Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The law of diminishing villainous returns...

I recall that one of Levitz' favorite villains was the Emerald Empress. I think he used her at least thrice - once in that story with Supergirl; another that resolved the mystery of Sensor Girl; and the final story.

Yet, each time she appeared was pretty memorable, and she certainly never felt overused... Maybe it was because of how high the stakes were each time she did appear.

She was also defeated each time without it being cheap.

This is definitely a problem with some characters....it doesn't need to be with a good writer though.

Deathstroke was a constant presence in Marv Wolfman's Titans, but it always felt very organic. Even when he had his own title and was also appearing in the Titans books, I don't think he was overexposed. The difference between then and now I think is that while he may have been around constantly back then, there was always a well thought-out reason behind it, and one which fit his character and motivations. Nowadays he is just a generic badass to be rolled out whenever a writer feels like it, and it definitely has diminished him.

I don't really read much Marvel stuff anymore, but even going by online previews/discussion and from what I can see on the covers of books on the shelves in my comic shop, Norman Osborne has well and truly become overexposed and diminished...why? Because they have strayed too far from his original motivations and how he is just a generic evil nutter.

I think the problem comes when the villain in question becomes too generic. If a writer can't think of a way that the heroes can beat the villain without either party having lost what makes them unique, then they shouldn't use that villain.

Good point about Deathstroke. My standout memories of him are not from the issues in which he directly fought the Titans but from when he worked with Terra behind the scenes. It was his constant presence, as you said, that made him more menacing.

All the more reason why dead characters should stay dead. Once a villain has conquered death, what is there to do?

The Deathstroke thing is part of why I liked what Byrne did with Luthor. He made him a fixture in the book, but did it in such a way that nothing was traced back to him. He was a presence in Metropolis...one that the public loved, even if Supes knew better.

The biggest problem with this was every few years they eventually got trigger finger and would pull a "Fall of Luthor" event and he and Supes would have it out. Then they'd realise they screwed up a milkable story point and find some way to have Luthor come back into public life more or less unscathed. Then they'd do it all again. And again.

Totally can't read this thread title w/o thinking of the Community Christmas ep. now!

Same thing is now happening at The Other Company with Norman Osbourne, who'se a crazy super-villain who 'gets better' and suckers half the world into loving him and then gets outed as still being a crazy super-villain, and then, mysteriously, manages to become super-popular again with law and order types...

Villains designed around never being recognized as villains are a neat concept, but once the curtain is pulled back and everybody knows that Maxwell Lord or whomever is actually a villain, it stretches credulity for the entire world to fall for it *again.*

That bridge was burnt. Move on.

I think this is one of the main reasons I have not been reading alot of marvel the last few years. There is so much turnover in the books with writers, and every writer does the same thing. If its someone on Fantastic Four your getting a Doom and Galactus story. If its Spider Man your getting nothing but the classics. If its the Avengers your getting at least on Ultron story. Its like they have forgotten how to use the other villains.

Doctor Doom is the worst though. They have ruined that charater with just so much overuse.