The Comic Whisperer’s Top 10 Good Characters That Went Bad (even if just for a little). This list is in no particular order:
10.) Superboy Prime: An obvious choice for the list. Here was Beaver Cleaver that wound up picking up a cleaver. You remember what happened. He was trapped in a dimension with a couple of loved one but cracked under the pressure. He supposedly hated how dark things were becoming earth wise but wound up turning dark himself. He pushed planets out of orbit, killed heroes, junked the JLA Watchtower, and even started voting for the Democrats (no hate mail please, I dropped all the political parties in a hat and I drew the Democrats). After that there was no stopping him.
9.) Hal Jordan: You can put Hal in the flip-flop category because although he killed untold numbers of people he’s back with the good guys now. The interesting part of him turning evil was that he just snapped. After recreating his beloved Coast City, without the express written consent of the Guardians, he just went berserk. All was forgiven when he sacrificed his life to reignite the Earth’s Sun. A pretty easy way to be forgiven if you ask me. I could reignite the Sun....if I wanted to.
8.) Jason Todd: One of my favorite conversions, Jason Todd’s history is probably more to blame than anything for his “bruising”. The reason for my love is that Jason never really fell over the line into true villainy. True, he doesn’t mind killing, wreaking havoc, or other mischievous things, but he still can be considered on the hero side...kindof. The most interesting thing about Jason Todd is that his Robin character was killed off not as a choice of the publisher but as a choice of the fans. At one point DC had a number you could call to vote whether Jason’s Robin lived or died. I don’t know how you do a “thumbs down” motion over the phone, but he got tons of ‘em.
7.) Omni-Man: Who?!?! You know...Nolan Grayson! The Viltrumite sent to protect the Earth. (It seems like there are alot of races that think the Earth needs a single protector) You might know him better for his son Mark, the hero Invincible. In a soap opera like twist, Nolan revealed himself as actually playing for the enemy team and gave his son a near fatal beating. Sure, Omni-Man played the Magneto role by fluctuating back and forth as hero and villain, but he was a turn-coat. Thankfully his son Oliver liked him enough to become “Kid Omni-Man”. Not a very catchy, or original, name. He could have picked “Kid Bruised Fruit”...Nah.
6.) The Plutonian: Yes, a completely original, Superman-like, solo protector of Earth. (They multiply like bunnies...yeesh) The title Irredeemable pretty much says it all as this hero-turned-villain snaps because he feels under appreciated. Oh, boo-hoo. Join the club. So, instead of just moping and going to bed early like most of us he kills dozens and sinks Singapore. As of this writing he has yet to repent for his sins and still falls into the category of Irredeemable.
5.) Jean Loring: Everyone’s favorite whack job, Jean Loring went from the wife of a hero, to the ex-wife of a hero, to the killer of a pregnant wife of a hero. That’s quite a transition. I used this picture in a previous blog, but the artist truly captured her insanity with this one. Not to add further unpleasantness, but she didn’t just shoot the Elongated Man’s wife, she shrunk down and caused a brain aneurysm in her. She left no clues and drove the super hero investigators absolutely insane for dozens of pages. She’s now at the Dark Phoenix Memorial Rehabilitation Center.
4.) Terra (of The New Teen Titans): Former semi-squeeze of Changeling, Terra turned out to be extremely powerful and extremely tight with Deathstroke. She apparently was planted there from the start to be a mole in the organization. Is it merely a coincidence that the “mole” was also the one that had control over the earth itself? Hmmmm. I don’t want to tell you how she died, but she was crushed by a building.
3.) Jericho (also of The New Teen Titans): Jericho was a bigger turn-coat as he actually saved the Titans THEN turned on them. Now THAT is a way to be undercover and be convincing. Save the group you are trying to destroy, then destroy them. Jericho, it turns out, was Deathstroke’s son and was supposedly possessed by spirits. Likely excuse. He apparently was able to fight them off long enough for Deathstroke to kill him. How’s that for a reward for fighting off your demons. “Dad, I did it! Ugh!” (Ugh! is the sound someone makes when they die)
2.) Wolverine: An obvious choice for the list, James Logan Howlett has fought against his own teammates on the X-Men a number of times. It would seem like dozens of mind-wipes and reprogramming and having adamantium fused to his skeleton left him mentally fragile. In his defense, he usually became a bad guy when he was brainwashed to do so. He was possessed by demons in Hell, brainwashed by Apocalypse and the Horsemen, and even taken over by Hydra and the Hand. This poor guy probably doesn’t know who he is anymore, well, and the fact that he died doesn’t help either.
1.) Jean Grey: I didn’t have this in any particular order but she has to be number one. Starting off as an innocent girl in green and yellow (blue and yellow, black and yellow....whatever) she wound up as a planet swallowing bird made of flames. It didn’t happen overnight. Jean’s transformation took many forms and even looked like it may not happen thanks to Professor X and his mental “walls”. Alas, Jean couldn’t handle all the power (like a long line of U.S. Presidents) and wound up losing control of her own reality. This lack of control was nudged a little by the members of The Hellfire Club. That Jason Wyngarde, the women love him.
A betting person would say that the line of characters changing from good to bad is not at it’s end yet. It’s a twist, that if done properly, can make even the most ardent of collectors do a double take. It’s also a reminder that heroes are only human. They snap too. They just have a little bit more power to play with than you and I do.
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