Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Poll: Which Supergirl Villain Do You Want To See Updated?

When Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle were first announced as the new creative team on Supergirl, one of the things they said they were hoping to do was to expand Supergirl's rogue's gallery. Since then we have seen the addition of Reactron and Superwoman as Supergirl-centric villains. I also count Silver Banshee as a Supergirl rogue as it somehow feels as though she morphed into a Supergirl villain. And we know that Bizarro Supergirl is coming soon.

Since all of the above mentioned villains except Silver Banshee are in some way a re-imagining of older Supergirl villains, I thought it was time to run a new poll.

Which old Supergirl villain(s) do you want to see updated and reimagined for this Supergirl? Unfortunately, there just aren't that many villains who have a long history with Supergirl. Frankly, none of them are extremely memorable and some would really need to be polished to fit 21st century comics sensibilities.

1) Lesla Lar - First seen way back in Action Comics #279, Lesla Lar was the equivalent of Supergirl's Lex Luthor. She was an incredible scientist in Kandor who used her incredible devices to brainwash Supergirl and then ultimately take Kara's place on Earth. She was vaporized by Phantom Zone villains she released when she prepared to take over Earth. She was subsequently seen as a disembodied wraith in the early 80s Superman Family.

While only in a handful of issues, she was the main villain in a long (for back then) arc in Action Comics. And the fact that she was seen again in Superman Family is a plus as it puts her in the rare company of repeat Supergirl villains.

2) Black Flame - I have talked about Zora before here. Another evil Kandorian scientist (and apprentice to Lesla Lar), she also tried to destroy Supergirl ... first psychologically and then physically. Ultimately, her super-powers are removed when Kara exposes her to Gold Kryptonite. Of course, that didn't take away her scientific genius.

Black Flame was featured twice more, making her a true Supergirl rogue. She was seen in Adventure Comics #400 and then in the Krypton Chronicles mini-series.

3) Nasty Luthor - Lex's evil niece, Nasthalthia was first seen in Adventure Comics #397 as a gang leader on Stanhope campus. During that Adventure Comics run, she ends up working with Linda as a news reporter/camera person and is hell-bent on proving that Linda is Supergirl. She has nothing in terms of powers or abilities other than her wickedness.

She then showed up in Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman as a goth-girl with a weapons/death fetish.

4) Starfire - First seen in Adventure Comics #402, Starfire was an organized crime leader with significant connections. She had scientists on her payroll who created a de-powering pill which Supergirl is tricked into ingesting leading to a too long arc where Supergirl is stuck wearing a Kandorian exo-skeleton that mimics her powers. Like Nasty, she has no specific powers other than malice. She is a charismatic leader with many followers and she is shown to be a decent martial artist.

Given her presence in many issues of that Adventure run, she is a true Silver Age rogue.

5) Psi - The main villain in the first issues of The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, Psi had tremendous psionic powers which were able to incapacitate Kara. Given the nature of her powers, she could be a formidable foe to any incarnation of Supergirl.

6) The Gang - Another set of villains from the Daring New Adventures, The Gang were four orphans who developed powers and became a crime family. Brains is a highly intelligent and a brilliant strategist. Ms. Mesmer had super-hypnosis powers which even effected Supergirl. And Bulldozer and Kong both are standard tanks with super-strength although not in Kryptonian class levels. A whole team to thwart Supergirl might be a nice addition to her gallery.

7) Blackstarr - Another brilliant scientist, Blackstarr was able to unravel the mysteries of the Unified Theory of physics which basically gave her control over the universe. She battled Supergirl several times in the Daring New Adventures run and was the villain in Supergirl's last pre-Crisis story in DC Comics Presents #86. A possible update of Blackstarr was already seen in the Geoff Johns' written Action Comics #850. Certainly, Blackstarr has the power to battle Supergirl.

8) Other - Supergirl has battled many villains in her history but often for only one story. Do any of them stand out for you? Maybe Nightflame (seen above), the physical incarnation of the evil in Supergirl's soul as seen in Adventure Comics #421? The Superman villain The Master Jailer who fought her in Superman Family #219-221? Some version of Satan Girl? The Carnivean from PAD's Supergirl?

I'm a bit partial to the Daring New run, so it may be over-represented here. As always, I'd love to hear what people have to say about their votes.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't have a specific villain as yet, I wanna look the list over in detail before I vote.
That having been said can we have an END to the pernicious process of Jobbing Out Supergirl to the villain du jour? Before we expand and revamp her rogue's gallery lets get that process in hand shall we?
So far in 2010 Kara has been bested by the following:
Reactron: she needed help bringing him down only to realize at the last second he was a planetary suicide bomber.
Ursa: Zod's cowardly and mentally ill henchwench beat SG down and was about to kill her dead before SuperBOY saved her keester. Very disappointing all told.
Mister Freeze and the Toyman...I mean COME ON! These two mooks are B list at best. It is an embarrassment to lose to dingbats like this and need to be rescued by Batman and her cousin as well!
Oh and lets not forget, "Cry for Justice" or as I call it "Beg for Mercy" Kara get SHOT with a magic bullet by some ooky spooky Chowderhead named Prometheus.
What we lack here in every case is "karatharsis" which a simple thing, Supergirl HITS SOMEONE and they g-d well stay HIT! I mean it, its great to give Nasthalthia or Lesla Lar a modern makeover but first I need to see some a-list villainy get their @sses kicked by Supergirl, no qualifications BAM BOOM DONE!
Okay, done ranting.
:D

John Feer

Anonymous said...

I just got an account and i don't have a blog right now but i love reading your reviews.

I would still love to see Blackstarr and Nasty. If Superboy and Superman each have their own Luthor's shouldn't Supergirl?
I don't know if you have already seen this but it's def. something worth reviewing:
http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2038291.html?#cutid1

Supergirl and Batgirl, World's Finest!!

Ravenwynd said...

From the poll I vote Black Flame. I think it could be a good medium to bring her in off the destruction of New Krpyton. As perhaps a survivor blaming SG and out for revenge on that. Would fit as a revamp, I think.

elknight20 said...

I'm for Lesla Lar.

-ealperin

btw, Anj, did you see this one newsarama for the Sepember solitations. Scroll down to Batgirl #14. it's another Supergirl and Batgirl teamup!

YAY!
^_^


Here's the link:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dc-september-2010-solicitations-100614.html

TalOs said...

Lesla-Lar, Black Flame (Ravenwynd makes a good case for her return to main current continuity), PSI (although I think she returned to Post-Crisis continuity during an arc in Jimenez's at the time Wonder Woman run), Blackstarr, Nasty Luthor and, Selena! (None of this "Mirabai" nonsense but the REAL Earth born, middle-aged, pale caucasian, brown eyes, and long wavy red hair evil sorceress herself!)

Anj said...

PSI (although I think she returned to Post-Crisis continuity during an arc in Jimenez's at the time Wonder Woman run)

Looks like you're right. She did appear somewhere else and she must have died. A little research showed she was a Black Lantern in Secret Six earlier this year.

Who knew!

Anj said...

What we lack here in every case is "karatharsis" which a simple thing, Supergirl HITS SOMEONE and they g-d well stay HIT! I mean it, its great to give Nasthalthia or Lesla Lar a modern makeover but first I need to see some a-list villainy get their @sses kicked by Supergirl, no qualifications BAM BOOM DONE!

'Karatharsis' is fantastic by the way.

It would be nice to see her lay the smack down. She has defeated the Insect Queen and Superwoman recently.

Maybe Bizarro will go down quick!

Anj said...

I would still love to see Blackstarr and Nasty. If Superboy and Superman each have their own Luthor's shouldn't Supergirl?

Thanks for posting and looking around!

I voted for Blackstarr myself.

Anj said...

From the poll I vote Black Flame. I think it could be a good medium to bring her in off the destruction of New Krpyton. As perhaps a survivor blaming SG and out for revenge on that. Would fit as a revamp, I think

A revenge-bent Kryptonian would be a nice wrinkle. They could even depower her somehow ... the Reactron bomb did it.

Anj said...

I'm for Lesla Lar.

-ealperin

btw, Anj, did you see this one newsarama for the Sepember solitations. Scroll down to Batgirl #14. it's another Supergirl and Batgirl teamup!

YAY!


For a while, I thought Superwoman would somehow be Lesla Lar.

And I saw the Batgirl solicit! Fantastic. My solicit post is coming up.

Gene said...

I went for Black Flame because she was really cruel to Supergirl in the Silver Age.

I think one of the problems of recruiting a rogue's gallery for Supergirl is that its too easy to fall into the trap of simply creating female versions of Superman villains.

One potential villain would be that Kryptonian woman that Supergirl met in last year's annual. Her motivation would be the injustice she received in the Labor Guild and that she blames Alura for New Krypton's destruction. Since ALura is gone, her daughter would be the next best thing. Other than that, Kara needs some original villians to face off with.

I agree with John Feer that Supergirl needs to beat down a few A-list bad guys.

Anonymous said...

I agree with your comment anj.

I believed Superwoman would be a rogues gallery villan (of some sort) from a previous era.

And your welcome!

-ealperin

Anonymous said...

I agree with your comment anj.

I believed Superwoman would be a rogues gallery villan (of some sort) from a previous era.

And your welcome!

-ealperin

Anonymous said...

on the contray Talos, I actually like Mirabai as one of the main bad guys (correction: "bad gals").

She brings a scary counterpsyche to Supergirl's "hero" bit.

Who knows, maybe she has a backstory to her that we don't know about yet, that would be surprising to find out. Maybe it has something to do with her "species":

i.e. maybe she wasn't all bad in the first place.

-ealperin

Anonymous said...

on the contaray talos, I believe Mirabai is a great villian.

I think she's the "bizarro" of sorts to Supergirl. She does things her own way, and if the merry band of villians would disagree to it, then it stinks for them.

Much to the opposite of this Supergirl; who has her ups and downs, and is the most "normal" Supergirl, as of late.

-ealperin

Anonymous said...

Gah editing!

I meant to correct myself (and sorry about the double postings here) when I said all of this,

"...on the contrary Talos, I actually like Mirabai as one of the main bad guys (correction: "bad gals").

She brings a scary counterpsyche to Supergirl's "hero" bit.

Who knows, maybe she has a backstory to her that we don't know about yet, that would be surprising to find out. Maybe it has something to do with her "species":

i.e. maybe she wasn't all bad in the first place. "

-ealperin

Anonymous said...

Gah editing!

I meant to correct myself (and sorry about the double.. no triple postings here) when I said all of this,

"...on the contrary Talos, I actually like Mirabai as one of the main bad guys (correction: "bad gals").

She brings a scary counterpsyche to Supergirl's "hero" bit.

Who knows, maybe she has a backstory to her that we don't know about yet, that would be surprising to find out. Maybe it has something to do with her "species":

i.e. maybe she wasn't all bad in the first place. "

-ealperin

Diabolu Frank said...

A return to villainy for Ambush Bug, naturally!

No? Okay, I voted for Black Flame, mostly because she looked and sounded the coolest. My glory days were with PAD, so I liked Buzz, and whichever one out of Blaze/Satanus is still kicking around (if any.) Also, if you really want to up the stakes, we've got the Anti-Monitor kicking around again...

Martin Gray said...

Nightflame, for the peculiarity of that dirrrty story and her terrific look!

Anj said...

Nightflame, for the peculiarity of that dirrrty story and her terrific look!

At some point I'll have to review that story here.

TalOs said...

How about "Lord Xenon" from PAD's run, the big bad who has this sick and twisted need for killing Supergirls of the Multiverse? Xenon could REALLY give Kara a real run for her money.

Anj said...

How about "Lord Xenon" from PAD's run, the big bad who has this sick and twisted need for killing Supergirls of the Multiverse? Xenon could REALLY give Kara a real run for her money.

Holy cow you are a genius!

This HAS to be the threat hinted at in the upcoming issues!

Can't believe I didn't think of it!

Anonymous said...

Talos: "How about "Lord Xenon" from PAD's run, the big bad who has this sick and twisted need for killing Supergirls of the Multiverse? Xenon could REALLY give Kara a real run for her money."


Oh! I haven't thought of that one.

That's a good villian as well!

As I always say, "It could happen..."

^_^

-ealperin

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna go with "Starfire" she is older, more experienced and thoroughly corrupt.
That ought to count and besides there is some symmetry to the notion of Kara's chief adversary being a wily mere mortal.
The rest of the lot are either jobbers or ill thought out attempts to create an e-vil mirror image of the Girl of Steel.
Although, Nasthalthia could be fun if properly reinvented...Although she seems like more of sneaky school rival than a super villainess.

John Feer