POA Countdown - Top 5 Comic Rivalries

Who doesn’t love petty rivalries between our favorite heroes and villains? Comics wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without them so I figured I’d take a little bit of time out of your day and talk about a couple that really stand out from the bunch.

For those of you that have been checking Panels of Awesome out for some time, you’ll probably recognize this list from a while back. It was a little bit broken during the transfer from our old servers and sat on the sidelines for a couple months. No longer! Now, in it’s entirety, is the top 5 comic rivalries!

#5 - Daredevil vs. Bullseye:

Having battled Daredevil on more occasions than almost anyone else, Bullseye is widely considered to be his greatest nemesis of all. He’s impersonated him, hallucinated about him and even killed Daredevil’s love, Elektra. Although Bullseye is currently under control of Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before he breaks free and causes more hardship for Daredevil.

#4 - Dr. Doom vs. The Fantastic 4:

While many Marvel heroes have had to deal with Dr. Doom, the Fantastic 4 hold a special place in his heart as his greatest enemies of all time as he was a former classmate of Reed Richards when they were in university. He’s had encounters with Marvel’s first family since the first issues of the group’s comic appeared and continues to this day to be a thorn in the family’s side.

#3 - Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin:

After all the things that Goblin’s done to Spider-Man, I’m surprised he can still come up with plots and evil plans to use against him. I guess that’s why he’s been out of commission as a villain and instead placed as the head of the Thunderbolts. Regardless, you know that he’ll be back to pester Spider-Man again someday. He’s been responsible for countless events including his affair with young Gwen Stacy, kidnapping Peter’s Aunt May and ultimately killing Spider-Man’s true love. Green Goblin is arguably the greatest villain Spider-Man has ever faced.

#2 - Batman vs. Joker

Over the years, Joker’s done some pretty bad things to not only Batman but the people around him. He’s not only “killed” Batman’s childhood friend Thomas Elliot but he also paralyzed Batman’s sidekick, Batgirl. Not to mention, he’s killed Batman’s sidekick Jason Todd and even the wife of police commissioner Gordon. Since Joker’s appearance in the first issue of Batman back in 1940, he’s been regarded as the ultimate villain of the Dark Knight’s world. Not to mention, he was #1 on our countdown of the top villains! (Plug!)

#1 - Superman vs. Lex Luthor

As I’ve discussed before in a previous entry, there’s something very wrong with Lex Luthor. This guy is seriously obsessed to the point where I think he could probably be featured in an upcoming episode of Intervention. The rivalry between good old Supes and Lex dates back to the early 40s. There’s over 60 years of hated there. Yikes.

Unlike other POA Countdowns, I don’t really have any notable mentions. That’s not to say that there aren’t any but I’d rather leave this task up to the people who frequent this site and leave their opinions on a regular basis. So, what rivalries would you say could be one of the biggest ones in comics? Which ones would you have rather seen up at the top than the ones I came up with?

Leave a comment, voice you opinions and thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the list.

No Hero #0 - Review

The Good…

- Another original idea from the mind of Warren Ellis that seems like it’ll be a very interesting read.
- As with his work on Black Summer, Juan Jose Ryp is fantastic in the art department.
- The comic is only $1.00 which is always good.

The Bad…

- Like most #0 issues, it’s terribly short.
- Unlike Black Summer’s over the top intro issue, there isn’t a terribly large amount of action in this opening issue.

Full Review

The team of Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp, fresh off of Black Summer, have now returned with their next saga for Avatar comics in the form of No Hero. The title has been getting quite a push from the publisher both on their website and in shops in the form of posters and ads in their other comics but the big question is will it be able to stand on it’s own, away from Black Summer, and gather a following? Will it actually be a good comic? We got our first taste this past week as issue #0 hit store shelves.

While there’s not really enough content in No Hero #0 to really get a good idea as to just what the rest of the book will bring, let alone do a proper and full review, we do manage to get a sneak peek at some of the comic’s characters and just what the main idea of the book is. It all has to do with showing off the real world for the comic’s superheroes. Many comics, usually from Marvel and DC principally, portray heroes as people who live normal lives and have secret identities without any real backlash in their normal lives. In No Hero, we see a former hero who has massive scars on his arms from the painful process he had to go through to be rid of his powers. We see others mutilated to the point where a normal person, or even a hero, would die. However, because of his…gift, he continues to live in extreme pain. Ellis does a good job of really redefining the word “superhero” and showing the painful reality that many of them could possibly face by becoming one.

Juan Jose Ryp’s work really caught my eye when I started reading Black Summer a while back and it’s safe to say that his work is just as good as it was then. If anything, his work is too similar to the style and character design from his previous work with Ellis. I’m not entirely sure if that’s a bad thing but I can already see people making the assumption, because of the character in the ad campaign who looks very similar to Summer’s Tom Noir, that this is actually Black Summer 2 as opposed to the stand-alone comic that it actually is.

Overall, there’s very little more than just gruesome violence and a quick introduction to the characters and origins of No Hero. To be honest, that’s all I’ve ever wanted so I’m pretty pleased with the issue. My main problem, which is why the issue loses some major points, is that it’s far too short, even for a zero issue. Then again, it’s only a dollar so you can’t really go wrong with it if you’re a fan of Ellis and Ryp’s previous works.

No Hero #0

6.9 out of 10 stars

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Black Summer #7 - Review

The Good…

- As with the first six issues of the comic, including the zero issue, the writing by Warren Ellis is top notch and really brings the mini-series to a satisfying close.
- Juan Jose Ryp’s art is, again, amazing.

The Bad…

- The ending is a little predictable.
- The real shame is that this series had to come to a close. I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit.

Full Review

Black Summer has been one of my favorite books since I first stumbled upon it months back. It’s been a long wait for a couple of the past issues as there’s been a number of delays and shipping problems with Avatar as well as the miscellaneous other issues that come with releasing a comic book. Although, now that the long waits are behind us, Black Summer manages to wrap up quite nicely and clean up all the loose ends that were left hanging at the end of the sixth issue. This is mostly due to Ellis’ constant desire to create something different than the norm, which I’ve gone over numerous times before, as well as his ability to build a really wicked story full of unique and interesting characters, which I’ve also gone over. It’ll be interesting to see how No Hero, Ellis’ next project with Juan Jose Ryp, turns out. The only major complain I have with Ellis’ work in this issue is that is comes to a fairly predictable conclusion that I could pretty much see coming since the mid-way mark of the fifth or sixth issues. Regardless, entertaining nonetheless.

Speaking of Ryp, his work has been fairly consistent the entire way through this series and issue seven is no exception. Tons of action, great detail as well as a heavy dose of blood and mayhem to really push the climax of the story to the limit. While I wasn’t a huge fan of his work in the early stages of this project, I have to say that he’s really grown on me and I’d now consider Juan Jose Ryp to be one of my favorite artists, certainly my favorite working for Avatar.

Overall, Black Summer’s seventh issue ends the series on a high note and really drives Ellis’ anti-hero point home. Ryp’s artwork is a perfect vehicle for Ellis’ writing to do that on as well and I’m really hoping that the two bring the same level of professionalism to the pages of No Hero when it starts hitting shelves in September. As for me, I’ve been picking up numerous other Avatar projects such as Anna Mercury, No Hero (Zero issue) and Gravel, which I would suggest to many fans of Black Summer to do as well. If you’ve been following the series and have been enjoying it throughout the entirety, issue seven certainly won’t disappoint.

Black Summer #7

8.5 out of 10 stars

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