...why don't they get their face fixed or grow some hair on their head?

I dig the Doc, but my vote goes to Sexy Lexy.

Dr. Doom for me.

DOOM.

I'm not a huge FF fan, but Dr. Doom may be the single best villain ever created by Marvel comics. He's everything that you would want a hero to be; skilled enough to defeat the FF all by himself, charming, intelligent, charismatic. but like Lucifer (the angel, not the DC character), he is constantly undone by his arrogance. The thing that makes him a villain is what makes him fail. And the nature of the flaw is such that it creates a blind spot. So he can keep failing, and not understanding the failure is in himself, not that he's getting beaten by his betters.

I never really liked either version of Luthor - the mad scientist who wanted to beat Superman, or the Gordon Gecko style business man who just wants to ruin him. The problem being a mastermind is that sooner or later, the fact that you don't win highlights the fact that you're not that great. And Luthor doesn't strike me as someone with the Joker's motivation - it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.

Dr. Doom for me.

Oddly I prefer him more when he goes up against other Marvel Heroes rather than the Fantastic Four. The Avengers, Iron Man, Spider-Man, etc. seem to give the writers more room to develop a plot for Doom just rather than getting back at Reed Richards.

I like Luthor as a villain, and preferred the evil business man over the mad scientist. The problem after a while was that Superman began to look ineffective as he could never bring Lex down. That arc spanned 1986 - 1994 before Luthor was finally exposed, and even after that they found ways to keep bringing him back (but, hey, it is comics).

My favourite is the silver age Lex that was once friends with Superboy.
I guess I have to vote for Doctor Doom. His character has been pretty consistent over the years. His appearance almost feels like an "event" , even if it is in only one issue.

But after a while, arrogance in the face of persistent failure starts to look like being a bit thick. The same problem, really, as:


That's the problem with repeating appearances of villains in serial fiction. No matter who the character or what the motivation, eventually you as a reader have to forget about what the character would "really" do, or NO villain works.

Dr Doom. I've never understood the fascination with Luthor?

Dr. Doom for me but I do like the version of Lex Luthor in All-Star Superman.