Comics About Bad Guys

Is it really possible to write a comic about a bad guy? That is to say, one that really engages the reader? That resonates with his or her innermost being and really works at its core as a story?

I don't think that you can.

Stories, and especially those of the superhero variety, are meant to tell us about heroes. We expect them to tell us about heroes, and something isn't quite right when they don't. Hero stories capture our imaginations because they retell to us a story that we're born knowing. This isn't an original concept. You can read all about it in the works of Joseph Campbell or their comic book adaptation, which was given the perplexing title Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D. If you've got the right perspective, you can even read about it in the Bible.

Villain stories--that is, stories genuinely centered around villains and their pursuit of evil--just don't do that. In fact, I'd venture to say that villain stories speak to our souls so poorly that they are virtually impossible to write. Or at least to be written by an author who intends to obtain any semblance of an audience.

What then of comics that are about bad guys? For surely, though they're in the minority, plenty of them get produced. How can you explain their existence? Well, first of all, let's toss out the Venom: Lethal Protectors and Doom 2099's that graced the shelves of many a 1990's comic shop. Though I have no idea what the critical reception to titles like these was back in the day, you're not apt to find either one in a longbox labeled "All-Time Classic Comics." Or even still in print for that matter. The short longevity of such fad comics seems to only reinforce my point that evil doesn't capture the heart of the reader like heroism does. Furthermore, as far as I can tell, comics of this genre usually featured plots where the villain star underwent some kind of reform or found himself fighting on the side of good for the bulk of the run.

There are still plenty of comics starring bad guys that earn critical acclaim. Ed Brubaker has two of them going on for Marvel Icon right now in Criminal and Incognito, and DC has its own success with Gail Simone's Secret Six. I actually have enjoyed all of these books (though I eventually dropped Criminal due to high sex content), and they do stand out in a good way from the masses of comics out there about the good guys. But while these titles contain enough surface details to offer up an edgier and more titilating flavor, they're really just another variation on the hero story.

I say this mainly because the protagonists in comics like these aren't really that bad. Sure, they steal and kill for selfish motive, and they'd most certainly be the villains if they appeared in the regular series of Superman or Batman. But it's not like these are comics about Darkseid running around firing Omega Beams on Apokolips. In each of the examples I've mentioned, the main characters really come across as the good guys when compared to the depths of evil they go up against. The low-level thugs and pickpockets in Criminal feel harmless in contrast to the ruthless kingpins who are often after them, and the C-list "villians" of Secret Six take on relatively righteous missions that put them at odds with the likes of Dr. Psycho and Junior--truly the bad of the bad.

The closest I think a "quality" comic has ever gotten to being truly about villainy was Mark Millar's Wanted. There's no denying the irredeemable moral bankruptcy of its characters, and there's no suggestion that they'll get their comeuppance in the end. But most of the plot is moved forward at a time during which the ultimate moral status of the protagonist, Wesley, is still in question. Only in the final pages do we receive confirmation that Wesley has fully embraced a life of villainy. And these final pages are where Wanted stands its greatest chance of creating a disconnect with its reader. I can hardly believe I'm the only one who felt a bit uncomfortable in my own skin when the main character looked right at me through the panel and made fun of the way I was living my life.

(It's probably also worth mentioning that the Wanted movie tones down the outright wickedness of the comic. Not to say that this was a particularly good artistic choice, but there's at least a shred of relevance in the fact that this was the method by which the filmmakers sought to make the story palpable to a mass audience.)

I have no doubt that comics about bad guys will continue to be published for many years to come. At the very least it's a means of marketing a story as "cool," much like an R rating can be for a movie. However, I'll be surprised if a really great one comes along and honestly lives up to the name.