I enjoyed it, but not to the heights of a 4 or 5 star book, I'm afraid. Mildly diverting, let's say. And not as interesting as the first one (regrettable superheroes). Apparently it's a lot more humorous having ridiculous superheroes than ridiculous bad guys (it's a ratio thing--so many more villains per hero, you expect a few of them to be scraping bottom).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). ( )

Legion of Regrettable Super Villains
Author: Jon Morris
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publishing Date:2016
Pgs: 253
Dewey: 741.5973 MOR
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
A collection of some regrettable, some ridiculous, some bizarre, many cringe worthy bad guys and gals. From odd origin stories to weird super weapons to outlandish modus operandi, this has a bit of it all. While DC and Marvel are well represented, other companies get their share of the ribbing too.
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Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novels
Comic Strips
Humor & Entertainment
Pop Culture
Art
Supervillains

Why this book:
Comics...supervillains...and a longtime love for the Legion of the Lame Ass Supervillain.
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Favorite Character:
The Crow, foe of the Black Hood, is a classic archetype. A revenge motivated murderer is a well tread trope of Golden Age comics. Crow imagery. Stage props. The elements are all there.

All that would have to happen to rehabilitate Black Talon would be to take him out of the damned chicken suit. Put him in a three piece suit. Say the rooster outfit was his trying to live a past idiom that history has passed by. The character’s power set is impressive, just toss aside the chicken motif. Maybe even have the heroes laugh at him until they realize that the comical motif that held his potential has been shattered. Have him be a behind the scenes power broker brining characters through the veil of life and death for a price. A price always paid in blood and power.

Hmm Moments:
Think we have different ideas about what constitutes a regrettable villain. A Nazi with telescoping steel arms who pilots a robot Tyrannosaurus Rex against Boy King and his giant living statue. Regrettable? You mean awesome, right?

Uncle Sam foe, King Killer is just waiting for rehabilitation in the hands of the right writer and artist. Surprised that Roy Thomas didn’t take a run at him in the All Star Squadron.

Mary Marvel villain, Mr. Night could have easitly been revamped by Alan Moore. Sentient colors, a Rainbow King, and the evil of Night out to destroy all other colors and plunge the world into darkness. Hell a Mary Marvel-Green Lantern Corps team-up.

The Sigh:
Power Nelson on arriving on Bloor, the Dictator of Uranus...I know, everytime his name is mentioned they call him by his full title, thinks “There’s something disgusting on Uranus.” Yeah, BEavis, it’s enslaved humans traded to Bloor by the Emperor of Earth. It’s sorta why you’re here.

Brickbat is wearing a Batman cowl over a green suit. Did they even try? I can imagine, “Editorial would like to see you concerning Brickbat. Immediately!!!”

Refer King...law abiding citizens become hardened murder happy gunslingers overnight, all in the name of feeding a ravenous habit. Reefer madness. Having met a Reefer King or two in my day, this begs the question, “What in the hell were these guys smoking?”

Wisdom:
I usually take the position that any villain can be rehabilitated in the right story with the right author and right artist. Some of these...I’m not so sure. But I’d like to see it tried.

Juxtaposition:
The first of the Big 2 villains to appear is a Golden Age Green Arrow nemesis named Bull’s Eye. If you put aside the clown costume and take into consideration that he had superspeed reflexes and heightened senses explaining his dodgeball like abilities, he could be rehabilitated into a pretty good bad guy.

The Bulletman villain, The Dude, would fit right in modern comics. His weapons and gimmicks would be right at home in Batman and Green Arrow.

Many of the heroic nemesi of these regrettable villains are regrettable in their own right.

The Unexpected:
Boo! Hiss! Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man and Batroc don’t belong here.

No, I’m sorry. The Headmen are awesome in their quirkiness. Same with Turner D. Century.

Missed Opportunity:
While some deserve the regrettable title, Bloor, Colossus, et al, there are many who are ripe for reimagining into a modern villain.
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Last Page Sound:
Loved the walk down memory lane with the occasional detour through WTFtown.

Author Assessment:
Good stuff. Well written profiles.

Editorial Assessment:
Editorial could have take a bit more of a look at who got included. But, all in all, well done.

Knee Jerk Reaction:
Liked it.
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Att The league of regrettable superheroes snart skulle få en uppföljare, och att den skulle heta något i stil med The legion of regrettable supervillains, förvånade nog ingen. Efter att hjältarna i mask och kåpa fått sin chans var det naturligt att deras nefariösa motståndare också skulle det.

Annars verkar de sällan haft någon verklig sådan; med något undantag verkar deras enda chans att undgå den vanligen maskerade rättvisan ha varit att publikationerna sålt så dåligt att de lagts ned. I bästa fall har de sedan gjort tillräckligt intryck för att kunna återkomma för att återigen störa rättvisan och friden, men i de flesta fall har de varit tvungna att finna sig i en livstid bakom galler, eller under halvannan meter jord.

Exakt vilka kriterier som tillämpats på urvalet är något oklart: vissa av dessa skurkar verkar sannerligen inte varit sina skapares stoltaste ögonblick (»The crow«, en operasångare som supit bort rösten och tar på sig en fågeldräkt för att hämnas, eller »Mad architect« vars skapelser inte uppskattas, »The Brickbat«, som går omkring i limefärgad kostym och Batman-liknande huva, och kastar tegelstenar fyllda med gas(?!), »He-she«, som är ett mellanting mellan Two-face från Batman och Hermafroditos och som inte verkar ha ett personnamn), men andra verkar inte konstigare än något annat i genren, som »King Killer«, som är en slags chimaira som två galna doktorer satt samman av kvarlevorna från flera kriminella, eller »Mr Hydro«, en skurk kan förvandla sig till vatten och som Capten Marvel Jr har vissa problem med. »Animal-vegetable-mineral man« har vissa problem med presentationen, men grundkonceptet med någon som kan förvandla sin kropp till lite vad som helst är inte dåligt. Ett litet fåtal, som MODOK, en huvudfoting i svävarstol, används tydligen fortfarande ibland, och inte bara som skämt.

Boken använder liknande upplägg som första boken, med liknande problem (här har dock tre temasidor där var sin kategori skurkar – nazister, apor samt skurkar som tagit namn efter djur – behandlas, dock främst genom att fem missdådare får var sin kortare presentation). Med tanke på att det i synnerhet i mediets barndom var vanligt att hjältarna fick slåss mot mer eller mindre maskerade versioner av Hitler (ibland sammanblandad med djävulen) och nazisterna hade en mer tematisk genomgång även av de skurkar som fått längre presentation hjälpt att göra boken till något mer än bara en samling mer eller mindre konstiga skurkar i underliga kläder (även om »The dude« hade som sin särskiljande egenskap att gå omkring mycket välskräddad, men med vapen dolda i manchettknappar och annat). Det är återigen ganska rolig läsning, men mest en konversationspjäs. ( )