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 Human Torch and Batgirl

 

Sometimes there was a cover on the racks that had so much going on that it practically dared you to try an resist picking it up.  Needless to say I had to at least flip through.  The above scenario is just the kind of image that would have had me hooked.

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: 

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.

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.

Batman and Sleepwalker

 

Sleepwalker was one of those heroes that emerged in the early 90's, during the huge comics speculation boom that resulted in tons of new titles, characters and even entire comics companies appearing regularly.  There was just no way to try everything out and his title was one that I never got around to checking out.  Are there any fans of the series here?  Did it make an impact on you?

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.

The Prowler Joins The Secret Society of Super-Villains

The Prowler was teased with the appearance of Donald Glover as his alter ego Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming.  He was seen to be trying to purchase high tech equipment, so the seeds have been set for a full costumed appearance in the future.  A deleted scene had him mentioning his nephew Miles, so perhaps he will be back in an Ultimate Spider-Man movie down the line instead.

Doctor Syn, Alias The Scarecrow Vs. The Scarecrow

I had gotten a couple of requests to feature the Dr. Syn Scarecrow on the blog over the years, but I couldn't find many images and nothing ever really came together. When Jeff O'Hare recently made the request, I decided to to try once again.  Jeff is a Patron of this blog, which means that his suggestions will get special consideration, so I was happy to give it another crack.

Another reason it took me so long to do a Doctor Syn cover is that I have never seen the Patrick McGoohan film that he comes from - it's tough to do covers when I know very little about the subjects.  Still, I was intrigued with what I read on him, and I tried to find a copy of the movie on Netflix, to no avail.  I'll have to make a point of watching it one of these days.

This isn't the first time Jonathan Crane has encountered another Scarecrow...

The Scarecrow and The Scarecrow

It's not really a surprise that there's more than one villain to use the scarecrow motif.  They have always been creepy structures and the concept of fear fits right in with an evil agenda.  Plus, since they have the ability to affect the minds and perceptions of others, they are characters that really allow the artists to get visually creative, whether it be in a comic book, animation or live action.  You just know these two would take Batman and Cap through some twisted dreamscapes before they eventually got the stuffing beat out of them.