DC Comics is known for breaking new ground. The publisher has done more to expand what superhero comics can be than its marvelous competition, and that includes ongoing series starring villains. The Joker got his first ongoing book back in the 1970s, and in the next few decades, characters like Deathstroke, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn all got their own ongoing series.

Since then, DC has given many of its villains miniseries or one-shots, but few of them have starred in their own ongoing series. DC has amazing villains and many of them could sustain their own book. However, in today's market, villain ongoings aren't guaranteed sellers and even well-known villains would struggle to make their mark.

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10 Circe

Circe, with a menacing smirk as she activates her powers in DC Comics

Wonder Woman has a rich history. She's been around for over eighty years, but her rogues' gallery is relatively unknown by all but the most diehard DC fans. Most fans know Ares, but Circe is a deeper cut. This ancient Greek magic user has been around for thousands of years, bedeviling Odysseus, and is a servant of Hecate, the witch god. Circe is a master of transmogrification spells and has battled Wonder Woman to a standstill many times. She's been a member of the Legion Of Doom, the Injustice Gang, the Injustice League, and led the Injustice League Dark.

Circe has been left relatively unexplored over the years. She's as powerful as they come, though, and her status as a near-divine magician means that she could work in a variety of stories. However, her lack of popularity and DC's overall unwillingness to make Wonder Woman villains important have kept her out of an ongoing of her own.

9 Granny Goodness

Granny Goodness looking down with contempt in DC Comics.

Granny Goodness has fought for her place among Darkseid's elite for ages. The trainer and leader of the Female Furies, Granny Goodness runs the Orphanage in the Armaghetto, pushing her charges past breaking to make them the best soldiers for Apokolips. Granny Goodness has gotten a little bit of the spotlight over the years but definitely deserves more.

Granny Goodness, like every other character in the Fourth World, is much more interesting than she seems. Digging into her history and how she got to where she is while seeing her fight to keep her position could be a lot of fun. There's so much to explore with Granny Goodness, but the Fourth World hasn't really gotten a lot of books in the last forty years, working mostly in teams. Granny will have to keep waiting for her ongoing.

8 Livewire

Livewire using her electrical abilities in DC Comics

Livewire first appeared in Superman: The Animated Series but made the jump to comics, her electrical powers making her a match for Superman. A former radio shock jock, Livewire is known for her sense of humor and over-the-top manner, which separates her from her more straight-laced heroic foil. She's recently made a return to Superman's rogues gallery after years in limbo.

Livewire is exactly the kind of character who would translate well to an ongoing series. She has a great personality and a power set that the right creative team can work magic with as she travels through the power grid and electrocutes anyone in her way. Superman villains aren't as popular as Batman's, though, despite Superman's popularity and importance. Livewire in an ongoing would be fun, but it doesn't really seem like it's in the cards for her.

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7 Mirror Master

DC's Mirror Master, surrounded by mirrors reflecting distorted images of the Flash

Flash's Rogues are the greatest villain team ever. What they lack in power, they make up for in personality. Any of the Rogues would be great in a series of their own, but Mirror Master would be particularly entertaining. The second MM, Evan McCulloch, that is, as the original Silver Age Sam Scudder version was as bland as Barry Allen. Mirror Master II was created by Grant Morrison for Animal Man and is a Scottish assassin armed with Scudder's weapons.

Mirror Master has proven to be an extremely entertaining Rogue, a boastful and funny villain whose bravado hides hidden pain. Mirror Master is the kind of bad guy who would excel in an ongoing, which is why it's kind of weird that he's never gotten one. Mirror Master seems like he would be great on his own, but it seems like the Rogues are always a package deal.

6 Mongul

Mongul smiling in a sinister fashion in DC's Action Comics

"Warworld Saga" was excellent and reminded people just how great a villain Mongul could be. Mongul isn't a person, but a title, as there have been three so far, each one leading the Warzoons of Warworld across the universe in a blaze of conquest. The last Mongul died at the end of "Warworld Saga," but that just means it's time for another to take his place on the throne of Warworld.

Mongul has long been a B-list Superman villain, which is why he hasn't starred in an ongoing. Mongul's most recent appearances are easily his most popular since his star turn in Superman Annual #11. Mongul has never really shown the potential to be a star of his own book, but that could change with how popular he's become in recent years.

5 Darkseid

Darkseid leaving a Boom Tube in DC Comics, intoning

Darkseid has been perfect since the beginning. Jack Kirby created the character to be the embodiment of evil for the Fourth World. Since then, he's moved beyond the war between New Genesis and Apokolips. Darkseid has battled the most powerful heroes in the DC Multiverse, been the subject of major events, and has even saved all creation several times. Darkseid is an amazing villain, and he'd be even better in an ongoing series.

Darkseid has starred in several one-shots, over the years, but never had an ongoing. Darkseid fighting heroes who aren't gods is kind of a waste of the character, so a Darkseid book would have to go in a different direction. That's probably why it hasn't happened yet, but that doesn't mean that it's never going to happen.

4 Zoom

Zoom returns in his yellow costume in the DC's Flash comics

Zoom is based on the Reverse-Flash but he's quite different. Hunter Zolomon was a former FBI profiler who got his father-in-law killed with a mistake in his profile of a criminal. Zolomon's wife left him and he moved to Keystone City, becoming a friend of Wally West. However, when Wally refused to use the Cosmic Treadmill to change his past, Hunter tried to do it himself. The Treadmill exploded with chronal energy and Hunter gained the power to control the flow of time around him.

The new Zoom decided to use his powers to make the Flash a better hero by putting him through adversity. Zoom has some great stories and is an interesting villain, but he's never even had his own miniseries. The biggest problem is probably that he's a Reverse-Flash for Wally West and DC has spent years pushing the original Reverse-Flash. The two characters basically have the same costume, so DC might not have wanted to confuse anyone by giving Zoom a book.

3 Mordru

Mordru smiling and acting cocky in DC Comics

Mordru started life as a Legion of Super-Heroes villain, the most powerful magical villain of the 31st century. Eventually, he made his debut in the present during JSA. Since the Legion was on its way out at this point, moving Mordru to the present allowed a whole new generation of readers to experience the villain, and JSA: Princes Of Darkness remains a must-read story for DC fans, even if it's out of print.

Mordru never having an ongoing isn't surprising. He's a top-tier Legion villain, but that doesn't mean anything in the modern era. After his star turn in JSA, he disappeared, and since then he's been little more than a background villain. Mordru is a cool villain, but he's had no hope of getting an ongoing in his decades-long existence.

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2 Gorilla Grodd

DC Gorilla Grodd battling The Flash

Gorilla Grodd is a brutal Flash villain. DC has an interesting history with gorilla characters, as Silver Age DC boss Julius Schwartz believed that every time a gorilla showed up on a cover, sales went up. Gorilla Grodd was probably meant to take advantage of that and he's since become a very popular Flash villain. Grodd's combination of physical power, genius, and psychic abilities makes him a threat capable of taking on not just the Flash but foes as varied as Supergirl and Captain Carrot.

Grodd might be pretty popular, but he's rarely if ever gotten any solo love. There's a lot to Gorilla Grodd as a character, so it's pretty strange that he hasn't shown up in his own solo book. Gorilla Grodd is a legendary villain, but there doesn't really seem much hope of him ever getting a solo ongoing. Maybe one day, gorillas will be the sales draw they once were. On that day, Gorilla Grodd will get an ongoing.

1 DeSaad

Jack Kirby's villain Desaad of Apokolips from early DC Comics

Jack Kirby's New Gods saga hasn't gotten the love it deserves in recent years. There are some brilliant characters therein and some great villains. Darkseid's court is a masterpiece of character design, and DeSaad is an important figure there. DeSaad is Darkseid's chief torturer and a master of technology, serving his master with loyalty because Darkseid keeps him in people to torment.

DeSaad is a memorable character in his way, but it's hard to see him as a solo star. Now, hard isn't impossible, but it would take a very special creative team to make DeSaad work in a solo ongoing. DeSaad works best as a henchman, and that's where he's stayed for his existence.