Fan of many mentioned, including Catwoman, Ra’s Al Ghul, Scarecrow. Guy, I dig Grendel but don’t think he counts as a Batman villian. (Short hijack, you a Mage fan, also by Wagner? Now in movie development.) Other than the fact Bane broke Batman’s back, he’s not that great a character.
Hands down Joker is the best. He is overused and watered down by writers who don’t know the character. Remember, NOT an Earth 2 or Elseworlds story, not a serious injury but they got better; Joker KILLED Robin. And he crippled Batgirl, she has been in a wheelchair for years (but there is a new Batgirl recently). Also, didn’t Joker just kill Jim Gordon’s lover? His insane rampages have consequences. When you read a Joker story you don’t know what is going to happen. All this and an unknown past.
Yep, I like Mage–what little I’ve seen of it. I bought the three volume squarebound collection years back. I did collect quite a bit of Grendel, though. Glad to hear Mage may come to the big screen. Hope Grendel does the same.
I’d like to add Two-Face to the list of most-liked Batman villains. The treatments that the Joker and Two-Face received were excellent in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight series, and I thought that the possible Joker origin shown in The Killing Joke was terrific.
“It’s only common sense,
There are no accidents 'round here.”
What? No one for Harley Quinn? Some of Joker’s nuttiness, some of Catwoman’s sexiness… perfect villian. Sure, she’s not as classic as the others, but she’s sure cute.
http://www.madpoet.com
Computers have let mankind make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns.
Apparently Kevin Smith, of Dogma, Mallrats and Clerks fame, as well as writing an excellent run of Daredevil comics, agrees with you Madpoet. His daughter, born within the past 6-8 months, is Harley Quinn Smith. Kevin confirms that the reference is intentional.
I hate to break this to you, Chuck, but The Ventriloquist first appeared in The Animated Series. His real name is Arnold Wesker. The same actor, George Dzundza, does the voices for both Arnold and his dummy, Scarface. Dzundza is also the voice of Perry White on the Superman series.
I agree that he’s definitely one of the best new villains and I think he’s also the most plausible one.
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
cmkeller, you’re absolutely right. According to www.batmantas.com/ , The Ventriloquist first appeared in Detective#583, February, 1988, which is well before the Series premiere in 1992.
Read before posting, read before posting…
[confession] I haven’t regularly read any comics in years. I stopped buying them when they went to $1.25 an issue. What are they up to now, $1.75?[/confession]
Another vote for the Joker. He and the Batman share a strange karma. According to the accepted canon, the Joker was inadvertedly created by Batman on one of his first missions. One time when Batman was missing and presumed dead, the Joker decided to retire. More than once, Batman has prevented the Joker’s death to prove to himself that he’ll never kill or deliberately let someone die- even the Joker.
The only other villain to get under Bat’s skin like that is Catwoman. And these days, she’s more chaotic than evil. (Interesting comparison with the Huntress- still not sure if she’s willing to be a “good guy” rather than a vigilante.)
I’ll admit I was a Batmaniac in that I started reading the comic books when the first movie came out. A friend loaned me “The Killing Joke” and that formed my impression of what the Joker was supposed to be - unpredictable and lethal. And I’m a huge fan.
A few years later the “Legends of the Dark Knight” title started coming out and it had one or two excellent Two-Face storylines which explored his psychosis and formed my impression of what he was supposed to be as well.
FYI - What’s really cool is that Mrs. Tygr is as big a fan of Harley Quinn as I am of “Mistah J”. Would love to get both of those as Halloween costumes some year. I recommend reading “Mad Love” to find out what Harley’s all about.
Side note: I’m not a fan of the old cheesy TV series, but I do remember thinking that the guy that played The Riddler on it should have been playing The Joker instead. He had the manic energy and the laugh for it.
I’ve always thought The Scarecrow was a great (and underutilized) villain. Think about it: he turns Batman’s own weapon (fear) against him. (The whole point of the Batman outfit was to “strike fear in the hearts of criminals,” who, as we all know, “are a cowardly and superstitious lot.”) Scarecrow gives Batman a little of his own medicine.