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thehefnerThe other day at the Greenbelt Co-Op, a worker (perhaps mentally handicapped?) out by shopping carts saw my T-shirt and asked...
WORKER: Who's the Green Lantern?
ME: He's a comic character.
WORKER: Is he good or bad?
ME: He's a good guy.
WORKER: Who does he fight?
ME: Sinestro.
WORKER: Who's Sinestro?
ME: He's the bad Green Lantern.
Since then, I've been thinking about that classic convention of superhero comics: the evil doppelganger. Most great superheroes have their evil counterparts, to varying degrees of success, depending on the writer.
Green Lantern has Sinestro. Superman has Bizarro. Batman has Man-Bat (although I'd actually argue Two-Face, but Harvey's less blatant). Spider-Man has Venom. Venom has Carnage. The Incredible Hulk has the Abomination. Iron Man has the Iron Monger (and to some extent, Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo). Captain Marvel has Black Adam. Ultimate Fantastic Four have the zombie Fantastic Four (and regular FF has Super-Skrull? Does he count?). Dr. Strange has Baron Mordo. Wolverine has Sabretooth. Green Arrow has Merlyn. Flash has Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash.
Some of these work better than others, as the names alone might indicate (but don't you dare underestimate Professor Zoom... like all Flash villains, he may look utterly stupid and ridiculous, but he's more scary and badass than he appears. He'll burrow his fingers into your brain before you eke out your second guffaw.) Sinestro, for example, only TODAY is finally as intimidating and badass as he's always supposed to have been for the past 40 years.
But my favorite simply has to be Hawkman's doppelgangers. Yes, I'm using plural. After all, who or what could be the logical possible evil opposite?
MANHAWKS!
or as I like to say, MAAAAAAAAAAANHAWWWWWKS!!!!!!!!!
Yes. Evil alien birds that wear human masks. God, I love you, Silver Age of comics.
I'm a firm believer that, when it comes to long-running superhero comics, you have to embrace the gleefully stupid right alongside the quality. If I took these stories too seriously, or wasn't able to ironically enjoy such things, then the Manhawks would surely have dealt the killing blow to my sanity.
WORKER: Who's the Green Lantern?
ME: He's a comic character.
WORKER: Is he good or bad?
ME: He's a good guy.
WORKER: Who does he fight?
ME: Sinestro.
WORKER: Who's Sinestro?
ME: He's the bad Green Lantern.
Since then, I've been thinking about that classic convention of superhero comics: the evil doppelganger. Most great superheroes have their evil counterparts, to varying degrees of success, depending on the writer.
Green Lantern has Sinestro. Superman has Bizarro. Batman has Man-Bat (although I'd actually argue Two-Face, but Harvey's less blatant). Spider-Man has Venom. Venom has Carnage. The Incredible Hulk has the Abomination. Iron Man has the Iron Monger (and to some extent, Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo). Captain Marvel has Black Adam. Ultimate Fantastic Four have the zombie Fantastic Four (and regular FF has Super-Skrull? Does he count?). Dr. Strange has Baron Mordo. Wolverine has Sabretooth. Green Arrow has Merlyn. Flash has Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash.
Some of these work better than others, as the names alone might indicate (but don't you dare underestimate Professor Zoom... like all Flash villains, he may look utterly stupid and ridiculous, but he's more scary and badass than he appears. He'll burrow his fingers into your brain before you eke out your second guffaw.) Sinestro, for example, only TODAY is finally as intimidating and badass as he's always supposed to have been for the past 40 years.
But my favorite simply has to be Hawkman's doppelgangers. Yes, I'm using plural. After all, who or what could be the logical possible evil opposite?
MANHAWKS!
or as I like to say, MAAAAAAAAAAANHAWWWWWKS!!!!!!!!!
Yes. Evil alien birds that wear human masks. God, I love you, Silver Age of comics.
I'm a firm believer that, when it comes to long-running superhero comics, you have to embrace the gleefully stupid right alongside the quality. If I took these stories too seriously, or wasn't able to ironically enjoy such things, then the Manhawks would surely have dealt the killing blow to my sanity.
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-17 05:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-17 05:45 pm (UTC)Seriously. The Turtle. Oh, Silver Age of comics.
Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash, wears an inverse color scheme (yellow costume with red lightning bolts) and is a bloodthirsy motherfucker speedster who killed Flash's wife (she got better).
Some more evil doppelgangers....
Date: 2007-07-17 05:50 pm (UTC)You forgot some evil doppelgangers:
1. Adam Warlock and the Magus: Adam Warlock's evil doppelganger? His evil future self, who showed up with PURPLE SKIN AND A SILVER AFRO.
BEHOLD!
Later he worked that 'fro into a rocking topknot:
WHAT A FOX!
2. Genis-Vell: His evil doppelganger? Also an evil future self, but this time from an alternate universe. He also said "dude" a lot and had a long ponytail, which seems to be in keeping with Evil Doppelgangers of cosmic characters:
Re: Some more evil doppelgangers....
Date: 2007-07-17 11:15 pm (UTC)These guys should hang out with the Maestro and both evil AU Tony Starks. A grand time could be had by all.
Re: Some more evil doppelgangers....
Date: 2007-07-17 11:19 pm (UTC)So, apparently you never heard about the time Adam sequestered himself in a biococoon in the broom closet of an intergalactic insane asylum for four years, MARVEL TIME?
Re: Some more evil doppelgangers....
Date: 2007-07-17 11:55 pm (UTC)At least I have Manhawks.