This is really a two-point question:

First, as the title says, are you interested in reading stories about less notorious villains? People often complain that the Joker is so drastically overused and that he always needs to be included in every significant Batman story etc. But I often wonder if people would actually buy a significant arc if the villain was less commonly used. Lets say that Scott Snyder decided that his next Batman arc would focus on Lock-Up as the primary antagonist. Or Calendar Man. Or the Ratcatcher. Or Humpty Dumpty. Would you be interested?

Secondly, what minor villains do you think deserve to gain greater notoriety? Who are the villains that have potential to be top- or mid-tier villains but have yet to cross the threshold?

For me, I'd like to see a modern comic book arc focusing on Anarky, Lock-Up, and/or Nocturna (who was the inspiration for this thread because she will be the antagonist in an upcoming arc of Batwoman).

I think comics should alternate between well known and lesser known villains, just so the well known ones don't get overused and boring, and the lesser knowns get some attention, and the chance to become well known themselves. It could be a good way for creators to show more creativity too, not having as obvious ideas to rely on.

@supbatz: Less notorious villain : Only if the story's good.I can take mediocre stories with great villians.Not the opposite though

I would love to read stories involving minor villains. I get so sick of the jokers, two-faces, and Ra's'. I wanna see Condiment Man and Calendar Man in a long term story arc!

If the writing is done well, why not? I personally would like to see them take on some of the more silly villains and re-invent them. Villains like Egghead, Condiment King, Killer Moth, etc. They aren't really being used anyways, so why not take them and mold them into a character you can actually include in an arc? People don't have much of an attachment to those characters, so they likely won't mind if you change them around a bit to get a villain that will actually work. I think it would be a really cool thing to see, and if done well, would make things interesting. After all, villains like Doctor Double X have some interesting aspects to emphasize on, it's just the silly aspects that need to be changed. I also think Maxie Zeus could make for an awesome villain in the comics.

I'm in for the long haul with Syder's Batman. I don't care what villain he uses. That being said, I'm a pretty big fan of obscure villains. Ostrander's Suicide Squad and Secret Six are two of my all time favorite team books. Jeff Parker's Thunderbolts was amazing as is Superior Foes. I'm all about some C list villains.

that would be nice the guy has three titles but the writers seem to only want to use the same villians over and over again

I couldn't agree more, it serves two good purpose:

1. It will make the readers interested because it introduces the B or C list villains seldom used which will be something new, hence New 52.

2. It will challenge our good ol' writers on telling an epic story using these obscure villains.

In addition, to make it also interesting why not let the villains from other titles to jump over, hawkman villains like the gentleman ghost, blockbuster or lion-mane (now a batwing villain).

yes i would like to read more about talia or LADY SHIVA

Yes I wanna see Deadshot and Zeiss again.

Yes, but some villains get forgotten for a reason.

I would like more stories with B category type villains, one of my favourites for example is Man Bat. He is fairly well known but not as popular, obviously, as Joker, Penguin, etc.

like many others have said in this thread, just make the stories good and these lesser know/used villains will seem interesting and eventually they might actually develop to have the kind of popularity that well knowns have. Want a good example, look at Deathstroke.

As far as the specific villains, Man-Bat would be a no from me. I like Calendar Man, though, he seems so silly until you actually focus on what he's DONE. Same thing with Dollmaker. Baby-Doll, Egghead, and even False Face would bring a nice change of pace too, especially if they were updated (somewhat) to match the current story style.

One of the saddest things is that the people reading the New 52 who are new to comics might never find out about these villains if they don't get at least one issue.

I think Anarky should be explored more (the more I think about he would've been a better villain for Rises than Bane especially with continuing the Joker's chaos....). He's interesting considering, he thinks that he is "right," for Gotham and Batman isn't. On top of that he represents what Gotham is some ways, a distopian city lost in anarchy and corruption.

Also Man-Bat, he's basically is the monster that is living inside Batman and he's a good movie monster too.