So I'm reading the latest Essential Thor volume and the first story has Thor going off to meet Galactus and it occurs to me -- during the classic Lee/Kirby days, I think Galactus appeared in Thor more often than he did in the Fantastic Four. It's not something I'd swear to -- I haven't gone back and counted the issues -- but I think there were two Lee/Kirby FF/Galactus stories and 3 or 4 Thor/Galactus stories.
Now, one of the things I like about Silver Age Marvel was the sense that it was a cohesive universe, so you could have Galactus popping up in Thor or Doctor Doom popping up in Spider-Man, or the Avengers fighting Magneto. But that said, we always thought of Doctor Doom as a Fantastic Four villain and Magneto as an X-Men villain.
Except when we didn't. The Kingpin started out as a Spider-Man villain, but in the 80s, he became a Daredevil villain. The Rhino started out as a Spider-Man villain, too, but became a Hulk villain for most of the seventies and eighties. Now he's back to being a Spider-Man villain, at least in my mind.
I wonder why I never thought of Galactus as a Thor villain instead of an FF villain? Which other villains have made the switch from one hero to another?
Posted by Jason Fliegel at June 25, 2009 11:08 AM
Hm. Mongul started a Superman villain, but he(+family)'s more of a Green Lantern[Hal] one these days. Similarly, Major Force started as a Captain Atom foe, but is now firmly in Green Lantern[Kyle]'s orbit. Both of these, of course, relied on Making It Personal, which is the same dynamic in the Kingpin case, but not the other two you mention. Which is probably why they're reversable...
I believe that the Beetle's first appearance was in a Human Torch solo story; he went on to fight Spider-Man more often, and maybe Daredevil.
There was a period when Mordru was a recurring JSA villain and hardly appeared at all in Legion.
Sabretooth started as a villain for Iron Fist, but has since been associated with Wolverine.
Dr. Light started as a JLA villain but moved to the Teen Titans in hopes for an easier battle.
Vandal Savage has gone through a series of nemeses.
I find this text (from the wikipedia article on Arcade) quite interesting (if completely unsubstantiated): "Due to the unique nature of both his mannerisms and deathtraps, Arcade became one of the most popular villains in the Marvel Comics universe, and went on to do battle with many other superheroes. Although confrontations with him rarely last more than one or two issues (making him more of a "guest villain") he has done battle with more superheroes from more franchises than any other Marvel comics villain except Dr. Doom, although he has never once successfully defeated any of them."
I always associated Dr. Light with the Atom, probably because of that great cover where Dr. Light has the Atom trapped in a lightbulb.
As for Arcade, the Marvel Chronology Project suggests he's really mostly an X-Men and Spider-Man villain, although he did show up in a the recent Dan Slott Thing series in a storyline that also featured Iron Man. But far be it from me to argue with wikipedia.
Arcade is probably in the same category as DC's Kobra, as an archvillain with no particular fixed nemesis.
The Ultra-Humanite was an Earth-2 Superman villain who got inherited by the JSA when that character left the continuity.
The Brotherhood of Evil shifted enemy teems from the Doom Patrol to the Teen Titans.
Well, the Brotherhood of Evil just wanted to do in Beast Boy.
Well, the Brotherhood of Evil just wanted to do in Beast Boy.
They'd better not! Now that Circuit City is gone, where else will I be able to buy electronics?