DC Has a Villain Problem (But Here’s How They Can Fix It)

DC Comics created the superhero with Superman, but that was only half the formula. Not long after Superman came about, the supervillain was born. Supervillains have obviously played an important role in the history of DC Comics, and DC has given readers many of the greatest supervillains of all time. Most people who haven’t read a lot of DC Comics assume that the only cool DC villains are Batman villains, but this isn’t the case at all. DC’s villains run the gamut from lame yet fun to read about to universe shaking enemies that can challenge the greatest heroes of all time. DC villains work in nearly any kind of story, but even with that, there’s a problem with them.

Beyond having amazing villains, DC also puts out some of the greatest event comics ever. There’s something special about DC events, from the multiverse-shaking spectacles of the Crisis events to epics like Blackest Night or even the recent Absolute Power. However, anyone who has been reading DC events for a long time has noticed something. Most of the time, DC’s events deal with all-new, all-powerful villains showing up to menace the multiverse. While this has given up amazing villains like the Anti-Monitor and redefined Z-listers like Nekron, they rarely use run of the mill DC villains. DC’s villains own wins over the Justice League, Superman, and many other amazing heroes. There’s no reason they can’t be the main villains of DC events, and this is a problem that DC needs to solve. Luckily, it’s easier than you think.

DC Can Take a Page from the Marvel Event Playbook

Marvel is the king of event comics, not because their event comics are so good, but because there are so many of them. One of the things you realize from reading a lot of Marvel events is that they usually use antagonists from the Marvel Universe instead of creating new ones more often than not. So, for example, Secret Wars (2015) had Doctor Doom as its villain. Absolute Carnage had Carnage. Age of Ultron was Ultron, and even the best Marvel event, Infinity Gauntlet, used Thanos. Marvel events usually use villains or heroes that we know about, sometimes enhanced with greater power and sometimes after building a perfect plan over time and striking.

DC does this as well; Blackest Night and Absolute Power take classic DC villains like Black Hand and Amanda Waller and has them enact plans to destroy the heroes. Final Crisis is all about Darkseid finally fulfilling his purpose as a the God of Evil. However, for every Darkseid or Amanda Waller, we get an Anti-Monitor or Perpetua or Alexander Luthor or Pariah (those last two were introduced in Crisis on Infinite Earths as heroes and made villains later, but in my opinion that still counts). DC’s events usually have such big stakes that the publisher’s creators end up making all-new villains to target the multiverse. However, if you look at DC’s deep bench of villains, there’s really no reason for that.

Look at Superman’s greatest villains; enemies like Brainiac or Lex Luthor or General Zod or Mr. Mxyzptlk could be powered up, or make long-term plans, and attack the Earth. Wonder Woman fights gods like Ares, but we haven’t had a (good; we all try to forget Amazong Attacks!) Wonder Woman event with her villains in decades. Batman’s enemies aren’t as powerful, but with the right set-up, someone like Ra’s al Ghul could create a plan that would endanger the world. The Flash has powerful villains that could fit the bill (technically, Reverse Flash was the villain of Flashpoint, but I’ve always figured it was Barry Allen), as does Green Lantern, as proven by Blackest Night. However, even without Lantern Corps shenanigans, someone like Krona could easily be made into a universe shaking foe.

The Legion has Time Trapper and Mordru. Why hasn’t there been a Deathstroke event? He’d be perfect for a major event villain (he was co-villain of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, but most of the story dealt with Pariah). I have a lot of problems with Marvel events, especially the umpteen hero versus hero events, but DC would be better off following the Marvel event method, vis-a-vis villains. DC has the bad guys to make it work and it would help the perception of the publisher’s villains.

It’s Time For More DC Villains to get Major Event Books

Absolute Power is the perfect example of a DC event that is more like a Marvel one when it comes to the way it uses villains. Amanda Waller was built up as the villain of the event for about a year leading up to the story and it was outstanding. However, at this point, everyone knows Amanda Waller is an amazing villain thanks to her appearances in the DCAU, the DCEU, and the DCU (yes, Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad count as DCU; come at me, crow). It’s time for other bad guys to get a chance in their own major events.

Sure, lots of DC villains get mini-events, like Batman-centric ones like “Fear State” or “Joker War” or Superman-centric ones like “House of Brainiac” or “Warworld Saga”. But they don’t get their own major events. The fact that characters like Brainiac or Lex Luthor have rarely helmed full line-wide DC events is disappointing, and they’re only the tip of the iceberg. DC’s villains aren’t as popular or well-known as they should be, but all of that could change if the publisher starts making more major events starring them. Until that happens, I’m patiently waiting on a linewide Mordru event.

What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

7 Characters Who Deserve to be in DC K.O., Ranked