The bald and the powerful

For these 10 bald comic characters, not having hair is more than a fashion statement.

WHEN the first image of Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in the upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was revealed, the first question people asked was: “Why isn’t he bald?” There was pretty much the same reaction when James McAvoy was cast as Professor X in X- Men: First Class.

While there have been instances where characters were given the bald look just to spice up the character’s image, it’s a much bigger deal when it’s the other way round. Can you imagine characters like Professor X or The Watcher having hair? Yeah, we can’t either.

Anyway, with the upcoming movie to feature James McAvoy sporting the bald look for the first time, we decided to feature 10 of our favourite bald- headed comic characters.

We’re not talking about characters who lost their hair in a ret- con or reboot exercise though ( sorry, Magneto) – we’re ref-fering to characters for whom being bald is more than a fashion statement, but an image for which they are famous. These are characters who are defined by their baldness, for whom the chrome dome is part of their iconic look.

Absorbing Man

Who he is: Carl “Crusher” Creel was just an ordinary ciminal, until Loki slipped him an enchanted potion and he gained the power to absorb the properties of anything he touches. Yup, anything. He was once defeated when Thor made him take on the properties of helium, and drifted off into space. Then there was the time he absorbed cocaine, and had to reassemble himself.

How he became bald: Creel has been bald since he was created in 1965 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as a Thor villain. We’d like to think that the decision to make Absorbing Man bald must have been for practical reasons. After all, can you imagine having to figure out how to draw his hair after absorbing stuff like cement or mud?

Drax the Destroyer

Who he is: He’s green, he’s dangerous, and he’s a Guardian Of the Galaxy. He is also known to use his noggin as a weapon in a fight quite often as well.

How he became bald: Unknown. Presumably because he caught everything that went over his head?

Kingpin

Who he is: Only one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal overlords in the Marvel Universe. Kingpin is big, bald, and carries a big stick. You don’t want to mess with him ( though Daredevil seems to do it quite a lot).

How he became bald: He was already bald he made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man # 50, by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. The latter based his appearance on actor Sydney Greenstreet ( The Maltese Falcon), who wasn’t exactly bald, but had a receding hairline.

Master Roshi

Who he is: He wears a turtle shell on his back, and is not exactly the most powerful character on this list ( and he can be pretty perverted too), but he gets top marks for being Goku’s first ever master, and the one who taught him the Kamehameha!

How he became bald: robably from old age, since e is already bald when we meet him in the Dragonball manga.