If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics.

This week, we're taking a look at five bad guys and gals who derive their abilities not from the power of the atom, but from sorcery, wizardry, and thaumaturgy. While science has been the preferred motif of superheroes and villains since the Silver Age, many villains still get their powers the old fashioned way, i.e., dangerous pacts with the devil, and, heck, some are just straight up actual characters from mythology. That's who we're counting down this week.

Show notes:

  • Some of the characters featured in the honorable mentions can be found here and here. Most of the others' earliest stories are out of print, and I'm not going to link the last one because I fear I would go to jail.
  • Number five can first be found here and you should 10000% read this if you haven't.
  • Number four's most prominent recent story can be found here.
  • The earliest appearances of number three can be pre-ordered here, in some of the coolest comics ever made.
  • Number two's earliest misadventures are out of print, but perhaps their best known story can be found digitally here and their most recent solo series can be found digitally here.
  • Awesome classic stories featuring number one here, their most recently completed solo series starts here, and a collection of their current series can be pre-ordered here.

 

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