Coalition of Evil

The Coalition of Evil was (and is) an alliance of supervillains in the fictional world of Millennium Comics. It was founded by Doc Satan in an effort to have an unstoppable force to overwhelm his super-powered foes one by one. They would, he promised, share in conquest of the world. Unfortunately (for them) the heroes responded by banding together in their own team, the Legion of Light.

Its original core members (from 1971) are:

• Doc Satan - The only organic survivor of an alien space ship sent to earth, Doc Satan as a child showed superior strength and intellect. Already dangerous, he eventually learned of his origins and determined to conquer the world he insisted would one day hunt him down for being different. He later accidentally created the superhero Doc Gabriel.
• Artemis Wilde - A stone-age woman from an island in the Pacific where dinosaurs still roam, Artemis Wilde was accidently made immortal by exposure to a strange meteorite. She is over a thousand years old, and totally dedicated to the hunt. She regards super-humans as the greatest prey of all. She is primarily the foe of Mentor.
• No-Face - The single most frightening member of the Coalition, even though (perhaps because) his only "power" is his malice and willpower. No-Face's parents were wealthy doctors who treated people in Lodtz after the atomic explosion there. When he was born, his face was hideously deformed. He grew up with a grim loathing for everyone and a brilliant mind. Murdering his parents, he donned a featureless mask and cape, embarking on a series of crimes that garnered him wealth and power but also inflicted horrible cruelty. His true identity remains a secret, since he has never been "caught" by authorities, partially because his ruthlessness is enough to put Doc Satan to shame. He is the single greatest foe of Vixen.
• Mum-Hotep - an ancient and skilled wizard from Ancient Egypt, now kept alive by draining the life force of others. He wears mystical rings on each finger which augment his powers. He generally is opposed by either Mentor or Captain Silver.
• Vortice - the only daughter of Count Nocturno, a sometimes stage hypnotist and conjurer who became a minor (but stylish) crimelord. She decided to gain actual superpowers and so kidnapped several scientists. She poisoned them all with a very slow toxin, but promised the one who gave her superpowers the antidote. Injected with a strange serum based on an accident in a bioengineering lab, Vortice found she could slow or speed up time for herself. Usually this meant she seemingly move at nearly light-speed. Her resourcefulness as a criminal proved legendary as an opponent both of Vixen and Captain Silver.

Other members at various times include:

• The Questioneer
• Captain Zero
• Doc Gabrielle
• Prince Krule of Atlantis
• Count Nocturno
• Lady Luck
• Captain Claw
• The Mocker
• The Half-Man
• Simon Dexter, the Man of Gold
• The Auditor
• Burno the Burning Man
• The Bowwomen
• Doctor Wax

In general the Coalition operated in direct opposition to the Legion of Light, a Superhero team composed of Vixen, Captain Silver, Mentor, Doc Gabriel, Stingray and sometimes others (including The Simian Avenger, Roots and Joculatrix). Although originally founded by Doc Satan in an effort to defeat his assorted enemies, the Coalition never seemed to retain his attention for long. Indeed, its single greatest weakness was how its members simply refused to operate as much of a team.

Re-Invention

In 2002, Millennium published a 12-issue miniseries devoted entirely to the latest incarnation of the Coalition and its internal politics as it vies against a splinter group of supervillains--Darkness, Inc. (the name of the mini-series).

In Darkness Inc. Doc Satan finds himself allied with Praetor and Artemis Wilde as No-Face and Mum-Hotep form their own group. Each supervillain team vies to recruit as many other supervillains as they possibly can, forseeing (correctly) a war in the offing. Byzantine intrigue and betrayals were a major factor in the plot, as was Doc Satan's bitter realization that he not only wanted help, but in fact needed it. Praetor in particular vied with him for leadership of the Coalition, while it soom become obvious that of them all only Artemis Wilde seemed to understand how No-Face and Mum-Hotep looked at stituations--in non-rational way.

The climactic battle in the Darkness Inc miniseries involved the attempt to seize an alien doomsday device from Ganzar Prime, Doc Satan's (and Mentor's) homeworld. The planet was long since dead from a cataclysmic war, but the most deadly of its weapons remained. In the end, Doc Satan found himself being manipulated by his rivals because as a Ganzarian he alone could activate the weapon. Yet by refusing to behave as they expected--i.e. rationally--he turned the tables on them.

Praetor, Artemis Wilde, Doc Satan, No-Face and Mum-Hotep were among the survivors. Interestingly, something resembling a romantic relationship began to develop between Artemis Wilde and Doc Satan by the end.

Among other things, the mini-series allowed Millennium to do away with a wide variety of supervillains who--it was believed--had outlived their potential. The survivors were those supervillains Millennium's editors believed could fit in with the re-imagining of their entire line.