# Worst. Supervillain. Ever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809 "2004-07-12T23:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/61 "2004-07-14T02:37:24Z")
> [@aegypt](#): > > A simple question for the guys and girls with encyclopedic comic book knowledge out there: > > We all know there’s some superheroes that are frequently subjected to ridicule (Aquaman comes to mind - even Letterman questioned his manhood on the Late Show the other day). But who was the single worst, lamest, and plain dumbest supervillain ever created in comicdom? I’m talking about the guy that was standing in the back when all the cool powers/gimmicks/backstories where handed out. . The Vegetable. He fought the Mighty Crusaders back in the '60s (Archie Comic’s attempt knock off the Avengers. Featured The Shield, Fly Man and Fly Girl, etc). He looked like a giant cucumber with teeny little arms and legs and had all the powers of…um…a vegetable. Trust me. This guy makes the Rainbow Raider look like Dr. Doom. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/62 "2004-07-14T03:14:15Z")
I join in **Master Wang-Ka’s** defense of Arcade. Sure, the guy was a tad unrealistic, but he was \*_interesting_, and his storylines were always great. He always took the classic hero-in-deathtrap thing to greater and greater heights. I’m kind of sorry he’s considered kind of passe nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/63 "2004-07-14T03:37:00Z")
I always kinda liked Arcade, too. And just because he (repeatedly) failed to off the X-Men and Spider-man (did he ever face anyone else? The Avengers, maybe?) doesn’t mean he never succeeded for less important superpeople. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/64 "2004-07-14T04:12:27Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > The Vegetable. He fought the Mighty Crusaders back in the '60s (Archie Comic’s attempt knock off the Avengers. Featured The Shield, Fly Man and Fly Girl, etc). Archie Comics had a Fly Girl? I always wondered what they did before they showed up on _In Living Color_. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/65 "2004-07-14T04:19:59Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > I always kinda liked Arcade, too. And just because he (repeatedly) failed to off the X-Men and Spider-man (did he ever face anyone else? The Avengers, maybe?) doesn’t mean he never succeeded for less important superpeople. Daredevil went toe-to-toe with him on at least one occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lodoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@Jeff\_Lodoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lodoen)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/66 "2004-07-14T05:23:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I remember that issue. I don’t know if that counts – because it was Assistant Editors’ Month and Eye Scream was intended as a “joke” villain. In fact, that was the driving force for the plot – he wanted to take down the X-Men because he was painfully aware their mutant powers made his look ridiculous by comparison. For this thread, let’s stick with villains who, to their creators, probably seemed like a good idea at the time. I believe you mean the “Obnoxio The Clown” one-shot. He was the Alfred E. Newman of Crazy magazine. The X-Men’s contribution to Assistant Editors’ Month was one page of Professor X kicking the Assistant Editor in the butt. (taking too long measuring the Blackbird) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/67 "2004-07-14T07:19:23Z")
As long as we’re bringing up Assistant Editor’s Month, can I nominate [[http://www.samruby.com/MtuC/Large/MTU137.JPG](http://www.samruby.com/MtuC/Large/MTU137.JPG)]Golden Oldie, the Galactus-powered alter ego of [Aunt May Parker?](http://www.samruby.com/Spiderverse/AuntMay/auntmay.htm) Sure, she didn’t do anything particularly villianous, but being a herald of Galactus ought to count for _something._ And you gotta admit, the idea was **FUN!** ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/68 "2004-07-14T07:28:31Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > True, Arcade had no powers. He did, however, have a variety of clever kidnap tricks for obtaining his victims and releasing them in Murderworld, his amusement park of death. Which still doesn’t explain why he didn’t use those nifty kidnap tricks to just plain kill his victims. You don’t pay an assassin to give the target a chance. > [@](#): > > And did you _really_ have enough money to have \*two or three \* secret underground amusement parks of death?" That’s explained at the link I gave for him. After a while, he began hiring out Murderworld as a training ground. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/69 "2004-07-14T10:28:06Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > . > > The Vegetable. He fought the Mighty Crusaders back in the '60s (Archie Comic’s attempt knock off the Avengers. Featured The Shield, Fly Man and Fly Girl, etc). > > He looked like a giant cucumber with teeny little arms and legs and had all the powers of…um…a vegetable. > > Trust me. This guy makes the Rainbow Raider look like Dr. Doom. Firstly, seriously? Wow. Secondly, there’s a _really_ tasteless Christopher Reeve joke in there somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/70 "2004-07-14T11:38:08Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Firstly, seriously? Wow. Yup, although I was mistaken: he didn’t fight the Mighty Crusaders, he fought The Web (another forgotten Archie superhero character). IIRC, it was in Mighty Comics #40 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/71 "2004-07-14T15:13:29Z")
> [@Jeff Lodoen](#): > > The X-Men’s contribution to Assistant Editors’ Month was one page of Professor X kicking the Assistant Editor in the butt. (taking too long measuring the Blackbird) That year’s Uncanny X-Men Annual was also released during Assistant Editors’ Month. It featured the X-Men taking on the Impossible Man, who was participating in a scavenger hunt against the other members of his species and traveling around Earth stealing items from various superheroes. These items included the X-Men’s mansion, Nick Fury’s eyepatch, all of the Wasp’s old costumes, and the Hulk’s pants. Very funny story. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/72 "2004-07-14T16:00:57Z")
A couple of years ago, The Tangled Web of Spider-Man featured a story about Rhino. After a particularly humiliating capture he laments, “Aw jeez, even [Rocket Racer](http://www.samruby.com/Villains/RocketRacer/rocketracer.htm) and [The Gibbon](http://www.samruby.com/Villains/Gibbon/gibbon.htm) are laughing at me.” And lo, indeed there was Rocket Racer and The Gibbon right there on the panel, laughing at him while they were being led away in handcuffs. The lamest villain I can recall was [Slyde](http://www.samruby.com/Villains/Slyde/slyde.htm). He was a scientist searching for the secret to non-stick cookware, but a vicious corporate merger left him jobless. Seeking startup capital to create a non-stick cookware empire that would make the fools who opposed him tremble, he turned his non-stick powers toward evil. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/73 "2004-07-14T16:19:13Z")
Re: Golden Oldie. Actually, that joke was stolen from a half-page gag in What If? (Vol. 1) # 34, the all-joke issue. Man, back then, comic creators actually allowed themselves to have a sense of humor about their creations. I miss that. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809/74 "2004-07-14T18:49:40Z")
> [@Mystery Dog](#): > > That year’s Uncanny X-Men Annual was also released during Assistant Editors’ Month. It featured the X-Men taking on the Impossible Man, who was participating in a scavenger hunt against the other members of his species and traveling around Earth stealing items from various superheroes. These items included the X-Men’s mansion, Nick Fury’s eyepatch, all of the Wasp’s old costumes, and the Hulk’s pants. Very funny story. I had that one! My favorite part: in one scene of the amassed scavenger hunt items he’d collected was (rather inexplicably) the key to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-supervillain-ever/254809.md?page=3)