DC has some of the most popular and iconic villains in the entire comic book space. There are mainstays like the Joker, and underrated gems like Psycho Pirate. However, as incredible as many of these villains are, that doesn’t mean they got everything right the first time around. Many villains have undergone innumerable changes over the years, often more than their heroes. Villains and heroes naturally adapt to reflect the period their stories are being told in, and as storytelling styles evolve, so too do the villains. Villains who first debuted in the Silver Age were some of the silliest gag villains ever conceived, but modern interpretations of them could be bloodthirsty monsters.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Today, we’re going to be looking at seven of DC’s best villains that have evolved in that exact way, from one style to a nearly unrecognizable character. These villains might have had humble or completely ludicrous beginnings, but now stand as some of the most interesting and nuanced characters in all of DC. So, without further ado, let’s dig into what some of the most iconic villains in all of comics started as, and where they ended up.
7) Joker
When the Joker first cackled his way onto the scene in Batman (1940) #1, he was completely different from how he is today. In a modern Joker story, he is a Batman-obsessed maniac whose goals include spilling as much blood as possible and laughing the whole time. However, the Golden Age Joker was a completely serious character. He never laughed and was a hard-boiled crime boss who wanted money and revenge above all else. He was a gag villain, but the gag was that he was the most deadpan and mirthless character around while looking like a clown. Nowadays, he’s fully accepted his clown mantle, which the original Joker couldn’t be caught dead doing.
6) Silver Swan
Silver Swan first flew in between the pages of Wonder Woman (1942) #288. The original Silver Swan was a woman named Helen Alexandros, whose plain looks and bad skin kept her from becoming a world-famous ballerina. She swore vengeance on all men for ruining her dream and was blessed by Mars/Ares with great beauty and power to enact her revenge. This was a pretty cut-and-dry villain origin story, especially for the time, but future iterations reimagine the Silver Swan as a tragic character. Now, instead of a petty failed-ballerina, she was a woman taken advantage of by men her entire life, being manipulated into being a villain.
The best change is definitely her relationship with Wonder Woman, whom she is torn between loving and hating. On the one hand, Wonder Woman is her savior and friend, while on the other hand, Diana is the exact perfect woman that Swan will never be. Silver Swan transitioned from a one-note villain of her time to a true character with depth and emotional resonance, which is exactly the type of change you want to see.
5) Sinestro
Hal Jordan’s greatest enemy has always been a man with far too much pride and not enough sense to temper himself. Sinestro first appeared in Green Lantern (1960) #6, being introduced as a former Green Lantern who abused his power to enslave his home planet. While that part is consistent with today, the modern Sinestro very much presents himself as a noble, tortured soul. He has the potential and desire to do the right thing, but is always waylaid by his pride and fear, which he can never overcome. Today, Sinestro is a tragic figure who can carve out a path of redemption for himself, but back in the day, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Sinestro used to be evil through and through, and he reveled in it. One of the very first things he says on panel is tell the Weaponers of Qward that they cannot destroy the Green Lantern because they aren’t evil enough, but he is. Sinestro was a mustache-twirling, power-hungry maniac set on getting revenge and doing as much general evil as he could in the most condensed time frame possible. The power-hungry part hasn’t changed, at least.
4) Eclipso
Eclipso is one of the most powerful villains that the DC Universe has ever produced. He was once the Precence’s Angel of Vengeance and the embodiment of his wrath, dishing out pain and punishment to those he deemed deserved it. However, he was deemed too evil, and his position was revoked, being replaced by the Spectre. Eclipso was then sealed within one thousand black diamonds, sealing his power and keeping him mostly contained. As a former angel, Eclipso has nearly unmatched power and reality-altering abilities, but he wasn’t always nearly this strong or this terrifying.
When Eclipso first debuted in House of Secrets #61, he was a much more traditional villain. He was an evil spirit that possessed his host Bruce Gordon whenever an eclipse, either natural or artificial, occurred. And yes, Bruce Gordon was named after Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon as an in-joke. Ecilpso was your run-of-the-mill Jekyll and Hyde villain, intent on fulfilling some evil or hedonistic desire with elaborate plans and eye lasers. Certainly a far cry from the monster who can take down the entire Justice League today.
3) Lex Luthor
FIn many ways, Luthor is much the same as his original self, but also very different. While modern-day Lex is a shrewd businessman obsessed with destroying Superman because of some deep-seated inferiority complex, the Lex who appeared in Action Comics (1938) #23 was nothing of the sort. He was a typical mad scientist bent on world domination and driven by greed. In fact, most of his Gold and Silver Age stories revolved around stealing money if they weren’t about killing Superman specifically. While the current Lex has all the power anyone in their right mind could ever want, the original wanted nothing more than to get wealth and prestige, unaware that they clearly would never make him happy.
2) Parallax
Parallax is a very unique villain, because he started as a completely different character than what he is now. The modern-day Parallax is the Entity of Fear, the first being in the universe to feel fear, who ascended and became the living representation of it in the Emotional Spectrum. He is a beast driven by a sole desire to spread fear endlessly throughout the universe. However, when he first appeared in Green Lantern (1990) #50, this was simply the name Hal Jordan took after emerging from the Central Power Battery.
While Parallax was certainly a villain, he was mainly focused on restoring himself and the universe to how it was before Coast City’s destruction, making him a noble and tragic figure instead of a being intent on causing nothing but terror simply because of his nature. Parallax was simply one of Hal’s identities for over a decade before the Entity was retconned into existence. This is perhaps the strangest villain change on this list, but by no means does that mean this wasn’t a wonderful addition to the DC mythos.
1) Mister Freeze
If there were a competition for villains going from nothing-burgers to incredibly nuanced, beloved characters, Mister Freeze would win it in a landslide. The modern Mister Freeze is a tragic soul whose story can melt even the most frozen heart. Victor Fries was a scientist studying cryogenics when his wife, Nora, fell ill with an incurable disease. He placed her in cryogenic sleep until he could find a cure, but when his ruthless boss attempted to cut funding and Nora’s life support, there was a struggle and accident, coating Victor in his own chemicals. He was left unable to live outside of subzero temperatures, with his heart frozen both literally and metaphorically.
The original Mister Freeze, who appeared in Batman (1940) #121, was originally a criminal named Mister Zero. He didn’t have a sick wife or any tragic origin; instead, he was simply a man who created a cold gun and wanted to get rich quick. He was forced to live in a cryo suit, but only after he accidentally sprayed himself with his coolant in an accident that’s far more funny than heartwrenching. Even his suit is just hilarious to look at, with the bright pink and greens instead of the cool white and blue. Mister Freeze is one of Batman’s best villains, but originally, he was nothing but a run-of-the-mill crook with a gimmick.
So there we have seven of DC’s best villains who are nothing at all like their original appearances. Which of these villains is your favorite, and which DC supervillain do you think has changed the most over the years?
What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
Image Courtesy Studio Pierriot
