When I was reading the most recent issue of West of Sundown, at some point I referred to the banshee as "Death Voice" in my head. I thought that sounded like a pretty good name for a villain.
Obviously there are quite a few super-villains with voice-themed powers. DC even has at least one actual banshee in the Secret Six's Jeanette, plus whatever Silver Banshee is. Marvel has Screaming Mimi (nowadays Songbird), and that Agnar the Screamer guy she used to work with, plus Banshee and Siryn, although they're not typically villains.
But, maybe because I've been rereading Gerber's Howard the Duck recently, I was thinking less in terms of the voice being physically lethal, and more spiritually or intellectually deadly. Maybe someone along the lines of Hate Monger. Except instead of inciting people to violence against those different from them, the person is relentlessly cynical, sarcastic, apathetic. They use their voice to make people feel like trying to do anything would be pointless. Like whatever crime Death Voice is committing is only a tiny symptom of some larger problem which they can't possibly fix.
'Stopping Death Voice from robbing this jewelry store won't do anything to address income inequality, and locking them in prison won't help them get better, so why bother?'
On the one hand, it feels like the sort of villain Captain America defeats with a stirring speech, but I really do like the notion of Howard the Duck running across them and just being really irritated with the whole thing. Here's this crook in about the laziest outfit possible - maybe a grey hoodie that says "Villain" on the front - taking whatever they want because they convince everyone trying to do better is for suckers.
Howard doesn't really want to be mixed up in this, but also hates people trying to manipulate him. He's more than capable of being selfish, but usually tries to do so in a way that doesn't actively harm others, while Death Voice is quite happy to benefit at others' expense.
I don't know if Howard kicks up enough of a ruckus it drowns out Death Voice's power and a crowd of people take D.V. into custody, or if Howard just punches the guy or gal in the face himself.
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