12 Unfairly Hated DC Comics Characters
Give 'em a chance.
Sturgeon’s law tells us “ninety percent of everything is !*$%.” If that’s true, then the majority of DC Comics' hundreds of superheroes and villains are totally lame, which probably suits comic book fans just fine. We're a subculture remarkably quick and forceful in our power to hate characters. Really, who has the time and emotional resources to go around loving every creation under DC’s umbrella?
That being said, it's easy to go overboard in casting judgments willy-nilly. Taking time to consider whether you hate a character for the right reasons is always worthwhile. Between misleading portrayals in movies/TV/video games and unfortunate branding attempts, it can be hard to know if you’re really correct in saying, “I hate Superman because he’s boring.”
Is it possible that you just hate the idea you have of Superman, and that the idea you have is wrong? That question goes for every character on this list. All these heroes and villains have gained unfairly bad reputations, with many of them still struggling to compensate for horrible impressions made decades ago…
12. Calendar Man
The raw material of Calendar Man's concept is just the worst. When he first showed up (in 1958, which is surprisingly early), his focus was the seasons of the year. Later, he switched to the days of the week and donned a cape covered with numbers. It’s no good.
On the other hand, most every Batman villain has a kind of pathetic hang-up. That’s what makes them so great and so sad in their own individual ways. Riddler can’t resist the allure of puzzles, Two-Face plans every evil deed around the number two. What’s so wrong about a guy who fixates on holidays or dates?
Calendar Man got a great Hannibal Lecter-like makeover in “The Long Halloween,” which went a long way towards making him a legitimate Bat-foe. And he’s downright creepy in the “Arkham” games.
Ultimately, Julian Day takes the obsessive archetype of the Batman villain to its extreme conclusion, in that his criminal career is committed to something extremely lame. And that's what makes him kind of great.