#1. Justin hammer, Stiletto, Discus, Whiplash, Blizzard, The Melter, the beetle, Leap frog, Man killer, The Porcupine


Iron Man #127
Marvel Comics (1979)
Writer: David Michelinie/ Bob Layton
Artist: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Bob Layton




Every time Superman enters a scene , he’s the person to beat. He’s the favorite and everyone knows he has the advantage. It wasn’t until this great Michelinie/ Layton/ Romita jr run that Marvel had its version of that type of character. Iron Man was never better written or more powerful than this great run, But when you rise to this level ,one opponent isn’t enough.

After being run around and having his armor manipulated, Stark is mad and he finds the source of his problems. It seems that competitor, Justin Hammer has had a device built that can invade Stark's refractory coating in his armor and control it. He’s even had an innocent person killed with that technology. Stark tracks down the where and who and goes to town on a gauntlet of bad guys that Hammer has on his private island. What follows is a display of top tech with an angry Iron man behind it. With this issue , he becomes the Superman the Marvel universe was waiting for.



A few points about the book

Hammer supplies the villains with weapons and tech to commit crimes at his beck and call. They are on his island and are all fetched on shell head.

Hammer is drawn as a dead ringer for Peter Cushing

Stark disables the device that was controlling his armor. It doesn’t get mentioned if the device is recreated or that he finds a way to protect against it. In this run Stark is always updating his armor.

Tha army of bad guys are used to commit crimes and they are funded by Hammer for a cut of the money.

1. The Sinister Six (original incarnation, The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1)






The first time is always the charm. WWE’s Rock/Cena II was never gonna be as special or as good as Rock/Cena I. Very few sequels are as good as the original, in my view. A second date with a woman is nice, and you hope it can lead to a lifelong relationship, but can it ever match the magic of the first date?

There have been many incarnations of the Sinister Six, but the first will be the best. Spidey’s rogues gallery is top-notch, so bringing them all together is colourful. Those are Spidey’s best villains. True, I think the Sinister Six would have been no less if we’d seen, say, Scorpion or Green Goblin, but I think the mix of personalities is a good one.

It’s hard to believe that a period of 26 years occurred between the publication of the first Sinister Six tale and Larsen’s Sinister Six revival. The fanboy in me feels the Sinister Six could have returned time and time again, including to battle other heroes like the Hulk and Iron Man.

But be careful what you wish for. The original Sinister Six is special *because* they were a one-hit wonder. They fully deserve inclusion on my list in the number one spot.

#1 - The Frightful Four
Fantastic Four 36, 38, 41-43




It had to end here. As I read this year's theme, I knew there was only one choice for my #1 slot. No other team of baddies caught my imagination like the evil FF. And no other team was as important to me as a comic fan.

First, they were cool. Sandman, the hardened street tough, too badass to wear a costume. The Wizard, brilliant and ruthless, gliding gracefully through the air. Paste-Pot Pete, who . . . well, at least he changed his name to the Trapster in their 2nd appearance. And best of all, the mysterious Madam Medusa.



This was her introduction to the Marvel Universe, and there were no Inhumans yet. This Medusa was a serious threat, merciless in combat, manipulating her teammates; the Wizard correctly feared she might depose him as leader of the group. They later explained that Medusa was suffering from amnesia during this period, but I think turning her into a heroine as an Inhuman and even a member of the Fantastic Four robbed the Marvel Universe of one of its strongest, most menacing villainesses.

The Frightful Four, while not direct analogs of the FF, were put together as a direct answer to the good guys. And they were good at it. In their first appearance, they successfully invaded the Baxter Building and nearly took 3 out of the 4 out. Only the unexpected presence of Alicia saved the heroes. In their second go-around, they stranded the FF on a little island and then just blew it up. The FF weren't killed, but they did lose their powers. And the Frightful Four got away with it. Reed and the others didn't go after them, there were no consequences. Like Luthor and Brainiac yesterday, the bad guys won!

But their most important appearance (for me, at least) was the terrific 3-parter in issues 41-43. This is the one where the Wizard turns the Thing against his teammates, and they damned near took the FF down again. This was the story that really ignited my love for comics. I'd been buying the FF and a few other Marvels off and on. But this is the one that made me want to have every issue. This is the one that made me eager for the next issue. This is the one that, since I'd missed the first part, sent me on my first back issue hunt. I am a comic book fan because of the Frightful Four.

Talk about evil.

Because sometimes the best good guy is a bad guy...

#1. The Suicide Squad (1987 series)
(Only listing the villains: Blockbuster I, Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Chronos, Count Vertigo, Deadshot, Doctor Light, Duchess, Enchantress, Javelin, Killer Frost, Mindboggler, Mirror Master, Mr. 104, Multiplex, Outlaw, Parasite, Penguin, Plastique, Poison Ivy, Privateer, Psi, Punch & Jewelee, Ravan, Reactron, Shrike, Slipknot, Thinker I, Thinker II, Weasel)



A series about morally reprehensible individuals being forced into doing missions, ostensibly for the greater good but sometimes themselves morally reprehensible, being controlled by a small group of deeply flawed heroes.

I've said it before but this is a criminally underrated book. John Ostrander, and later Kim Yale, demonstrate that in the right hands even the most unlikely characters have a story to tell. They took C and D-list villains that no one else wanted and turned them into compelling characters. Everything you know about Deadshot was essentially created by this series. And this was the book that rescued Barbara Gordon post-The Killing Joke and turned her into Oracle; arguably a more interesting character than she ever was as Batgirl.

Just so many great moments, like Deadshot preventing Rick Flag from assassinating Senator Cray by killing the senator himself, and then quoting Waller's orders back to her; "You said stop him by whatever means necessary". Or Count Vertigo being stabbed by the New God assassin Kanto and left for dead, and being so offended by Kanto turning his back on him that he got to his feet, yanked out the knife stuck in him and stabbed Kanto in the back with his own blade!

1. The Suicide Squad




DC and Marvel had tried to use some of their popular, colorful, well-established villains as leads—Joker, Dr. Doom. They’d tried to make teams of them into successful series—Super-Villain Team-Up, Secret Society of Super-Villains. It took John Ostrander to crack the code and make an ongoing work.

While the core concept is not completely novel—it is, after all, a super-hero version of the Dirty Dozen—once you have that premise, so many problems associated with making a super-villain book work resolve themselves and open up fascinating new avenues. Coercion, blackmail, bribery, whatever it takes to force a super-villain to do (ostensibly) the right thing, on threat of the ultimate punishment! And for once, the deep library of expendables made paying off on that threat feasible!

I expect we’ll see both the Suicide Squad and the Thunderbolts hit some number one slots today (foxley has already made the same choice!). I could certainly have included the T-Bolts in my top tier, but I left those praises to others. But even knowing others would offer up the Squad, I loved this series too much not to give it my top ranking. Comparing it to the Thunderbolts, not to denigrate Kurt Busiek’s take but to spotlight some of the aspects that make Suicide Squad appeal to me:
Suicide Squad had better potential for longevity, since Ostrander could rotate the core cast in and out as need be, while Thunderbolts couldn’t pull their gimmick off with an endless supply of new members. Thunderbolts could really head only toward the redemption or reversion of their roster, the Squad could become—and did become—a fixture of the DC superhero universe.
The Suicide Squad could use the costumes, characters, codenames of the villains we’d come to know, where T-Bolts relied on their new personas. Even after the jig was up, and the heroic community knew what was going on at Belle Reve, the Squad could continue.

The Squad had a conceptual viability apart from the superhero community, as demonstrated by two films that didn’t much rely on establishing the villains in context with the heroes. Yes, Marvel’s going to bring Thunderbolts to the screen, but they won’t be able to stay true to its powerful original premise, and will be relying mostly on previously established villains.
And what a name! Plucking a memorable moniker Robert Kanigher gave to a nonpowered team that bombed out of Brave & Bold as well as to the G.I.’s unfortunate enough to be recruited to fight the War That Time Forgot, Ostrander found exactly the premise for a team called the “suicide squad”, a team where the danger was real, the worst could and did happen! Thunderbolts was, intentionally, a generic enough team name that didn’t give away its critical secret.

And sure, depending on your tastes, those might have been to the advantage or disadvantage of either team, and since they were both executed well, Ostrander and Busiek both capitalized on those and other differences between their approaches to create outstanding series.

But the Suicide Squad, with their legacy connection to one of the most obscure of DC’s Silver Age teams, they’ve got my undying affection. They made Captain Boomerang into an endearing, rich character, established Deadshot as an unforgettable personality, brought the obscure Enchantress from Forgotten Villain to big-screen menace, elevated the Bronze Tiger from abandoned Kung Fu Fighter supporting cast member to prominence, and brought a depth and humanity to a large cast, including villains, support personnel, and Amanda Waller, a powerhouse of a character unlike anyone we’d ever seen in comics.
I don’t think you can do a super-villain team any better than this.

Notice to all who have yet to post:

Damn, but the pressure is on to produce an excellent write/up for our finales! Forget the choices; it’s the impassioned, enlightening way you all wrote about your top choices that is so invigorating.

Well done, previous posters, and thanks!