Since my villains list thus far has consisted of Doctor Doom, Lex Luthor, and Victoria Hand (with a brief aside on Norman Osborn), I think it’s safe to say that this exercise is somewhat self-indulgent. In that vein, I’d like to talk about Chaplain Action, He-Man of the Cloth!
Chaplain Action, He-Manof the Cloth appeared in The Authority arc “Transfer of Power,” where the
original team was presumed dead/murdered and a government-sponsored team I refer to as
The Republican Authority took their place as the center point of the story. Chaplain Action, He-Man
of the Cloth was originally part of a publicity effort to cast the new
Authority as devoutly religious (to contrast with the…somewhat hedonistic style
of their predecessors). When the cameras turned off however, he
continued to (mostly somewhat)
bring the team to heel on their moral excesses. Even when success pushed the
team itself to the same hedonistic heights (depths? No. Definitely heights.) as
the original, it was him who provided the bulk of the leadership and
integrity. While his main focus was on bringing The Colonel (the racist, sexist
electricity-manipulating jerk who was team leader) in line--with violence of
course--he also managed to focus on the best parts of the team and attempted to bring
them to the surface.
