In Drawing Crazy Patterns, I spotlight at least five scenes/moments from within comic book stories that fit under a specific theme (basically, stuff that happens frequently in comics). Note that these lists are inherently not exhaustive. They are a list of five examples (occasionally I'll be nice and toss in a sixth). So no instance is "missing" if it is not listed. It's just not one of the five examples that I chose.

Today, we look at examples of nice supporting cast members who then later became supervillains! I'm not talking about instances where a guy was brainwashed into working for a supervillain (like Edwin Jarvis by Ultron) or tricked into helping a supervillain (like Snapper Carr or, well, I guess Edwin Jarvis again). I am also not talking about characters who were always intended to become supervillains but were introduced as nice people (like Hunter Zoloman). I mean characters who were legitimately nice folks who were supporting cast members and then later turned evil and became supervillains.

DR. MILES WARREN

We begin with Peter Parker's college science professor, Dr. Miles Warren, who was introduced in the same issue that we first met Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn (Amazing Spider-Man #31 by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee)...

Warren got a nice spotlight in Amazing Spider-Man #53 (by Stan Lee, John Romita and Mike Esposito), when he invites Peter to a science expo...

Note how he actually seems to be interested in Gwen Stacy even back then...

They have a pleasant trip before Doctor Octopus ruins it...

In general, though, Warren seems like an overall swell guy...

That is until he is revealed, about 100 issues after that Science Expo trip, to secretly be the Jackal in Amazing Spider-Man #148 (by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt)...

JEAN LORING

Jean Loring had a bit of a complicated history, but in general, since being introduced in Showcase #34 (by Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson), she has been shown to be a nice person, even if she (GASP!) wanted to solidify herself as a lawyer before marrying her boyfriend, Ray Palmer...

She had her mind messed with over the years through artificial means, but she was returned to her normal self and eventually, she and Ray got married in Justice League of America #157 (by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin)...

Jean later cheated on Ray and they divorced, but they remained friends. Then she murdered Sue Dibny to get Ray to come back to her (even though she's the one who broke up with HIM), as shown in Identity Crisis #7 (by Brad Meltzer, Rags Morales and Michael Bair)...

After being sent to Arkham Asylum, she then was turned into Eclipso in Day of Vengeance #1 (by Bill WIllingham, Justiano and Walden Wong)...

DR. HELGA JACE

Doctor Helga Jace was a Markovian scientist who helped give Geo-Force her powers (she was also the reason why Metamorpho joined the Outsiders, as he was looking to meet up with her to see if she could help him with his own powers) as seen in Batman and the Outsiders #1 (by Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo)...

She was a bit of an odd duck, but in general, she was a nice person who was their main science adviser for the next few years.

That is until she was revealed as a Manhunter in Outsiders #27 (by Barr and Erik Larsen)...

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JACOB CONOVER

Jacob Conover was introduced in Daredevil #131 (by Marv Wolfman, Bob Brown and Klaus Janson), as a reporter who served as exposition for Bullseye's origin...

(I'll address said origin in the future)

Conover was then used by Roger Stern a lot, including having him write the iconic column "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man"...

Over 200 issues later, it turned out that he was the third Rose...

Conver is a fascinating character. I think I'll write more about him in the future (like how Stern used him and how Conover being the Rose never particularly made a ton of sense with how it was all handled).

DR. EMIL HAMILTON

Professor Emil Hamilton was technically introduced as a misguided villain, as he tried to prove some of his technology worked by using it on Superman. He went to prison for a short period and when he got out of jail, he proved himself as a sweet guy who was a devoted ally to Clark Kent and to Superman, like in Adventures of Superman #442 (by Jerry Ordway, John Byrne and Andy Kubert), where Clark goes to Hamilton for help in stopping some bad guys who were absorbing superheroes' powers...

So he made a special force field suit for Clark to give him temporary powers...

Roughly 200 issues later, a new villain called Ruin shows up...

And it turned out to be Emil Hamilton....

He found out that Superman was slowly draining energy from the sun. Nothing major, but he sort of went nuts thinking that Superman was a danger and now he had to do anything he could to stop him, even if it meant killing a bunch of people (Hamilton had become a villain earlier, as well, but that was Brainiac-13-driven brainwashing).

If anyone else has an idea for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!