When it comes to powerful enemies, theJustice Leagueis certainly no stranger to fighting some of the toughest antagonists that the DC Universe has to offer. They’ve gone up against Lobo, Doomsday, Perpetua, and Brainiac, but none of them have given the Justice League nearly as much trouble as the Shaggy Man, which is why DC needs to bring him back to face its most iconic team.
TheJustice Leaguehas been around for a long time and have fought countless villains. No matter how overwhelmingly powerful the villain might seem, the Justice League has always found a way to win. But there was one villain who was beyond Brainiac or even Doomsday, pushing the Justice League to the absolute limit.
The most powerful villain the Justice League ever faced made his reappearance inJLA#24 by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter.This issue marked the return of the Shaggy Man, a villain who is far more terrifying and powerful than his ridiculous name might imply.
The Justice League Villain Known as the Shaggy Man Was Completely Unstoppable
JLA#24 by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, John Dell, Pat Garrahy, Heroic Age, and Ken Lopez
While the name might seem ridiculous, the Shaggy Man was no laughing matter. The Shaggy Man was created by a mad scientist, and he was by far one of the most dangerous enemies around.He had strength equal to Superman’s, infinite stamina, no need to sleep or eat or even breathe, rapid regeneration, and resistance to any attack. The Justice League never found a way to defeat him, instead opting to simply contain him. Unfortunately, his containment didn’t last long, as a rogue military generalrecovered the Shaggy Man’s body, transferring his mind into it.
Sorry, Superman: There’s Another Hero Who Better Embodies the Heart of the Justice League
Though Superman is the face of the DCU, Martian Manhunter embodies the heart of the Justice League better than the Man of Steel ever could.
The biggest weakness of the Shaggy Man was the fact that he was entirely mindless. He was nothing more than a beast who acted on pure destructive instinct. While he was impossible to stop, this at least made him easily manipulated and capable of being tricked. He lost this weakness when General Eiling took over his body. With Eiling in control, the Shaggy Man was a physically unstoppable monster with a massive amount of tactical and military training. Despite the Justice League’s best attempts,they couldn’t physically beat him, instead opting to trap him in outer space.
General Eiling’s New Body Made Him a True Monster When Facing the Justice League
He Could Regenerate from Any Attack in Seconds
As hard as it might be to believe, the Shaggy Man was far more dangerous than other villains, such as Doomsday. Doomsday has appeared a lot in DC Comics and has gone up against the Justice League and Superman plenty of times. But Doomsday has a much worse track record.Doomsday was defeated by Supermanon his own. He was killed by a group of Kryptonians, and he has, in fact, died. Doomsday was even sent to Hell. While Doomsday does always return, the fact remains that theJustice League and Superman have both beaten him on numerous occasions.
Superman outright says that Eiling is unstoppable and that the Justice League is free to use whatever attacksand methods in order to bring him down.
The same can’t be said for the Shaggy Man. Despite the Shaggy Man’s much more humble origins, simply being created by a scientist on Earth, he has a much better track record than Doomsday against the Justice League. During the battle against Eiling, Superman outright says that Eiling is unstoppable and that theJustice League is free to use whatever attacksand methods to bring him down. ConsideringSuperman already went up against Doomsdayby this point, it’s a major detail that Superman would call Shaggy Man unstoppable and even advocate for potentially lethal force.
The Entire Justice League Failed to Stop the Mysterious Shaggy Man
Which Is Why DC Needs to Bring Him Back
At the very end of the issue, the Justice League manages to trick Eiling into stepping onto a teleportation device. They then teleport him trillions of miles away from Earth, stranding him in an asteroid belt. As Eiling no longer needs to breathe, eat, or even sleep,he’s simply been trapped there.The character hasn’t appeared since. There would be plenty of ways for DC to bring him back, if the publisher so decided. Doomsday was once trapped at the literal end of time, and DC’s creators found a way to bring him back. The same could definitely be done for Eiling.
If DC is worried about Eiling being too powerful now, an easy solution would be to say that the decades of being alone in space destroyed his mind, reverting him to a mindless beast, like the original Shaggy Man. This reset would work great to give him back his original weakness. Let’s face it: Doomsday is kind of played out, with many fans saying that he outlived any purpose after he killed Superman. But the Shaggy Man can fill the exact same role and is a villain most people don’t know about, which is why thisJustice Leaguevillain needs to be brought back for the team’s newest era.
