History SoBadItsGood / Comicbooks

* When not being slammed for it's blatant CreatorsPet issues and poor writing, as well as causing several lawsuits later on, Ken Penders' [[DorkAge infamous run]] on ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog had some patently ridiculous storylines and plot elements, with such [[SarcasmMode brilliancy]] as Knuckles' complicated (and [[OnlySixFaces samey]]) family tree, Tails transforming into a buff giant and firing lasers, and a story where real-life children (modeled after Penders' own kin) get sucked into Mobius a la (and named after) Film/LastActionHero, the latter of which wound up being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB0-AF_Ofaw reviewed]] in the [[MilestoneCelebration 100th episode]] of WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall.

* In-universe this was the reaction to the "Harley & Ivy" motion picture in the spin-off miniseries about the two. Initially enraged about how they were going to be portrayed in the film, Harley and Ivy set out to stop production with use of a mind-control serum they made. Upon learning about how much money was being used to make the film, Ivy decided that by taking over production they could skim off millions. Harley was chosen as the new director and loaded the film with Batman being blown up. When the real Batman showed up to stop the two, the executives in charge of the movie studio had no choice but to release Harley's film after all the money that was sunk into it nearly bankrupts the studio. The movie is universally praised as a brilliant parody of action movies and Harley's made into an award-winning celebrity.

* To dust off a really old example, there's the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era comic feature ''ComicBookStardustTheSuper-Wizard''. The title character is a textbook InvincibleHero, [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands pulling new powers out of his ass in nearly every scene he's in]], and since the villains of the strip all have no powers at all, there is literally no conflict whatsoever in the narrative. If that weren't enough, it's also a [[WriterOnBoard politically-minded]] strip, with the aforementioned villains being [[CardCarryingVillain hilariously over-the-top]] [[StrawCharacter liberal strawmen]] who scheme to sell the United States out to hostile foreign powers because [[ForTheEvulz that's apparently just what liberals do]]. And despite the fact that his foes are so much weaker than him, Stardust has no [[ThouShaltNotKill code against killing]] whatsoever, and indeed half the fun is seeing what [[CruelAndUnusualDeath ironic and inventive death]] he'll dish out next. The same writer also created a DistaffCounterpart, ''Fantomah'' (see above), who's just as amusingly-wretched, but who also actually has the historical significance of likely being the first superpowered female in the comic medium!

* To dust off a really old example, there's the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII-era comic feature ''Stardust the Super-Wizard''. The title character is a textbook InvincibleHero, [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands pulling new powers out of his ass in nearly every scene he's in]], and since the villains of the strip all have no powers at all, there is literally no conflict whatsoever in the narrative. If that weren't enough, it's also a [[WriterOnBoard politically-minded]] strip, with the aforementioned villains being [[CardCarryingVillain hilariously over-the-top]] [[StrawCharacter liberal strawmen]] who scheme to sell the United States out to hostile foreign powers because [[ForTheEvulz that's apparently just what liberals do]]. And despite the fact that his foes are so much weaker than him, Stardust has no [[ThouShaltNotKill code against killing]] whatsoever, and indeed half the fun is seeing what [[CruelAndUnusualDeath ironic and inventive death]] he'll dish out next. The same writer also created a DistaffCounterpart, ''Fantomah'' (see above), who's just as amusingly-wretched, but who also actually has the historical significance of likely being the first superpowered female in the comic medium!

* Creator/FrankMiller's ''[[ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder All-Star Batman & Robin]]'' (a.k.a. "ASSBAR"). ASSBAR is an attempt at retelling Batman's earliest adventures with Robin... except Miller writes Batman as a complete and total lunatic who calls himself "the goddamn Batman" and whose actions make no sense. Meanwhile, the Joker is humorless, Robin eats rats, Superman is a bumbling idiot, and Wonder Woman is a StrawFeminist extremist who calls men sperm banks and advocates castrating all men. The first chapter has three pages of gratuitous close-ups of Vicki Vale wearing pink lingerie while gushing over how hot Bruce Wayne is. Green Lantern gets to deliver the immortal line "Damn you AND your lemonade!" Also, Frankie would like to remind you that Dick Grayson, age 12, is in fact 12 years old. He reminds you of this ''[[RunningGag every time Dick's name appears in print]].'' [[http://www.i-mockery.com/comics/longbox7/ Vicariously]] [[http://www.i-mockery.com/comics/longbox20/ witness]] it in all [[http://www.i-mockery.com/comics/longbox30/default.php its glory.]] It also doesn't have a timeline as much as a time-mess. Because, if the time given is to be believed, Batman apparently drives around for days considering that Superman is shown seeing Dick's FaceOnAMilkCarton (yes, apparently they still have milk cartons and people put faces on them in Metropolis) while Batman was still driving around with Dick in the car.

** There's plenty of [[UnfortunateImplications Crypto-fascist subtext]] in their mission of eugenics, and they out and out call themselves [[ANaziByAnyOtherName "superior beings"]]. Also, their personalities combine all the campiness of [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Heroes, with all the Egotism of [[NinetiesAntiHero Nineties Anti Heroes]].

** The [[UnfortunateImplications Crypto-fascist subtext]] in their mission of eugenics, and the way they out and out call themselves [[ANaziByAnyOtherName "superior beings"]] or the fact that their personalities combine all the campiness of [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Heroes, with all the Egotism of [[NinetiesAntiHero Nineties Anti Heroes]].

* ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'' is a perfect example of an attempt to make a character DarkerAndEdgier that fails. ''Completely''. It combines bizarre homages to the Adam West Batman TV show (Thousand year atomic batteries? A gun on display labeled "the gun that killed my parents"?) with strange attempts to be ''every cliché of the UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks'' (Motorcycle riding child gangs? Superman growing a ridiculously huge beard? Story taking place after not one, but ''two'' apocalypses?) And the villains: TWIN CLONES OF HITLER (made by WAYNE LABORATORIES!) Why?... Its not explained.

* ''ComicBook/LiberalityForAll'', advertised as "the first conservative comic book", is basically one long, bizarre AuthorTract full of [[StrawCharacter strawmen]] where Sean Hannity and G. Gordon Liddy fight against a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture future]] totalitarian liberal United States [[ForWantOfANail where Al Gore won the 2000 election]], led by Chelsea Clinton and Micheal Moore, part of a UN-led OneWorldGovernment. UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden is a UN ambassador, Sean Hannity fights against the system with a cyborg arm, and Oliver North shows up to help stop a nuclear suitcase from blowing up [[BigAppleSauce New York City]]. Its a premise so [[{{Narm}} ridiculous]], so insane you would think it was a [[PoesLaw liberal parody]], but it isn't.

* Although Creator/ValiantComics produced a number of series that where good enough to stand up on their own merits, Bloodshot certainly counts as this. A basic NinetiesAntiHero ClicheStorm, where the creative staff couldn't decide which direction they wanted to go in, so they went in all of them at once. "He's like Batman! Now he's like The Punisher! Now he's Wolverine!" The result being an experimental super solder created by a Japanese corporation, out of the body of a betrayed Mafia hitman, who wanders the streets of New York in a [[BadassLongcoat trench coat]]. The plots are completely illogical, he gets on a plane, battles assassins and terrorists, falls out, and lands in the jungles of South East Asia, where he goes all Rambo on some random guerrillas. Also random crossovers. A lot of them.

** There's a story with a villain called Immortus, whose power is that he can summon up mythical and real historical figures to fight for him, like Merlin, Atilla the Hun, Goliath and... Paul Bunyan. Yes the [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Executioner]] vs Paul Bunyan. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Immortus was more toned down in later appearances, being known strictly as a time travelling villain.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers''

** All the early Avengers stories are a lot like the Immortus story to one extent or another. It's when the team lineup changes for the first time that things start to actually be good. It really doesn't help that the earliest stories have the team treating it like some kind of secret club, with regularly scheduled meetings and having hissy fits when a member doesn't show up (in one very early issue, Iron Man was even banned from the team for a week because he missed a meeting).

* A tie-in for the ''Film/TheAvengers'' made for '' Wyndham Resort hotels'' features the Avengers fighting Ultron, then splitting up to go on vacation. The writing is lackluster and cliché, reading like a bad 60's comic book but with modern artwork. This makes it unbelievably funny. Also worth mentioning is Tony, in Iron Man armor, eating at a buffet and what can only be called [[FlatWhat Bored Hulk]].

* ''ComicBook/BatmanOdyssey'', a 12-issue miniseries drawn by Neal Adams. Unfortunately, it's also ''written'' by Neal Adams, leading to {{OOC}} dialogue (Batman invites Ra's al Ghul for tea in the Batcave, then promptly takes a nap), a nonsensical plot (it eventually involves [[EverythingIsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]]), and general zanyness all around, leading to it becoming an incredibly impressive-looking trainwreck.
** While attempting to read the comics cold is not recommended (being about as close to a BrownNote as is possible in RealLife), [[http://comicsalliance.com/batman-odyssey-neal-adams-insane/ this "deconstruction"]] can serve as a good starting point. In addition, dramatic readings of the first five isuues can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/user/DavidXanitos/videos here]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJHCekr8CE first issue]]). If nothing else, check out [[https://p.dreamwidth.org/06ad5995f5d7/-/www.abload.de/img/66wzxe.jpg these]] [[http://i.imgur.com/30AsS.jpg excerpts]], showing Robin's reaction after he discovered the identity of his parents's murderer, [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext by looking it up on Wikipedia]].

** While attempting to read the comics cold is not recommended (being about as close to a BrownNote as is possible in RealLife), [[http://comicsalliance.com/batman-odyssey-neal-adams-insane/ this "deconstruction"]] can serve as a good starting point. In addition, dramatic readings of the first five episodes can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/user/DavidXanitos/videos here]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJHCekr8CE first issue]]). If nothing else, check out [[https://p.dreamwidth.org/06ad5995f5d7/-/www.abload.de/img/66wzxe.jpg these]] [[http://i.imgur.com/30AsS.jpg excerpts]], showing Robin's reaction after he discovered the identity of his parents's murderer, by looking it up on Wikipedia.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanOdyssey'', a 12-issue miniseries drawn by Neal Adams. Unfortunately, it's also ''written'' by Neal Adams, leading to {{OOC}} dialogue, a nonsensical plot, and general zanyness all around, leading to it becoming an incredibly impressive-looking trainwreck.

* SelfDemonstrating/{{Lobo}}'s entire reason for existing is that he's so ridiculously over the top that it's hilarious.

* A lot of the SilverAge, especially the comics of the "[[SuperDickery Superman inexplicably forces Jimmy Olsen to marry a gorilla]]" variety.

** The [[UnfortunateImplications Crypto-fascist subtext]] in their mission of eugenics, and the way they out and out call themselves [[ANaziByAnyOtherName "superior beings"]] or the fact that their personalities combine all the campiness of SilverAge Heroes, with all the Egotism of [[NinetiesAntiHero Nineties Anti Heroes]].

* ''Hulk vs Venom'', a 90s one shot where writer Creator/PeterDavid just decided to inject as many ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' quotes as he could. The plot features Venom and the Hulk teaming up to stop "Dr. Badvibes" (they even lampshade how stupid the name is) a crazy guy who claims he can cause earthquakes (he can't - the earthquakes are just a coincidence). The crowning moment of... ''something''... is when Hulk and Venom go on TV and call out Dr. Badvibes with the line [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=822:some-of-the-worst-art-writing-hell-the-worst-page-you-ever-saw&catid=30:frames-and-panels-index&Itemid=34 "we're going to beat *clap* you up!"]]

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' has a story with a villain called Immortus, whose power is that he can summon up mythical and real historical figures to fight for him, like Merlin, Atilla the Hun, Goliath and... Paul Bunyan. Yes the [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Executioner]] vs Paul Bunyan. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Immortus was more toned down in later appearances, being known strictly as a time travelling villain.
** Actually, all the early Avengers stories are like that to one extent or another. It's when the team lineup changes for the first time that things start to actually be good. It really doesn't help that the earliest stories have the team treating it like some kind of secret club, with regularly scheduled meetings and having hissy fits when a member doesn't show up (in one very early issue, Iron Man was even banned from the team for a week because he missed a meeting).

--> -- '''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]''', on ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies vs Comicbook/ArmyOfDarkness'' and the ''Game Boy'' comics

* ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' has a story with a villain called Immortus, whose power is that he can summon up mythical and real historical figures to fight for him, like Merlin, Atilla the Hun, Goliath and... Paul Bunyan. Yes the [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Executioner]] vs Paul Bunyan. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Immortus was more toned down in later appearances, being known strictly as a time travelling villain.

* JhonenVasquez's "Bad Art Collection", compiled of things he drew ''specifically to deter his friends from asking for art from him.'' It's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' [[Comicbook/{{Doom}} comic]]. It has the same ExcusePlot and {{Gorn}} as the game while adding a ridiculously dumb and repetitive monologue by the hero. Yet the camp violence, inane one-liners and gun fetishism are just too charming in their simplicity to be disliked.

* What about that issue of ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'' where the super villain with the robotic penis is beaten by the transsexual hooker in a frog mask who gained powers by servicing a radioactive Hermaphrodite? [[http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article59.htm Proof.]]

* Back in 1959, there was a ComicBook/MartianManhunter story in which J'onn J'onzz goes up against a foe called ''the Human Flame''... who was a schlub named Mike who built a "crime suit" that shot electric bolts and fire out of little spouts on the chest. That's right: ''Flaming Shock-Nipples of Crime!'' He dropped off the face of the earth for 50 years and was eventually brought back as an IneffectualSympatheticVillain in ''[[CrisisCrossover Final Crisis]]''.

* Franchise/TheDCU series "ComicBook/TheNewGuardians", which only lasted for 12 issues. Six superheroes (all of whom are [[CaptainEthnic captain ethnics]]) are "chosen" to be the next level of human evolution, and are sent on the "glorious mission" to spread their genes by banging as many people as possible. (The problem with this is that the male half is almost completely exempt from this. One of them is CampGay, another is a cyborg with computer powers that probably can't be passed down genetically, and this just leaves the half man/half plant.) The only thing in the way of their glorious mission is the fact that a South African Neo-Nazi sends a vampire with AIDS to infect them. They also fight Snowflame, a supervillain who gets super powers from sniffing cocaine and runs a cocaine cult in Colombia. Ironically enough, he has since developed [[EnsembleDarkhorse another kind of cult following]].

* While he is commonly considered the best {{Transformers}} comic writer, Simon Furman is known for his purple prose and frequently-recycled dialogue ([[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Furmanism "IT NEVER ENDS!", "Never did want to live forever", "... like some vast, predatory bird!", and "... the worst case of indigestion it's ever had!"]] are some frequently-repeated offenders). A decent-sized chunk of the fandom and Furman himself actually ''embrace'' these flaws, as they give his work a [[NarmCharm distinctive charm.]]

* ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' has a story with a villain called Immortus, whose power is that he can summon up mythical and real historical figures to fight for him, like Merlin, Atilla the Hun, Goliath and... Paul Bunyan. Yes the [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Executioner]] vs Paul Bunyan. I am not making this up. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Immortus was more toned down in later appearances, being known strictly as a time travelling villain.

** So was ''Superman's Girlfriend LoisLane'', except without the New Gods.

* The horribly half-assed European ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' comics. Intentionally ludicrous translation aside, the plotlines tend to read like they were written by a six-year-old and the art seems to have been created by someone who had never seen anything of the show but the basic character models and somehow manages to land squarely in the UncannyValley despite being a cartoon. The result is an almost absurdist take on the setting involving things like [[http://derpibooru.org/30431 the ponies playing soccer]], [[http://derpibooru.org/images/30232 Spike having the exact same expression all the time]], and [[http://derpibooru.org/30280 Pinkie Pie making "enchanted" cookies]].

* ''ComicBook/SupermanAtEarthsEnd'' is a perfect example of an attempt to make a character DarkerAndEdgier that fails. ''Completely''. It combines bizarre homages to the Adam West Batman TV show (Thousand year atomic batteries? A gun on display labeled "the gun that killed my parents"?) with strange attempts to be ''every cliché of the TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks'' (Motorcycle riding child gangs? Superman growing a ridiculously huge beard? Story taking place after not one, but ''two'' apocalypses?) And the villains: TWIN CLONES OF HITLER (made by WAYNE LABORATORIES!) Why?... Its not explained.

--> -- '''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]''', on ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies vs [[Franchise/EvilDead Army of Darkness]]'' and the ''Game Boy'' comics