ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The 10 Most Villainous Moments of 2011

Updated on July 20, 2012

The Worst of The Worst from Marvel and DC in 2011

Honed to malevolent perfection, destined for vile greatness with the ways of destruction and utter chaos, true villainy has been affront in 2011. And you saw it early on with mystical dark-asgardian hammers striking the earth, wars between female warriors and sea-dwellers, and an entire city captured within the grips of mass infestation.

Picture: The Purple Man enacts his plan to corner the criminal underworld in Villains For Hire #1.

They are the bad guys. And these, dear reader, are their most villainous moments; this is their time!

Captured in this award-winning article for 2011, are the pages of Marvel and DC comic books that shined with a dark hue. This is the Top 10 most criminal moments of the year; the acts of simple thuggery and outrageous evil that most adversely affected the superhero world as we know it.

#10. Good Enough - The Midnighter Gives Us a Glimpse Inside His Thoughts

Stormwatch #2, excerpt
Stormwatch #2, excerpt

One of the latest titles from DC to get a start in The New 52 is Stormwatch, featuring The Martian Manhunter and an odd assortment of good guys bent on watching over and saving the planet. In this panel, though, we are (re)introduced to The Midnighter. From Stormwatch #2, you can tell something is wrong with the guy and he's going to need watching of his own. This single moment puts him in a creepy light.

#9. Unfathomable Power - Magneto Shows Us The Power of a True Super-Villain

Magneto: Not A Hero #1, excerpt
Magneto: Not A Hero #1, excerpt

In 2011, after the fallout of the Fear Itself and X-Men: Schism event, Magneto was given a miniseries. Even though he's temporarily a reformed criminal, a recent disturbance has put him at the center of a mass murder. There's only one problem: you don't simply arrest the Master of Magnetism. And as we see in Magneto: Not A Hero #1, never take him for granted. Iron Man and Captain America thought they had the room demagnetized, but a true super-villain is never without resources.

#8. A Tradition of Evil - Nesting Within His Properties, Batman Uncovers Deep Hatred

Batman #3, excerpt
Batman #3, excerpt

Some villains will go to far lengths, above and beyond normal methods, to kill their nemesis. In Batman #3, we're privy to The Owl, a low-key character who has taken revenge to the upper limits. Quietly and methodically, his family has been building "nests" within the properties of Wayne Enterprises over the century from as far back as 1891, waiting for the moment to destroy him.

#7. Kill The Spider - And don't worry about casualties.

Amazing Spider-Man #668, excerpt
Amazing Spider-Man #668, excerpt

The Jackal is one of Spider-Man's Greatest (and craziest) villains, but he's also a biological genius who figured out how to clone himself. In his latest and most diabolical scheme called Spider-Island, this carrion of terror has a new trick in the syringe, seizing the entire city of Manhattan in his insane clutch. And how did he do it? BEDBUGS! By having them carry an genetic infection, this super-villain turns the citizens into mutated spiders.

In Amazing Spider-Man #668 you have a true, disturbing indication as to why.

#6. Deviant Evil - How Social Media is causing a new form of villainy to emerge.

Green Arrow #2, excerpt
Green Arrow #2, excerpt

With Social Media such as Facebook and Youtube taking center stage in the lives of so many people, you've probably noticed the immersive appearances of texters, twitterers, and video-streaming junkies in comic books. In Green Lantern #2, you get an even greater look at the aberrant behavior; what's scary about this is how potentially real it could be. As Oliver enters the room, he realizes he's surrounded by super-powered thugs that want nothing more than to kill him for a cool, internet video!

#5. Face Off - The Joker is rarely outdone when it comes to evil.

Detective Comics #1, excerpt
Detective Comics #1, excerpt

In Detective Comics #1, The Joker made his most recent debut against Batman. And among villains, he's an artist of pure, sociopathic evil. He has no true pattern; he's completely unpredictable. And in this issue, he's clearly willing to have his face mutilated just to get his message across. Without even trying, the nemesis of The Dark Knight shows us the horror of the madman - his insanity - which is too crazed to be psychologically diagnosed.

#4. The World Will Know Fear - Nothing will be left untouched.

Fear Itself #3, excerpt
Fear Itself #3, excerpt

Marvel's biggest event for 2011 was Fear Itself and in it most of their superheroes contended against the rise of the All-Father of Fear, Odin's older brother. The struggle was vast and unyielding; buildings crumbled, civilizations were turned to stone, and Washington D.C. was practically decimated. One panel, though, really captured the momentum and psychological backdrop. From Fear Itself #3, Captain America was killed while facing one of "The Worthy" (he was actually the newest incarnation of Captain America in the form of Bucky Barnes). Striking a murderous blow to his chest, the star-spangled costume crumpled to the ground. And that's when hopelessness took root.

#3. Hidden In Religion - A newborn diety does what he must to survive.

Annihilators: Earthfall #3, excerpt
Annihilators: Earthfall #3, excerpt

The Annihilators are an incredibly high-powered group of individuals composed of heroes like Beta Ray Bill, The Gladiator, and Quasar. With omega-level strengths such as theirs, you'd think nothing could stand in their way. Well...not so; never underestimate the power of worship.

The Universal Church of Truth has managed to house their fledgling avatar within a sect on Earth. And in Annihilators: Earthfall #3, this entity, now captured and confined, does what any young deity must to survive. It flees into the minds of millions of innocent people. So far, so good; do you kill everyone?

#2. Never Let A Planet Get In Your Way - A Cosmic Sociopath Among Us

Green Lantern Corps #1, excerpt
Green Lantern Corps #1, excerpt

Here's a scene from Green Lantern Corps #1, which sends a powerful message to the Guardians of Oa and their chosen. Laying waste to an entire population (and a few lanterns on the side), an unseen enemy destroys just about everything to convey a simple message of fear. The level of hate and disregard for life is obvious. This is certainly a heinous act of grand magnitude which begs what is later to come.

#1. This Changes Everything - And it's your fault.

Flashpoint #4, excerpt
Flashpoint #4, excerpt

When DC Comics brought out The New 52, a soft reboot of all their titles with number #1 issues, they needed a catalyst. Enter: Professor Zoom, one of The Flash's greatest enemies. He's the leading force behind their Flashpoint series and in this year, no one else compares to him and his act of malevolence. Using his ability to move through time, he calculated a plot that imprisoned Superman at birth, pitted Wonder Woman and Aquaman against each other, kept Hal Jordan from becoming a Green Lantern, and made certain Barry Allen never became The Flash. His actions literally brought the world to devastation.

But that's not all. Here in Flashpoint #4, you learn that this was incidentally Barry's fault! The Professor just made sure it all worked.

Greetings!

And thanks for dropping by! If you've seen or heard anything pertaining to information provided here, or you'd like to submit some of your own, please feel free to sound off with your constructive criticism or opinions. All are welcome; just remember to be courteous because this is a free resource.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)