Let us know what you like about Geek by taking our survey. When someone asks, “Hey, whats your favorite thing about superhero comics? What do you always look forward to?” I say, “The villain. I always look forward to seeing who the villain will be and what they’ll do.” The villain can be the most prominent and secondary thing you can have, especially in a superhero comic. If you have a weak villain, you can potentially have a weak arc. Your hero might be doing the most, but who would Batman be without the Joker? Or Superman without Lex Luther?Today, we’re going to talk about some lady villains. Ladies who are the baddies that creep into our hearts whether we want them to our not. Some you may know and some you may get a little more about. These lady villains have made my love for villains skyrocket, and hopefully, they’ve made yours as well.LIVEWIREvia DC ComicsI’m very much convinced that Livewire is the most brilliant and appealing supervillain that we’re consistently missing out on. Livewire aka Leslie Willis first stepped on the scene in Action Comics #835. She was first on the scene as a shock jock DJ in Metropolis. She talked mess about Superman during her time on the air which leads to her career blowing up… literally and figuratively. Leslie was fired from the station for two reasons: her attitude towards Superman and they were shifting her show in an entirely new direction. She later manifests her powers when lightning strikes her during a thunderstorm.Livewire is later retconned ever so slightly in the Batgirl of Burnside run. Here she becomes a vlogger who pulls pranks and does makeup tutorials. As she’s pulling one of her pranks, this, of course, goes horribly wrong because… karma. Livewire is one of those villains that we should be giving a lot more attention to. She’s witty, unique and has some dynamite power that can do a ton of damage.ANANKEvia Image ComicsYou’ll never hate another old lady like you do Ananke, I promise you that. You know those reality shows where that ONE girl just stirs up stuff for the hell of it? That’s Ananke. In The Wicked + The Divine, Ananke’s duty is to guide all of the gods from the beginning of the Recurrence. She’s been around since the start, and it seemed that there was no stopping her. That is until she decided to become Miss Messyboots and take things into her own hands by killing gods, manipulating people and framing others for murder. Class act.Ananke is a lady villain who is entirely brilliant besides the fact that she is just so awful. She reminds me of the old ladies from Arsenic and Old Lace, but with a snap of a finger she just blows your head off. She’s devious, calculating and with years of experience, she had time to hold this power into a mass of destruction and sweet, sweet manipulation.DUELA DENTvia DC ComicsDuela Dent is both a mystery to readers and maybe even to herself. First appearing in Batman Family #6 (1976), Duela was a bit different than the one we all know today. In this issue, she’s the Joker’s Daughter. She also claimed to be the daughter of some of the lead Batman villains such as Riddler, Penguin, Scarecrow, and Catwoman. It’s not sure why she claimed these many identities, but we’re already along for the ride. She joined the Teen Titans first as Harlequin and then Card Queen. She’s later revealed to be the daughter of Harvey Dent. Yes, Two-Face and Gilda Dent was her mother.Fast-forward to now, and she’s happily secured a spot in our hearts as a villain. However, she’s still very underused, but super popular and creates some insane damage points when used. Her story was happily retconned in the new 52s, which has her as a woman entirely off her rocker living in a sewer with Joker’s skinned off face as her new armor. This is a villain on the list that we need more of. She’s been used wonderfully in DC Bombshell’s as a host to the Nazi’s and torturing the hell out of Zatanna. Give readers more of that story so she can square up and ruin the hell out of someone. I’d throw money at it instantly.NEBULAvia MarvelAll to Nebula’s defense, if I had a dad and/or grandfather like Thanos, I’d be a supervillainess hellbent on fighting the galaxy too. There isn’t a whole lot about Nebula’s beginnings before she became the space pirate. We do know that her conquering came in her first 1985 appearance in Avengers #257. In this issue, she set out to conquer Sanctuary II, a space system built by Thanos himself. She also stole the Infinity Gauntlet, so she is a bold one.However, things kind of turn for Nebula. Thanos, set on gaining back his Gauntlet and control, almost kills her. As he leaves Nebula on the very slim timeline, Geater brings Nebula to space criminal doctor of the galaxies. A bolt here, some new limbs there, Nebula becomes a space cyborg by way of Doctor Mandibus and becomes the woman she is today. Again, I’d be hellbent on destroying some galaxies too.Now, the tricky part of Nebula’s history is her claims to Thanos. Why would she want them? We’ll never know. Nebula claimed herself to be Thanos’ granddaughter, but he never recognizes this in the comics, laughing at her everytime. Later on, in her retconned history in Gamora and the MCU, she’s the adopted daughter of Thanos’s along with Gamora. Nebula became one of my favorite villainesses because she just keeps coming. There’s no backing down from Nebula. She just keeps swinging and you can’t say that’s not admirable. Karen Gillian, who plays Nebula in the MCU, does a fantastic job of catching people up to her history without showing much but does show the pain she has to continually be in. From her body, but also from not being recognized by Thanos as a daughter and Gamora as a sister.LADY DEATHSTRIKEvia MarvelBorn to a former kamikaze pilot who later developed a way that human bones could bond to Adamantium, Yuriko Oyama had a bit of a sad life growing up. Yuiko was introduced to readers in Daredevil #197 but later revived as Lady Deathstrike in Alpha Flight #33, where she’s meant to retrieve the power that Wolverine has in his system back to her. See, Mr. Oyama’s work was stolen from him, and it didn’t recover quietly easily. Yuriko decided to go on the hunt for her father’s lost research, seeking out Wolverine and thinking that he could be connected to it.Lady Deathstrike is a compelling character because how close she is to Wolverine and how lethal she is. She carries nail manipulation that allows her nails grow up to 12 inches long and can penetrate superhard surfaces. She also has speed, agility, reflexes, cyberpathy and more. A bit of her story was later retconned when Ana Cortes took over the mantle of Lady Deathstrike in X-Men Vol. 2: Muertas. There have only been a handful of characters that can match Wolverine’s strength and you don’t want to cross Lady Deathstrike in a dark alley anywhere.COUNTESSvia MarvelA-Force was the best comic team up for a very long time. I know this villain technically shouldn’t count. She hasn’t been in a lot of issues yet to show what she can really do. However, I love to iron out the potentials and amazing abilities of these characters. Introduced to readers in A-Force Vol. 2 #5, Countess’ abilities disrupted the team in the harshest of ways. She was a shapeshifter, able to construct her body into anything even a dragon. Her big three were mind control, reality warping, and telekinesis. Countess used her abilities to get inside of Nico’s head and systematically dismantle A-Force from the inside using Nico’s powerful abilities at her disposal.I’ve talked about Arkea (X-Men Vol. 4) in a previous post, but if I had to compare a villain, I’d compare her potential to expand to Countess. Yeah, the ending of Countess’ run was a lot lame, being saved by the power of love and all, but with her epically cool abilities, there should be a broader scope that she can go into within an arc of someones run.ALICE (ELIZABETH KANE)via DC ComicsAlice storyline was so intriguing within Batwoman: Elegy. I wish it could have stayed that way because it could have been something fantastic going forward (even though it did get interesting, but that first bit!). Alice is none other than Elizabeth Kane, aka Katherine Kane’s (Batwoman), twin sister. Elizabeth and Katherine were brought up together but involved in a terrorist attack when their father is stationed in Brussels. With their mother gone and Elizabeth presumed dead, she was adopted into the Religion of Crime and fashioned herself after Alice from Alice in Wonderland. The sisters reunite after Batwoman spends time trying to figure out what this syndicate wants from her, but finds her sister alive and in that sweet crime life.The coolest thing about Alice was how criminally insane she was. After the incident in Brussels and going into the Religion of Crime, she was left broken. Those broken pieces lead to her talking in Alice in Wonderland quotes and almost a slightly lesser version of The Joker. She’s not afraid to kill anyone and anything. She’s cool, calm and collected while pointing a gun at your face or a knife to your throat. You hardly know what she’s saying, but that’s almost the fun of it. She has adventures later on as Red Alice, but it was fun seeing Alice like this and seeing the villainous she could have been, especially with Batwoman as your sister.SINvia MarvelUpon researching for this article, I had never heard of Sin before. I also didn’t know Red Skull had a kid, but could already guess he would be a terrible father. Sin aka Sinthia Schmidt made her first introduction in Captain America #290. She was born to Red Skull and a random woman who was to give him a child. After giving birth to the baby, Red Skull was immediately upset that this baby was a girl. He wanted a boy to inherit his many terrible wonders and proceeded to be mad at the mother, who had died giving birth to Sin. (No one can get breaks in this life or the next.) After this, Red Skull gave the child to Mother Night. She became her nanny, teaching her in advanced “way of the bad guy” and then Sin’s story just takes another colossal left turn.Red Skull, still really upset that he had a daughter instead of a son, aged his daughter so that she could “be of use to him.” She became Mother Superior in the Sisters of Sin and then later Sister Sin. She’s gotten into dangerous situations with Captain America, attempting to assassinate him with Crossbones by her side. She’s gifted with intelligence, hand-to-hand and she’s pretty brutal and very much a savage. I’d love to see her in the MCU sometime after reading some of her comics cause… WOW.AMANDA WALLERvia DC ComicsI refuse for anyone to tell me that Amanda Waller isn’t a villain. Every comic I’ve read with Amanda Waller and even watching Suicide Squad, I’m always left with a feeling of dread for her next move. What is she going to next? Whose life is she determined to destroy? If Ananke is Miss Messyboots 450, then Amanda Waller is Miss Messyboots 1986. Amanda Waller’s life wasn’t great growing up. The path she’s taken in her career can pave the way from her past.Appearing in Legend #1 (1986), Amanda grew up in a Cabrini-Green, an area in Chicago that was littered with crime. She married young and had a family, but tragedy soon hit when their daughter was assaulted and murdered. Amanda’s husband decided to take matters into his own hands but tragically was killed. Amanda’s life took a turn, but she never put her head down. She went to school and geared towards politics. When she was in office, everyone regarded her as utterly ruthless and not afraid to tell people like it is. She was determined, manipulative and a complete mastermind, but kept her eyes on all the prices. Later, she resurrected the Suicide Squad under her command, keeping them in line ever since.MADAME MASQUEvia MarvelGuiletta Neff or Madame Masque made her comic debut in Tales of Suspense #97 or #98. Born to Count Luchino Neferia, a super powerful kingpin in the crime syndicate Maggia, and his wife, who died giving birth to the baby. Not wanting her, partially because she was a girl (yes, another one….), she was sent off to live with Bryon Frost, a well-heeled Wall Street fancy man. He adopted her, Neferia hoped she’d have a better upbringing with him and Frost re-named her Whitney Frost.She later would learn about her parentage after Neferia came back to ask her to work for the Maggia. Learning the ways from her father, she went on a mission, but the results cost Guiletta/Whitney her face, leaving her with a disfigured face. She later dawns a new name after her disfigurement, Madame Masque, while also displaying a mask made by Mordecai Midas.One of the highlights of Madame Masque’s arcs in comics was her relationship with Tony Stark. The two carries an on/off again connection. She feels a great deal of affection for him even though both of them should have probably stayed far away from each other. The ties they bound sent him absolutely spiraling at a point. Although she has outstanding abilities in hand-to-hand, tactical, marksmanship, her mind has always been her downfall when it comes to who she is as a character. Honestly, it’s one of the coolest things that make her a villain as well. Is she going to be kind or nasty? Kind or cruel? The adventure is the journey!TALIA AL GHULvia DC ComicsI could have picked any lady from the Batverse. Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Lady Shiva, Ma Gunn, you name it. However, Talia Al Ghul is a villain in the Batman universe that, personally, continues to fascinate and frustrate me. Talia Al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul, was introduced to comics in Detective Comics #411. As the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul, you learn some particular skillsets while deep in League of Assassin territory, including weapons, hand-to-hand, etc. She took over his empire when he died, but still very much “meh” about the dealings of her father. Talia very much works within her own operations, including the choice to fall in love with Batman and carried his child, Damien Wayne.Talia continues to be as frustrating as she is because of her ability to completely and utterly play someone to do her bidding for her, but also her ability to not let go of Batman. These are both good and bad qualities in whatever book you decide to pick up. For some of Talia’s faults, you have to admire her as a villain. She, again, has those wicked skillsets, the leader of a couple of organizations including the Leviathan Organization and she’s quite badass. It pains me to say that, but she very much is.
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