Thoughts on comic book villains

Yeah, there'll be posts on other subjects here sometimes. If this topic bores you, don't read it :)

I was thinking today about the villains and how much they make the hero.

Batman is insane. Most of his villains are, too. One way or another, they're almost all broken. And most of them are pretty memorable. You get Penguin, Joker, Ivy, Scarecrow etc. Bane and such are the 90s additions.

Spider-Man is -man. Most of his villains tend to reflect that (Dr.Octopus, the Rhino, Vulture, Scorpion, Lizard. And then you get the sci fi ones (eletro, mysterio etc.) and run into the anti-spider venom etc. 90s stuff.

Superman has -- uhm. Lex Luthor. Okay, and Braiac, Darkseid, Parasite, Myzplytyk (if he counts) and Doomsday (90s.)


For the most part, the major heroes tend to have very good villains fleshing them out. So, when is the last time a new superhero came out, had their own "new" villain who actually became, well, iconic? I can't think of any offhand, but I do wonder how many writers consider that -- with so many villains out there, why add more?

To which can be replied: Why did you add another hero?