Superman Through the Ages! Forum

What is the best villainous "version" of Superman?

You missed one: The Byrned Superman of MOS. heh heh :wink:

I said best, not most pathetic. :roll:

Gotcha!  I was teasing but you knew that.

I voted for the Cyborg Superman.  While two versions of Ultraman exist -- Pre Crisis and Post Crisis, natch -- and the current Ultraman is a real improvement over the former version, I still think Henshaw made a better evil Superman.  Hank wiped out Coast City and was ready to remake Earth into a new Warworld (which probably meant decimating all life here in the process).

In the Elseworlds vein, Superman the Darkside should also probably be included here, though he did turn to good in the end, IIRC.

He's not on that list but "Superman King of Earth" was such a creep back in 61 that his Red K split self, Clark Kent got all "Metallo" on his arse!

(http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/97/400/97_4_0000311.jpg)

I'm not one of those who generally dislike the "post-crisis" continuity, but I always thought the Cyborg was a pretty lame villain. I mean, what's his motivation? He hates Superman for stuff that anybody can see really wasn't Supes' fault in any way whatsoever. Because he's mad, you see. Yeah, that explains everything. Not to mention that pretty much every time he shows up, they have to pull a major Deus Ex Machina in order to let Supey beat him.

Yeah I know. I was teasing too.



I ran out of room. A poll can only have ten choices. I also wanted to include the animated Bizzaro but he seemed to be a variation on the Byrne bizzaro so he was one I left out.

Perhaps he really hates Dan Jurgens for making him such a lame Fantastic Four rip-off and he took it out on Superman since he was jealous that Jurgens did so much better work writing him.

Well, in defense of Henshaw, Luthor obviously was mistaken in blaming Superboy for his hair loss.  That didn't stop him from wasting a lifetime waging a vengeance war on Kal-El and on all Kal stood for.  Just because Hank is wrong in our eyes doesn't mean he's wrong in his own deluded POV.

As a side note, one's self-image is heavily based on body image.  Esp. for an insecure adolescent genius just trying to form his own identity, losing one's hair is a major ego blow.  I think those who knock Siegel's motivation for young Lex really don't know what they're talking about.  Or they've had hysterical amnesia to block out the horrors of adolescent insecurities.

I voted for Ultraman. :twisted:

Well, no it doesn't. But in Luthor's case, even though I don't agree with his viewpoint, I can at least understand why he thinks what he thinks. It makes sense, at least in a comic book-exaggerated sort of way.

Henshaw, on the other hand... hell, his treatment isn't even consistent. If you read the first couple stories with him, he seems perfectly rational. There's no suggestion that he hates Superman or blames him for anything. Seems to me like an obvious case where Jurgens (or whoever else) thought that someone with this guy's powers would make a nifty supervillain, and didn't worry about not having any plausible explanation in mind for how to make him become one.

The Earth-3 Ultraman!!!