10 Forgotten Marvel Comics Characters That Debuted In The ’80s – Screen Rant

Marvel is known for putting out hundreds of fantastic characters, but some of the characters that debuted in the '80s are the worst. Whether it be through character design or useless powers, not every character has held up like prominent characters like the Avengers and the X-Men. Some characters were just been bad and will continue to be bad long after their creation.

Though some of these characters, such as the infamous Frog-Man, have been used in more recent comics to try to get them popular again, it doesn't change the fact that they're not the best of characters, to begin with. While they may have a few good qualities about them, their overall design and ineffectiveness against some of the Avengers' most powerful villains and heroes really do not speak highly of their quality as characters.

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The second character to use the Gargoyle mantle was Isaac Christians, who allowed his spirit to be placed inside an ancient stone gargoyle by the Six-Fingered Hand to help the villains in exchange for them helping his ailing town. Unfortunately for them, Christians decided to switch sides and help the Defenders, eventually joining their regular roster.

While Christians is a decent enough character, his endearing nature inside a fearsome body is a trope that has been done to death many times previously. With mediocre powers at best and only limited durability, Christians also isn't the greatest in fights against some of Marvel's most powerful villains. Despite all this, he has still made scattered appearances since the '80s, most recently appearing as a member of Iron Man's "Space Friends." Unfortunately, this doesn't really change the fact that he's not a well-made character.

Eugene Patilio, otherwise known as Frog-Man, is certainly in the category of oddball characters Marvel has put out. After discovering a frog suit his father had used for evil, Patilio decided to become a superhero with it, becoming the Fabulous Frog-Man. Sadly, Frog-Man fails to become anything more than a joke character. His victories were by sheer luck, and he is ultimately powerless and useless without the suit he wears. Even with the suit on, the most he can generally do is jump relatively high, and even then, the springs cause him considerable difficulty moving in a straight line, something that only comic book fans know about Frog-Man. It's hard to see this character as anything more than a poorly designed-hero with little use other than a few laughs.

While many different characters have taken up the Jack O'Lantern mantle, the first one to do so was Jason Macendale, Jr. He created the persona to become a mercenary before he became yet another in a long line of characters that have taken up the mantle of Hobgoblin.

Jack O'Lantern, overall, is extremely weak. Much of what he does comes from special effects and weapons, and Macendale's character is just basic, given his CIA-turned-mercenary background. He never even found success as Jack O'Lantern, being one of the weakest villains in Marvel history. Even as the Hobgoblin, Macendale failed to get any traction going for himself, only having moderate success. Overall, he's not much of a character, easily forgettable when compared to better-made ones that are more effective in battle than him, and Jack O'Lantern just becomes another mantle with a revolving door of characters to take it up.

Thomas Fireheart was the result of generations worth of genetic engineering to become the superhuman known as Puma. In his Puma form, Fireheart gained enhanced strength, speed, and senses, and became a mercenary, essentially, working alongside both villains and heroes on multiple different occasions.

Being able to turn into a much stronger, animal-like form is far from making him a great character, however. Puma's moralities have remained so inconsistent over the years that it's hard to see which side he's actually on, whether it be as one of Spider-Man's most powerful animal-themed villains or as his ally. While he can easily put up a good fight in his puma form, his powers have been stripped away from him before, and his reliance on them to be effective in a fight makes him seem even less of a great character than he already was.

Lila Cheney was a mutant with the ability to teleport over large distances. She used this power for her own gain as a thief before going straight after an encounter with the New Mutants. Since then, she's made several small appearances over the decades, even becoming another in a long line of mutants with a connection to Captain Marvel during one such galactic adventure.

Unfortunately, Cheney fails to be an overall great character. Her powers, while incredible, don't work over small distances, leaving her to be nothing more than a transportation service for her allies. She also fails to stand out in any way, aside from her failed early attempt to "sell" Earth to an alien race. Overall, she's a basic character with some potential but has failed to be nothing more than another random mutant sometimes called up to help the X-Men when there's no one else around.

Not much is known about Andromeda's past, other than her claims of her military background in Atlantis and that the villain Attuma is her father, knowledge about Attuma known by comic book fans. Beyond this, she has served Atlantis faithfully and has gone on several adventures on the surface world, most notably with the Defenders. She has even appeared in more recent comics as a member of Namor's Defenders of the Deep.

Andromeda may be useful and a strong fighter overall, but her character design itself is severely lacking. She fails to establish herself in her own way, instead seeking to follow in Namor's footsteps many times. Without an official story about her past, readers have nothing to go on about her background other than what she has claimed, leaving her character weak overall and simply feeling like another prominent Atlantean that stands in the shadow of Namor.

Dennis Dunphy, otherwise known as Demolition Man, or D-Man, first gained his powers through addictive pills supplied by the Power Broker, a villain that comic book fans know much about. After the Power Broker's crimes were revealed, he turned on him and freed himself from the addiction. Following this, he has assisted heroes like Captain America and the Avengers as well as fought them in a few cases.

D-Man problem as a viable character is mostly through his worsening condition. Due to the pills that gave him his powers, he has developed severe physical and mental health problems, making him act irrationally at times. Even with his enhanced strength, he still has yet to prove himself in any real capacity, and in the end, he just seems like another super soldier character created just to increase the size of Marvel's roster further.

The Guthrie family appears to be made entirely of superheroes, as Joshua Guthrie aka Icarus became a mutant just like his older siblings, Sam and Paige, who were a part of the best New Mutants comic issues. Unfortunately, due to a tragic event in which his girlfriend drowned, much of Icarus' time is spent alone brooding over what he has lost.

Overall, the character simply doesn't do much in his few appearances. His backstory, a tragedy that is all too common in superhero origin stories, makes him resent his life and want to die, even driving him to cut off his own wings in an attempt to remove his healing factor along with them. Even though his flight and somewhat hypnotic voice could be a great asset to his friends, he keeps himself out of most fights whenever possible, making him overall a useless character that never does anything.

Right from the start, Dansen Macabre proved to be a character that was not only one of Marvel's least powerful villains but also simply weird rather than great. Her only powers involve being able to hypnotize or kill those that watch her dance. She's used this power to fight heroes like Spider-Man and Captain America.

Despite these incredible powers, Macabre can easily be defeated by those that tune out her dancing. While she does possess some fighting skills, it's not nearly enough to take on most of Marvel's heroes. There's not even much of a backstory for her, as she hasn't appeared very much even after the '80s. She's simply a D-list supervillain that is only a threat to anyone who doesn't already know her powers. Once her powers are found out, she can easily be taken down.

Eshu was once a caveman born 40,000 years ago, much like one of DC Comics' most powerful villains, Vandal Savage. But after being captured by an alien ship, he was able to implant his mind into its computers, giving him superpowers and an extremely long lifespan. Deciding that he wanted to take over the world, he dubbed himself the Master of the World and has gone on to fight heroes, such as Alpha Flight.

Whenever a villain is arrogant enough to dub himself "Master of the World," it's obvious how bad of a character he is. While his powers are strong and he proves himself to be an actual threat many times, there's no denying how similar his background and motivations are to that of Vandal Savage. As such, Eshu comes across as a cheap, flamboyant knockoff that appears every so often to try to take over the world only to be beaten down again by Marvel heroes.

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10 Forgotten Marvel Comics Characters That Debuted In The '80s - Screen Rant