DC's Most Offensive Villain Only Lasted One Issue (For Good Reason)
In its time as a publisher, DC Comics has introduced its fair share of offputting and offensive villains, but none were worse than Hemo-Goblin, a short-lived bad guy who took on the New Guardians. In New Guardians #1, in an attempt at social commentary highlighting real-life problems in the world, the white supremacist vampire who gave anyone it bit HIV/AIDS made its debut. Unfortunately, the villain totally missed the mark and only lasted a single issue.
Hemo-Goblin represented a low point for DC Comics, as the publisher had previously done some incredible stories on issues that shined a light on real-world problems. From Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' Green Arrow/Green Lantern run that featured Speedy getting hooked on drugs and, more recently, Superman and other heroes joining the fight against climate change, there have been many excellent stories that have tackled issues current happening outside the pages of the comics. However, in the late-80s, DC Comics tried to tackle a handful of real-life topics but did so in one of the most offensive ways imaginable with Hemo-Goblin.
Related: DC Just Brutally Killed Off A Fan-Favorite Green Lantern Hero
In The New Guardians #1 by Steve Englehart, Joe Staton, Mark Farmer, Anthony Tollin, and John Constanza from DC Comics featured a diverse team of heroes who were given superpowers to form a new group representing the entire human population. In their debut issue, the team sparred with a villain named Hemo-Goblin, a cannibal vampire-like man who white supremacist Janwillem Kroef created to eliminate those who didn't fit under his bigoted ideology. Hemo-Goblin would bite multiple team members, but it would turn out that the villain actually was infecting his victims with HIV/AIDS.
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