50 Greatest Super Villains In Comic Book History

33. Captain Cold

(Write-up by Nick Tylwalk, Bam Smack Pow Editor)

Baseball players and other athletes sometimes talk about playing a sport “the right way.” For Captain Cold, there’s a right way to handle yourself as a super villain too, and it’s that quality, as much as his gimmick or his instantly recognizable costume, that got him onto this list.

Make no mistake, Leonard Snart is a bad guy. He’s no stranger to theft, violence, and even murder when he feels it’s justified. Cold just feels there is a time and a place for those things, and through sheer force of will, he’s historically been able to get the rest of Flash’s Rogues to come around to his way of thinking. The occasional threat from his cold gun also helps.

If it wasn’t for his vicious streak popping up from time to time and the fact that he still wants to kill the Flash one day, you could almost call Captain Cold a gentlemanly super villain. That shouldn’t detract from the danger his cold-based powers have posed to the Fastest Man Alive time and time again, with or without backup from other Rogues.

As iconic looks go, the fur-lined hood and rectangular glasses rank right up there. The Flash has teased us with parts of it on TV, but we need the entire package. With apologies to Mr. Freeze (who Captain Cold is sometimes mistaken for, granted), Captain Cold is the premier ice-themed villain around, and one whose unique outlook on super-powered crime is deserving of respect.

Next: No. 32: The man in yellow