The superior foes of Spider-Man were created by Ditko. The decades since then has seen a lot of also-rans...and some worthwhile foes too.

The Rhino got my vote. Some of my earliest memories of reading Spider-Man (B&W 60's reprints of them by Newton Comics, anyway) involve The Rhino, The Scorpion, etc. It wasn't until I was older that I was reading stuff involving Kingpin, The Juggernaut or Hammerhead...and by the time Venom appeared I was already 'too old for the hobby' and didn't care for it/him/they/them.

Hydro-Man and Carrion ("The dead walk, Parker") both get an honourable mention from me, though. For whatever that's worth.

Venom, for me. I think of Kingpin as a DD villain, even if he started out in ASM, or he'd probably get the nod. Venom is why I started reading Spider-Man again when I got back into comics as a young adult. Before that I only read DC...and honestly, only Batman lol.

Had to go with Hobgoblin because he was the big bad Spidey villain in the comics when I first started reading them, even if the character has never been nearly as awesome once the mystery was first "revealed" before being undone a decade later.

I suppose Kingpin would be the true answer but yeah, I also feel like he has long been more of a Daredevil villain since his creation.

I had to break down and go with Venom. I think my Rhino love is due to the cartoon, not the comics (interesting that he's the only non-Ditko character i recall from that series), I think of Kingpin as a DD villain, and as interesting as the Hobgoblin mystery was, he was a derivative character making up for the decision to kill off the Green Goblin. So it turns out the Venom is the best new villain for Spidey, IMO, since Ditko left.

Mysterio! One of the first Spidey villains I ever saw, when I was a kid, and he made a real impression. He still seems to me a great example of the sort of villain who works best against Spider-Man.


I also have to confess to a certain fondness for the Rocket Racer.

The Spot was the most Ditkoesque of the post-Ditko villains.

So Hammerhead, Hobgoblin, Kingpin, Rhino, Spot, Tombstone, and Venom were ALL post-Ditko?

Poor Steve. He must have been embarrassed that all the good Spidey villains were invented after he jumped ship.

It was his legal right to feel that way, too.

I liked the Rhino because he looked so odd and I also felt kind of sorry for him. He was always a pawn in someone else's game, it seemed. His suit - which made it look as if he'd been swallowed feet-first by a rhinoceros - is extremely distinctive, though, and that counts for a lot with me - fake fan that I am.

I've never liked Venom at all. I always found the whole idea, and the way it was executed, much too silly. Not that The Rhino isn't silly, but he's silly in the right kind of way, IMO. No one's mentioned The Punisher, who started off as a Spidey villain, so I thought I should bring that up.

Yeah, I kind of liked the Jackal and the Punisher when they first appeared, even the first clones.
That got bad really fast, though.

It's really about the visual. If you were a fan of the alien costume, it seemed really cool that it was now being worn by a villain.

But yeah, his whole backstory, and the character of Eddie Brock, were always pretty lame. That's why it always bemuses me when David Micheline wants to take sole credit for the creation of Venom. Not only is it really disingenuous -- seeing as Micheline didn't design the visual of the suit, nor even come up with the concept of the alien suit, nor even with the idea of someone other than Peter wearing it -- it's also just funny that all the bits Micheline DID invent are the bits that are the least interesting.

Roy Thomas created Venom.

That's all I'm sayin'.

And yet Bob Kane took the credit. Typical.

My pick was Hobgoblin but that is probably my nostalgia for Roger Stern and JR JR’s run on the book. I stopped reading comics for a while there and was surprised to learn later that editorial interference ruined the big Hobgoblin identity reveal.I am also shocked that Stan Lee could not come up with more great villains after Ditko left.

I'm not a fan of Venom, but I enjoyed seeing that costume turned into a twisted sick joke that haunts the fan boys. They never should have thought about changing the Ditko classic.

PUMA got my vote...

Roy is merely acting in the office of the King (now).

If we can blame him for Venom, then I'm all for it.

Whoever was EIC at that time was a true fool.

Indeed. The things he did in clear view are enough that they don't need embellishments.

:highfive:

I didn't mind the black Spidey suit because I always assumed it'd be temporary and they'd eventually switch back.