Fourcast! 52: Madvillain
July 5th, 2010 by david brothers | Tags: Batman, flash, podcasts, spider-man-All villains, all the time in this extra-sized Fourcast!
-Esther liked last week’s Green Lantern 55 and Action Comics 890.
-Yes, even the sad/silly cat story.
-We smoothly segue into talking about Batman’s villains.
–David is in love with the idea of apophenia.
-We discuss the workman-like qualities of Flash’s Rogues.
-David makes a case for Spider-Man’s villains.
-Esther ain’t having none of it.
-Esther was recovering from being sick.
-David was in the process of getting sick.
-David will be smarter next time or he’ll be fired.
-6th Sense’s 4a.m. Instrumental for the theme music.
-See you, space cowboy!
Subscribe to the Fourcast! via:
–Podcast Alley feed!
–RSS feed via Feedburner
–iTunes Store
Similar Posts:
- Fourcast! 70: Say Hi To The Bad Guy
- Fourcast! 47: Captains Marvel
- Fourcast! 85: This Week In Comics
- Fourcast! 54: Doctor 13 vs Batgirl: Year One
- Fourcast! 64: Chewing Comics
Yo uh Flash had a affair with Speed Demon (Jerry Mcgee’s) wife. He was super fast and super strong, having a fight with Flash that had a lot of collateral damage
Personally, I like to try reading Atrocitus’ lines in the voice of Dr Claw from Inspector Gadget, to go with his Mad Cat Dex-Star.
Dunno if that means I should read Hal as Inspector Gadget, but it might help me to like him a little.
On the subject of cats, has Esther read the Batman:Black and White story where Batman deals with a guy who’s just thrown his son’s cat off of a roof?
Anyone ever read any of Paul Cornell’s British comics? I know he wrote Pan-African Judges for the Judge Dredd Megazine, but I’m pretty unfamiliar with his work for the most part.
If Lobo hadn’t pulled his punch and Hal Jordan’s head had a’sploded I’d totally start buying Green Lantern in thanks. Also I agree with always naming him Ruffles instead of Dex-Star…
I always liked the villain groups that are pale reflections of specific heroes’ issues:
1. Superman’s villains are always weird variations on his absentee father. Jor-el. Lex Luthor is the smartest scientist in the world who could easily be a stand in for Jor-el on Earth, if he wasn’t so corrupt. Braniac is a stand in for Jor-el’s obsession with “saving” the world with a scientific eye. Mr. Myx is physically like an older man who has “science that looks like magic.” The best Superman villains are the ones remind him of his father because he can never save his father.
2. Batman’s best villains are always reflections of what Batman could have been. Batman could have been Ra’s al Ghul in his methods, but he never wanted to be that cruel or horrible to others. Joker is another person who had “one bad day” and went crazy for it. Two-Face is another person who Bruce could have been if he wasn’t cared for by Alfred. The best Batman villains are obsessed with making order out of chaotic circumstances, and Batman’s struggle is always one about what he can control and what he can’t control.
3. Spiderman’s best villains are the ones that never understood the “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.” All of Spiderman’s villains have taken power without being responsible for others. These are greedy men who take on their outfits to fight Spiderman. They could do so many things with their powers, but they choose to take responsibility for their actions.
4. Flash’s best villains are criminals who happen to have powers. You can’t have a “misguided” Flash villain or a “crazy” Flash villain with any staying power. The best Flash villains are powered thugs and criminals who want to do it for the money. If Flash is the ultimate CSI scientist, you need someone who spits upon both his intellectual aspirations (that’s why they’re thugs) and his morality (hence the “criminals”).
@versasovantare: I *did* see that one, and I know that the whole take-away moral was that more violence and anger doesn’t help – you just have to feel sad and try to love the things around you, but still. I wanted Batman to drop that guy.
I felt better knowing that actually, the cat would have had a very good chance of surviving that fall, since once you get up over 5 stories cats fall well enough to survive almost any drop. Yet another reason they’re better than dogs, David.
@Esther Inglis-Arkell: Dogs are too smart to be fooling around on roofs to begin with, much less allowing someone to toss them off them.
Dogs: Sensible.
@david brothers: Don’t start something you can’t finish.