You can’t keep a crazy villain or outrageous character down. Some long-lost characters made major comebacks this year in huge comic book events and the year’s biggest box-office champ. This year’s list proved that even the biggest Hollywood and major writers are fanboys and girls too and when given the opportunity – bring their odd but beloved characters back to the front burner.
Here are our favorite comebacks of 2014.
Orb
The big mystery of Original Sin was who killed The Watcher and stole his eyes. Jason Aaron brought this old school Ghost Rider villain with an eyeball helmet on his head into the cosmic caper. The helmet can emit laser blasts, project illusions and allow Orb to hypnotize victims. Orb didn’t kill Uatu but stole one of his eyes and unleashed multiple game-changing secrets into the Marvel Universe. By the end, this odd enemy was merged with the ancient alien’s eye giving Orb great power and leaving the door open for a greater role.
Dr. Midas & Exterminatrix
The power obsessed scientist exposed himself to cosmic radiation to gain powers like the Fantastic Four. The mystery man took the name Midas after he gained the power to turn everything he touched into gold. Midas used his power to become a billionaire collector of anything to give him more power including old Iron Man armor. Exterminatrix was his daughter/prisoner/enforcer seen here from Marvel Boy series. Midas, his devious daughter and the Orb schemed to steal The Watcher’s eye and collection of alien artifacts.
Plantman
Fans prepared for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to unite with the Children of the Atom to battle the Red Skull but Rick Remender delivered an evil twist in Avengers and X-Men: AXIS #1. The Avengers tangled with Plantman, master of planet manipulation and plant-based weapons in the opening sequence. Tensions erupted among the team as the Red Skull projected a wave of hate using the powers he stole from Professor X. Samuel Smithers was last seen back in an earlier volume of the Thunderbolts but Remender brought him back for a brief but surprising appearance.
Ted Kord
The second Blue Beetle was a member of Justice League and often partners with Booster Gold and The Question until he made a heroic stand against Maxwell Lord in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis. Kord was introduced in The New 52 continuity in the final chapter of Forever Evil as the young inventory and heir to Kord Industries meets with Lex Luthor. With Multiversity and Convergence coming in 2015 – the fan-favorite Blue Beetle could make a comeback. You can see the classic duo of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold in Justice League 3000.
Catman
The hunter made his New 52 debut in a brand new Secret Six by Gail Simone. The former Batman villain was kind of a joke – even appearing in a bad guy team called The Misfits. It all changed with Villains United when Simone transformed Thomas Blake into a cunning warrior and anti-hero. Catman would co-star with other infamous rogues in Secret Six in which the team took on missions that pitted them against heroes and villains.
Marvel and DC creators delivered on resurrecting cult favorites and weaving odd villains into even storylines. But the comeback king of 2014 made a huge return in the year’s biggest movie!
Howard the Duck
In the post-credits sequence of Guardians of the Galaxy Howard delivered a hilarious line to The Collector in his broken collection. Of all the cosmic characters – Marvel and James Gunn went for laughs by using the classic Steve Gerber creation. Marvel Comics will launch a brand new Howard the Duck ongoing series by Chip Zdardky (Sex Criminals) and Joe Quinones.
“Hey! Remember how you stayed past the credits and saw a talking duck and it was a little confusing because you were expecting Iron Man or Thanos or Batman or something? Well this comic will do its best to not confuse you provided you’re cool with talking ducks, I guess,” Zdardky told Marvel.com.
The comeback kid of 2014 will be a private eye in his new series.
Howard the Duck #1 arrives in March 2015.
Welcome back Howard!
By Editor