Master Wang-Ka, this is one of those (hmmmm) realizations that underpins the whole henchmen phenomenon that superhero crime is based on. Clearly the Joker and Kobra are two of comicdom’s worst master criminals to work for since they’re so fundamentally meglomaniacal, sociopathic and unstable, but I am curious what motivates henchmen as disparate as the HYDRA armies, the deep cover Grail operatives and those psychotic twins Two-Face keeps digging up to work for these people. With Kobra it can be explained via the religious fanaticism of the Cult of the Naja Naja and Kobra’s supposed charisma – but the Joker’s method of recruiting people eludes me, too.
Probably recruits people as crazy as he is.
Tengu. Ah. Well, that explains why the Joker is fond of Arkham. It’s a front for his recruiting activities.
At least Bucky got dead once and stayed that way.
Although, I seem to recall him coming back in a dream or as a zombie, or something. I don’t read Cap.
Aaah…yes…that explains why he keeps letting Batman capture him. ‘Oh, poo. I’m out of canon fodder. Time to go home for a while.’
Yeah, not even a little bit. Dick’s “Don’t touch me” was plainly said out of disappointment with himself, not non-consent to the nasty-doing. And Tarantula plainly uses no force nor threat of force. It’s absurd to suggest it’s a rape.
Agree 100%, and would further add that people who do claim it is are trivializing the real thing adn really ought to get their heads on straight.
Did you omit Carrie Kelly for a reason, or did you forget her? Just asking.
Assuming you’re allowing alternate futures in there, Carrie Kelly is one among many.
…and don’t forget that in one of her two appearances, Dick Grayson winds up being shot with arrows, blown up, beheaded, and finally tossed into a volcano. Sounds to me like she’s the exception to the rule.
Oh, wait – before dying, Dick Grayson durn near mutilates her to death, doesn’t he…?
Mutilates and rapes her, I believe. A real rape this time, not your namby-pamby “I’m not really in the mood” shit.
Being the Themysciran champion in Man’s World isn’t exactly a position frought with benefits, either. Let’s look at Diana’s track record so far:
- killed at least twice
- mother? dead
- semi-boyfriend? dead
- younger counterpart? dead (with a fucked-up origin to boot)
- friend? physically mutilated and psychologically tortured to become one of her enemies
- island she calls home? attacked numerous times, launched into space and destroyed, recreated to look totally lame, and finally kicked into the ocean; not to mention that its inhabitants are regularly slaughtered en masse
- and most recently: blinded!
But Diana is actually doing pretty well, as this site points out, everyone else who’s ever put on the suit just plain dies.
Link-link no work for Baby Bosda. 
I’d hazard a guess that the position of curator at any major metropolitan museum has to be fraught with job stress…although I grant that this is not a problem unique to the DCU. Still and all, has there ever been a single Grand Opening of any museum collection in comics continuity that has not been disrupted by a supervillain theft, or which did not inadvertently contain a Relic of Power that released awesome unholy forces across the entire downtown area? After the first few times this happens, the insurance premiums for future shows must become truly monstrous…and it becomes increasingly difficult to find a hook to draw in patrons that won’t result in burglary, necromantic assault, or mass transformation of museumgoers into devolved animal minions. What can a comic-universe museum display safely anymore? Egyptian artifacts are out, as are mummies, obviously–you’re just asking for trouble if you put a mummy of any kind on display. Meteorites are out. Any depictions of long-forgotten pagan deities are out. Valuable paintings and gemstones are right out, as they are practically the currency of the supervillain underworld. The Gotham City Art Museum has a whole basement vault full of priceless bird-themed antiques that they can’t ever put on display or call attention to. Dinosaur skeletons are problematic, as they are distressingly prone to reanimation and rampage. Examples of Elizabethan embroidered stitchwork would probably be okay.
And yet it’s not hard to understand why such curatorial positions remain filled, despite the obvious hazards…to anyone with an awareness of history, museums are natural clearinghouses for items of power. The trick, obviously, is to get to them before any of the supervillains can. I’d imagine that the senior museum staff has an unwritten policy of subjecting each new acquisition, be it jewelry of uncertain provenance, exotic mineral specimens, or tribal figurines, to extensive examination before officially adding it to the collection. You never know when or where the next Eclipso gem is going to turn up, after all.
The Blue Beetle
Left her out as TDKR isn’t canon, and also because I don’t like roller skating Robins.
Also been a while since I read it so can’t really remember what happened to her.
I can’t BARELY believe I’m doing this, but… BAND NAME.
I can BARELY believe I’m doing this, but… BAND NAME.
I’m sure being an insurance adjuster would be a tough gig in any superhero-infested reality.
But yeah, I think it’s a tossup between Green Lantern and Robin for worst job in the DCU. You get put in the worst kind of situations constantly, and despite the great gadgetry at your disposal, you’re only human, and so are your relatives.
That brings to mind… I wonder if there’s ever been a Daxamite, Kryptonian, Durlan or Martian Green Lantern… (Those being the most inherantly powerful alien races I can think of. Well…possibly aside from a few who HAVE had GLs.)