de-powered villians?

[herodad1]

has anyone noticed how much of a joke villians are made out to be lately?i saw a issue a week ago where she-hulk  knocked out the abomination.no way.villians need to be menaces again not just something to give readers something to fulfill their 2.50$.

[lugaru]

It's not an across the board thing though... it's more like fluctuations.

One week taskmaster is defeated by some up and coming noob to make him look cool.
Next week a perpetual loser like stilt man nearly kills a hero in a "villain gets his day" story (which I usually enjoy). We are reminded that even the greatest loser is dangerous.

All in all it's the effect of a reduced editorial prescence in comics... the editor is now more concerned with uniform themes and parallel storylines than with continuity and stats from the collector cards. This is good and bad of course... the abomination should always be a menace, but then again the story should bend rules to keep us entertained.

And yeah, she-hulk is an a-list brawler now, which I dislike because her being an underdog and loser (despite being famous, gorgeous and smart) really drove her recent series.

[Talavar]

Yeah, it's definitely not consistant that villains are de-powered, I mean, look at the now-infamous Deathstroke beats the Justice League alone fight from Identity Crisis.  That was ridiculous over-powering of Slade, who should have been dropped like a bad habit by Flash and GL - heck, by either one of them alone.

As to She-hulk beating Abomination, I don't find that that difficult to believe; he's stronger and tougher, but she's no slouch, and a better-trained, more controlled fighter.  I can accept that explanation.  Spider-man beating Firelord, a herald of Galactus (from years ago), that one I can't swallow.

[thalaw2]

As to She-hulk beating Abomination, I don't find that that difficult to believe; he's stronger and tougher, but she's no slouch, and a better-trained, more controlled fighter.  I can accept that explanation.  Spider-man beating Firelord, a herald of Galactus (from years ago), that one I can't swallow.

I can't swallow She-Hulk beating Abomination...I've got to see that fight.  Absorbing man whipped her tail.  Spider-man just wore Firelord out...I don't really consider it a beating, just out smarting him.

[Valandar]

As to She-hulk beating Abomination, I don't find that that difficult to believe; he's stronger and tougher, but she's no slouch, and a better-trained, more controlled fighter.  I can accept that explanation.  Spider-man beating Firelord, a herald of Galactus (from years ago), that one I can't swallow.

I can't swallow She-Hulk beating Abomination...I've got to see that fight.  Absorbing man whipped her tail.  Spider-man just wore Firelord out...I don't really consider it a beating, just out smarting him.

Umm... no, he didn't.

Spider-man was running with his tail between his legs screaming "I'M GONNA DIE!", especially when he saw FL was unhurt by an exploding gas station. He was nearly worn out himself (from running) when he noticed a couple kids were in danger. Like an idiot, Spidey then simply turned and started punching. "Watch *WHAM* where *WHAM* you're *WHAM* firing *WHAM* those *WHAM* blasts *WHAM* you *WHAM* stupid *WHAM* wanna *WHAM* be *WHAM* human *WHAM* torch!" or some such.

A red gloved hand lands on spider-man from behind, and Captain America's voice says "I think he's had enough, son." Spidey says "Captain America! Thank god you're here! Firelord's trying to kill me!" They both look down at Firelord, who is dazed on the ground going "Buh-duh, buh-duh, buh-duh..." Cap boggles, and says, "Er, right..."

That's how the fight went. Effectively.


As for depowered supervillains, let's look at... well, ALL of them. In the comic where they're introduced, the average supervillain is a credible threat, even thrashing the hero soundly. But as time goes on, most get weaker and weaker and weaker until they've gone from up-and-comer to second alternate in the Legion of Losers. Only the biggest names don't have that problem (and by that I mean Magneto, Dr Doom, and so on), and even then some of them do.

[herodad1]

i like spider-man alot but i agree that he shouldnt have beat firelord.as far as she-hulk goes i guess when hulk returns to earth she'll kick his butt too.i miss the way stories were told back in the days of stan lee and jack kirby.thats why ive been collecting the ESSENTIALS.great stories,art, and powerful villians.

[Panther_Gunn]

I remember that issue of Spidey (can't recall which title it was), and that fight now (especially now that Val's reminded me of the gist of it).  I can buy the outcome happening for a couple of reasons.

1.  It was Spidey's own title (and therefore the outcome is always going to be more bent towards him).

2.  As tough as Fire Lord is, he's no Silver Surfer.

3.  That was a one-time event.  Fire Lord had *no* clue that kind of a beating was coming from Spidey (nor did anyone else, of course), and wasn't prepared for it.  His perception of Spidey as a threat was much lower than for someone like Thor.  He was essentially caught off guard by someone with a whole lot of physical strength and incredible reflexes that was pushed beyond reason.  Wasn't Spidey still dealing with the whole Sin Eater-Jeanne DeWolf thing and his self-inflicted guilt about innocent people being hurt around him?  He lost control and laid everything he had into Fire Lord.  And it dropped him.  It happens.  The sun shines on even a dog's butt on some days.  Could Spidey do it again if he wanted to?  No.  Could he do it again if he *needed* to?  Probably not, but I wouldn't put it completely out of the realm of possibility.