Hiya all.  Just another one of those silly 10 greatest’s list, this time dedicated to the 10 GREATEST BATMAN VILLAINS OF ALL TIMES copilated by our friends at NEWSARAMA.  It is not a surprise that our favorite psycho clown made #1 on this list (as he has always done) but it has surprise me to see some names in it that I thought fans had forgotten about.  Here is the list in detail with some personal comments in some members of this prestigious roster:

#10:    Hush

• Now, I was really surprised  to see Hush so low in this list.  I expected that Tommy Elliott’s knowledge of Batman’s identity, his close relationship with Bruce and his family, plus the storylines of  HUSH and HEART OF HUSH had proven this was a baddie tough to contend with and very dangerous to Batman and Co. Definitely expected to see him higher in the list, but I guess that some of the latest story lines where he has been involved have mellowed him too much as a villain (specially when he tried to impersonate Bruce Wayne during the RIP storyline.

#9:      Poison Ivy

• I think the GOTHAM CITY SIRENS  mellowed Pamela quite a bit. Guess been in a poorly written series does that to your reputation.

#8:      Penguin

• Now this is interesting.  Pengy has been in the sidelines for some time with no real relevant story line to his credit then ARKHAM CITY gives him quite a boost and along comes PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE which I think does the character a favor.

#7:      Bane

#6:      Dr. Hurt

• Newcomer to this list.  From the mind of Grant Morrison he could be Bruce’s father Thomas Wayne, or the devil himself, who knows, but what is true is that his efforts behind the cloud of  the BLACK GLOVE had been able to drive Batman crazy. He will return in 2012 for another storyline BATMAN: LEVIATHAN, so watch out for his new plans for the Batman and Gotham

#5:      Catwoman

• Now this one was a surprise for me.  Selina has been sailing two ships simultaneously from Good Kitty to Feline Fatale, without making her mind yet.  I personally prefer her as a villain, I think her playing with the Bat and his heart makes for quite a story line.  Check her HOT SEXY NEW REBOOT in the New 52’s CATWOMAN SeriesThey have added some intersting angle to her relationship with the Bat. Did anybody saw the torrid romance in the first two issues?

#4:      Riddler

#3:      Two-Face

• Personally seeing him so high on the list was another surprise.  I guess his new status in Gotham goes with the newly written stories and  ARKHAM CITY

#2:       Ra’s Al Ghul

• Probably the only one I’m very happy to see this high on the list.  This is an almost immortal man with centuries old secrets, extraordinary wealth and power, and a very radical idea to destroy half the world to remake humanity into a “better world”  I think Hitler was in the same lines with this phylosophy.  Top that with the knowledge of Batman’s identity and you get a very dangerous man indeed.

#1:    THE JOKER

• Is there ar surprise here?  I think not.  The Joker’s unpredictability and escalating insanity (If you thought Joker was crazy, just check out what he is willing to go through to evolve  into an even more dangerous presence in Gotham. Just look at the new DETECTIVE COMICS #1-4  storyline with the Dollmaker by Tony Daniels)
• And I love Newsarama description of Joker

The best part is, though, that the Joker is always just one step removed from Batman. If he had taken one wrong turn, given in to one bad feeling, Bruce Wayne may have turned out very much like the Joker. And isn’t seeing a twisted reflection of yourself the scariest thing of all?

 

(See the original Newsarama article by Alber Ching and Lucas Siegel along with comments HERE).