Spider-Man's Top Ten Villains - Part One

Most people would agree that Spider-Man has one of the best rogues gallerys in comics, most of which created by the genius team of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. I thought it would be fun to count down my top ten! If you disagree with my list...Tell me why!


10. Kraven the Hunter


Initially Kraven was probably one of the least impressive of the Lee/Ditko created villains. Overly camp with somewhat lame powers, he was never a credible threat for the webhead in his early appearances. All of this changed with JM Dematteis' groundbreaking storyline 'Kraven's Last Hunt', a deep, dramatic storyline that delved into Kraven's motivations and just nudges him into the top 10. Just try to ignore his increasingly lame offspring that keep getting introduced.

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #15

Recommended Reading: Kraven's Last Hunt (Web of Spider-Man #31-32,Amazing Spider-Man#293-294, Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132)


9. The Kingpin



Although he was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man, Kingpin has since evolved into a more persistant adversary for Daredevil after his successful use in Frank Miller's run. Nonetheless his initial battles with Spider-Man are among the best in the characters history. Before his introduction Spider-Man had mainly faced off against colourful costumed villains (with a few exceptions), The besuited Kingpin's debut was a welcome contrast to this, and heralded many future gang based storylines.

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #50


Recommended Reading: Amazing Spider-Man #50-52


8. The Chameleon


The Chameleon was the first ever villain to battle Spider-Man, and despite being physically inferior to many of Spider-Man's other enemies he has been a consistent danger to the wallcrawler since. Favouring carefully laid out schemes rather than the knock-out brawls of other villains, among his devious plans have been kidnapping and replacing Jonah Jameson and convincing Peter Parker that his parents were alive through the use of androids. The master of disguise has recently been revamped by writer Fred Van Lente in the 'Red Headed Stranger' arc of Amazing Spider-Man.

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #1


Recommended Reading: Webspinners Tales of Spider-Man #10-12

7. Kaine

On first glance a typical 90's 'mystery villain', Kaine is actually able to boast more depth than the vast majority of Spidey's rogues gallery. A failed, twisted clone of Peter Parker has also struck me as being a fantastic concept for a villain, a concept which has arguably never reached it's full potential (Beyond JM Demetteis' excellent Mini-series The Lost Years). Nonetheless, Kaine has recently been reintroduced to the Spider-titles, and appears consistently in Tom Defalco's Clone Saga loveletter Spider-Girl. He remains a huge threat to the Web-Slinger.


First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #119

Recommended Reading: Spider-Man: The Lost Years #1-3


6. Mysterio

Blessed with one of Steve Ditko's most gloriously goofy costumes (and that's saying something), the master of illusion has become one of Spidey's most persistent antagonists, even joining every iteration of the Sinister Six! While often being regarded as a joke, partly due to his rather silly name and appearance, when taken seriously by writers Mysterio has proven to be one of the more colourful, wacky member of Spidey's rogues gallery, while more recently being given some much needed emotional depth.


First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #13

Recommended Reading: Amazing Spider-Man #198-199, Webspinners Tales of Spider-Man #1-3.


That's all for now folks, tune in next time for my top five Spider-Man villains of all time!