight's Fire - (Aaron Chord), is a mystical mutate possessing enhanced physical attributes and healing ability. He is the brother of Silhouette and an enemy of Night Thrasher.

Silk Fever - (Min Li Ng), originally joined the Force of Nature as the merciless killer Firewall. After being told the true source of her powers she joined the Folding Circle. Silk Fever is a mystical mutate with pyrokinetic powers, and her body appears to be on fire.

Smiling Tiger - (Conrad Mack), is a mystical mutate with enhanced senses. He only speaks in feral growls, and wears a bodysuit with razor sharp claws.

Creators: Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley. First Appearance: THE NEW WARRIORS #21 (1992)

****

This is another group that really hasn't been seen much, but left an impression. I loved the character's names and they were pretty mysterious. I thought that they were visually appealing and their motivations weren't some grandiose world domination scheme. It was just plain old vengeance, lol!!!

#11 "The Organization", later renamed The Ani-Men - Daredevil #10 & 11

Daredevil was my first favorite superhero. Specifically, Wally Wood's Daredevil. I bought #6 and #7 and soon decided to buy every issue. I stayed with it thru the Romita run but the magic was gone and I skipped a few issues at the beginning of Colan's run. Of course I wasn't paying attention to the names in the credits at that point, I just knew it wasn't as good anymore. Those 13 consecutive issues of DD (#6-19) were my longest continuous run of any comic for most of the next decade.

So, this villain group is Wally Wood's contribution to the Marvel universe's rogues gallery. Wood was never comfortable with the "Marvel Method", and he convinced Stan to let him script #10 along with finishing Bob Powell's layouts. The big boss here is a masked man called The Organizer, and his henchmen are referred to here just as "the organization". They have the incredibly creative names Ape-Man, Cat-Man, Bird-Man and Frog-Man. They have earphones with antennas and radios on their chests. Their power suits help them emulate their animal identities, which they each resembled in the first place. Even more creatively, Bird-Man's last name was "Hawk" and Frog-Man was French. The organization perpetrated a string of dastardly deeds around New York until DD got involved. In the conclusion in issue #11, scripted by Stan, the Organizer is revealed to be a leading candidate for mayor, and the group's crimes were intended to help him get elected. The Organizer faded away, but some years later the quartet became known as the Ani-Men, which is the name they're known by now.

As I said, I was all-in for WW's DD. These were fun issues with a lot of action and an interesting mystery.