Bucky's Favorite Marvel Super Villains

Yesterday I wrote about my favorite Marvel Super Heroes. Now it's time to write about my favorite Marvel Super Villains. Let's get started!

1. Doctor Doom (Victor Von Doom). Doc Doom has been my favorite Marvel villain for a long time. I love the fact that he never does the same thing twice. I've read about plenty of his exploits in titles like the Fantastic Four, Doom 2099, and the short-lived Super-Villain Team-Up, to name just a few. Writer/artist John Byrne's Fantastic Four #258 gave readers a bird's eye view of a day in the life of the Latverian monarch. He's impacted almost every character in the Marvel universe at some point, and I'm sure he'll continue to do so for many more decades.

2. Doctor Octopus. Otto Octavius is one of Spider-Man's most well-known adversaries, but he has tangled with other heroes from time to time as well. Sometimes he's been poised and confident, while in other escapades he's seemed self-conscious and full of doubt. He's a character who's definitely evolved (and even taken on the role of hero, when he took over Peter Parker's costumed identity in the Superior Spider-Man series).

3. Magneto (Erik Lensherr). Magneto started out as the primary foe for Charles Xavier's X-Men, but he's also played the hero role at different points. Reading his origin story gave me an understanding of his contempt for people who were not gifted with mutant abilities, but his reasoning didn't always seem sound to me. He's an interesting character that could easily straddle the line between hero and villain at any time.

4. Venom (Eddie Brock). When I first read the Marvel Secret Wars mini-series and the issues of Amazing Spider-Man that followed, I never would have imagined that Parker's symbiote super-suit would find its way to another host. Todd McFarlane did a great job of bringing Venom to life. He and Mark Bagley are the consummate Venom artists, in my opinion. Venom and Eddie have been through a lot ever since, and multiple other symbiotes have tagged along in the process. It's definitely been an interesting ride!

5. Sub-Mariner (Prince Namor). Namor is another of Marvel's oldest characters and is also someone who has been both hero and villain. Namor has been part of the Defenders, and Avengers and sided with the X-Men on occasion. He's also gone to war with T'Challa (the Black Panther) and his Wakandan natives and sided with Dr. Doom (in the aforementioned Super Villain Team-Up series) and others. I first started reading about his exploits as a villain, so that's why he's on this list. However, he can easily change sides on a whim. 

6. The Leader (Samuel Sterns). Sterns was an ordinary factory worker before his exposure to gamma radiation changed his intellect and his body. He's always been my favorite Hulk villain. He has gone through changes in the years since his debut in the Tales to Astonish split book, but he's never too far away from his gamma-spawned adversary. 

7. The Green Goblin (Norman Osborn). I remember picking up an issue of Amazing Spider-Man #121 years after seeing a Spidey cartoon about the villain's backstory. I prefer the Osborn that was best portrayed by Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr. and I was surprised when he returned from the dead in the 90's. He doesn't put on the goblin costume very much anymore (and there's been a bunch of goblins and hobgoblins ever since), but that doesn't make him any less of a cunning villain. 

8. Kraven the Hunter. I've just started reading the death of Kraven series, and it's interesting how human this character I once saw as a minor Spider-Man villain is. He's tussled with Spidey alone and as part of the Sinister Six and battled with Kraven, Tigra and other heroes in different books. I'm glad that he's back and part of the Marvel comic world once more, because I can't imagine what Parker's world would be like without him. 

9. Galactus. When I first started reading Marvel comics that weren't Star Wars, it seemed like Galactus was routinely trying to devour places like Earth, Battleworld, Galador and the Skrull homeworld in almost every issue. He also had a bevy of heralds (like the Silver Surfer, Air-Walker, Firelord, Nova and Terrax, to name just a few) who would inevitably leave his service after realizing his true intentions. He's not nearly the galactic threat that he once was, but it would be nice to see a return to form of this once-mighty threat. 

10. The Super Skrull. This skrull had the combined powers of all of the original Fantastic Four members. He would tangle with them and other heroes such as Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Alpha Flight and others from time to time. He's not really considered to be much of a villain now, but back in the day he could be a considerable force to be reckoned with. 

Well, there you have it! Next time, I'll write about music. Got a few ideas in my head, but nothing concrete just yet. Until then, have a great weekend and don't forget to be kind to one another.