10 Best Marvel And DC Supervillains Who've Debuted Since 2000

5. The Inventor/The Birdman

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Marvel Comics

Marvel's new Ms. Marvel series has generated plenty of praise from both fans and critics. Much of this is because of the new Ms. Marvel herself, a Muslim teen named Kamala Khan who is a likable and believable teen hero trying to adjust to her new-found powers.

But part of the success of this new comic belongs to Ms. Marvel's first big enemy, The Inventor, or, if you wish, the Birdman.

The Inventor has one of the odder origin stories in the Marvel universe: A scientist once tried to clone inventor Thomas Edison. But the DNA sample the scientist used was contaminated by his pet cockatiel. That somehow resulted in The Inventor becoming a human-sized bird-man hybrid with a genius intellect.

What's so great about The Inventor? Characters often refer to him as a bird. This infuriates the villain, and the phrase "I am not a bird!" has become a sort of catchphrase for this oddball character.

Best Moment

The Inventor is so wily, he was able to convince angry teens and young adults, disillusioned with the world, to voluntarily become living batteries for his bioengineering experiments. And he did this without physical violence, just by preaching to his potential volunteers.

Contributor

Dan Rafter has worked as a freelance journalist for more than 20 years. He has written for everyone from the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to Mental Floss, BusinessWeek Online and Consumers Digest. You can find more by him at his comic's Web site, CareersinComics.