One of the greatest runs of comics in Marvel’s Silver Age occurred in the pages of ‘Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, where the legendary Jim Steranko faced off our sci-fi action hero against the perfidy of Scorpio. The influence of this story was felt far and wide, and the eventual reveal that Scorpio was actually Fury’s own brother added a classically tragic element to it all. (There’s a reason that Marvel keeps trotting out the Zodiac cartel every few years, regardless of how bad some of their iterations end up being.) As unofficial comics historian of Major Spoilers, I have to rank it very high in any listing of classic hero/villain matchups, placing it in the same stratum as Xavier/Magneto and even Richards/Von Doom. Still, one of Major Spoilers founding tenets is the expectation that ‘Mileage May Vary’, which means it’s officially time to put some Spoilerite brain-mind power in motion around this particular query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) notes that we don’t necessarily have to be talking about siblings, though they’re fair game as well, asking: What’s the greatest rivalry in the history of pop-culture?
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I’d have a hard time deciding between Batman / Joker or Superman / Lex Luthor.
I have really enjoyed the Cyclops/Wolverine dynamic.
I’m going with Mar-Vell vs Thanos. Even after all this time, Thanos still drops a reference or two every Infinity-class event.
Supes and Lex of course
Green goblin and Spider-man.
Others not mentioned:
Flash and the Rouge
Hal Jordan and Sinestro (a true Frenemy if there was one).
Bones and Spock
Let’s not forget Holmes and Moriarty, as well as the more modern Doctor and Master.
It’s not easy to pull off the “dark mirror,” but these do it well.
Post-1986 Batman and Superman.
Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow, the original frenemies!