History MisaimedFandom / ComicBooks

* In-universe example: The Sons of the Batman from TheDarkKnightReturns, a group of vigilantes inspired by Batman using incredibly violent methods against mostly petty criminals (ie, stopping a three card monte game with napalm, cutting off the arms of a shoplifter[[hottip:*:Not to mention the fingers of the poor clerk, for not defending the store.]]). Needless to say, when Batman finally meets them, he sets them straight.

** ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'', particularly the movie, spread the misconception that GuyFawkesDay celebrates Guy Fawkes, the plucky rebel, instead of celebrating the fact that ''England narrowly averted a terrorist attack on the capital.'' It's like thinking [[TheWarOnTerror September 11th]] is an American holiday honoring Osama Bin Laden. The holiday also has anti-Catholic overtones (Fawkes was a convert to Catholicism), which makes it particularly ironic in the film when V slays a pedophilic Catholic priest.

* A more innocent example than most, but the rapid transformation of ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' into the sort of MerchandiseDriven juggernaut it was originally meant to parody had a lot to do with this. The creators and later licensees seem to have decided to run with the misaimed version instead of trying to fight it. That fandom mostly came from the TV series, which was entirely intended as such, so it's not so much Misaimed Fandom as it is ExecutiveMeddling that took. [[TropesAreNotBad The franchise has become pretty popular since becoming a franchise too]]

* {{Asterix}}: Sometimes used by European far-right politicians or supporters to promote the idea that ancient Europe was far better because there were no immigrants like today. It doesn't occur to them that "Asterix" is more historical fiction than anything else and that Asterix and his friends always get along fine with other nationalities. Even the Romans aren't always depicted as villains.
** It's even worse than that: Asterix gives a lot of TakeThat to french PatrioticFervor: It notices that the french know the localization of all the battles they ''won'', but nobody knows where they were defeated (like Alesia). Also, the foreign Roman invaders work building acueducts, roads and bridges, raising the gaul's quality of life, while Asterix only comments they are ruining traditional french scenery, etc.

** It's even worse than that: Asterix gives a lot of TakeThat to french PatrioticFervor: It notices that the french know the localization of all the battles they ''won'', but nobody knows where they were defeated (like Alesia). Also, Roman invaders work building acueducts, roads and bridges, while Asterix only comments they are ruining traditional french scenery, etc.

* {{Asterix}}: Sometimes used by European far-right politicians or supporters to promote the idea that ancient Europe was far better because there were no immigrants like today. It doesn't occur to them that "Asterix" is more historical fiction than anything else and that Asterix and his friends always get along fine with other nationalities. Even the Romans aren't always depicted as villains.

** Maybe because in retrospect of the fall of the Iron Curtain, Ozy's plan seems completely unnecessary, so Rorschach's plan to turn him in is perceived as the ''reasonable'' action, as opposed to the "what the hell?" it was in historical context.
*** ThePowerOfLove convinces [[PhysicalGod Dr.]] [[NietzscheWannabe Manhattan]] to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believe in miracles]]. The wonder isn't that AlanMoore has a romantic side; the wonder is that ''anyone missed it''.
** Rorschach also wins some reader sympathy for being much more proactive than any of the other "superheroes", who are alternatively useless / unmotivated / disassociated from humanity / mass-murderers.
*** ...in what way isn't Rorschach disassociated? The man doesn't bathe anymore.
**** It's safe to say that none of the "heroes" in Watchmen are really "admirable," but some are more understandable than others, and frankly, few people were going to side with the guy who ''murdered millions of people'', or anyone who supported him.

*** Somewhat justified, as her backstory showed that the Joker [[spoiler: emotionally manipulated her into sympathizing with him and would abuse her later]].

** You gotta admit, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu regularly causing trouble for the same person Superman describes as "the most dangerous man on earth"]], IS kinda impressive.

* V from ''VForVendetta'', to the point where the live action adaptation made it so that he was obviously meant to be the hero. V is a fanatical terrorist whose main motives are revenge and his methods include physical and psychological torture (of both enemies ''and allies''), bombing of public monuments, and brutal murder. An argument can be made for a case of ALighterShadeOfGrey, given that V is also a charming and charismatic NobleDemon and his enemies are a brutal, genocidal and largely irredeemable fascist regime, but V was intended to be a lot more ambiguous than many ultimately view him as being.
** ''VForVendetta'', particularly the movie, spread the misconception that GuyFawkesDay celebrates Guy Fawkes, the plucky rebel, instead of celebrating the fact that ''England narrowly averted a terrorist attack on the capital.'' It's like thinking [[TheWarOnTerror September 11th]] is an American holiday honoring Osama Bin Laden. The holiday also has anti-Catholic overtones (Fawkes was a convert to Catholicism), which makes it particularly ironic in the film when V slays a pedophilic Catholic priest.

** A better example from the pages of Batman might be Comicbook/HarleyQuinn. Although she is the girlfriend and accomplice of TheJoker, considered by most to be a CompleteMonster, and is often shown to be almost as AxeCrazy as he is, fans often seem to forgive her actions, hold her up as something of a heroic or anti-heroic figure, and she is often a KarmaHoudini in the actual stories.

** A better example from the pages of Batman might be Comicbook/HarleyQuinn. Although she is the girlfriend and accomplice of a the Joker, and is often shown to be almost as AxeCrazy as he is, fans often seem to forgive her actions, hold her up as something of a heroic or anti-heroic figure, and she is often a KarmaHoudini in the actual stories.

** ''VForVendetta'', particularly the movie, spread the misconception that GuyFawkesDay celebrates Guy Fawkes, the plucky rebel, instead of celebrating the fact that ''England narrowly averted a terrorist attack on the capital.'' It's like thinking [[TheWarOnTerror September 11th]] is an American holiday honoring Osama Bin Laden.

** A better example from the pages of Batman might be Comicbook/HarleyQuinn. Although she is the girlfriend and accomplice of a CompleteMonster (TheJoker), and is often shown to be almost as AxeCrazy as he is, fans often seem to forgive her actions, hold her up as something of a heroic or anti-heroic figure, and she is often a KarmaHoudini in the actual stories.

** A better example from the pages of Batman might be Dr. Harley Quinn. Although she is the girlfriend and accomplice of a CompleteMonster (TheJoker), and is often shown to be almost as AxeCrazy as he is, fans often seem to forgive her actions, hold her up as something of a heroic or anti-heroic figure, and she is often a KarmaHoudini in the actual stories.

* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker - mas-murderer, torturer, MonsterClown, and has a MASSIVE fanbase.

* DoctorDoom gets occasionally painted as a non-villain, by virtue of ignoring his oppressive dictatorial rule of Latveria, which he keeps at an apparently 19th century tech and education level despite being more than capable of using his genius to easily bring it ahead of the rest of the world, his long years of trying to kill Reed Richards and the rest of the Fantastic Four, the time he actually did kill The Thing, [[MoralEventHorizon the time he kidnapped and tortured Reed and Sue's children]]...

* This is a massively common trope in ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}''. {{Magneto}}, despite being both a [[MasterRace mutant supremacist]] and a PersonOfMassDestruction who has caused rather a lot of death and destruction, is often painted as a [[FaceHeelRevolvingDoor sympathetic character]] because he was a childhood victim of the Nazis.

* FrankMiller [[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Guns-Are-For-Cowards/125540797485215 has been quoted as saying]] what he [[TheDarkKnightReturns portrays Batman as saying]]. Seeing as how FrankMiller has also [[AllStarBatmanAndRobin portrayed Batman as a sadistic psychopath]], quoting Miller's version of Batman as though it were Miller himself might not exactly be all that fitting.

* Apparently, we were supposed to agree with the Pro-Registration side in ''Comicbook/CivilWar''. JoeQuesada stated that the Pro-Regs were right, anyway. Seriously. We were expected to like Cap's side ''at first'' (that's why they showed the Pro-Regs as complete bastards), but eventually side with Iron Man. It didn't work. Most writers in Marvel hate Iron Man these days, making him out to be a fascist crazy instead of a troubled man who thought he was doing what had to be done to keep the SHRA from becoming worse. Mark Millar also stated that the pro-regs were right and that he thought every right-thinking person should agree with him. This is ironic because, at the time, everyone was criticizing Millar for [[DesignatedVillain making the "pro" side so ludicrously unsympathetic]]. As one reviewer noted, [[http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/mightyavengers1.htm "If the readers all think Iron Man's a villain, and he wasn't meant to be... well, maybe the writers and editors misunderstood what they were putting out".]]

* DoctorDoom gets occasionally painted as a non-villain, by virtue of ignoring his oppressive dictatorial rule of Latveria, which he keeps at an apparently 19th century tech and education level despite being more than capable of using his genius to easily bring it ahead of the rest of the world, his long years of trying to kill Reed Richards and the rest of the Fantastic Four, the time he actually did kill TheThing, [[MoralEventHorizon the time he kidnapped and tortured Reed and Sue's children]]...

** You gotta admit, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu regularly causing trouble for guy who Superman describes as "the most dangerous man on earth"]], IS kinda impressive.

* In-universe example: The Sons of the Batman from TheDarkKnightReturns, a group of vigilantes inspired by Batman using incredibly violent methods against mostly petty criminals (ie, stopping a three card monte game with napalm, cutting off the arms of a shoplifter). Needless to say, when Batman finally meets them, he sets them straight.

*** The film's portrayal of Ozy as a sneering DevilInPlainSight hasn't helped matters either.

*** Which shows another level of the fans missing the point because the Cold War just wasn't going to diffuse like in OTL because of the presence of Dr. Manhattan skewing the perspectives of both sides.

** Rorschach also wins some audience sympathy for being much more proactive than any of the other "superheroes", who are alternatively useless / unmotivated / disassociated from humanity / mass-murderers.