• Rogues War: Part 5 of 5 - The New Teen Titans' Rogues Gallery vs. the X-Men's Rogues Gallery

  Posted 5:32 PM Jun 22, 2012 by Odinson · 1 Comment
  Tags: Battles · Comics

  Greetings from the Odinson,
  
  The tally is all tied up at: Marvel 2 / DC 2
  
  Without further ado, it’s time for the Championship Round…
  
  Rogue War Part 5: The New Teen Titans’ Rogues vs. the X-Men’s Rogues
  
  The Fearsome Five – This group is comprised of quintessential super villains.  They are selfish, arrogant, dangerous and powerful.  Doctor Light is a lunatic with the power to control and project energy.  Gizmo is a diminutive genius and master of tech.  His gadgets are as limitless as they are deadly.  Shimmer possesses the uncanny ability to transmute matter, and her brother, Mammoth, is a hulking strongman that can give even the mythic strength of Wonder Girl and the mechanical strength of Cyborg a run for their money.  But far and away the most dangerous member of the Fearsome Five is Psimon, a villain that can kill with but a thought.  With powers and abilities that counter and in some cases surpass anything the Titans have to offer, this group of villains always poses quite a challenge for our heroes.
  
  The Brotherhood of Evil – This is another group of super villains that really takes the Titans to task.  The Brotherhood is comprised of some of the deadliest super-powered mercenaries in the DCU.  Their leader, The Brain, is a former scientist that after his body was destroyed in an explosion had his super mind placed within the cold confines of a robotic shell.  He shares a romantic relationship with Monsieur Mallah, a super intelligent ape that will do anything to please the Brain.  One of the scariest villains on the roster has to be Plasmus, a walking mass of molten lava that can melt his enemies with but a touch.  The witch Phobia can make a person’s biggest fear come to life.  Warp can teleport himself and others great distances, making him and his cohorts very hard to detain.  And the sinister Houngan uses his voodoo dolls to cause all sorts of problems for his foes.  This group is vicious, merciless, and never to be taken lightly.       
  
  Brother Blood – This sorcerer is the head of the Church of Blood, a powerful organization of zealots secretly bent on world domination.  Highly resistant to pain and injury, Brother Blood is able to withstand all the Titans’ most powerful attacks and even single-handedly engage them in combat.  He once brainwashed Dick Grayson and turned him against his friends.  With his own mystical might and the resources of a growing religion by his side, Brother Blood has proven to be one of the Titans’ most tenacious adversaries.     
  
  Trigon – The original Teen Titans had disbanded, but the mystic Raven learned of Trigon’s plot to take over the Earth dimension.  So, after failing to recruit the Justice League, she reunited the Teen Titans to stop him.  But Trigon is no mere flesh and bone super villain to be pummeled and put in jail for his crimes.  Trigon is a demonic god that is the immortal embodiment of evil.  His powers seemingly know no limits and his rivals are few.  But what makes the Titans’ feud with this monster hit even closer to home than most is the fact that Trigon is Raven’s father.  It’s his demonic heritage that she struggles to keep in check on a daily basis.  It’s probably safe to say that Raven has some severe daddy issues.   
  
  Blackfire – Now this is another villain with ties to our heroes.  Blackfire is the vicious, conniving and malevolent sister of Starfire.  Where Starfire is bright, brave, and selfless, Blackfire is corrupt, devious and selfish.  Blackfire once almost orchestrated the end of the universe by bringing back the goddess X-Hal.  During the Rann/Thanagar War she murdered Hawkwoman.  She’s a despicable woman with little to no redeeming qualities whatsoever.  She’s almost the perfect super villain.  But that title is reserved for the next name on this list.   
  
  Deathstroke the Terminator – If Captain America were a bad guy, his name would be Deathstroke.  Slade Wilson was already a renowned gun for hire and world class assassin before an experiment turned him into something more.  Now able to access 99% of his brain, Slade’s physical speed, strength and endurance have been augmented to super human levels.  He’s an expert in all forms of armed and unarmed combat and he’s a master strategist.  After his son, Ravager, met his end fighting against the Titans, Slade took up his son’s contract with the clandestine secret empire known as the HIVE.  He used the mentally unstable mutant Terra to infiltrate the team of heroes to learn their secrets and destroy them from the inside (see The Judas Contract).  So dangerous is this guy that he has beaten the Batman in a fight, fought the Justice League to a standstill, and gotten the upper hand on the X-Men.  But Slade is a complicated man.  Sometimes he’ll even fight side-by-side with the heroes of the DCU, as he did in Panic in the Sky.  He’s a merc through and through, the consummate professional.  If the price is right and he takes the job, odds are the target is pushing up daisies.  Slade Wilson is Deathstroke the Terminator, the most dangerous man in the DC Universe.      
  
  The Titans’ Rogues Gallery rounds out with:  Cheshire, Thunder and Lightning, the Disruptor, the Gordians, the Branx, and the Titans of Myth.
   
  Juggernaut – The unstoppable one makes yet another Rogues Gallery list.  He’s thrown down with the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor and the Amazing Spider-Man, but what makes him a major player in the ranks of the X-Men’s arch foes is that he has ties to the team.  Cain Marko is Charles Xavier’s stepbrother, and Cain has always held a grudge against his mutant brother.  Then one day he was empowered by the Crimson Jewel of Cyttorak and now he has set out to even the score.  His strength rivals the mightiest beings on Earth and his durability is legendary.  Nothing short of a mental assault can ever really bring him down.  Though not truly evil, Cain Marko is a petty and selfish man.  Alongside his erstwhile partner in crime Black Tom Cassidy, the malevolent brother of Banshee, Marko has established himself as one of the most notorious super powered criminals in the Marvel Universe.    
  
  Mister Sinister – Mister Sinister is a master of genetics and has seemingly unraveled the secrets of immortality.  His genius in the field of genetics rivals that of even the High Evolutionary.  He orchestrated the Mutant Massacre by sending his Marauders, a group of deadly mutants and mercenaries that included Wolverine’s arch foe Sabretooth, to murder the Morlocks, homeless mutants that lived in the sewers of New York City.  Sinister was a major player during the Inferno and for years he has manipulated and pulled the strings in the lives of Scott Summers and Jean Grey.  Sinister is a very dangerous adversary because he always seems to be two steps ahead of everyone else.   
  
  The Hellfire Club – Publicly the Hellfire Club is an exclusive club for the rich and famous with branches all over the world.  Its members include Tony Stark, Brian Braddock and Roberto da Costa.  However, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, deep in the shadows a secret cabal known as the Inner Circle plots and schemes for more power and eventual world domination. The most well known members of the Inner Circle are Sebastian Shaw the Black King, Emma Frost the White Queen, Selene the Black Queen, Harry Leland the Black Bishop, and Donald Pierce the White Bishop.  These diabolical arch villains have brought the X-Men to the brink on several occasions.  The Inner Circle is even responsible for awakening the Dark Phoenix and the mass production of the Sentinel robots.  Over the years due to infighting, some members reforming and joining the side of angels, and some members dying, the Hell fire Club has seemingly lost some of its steam.  But the Odinson knows it won’t be long before an organization like this resurfaces once more to challenge our heroes like never before.
  
  Sentinels – As the fear of mutants grew for mankind, a solution was devised by the scientist Bolivar Trask.  He created Master Mold, the Sentinel on which all others are based.  The Sentinels are 50-foot tall robots designed to hunt and either capture or destroy mutants.  They are quite dangerous as they can adapt to battle situations and varying powers.  One of the most dangerous Sentinels is the super Sentinel known as Nimrod.  This machine has come back to the past from the Days of Future Past timeline to destroy the X-Men.  So powerful is this robot that it even defeated the Juggernaut and so dangerous is he that rarely will he ever be defeated by the same method twice.  Nimrod has merged with Master Mold to create the ultimate Sentinel Bastion.  Bastion is an Omega Class threat that will stop at nothing to destroy all mutantkind.       
  
  Apocalypse – This 5,000 year old mutant despot has the knowledge and the power to challenge for control of the world.  Able to manipulate his own molecules, Apocalypse can transform, augment, and change himself into any shape, size or weapon he needs in order to destroy his enemies.  Even arch fiends like Mister Sinister, Dracula and the High Evolutionary fear and respect Apocalypse.  Through the use of super science, Apocalypse has the ability to awaken great power in others, but at the cost of their souls.  This is how he creates his infamous Four Horsemen.  Even heroes are not immune to his manipulations.  Both Angel, Wolverine and the Hulk have fallen under the thrall of En Sabah Nur.  Apocalypse is an immortal and even death cannot stop his coming, only delay it a while longer.      
  
  Magneto – He is the mutant Master of Magnetism and arguably the most powerful mutant on the planet.  When they were younger men, Magneto and Professor X were friends and fought side-by-side for mutant equality, but now they are on opposing sides.  Xavier wants to co-exist and live peacefully with humans, and Magneto wants to rule them.  The X-Men have been standing in his way since their very beginnings.  I’ve talked at length before about Magneto.  So epic is his story and so complicated is this character that there is not enough space in this column to fit it all in.  Magneto has been both bitter enemy and stalwart ally to the X-Men, the latter of which he is currently.  But how long before a disagreement sets him and the X-Men on opposing sides once again?  Magneto believes mutants are the rightful rulers of planet Earth and whether it’s alongside the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or his Acolytes, he will stop at nothing to see his dream come to pass.
  
  Extinction – The biggest threat that the Children of the Atom face is extinction.  In the aftermath of M-Day, the mutant population in the world went from millions to 198 in an instant.  The X-Men aren’t just fighting to protect the world from evil, they are fighting for the very survival of their race.   
  
  The X-Men’s Rogues Gallery rounds out with: The Brood, Mystique, the Blob, Arcade, Fenris, Omega Red, Onslaught, Deathbird, Sauron, the Savage Land Mutates, Zaladane, Garokk, Unus the Untouchable, Crimson Commando, Super Sabre and Stonewall, the Vanisher, Mesmero, William Stryker, the Shadow King, and the list goes on and on and on and…
  
  WINNER: The X-Men’s Rogues
  
  Though the Titans face off against the ultimate super villain in Deathstroke, an uber arch fiend like Brother Blood, and the immeasurable power of the demon lord Trigon, the Children of the Atom face threats on that level as well, and then some.  Their Rogues Gallery is seemingly endless and the numbers of their enemies grow everyday.  When over half the world fears and mistrusts you and the other half wants you dead, you tend to make a lot of enemies.  Bottom line, the X-Men’s core group of adversaries is every bit as diabolical as the Titans’, and with the layers foes like Magneto, Sinister, and Apocalypse bring to the table coupled with their sheer numbers, the enemies of Marvel’s Merry Mutants stand victorious.    
  
  Rogue War Total: Marvel 3 / DC 2
  
  Both Marvel and DC have classic Rogues Galleries and heroes of any universe would have their courage tested and be pushed to their physical limits when they are confronted by such masters of villainy.
  
  Recommended Super Villain Reading: Bring on the Bad Guys; Super-Villain Team-Up; The Killing Joke; Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger; The Secret Society of Super-Villains; Doom; Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and Magneto: Testament.
  
  This is Odinson bidding thee farewell     

  1 comment so far:

  #1) Dean M. - 9:26 AM, Jun 28, 2012

  Besides getting discounts on many comic books, your column is best thing about the weekly emails. But now you've gone to far. The idea of rogues vs. rogues is interesting, but come on, at least make it a fair fight. X-Men rogues vs. Teen Titans rogues? Go to your own website and punch in "titans" and then "x-men". You get 1 page compared to 5 pages of X-Men related stuff. More comic books = more chance for good villains. What was it a couple of weeks ago Superman's vs. Hulk's? Let's see, a character who's been around since 1938 or one from the 60's whose first series lasted 8 books. Oh, yeah, that one was fair. What is it next week - JLA rogues vs. Silver Sable's?
  
  Spider-Man's vs. Batman's, Superman's vs. X-Men's, and Titans' vs. Hulk's would seem to be more fair match-ups. Besides the fact that Marvel helped demolish their own character, Spider-Man clearly has the best rogues gallery.
  

  Leave a Comment

  You must be logged in to leave a comment. Please log in. If this is your first time here, please register. Registration is fast and only requires your name and email address.

← Previous Entries