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the cover of NEW AVENGERS #33 by LEINIL FRANCIS YU, also available in NEW AVENGERS VOL. 7: THE TRUST PREMIERE paperback |
Here at the Flipside we focus on the villains. Most of the time, that means drawing a new costume for a villain or two, thinking up some interesting Super-Villain Team-Ups, categorizing villains by their arch-nemeses, and so on. The fun for me is that, when I get to do this, I get to consider the kinds of stories that would naturally come from any given villain. Which, actually, makes this website aptly named, as I think that process is actually a "flipped" way of thinking.
Let me explain.
I think most authors think about the what kinds of stories they want to tell about their HERO, and then find a villain to plug into them. So if I come at it from the villain's side first, the process is flipped the wrong-way around, right? Don't get me wrong, I like to think that we would come to the same conclusions-- the kinds of stories coming from the High Evolutionary are ones of, duh, evolution but also of the nature of man/inherent divinity. The kinds of stories coming from Thor are also about the nature of man/inherent divinity. So it's natural that the High Evolutionary ends up as a Thor villain. (Or he used to, anyway.)
A problem might occur, however, when an author thinks about the kinds of stories he wants to tell, but doesn't find a villain (or the 'right' villain) to plug into it. I mean, the story is about the *hero* after all, so the villain doesn't *really* matter, right? The villain could be interchangeable, or just be a placeholder for any generic kind of quote-unquote villainy that a hero must face. Maybe we can call it The Wrecking Crew Syndrome, as more often than not, the Wrecking Crew just stand in for a generic kind of brute villain rather than also being able to serve, let's say, as a thematic symbol of destruction/ construction or as a dramatic foil against the hero as one-who-preserves.
Think about the best Batman villains. Their longevity and popularity isn't just because of the plot they happen to be in at any given story; it's because their thematic gimmick helps fuel the stories at the same time. Two-Face highlights Batman's dual nature even as they fight atop the Second National Bank.
Think about it: isn't a hero memorable for the kinds of villain he faces? Name any resonant story, and chances are it was so pivotal precisely because the villains were so memorable. The Avengers' Mansion Siege, Gwen Stacy's death at the hands of the Green Goblin, Kraven's last hunt, Dr. Doom's Unthinkable attack on the Fantastic Four... Contrast this to the Hood filling up his gang with a grip of D-List names for no reason other than to have a grip of D-List names. OK, great. So he enlisted Dr. Demonicus... now what? 'Cause if you can't answer the "now what," does it really matter?
With DARK REIGN currently dominating Marvel's publishing line, there's a huge potential for the villains to "run" the stories like never before. In some cases, this works, as Osborn's issues of fatherhood take center stage of Spider-Man's "American Son." So maybe there are some steps in the right direction here. Don't give us disposable, interchangeable villains! I think the stories will resonate that much more strongly if every villain contributes, contrasts, highlights, or otherwise enhances the themes and issues in any given story.
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