Simonson: Satisfaction Guaranteed

No clue where I found this, but hot damn is that not a thing of beauty? What say you, Hercules?

Yeah. That's what I'm talking about.

Villains with Potential-The Trapster

"I'm not Paste-Pot Pete."
That, my friends, is the plaintive cry of the criminal genius (you heard me) to my left. A paean to youthful folly, mingled with a healthy dollop of self-loathing. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Trapster.
If you want to talk about squandered potential, the Trapster is whatchacall your text book case. He's so pathetic that his suffering is actually a meta-commentary on the sad sack state of super-villainy in general. How many times has he reinvented himself? How many times has he made the same mistakes (I've got a new costume! I'm sure I can beat the Fantastic Four this time!) and gotten his head handed to him?
See, the problem here is that Pete, while a genius, is a bit of a schlub. Like the Shocker, the Trapster desires respect. Unlike the Shocker, he ain't too particular as to how he gets it. He craves it. Yearns for it, not with quiet dignity, but with the greedy fires of the eternal loser. So he makes stupid mistakes. Like joining the Frightful Four. Or listening to the Wingless Wizard. Or wearing highly fragile glue cannisters on his back.
"If I get some respect, I'll be okay." It's like a Zen mantra.
Pete, quite simply, is not a foot-soldier. He's one of life's quartermasters. The supply guy. He builds it and some other idiot uses it. That is the Trapster. It's even in his name...'Trapster'...a guy who builds traps. Ride with me on my logic train for a bit.
The Trapster, older, wiser and with the numerous aches and pains that come of being a normal human fighting super-powered opponents, decides to retire from active villainy. No more running around in tights. Instead, with a bit of funding from old acquaintances (Kingpin, Dr. Doom, whoever), he sets up his own business. Traps. Superhero deterrents. Got a base? Let the Trapster kit it out with the latest in security systems! Need something to use in kidnapping Wolverine? I got just the thing. Imagine what poor old Pete could do if he got his hands on a Smythe's Spider-Slayer designs? Or on a deactivated Ultron? Or an containment technology from the future? Imagine a team-up between Zarko the Tomorrow Man and the new, improved Trapster.
I know, I know, the Tinkerer already does all this. That slot is filled. Or is it? Maybe Trapster and the Tinkerer get a mentor/apprentice deal going, as the aged Tinkerer passes on his know-how to a younger man. Or maybe it's a less genial affair than that. Maybe, in fact, he starts a rivalry. For years the Tinkerer has had a bit of a monopoly on supplying the bad guys. what happens when a new guy-with new ideas-shows up, looking to make his mark? Two inventors, each trying to one up the other in the arts of destruction and mayhem, not caring what happens to the world around them.
Think about it.

Oh, and by the by...It's Clobberin' Time is back from its hiatus. Just in case you hadn't figured that out, I mean.