Who do you think are the 10 best Spidey villains?

[Mutant God]

Green Goblin
Venom
Doc Ock
Carnage
Scorpion
Kraven The Hunter
Spider-Queen
Jackal
Lizard
Morlun

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

In no particular order:

Green Goblin (Norman)
Doc Ock
Venom
Kraven
Rhino
Lizard
Jackal
Carnage
Kingpin
Mysterio

[Celgress]

The top three are easy, imo -

Green Goblin
Doctor Octopus
Venom (classic pre anti-hero version)

From there it gets tricky -

Kingpin
Hobgoblin (original version)
Lizard
Jackal
Vulture
Sandman
Electro

[Mister Mets]

10. Markley/ Fusion
9. Flint Marko/ William Baker/ Sandman
8. Roderick Kingsley/ The Hobgoblin
7. Kraven the Hunter
6. Wilson Fisk/ The Kingpin
5. Harry Osborn/ The Green Goblin
4. The Alien Costume/ Venom
3. Norman Osborn/ The Green Goblin
2. Doctor Octopus
1. Curt Connors/ The Lizard

Depending on how you look at it, Jonah could be #1.

[Pav]

10. Markley/ Fusion
9. Flint Marko/ William Baker/ Sandman
8. Roderick Kingsley/ The Hobgoblin
7. Kraven the Hunter
6. Wilson Fisk/ The Kingpin
5. Harry Osborn/ The Green Goblin
4. The Alien Costume/ Venom
3. Norman Osborn/ The Green Goblin
2. Doctor Octopus
1. Curt Connors/ The Lizard

Depending on how you look at it, Jonah could be #1.

Mets - considering you have the Lizard ranked at the very top of the list, what do you think of his arc from the Brand New Day era to now?

-Pav, who likes the Lizard despite his not being an orange Dinosaur Man...

[Mister Mets]

Mets - considering you have the Lizard ranked at the very top of the list, what do you think of his arc from the Brand New Day era to now?

-Pav, who likes the Lizard despite his not being an orange Dinosaur Man...

I actually like it.

It's led to some good stories, and kept things changing.

A problem with the villain was that many of the stories kept repeating the same beats, so something was needed to get him out of that rut. That something took a few dark turns, but they have managed to avoid breaking the character.

[DieHard200904]

10. Markley/ Fusion
9. Flint Marko/ William Baker/ Sandman
8. Roderick Kingsley/ The Hobgoblin
7. Kraven the Hunter
6. Wilson Fisk/ The Kingpin
5. Harry Osborn/ The Green Goblin
4. The Alien Costume/ Venom
3. Norman Osborn/ The Green Goblin
2. Doctor Octopus
1. Curt Connors/ The Lizard

Depending on how you look at it, Jonah could be #1.

Jameson being a pain in the ass is funny sometimes.

[Spidey5640]

[QUOTE=Pav;2730487]Green Goblin
Doc Ock
Venom
Jackal
Lizard
Hobgoblin
Kraven
Mysterio
Chameleon
Rhino

Agreed....and the sad thing is the most recent one on the list to be created was over 400 issues ago!!!!!

[Pav]

[QUOTE=Spidey5640;2736176]

Green Goblin
Doc Ock
Venom
Jackal
Lizard
Hobgoblin
Kraven
Mysterio
Chameleon
Rhino

Agreed....and the sad thing is the most recent one on the list to be created was over 400 issues ago!!!!!

On the flip side, it's Rhino's recent stories that put him into the Top 10 over guys like Electro and Shocker (for me).

-Pav, who also enjoyed the current Lizard stuff...

[WebLurker]

Agreed....and the sad thing is the most recent one on the list to be created was over 400 issues ago!!!!!

Isn't pretty hard to create iconic characters, though? Esp. when no one can really predict which ones will strike a chord with readers and/or when that will happen (a really good story, a movie, meme, etc.)?

[Mister Mets]

Isn't pretty hard to create iconic characters, though? Esp. when no one can really predict which ones will strike a chord with readers and/or when that will happen (a really good story, a movie, meme, etc.)?

There are multiple difficulties.

You need to find new roles for the new villains. Venom has staying power partly because he was a bigger, nastier doppelganger, and no other villain did that as well.
It helps if other writers are willing to use them, but this might not happen if they've been waiting twenty years to tell their Rhino story, or to introduce their own bad guys.

Modern storytelling pushes for permanent endings for certain stories, so some of the best recent villains were killed off by their authors (Fusion was killed off by Paul Jenkins in a Thor mini-series of all places; Massacre was killed by Superior Spider-Man) because that's something they can't do with an A-lister.

[WebLurker]

There are multiple difficulties.

You need to find new roles for the new villains. Venom has staying power partly because he was a bigger, nastier doppelganger.
It helps if other writers are willing to use them, but this might not happen if they've been waiting twenty years to tell their Rhino story, or to introduce their own bad guys.

Modern storytelling pushes for permanent endings for certain stories, so some of the best recent villains were killed off by their authors (Fusion was killed off by Paul Jenkins in a Thor mini-series of all places; Massacre was killed by Superior Spider-Man) because that's something they can't do with an A-lister.

Makes sense; if there was an exact science, I'm sure everyone would be capitalizing on it.

What was the last really iconic Spider-Man villain created? (I've had the impression that Venom is a popular nominee, but I'm pretty disconnected from that kind of thing).

[comicscollector]

In no order#

Doctor Octopus.

Electro.

Mysterio.

Hobgoblin.

Lizard.

Kraven.

Shocker.

Sandman.

Venom.

Hydro Man.

[JTait]

In the order that I thought of them:

Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)
Doc Ock
Hobgoblin (Kingsley)
Mysterio
Venom (Eddie Brock)
Vulture
The Jackal
Electro
Kraven
The Lizard

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

[Spidey5640]

Isn't pretty hard to create iconic characters, though? Esp. when no one can really predict which ones will strike a chord with readers and/or when that will happen (a really good story, a movie, meme, etc.)?

No doubt. exactly why when they do find one that strikes a cord, they then create a multitude of rip-off versions of the original...