Ahahah I loved your summary of DCAU!Lex's journey - it's so succinct! And I've never read the Starman comics but everything I've heard about the Shade makes me want to...
Good point about female bad guys not bringing that camp devotion to wickedness that makes some villains so much fun. Most of the female villains I really like are more on the anti-hero/redemption track, as you say. Maybe Lara Raith from the Dresden Files (not really camp but sort of in the charming sometimes-ally-of-the-hero type?)
I like both a bad guy who embarks on guilt-ridden atonement and a bad guy who changes sides out of pragmatic reasons or because they just happen to like the good guys more.
Yesssss - all of this! I love villains who switch sides for any of these reasons. Sometimes my favorites are the ones who do it because they just personally like the heroes better - if they're still selfish as anything, but become good guys because they're selfish for the right people! (Gargoyles's Xanatos is in this mold, pretty much; he doesn't so much reform as just really wants to be Goliath's friend...!)
(Anime has a ton of redeemed-ish villains of which one of my personal favorites is still DBZ's Vegeta, who basically switches sides because there's more opportunity for fights as a hero and most of his personal redemption happens by accident because he gets a family...)
Ahaha, DBZ. I did like Vegeta, but my favourite villain redemption story there was Piccolo - mainly because of the bit where he trained Son Gohan.
The Starman comics are very good - they work very well as a finished, stylish stand-alone series, but they're also GREAT at DCU continuity. A bit like the DCU portions of Sandman, perhaps? If you're interested, I still have cbr files.
Maybe the problem I have with female villains is that they're either allowed to be real people, and then they are tragic or redeemable, or they're vilified and one-dimensional. But when they're camp - neither too vile nor too tragic - then they're usually there for the sex appeal in a rather off-putting way.
Good point about female bad guys not bringing that camp devotion to wickedness that makes some villains so much fun. Most of the female villains I really like are more on the anti-hero/redemption track, as you say. Maybe Lara Raith from the Dresden Files (not really camp but sort of in the charming sometimes-ally-of-the-hero type?)
I like both a bad guy who embarks on guilt-ridden atonement and a bad guy who changes sides out of pragmatic reasons or because they just happen to like the good guys more.
Yesssss - all of this! I love villains who switch sides for any of these reasons. Sometimes my favorites are the ones who do it because they just personally like the heroes better - if they're still selfish as anything, but become good guys because they're selfish for the right people! (Gargoyles's Xanatos is in this mold, pretty much; he doesn't so much reform as just really wants to be Goliath's friend...!)
(Anime has a ton of redeemed-ish villains of which one of my personal favorites is still DBZ's Vegeta, who basically switches sides because there's more opportunity for fights as a hero and most of his personal redemption happens by accident because he gets a family...)
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The Starman comics are very good - they work very well as a finished, stylish stand-alone series, but they're also GREAT at DCU continuity. A bit like the DCU portions of Sandman, perhaps? If you're interested, I still have cbr files.
Maybe the problem I have with female villains is that they're either allowed to be real people, and then they are tragic or redeemable, or they're vilified and one-dimensional. But when they're camp - neither too vile nor too tragic - then they're usually there for the sex appeal in a rather off-putting way.
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