The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History by Jon Morris
| The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History by Jon Morris | |
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| Category: Graphic Novels | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: An encyclopaedic book that can crack you up – this approach to the history of our four-colour nasties is perfect for the fan. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 256 | Date: March 2017 |
| Publisher: Quirk Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781594749322 | |
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As much as I like comics – and I do, whether superhero ones or not – I have to admit one thing, namely that the villains in them are a bit pants. What is The Penguin but the world's worst Mafioso, with a hobby of waddling along like his pet birds? Where else do you win an Oscar of all things by playing a two-bit killer who just fell in a vat of random chemicals and changed colour, and got mardier as a result (although recently he's become a nanotech genius – but let's not go there)? And what is it with the gimp in the see-through plant pot because he is the embodiment of cold? And that's just some of the better-known enemies of Batman, one of the better goodies. You can imagine how awful the baddies related to the bad goodies can be. And if you can't, this is the perfect primer.
Yes, here is the dupe who became hugely enlarged due to a mistake by the love of his life, declared himself ruler of the Earth, then started fighting invading aliens he thinks killed the love of his life – only for his title to be axed after one issue. Here is a satanic Hitler-type threatening a gospel of evil and terror – at least he's not just relying on one or the other, but promising both. Here is another baddie pronouncing I will strike at America! I will sabotage her from end to end! (oo-er). Here, of all people, is Spider Man.
I haven't seen the companion book to this, pronouncing on all the naff goodies from comics history, but this is just perfect. On the whole we have one page of text – and considering the formulaic nature of the entries they're always varied and fresh to read – and a full page of colour archive for every baddie. If the text has to leach onto a second side it becomes a four-page special, with more pictorial quotes, and considering the nature of some of the original sources the fact every copyright holder has been found is a miracle in itself. You get a side-panel for every character, detailing their goodie nemesis, their inventors, and first appearance.
But the book proves itself a worthy reference volume by not trying to force the yucks on to the page. Well, OK, I say that only because I learnt to ignore the individual and completely unfunny gag in every side panel. The humour is not from this curator, but from those original characters who created these original people. A case in point – the baddie Wonder Woman faced, who was literally a giant, China-baiting egg, called Egg Fu. How our author held back from mentioning that he just cried out for a junior acolyte called Egg Fu Young, I'll never know.
What you also learn here is the power of just a couple of words – the utter ominousness of uncredited author, the sheer fibbing included in the publisher name Quality Comics. This book can be had up for not including a creator's index, but we soon learn the threat implied by the name Bill Woolfolk, or one of the Binder brothers. In fact a quick browse might not show up many names of people the man on the stereotypical bus would have heard of, but various - Marvel characters, Wonder Woman and more turn up – and even graphic novel pioneer Will Eisner is here for a risible Frankenstein's Monster affair, although his art does have some wondrous gutter breaks. But I don't think that matters – the world of comics has always been an esoteric one, with a rich history you never really have to fully engage with to get enough out of. For production values, breadth of knowledge and sheer eye-opening erudition, this book gets the biggest thumbs up for the comics fan.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero by Grant Morrison is a very good, if highly subjective, history of the form from way before the Golden Age up to now. You might also appreciate Wheels of Terror: The Graphic Novel by Sven Hassel and Jordy Diago.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History by Jon Morris at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: Oddball Criminals from Comic Book History by Jon Morris at Amazon.com.
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