A symmetry of villainy, part 4...

Over the past few entries of this series I talked about building rivals by using symmetry, and asymmetry. I wrote this series because Kabam had announced that the Leader would be introduced in their mobile game Marvel Contest of Champions. It got me thinking about all of the Hulk's rivals, and what made the Leader unique among them. I wanted to highlight these things in order to help new creators figure out how to build a great opponent. Yet with a character as overpowered as Superman from DC Comics, or the Hulk from Marvel comics how would one build a worthy rival? You could introduce a character so physically impossible to beat that they could kill the hero. It was a sometimes cheap trick that writers would use to make the threat seem unstoppable. See the genetically-altered Kryptonian weapon Doomsday for example.

This type of character might generate a lot of interest, sell a ton of comics, but in the long run they would feel one-dimensional. Their gimmick would get boring. They would become relegated to secondary foes in later stories while a human like Lex Luthor offered a greater ongoing threat. Many people thought of the Hulk in a similar regard to Doomsday. He was absurdly powerful, adapted in battle, and could solve all his problems with his fists. Yet those people missed the nuance that the character provided. The Hulk was an allegory for war, nothing good came from fighting him. The green monster just wanted to be left alone. Doomsday was a weapon of mass destruction, by comparison the Hulk was a force of nature. Their appearance could wipe entire cities off the map, and nothing could stop them. The difference between the two was that Doomsday made the choice to destroy. Whereas the Hulk was pushed into it. Doomsday could adapt, his bones would become denser, his teeth sharper, he would secrete poison, but nowhere in his canon did he ever become exponentially stronger. He did have a limit, and Superman could find it. The Hulk could not be beaten if the opponent used only force. That's not to say he had never been beaten in physical combat.

In fact a calm Hulk was weaker than the Juggernaut, and Abomination by a wide margin. To make up for this the Hulk had a healing factor much greater than Wolverine. Not only that but he never tired, he grew stronger with every passing second, he could eventually superpass the Juggernaut, and Abomination in a battle. If he continued fighting he would eventually rival cosmic-level threats. The best way to stop the Hulk was by never starting a fight. The Marvel editors considered him the "Nuclear Option." When they built a story that involved the entire universe they needed to figure out how to get Banner, and the Hulk out of the picture. For example during the events of the Civil War arc they literally sent the Hulk into space to have his own adventure. The editors knew that would have sided with Captain America, as he didn't get along with Iron Man. Also because the Hulk was against the type of authoritarian pushes that Tony Stark was supporting. The Marvel Universe would eventually have to deal with an angry Hulk upon his return home. But that would be saved for future arcs. 

Marvel realized the Hulk could serve as both a villain, or a hero depending on the situation. So how was it possible to create a worthy rival for someone as absurdly powerful during normal character arcs? That's where asymmetric design would come in handy. The plans of the Leader, and his many inventions were not the only things that made him a menace. His level of psychic ability put him on a level that was rare, even in the Marvel U. As I stated earlier in this series, the Hulk was able to single-handedly defeat opponents that gave entire teams like the X-Men, and the Avengers trouble. That meant that the opponents he faced would have to be leagues above most super powered characters. Charles Xavier “Professor X,” the leader of the X-Men was considered the most powerful psychic in the Marvel U, yet he had been bested many times while trying to invade the mind of Banner. Erik Lehnsherr "Magneto" was also one of the most powerful mutants on Earth. During the House of M storyline mutants controlled most of the world, and oppressed humans. The Hulk took over the Australia, and made it a safe haven for humanity. Magneto wanted dominion over the continent, but the Hulk threatened him to stay out. Magneto realized he could not stop the Hulk if they went to war. 

The closest the duo ever came to crushing the Marvel Universe was when their powers were combined, and a new villain named Onslaught was born. This character was so overpowered that the X-Men, and the Avengers couldn't stop him. They realized that the Hulk was their best chance. Yet during this time Bruce Banner, and the Hulk had found a sort of balance. They were at peace with each other, and in sharing a body, and soul. In order for the Hulk to become strong enough to face Onslaught they came to the realization that the personalities of Banner, and the Hulk had to become separated once more. If they did this then he might never be whole again. With the help of Jean Grey aka Marvel Girl the Hulk once again was reverted to a ball of rage. He was unleashed, and was quickly overpowered by the new villain. As anyone with a passing knowledge of the Hulk knows that the angrier he gets the stronger he gets. Onslaught made him absolutely furious. The Hulk eventually cracked Onslaught's armor, giving a chance for the teams to defeat him. Something that was glossed over in many retellings of the saga was that Banner had also defeated Onslaught when he invaded his subconscious. Essentially he beat him twice when no one else could. 

The victory against the monster was bittersweet. All the progress the Hulk had made, the goodwill he earned, and all the alliances he had built would be reset. It was the tragedy of Bruce Banner. For a moment he would be considered a hero. He stopped an enemy that the combined forces of the Marvel U could not. Once the dust settled both the X-Men, and the Avengers would eventually turn against him. Every other Marvel hero was rewarded for their powers. Bruce Banner was punished for his. This type of storytelling made for a very complex, and sympathetic character. That was why I would compare the Hulk comics to Mob Psycho 100, rather than One Punch-Man. Yes it was awesome when the Hulk could punch his way out of a problem, but the heart of the story was in literally warning the bad guy that they did not want to make Banner angry. Seeing the villains suffer the consequences was a reward, but the fallout would also set Banner back. Shigeo Kageyama aka Mob had a comparable dynamic. He wanted to get through school, and catch the eye of Emi, a girl he had a crush on. At the same time he knew his psychic abilities were powerful, and tried to keep his emotions in check so his powers would not explode. Unfortunately the pressures of growing up, and having rivals seek him out always ended with him losing control. These events would take a toll on his physical, and mental health. 

Mob Psycho 100 was essentially a retelling of the Bruce Banner mythos, but in Middle School instead of an Army Base. A cavalcade of villains with all sorts of different psychic abilities assumed that they could defeat the child. Each were humbled when Mob revealed the monster he had been suppressing. Even the final villain Toichiro Suzuki aka the Demon would find out that he shouldn't have bullied the kid. Mr. Suzuki believed that his power meant that he should rule the world. He was what Mob would have become if he didn't have a loving family, and mentors to help guide him. ONE managed to write a story that had Mob essentially doing battle with an older, and much more evil version of himself. It was similar to how Peter David managed to have the Hulk, and Maestro fight in the Future Imperfect arc. ONE wrapped up his series very well, so that he did not end up retreading the same ground like Marvel comics. If the Leader was not an evil version of the Hulk, then why was he such a great villain? How could a skinny guy with a big head be a problem for the Green Goliath? We will look at that in the next, and final entry of this series. Were you a fan of any of the aforementioned rivalries? Tell me about it on the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

A symmetry of villainy, part 3…

When I started this series I mentioned that the Incredible Hulk’s greatest villain was returning. It caused me to start talking about my theory on rival design. For people new to character design I advised if they were stuck on creating villain then they should try making an evil mirror version of the hero. For example the Abomination was the evil counterpart to the Hulk, the Bizarro was the same for Superman. These types of enemies worked well all throughout pop culture. I also mentioned that the most interesting rivals had asymmetrical designs. They did not have a similar group of skills or abilities as the protagonist. Even opponents that were physically inferior could be considered the most dangerous of rivals. Lex Luthor was a regular human compared to the Kryptonian Superman, yet for over 80 years he was considered the greatest opponent.

For the Hulk I mentioned that General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross was similar to Lex Luthor. Introduced in the first issue of the Hulk way back in 1962 he was a military leader that managed to be very problematic for the most powerful monster in the Marvel U. Then I talked about how not every author understood the characters that they were assigned, and ended up changing them to fit their own narrative. Jeph Loeb was a writer that gave Ross powers, and turned him into the Red Hulk in 2008, forever changing their dynamic in Marvel continuity. He then went on to give his daughter a gag comic where she added a Blue Hulk as well. I thought it was a bad idea then, and still think so to this day. If I were to give all the flowers to a writer that went in blind, and managed to continue building the legend of the Hulk then I would go with Peter David. Mr. David had written all sort of stories, and characters over the years. When he was hired at Marvel his dream was to write the Spider-Man books. He said he would have been happy with any book he was given, as long as it wasn’t the Hulk.

He thought that character had no dimension, and nothing interesting about him. Yet that was exactly the book he was told to write for in the late 1980’s. He didn’t complain or change the character to fit his preconceived notions. Instead he rolled up his sleeves, and studied every previous story in order to figure out the dynamics of he hero, his allies, and opponents. Once he understood the appeal Mr. David created several fantastic arcs for the character. He revisited old rivalries, introduced new friends, and conjured up amazing villains as well. He worked with a penciler named Todd McFarlane, and helped develop the Gray Hulk, or Mr. Fixit persona. McFarlane presented a version of the Hulk that was as wide, as he was tall, a literal walking tank. A few years later he would find popularity on the Amazing Spider-Man. Then he left as a co-founder of Image comics, and created Spawn. Little did we know that an even better Hulk artist would turn up not long after.

David worked with the brilliant Australian penciler Dale Keown (creator of the Pitt), and the duo helped make the Gray, and Green Hulk appealing to new fans. At the same time they never insulted the continuity for older readers. One of Mr. David’s greatest contributions was introducing the Maestro. The stories with the Abomination, the Juggernaut, and other heavy-hitters were amazing, but he wanted the Hulk to have a rival that was his superior in every way. An older, wiser, and stronger version of the Hulk from the distant future was what he came up with. After all, the only monster that actually stood a chance against the Hulk was… himself. The first appearance of this character was in the 1992 series called Future Imperfect (which was pencilled by George Perez). It was such a hit that the Maestro became an important part of canon, appearing in comics, but also animation, and video games for over 30 years.

The Maestro was a brilliant design, however I would not consider him to be the Hulk’s greatest rival. Nor would I think of Thunderbolt Ross (in any form) as his greatest opponent. I would reserve that honor to the Leader. The Leader, also known as Samuel Sterns, first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62, way back in December 1964. He was a simple-minded janitor that was exposed to gamma rays during a work accident. He opened a drum of toxic waste because he thought it might have something that he could steal. Instead of dying from radiation poisoning he mutated. He turned into a genius rivaling the most brilliant minds in the Marvel Universe. His skin turned green similar to the Hulk, and other gamma-powered characters. His skull also grew to grotesque proportions. He developed awesome mental powers, including telekinesis, and mind control, on top of his inventing proficiency.

Most Hulk fans, myself included believe that the Leader was actually a chance to reboot the Hulk’s original mutated opponent. In the first issue of the Incredible Hulk from May 1962 there was a Russian spy that was transformed when he tried to recreate the conditions that changed Banner. Instead of growing massively powerful the scientist turned into a twisted version of his former self, with an enormous skull. The first Gargoyle, Yuri Topolov, was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. A few years later the Leader was created by Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko. This formula of mutating spies for the Hulk to battle even applied to the Abomination, previously known as Emil Blonsky. The different looks, and powers of each character was explained as a psycho-physical manifestation of gamma mutation. Their subconscious self actually determined how they would appear to the world. Emil was an abusive husband, and a cruel manipulator. Of all the enemies he was the one that was truly a monster on the inside, and out. That was why he looked like a nightmarish beast when he transformed. The Leader was aware that people thought Sam Sterns was a dummy, but subconsciously he wanted to make everyone feel dumb. Thus he gained a massive brain. Yuri was already intelligent, but thought himself superior to his western rivals. His conceited nature was as ugly as the Gargoyle.

The Gargoyle would be used less, and less as the years went on. His most notable contribution to pop culture happened decades after his debut. In the Incredible Hulk animated series from 1996 he was voiced by Mark Hamill. Hamill was famous for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, but for an entire generation his voice work was even better known. Hamill gained a massive following in cartoon circles when he started voicing the Joker for the Batman Animated Series in 1992. In the cartoons the Gargoyle was a subordinate to the Leader, voiced by character actor Matt Frewer. He first gained fame by playing the digital character Max Headroom. The Hulk animated series melded classic plots from the early era of the comics, plus newer designs that had been featured during the Peter David run. It managed to present the lore of the comics fairly well, and explained how the gamma mutations worked to newer fans. It summed up the obsession that the Leader had with the Hulk. He felt superior to Banner in every regard, except for his body, which lacked the strength, and resilience of the Hulk. He felt that he needed to possess the body in order to prove he was the ultimate being.

Like most comic book characters the Leader, and Gargoyle underwent some design changes over the years. Early on the Gargoyle had a large deformed head, with a relatively proportional human body. His frame became diminished, and twisted in later versions. His features made grotesque, and impish. The version featured in the animated series more or less defined his modern appearance. The Leader was traditionally seen with a long vertical head, and average build. In canon his body was covered in sores, and he wore a special uniform to allow him to function without pain. He was upset with his frail body, and expected that the perfect mind should be supported by a powerful physique. His look evolved early in the Peter David run. I believe it was Todd McFarlane (before Spider-Man, and Spawn fame) that gave him a new look. He figured that if his brain were to expand then it should have two massive hemispheres, rather than grow straight up. It made sense to me, although many fans were split on the new look. The comics even referred to him as “Jiffy Pop” head, after the popular way to make popcorn before microwavable bags.

Different iterations of the Leader would appear in comics, and animation. Sometimes the designers would strike a middle ground between the classic look, and the Jiffy Pop form. The Ultimates version of the Marvel U, a sort of retelling of the classic characters in a more contemporary setting influenced the presentation of the live action movies. In that continuity the Leader was a British Special Forces officer named Peter Wisdom. He experimented on himself to save his program, and also in an attempt to become a super soldier. He did gain mind control powers, and telekinesis, but also ended up wheelchair bound. His brain was so big that his neck couldn’t support it. He required a brace in order to keep his head upright. This macabre look was incorporated into some of the latter designs of the traditional Marvel comics. The Leader had a mind literally big enough to figure out every way to take on the Hulk, and have backup plan, after backup plan that even Thunderbolt Ross couldn’t even contemplate.

Tony Stark invented power armor light years ahead of anything else on Earth. Yet his biggest rival dressed in robes, and used 10 magic rings that science could not explain. The Mandarin’s powers came from the time of mysticism, and superstition, millennia before science had cracked the atom. The Mandarin was determined to rule the world, and in order to do so he had to destroy Stark, and his precious technology. The Hulk on the other hand could beat any conventional weapon, or other form of technology by sheer force. He had fought Iron Man on numerous occasions. Each time the monster took apart Iron Man like a tin can, including the fabled “Hulkbuster” armor. The Leader made sense in the tradition of great Marvel villains. He was so unlike the Hulk in every way that he was destined to be the ultimate rival. He was able to defy the Hulk by using powers that Banner did not possess. It was his awesome mental abilities, and not brute strength that would challenge Banner, and the Hulk. 

The Leader was another example of the asymmetric enemies that I previously discussed. Despite his frail appearance the Leader was actually a dangerous character. He didn’t even need to know how to throw a punch. His ability to use mind control on individual, and even groups of people was scary enough. If he was mortally wounded he seemed to have the ability to resurrect himself as well. He was a relentless villain that could hunt the Hulk with more vigor than even Thunderbolt Ross. There was a certain logic to his design that made sense in the context of the Marvel universe. I will talk about that in the next blog. Until then I want to know if you have a favorite Hulk villain, or any villain in general. Tell me about it on the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

A symmetry of villainy, part 2…

In the previous entry of this series I talked about some of my favorite comic book rivalries. I noted that some villains were evil mirror versions of the heroes, like the Abomination was to the Hulk, the Reverse Flash was to the Flash, or Bizarro was to Superman. That type of design worked well in many stories, and was a tool that young authors could use when fleshing out the antagonists for their own stories. I also mentioned that many of the greatest rivals were asymmetric in look, and ability. Such as the Joker to Batman, Doctor Doom to the Fantastic Four, or the Mandarin to Iron Man. I argued that these were the most interesting types of rivals. Creators that understood the format were able to build worlds that appealed to many readers throughout the years. Award-winning writers understood that the best characters represented something greater than themselves. For example the Hulk was a stand-in for rage, Superman stood for hope, and the Joker for chaos. When done well we could use that understanding across genres. I believed that the best storytellers could use those archetypes in entirely different languages. I have said that the best Superman arc, and best Hulk story of the past decade were featured in the works of the Japanese creator known as ONE.

One Punch-Man was every bit a spoof as it was a love letter to the super hero genre. The main character was overpowered, not unlike Superman. The heart of the story was how the supporting characters would deal with world-ending threats before Superman, err, rather Saitama could deliver one of his trademark punches. This was essentially the same dynamic of the Justice League holding off a colossal enemy until Superman could show up. You would think that having a character that could defeat any opponent with a single punch would become boring after the first issue, but ONE managed to build a lot of tension by investing us in the street-level heroes. By comparison Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama wanted nothing more than to catch the eye of a girl he was crushing on, all while dealing with latent psychic powers. The heart of the Mob Psycho 100 story was how people would try to manipulate him, or exploit his powers. It was a cautionary tale dealing with bullying, self image, loss of control, and much more. Nothing could contain Mob when he was pushed to the breaking point. Similar to how Bruce Banner did his best to avoid conflict in the pages of the Marvel comics. When the Hulk was unleashed even the strongest villains found out that he was impossible to stop,. The Hulk had his own Lex Luthor, a human antagonist rather than a super-powered villain that functioned as a great rival for over 45 years.

General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross hounded the Banner, and the Hulk. His crusade against the Green Goliath took him, and his battalions all over the world. He was a complex character, and doubly important because he was the father of Elizabeth “Betty” Ross, the love interest, and future wife of Dr. Bruce Banner. It had been argued that the Hulk was an allegory for war. General Ross represented the military industrial complex, the duo had a destructive relationship. He assumed that any problem could be solved if enough bombs were dropped on it. The opposite was true in the stories. It was impossible to beat the Hulk through perpetual escalation. The billions the government spent on military equipment did nothing but annoy the Jade Giant. He would only become stronger, cause more destruction, and collateral damage the further he was pursued. Thunderbolt’s single-minded obsession was comparable to Captain Ahab from the story Moby Dick. His mania would only lead to the estrangement from his daughter, a mental breakdown, and his eventual downfall. As for the Hulk, it turned out that peace, or rather leaving him alone was the best way to get him to revert to back into Banner.

This dynamic was critically important for the development of the series. Not every villain that the Hulk faced had to be a gamma-powered monster. His toughest battles were fought with his own human family members. At least this was the dynamic explored by all the great series writers except for one person. Jeph Loeb had written for films, television, and comic books for years. In an interview he mentioned that he had a wishlist of things he had always wanted to do in a comic book, and was looking for a character to apply it to. He wanted to see the Hulk stop holding back, to cut loose on the Marvel U, and see what he was really capable of. These included fourth wall breaks ala Deadpool. Things like punching the Watcher, beating up Thor with his own hammer, stealing the Silver Surfer’s board, etc. He knew that it wouldn’t work for the character that fans were already familiar with, so his idea was to assassinate the Abomination, and replace him with an even more powerful rival called the Red Hulk. This would allow him to check off the things on his wishlist without breaking the character that audiences were familiar with. After several issues it was revealed that the Red Hulk was actually General Ross. The editors at Marvel were on board, and the character became a part of continuity in 2008. To fans like myself if demonstrated a misunderstanding of Ross, and the dynamic of the Hulk comics up until that point.

First off the idea of General Ross as the Hulk was explored in a What If? comic from 2004. In it he was gray, and not red. The important part of the story was that Ross saved Rick Jones during the gamma bomb field test, and received the gamma rays that transformed him into the Hulk instead of Banner. During his initial rampage he accidentally killed Betty. When he realized his mistake he transformed back into his human form. A distraught Banner snuck up behind him, and shot him in the head. Thus concluding the story. It made little to no sense for Loeb to add yet another strong guy into the Hulk books. There archetypes were already established through decades of adventures. In addition to the Abomination there were heavy hitters like the Absorbing Man, the Juggernaut, and the Wendigo. In fact when it came to parallel, or rather symmetrical villains there were two that had also been established previously. Professor Geoffrey Crawford was one of Banner’s university instructors. In an attempt to cure a terminal disease he ended up turning himself into Ravage. Yet unlike the Hulk he retained the intelligence of the nuclear scientist. Then there was a version of the Hulk from the far off future in which Banner’s personality had long since deteriorated, and all that was left was a tyrant known as the Maestro. Either one of these villains were overpowered compared to the rest of the Marvel universe. They could have potentially carried off Loeb’s wishlist. Yet I had a feeling that Jeph did not really understand how the powers worked in the Hulk books, how the psychology of the characters affected their mutations, or the roles of long-established foes. 

I would argue that Jeph Loeb didn't really understand the heroes or villains from the Hulk books. He instead wanted to rewrite the cast to fit his own interpretation. In doing so it would cause a domino effect that would also turn Betty Ross into a Red She-Hulk, and make the Hulk have a couple of illegitimate offspring. It was the same misunderstanding of the characters that would lead writers to break up Peter Parker, and Mary Jane, and turn Spider-Man into a long suffering hero. This ended up disappointing a large number of fans. While there were many people that liked the Red Hulk, the role of General Ross was completely missed by Loeb, and his successors. I want you to think about it for a moment. Would this type of villain evolution work for the strongest characters in any other book? What if a writer that didn't understand the dynamics of Superman decided to give Lex Luthor all sorts of powers? What if this writer then started calling his creation Alpha Superman? How would fans react to this sudden change? Once the genie was out of the bottle Luthor would never go back to being a mere mortal. It didn't make much sense in this context. It certainly wouldn't have made for a more interesting villain. In fact I think the opposite happened with General Ross.

For almost a century comic book writers had to challenge themselves to create an engaging story. A story where normal humans posed legitimate threats to the most powerful heroes in their respective universes. These writers had to build the tension, and maintain the voices that readers were used to. They had to plot out story arcs that would keep audiences hooked month after month. A well written villain could be used over, and over without feeling tired or broken. New villains were sometimes given a gimmick that flew in the face of established history. This was just so writers that didn't understand the books could have a couple of cool moments pop up. This was what I think Jeph Loeb did with the Red Hulk. General Ross represented much more than a domineering father, or dogmatic soldier. War was all he understood. The concept of peace was foreign to him. He could not bear to let Banner and Betty enjoy their life together. His obsession with control, with Banner, and the Hulk was an illness. He was willing to sacrifice his own men in his pursuit. This made him the actual monster in the stories. A person like Ross would be diagnosed with Ahab Syndrome, an actual condition where a person was consumed with revenge.

The introduction of the Red Hulk showed that Jeph Loeb completely misunderstood the dynamics of the Hulk. Mr. Loeb decided to rewrite the story of Moby Dick. In his version Captain Ahab would mysteriously get absurd powers. In fact the captain would beat up the whale at the start of the book, and then audiences would watch him go around the ocean beating up other sea monsters. The end of this story would somehow remain the same. The whale would take his revenge, and dispatch Ahab without much fanfare. Mr. Loeb ignored all the established heavy-hitters, and used the most basic type of symmetry to create the type of dumb strong guy that people assumed the Hulk was. The two Hulks would have a few fights, but they lacked the gravity of the battles against the Abomination, or Maestro. Audiences did not fear for the Hulk when this new monster popped up. In fact the Red Hulk would stop being used as a villain altogether. He would end up leading the government sponsored Thunderbolts on missions. You could imagine how absurd it would be if a symmetrical rival like the Reverse Flash, or Doomsday lead the Justice League after their debut. The Red Hulk was just another antihero added into a universe that had become saturated with cynical voices. Mr. Loeb did not create a rival that would withstand the test of time. 

In my opinion Jeph Loeb did a disservice to the character, and continuity of the Hulk. Mr. Loeb lacked the nuance, and understanding that a creator like ONE had when it came to writing for overpowered heroes. The Marvel books would never be the same because of this. There were many rivalries that still meant something in the comics. I will talk about whom I consider to be the Hulk’s greatest rival in the next entry. Until then I want to read your take. Tell me about it on the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

A symmetry of villainy, part 1...

Hello friends, I hope you are doing well. Today I want to talk about great comic book rivalries. How they are put together, and what I think makes the best ones work. This topic was actually inspired by the return of one of my favorite Incredible Hulk villains. I’ll talk about who that is in a moment. Right now I want to focus on my theory of great rival design. It is a sort of follow-up to a blog I wrote ages ago regarding The Frightful Symmetry of Street Fighter. I argued that all great fighting game designs worked because there was a lot of symmetry in the development of their cast. In the early days of fighting games the main characters had a rival or balance. They were often presented as the Asian versus Western master of the fighting arts. Think of Ken, and Ryu from Street Fighter, or Paul, and Kazuya from Tekken. Then later on the library was expanded to make female counterparts to lead characters. I talked about this on The Legend of Blue Mary. If you were a budding comic book, video game, or storyteller then you might find it hard to come up with a great recurring villain. The easiest way to approach this was by creating an opponent that was a mirror rival to the hero. For example long-time comic book fans might argue that The Abomination was the greatest enemy of the Incredible Hulk. They might be right.

The Abomination was a gamma-irradiated villain that was bigger, and stronger than the Hulk. He was also intelligent, sadistic, and cruel. Whereas the Hulk was filled with a blinding rage, he was still a moral character that just wanted to be left alone. When they battled the Earth literally trembled. There were few forces in the Marvel Universe that could come between them, let alone try to stop them. Unless you had read a lot of comic books then you might not realize how the power scale worked between different comic books. The villains on a street level hero / anti-hero like the Daredevil, or the Punisher, were nowhere near as dangerous as the villains the Hulk comics. The Hulk had single-handedly taken on characters that the entire X-Men, or Avengers rosters were unable to stop. When the Hulk, and Abomination fought it was the western equivalent of a daikaiju battle, like Godzilla vs King Ghidorah. The best course of action was to evacuate the nearest city, and let them fight. Good or evil would triumph, and the survivors would have to deal with the fallout. The Hulk, and Abomination were an example of symmetrical design. Think about your favorite comic book rivalries, and try to recall how many were symmetrical in nature.

My favorite DC hero was the Flash, it was debatable if I liked Barry Allen, or Wally West as the Flash more. Their greatest rival was also symmetrical in nature. The Reverse Flash was among the most dangerous opponents in all of DC canon. Eobard Thawne hailed from the far future. He had made it his mission to travel through time, and destroy the life, and legacy of the Flash. In several continuities he had succeeded in this, wiping out the Flash, and all of his allies. Having a compulsion to destroy entire generations of characters was a scary thought. Knowing that few in the DC universe could stop the Reverse Flash including Batman or Superman, made having the Flash there to protect the universe essential. For comic books, and most pop culture storytelling making a rival be a perfect balance just made sense. However I would argue that the most interesting rivalries were when the opponents were not perfectly balanced. Let’s talk about asymmetrical rivals.

Superman was arguably the most popular hero in DC, if not all of comics history. When he debuted in 1938 he fought mostly low level villains. The gangsters, and petty criminals that most people saw in media. Through the years different creators starting making villains more unique, and powered as well. Once the atomic bomb had been used in WWII the power scaling in comic books jumped exponentially. This was especially true for Superman, and lead to the creation of the Incredible Hulk. One of Superman’s greatest opponents was a freakish mirror version with all the same powers known as Bizarro. While Bizarro had many memorable encounters with the Man of Steel there was one villain who was a perpetual thorn in his side. Lex Luthor was seen by most as his greatest rival. He was intelligent, rich, and calculating. Using his money, and influence to gain as much power as possible he was aware that Superman was the only person that could stop his ambitions. Despite not having any super powers he had brought Superman to brink of death time, and time again. Although Bizarro was a great opponent, it turned out that Luthor was the one that gave Superman the most trouble.

Batman was similar to Superman in that they fought opponents with comparable abilities. Whether it was strength, and martial prowess (like Bane), intelligence (like the Riddler), or fear (the Scarecrow) then Batman had an opponent that could challenge his individual abilities. It was a literal wild card that gave Batman the most trouble. The Joker was pure chaos. He was unpredictable, and nothing the Batman did could prepare him for the next encounter. The Joker did not have the fighting ability of the Batman, nor the ability to calculate his next move. He would often surprise himself with his random schemes, and thus ensure that Batman would be caught off guard as well. This type of character design, the ability to fill a world with both symmetrical, and asymmetrical opponents was critical to pop culture. It made the best comic book, tv, movie, and video game battles work. I would argue that with a few exceptions it was the asymmetrical foes that were the most important for the hero to overcome. This lesson was especially true in team settings. 

Think about the greatest evil organizations in comic book history. DC had the Legion of Doom which was created to battle the Justice League. The evil organizations were made up of rivals with symmetrical powers to the heroes. This type of design was also featured in a number of Marvel books. The X-Men fought the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Morlocks, and the Reavers to name just a few. They were often composed of opponents that had asymmetrical designs as the heroes, but similar powers. This sort of balance went for a few other teams in the Marvel Universe as well. Most people were familiar with the Fantastic Four, but unless you were familiar with the comics you might have never heard of the U-Foes. This team recreated the same space flight that gave the Fantastic Four their powers through cosmic radiation. They even had brother and sister; Jimmy, and Ann Darnell. The duo of X-Ray, and Vapor mirrored Sue, and Johnny Storm. The respective Invisible Girl, and Human Torch. Yet again, unless you were a long time comic book fan then you might have never heard of these villains. By the same token if you were to poll casual fans, and comic book fans as to who was the greatest enemy of the Fantastic Four were they would often point to Doctor Doom.

Victor Von Doom was an individual gifted with absurd levels intelligence, a creative mind, and an affinity for the magical arts. He combined the sciences, with the dark magics, and made for one of the most powerful villains in all of Marvel history. It was his unique blend of magic, and technology that allowed him to counter anything the Richards family could throw at him. It was this sort of asymmetrical design that made him a standout character, and able to be placed in a story that would work across the spectrum of Marvel heroes, and villains. He could one day be fighting against Dr. Strange, and the next be teaming up with him in order to save the Earth from a demonic invasion. The complexity of his design, and absolute resolve in his purpose allowed writers to put him in stories that were as fascinating for the villain, as they were for the hero. The creators at Marvel understood that the most memorable villains had nothing in common with the heroes.

I was lucky enough to have brothers that also read comic books, and we collected titles across the spectrum. We were well versed in the happenings all over the Marvel universe, and the DC universe to a lesser extent. One of the most fascinating rivalries was that of Iron Man. He was possibly my little brother’s favorite Marvel hero, next to Dr. Strange. While Iron Man did fight other armored warriors like Titanium Man, the Iron Monger, and the Crimson Dynamo none were as big a nemesis as the Mandarin. The magic rings that the Mandarin wore allowed him to fight Iron Man on a physical level, but also Tony Stark on a psychological level. People that were only familiar with the characters thanks to the Marvel live action films had no idea how many amazing battles the duo had. As the years went on I realized that being able to create asymmetrical rivals meant a lot to the longevity of a title. It also made me realize that when new creators were placed on a book they did not always understand the characters that they were writing for. I will talk about this more on the next blog. For now I would like to know if there were any great rivalries that you enjoyed. Whether in a movie, game, or comic book. I’d like to hear about it on the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!