History OlderThanTheyThink / Comicbooks

** While most people acknowledge the [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Dick Grayson]] to be an older character of the Batman mythos, ''how'' old he is tends to surprise people. Most depictions of Batman's career that feature Robin treat him teaming up with Batman as the EndOfAnEra, with Batman having had many adventures beforehand and already encountered many of his greatest villains, usually needing a MoralityPet to drag him out of a dark phase due to everything he's been through. Robin debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #38, in 1940--eleven months and eleven issues after Batman's first debut. The only remotely significant Batman villains to debut in that period were Joe Chill, the Mad Monk, Doctor Death, a nigh-unrecognizable Hugo Strange, and a number of long-forgotten gangsters and mad scientists. Robin as an aspect of Batman's mythos is older than every other member of Batman's RoguesGallery, and pretty much every other member of his supporting cast apart from Commissioner Gordon. (Yes, Robin debuted before the Joker and ''Alfred.'')

* A couple of Creator/AlanMoore's SuperHero {{Deconstruction}} plots were used by the novel ''Superfolks'' first. To be fair to Moore, he had way fewer {{pun}}s.

* A couple of Creator/AlanMoore's SuperHero {{Deconstruction}} plots were used by the novel ''Superfolks'' first. To be fair to Moore, he had way fewer {{Incredibly Lame Pun}}s.

** At one point, Hippolyta was sent back in time to the 1940s where she joined the Justice Society of America as their Wonder Woman, leading to a new timeline where Hippolyta was Wonder Woman before Diana. The idea of Diana being a LegacyCharacter was divisive among fans, but as the entry with Artemis shows, Diana having a predecessor as Amazon champion is not a new idea.

** ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' marks the debut of Yara Flor, a member of the Esquecida Amazon tribe who reside in the Amazon Rainforest. The idea of "Amazons from the Amazon" is not a new idea to the Wonder Woman mythos: back in 1984, Dan Mishkin introduced a splinter tribe of Amazons from the Amazon Rainforest in issue #314 of the original volume. These Amazons also predate the Bana-Mighdall as a separate tribe of Amazons who left Themyscira.

* Beast Boy debuted as part of the ''Doom Patrol'' series in the 1960s, but most people know him from ''The New Teen Titans'' comics of the 1980s or its 2003 cartoon adaptation ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. He was even in an original ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' issue but was denied the ability to be a Titan because he couldn't get adult permission.

** Some adaptations like ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'', ''Film/BatmanBegins'', ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' and [[spoiler:''Film/TheBatman2022'']] for depicting (or at least implying) that the Waynes' deaths were a deliberate assassination rather than a random robbery-homicide. In actuality, this idea goes all the way back to 1956's ''Detective Comics #235'' which reveals that Joe Chill was ordered to kill the Waynes by a mob boss named Lew Moxon who blamed Thomas Wayne for him getting arrested and jailed. This story was even written by Creator/BillFinger himself!

*** * Deadshot has also been accused of being a lesser version of ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} despite debuting ''thirty years'' before Deathstroke did. Part of this confusion is the fact that Deathstroke appeared and was treated as a major villain from the start, while Deadshot was created to be a one-off villain who was only reused a handful of times until John Ostrander's ''Suicide Squad'' brought him into the spotlight. The superficial costume similarities, such as Deadshot's mask sometimes being drawn with only one visible eyehole, also don't help things. But even then, again, Deadshot's mask had that feature ''before'' Deathstroke was even created.

** The Blue Snowman is one of many [[AnIcePerson ice-themed supervillains]] in Franchise/TheDCU, many of whom are more well-known than her. It may surprise most to know that the Blue Snowman actually predates every ice-themed villain of the DC universe, including known FreezeRay-users, [[ComicBook/TheFlash Captain Cold]] and [[ComicBook/Batman Mr. Freeze]].

** Many people think, incorrectly, that Wonder Woman was the first female superhero. Actually, there were dozens of female superheroes prior to Wonder Woman. One of the earliest is [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Ritty Ritty]], who debuted in late 1939, two years before Wonder Woman. In fact, Wonder Woman isn't even the first female ''patriotic'' superhero. She was preceded by [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/USA USA]], [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Miss_Victory Miss Victory]], [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Miss_America Miss America]], [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Miss_Patriot Miss Patriot]], [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Pat_Patriot Pat Patriot]] and [[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/War_Nurse War Nurse]]. Most notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkgirl Hawkgirl]] was introduced prior to Wonder Woman, first as Shiera Sanders, Hawkman's love interest, in ''Flash Comics'' #1, then as Hawkgirl in ''All Star Comics'' #5, June, 1941. Wonder Woman first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' #8, 1941. It would be more correct to say that she is the first female superhero to headline her own series.

*** During the Bronze Age, Jack C. Harris wrote a two-issue story in which Diana was replaced as Wonder Woman by a red-haired Amazon named Orana. Like Artemis, Orana was charactertized as arrogant and ill-tempered, and even died as well. The main difference is that Artemis came back to life shortly after death.

** At one point, Hippolyta was sent back in time to the 1940s where she joined the Justice Society of America as their Wonder Woman, leading to a new timeline where Hippolyta was Wonder Woman before Diana. The idea of Diana being a LegacyCharacter was divisive among fans, but as the entry with Artemis shows, Diana having a predecessor as Amazon champion is not a new idea

* While most people acknowledge the Dick Grayson ComicBook/{{Robin}} to be an older character, ''how'' old he is tends to surprise people. Most tellings of Franchise/{{Batman}}'s career that feature Robin treat him teaming up with Batman as the EndOfAnEra, with Batman having had many adventures beforehand and already encountered many of his greatest villains, usually having had gritty battles with figures like ComicBook/TheJoker and Two-Face and been pulled into a dark brink that required a MoralityPet to drag him out. Robin debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #38, in 1940--eleven months and eleven issues after Batman. The only remotely significant Batman villains to debut in that period are Joe Chill, the Mad Monk, Doctor Death, a nigh-unrecognizable Hugo Strange, and a number of long-forgotten gangsters and mad scientists. Robin as an aspect of Batman's mythos is older than every other member of Batman's RoguesGallery, and pretty much every other member of his supporting cast apart from Commissioner Gordon. (Yes, Robin debuted before the Joker and ''Alfred.'')

* Brian Azzarello's wildly popular Batman story ''ComicBook/{{Joker}}'', about (you guessed it) ComicBook/TheJoker, takes place in a more realistic universe, where the Joker is depicted as a more believable psychopath. His long messy hair, splotchy "makeup", and GlasgowGrin made him a very unique version of the character.... until ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' came out. Many people consequently thought that the comic "ripped off" Creator/HeathLedger's Joker, or that the story was outright set in the same continuity as ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. However, this was just a coincidence, they had already started the story before they even saw what Ledger looked like.
** The comparison is only appearance based however, as Ledger's Joker and Azzarello's Joker have very different personalities. And the plot of the graphic novel was inspired by the 1989 Creator/ChristopherWalken movie ''Film/KingOfNewYork''.
** The common thread may be artist Creator/BillSienkiewicz, who did design work for ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' and was also one of Creator/LeeBermejo's major influences in the graphic novel.

* Creator/FrankMiller's ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' received large amounts of mainstream attention and praise as the story which "saved" Batman from harmless camp, from people who had seemingly missed the series' entire [[RevisitingTheRoots return to menacing form]] beginning with Denny O'Neil's run in late 1969.
* The Joker's signature weapon, Joker Venom, debuted in the very first Batman story, published June 1940. It's often believed to be the modern Western origin of the idea of a poison that causes its victims to DieLaughing. However, 3 months before Batman's debut, Radio/TheShadow aired an episode called "The Laughing Corpse" that featured a killer who poisoned his victims with a toxin that caused their muscles to contract their face into a grotesque smile and convulsions that made the subject appear to be laughing themselves to death. Of course, this isn't the first time that The Shadow informed some aspect of Batman's creation.
** The concept of a toxin that makes its victims GoOutWithASmile is in fact taken from observations of real-life strychnine poisoning, and was known as early as ''UsefulNotes/AncientGreece''. As far as (Western) pop fiction goes - it's at least as old as the second Literature/SherlockHolmes novel, ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour'' (1889).

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Some fans have accused Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) of being a rip off of ComicBook/LexLuthor, because both are corrupt businessmen who work behind the shadows and who have political aspirations. Though, Norman's been an evil businessman since he debuted in 1966, while Luthor was a traditional MadScientist from his appearance in 1940 until his reinvention as a businessman in 1986. Of course the modern concept of Osborn as this Marvel-wide villain (Head of HAMMER, SHIELD, Thunderbolts) who enters high political office despite being a villain MadBomber is certainly heavily inspired by Luthor's time as PresidentEvil in the Late-'90s, early-'00s, and even then, the concept of villain as head-of-state with diplomatic immunity is more or less something that ''ComicBook/DoctorDoom'' has copyright on.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' ripped off ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' characters ''a lot'', if not necessarily intentionally. (''Dick Tracy'' predates ''Batman'' by almost a decade.) A guy with his mouth frozen open in a huge grin? That wasn't the Joker originally, that was Laffy, who had many of the Joker's personality traits to boot. (Laffy met a tragic end when he starved to death after his jaw was inadvertently wired shut in an effort to fix his face.) And whom do you picture when you're asked to imagine a guy with a comically long nose? The Penguin, right? Well, he was preceded by another ''Tracy'' villain, Ribs Mocca, who looked just like the Penguin, except for being much skinnier.
** "Broadway" Bates, a ''Tracy'' villain introduced in 1932, not only has a long nose, but formal dress, a monocle and a cigarette holder. The current ''Dick Tracy'' writers have {{lampshaded}} this by claiming "Broadway" has a brother called Oswald in an unnamed city known for costumed heroes...
* Speaking of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', [[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/s/shjack.htm Spring-Heeled Jack]] dates back to '''1837''', predating ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics #27'' by ''more than a century.''

* ComicBook/{{Deadshot}} is commonly thought to have debuted in the '70s or '80s due to his reinventions in 1977, and having become a prominent member of the ComicBook/SuicideSquad during that time. He actually debuted in ''1950'' as a one-off Franchise/{{Batman}} villain, and was [[CharacterizationMarchesOn damn near]] [[EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference unrecognizable]] to the Deadshot we know today.
* Related to the above, Deadshot has been accused of being a lesser version of ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}. This despite the fact that he debuted ''thirty years'' before Deathstroke did. Part of this confusion is the fact that Deathstroke appeared and was treated as a major villain from the start, while Deadshot was created to be a one-off villain who was only reused a handful of times until 1987's ''Suicide Squad'' brought him into the spotlight. The superficial costume similarities, such as Deadshot's mask sometimes being drawn with only one visible eyehole, also don't help things. But even then, again, Deadshot's mask had that feature ''before'' Deathstroke was even created.

* Barbara Gordon is almost always considered the original ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}; however, five years prior to Babs appearing in ''Series/Batman1966'' there was already a "Bat-Girl", who was a sidekick to Batwoman and more of a direct DistaffCounterpart to Robin. Betty Kane was scrapped after a while but reappeared as an adult in the late 70s, only to be {{retcon}}ned out of existence after the universe reboots. She was later reintroduced as "Bett''e'' Kane" and made into Flamebird. Bette is no longer considered a Batfamily member and [[CanonDiscontinuity DC ignores]] her run as Bat-Girl, but she still ''technically'' was the first Batgirl.

* The Franchise/{{Batman}} villain, Scarecrow, didn't create the Fear Gas, it was originally created by [[https://ultraboy8888.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/detective-46-hugo-stranges-fear-gas/ Hugo]] [[http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y241/Hefmeister/Misc%20Scans/hugo19.jpg Strange]].

* Cluemaster is a D-List ComicBook/{{Batman}} villain who today is best known for being the father of EnsembleDarkhorse and Batfamily member Stephanie Brown, better known as Spoiler (and sometimes Batgirl). Some might be surprised to learn that he was introduced in ''1966'', a full ''26 years'' before Spoiler first appeared.
* Picture this: A ComicBook/{{Batman}} story arc where Batman's back ends up getting broken forcing the hero to seek a replacement to don the cape and cowl now that he's out of action. Sounds like the story ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', right? Wrong! This story arc occurred in the Batman newspaper comic strip in ''1969'', ''24'' years prior to ''Knightfall'' and the introductions of Bane and Azrael.
* ComicBook/{{Bane}} himself: His backstory seems like the kind of excessively dark edgelord nonsense that could only come from the Dark Age of comics, right? Well, it turns out it's based on Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo, a ProtoSuperhero (ironically enough).

* ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' wasn't the first time a villain sent Batman into a HeroicBSOD, nor was ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' the first time Gotham was closed off from the rest of the world, as the plot of ''ComicBook/BatmanTheCult'' featured both.

** Franchise/TheAvengers, or an Avengers-like team, is assembled by ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} to help stop villains instead of forming on its own. Sound familiar? Granted, it's regard by most fans as a DorkAge and hence most have chosen to forget about it, but ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'', which saw print in 1996, was the first to use the concept of S.H.I.E.L.D. being the ones to bring together the Avengers, five years before ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' did it and 16 years before ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' movie used it (and that was likely borrowed from ''The Ultimates'').

* Whilst fans complained that the RePower ComicBook/SpiderMan underwent to give him organic webshooters was based on the Creator/SamRaimi Film/SpiderManTrilogy (and the WolverineClaws were [[DorkAge just an all-around terrible idea]]), the truth is that the idea of a Spider-Man with organic webbing (''and'' claws!) was first used in the original ''ComicBook/SpiderMan2099''.

** [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] is also sometimes accused of being a [[DarthVaderClone Darth Vader ripoff]] - despite premiering 15 years before the original [[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]].

** [[SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] is also sometimes accused of being a [[DarthVaderClone Darth Vader ripoff]] - despite premiering 15 years before the original [[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]].

** The concept of a toxin that makes its victims GoOutWithASmile is in fact taken from observations of real-life strychnine poisoning, and was known as early as ''UsefulNotes/AncientGreece''. As far as (Western) pop fiction goes - it's at least as old as the second Literature/SherlockHolmes novel, ''Literature/TheSignOfFour'' (1889).

* Creator/AlanMoore again. His Franchise/CthulhuMythos comic ''Series/{{Providence}}'' has a big twist at the end where [[spoiler:Cthulhu is revealed to be a HalfHumanHybrid]]. It ''sounds'' like just the sort of deconstructive CrackFic Moore is known for writing... but in truth, as the comic itself [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]], it’s actually supported by [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft’s own writings]]; [[spoiler:Cthulhu was the only one of his fictional gods that he ''always'' depicted as humanoid, and [[FridgeBrilliance given that pretty much nothing else in the mythos looks even remotely human]]...]]

** There are some people who claimed Aldrich Killian from ''Film/IronMan3'' was a rip-off of Syndrome from ''The Incredibles'' because they both had similar StartOfDarkness moments. In reality, the "[[DisproportionateRetribution I'm a bad guy because the hero was a dick to me when we were younger]]" plot is a fairly standard stock supervillain origin, dating ''at least'' back to ComicBook/LexLuthor and ComicBook/DoctorDoom.

* During his stint on ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'', Creator/PeterDavid featured Buzz, a smarmy, cigarette-smoking Englishman with a punk hairdo who would call people "luv" and cause trouble for Supergirl. This led to a huge backlash in 1998 as fans would tear at how the character was a total rip-off of Spike from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Thus, nearly every letter column would have David having to calmly explain that he created Buzz a full year and a half before Spike showed up on ''Buffy.''

* Imagine a team of proactive, even dictatorial Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica {{Expy}}s using their power to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans take over Earth]] in the wake of a catastrophic alien invasion. Sounds like ComicBook/TheAuthority if you were born after 1992, but [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] readers will recognize it as the plot of Mark Gruenwald's masterpiece ComicBook/SquadronSupreme.

* The notion of superheroes is associated with the comic books about ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', which popularized it in the late 1930s and early 1940s. But before them you already had the inhumanly strong ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}, created in 1929. And many mythological stories from The Antiquity also talk about powerful heroes, just think about Heracles, aka Hercules.

* The FF's Thing is often accused of being a ''[[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'' ripoff, which is quite an accomplishment, seeing as how the Thing was created first -- by the ''[[Creator/JackKirby same]] [[Creator/StanLee people]]''.

-->'''Jimmy Woo''': Yes, I said mutants, chief! People with deviations...in either mind or body...or both!

** If you ask someone who the first superhero to die and come back to life is, many will cite ComicBook/JeanGrey in the ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga''. However, it was a whole ''19 years'' earlier in ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' that Lightning Lad first died and came back to life.

** Creator/AlanMoore generally cited Creator/JackKirby as his main inspiration and in interviews said that the whole concept of reviving forgotten superheroes and giving them a contemporary update and darker take (as he did on ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' and ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'') was based on how Kirby brought Namor, a GoldenAge Timely era AntiHero, into the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' citing the sequence where Johnny Storm runs into a random hobo and then shaves his PermaStubble to reveal him as Namor in a FallenOnHardTimesJob as one of his all-time favorite panels. Kirby also got the idea of bringing ComicBook/CaptainAmerica to modern times and invented the out-of-time thawed origin that we know and love.

* An in-universe example has Superboy saying to Franchise/{{Superman}} "Second star to the right and fly till morning." When Superman says "Literature/PeterPan. How appropriate." Superboy replies "What are you talking about? Captain Kirk said that." in reference to Kirk's closing line at the end of ''Film/{{Star Trek VI|The Undiscovered Country}}'' where he was clearly quoting Peter Pan.

** In particular, Creator/FrankMiller's ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' received large amounts of mainstream attention and praise as the story which "saved" Batman from harmless camp, from people who had seemingly missed the series' entire [[RevisitingTheRoots return to menacing form]] beginning with Denny O'Neil's run in late 1969.

* Some fans have accused Spider-Man ArchEnemy ComicBook/NormanOsborn (aka the Green Goblin) of being a rip off of ComicBook/LexLuthor, because both are [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Corrupt Corporate Executives]], TheManBehindTheMan who have political aspirations:
** Norman's been an evil businessman since he debuted in 1966 (his Goblin alter ego debuted two years before he did, interestingly enough), while Luthor was a traditional MadScientist from his appearance in 1940 until his reinvention as a businessman in 1986.
** Luthor's revision from MadScientist criminal mastermind to a king of corrupt corporate businessman who is untouchable by the law was inspired by Creator/FrankMiller's take on ComicBook/TheKingpin which was popular in TheEighties (where corporations and big business became AcceptableTargets and remain so to this very day). Creator/NeilGaiman hung a {{Lampshade}} by calling Post-Crisis Luthor "skinny-Kingpin".
** Of course the modern concept of Osborn as this Marvel-wide villain (Head of HAMMER, SHIELD, Thunderbolts) who enters high political office despite being a villain MadBomber is certainly heavily inspired by Luthor's time as PresidentEvil in the Late-'90s, early-'00s, and even then, the concept of villain as head-of-state with diplomatic immunity is more or less something that ''ComicBook/DoctorDoom'' has copyright on, and don't you forget it, RIIICHAAAAAARDSS!

* [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Cassandra Cain]] was the first Asian-American member of the Batfamily (and the Batfamily's first hero of color in general), as well as DC's first Asian character to have her own ongoing series. About a year or so before she debuted, Creator/JohnByrne pitched an idea for a new Asian-American Batgirl, though it never came to fruition.

** Speaking of Luthor...In 1939 Superman gained a bald arch-villain. His name? The Ultra-Humanite. Lex Luthor was created in 1940, and his signature BaldOfEvil look didn't appear until later. (In fact, the change in Luthor's design is believed to have been an accident.) The Ultra-Humanite himself may be based off a short story made by Superman's creators in 1933, titled "The Reign of the Superman".

*** The earliest (comics) superheroine quite probably is ''Olga Mesmer, the Girl with the X-Ray Eyes'', who appeared in a back-up comic series in the pulp magazine ''Spicy Mystery Stories'' starting in August 1937. That's right, she got into print before Superman. Olga Mesmer also was super-strong and the daughter of an alien queen (belonging to a subterranean race that originated from Venus), but her feature only lasted a little over a year. Considering the title of the magazine in which she appeared, it's probably no surprise that Olga did not fight in a colourful costume, but mostly in her underwear. Fun fact: Both ''Spicy Mystery Stories'' and ''Action Comics'' were published by Harry Donenfeld.

* Cluemaster is a D-List ComicBook/{{Batman}} villain who today is best known for being the father of EnsembleDarkhorse and Batfamily member Stephanie Brown, better known as Spoiler (and for a time, [[ComicBook/Batgirl2009 Batgirl]]). Some might be surprised to learn that he was introduced in ''1966'', a full ''26 years'' before Spoiler first appeared.

* Many moviegoers have accused the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' [[Film/FantasticFour movies]] of ripping off ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''.
** Likewise, the ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' [[Film/{{Watchmen}} movie]].

* The FF's Thing is often accused of being a ''[[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]'' ripoff, which is quite an accomplishment, seeing as how the Thing was created first -- by the ''[[Creator/JackKirby same]] [[Creator/StanLee people]]''.

* ''Wizard'' magazine, the most "mainstream" magazine on comic books, once contemptuously referred to the immortal supervillain ComicBook/VandalSavage as "a cheap Comicbook/RasAlGhul knockoff". Actually, Vandal Savage predates Ra's by ''28 years'' -- 1943 and 1971, specifically.

* It's a meme among ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' fandom that Trelane from the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Squire of Gothos" was ripped off from FF villain Infant Terrible, apparently for no more reason than being child-like and omnipotent, even though there are hundreds of examples of this combination going back at least to the 1920s.

** [[MadeOfIndestructium Adamantium]] is most famous as the fictional metal ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s bones and claws are made of, and indeed the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' movies are credited with bringing the term to the general public. What fewer people know is that adamantium actually predates the creation of Wolverine by several years, as it was first introduced in an issue of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' back in the 60's as the material ComicBook/{{Ultron}}'s body was made of.

** When discussing early deaths of mainstream superheroes, characters like Comicbook/JeanGrey and Comicbook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} are often brought up. At the earliest, people may cite Comicbook/BuckyBarnes, who used to be included in the saying "The only people who stay dead in comics are Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben." The first published superhero to die was actually the Comet, a since-forgotten Comicbook/ArchieComics hero who was KilledOffForReal in 1941.
** When it was first written, ''Comicbook/AvengersDisassembled'' was viewed as incredibly shocking, as it showed the team being utterly decimated and several of its members dying, before ultimately leading into a [[Comicbook/NewAvengers new roster]]. Creator/WaltSimonson already wrote a memorable storyline with the same basic premise back in TheEighties, which saw Creator/RogerStern's Avengers line-up (Comicbook/MonicaRambeau, Comicbook/SheHulk, Namor, Marrina, Black Knight, Thor and Doctor Druid) being decimated so that Simonson could introduce his own roster. Even before that, ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' did a very similar storyline during the ''Comicbook/{{Legends|DCComics}}'' crossover, which saw a few members of the team (most notably Comicbook/{{Vibe}} and Steel) killed off or maimed in order to make way for the new ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational'' line-up.
** If you ask someone who the first superhero to die and come back to life is, many will cite Comicbook/JeanGrey in the ''Comicbook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga''. However, it was a whole ''19 years'' earlier in ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' that Lightning Lad first died and came back to life.

* Shuma-Gorath predates his appearances in the Comicbook/DoctorStrange and ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian comics, all the way back to a mention in one of Creator/RobertEHoward's Kull stories. The story was published in the 1960s, but could not have been written later than the mid-30s. This is also a case of AdaptationDisplacement.
* DC's Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} has often been criticized as a ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} rip-off, despite the fact that not only does Deathstroke predate Deadpool by over a decade, Deadpool was [[CaptainErsatz originally created to be a rip-off of Deathstroke]] (though he later became a character in his own right).

* ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan'' contains an in-universe example when Peter finds a video from his father discussing how he'd planned to use the Comicbook/{{Venom}} symbiote to cure cancer.

* Some have claimed ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'''s ending, [[spoiler:in which the world unites against an alien threat after New York City is destroyed]], is an attempt to capitalize on post-9/11 feelings. However, not only does Watchmen predate 9/11 by 15 years, but the eerie similarities between 9/11 and Watchmen's climax have been noted by more than a few people, especially in regards to whether [[spoiler:Ozymandias' plan to bring about world peace]] would work even temporarily in real life given that world sympathy for the United States was temporary and only lasted until the United States invaded Iraq.\\

* After the fairly obscure character ComicBook/TheQuestion became the EnsembleDarkHorse of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', many people declared him to be a rip off of Rorschach. In fact, Creator/AlanMoore only created Rorschach [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute because he was told he couldn't use The Question]], the character he had originally planned to use in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}''.

* James A. Owen received a lot of hate mail for "stealing" the characters of [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Titania and Oberon]] from Creator/NeilGaiman's [[Comicbook/TheSandman Sandman]] series for his own Starchild series. It got so bad that, as a favor, Neil wrote the intro for the collected anthology explaining that James did not, in fact steal anything that wasn't already stolen.

* Comicbook/AntMan riding one of Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}}'s arrows is arguably one of the most iconic moments in ''[[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' history, and has been recreated in adaptations like ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' and ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''. However, DC actually beat Marvel to the punch on this, as Comicbook/GreenArrow and Comicbook/TheAtom pulled the same trick in an issue of ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' back in 1963.

* [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl 2000}} Cassandra Cain]] was the first Asian-American member of the Batfamily (and the Batfamily's first hero of color in general), as well as DC's first Asian character to have her own ongoing series. About a year or so before she debuted, Creator/JohnByrne pitched an idea for a new Asian-American Batgirl, though it never came to fruition.
* The superhero's arch-enemy, a bald scientist, turns out to have to have a tragic backstory, where he was originally trying to use his inventions to do good. That is not referring to Lex Luthor, it is referring to Doctor Sivana, arch-enemy of [[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]. This was revealed in ''Whiz Comics'' #15, from 1941.

* Comicbook/{{Deadshot}} is commonly thought to have debuted in the '70s or '80s due to his reinventions in 1977, and having become a prominent member of the Comicbook/SuicideSquad during that time. He actually debuted in ''1950'' as a one-off Franchise/{{Batman}} villain, and was [[CharacterizationMarchesOn damn near]] [[EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference unrecognizable]] to the Deadshot we know today.

* ''Comicbook/BlackPanther'' is often said to be the first black superhero, but that honor actually belongs to Lion Man, an obscure Golden Age hero who appeared in the sole issue of ''All-Negro Comics'' back in 1947. And if we're not explicitly talking about superheroes, the gunslinger ''Lobo'' was the first black character to have his own comic book series, while Waku, Prince of the Bantu, had his own feature in Atlas Comics' ''Jungle Tales'' anthology series back in 1954.
* Attilan, the hidden city of Comicbook/TheInhumans, was first mentioned in a ''Tuk the Caveboy'' story back in 1941.
* Many people think the AffirmativeActionLegacy trope is a modern concept that was designed to appeal to more "politically correct" 21st century sensibilities. At the earliest, they tend to think it started in TheNineties with characters like Comicbook/{{Steel}}, [[Comicbook/GreenArrow Connor Hawke]] and the aforementioned Cassandra Cain. In reality, the first major instance of this trope at Marvel or DC was John Stewart, the black ComicBook/GreenLantern, who debuted all the way back in 1971.
* Relatedly, John Stewart is often said to be DC's first black superhero. He's actually predated by Mal Duncan, a member of the Comicbook/TeenTitans who debuted in 1970.
* Related, but in the 21st century, Comicbook/CaptainAmerica had two very high profile instances where he was replaced. First was by Comicbook/BuckyBarnes after ''Comicbook/CivilWar'', and then again by [[Comicbook/TheFalcon Sam Wilson]] in 2014. The first major instance of this happening was back in the 80s during Mark Gruenwald's run (when Steve Rogers was replaced by John Walker), and even before that, J.M. [=DeMatteis=] had pitched a story where Cap would have been killed off and replaced by Jesse Black Crow, a young Native American man who had previously appeared in his run. Meanwhile, the 70s run of ''Captain America and The Falcon'' briefly featured a young man named Roscoe Simons as the new Cap after Steve Rogers abandoned the mantle in favor of becoming Nomad.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' occasional ally, occasional antagonist and master thief Comicbook/BlackCat is a beautiful, athletic woman who dresses in a skintight black catsuit, has [[BadassNormal no powers but lots of practice]], a cat motif, and a [[DatingCatwoman flirtatious relationship with the hero]]. This has frequently led to accusations that she is a CaptainErsatz of DC's ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, but Catwoman has had several revamps over the years, and Black Cat appeared about a decade before Catwoman was portrayed in this manner. (Then again, both appearances are preceded by Catwoman's black leather outfit in the Adam West series...)
* The basic idea for a ''Comicbook/SpiderGwen''-like character was actually conceived by writer/producer Lisa Joy for an aborted SpinOff of ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries''. The idea was basically conceived as a way to bring Creator/EmmaStone back to the franchise after the original Gwen had been killed off in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2''.

* Many ComicBook/BlackCanary fans think of her as a relatively new character, maybe from TheSeventies or TheEighties. Black Canary is actually a LegacyCharacter, the older incarnation of which -- namely, Dinah Drake -- first appeared in ''1947''. Black Canary was one of the first female members of the Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica and first debuted in ''Flash Comics'' alongside ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}. She also had a love interest, Larry Lance, over twenty years before she became associated with ComicBook/GreenArrow, which was also around the same time that she got her iconic Canary Cry (before then she fought with martial arts only). The later and more well-known incarnation by far, Dinah Lance, was introduced during the Bronze Age as Drake's daughter who inherited her superpower.

* ''Comicbook/MsMarvel2014''

** Speaking of Kamala, she's also not the first teen hero to follow Comicbook/CarolDanvers' footsteps. Ultragirl filled a similar role in ''Comicbook/AvengersTheInitiative'' and was even given Carol's old Comicbook/MsMarvel costume, before ''Comicbook/DarkReign'' cut that plot thread short.
** Related, but there's a tendency to refer to Kamala as the second Ms. Marvel, or maybe third if people are counting Moonstone's use of the name when she was part of the Comicbook/DarkAvengers. The second was actually Sharon Ventura, a Thing supporting character who joined the Comicbook/FantasticFour as the new Ms. Marvel after Carol Danvers became Binary. The fact that Sharon later became known as She-Thing, and her lack of usage by later writers, have contributed to her part in the Ms. Marvel legacy largely having been overshadowed.

* [[RetCanon Synergy]] between comics and their adaptations. The practice really came to prominence (and controversy) in TheNewTens, when Marvel began aggressively trying to sync their comics up with the movies and shows of the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]], but it was already around way before that. Not only was it already a thing with ''previous'' Marvel movies [[note]]Among MANY other examples, Comicbook/{{Blade}}'s enhanced strength comes from the [[Film/BladeTrilogy Wesley Snipes movies]], while both Comicbook/{{Mystique}} and Toad got redesigned to resemble their counterparts from the first ''Film/XMen1'' film, with Toad's prehensile tongue also coming from the flick[[/note]], but it has arguably been going on as long as adaptations of comic books have. Superman's flight came from the [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons Fleischer cartoons]], while both Comicbook/JimmyOlsen and Kryptonite originated in the [[Radio/TheAdventuresOfSuperman radio show]].

* Comicbook/{{Bane}} himself: His backstory seems like the kind of excessively dark edgelord nonsense that could only come from the Dark Age of comics, right? Well, it turns out it's based on Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo, a ProtoSuperhero (ironically enough).

** When it was first written, ''Comicbook/AvengersDisassembled'' was viewed as incredibly shocking, as it showed the team being utterly decimated and several of its members dying, before ultimately leading into a [[Comicbook/NewAvengers new roster]]. Creator/WaltSimonson already wrote a memorable storyline with the same basic premise back in TheEighties, which saw Creator/RogerStern's Avengers line-up (Comicbook/MonicaRambeau, Comicbook/SheHulk, Namor, Marrina, Black Knight, Thor and Doctor Druid) being decimated so that Simonson could introduce his own roster. Even before that, ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' did a very similar storyline during the ''Comicbook/{{Legends|DC}}'' crossover, which saw a few members of the team (most notably Comicbook/{{Vibe}} and Steel) killed off or maimed in order to make way for the new ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational'' line-up.

* More than a few fans balked at Jane Foster [[ComicBook/Thor2014 becoming Thor]] and to a lesser extent ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson as Spinneret in ''ComicBook/RenewYourVows'' since both are civilian female {{Love Interest}}s to male heroes. Neither of them are the first instances this happened. Indeed in the case of Shiera Hall, the Golden Age [[ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} Hawkgirl]], it's often forgotten that in her first appearances she started out as simply the civilian girlfriend of Carter Hall. Only after they started dating for a bit very early on did writer Gardner Fox decided to make her Hawkwoman and Hall's confidant and superhero partner in equal measure. Thanks to her appearance in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', Shayera Hol (as she was styled there) has actually displaced and overshadowed the character for whom she was fashioned as a SatelliteLoveInterest.

* The Joker's signature weapon, Joker Venom, debuted in the very first Batman story, published June 1940. It's often believed to be the modern western origin of the idea of a poison that causes its victims to DieLaughing. However, 3 months before Batman's debut, Radio/TheShadow aired an episode called "The Laughing Corpse" that featured a killer who poisoned his victims with a toxin that caused their muscles to contract their face into a grotesque smile and convulsions that made the subject appear to be laughing themselves to death. Of course, this isn't the first time that The Shadow informed some aspect of Batman's creation.

* Neil Armstrong went to the moon in 1969. Snoopy was there earlier that year. ComicBook/{{Tintin}} predates Snoopy by 16 years, [[Recap/TintinExplorersOnTheMoon going to the moon in 1953]]. WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck already went there in 1948. But Creator/JulesVerne's Around The Moon predates everyone (nope--see below), being published in 1870. That's 99 years before Real Life. In From The Earth To The Moon nobody set foot on the moon.
** Creator/EdgarAllanPoe sent Hans Pfaall to the Moon in 1835.
** ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchhausen'' already sent the Baron to the Moon in the late 18th century.
** [[OlderThanTheyThink Johannes Kepler got there in the 1620s, and Lucian in the 2nd century...]]

* The basic idea for a ''Comicbook/SpiderGwen''-like character was actually conceived by writer/producer Lisa Joy for an aborted SpinOff of ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries''. The idea was basically conceived as a way to bring Creator/EmmaStone back to the franchise after the original Gwen had been StuffedIntoTheFridge in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2''.

** When discussing early deaths of mainstream superheroes, characters like Comicbook/JeanGrey and Comicbook/CaptainMarVell are often brought up. At the earliest, people may cite Comicbook/BuckyBarnes, who used to be included in the saying "The only people who stay dead in comics are Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben." The first published superhero to die was actually the Comet, a since-forgotten Comicbook/ArchieComics hero who was KilledOffForReal in 1941.

** When it was first written, ''Comicbook/AvengersDisassembled'' was viewed as incredibly shocking, as it showed the team being utterly decimated and several of its members dying, before ultimately leading into a [[Comicbook/NewAvengers new roster]]. Creator/WaltSimonson already wrote a memorable storyline with the same basic premise back in TheEighties, which saw Creator/RogerStern's Avengers line-up (Comicbook/MonicaRambeau, Comicbook/SheHulk, Namor, Marrina, Black Knight, Thor and Doctor Druid) being decimated so that Simonson could introduce his own roster. Even before that, ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' did a very similar storyline during the ''Comicbook/{{Legends}}'' crossover, which saw a few members of the team (most notably Comicbook/{{Vibe}} and Steel) killed off or maimed in order to make way for the new ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational'' line-up.