History ChekhovsGun / ComicBooks

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

** In ''ComicBook/SupermanSpaceAge'', Flash's stack of bombs he uses to practice defusing with help take out Brainiac's ship.
** ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'': In page 25, a tiny spider-tracer drops from Spidey's costume. Several pages later, Spidey reveals that it was not an accident.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' album ''Recap/TintinTheCastafioreEmerald'', Tintin and Captain Haddock spotted a magpie in the front yard of Marlinspike very early on in the book. Later in the story, Bianca Castafiore's titular emerald was stolen. [[spoiler: It turns out the thief was the magpie.]]

** In ''ComicBook/SupermanSpaceAge'', Flash's stack of bombs he uses to practice defusing with help take out Brianiac's ship.

* The early 1990s Creator/MarvelComics series ''ComicBook/{{Sleepwalker}}'' featured the title alien's Imaginator, a teleportation device that can be used by the Sleepwalkers to teleport almost anywhere they can imagine, and to imprison the monsters they capture. Sleepwalker becomes trapped in Rick Sheridan's mind when Rick mistakes the Imaginator for a weapon and takes it away from him, before the device is later retrieved by Cobweb for the [[EvilPlan invasion of Earth and framing Sleepwalker as the invasion's leader.]]

** In ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'', someone sends Cat Grant a ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} doll. In "[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Day of the Dollmaker]]", which happens twenty issues later, Cat realizes that it's a clue to find a child kidnapper.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Dr. Eggman and Snivley steal the Blue Chaos Emerald and use it for Operation Clean Sweep. However, Sonic uses Chaos Control and fixes the damage, causing the Chaos Emerald to disappear. Two years later, it reappears... in the possession of [[ComicBook/MegaMan Dr. Wily]].

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': While they're escaping the slavers of Saturn on a stolen ship Diana bemoans her lost Wonder Woman boots, which ComicBook/SteveTrevor finds hilarious due to how stereotypical it is. The Saturnians later replace her replacement boots with the missing originals, which they had coated in a strong poison, in their quest for revenge.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'', Dr. Eggman and Snivley steal the Blue Chaos Emerald and use it for Operation Clean Sweep. However, Sonic uses Chaos Control and fixes the damage, causing the Chaos Emerald to disappear. Two years later, it reappears... in the possession of [[ComicBook/MegaMan Dr. Wily]].

* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' story ''ComicBook/TheCelestialMadonnaSaga'', when he showed up for the final ascent of Mantis to Celestial Madonna, Immortus brought a box with him. Kang appeared shortly afterwards, to abduct Mantis right before her ascent, but the content of the box foiled his plan.

* Early in ''{{Comicbook/Bookhunter}}'', Special Agent Bay observes a library during operation hours. Many of the objects and locations he examines in this scene--the card catalogue, the moving bookshelves, the front display window, the anti-theft alarm system--end up [[ImprovisedWeapon being used as weapons]] when a fight occurs in this same library.

* In the very first issue of ''Big Bang Comics'', Kid Galahad reads a book about escape artists and magicians. Later, when he's held captive by the Quizmaster... you can probably guess what he does (eventually -- he was playing it close to his vest at first).

** A more literal example occurs earlier on in the ''We Gotta Go Now'' story arc. The arc begins with a couple of [[EvilInc Vought]] warehouse workers questioning a large shipment of [[KillItWithFire M2 flamethrowers, FIM-92 Stingers]], and [[MoreDakka M249s]]. [[spoiler: The arc ends with a Vought corporate [[InternalDeathSquad death squad]] using them to wipe out the [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent G-Men]] with brutal efficiency, leaving even Butcher speechless.]]

* The early 1990s Creator/MarvelComics series ''ComicBook/{{Sleepwalker}}'' featured the title alien's Imaginator, a teleportation device that can be used by the Sleepwalkers to teleport almost anywhere they can imagine, and to imprison the monsters they capture. Sleepwalker becomes trapped in Rick Sheridan's mind when Rick mistakes the Imaginator for a weapon and takes it away from him, before the device is later retrieved by Cobweb for the [[EvilPlan invasion of Earth and framing Sleepwalker as the invasion's leader.]]
* In the second issue of ''ComicBook/SecretSix Villains United'', one of the miniseries leading up to ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', we see a pair of weapons mounted on Scandal's wall when she's writing a love letter. It's the first subtle hint that she is a DarkActionGirl instead of the non-combatant MiddleManagementMook she had appeared to be to that point.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** In ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'', someone sends Cat Grant a ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} doll. In "[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Day of the Dollmaker]]", which happens twenty issues later, Cat realizes that it's a clue to find a child kidnapper.
** In the sixth issue of ''ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth'' the suit of Strange Visitor -a female hero who had not make a comic-book appearance in more than one decade, real time- can be seen in the background. In issue #15, Strange Visitor makes her first proper appearance.
** ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'': In page 25, a tiny spider-tracer drops from Spidey's costume. Several pages later, Spidey reveals that it was not an accident.
* Early in ''ComicBook/CourtneyCrumrinAndTheNightThings'', Courtney reads her poetry in front of her class. Unbeknownst to her, her poetry reading conjures up a great storm and creates clouds so black they block out the sun. And no one mentions it after she's done for the rest of the series. [[spoiler: Until the final issue where a memory-wiped Courtney is given her poetry book, which returns her lost memories and magic, and gives her access to a spell strong enough to overcome an entire government body of wizards.]]
* A cloneworks for xeno-anatomy and a villain with innate power-nullifying abilities both showed up early in the latest volume of ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}''. Both of those and the [[ChekhovsSkill suit becomes invisible, wearer does not]] trick from an earlier collection become major factors in the last chapter.
* A coffee mug labelled "World's Best Dad" appears on a cluttered desk in one issue of ComicBook/TheInvisibles. Several issues later, it's used to save the day.
* In an early issue of the AffectionateParody title ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', the titular duo set their differing approaches to crimefighting: Quantum has [[CrazyPrepared a fully-laden utility belt and a multi-functional outfit]], while Woody carries, quote, "[a] 9mm Beretta and a Zippo lighter". The Beretta sees occasional use throughout the series, while the Zippo doesn't get another mention until one of the last issues of the Akklaim run, [[spoiler:when both of them are [[DeathTrap locked in a cage being slowly lowered into a pool of toxic waste]], by [[TheJuggernaut a superpowered mercenary they had just tried, and failed, to stop with an all-or-nothing energy blast and]] ''[[TheJuggernaut a nuclear explosion]]''. While Quantum recites a prayer, Woody, blinded by the fumes, desperately tries to strike the lighter to see in the "dark". The flame ignites those same fumes and blasts the cage and its occupants to (relative) safety]].
* The information pollen in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', which seems to be just one among the many random, wacky elements in the story [[spoiler:but which gives Spider a degenerative brain disease]].

* In ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim & The Infinite Sadness'', Scott wins a 1-Up after defeating Todd. He's mildly creeped out by it, but he collects it anyway. When [[spoiler:Gideon kills Scott in the final battle, his Extra Life saves us all from a DownerEnding]].
* In the very first issue of ''Big Bang Comics'', Kid Galahad reads a book about escape artists and magicians. Later, when he's held captive by the Quizmaster... you can probably guess what he does (eventually - he was playing it close to his vest at first).
* In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis Aftermath: Dance'', Most Excellent Superbat mentions that he kept a souvenir from the "Brain Drain" escapade - the control cell that turned the team microscopic. You never know when you'll have to be really tiny... so naturally it comes up in the last issue.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' album ''Recap/TintinTheCastafioreEmerald'', Tintin and Captain Haddock spotted a magpie in the front yard of Marlinspike very early on in the book. Later in the story, Bianca Castafiore's titular emerald was stolen. [[spoiler: It turns out the thief was the magpie.]]
* In ''Under the Hood'', the Red Hood has Chekhov's RPG and Chekhov's spare mask in his HQ room.

* Early in ''{{Comicbook/Bookhunter}}'', Special Agent Bay observes a library during operation hours. Many of the objects and locations he examines in this scene--the card catalogue, the moving bookshelves, the front display window, the anti-theft alarm system--end up [[ImprovisedWeapon being used as weapons]] when a fight occurs in this same library.

* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'', Dr. Eggman and Snivley steal the Blue Chaos Emerald and use it for Operation Clean Sweep. However, Sonic uses Chaos Control and fixes the damage, causing the Chaos Emerald to disappear. Two years later, it reappears... in the possession of [[ComicBook/MegaMan Dr. Wily]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Rorshach's journal is an interesting example. While it is certainly an example of a chekhov's gun, its eventual fate is left uncertain. Its return is the last thing the reader sees when reading the comic, and we get no clue as to whether or not the trope will be played straight, averted, or subverted.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': While they're escaping the slavers of Saturn on a stolen ship Diana bemoans her lost Wonder Woman boots, which ComicBook/SteveTrevor finds hilarious due to how stereotypical it is. The Saturnians later replace her replacement boots with the missing originals, which they had coated in a strong poison, in their quest for revenge.
* One of the many failed ploys to permanently kill Dracula in ''ComicBook/DraculaLives'' involved a set of words called the Montesi Formula, a chant that could kill any vampire for good. The pages containing the formula eluded him in a SequelHook, and the formula returned in a story arc of ''[[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Doctor Strange: Master of Mystic Arts]]'', where they were used to kill all vampires in existence.
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
** ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': Has numerous. Rung's thumb microphone was mentioned just so it could be later used in a hostage crisis. Magnus stressing the importance of a semi-colon comes into play when Tailgate rewrites the law [[spoiler:to defeat the Legislators]]. Then there's Trailcutter, who get's guns installed in his legs and is revealed to deploy a force field as a panic bubble to save himself from harm. It saves him during an encounter with a DJD member [[spoiler:only for another to get around his defenses and brutally kill him]].
** ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'': Skywarp's teleportation. He was stabbed by Arcee back in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'' and mentioned having problems keeping himself together. When they engage Shockwave, he loses control of his Teleportation and vanishes altogether in Issue 5. He comes back in Issue 10, having regained control of his power, and rescues Metalhawk and Waspinator, taking them (as well as the information on Shockwave's plan) back to the city.

* ''ComicBook/LesbianZombiesFromOuterSpace'': In Issue #1 Ace is searching for a video camera in a cabinet, and a shotgun conspicuously falls off one of the shelves. He pays it no attention, but the weapon resurfaces in Issue #2 when Gwen tumbles down the stairs and crashes into the cabinet, knocking the shotgun loose once more. And at just the right time.
* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'':
** Creator/DonRosa's ''ComicBook/TheBlackKnight'': In "The Black Knight Glorps Again", early on in the story Gyro Gearloose carefully makes a small opening in the block of concrete that the dissolving black knight armor was kept in because it continued to destroy the air molecules around it, creating a near vacuum that they would otherwise have been sucked inside of. Later on Donald and Lusene (who's wearing the armor again) are both locked inside a containment room with Lusene threatening to dissolve Donald unless Scrooge lets him out. Donald remembers what Gyro had told him earlier and keeps the black knight distracted long enough for the oxygen in the room to run out and knock them both unconscious so Scrooge and his nephews can safely remove Lusene's armor.
** ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'': The Sawyer, trees trapped at the bottom of the Mississipi and which can violently spring out of the water, are introduced early and of course have some use at the end of the story.
* ''ComicBook/{{Pouvoirpoint}}'': Aboard spaceship ''Entreprise-2061'', the main character receives training to handle a rifle called ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Chekhov Gun]]'', which will of course be dramatically useful in the climax scene...
* In the horror series ''ComicBook/CleanRoom'' a demon collects all the sharp objects in Chloe's house and positions them point-up in her bathtub. It looks like a lethal trap set for her, but it's really the demon offering her weapons in a place she'll see and remember when she's attacked minutes later.

* ''ComicBook/BlueIsTheWarmestColor'': Fabienne's chronic insomnia. [[spoiler:She catches Emma walking naked after leaving Clémentine's room...]]
* In ''Isabellae'', a European comic brought to North America by Dark Horse, Isabellae a half-Irish ronin has met with her mother's caste, the Druids. They are going to perform a ceremony that will help them drive the English out of Ireland. A young boy druid approaches Isabellae and she notices that he's wearing the sign of the cross on his neck, this confuses Isabellae because she thought Christianity was incompatible with Druidism. She's right... [[spoiler: that's because, the druid caste at this time has fallen away from their ancestral gods, the Tuatha de Danan and have turned to the older darker Fomorrian gods as the druids's primary motivation now is nationalism and possibly world domination. As a means of hedging their bets, the druids have also had dealings with angels belonging to the Christian God -- they would turn Christian if the angels would help them drive out the English and their Norman mercenaries.]]
* In ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' story ''ComicBook/TheCelestialMadonnaSaga'', when he showed up for the final ascent of Mantis to Celestial Madonna, Immortus brought a box with him. Kang appeared shortly afterwards, to abduct Mantis right before her ascent, but the content of the box foiled his plan.
* ''ComicBook/TheSwordOfArdenois'': During Dawn Brigade's first direct encounter with Goaat and his troops, Weasel gets injured and lends Garen one of her combat daggers, urging him to back the other members up. This single weapon proves vital to foiling Goaat's plans for the day, due to multiple instances of Garen's Combat Pragmatist handling of it.