History Expy / Comicbooks

* The 2014 ''Deathlok'' series stars new character Henry Hayes, who is very blatantly modeled after the Mike Peterson version of Deathlok from the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' TV series. Not surprisingly, the ''Comicbook/AgentsOfSHIELD'' comic book later used Hayes as part of the cast, having him fill a similar role to the oen held by Peterson in the series. Why Marvel didn't simply have Mike become an outright CanonImmigrant is unknown.

* The cast of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was originally going to use characters DC had acquired from Charlton Comics. After DC vetoed this idea, the cast became expys of those characters instead:

* The cast of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was originally going to use characters DC had acquired from Charlton Comics. After DC vetoed this idea, the cast became expys of those characters instead.

* The 2014 ''Deathlok'' series stars new character Henry Hayes, who is very blatantly modeled after the Mike Peterson version of Deathlok from the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' TV series. Not surprisingly, the ''Comicbook/AgentsOfSHIELD'' comic book later used Hayes as part of the cast, having him fill the role played by Peterson in the show.

%%** [[ComicBook/{{Steel}} Commander Steel]] was another Captain America Expy. ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' {{Lampshaded}} this by having the second Steel mimic Cap's iconic shield throw.

* ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #421 saw Superman battle Captain Strong, the DC universe's equivalent to ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}: a balding, rough-and-tumble sailor who gets incredible super-strength by eating a green plant (in this case "sauncha", a strain of seaweed infested with alien spores of unknown origin). DC ran with it, and subsequent appearances Strong gained a supporting cast of Expies to Olive Oyl, Bluto, Wimpy, and Poopdeck Pappy.

* ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #421 had ''Captain Strong'', a balding, muscly sailor who gets his super-strength from eating a green plant. He resurfaced over forty years later in the New 52 ''ComicBook/HarleyQuinn'' series.

** Archie's ''Sonic'' series has Doctor Finitevus, an obvious Expy of Doctor Zachary from ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic''. Let's see. Is an EvilAlbino? Check. Has the "doctor" title attached to his name? Check. Is an echidna and one of Knuckles' people? Check. Has a fixation with Chaos Energy? Check. Has manipulated Knuckles (either by exploiting his character, or via brainwashing)? Check. Has had a powerful minion who was powered up by Chaos Energy? Check.

* ComicBook/{{Thanos}} was intentionally based off of ComicBook/Darkseid - large, bald, blue-haired cosmic alien conquerer with a brutal inevitabiltiy to his actions. According to Jim Starlin, Thanos was always going to be inspired by the ComicBook/NewGods - but originally he looked like the character Metron. [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/06/24/comic-book-legends-revealed-266/ Editor Roy Thomas told Starlin]]: "If you’re going to steal one of the New Gods, at least rip off Darkseid, the really good one!".

** The ''Lefranc'' series recount the adventures of Guy Lefranc, a reporter for a newspaper. Like Tintin, he goes on various adventures and face off against terrorists, [[ThoseWackynazis remnant Nazis]], [[CorruptCorporateExecutive greedy businessmen]]. The main difference with Tintin is that Lefranc has a recurring antagonist he squared off on many occasions named Axel Borg. Very much like Tintin, Lefranc doesn't have much flaws and is a humanist.

* Being highly influential and popular, ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' spawned many expies in FrancoBelgianComics.:

** The ''Sonic'' Special issue crossing the book over with Creator/ImageComics also got away with two of the most blatant Expys in comic book history, [[Series/TheXFiles Wolf Scolder and Lana Mully]]. [[https://68.media.tumblr.com/aeb737f7e909334b39eacd4912b84daf/tumblr_oljbmkwBRv1w0yi0zo1_1280.jpg Tt has to be seen to be believed]]. Ken Penders even had the stones to include something resembling a cross between a TakeThat and a dedication to Creator/ChrisCarter.

* An oft-mocked facet of early Creator/ImageComics was that every team seemed to have a ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} expy, who had blades on his hands, a bad attitude, and a mysterious past. And while it wasn't '''every''' team (''Comicbook/{{Gen 13}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' being the most notable exceptions), this was true for most of them: ComicBook/{{Youngblood}} had both Cougar '''and''' Troll, while their "training squad," Bloodpool, had Wylder; Cyberforce had Ripclaw; ComicBook/WildCATs had Warblade; Bloodstrike had Deadlock; and ''Codename: Strykeforce'' had Killrazor. Deadlock was probably the most obvious (and that's really saying something), since his first costume featured a mask nearly identical to Wolverine's.

* ComicBook/{{Supreme}} is an Expy of Superman, obviously. Originally this was mainly in terms of power set and appearance – in personality and outlook on the world, though, Supreme and Superman couldn't have been more different. When Creator/AlanMoore took over the series, his in-universe ContinuityReboot made the comparison much more explicit.
** From the pre-Moore era, Kid Supreme was a fairly direct take-off of [[ComicBook/Superboy Kon-El]] from DC Comics, with almost the exact same appearance and personality. His short-lived solo series, however, owed a lot more to the contemporaneous ''ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Impulse}}'' series in its tone and status quo.

* Todd Ziller (hmmm, what happens if we change that 'T' to a 'G') appeared in ComicBook/TheAvengers. As a product of a kludge SuperSoldier program, Project Troubleshooter, which shoved everything they could get into him (including Pym Particles, Mutant Growth Hormone, and etc.). Naturally this [[GoneHorriblyRight worked but in a real messy way]] and he became something that looked like the brother to a certain [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Toho monster]]. Mr. Ziller even has the code-name "American Kaiju".

%%* ''Comicbook/ConanTheBarbarian'': Janissa the Widowmaker for Comicbook/RedSonja in the most recent Creator/DarkHorseComics series.
%%* The ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'' villainess [[DistaffCounterpart Lady Bullseye]] is a deliberate Expy of Manga/LadySnowblood, [[WordOfGod according to]] Creator/EdBrubaker.

%%* ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} had a major series of expies. Interestingly, these expies lost their readers and ended publication by staying true to ''Diabolik'''s initial noir while Diabolik and the only surviving expy ([[ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures Paperinik]]) moved to other genres (Diabolik to crime fiction and Paperinik to superhero).
%%* Creator/MarvelComics' Donyell Taylor, originally codenamed Bandit, is an Expy of Marvel's own Gambit, a fact exploited shamelessly by an issue of Gambit's eponymous series when Bandit turns out to be romantically involved with Gambit's ex-wife Belladonna.
%%** Night Thrasher (Bandit's brother and the leader of the ComicBook/NewWarriors) was also an Expy of Franchise/{{Batman}}, complete with the same basic origin and CrimefightingWithCash m.o.
%%* Comicbook/ElongatedMan was created because Creator/DCComics didn't realize they already owned Comicbook/PlasticMan.
%%* Lee, the main character of Creator/PeterDavid's ''ComicBook/FallenAngel'' is an Expy of Linda Danvers, protagonist of David's previous run on ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''. In fact, David did his best to fuel speculation that the characters were one and the same until the book's second volume, in which he chronicled Lee's origins. Later on, he introduced Lin, yet another expy of Linda Danvers, who can in fact be considered Linda in everything but name. Likewise, the God figure in the series is a small girl dressed in a tennis motif and carrying a tennis racket, which makes her an expy of Wally, the god figure in David's ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' who was a young boy who carried a baseball bat.
%%* Creator/JohnByrne's college newspaper strip ''Gay Guy!'' had a villain called [[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/c/charisma.htm Charisma]], whom no man could resist except... well, guess. Byrne liked the character concept so much that [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/karisma.htm Karisma]] showed up on the ComicBook/FantasticFour's doorstep a decade and a half later.
%%* ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis: Superman Beyond 3D'' features Captain Adam, an alternate universe version of ComicBook/CaptainAtom who's a clear Expy of Dr Manhattan, sporting his blue skin, detached nature, and even a similar emblem on his forehead. This is fitting since Manhattan was originally an Expy of Captain Atom to begin with.

%%** All of the "Division X" characters are Expies of figures from 1970s British police series:
%%*** Paddy Crowley is George Cowley from ''Series/TheProfessionals''.
%%*** George Harper and Jack Flint are George Carter and Jack Regan from ''Series/TheSweeney''.
%%*** Jon Six is Series/JasonKing from ''Series/DepartmentS'' and later his own eponymous show.

%%* Volstagg of the Warriors Three from ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' is heavily based on Creator/WilliamShakespeare's Falstaff.

%%* Marvel/Star Comics' ''ComicBook/RoyalRoy'' was basically an Expy of Harvey Comics' ''ComicBook/RichieRich'', back when the latter company wasn't publishing any books in the early 1980s. It was even handled by the same artist/writer team that created ''Richie Rich''.

** This trope is lampshaded in full during ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' by Pavitr Prabhakar, the Spider-man of Earth-50101. During the events of the story, he comes to wonder whether he and the other Spider-Men are mere offshoots of Peter Parker after noticing all of the similarities between his own and Peter's backstories as well as the overwhelming number of alternate Peter Parkers as Spider-Totems, triggering a minor HeroicBSOD. Luckily, a quick peptalk from Billy Braddock, the Spider-Man of Earth-833, snaps him out of this, saying that Pavitr is just as much of a hero as Peter, and that the latter could be an expy of ''him''.
%%* Comicbook/LanaLang essentially served as a teenaged Expy of ComicBook/LoisLane in the ComicBook/{{Superboy}} comics.
* Pre-Crisis Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} had a crush on Dick Malverne, a guy who liked Linda, suspected she was Supergirl, and was determined to prove it... right like Comicbook/LoisLane and Comicbook/LanaLang liked Superman/Comicbook/{{Superboy}}, suspected he was Clark Kent and were determined to prove it. Linda specifically tells Dick is her Lana Lang. ''Comicbook/YoungLove'' short story revealed that Dick always knew, but after a while he decided to keep Linda's secret to himself.

* ComicBook/{{Ultron}} is an admitted Expy of Makino, an obscure villain from the ''Series/CaptainVideo'' comic published by Creator/FawcettComics. [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/age-ultron-creator-roy-thomas-791320 According to Roy Thomas]], Makino's smiling faceplate and [[KillAllHumans hatred of humans]] directly inspired Ultron's design and personality.

* Everett K. Ross from Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' was heavily based off of [[Series/{{Friends}} Chandler Bing]]. In fact, according to Priest, the character was even called "Chandler" in the early pre-production phase before they settled on an actual name.
** Likewise, White Wolf was inspired by Creator/KevinSpacey's character from ''Film/MidnightInTheGardenOfGoodAndEvil'', even bearing an [[ComicBookFantasyCasting uncanny resemblance to Spacey]] and wearing a similar white business suit.
** [[http://digitalpriest.com/legacy/comics/crew/kasper.htm According to Priest's website]], Kasper Cole and his supporting cast were all designed to be intentional Expies of Comicbook/SpiderMan and his supporting cast, just with a [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructive]] slant. Kasper is a [[TheEveryman relatable Everyman]] like Peter Parker, but is even more of a screw-up. His father, "Black Jack" is an Uncle Ben-like figure Kasper looks to for advice, except he's a corrupt cop in jail for drug possession. His mother Ruth is a double Expy, serving as both a stereotypical JewishMother version of Aunt May ''and'' the Marvel equivalent of Doris Roberts' character from ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond''. Finally, Kasper's girlfriend Gwen is the requisite Gwen Stacy/Mary Jane-type character (right down to even being ''named'' after the former), except she's Korean and their relationship is completely dysfunctional, with Gwen constantly nagging and annoying him instead of being a source of emotional support.

%%* An oft-mocked facet of early Creator/ImageComics was that every team seemed to have a ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' expy, who had blades on his hands, a bad attitude, and a mysterious past. And while it wasn't ''every'' team (''Comicbook/{{Gen 13}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' being the most notable exceptions), this was true for most of them -- ''ComicBook/{{Youngblood}}'' had both Cougar ''and'' Troll, Youngblood's "training squad" Bloodpool had Wylder, Cyberforce had Ripclaw, ComicBook/WildCATs had Warblade, Bloodstrike had Deadlock, and Codename: Strykeforce had Killrazor. Deadlock was probably the most obvious (and that's really saying something), since his first costume featured a mask nearly identical to Wolverine's.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman''
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' villain Veronica Cale is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who is DrivenByEnvy of Wonder Woman and uses her [[MadScientist technological resources]] and [[TheChessmaster planning skills]] to challenge her, despite [[BadassNormal having no powers]]. The writers have confessed that she was explicitly designed to be an expy and DistaffCounterpart of Superman archfoe ComicBook/LexLuthor.
** Tom Tresser/Nemesis, as portrayed in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'', was a 21st Century analogue of ComicBook/SteveTrevor; an attractive blonde, blue-eyed American spy who is Diana's love intrest.

* Creator/SteveGerber's creator-owned character Leonard the Duck was an expy of Comicbook/HowardTheDuck, also created by Gerber, but owned by Creator/MarvelComics. In fact, Leonard's introduction was a complicated situation where Gerber tied a Comicbook/SpiderMan and Howard crossover he was writing for Marvel with a Comicbook/SavageDragon and Comicbook/DestroyerDuck crossover he was writing for Creator/ImageComics, suggesting that Leonard ''actually is'' Howard under an assumed name, and the Howard the Duck who's appeared in Marvel Comics since then is a clone. The issue also mentions a Franchise/SpiderMan expy, Spider-Crab.
* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'':
** Archie's ''Sonic'' series has Doctor Finitevus, an obvious Expy of Doctor Zachary from ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic''. Let's see. Is an EvilAlbino? Check. Has the "doctor" title attached to his name? Check. Is an echidna and one of Knuckles' people? Check. Has a fixation with Chaos Energy? Check. Has manipulated Knuckles (either by exploiting his character, or via brainwashing)? Check. Has had a powerful minion who was powered up by Chaos Energy? Check.
** The ''Sonic'' Special issue crossing the book over with Creator/ImageComics also got away with two of the most blatant Expys in comic book history, [[Series/TheXFiles Wolf Scolder and Lana Mully]]. [[https://68.media.tumblr.com/aeb737f7e909334b39eacd4912b84daf/tumblr_oljbmkwBRv1w0yi0zo1_1280.jpg it has to be seen to be believed]]. Ken Penders even had the stones to include something resembling a cross between a TakeThat and a dedication to Creator/ChrisCarter.

* The cast of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was originally going to use characters DC had acquired from Charlton Comics. After DC vetoed this idea, the cast became expys of those characters instead.
* The title character of Tekno Comix's ''Mickey Spillaine's Mike Danger'' is very explicitly Literature/MikeHammer under a different name -- according to the book's writer, Max Allan Collins, the name Spillaine originally intended him to have -- and then {{Human Popsicle}}d into the future. This is straight-up stated in the text piece at the back of the first issue.

** Abigail Brand's half-brother Lothi in the ''S.W.O.R.D'' spin-off has major similarities of appearance and personality to ComicBook/TankGirl's boyfriend Booga. Each character is a LovableRogue PettingZooPerson who isn't as cool as he tries to be and looks like a humanised kangaroo (which Booga actually is). About the only difference is that he's green.

* The Candy Doll toyline from ''ComicBook/{{Dolltopia}} are obviously meant to be ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}''.

%%* DC's ''ComicBook/AllStarSquadron'' featured the Young All-Stars, who were meant to replace the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] versions of Superman (Iron Munro), Wonder Woman (The Fury), Batman (Flying Fox), Aquaman (Neptune Perkins, Tsunami), and Green Arrow (Tigress) Post-Crisis, because they, you know, weren't active back then anymore. Neptune Perkins was a very obscure pre-existing character, for what it's worth. They had Nazi-created evil counterparts called Axis Amerika to contend with, which were ''also'' retrofitted Expies of the vanished Earth-2 heroes: Ubermensch (Superman), Gudra the Valkyrie (Wonder Woman), Grösshorn Eule and Fledermaus (Batman ), Usil (Green Arrow) and Sea Wolf (Aquaman). Part of the reasoning was that, metaphysically speaking, iconic characters like Superman and Wonder Woman were "too big" to be replaced by just ''one'' new (and inevitably "lesser") character. The [[TokenMinority Token Japanese]] member of Axis Amerika, Kamikaze was an expy of Fawcett's {{Bulletman}}.

%%* Jeremy from the ''Series/{{Angel}}''/''Spike'' comics is an Expy of Jim from ''Series/{{The Office|US}}''.

%%** Archie Comics even had its own Expies of Archie, including ''That Wilkin Boy'' and ''Wilbur''.
%%** ''Fast Willie Jackson'' was an African-American Archie Expy from Fitzgerald Publishing.
%%** Atlas/Seaboard comics published ''Vicki'' circa 1975... a feature that itself consisted of slightly-updated reprints of ''another'' Archie expy, ''Tippy Teen'', which had been published by Tower Comics in the '60s.
%%** Archie is also an Expy ''himself'', being heavily-based off of Andy Hardy, a popular character played by Mickey Rooney at the time.

%%*** Carmine Falcone from ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'' is made into one of Vito Corleone from ''Film/TheGodfather'' and introduces Falcone's family, who was similar expies for the Corleone children: his daughter, Sofia Gigante, is a {{Gender Flip}}ped Sonny, while his sons, Alberto and Sonny are respectively ones for Fredo and Michael.

%%* Number 13, a strip about a supernatural family of monsters in the AnthologyComic ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' was Series/TheMunsters. Also Kat and Kanary is Sylvester and Tweety from WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes. The character Joe Jitsu from the 00s seems to be an expy of an earlier character entitled Karate Sid from the 80s.
%%* Cable, who originally started as a {{Franchise/Terminator}} Expy, has at least two AlternateCompanyEquivalent characters at DC: The Linear Man and [[ComicBook/KingdomCome Magog]]. The latter was meant to symbolize everything wrong with UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks.

** After season one of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' ended, Oliver was revealed to have a younger half-sister in the New 52, named Emiko, who is based on Thea Queen, his sister in ''Arrow'', though Thea herself is an Expy of Mia Dearden. Both are experienced archers and have similar abilities, though Emiko is a teenager and Thea is an adult in addition to different racial backgrounds (Emiko is Eurasian [half-Caucasian/half-Japanese] and Thea is Caucasian) and different relation (Emiko is Oliver's paternal half-sister in the comics with her father being Oliver's father Robert Queen and mother being Shado, while Thea is Oliver's maternal half-sister in the show with her father being Malcolm Merlyn and her mother being Oliver's mother Moira Queen).

* DC's Bumblebee is an obvious Expy of Marvel's Wasp. Everything from the power set, to her costume to the double-banger name (Janet Van-Dyne vs. Karen Beecher-Duncan).

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' villain Veronica Cale is a CorruptCorporateExecutive who is DrivenByEnvy of Wonder Woman and uses her [[MadScientist technological resources]] and [[TheChessmaster planning skills]] to challenge her, despite [[BadassNormal having no powers]]. The writers have confessed that she was explicitly designed to be an expy and DistaffCounterpart of Superman archfoe ComicBook/LexLuthor.