Today we take a look at the villains, and there are quite a few actually. Of the 40 villains given cards, 16 had made their premiere within five years of the cards release. Some have been consistent presences, some got overexposed (hmm, who could I be thinking of?), and some didn't last long at all, probably because they chose the wrong hero to tangle with. So let's begin.
Blackout - Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch version) foe. Body produces a light-dampening field, good since light is apparently bad for him, and in the resulting darkness, he has superhuman strength. Oh, and mechanical fangs. Really wants to sell the vampire thing, I suppose. Dracula and Morbius are likely unimpressed. Got burned trying to bite Ghost Rider, killed some of Ketch's friends and allies, survived several battles with Ghost Rider, and getting stabbed in the eye by Blaze. Was thought dead after Ghost Rider left him strung up on the Empire State Building, but was one of the villains who escaped from the Raft in New Avengers. Currently working for the Hood. Hmm, I suppose in the '90s, being a recurring enemy of Ghost Rider was a pretty sweet role, but until New Avengers he hadn't been seen in quite some time, and I kind of doubt his powers and abilities are critical to the Hood's scheme. He might have been prominent once, but he's Back of the Photo now.
Shiva - A program that downloads into killer robots designed to exterminate Weapon X members. Failed to kill Wolverine in it's initial appearance, failed to kill Sabretooth later on, failed again to kill Logan in Wolverine: Origins #1. I'm not sure it can be confirmed Shiva has successfully killed any of its targets. Given it's had one (brief) appearance in the last 15 years, I'm voting Gone.
Crossbones - Soldier for hire, usually the Red Skull's righthand man. And if he isn't, he's usually scheming to regain that position. I'm not sure how to describe Crossbones. He's frequently dependent on the Red Skull having a plan Captain America wants to stop. If Cap isn't around, Crossbones doesn't seem to show up much, so his stock rises and fails with Cap (or in the current situation, Cap's book, continuing in his absence). But, Crossbones is at least showing up regularly now, so I'd say Prominent.
Hate Monger - This Hate Monger later changed his name to Animus. He appears to be a being that feeds off hate, and can amplify those feelings in others, assume any person's appearance, and can't really be harmed physically. He showed up in Avengers first, and it looks he was a semi-regular from '91-94 in a variety of titles. Since then, he showed up in a couple of issues of the current Hercules, formerly Hulk series, #28-29, so it's been about 7 years since he last made the scene. Gone.
Slug - I know you were all waiting for this one. He's a drug-dealer, had trouble with Captain America and Nomad in his first appearance. Showed up in a Spectacular Spider-Man Annual during the Evolutionary War, though I don't recall him and the title character crossing paths. He hung around long enough to try and divvy up Kingpin's empire at some point, and he was apparently in the Raft at some point, and he might be part of the Hood's crew (Wiki lists New Avengers #35 as a reference, anyone see a really fat guy in there?) He was perhaps a bit player in his first comic, and since then, he's lucky to be Back of the Photo, but even father back than Blackout.
Mr. Sinister - I don't need to recite this guy's resume, do I? Brilliant, immortal (thanks to Apocalypse) scientist. Very interested in the Summers and the Greys. Always got lackeys running around, doing his dirty. Might have died in Messiah CompleX. Maybe. It's Mr. Sinister, nothing is what it seems. I'd say Prominent. He hasn't been around as much as say, Magneto, but Sinister is almost always up to something the X-Groups have to worry about.
Blackheart - Mephisto's "son", created from evil that accumulated at a particular spot. Tried to break Daredevil, corrupt Ghost Rider, Wolverine, and the Punisher, tried to use Wonder Man to defeat Mephisto, took over Hell at some point, and eventually was destroyed by the Midnight Sons. And that death seems to have stuck for the past decade. Of course, given Mephisto's recent work, I wouldn't be surprised to see this scamp show up soon. Gone.
Cardiac - Became a doctor, then a vigilante after his brother died because a company decided the cure wasn't cost-effective. Strikes at corporations or others who place money above lives (such as toy companies using unsafe components). Replaced his heart with a beta-particle reactor, which channels energy to his body giving him strength and agility. And the energy can be channeled into destructive blasts through his staff. Tendency to get lethal brought him into conflict with Spider-Man. Last seen by me in Wolverine #140, circa 1999, so I'd say, Gone. Too bad, I was always kind of fond of Cardiac.
Omega Red - Product of Soviet equivalent of Weapon X. Has tentacles, produces life-threatening pheromones. He fights the X-Men a lot, Wolverine even more, and is apparently a Red Mafia boss posing as a legit businessman, as of Wolverine Origins. He's certainly as much of a big deal as he was when he first hit the stage, but he's shown staying power thus far. Bit Player.
Gideon - External, can duplicate powers of those near him. Ran into X-Force a few times, served as a mentor to Sunspot, kicked the crap out of the New Warriors once. Tried to capture an odd energy source found worldwide, that wound up being Proteus (whoops). Killed by Selene. Gone.
Carnage - Offspring of Venom symbiote + serial killer. Designed to make Venom look, less crazy, I guess. Fights Spidey and Venom. A lot. Is turned into living metal by Silver Surfer, though it wears off later, reason unknown. Venom reabsorbs the symbiote, only for Kasady to get it back later. Somehow. Has offspring of its own, pulled apart by Sentry. Maybe. I'm not sure whether the current Mighty Avengers story should count as exposure for Carnage, since these are just generic symbiotes. Besides, they're just plot devices so the Mighty Avengers can get their asses whupped by Dr. Doom. Whoo, go Doom! I'm not sure Carnage was a good idea for a character, but his overexposure right from the start probably didn't help. Bit Player.
Cyber - Psycho. Critical in making Logan into a vicious animal. Beat Logan so badly their first fight, Logan was terrified of him for decades after, without remembering why. Spent some time incarcerated by Excalibur. Had his flesh devoured by Apocalypse's Dark Riders, so they could use the adamantium in his skin on Wolverine. Stuck in astral form, took over a powerful mutant with a child's mind, currently has a radioactive pacemaker strapped to his chest. So you'd figure he wouldn't be long for this world. Still, he's at least Prominent right now, if only because of his connection to Logan's stupid son.
Necrom- Sorcerer Supreme of alternate reality Earth. Came to 616, with the help of his apprentices, tried to capture the Phoenix Force. Everyone starts double-crossing each other = fail. Little piece of the Phoenix he got is left behind in a corpse, becomes Anti-Phoenix. Necrom flees to Earth-148. Conquered that Earth, eventually driven out by Kylun, retreats to 616. Absorbed the Anti-Phoenix, destroyed when he tried to absorb the entire Phoenix Force from Rachel Summers. Gone.
Venom - Once interesting, but MASSIVELY overexposed, showing up in Amazing Spider-Man at least one story a year for six+ years, then getting several mini-series, being packaged as a "Lethal Enforcer", which I guess is better than "Guy who wants to eat Spider-Man's brains!". Spawned a host of other symbiotes. And even though Brock is near death, the symbiote keeps on kicking, currently paired with the former Scorpion, and getting called a hero by the imbecilic 616-reality media, because it's a member of the Thunderbolts. His/Its star certainly isn't what it was in the mid-'90s, but he/it has had a series this decade, and is a big part of a current team book, and of course, he/it probably gets some credit for the Mighty Avengers' symbiote issues. Prominent.
Sphinx - This is the woman who fell in love with the original Sphinx, and through a bit of the power of the Ka Stone he had, was constantly reincarnated, always with knowledge of her past lives. She used that to gain great wealth,, so she could build a machine to remake the Ka Stone. She used the stone to change reality, but the New Warriors stopped her in that new reality. She saw the error of her ways, and later helped the Warriors stop the first Sphinx in his attempts to remake reality. They fused into a single being, and went back to their beginning to see if they could do better this time, and she hasn't returned since then. Gone.
Zodiak - Owner of a bookstore, meets demons who offer him powers if he kills for them. He agrees, away we go. He has power meant to represent the different signs of the Zodiac, and he ran afoul of both Ghost Rider and Dr. Strange. He lasted for about 10 issues, then someone named Suicide threw himself and Zodiak off a train, onto some spikes. Zodiak died, and he's stayed dead. Gone.
So there were few winners in that batch, though Crossbones is probably the only one that didn't get too hyped, or overused at some point. Probably helps that he's mostly a Sidekick villain, rather than a mastermind.
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