Hawkeye Vs. Batman's Villains

 

Who has the best rogues gallery?  I've seen the villains of Batman, Spider-Man and The Flash mentioned most often in this discussion.  Personally, I'd give Batman's foes the edge - they may not be as powerful as the others, but their personalities make for interesting stories.

The X-Men Vs. Batman's Villains

 

I feel that this would be an interesting series of match-ups, worthy of 100 pages.  Do you think the children of the atom have what it takes to defeat Gotham's most infamous foes? 

Here's a look at the full size versions of this issue's features: 

Batman and Daredevil in: "Birds of a Feather...!"

 

Batman and Daredevil have some history on the blog - they shared Golden Age adventures together in STF #1584 as well as on an early B&B Cover... and their first meeting was in even earlier MS Paint B&B meeting..., they were ambushed by the Owls in STF #1114... and DD was caught in the Bat-Signal in STF #1846. Batman has even met the original Golden Age Daredevil in STF #2252.

Sleepwalker Vs. Batman's Villains

 

The villains in Batman's rogues gallery have made for some true nightmare scenarios and visually stunning dream sequences.  It might be fun to put a hero in there that could face off with them in the dreamworld.

Moon Knight Vs. Batman's Villains

 

Looks like Moon Knight is moving in on Batman's territory once again.  He's had some history of that on the blog, like when he and the Dark Knight swapped places in STF #318, or when he tried to win the Batcave in STF #683.  He's also faced off against the Joker in STF #2021 ,Two-Face in STF #1901, and Man-Bat in STF #968.

Batman and Cool McCool

 

Thanks to Jeff O'Hare, a Patron of this Blog, for suggesting this meeting between Bob Kane creations.  Cool McCool didn't quite hit the heights of the Dark Knight Detective.  Perhaps if Kane had asked Bill Finger to flesh out the concept, things could have gone differently.

Ant-Man & The Wasp Vs. The Legion of Doom

I had seen superhero cartoons before, but nothing prepared me for Challenge of the Super-Friends.  Here not only did the Super-Friends expand their roster, but they also battled The Legion of Doom, an army of DC supervillains, in every hour long episode!  It may seem quaint now, but for 9 year old me it was like a summer blockbuster every Saturday.

Doctor Octopus Vs. The Penguin

 

When I first heard that there would be a series on HBO Max spinning out of The Batman and featuring Colin Farrel's Penguin, I kind of scratched my head.  The Penguin didn't seem like a character that warranted his own show and didn't we just already watch the villain's rise to power in Gotham?  Then I saw the movie, and was really taken by his performance.  I wanted more, and this series will certainly provide that - now I can't wait for it to come out.

Thor and The Legion of Doom

 

I really dug Jack Kirby's take on the villains of DC Comics.  He had a real knack for inhuman yet expressive faces and DC has no shortage of those.  I only wish I had seen more - it would have been cool to see him tackle Solomon Grundy, Sinestro or Two-Face.

The Penguin Vs. The Vulture

 

One of the things I am most interested to see in The Batman is Colin Farrel's performance as The Penguin.  He's unrecognizable under the make-up for the role and I've been intrigued with what he's been doing with the character in  the brief snippets we have been shown so far.  

I am always happy to use artwork by the amazing Norm Breyfogle, an artist gone way soo soon.  I was lucky enough to get a sketch by him back in the day:

Spider-Man and The Secret Society of Super-Villains

 

This is a story I could see working.   Spider-Man has often been unjustly tagged as a criminal, and it would be cool to see him use that status to go undercover in the underworld - sort of a reverse Thunderbolts set up.  I'm sure there's some real life comic book equivalent of this plot, but I can't recall one right now.

Citizen V and Batman's Villains

It will be interesting to see the evolution of Baron Zemo when Falcon and the Winter Soldier finally hits Disney+.  will the seeds be planted for his decision to create the identity of Citizen V and a team of Thunderbolts?  The villains disguised as heroes series was a favorite of mine and I would love to see that story line adapted for the MCU.

Secret Society of Super-Villains Vs. The Marvel Universe

OK, you see the match ups presented here - who wins this battle?  I think it would be pretty even (well maybe not Cap Vs. Penguin...) If I were on the Marvel side, I'd make sure to take out the worm first!  What say you?

Dick Tracy Vs. Batman's Villains

Well, the new Batman movie by Matt Reeves seems to finally be on the schedule and we should start hearing about casting for the new Dark Knight Detective soon.  No solid word on who the villains of the film will be yet.  I am still hoping for Professor Hugo Strange.  His Monster Men experiments could be a way to bring Killer Croc and Man-Bat into the mix.  Reeves has said that this movie will emphasize the detective aspects of Batman, so maybe some less fantastical adversaries like the Court of Owls are in store for us.

Tracy tangled with The Penguin once before, way back in my B&B: The Lost Issues days, and has also had run-ins with Catwoman and Harley Quinn...

Arnim Zola and The Penguin

If you told me a year ago that these two villains would each make memorable live action appearances I would not have believed it, and yet that has come to pass.  Arnim Zola's unexpected involvement in Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the highlight of the film for me, and that's saying a lot.  Robin Lord Taylor's performance as a young Penguin beginning his criminal empire on Gotham has been entertaining as well, and I look forward to seeing where he winds up by the end of the season.

Spider-Man Vs. Batman's Villains

Whenever I consider which hero has the greatest rogues gallery, it always comes down to three characters for me" The Flash, Spider-Man and Batman.  The Flash has a closely knit group of science based villains that are always interesting to see together or apart.  Steve Ditko and Stan Lee took inspiration from the animal world and elsewhere to create a group of visually fun bad guys.  I think I would give the edge to Batman though, with his line-up of psychologically demented freaks.  His list includes Two-Face and The Joker, two of my all time favorite antagonists... still, it's a close contest.

The event's of this story will lead into tomorrow's tale, so stay tuned!

Batman and Dick Tracy

I always thought that Batman and Dick Tracy had very similar rogues galleries, mostly made up of non-powered guys in suits who had some strange disfigurement or obsession. For that reason, I think they could make for an interesting pairing.

I am still annoyed at the Warren Beatty Dick Tracy film. Not only did Beatty's vanity keep him from looking anything like the main character, but they wasted the villains by using almost all of the main ones in the first film. What could have been a cool franchise was squandered away.

Maybe enough time has passed for another try. I would take a different approach, to distince itself from the earlier version. Maybe a TV series with a darker edge, slowly introducing his adversaries, one episode at a time.