Bonvillains seven

This is part two of  a comprehensive listing of Green Arrow's rogues gallery, and it covers L through W. You can find part one here. Well I kept the bloody thing under three articles so I am damned happy. next up another huge two parter, it will be the DC Comics Africa post, probably more information based than rant or screed. I'll be debuting a new label for that one called either Universus or Planet of the Capes, (cape shall not kill cape) for when I take a scalpel to a fictional universe.

Lord Kalesque: This is Lord Kalesque an English serial killer who just so happens to be an excellent archer. At the end of the story after an anticlimactic confrontation with Green Arrow, we are made to assume that he ended up in Star City's equivalent of Arkham Asylum. Was Star City just Gotham City west? Anyway I wonder if Kalesque and all his other rogues  have just been incarcerated all these years. We've never actually seen Star City's metahuman prison, it is possible that they ship their convicts to an out of state federal facility. Green Arrow Annual vol. 2 #1 (1988)

Macchiavelli: The criminal known only as Macchiavelli was brought in by the Wall Street Irregulars to assist in their economic and political takeover of Star City. His bodyguard was the previously mentioned Executrix. Detective Comics #523 (February 1983)

Man-Bear: Ursus the Man-Bear, and Wulf (a wolf man, duh!) were two animal hybrids created by the mysterious and dead geneticist Doctor Grant. They were introduced in an awesome six part story that ran from World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #245 (June 1977) through World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #247 (October 1977). If this were a Marvel Comics story (i love this about marvel), the technology that created Man-Bear and Wulf would easily be linked to that which created the Ani-Men of Repli-Tech, and the technologies used in the Wildebeest Society program that created Pantha.

Mole Men: The Mole Men were two human criminals in mole suits, with a ridiculously high tech digging machine that they probably stole from Cave Carson, and "acetylene guns" which somehow fired a stable superheated oxy-acetylene torch effect over thirty feet with limited fuel. Because as you can see there are no fuel lines or tanks. Again criminals using technology that would make them millionaires to steal $50,000 from a  bank. Adventure Comics #269 (February 1960) I love that Marvel eventually answered this question when they explained that the crooks leased this gear from people like the Power Broker, and basically robbed banks to pay off the cost of their high tech gear. So what DC needs is their own version of the Power Broker, some old school science criminal like Doctor Sivana, who likes making mad rupees by leasing black market technology. Just like how the Calculator made his transition to knowledge broker, you could even have Signalman handling illicit communications, and Kite Man handling underground transport.

Moreau the Beast Master: The madman known as Marcel Moreau stole the genetic process developed by Doctor Grant, and used to create Man-Bear and Wulf. He used this process to create and army of animal hybrids with which he nearly killed Green Arrow and Black Canary but for Wulf's intervention. Of course this story owes its provenance to the Island of Doctor Moreau. World's Finest Comics vol. 1 #247 (November 1977)

Octopus Gang [1] [2]: The Octopus Gang was led by the appropriately costumed Octopus. A lot of the early Green Arrow stories made it seem as if Star City was in fact an east coast city with an active harbor and dock community. World's Finest Comics vol. 1 #67 (November 1953) Batman and Superman would later run afoul of the Octopus and the Octopus Gang. World's Finest Comics #131 (February 1963)

Ozone: Ozone was a wannabe supervillain who turned out to be a pretty decent vigilante, he was much better at being a hero than he ever was as a villain. Ozone was also a product of the 1980s, he was a legitimized graphitti artist who used specialized spray cans with various unique effects. He was a spray can Green Arrow, he had cans with constricting foam, acid, explosive gas, and even pressurized propellant. Detective Comics vol. 1 #527 (June 1983)

Pete Lomax: Green Arrow just seems to attract nutjob archers like Lord Kalesque, Cupid and Pete Lomax, which I guess is a good thing. Pete Lomax appears in the excellent two part "Night Olympics" story by Alan Moore. In the story, Petey almost killed Black Canary by putting an arrow through her chest, because he wanted to prove that anyone could do what Green Arrow does. I'd love to see Pete Lomax and Lord Kalesque make a return from whatever mental health facility they were both locked up in. Pete Lomax is one of the only Alan Moore creations that Geoff Johns and or DC Comics have not milked to exhaustion. Detective Comics #549-550 (April 1985-May 1985)

Pinball Wizard: In my opinion the Pinball Wizard had a great costume and a killer gimmick. I'd love to see him make a comeback. Detective Comics #543 (October 1984)

Pneumatic Man: The Pneumatic Man and his gang carried special airguns which they used to blow away arrows, and helium filled inflateable suits which they used to make their getaways. World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #106 (December 1959) 

Printer's Devil [3]: There were two different Printer's Devils, Thomas Doyle the first Printer's Devil ended up reformed. Detective Comics #539 (June 1984) The second Printer's Devil tried to kill Thomas Doyle, and later teamed with Bad Penny, and Pinball Wizard to take on Green Arrow. PD's main gimmick is his flamethrowing trident. Detective Comics #543 (October 1984)

Professor Ojo: Green Arrow only crossed paths with Professor Ojo once, when he and Green Lantern confronted the Crumbler. I wonder if there is a link between the technology in his "spy eyes", and the technology in Mister Terrific's T-spheres. Green Lantern #114 (March 1979)

Rainbow Archer: Albrecht Raines the Rainbow Archer was an old adversary of Green Arrow's. I think that due to his name and costume this character would probably be handled a lot differently today. Adventure Comics #246 (March 1958)

Red Dart [4]: The Red Dart started out as a vigilante, armed with special "trick darts" he pretended to be a hero while fronting for a criminal gang. His first costume was orange and blue, his later costume was red and blue. World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #95 (July 1958) The second Red Dart was a criminal who had bought the right to use the name from the original, he carried a special dart gun, and stole Kyle Rayner's power ring. JLA #34 (October 1999)

Red Devil Gang: The Red Devil Gang was a troop of four acrobatic thieves in devil costumes, who carried off spectacular robberies, and escaped over rooftops using a variant of free running. More Fun #77 (March 1941)

Rocket Raiders: The Raiders Raiders used special rocket drills, rocket cars, and rocket planes to carry out their crimes. (blah blah blah implausible technology, blah blah blah wasted intellectual resources) As usual all their tech was designed by a mysterious criminal scientist. World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #94 (May 1958) 

Roper: That's right the Roper, I laughed out loud too when I saw the guy, a theme too far I guess. He's a man who's really, really good at lassoing things. Captain Lash looks good next to this guy. I bet Mister Roper could take this mort. Adventure Comics #176 (May 1952)

Shark Gang: I love these guys, and the fact that in order to catch them Green Arrow and Speedy had to break out the Arrow-Sub and their special Aqua-Bows. An Aqua-Bow was a cross between a speargun and a crossbow, that fired octopus arrows, glowfish arrows, jellyfish arrows and electric eel arrows. The Shark Gang made underwater getaways using their strangely plausible shark-mobiles. World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #130 (December 1962)

Slingshot: David Drayson the badass known as Slighshot. That's right I wrote badass. This is a guy who came across as dangerous while using a pair of slingshots. He has one of the best costumes of any of Green Arrow's rogues. World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #244 (April 1977) He was apparently slain by Cupid, a crappy character not worthy of carrying his bandana. Green Arrow and Black Canary #18 (May 2009)

Spectrum Man: The Spectrum Man used special light refraction technology to blind his enemies and technically render himself unseen. World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #110 (June 1960)

Spider:  Lucas Ludlow-Dalt the second Spider ran afoul of Starman, Green Arrow and Hawkman at different times in his career. Starman vol. 2 #47 (October 1998)

Steelclaw: I loved this guy's costume in my younger years, and I still do. I feel that as it was introduced, it was one the best villain designs in comics, and was so underloved and underused. Steelclaw was Thomas Bolt the mayor of Star City, and was not actually a supervillain. Like the Green Hornet he just pretended to be bad. Too bad it never occured to him to wear a ballistic vest. Detective Comics #560 (March 1986)

Vengeance: The mort known as Vengeance was a cipher, and a straight up Vigilante [5] ripoff. Vengeance carried out an extreme form of Green Arrow's social justice agenda. He shot people he thought were criminals, and sometimes killed innocent people. Detective Comics #545 (December 1984) And of course Cupid came along and killed him too, no loss there. Green Arrow and Black Canary #18 (May 2009)

Vulture-Man: Like Kite Man before him, Vulture-Man was a master of kite based glider technologies. He is the wind! Where is Toruk when you need it? Last shadow! Last shadow! World’s Finest Comics vol. 1 #93 (March 1958) 

Wall Street Irregulars: The Wall Street Irregulars would feel right at home in the modern world, these were all guys who were caught committing various financial crimes including insider trading. These guys attempted to seize economic and political control of Star City. Detective Comics #523 (February 1983)

Werewolves of London: These guys take their name from a great song by Warren Zevon. The Werewolves were basically a pastiche of Wez (Vernon Wells) and the rest of  Lord Humongous' gang from Mad Max 2. These guys setup shop in the Star City Municipal Dump, and mostly operated as a motorcycle gang, except that some of them were cyborgs, and they had high tech weaponry. Detective Comics #533 (December 1983)

Wind: The Wind was a guy who pretended to have wind control powers, but in actuality he had a special truck with a huge fan inside just off camera, back and to the left. You know in that blind spot off frame that we as readers cannot see, but that we assume fictional characters in that world would instantly notice. There was a second fan! I saw a glint of that fan on the mossy berm! Love that weather vane helmet guy. World's Finest Comics vol. 1 #38 (January 1949)

Honorable mentions
Mister Ventor - World’s Finest Comics #101 (May 1959)
Natas - Green Arrow vol. 3 #66 (November 2006)
Phantom Thief - Adventure Comics #233 (February 1957)
Onomatopoeia - Green Arrow vol. 3 #12 (March 2002)
Polka-Dot Archer - Adventure Comics #238 (July 1957)
Prometheus - New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 (February 1998)
Shado - Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters #1 (August 1987)

Shark Norton - Adventure Comics #267 (December 1959)

Sky Raider - Adventure Comics #234 (March 1957)
Star-City Slayer - Green Arrow vol. 3 #1 (April 2001)
The Stinger - World’s Finest Comics #251 (June 1978)
The Survivalist - Detective Comics #532 (November 1983)
The Trickster - Adventure Comics #239 (August 1957)
The Wizard - Adventure Comics #267 (December 1959)
Whitey Dunn - Adventure Comics #234 (March 1957)



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