What up with heroes having an opposite ?

[Mikey]

Since I never read comics I have no idea who most of these are (not even sure if all are opposites) , but i'm left scratching my head why it's been done so much ?

A few I can think of .....

Superman-Bizzaro

Black Spiderman

Reverse Flash

Shazam with a black suit

and i'm sure there's more .......

Is there ever a GOOD Lex Luthor or Goblin ?

[huedell]

Since I never read comics I have no idea who most of these are (not even sure if all are opposites) , but i'm left scratching my head why it's been done so much ?

A few I can think of .....

Superman-Bizzaro

Black Spiderman

Reverse Flash

Shazam with a black suit

and i'm sure there's more .......

Is there ever a GOOD Lex Luthor or Goblin ?

I'm not sure what the exact answer IS but I'd imagine there
are definitely answers that the bigger comic bookers here have
that'd satisfy a "good" Luthor or Goblin.... alternate universes
or timelines maybe... but those characters are so old, that idea MUST'VE
been explored.

(edited to add that I think two of the main heroes in the DC movie
CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS were a good Joker, and a good Lex)

With classic characters it's almost mandatory (in a dramatic sense)
for them to have opposites in quite many respects... some obvious
like Bizarro (an imperfect duplicate), and some more subtle, like Metallo, who needs Kryptonite to live, while Supes "needs it to die" ... um.... if you
know what I mean

[The Toyroom]

Black Spiderman

Venom

Shazam with a black suit

Black Adam

Is there ever a GOOD Lex Luthor or Goblin ?

The Lex Luthor of Earth-3 was a good guy, while the Supes/Bats/Wonder Woman/GL/Flash counterparts were collectively the Crime Syndicate of America.

The was a "good guy" Green Goblin in the 90s before they decided to revive Norman Osborn....

[samurainoir]

.

Is there ever a GOOD Lex Luthor or Goblin ?

[johnmiic]

It used to be that in DC comics many Super-Villains wore costumes like the hero but with colors reversed or altered:

Superman/Bizarro
Flash/Reverse Flash
Shazam/Black Adam
The Joker/The Creeper
Justice League/Justice Lords
Justice League/Crime Syndicate,(?)

Marvel did things differently so they resisted this simplification of villains until Venom came along. Well, there was one exception:

Fantastic Four/U-Foes, (from the early 1980's in HULK comics before Venom)
Spider-Man/Venom black costume/Carnage red & black costume
HULK green/Red HULK
She-Hulk green/Red She-Hulk

[bobws]

It's Just a classic literature idea. The best way to show off a character is to put him/her against it's opposite. That way the characters ability doesn't help, it's mirror image foe can do the same things. The hero now has to overcome his own weaknesses or out think or make a moral choice or even risk self- sacrifice to overcome the enemy.

[BlackKnight]

Nothing Beats Reverse Wonder Woman on Robot Chicken .

[Brazoo]

I always thought it was a cop-out.

"Wadda we do this week for the bad guy?"
"I donno, let's just make a bad version of the good guy!"

Though I do think Bizzaro is amazing.

[Adam West]

The reason I liked Bizzaro as an opposite was that he is as strong as Superman in just about every aspect.

Of all the heroes, Superman is the one who is almost invincible and there seems to be only so much you can do with kryptonite.

I also agree with the idea of an opposite is a literary theme used since the beginning of time. It works to an extent (especially in the case of Bizzarro).

[Earth 2 Chris]

A great comic treatment of the idea of the "evil double" is "The Player on the Other Side" by Mike W. Barr and Michael Golden. Batman meets his opposite number, The Wrath. You can find it in the "Batman in the 80s" TPB.

Chris

[huedell]

Funny that a Trekkie started this thread, when that Trek "Mirror stuff"
is such a popular part of that franchise.

[Adam West]

Funny that a Trekkie started this thread, when that Trek "Mirror stuff"
is such a popular part of that franchise.

It's a good conversation piece and food for thought. I'm a Spider-Man geek and although never really considered Venom or Carnage the opposite of Spider-Man but more alter-egos...have appreciated some of the characters that are polar opposite villains. Forget superheroes and villains. Just think of running into someone who is the exact opposite of you. If you say that complete darkness is black, they say it's white...you say the earth revolves around the sun and they say the sun revolves around the sun....kinda sounds like my wife (jk)....but think about it and that they have the exact same physical power, intelligence, etc....kinda sounds like my wife and makes for a good story line

[PNGwynne]

Although I really like Bizarro & Black Adam, I think the "Mirror, Mirror" thing is a creative cop-out for super-villains.

It seems to me that Batman/Joker or Spider-Man/Green Goblin is more compelling than Flash/Prof. Zoom.

With a character like the Penguin, vs. Batman, it's the disparity & dichotomy of the relationship that keeps the rivalry interesting.

[samurainoir]

Sure it's kind of dumb in the context of adult-hood, but as a kid, the evil doppleganger's always been a nifty staple.

When I was young, I always though the Wrath was pretty cool, not sure why they never brought him back. Grant Morrison's Promethius was an updating of the concept, but he hasn't really had much impact since the JLA.


In some ways, the evil doppleganger is generally an easy fall back when the character doesn't have an effective rogues gallery... Venom only cropped up when Spiderman's were kind of going stale in the nineties (particularly the Goblin iterations as arch-enemy) and Batman hasn't really had one at the top of the food chain... although Joker, Two Face, Hugo Strange have all put on his costume at some time or another. (do you consider Man-Bat an evil doppleganger? Owl Man's only become any kind of contender outside of the Crime Syndicate in recent years)

More notable is characters that don't really do the Evil Doppleganger well... Wonder Woman never really had one of note, other than the occasional rogue Amazon. Hawkman's were the stupidest thing I've ever seen... Man-Hawks... Hawks wearing masks.

[The Toyroom]

Hawkman's were the stupidest thing I've ever seen... Man-Hawks... Hawks wearing masks.

Gotta love ol' Julie Schwartz and his wacky Silver Age ideas...or should we blame Gardner Fox? Kubert?