Ideal Rogue’s gallery size.

[Will Evans]

20 is a good number. Comprising of A list to D list villains.

Not including one shot villains or super ultra powerful villains that show up very 20 years like Imperiex or Nekron.

[MyriVerse]

No gallery can have too much Rogue! ♥ She's a hottie.

Seriously, 20 sounds good for a monthly in this decompressed age. One A-list villain can get 8-12 months of issues.

[worstblogever]

Did Lee have a rule about that, or was it just nifty alliteration (of which he was so very fond)? I don't dispute your statement, I'd just never heard that before.

Nah, Stan never explicitly stated it, but there's just no better team up of villains that proves 6 is the magic number more than the Sinister Six. If that's where Stan cut it off, that's just the right number. For the Silver Age, at least.

[DrNewGod]

Nah, Stan never explicitly stated it, but there's just no better team up of villains that proves 6 is the magic number more than the Sinister Six. If that's where Stan cut it off, that's just the right number. For the Silver Age, at least.

Oooorrrr, that was just how many of Spider-Man's foes would fit in a issue at the time.

[TheRay]

Personally, I'd keep it an ever expanding size. But like you said only add characters if it's a new idea.

[mathew101281]

Personally, I'd keep it an ever expanding size. But like you said only add characters if it's a new idea.

like I said before, 9 seems to be the max number before you start to get thematic or conceptual repeats.

[TheRay]

I don’t think Batman or Spiderman really support that.
Superman even.

[green_garnish]

Zero is the only correct answer. The Phantom got it right. Defeat the villain and move on. A villain that keeps coming back lessens the hero.

[CSTowle]

I think at least 6, but honestly any number above that is fine. 6-12 main villains, like a Batman/Spider-Man, with a lot of B/C/D-tier guys and then plenty of one-offs and situations. Combined with your classical misunderstanding fights between heroes, world/universe level threats where you all pitch in, and situations you can't punch (Cataclysm/Inferno) and you're good.

My concern is quality among a Rogue's gallery. Superman is arguably the most important superhero, perhaps also the most well-known. But his Rogue's gallery is awful. You have Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Bizarro, Mr. Mxyzptlk (though neither he nor Bizarro are exactly "villainous"), and....? Sure, Doomsday but he's kind of like Zod in that you can't pull that out all too often or it diminishes them. Even Brainiac fits into that category. Then it's a pretty big drop off to your Parasite, Kryptonite Man, Metallo, Mongul, etc.

Wonder Woman's even worse. Circe, Cheetah (seriously, how is a cat-themed villain your main enemy?), ?

Lex to me is the only interesting villain Superman has, and Wonder Woman has none. That limits my interest in the characters. You can argue Superman is so powerful he doesn't need a lot of villains, but for story purposes it's a shame. I like that Darkseid has sort of been adopted by the Superman books, that's at least a threat and an interesting one, and in Wonder Woman's case adopting the Greek Pantheon as supporting cast/villains gives them something to work with (DC's Thor equivalent). Just feels like Batman has an embarrassment of riches by comparison.

[PCN24454]

I think at least 6, but honestly any number above that is fine. 6-12 main villains, like a Batman/Spider-Man, with a lot of B/C/D-tier guys and then plenty of one-offs and situations. Combined with your classical misunderstanding fights between heroes, world/universe level threats where you all pitch in, and situations you can't punch (Cataclysm/Inferno) and you're good.

My concern is quality among a Rogue's gallery. Superman is arguably the most important superhero, perhaps also the most well-known. But his Rogue's gallery is awful. You have Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Bizarro, Mr. Mxyzptlk (though neither he nor Bizarro are exactly "villainous"), and....? Sure, Doomsday but he's kind of like Zod in that you can't pull that out all too often or it diminishes them. Even Brainiac fits into that category. Then it's a pretty big drop off to your Parasite, Kryptonite Man, Metallo, Mongul, etc.

Wonder Woman's even worse. Circe, Cheetah (seriously, how is a cat-themed villain your main enemy?), ?

Lex to me is the only interesting villain Superman has, and Wonder Woman has none. That limits my interest in the characters. You can argue Superman is so powerful he doesn't need a lot of villains, but for story purposes it's a shame. I like that Darkseid has sort of been adopted by the Superman books, that's at least a threat and an interesting one, and in Wonder Woman's case adopting the Greek Pantheon as supporting cast/villains gives them something to work with (DC's Thor equivalent). Just feels like Batman has an embarrassment of riches by comparison.

I feel like people say that other rogues galleries are horrible more than they actually are. Their stories have been on par with Batman and Spider-man's villains which isn't saying much.

You wouldn't have known that Kraven existed before KLH, and even then it was a mediocre story arc.

[TheRay]

All in all, rogues galleries aren't as necessary as varied villain plots.

What's good about rogues galleries is when you can flesh out the villain's story as much as the hero's. It's the reason all of the Team Rocket Grunts are just "TR Grunt", whereas Giovanni is who he is.

[green_garnish]

What's good about rogues galleries is when you can flesh out the villain's story as much as the hero's. It's the reason all of the Team Rocket Grunts are just "TR Grunt", whereas Giovanni is who he is.

What's good about not having a rogues gallery is having to flesh out a villain's story as much as the hero's in one story.

[PCN24454]

What's good about rogues galleries is when you can flesh out the villain's story as much as the hero's. It's the reason all of the Team Rocket Grunts are just "TR Grunt", whereas Giovanni is who he is.

You don't need a Rogues Gallery for that as much as you need minions for the villain to interact with.

[CSTowle]

I feel like people say that other rogues galleries are horrible more than they actually are. Their stories have been on par with Batman and Spider-man's villains which isn't saying much.

You wouldn't have known that Kraven existed before KLH, and even then it was a mediocre story arc.

If someone wants to write a Cheetah's Last Hunt I'm all for it. It was a good story, though before and after I never really cared for the character or saw him as more than C-Tier in the Spider-Verse. Somewhere above the Molten Man and below the Jackal. Honestly my favorite story of his was interacting with Deadpool in the Joe Kelly run, issue #11 where Deadpool goes back in time and poses as Peter Parker following along the story of a Lee/Romita issue.

[TheRay]

What's good about not having a rogues gallery is having to flesh out a villain's story as much as the hero's in one story.

That sounds rushed. I feel like you're talking about this in a way that's too abstract. I'm hard pressed to come up with any examples of what you're saying.