Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics Page #4

down on everybody else. "

And the first time Superman

and he meet, Superman says:

"I'll be around. If you

wanna find me, just look up. "

And suddenly there was somebody who was

over Luthor and he couldn't deal with that.

ROMANO:
I think that's also part of the ego

is that villains love to hear themselves talk.

They love to hear their theories

as expounded upon by themselves.

The Penguin made a

comment in one comic book:

"What's the point in committing the perfect

crime if no one knows it was you who did it?"

Lex Luther's brain, as

evil as it is, is brilliant.

Once he had him and

he was incapacitated...

...to the degree that Lex could

do anything he wanted with him...

...he could aggrandize himself in front of

him. "Let me tell you how brilliant I am. "

You were great in your day, Superman,

but it just stands to reason.

When it came time to

cash in your chips...

...this old, diseased,

maniac, would be your banker.

Mind over muscle.

The grandiose nature of the villains

figures into every one of those key aspects.

Whatever their mission is in life,

the main thing they want to do.

The one who wants to get the money, he

wants to do it in the outlandish way...

...the creative, different way.

When you think of some of the more

flamboyant villains in the DC Universe...

...you sort of think about:

Would they really be happy

with all the money in the world?

Would they really be happy

with running the city?

You know, it seems to be they're much happier

trying to take the city than actually having it.

That's why you don't see a lot of books

about supervillains now running city hall...

...or "Now I'm the

mayor" or, you know...

What are they gonna do with,

you know, a billion dollars?

So I do think it's sort

of more the pursuit.

It's not enough for the Riddler

to rob a bank or steal a diamond.

He's got to drop clues on his way to

robbing a bank or stealing a diamond.

The Riddler's probably the most self-defeating

villain in the history of comic books...

...because he's always providing

Batman with a clue to his comeuppance.

He's obviously got some deep, dark...

...damaged psychological reason that,

you know, deep down he wants to be caught.

He wants to be punished.

Otherwise he wouldn't leave ridiculous

riddles to be left for Batman to solve.

NARRATOR:
The journey toward

evil follows a long road...

...with many possible avenues.

But for the fallen,

the question remains:

Were they born bad or did they

willingly turn down the dark path?

Is it the end result of

a lifetime of suffering...

...or did one horrible incident

forever push them over the edge?

Is there real evil? Does

evil in itself really exist?

Or it is always a reaction to something?

Is it a reaction to some childhood trauma?

There are a number of different, I guess,

causes or trajectories toward evil-doing...

...or toward a life of villainy.

The best villains probably are born bad.

You want them to be, at least.

There's always, like, maybe they were born bad,

and then you had horrible incidents occur...

...that sort of kept

them down that path.

We have yet really to have true examples

of these particular experiences...

...that the Joker, Harvey Dent and

other villains have gone through.

So I think there is a lot of

room for the fictional writing...

...and the fictional exploration

of one event creating...

Completely redefining a person

where it turns them to villains.

I created a character called Man-Bat.

It's this guy who is a Batman fan.

He is a genius. He is a scientist.

Works in museums. But

he's just a little off.

And he thinks that if he

creates a serum out of bats...

...that he can give it

as a gift to Batman...

...and Batman will have

the attributes of a bat.

Wouldn't that be great?

But somebody has to test it.

So he tests it on himself.

It's Jekyll and Hyde.

He's turned into this

creature. He becomes a man-bat.

You can say, "Man-Bat is a

villain. " No, he's not a villain.

He can be manipulated by

villains, but he's a good guy.

In fact, he loves Batman.

He thinks Batman is the

greatest hero on earth.

And he wants to be like Batman.

But if he's like Batman, he becomes a

drug addict then becomes this monster.

You will bow down before me!

First you, and then one day, your heirs!

ROBINSON:
General Zod is a

fantastic villain for Superman.

While some of his actions aren't justifiable,

you completely understand why he is the man he is.

PORTER:
You know, someone

like the Scarecrow...

...the fact that he was

bullied into submission...

...and picked on by way more

powerful people than him...

...and he was so scared to live his life because

he had this constant air of fear around him.

It drove him to figure out why

that fear existed within him.

And then at the end of the day, how

he could inflict it upon other people.

You're writing it and you see:

"Why can't you just go left instead

of right at this seminal moment?"

That kind of story, I think, is equally

inspiring and exciting to read...

...for different reasons, but because mostly

you see that making the wrong choice...

...or falling victim to sort of difficult

circumstances and letting them turn you...

...and twist you that way is something that

gets you nowhere but Blackgate or Arkham...

...or, you know, the Phantom Zone

or that sort of thing. Heh, heh.

NARRATOR:
Consider this.

The function and role of the hero and the

villain is all simply a matter of perspective.

If we reversed focus and considered the

story from the point of view of the villain...

...wouldn't they be the hero

and the hero the villain?

You have to think that pretty much

everyone's a hero in their own story.

The villains who are really

interesting characters...

...have an affirmative

reason for what they're doing.

Their strength comes from...

...absolute certainty, 100 percent

certainty, that they are correct.

If they're uncertain about what they're

doing, then they're not interesting characters.

Perspective of ants. You know,

do ants see us as giant villains?

We're walking around. It's ruining my picnic,

so I'm just stomping on ants. I'm not thinking.

To someone's point of view down there...

...we are these giant gods who are villainous

and are destroying their civilization.

So it's really just

about your point of view.

JOHNS:
Sinestro wanted to control things

so much on Korugar, his home world...

...he wanted it to be safe for everybody that he

started to instill fear like, "I'm in control. "

Sinestro is a villain who really did see

himself as a hero and couldn't believe...

...that he was being chopped off at the

knees by the Guardians all the time...

...and being perceived to be

someone who wasn't looking out...

...for the better interest of

the universe and his own people.

And, eventually, it pushed

Sinestro into a dark place...

...where he finally just

had to use his powers...

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