In case you missed our most recent episode (Episode 78: The Hulk Follows the Money with Dennis Hopeless), we talked a bit about supervillain lairs and, specifically, how we would design our own. Well, Greg and Brian take a look today at two of their favorite evil lairs, and while you check that out, why not either download last week’s show, or stream it below!
[audio: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thehourcosmic/~5/hWWJAdrrqYw/THCHopeless.mp3]Greg’s Pick: Latveria
Best supervillain lair? That’s a tough one because so many different lairs have nothing in common but are absolutely right for their respective owners. And lair could mean anything from the hole that Mole Man launches his latest campaign against the surface world from, or it could be the anti-matter universe where the Anti-Monitor chills out in-between killing Flashes and Supergirls.
You could go with something completely real world and decadent like the Hellfire Club, with its scantily clad waitstaff, but since most of them probably have telepathy, that has all the makings of lawsuits or dime droppings just waiting to happen the minute someone crosses the skeevy line. Or maybe Eastern Europe is your thing and you could pick Latveria (or at the least Castle Doom) where everyone hangs on your every whim. And the majority of that comes from generations of indoctrination, so you really only have to vaporize the occasional flunky to keep people in line as opposed to constant uprisings. I keep thinking of the line from the end of the Superman: TAS episode “Legacy”, where a beaten Darkseid tells off Superman by saying that even in defeat he is still lord of that realm. Which is pretty awesome, except for the fact it is literally Hell and how much fun would that be?
So the more I think about Latveria, the more it goes to the top of the list: compliant populace, rustic scenery, good food and some wicked good beer I’d imagine, mix of old world charm and sci-fi technology, and sovereign nation status that lends you, as the monarch, diplomatic immunity for when you have to head out for a little act of vengeance or civil war or the like.
Brian’s Pick: The Hall of Doom
Like so many things in my life, it all comes back to Superfriends.
The Hall of Doom on Superfriends has it all – the spooky locale, the hiding and travel capabilities, the board room setting that makes everything feel more official. Visually, it also has one of the most iconic designs of all time – I mean, check that shit out:
The design is so good that it even popped up in the comics years later without being a joke. What is also so grea about it is how it borrows from so many of the members’ personalities – it is in a swamp (like Solomon Grundy), it hides under water (like Black Manta), the eyes partially glow yellow (like Sinestro’s ring), etc. It is the perfect visual representation of that team, and the perfect counterpart to the pristine and sterile Hall of Justice.
Tonight, we record with Andy Suriano, artist on “Samurai Jack” for IDW, and co-creator of “Cosmic Scoundrels” with Matt Chapman. Make sure to follow @TheHourCosmic on Twitter and retweet this tweet by 10pm Eastern for the chance for Andy to play on your behalf!
Thanks for checking us out, and tune in on Monday to hear Andy’s appearance on the show!
