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1Many superheroes during MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks:
2
3This can be applied era to era in comics but especially MediaNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} which generally has the silliest and most over the top plots and really sticks out from the other eras with many of the most popular characters of today being invented or taking on their most recognizable forms in that era.
4----
5!!The following have their own pages:
6[[index]]
7* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheDCU
8* ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheLoudHouse'' (includes both the comic book and the animated series)
9* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/MarvelUniverse
10[[/index]]
11----
12!!French-Belgian comics
13* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'':
14** The first Asterix story, ''Asterix the Gaul'', had several.
15*** A single issue ArtEvolution (with plenty of OffModel drawings before Uderzo settled on the style he employed for years to come) and a plot unlike the ones that followed, in particular having a relatively small role for Obelix (who also wears an axe on his belt in this first album and has hairy arms). Julius Caesar also looks completely different in this album. Compare the one on the first page with the one on the final pages! And even then he still doesn't resemble the later Caesar!
16*** Most of the Gauls have much longer hair and moustaches.
17*** A single drink of magic potion apparently makes one strong for several hours, whereas in later stories it lasts long enough to see a battle to its end (which are usually pretty brief anyway with the Gauls having the strength to see off any enemy in one hit) but certainly not for hours. In fact, they actually seem to be drinking it every few hours, to constantly retain their super-strength, while in later issues they would only drink it if the situation actually required it, such as a battle.
18*** Getafix originally lived in a cave. The village blacksmith looked radically different, more a roly-poly sort with a long nose rather than the broad-shouldered Fulliautomatix. Also, he bangs iron with his bare hands instead of his trademark hammer (the scene implying the Gauls use the magic potion for mundane tasks, before it'd be established as only being used for urgent security situations).
19*** Cacofonix's outfit is also different.On top of that, the running gag that his music is [[DreadfulMusician just horrible]] isn't yet set up. Asterix refuses to let him sing early on but only because he has better things to do, the Gauls dance to his playing with no complaints, and he sings at the banquet at the end (!!!!), only annoying a couple of characters sitting right next to him, presumably due to the volume rather than quality.
20** Dogmatix is conspicuously absent before his introduction in ''Asterix and the Banquet''.
21* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'':
22** The first three albums of Lucky Luke are drawn in a more rounded and less detailed style. Creator/{{Morris}} aspired to bring his characters to the screen and thus they are drawn in a way that would be easier to animate, complete with four fingers on each hand. Luke in particular has a different outfit and a large chin.
23** The early issues were more straight though light-hearted Westerns than the AffectionateParody of TheWestern the series is known as. Lucky Luke sometimes shot his opponents dead or wounded them severely. This included the Daltons, based on the real-life Dalton brothers, who got KilledOffscreen and had to be brought back as their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute cousins.
24** Lucky Luke himself didn't have his absurdly quick ImprobableAimingSkills yet. He was a good shooter, but not exceptionally so, and was even upstaged by some enemies. He would tend to escape dangerous situations thanks to luck. Hence his name, ''Lucky'' Luke.
25* ComicStrip/{{Nero}}:
26** Nero was originally a man who thought he was Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, but was actually called "Heiremans". After a while other characters started naming him "Nero" anyway. Also, he was completely bald and only got his famous hairs in the album "De Man Met Het Gouden Hoofd", as a result of drinking from an enchanted river. Also, for the first five years of the series, the comic strip centered around Detective Van Zwam, who was eventually reduced to a secondary character while Nero became the star of the series.
27** In his first albums, Adhemar dresses like a baby and acts very obnoxious and egotistically to get his will. This is in sharp contrast with later albums in which he behaves more civilized.
28** Petoetje walks around dressed like a tribal native, wearing nothing more than a tribal dress. Of course, he came from Papua New Guinea: but it takes several albums until he finally starts wearing more Western clothing!
29** The famous waffle feast which [[EveryEpisodeEnding traditionally closes each album]] didn't occur until well after fifty albums, after the series switched over to color!
30* ''ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske'':
31** In the first official story "Rikki en Wiske in Chocowakije" Suske doesn't appear at all. Only Wiske and her aunt Tante Sidonia are present. Wiske actually had an older brother, Rikki, who was PutOnABus from the second album on and ignored for more than 60 years in the stories' continuity.
32** Suske and Wiske were actually toddlers in the first stories, instead of the early teenagers they became later.
33** Tante Sidonia actually looked more feminine in the first stories, dressing like an old woman of her age would.
34** Lambik was obnoxiously stupid in the first stories and completely untrustworthy to his friends. His intelligence improved over the course of the series, though he remained not very bright.
35** Jerom actually dressed as a caveman for most of the first stories he appeared in. Only gradually did he lose these roots and become more civilized.
36** Professor Barabas was originally a stutterer with a pot belly. He lost both traits later.
37** Also, many readers will notice that even after main characters were introduced in the series there were still stories where either Lambik or Tante Sidonia are noticeably absent. Even without giving an explanation about their whereabouts!
38* ''ComicBook/TifEtTondu'':
39** Tondu was originally a wild man that Tif met on a deserted island. Ironically, he became the smartest of the duo.
40** Monsieur Choc's famous helmet originally long thin holes, and was rounder-shaped. After a couple of appearances, he'd wear a longer, thinner helmet with smaller holes.
41* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'':
42** In "[[Recap/TintinTintinInTheLandOfTheSoviets Tintin in the Land of the Soviets]]" Tintin only gets his famous hairstyle several pages into the story, as he is driving away in a speeding car, whipping his hair in a quiff, and staying that way since.
43** The early Tintin stories before ''The Blue Lotus'' are mostly a continuous series of events without much focus and a lot of randomness (evident as late as ''Cigars of the Pharaoh'', whose later colorized edition was heavily edited down). ''Tintin in the Land of the Soviets'' and ''[[Recap/TintinTintinInTheCongo Tintin in the Congo]]'' are plain propaganda stories warning the youth against Soviet communism and praising the virtues of Belgian colonialism in Congo. Tintin's travels to foreign countries were simply based on stereotypical ideas. Hergé only started doing research for his stories from "The Blue Lotus" on (it's probably worth noting that in "The Blue Lotus" itself he mocks national stereotypes, most notably by having Thomson and Thompson trying to blend in with the locals by dressing up like Fu Manchu).
44** The Thompsons actually tried to arrest Tintin for most of the early albums, and, in doing so, [[GoodIsDumb prove themselves somewhat more competent than they would ever be as allies.]]
45* ''ComicBook/{{Urbanus}}'': He was much taller and thinner in the first albums, looking more like a young adult than the short fat ManChild in later stories. Nabuko Donosor would only become his dog from the second album on.
46----
47!!Other Comics
48* In terms of comic book creators, some of their work was much different early in their careers. Creator/BillSienkiewicz's artwork was very similar to Creator/NealAdams' before he took on a more expressionistic style. Creator/BryanHitch's art was closer to Creator/AlanDavis' before becoming more distinctly his own. Creator/AlanMoore started off as both a writer "and" an artist.
49* The first ''ComicBook/AgeOfReptiles'' story, "Tribal Warfare", differs widely from the later stories in both the story and art style, having much cleaner outlines and far more vivid colours, while the dinosaurs are portrayed with far more anthropomorphism and [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology much less attention to scientific accuracy]], with animals from the entire Mesozoic Era and different continents thrown together. Later stories made a greater effort to keep the animals contemporary, dialled back the human-like behaviour, and had a much more muted colour palette with a sketchier art style. Supplementary material for the first story also gave every individual animal a name, but this practice was discarded in future stories.
50* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'': The original comics looked nothing like their more familiar look. They had the more realistic style of most 1940s comics before becoming stylized like today. Archie looked more like [[Magazine/{{MAD}} Alfred E. Neuman]] than anything. The characters were also younger and it initially lacked the signature BettyAndVeronica (Betty was part of the strip since day one, but Veronica did not show up until the fifth or sixth issue).
51** Archie originally hated his name and preferred going by "Chick". This lasted all of one issue.
52** Betty spent the good part of two decades as a DumbBlond and a [[TheDitz ditz]] who was obsessed with Archie. She later turned into the more level-headed GirlNextDoor tomboy she's known as. This change also involved Betty going from her original "betty bangs" to a TomboyishPonytail.
53** Jughead's HeManWomanHater schtick was dropped by the 1970s. The only remains are his CelibateHero elements.
54** In the 1960s, ''Archie'' ran a series of SpyFiction spoofs called ''The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E''. In the first story, Archie and Jughead were agents of the good organization R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Betty was their clueless secretary who had no idea it was anything but a dry-cleaning establishment, and Veronica and Reggie were agents of the evil organization C.R.U.S.H. In later stories, all five were agents of the good organization, now called P.O.P. (Protect Our Planet), and using Pop Tate's Chocklit Shoppe as a base.
55* In early issues of ''ComicBook/TheBeano'', pretty much all the comic's most iconic characters had yet to appear. The only strip in the first issue to survive into TheFifties was Lord Snooty. Early issues also included text stories and adventure strips unlike later ones which only featured humourous comic strips.
56** When [[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace]] first appeared in 1951 he lacked his red and black stripey jumper and instead wore a tie.
57* ''ComicBook/BuckskinAmericasDefenderOfLiberty'' had Early Installment Weirdness in its ''title'', originally being called ''Buckskin '''Blake''': America's Defender of Liberty''.
58* ''ComicBook/CloneWarsAdventures'': One of the few times Plo Koon appears before the other ''Clone Wars'' series is in ''One Battle'' and shows him [[TheUnintelligible only speaking (or only capable of speaking) his native Kel Dor language]]. The lead clone in charge seems to have trouble understanding him at first. Later works have him speaking plain Basic just fine.
59* Early issues of ComicBook/TheDandy featured Desperate Dan as a bit of a bad guy (a Desperado, hence the strip's name) instead of the nice but dumb guy who DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength.
60* ''ComicBook/DeKiekeboes'': The early albums look nothing like the series today. Kiekeboe is long and thin, Charlotte is a DamselInDistress, and most of the comedy is more like a typical children's comic strip of that time, with a lot of unneccessary exposition and puns that weren't as clever as they are in later stories.
61* The Brazilian distributor of ComicBook/DisneyComics released in 2000 a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of their WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck magazine. The description of the first issue listed all that could be found weird: differences in language/spelling (apart from the 1950s version being quite formal, Portuguese underwent several orthographic reforms) and character names (biggest one was WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} being called Dippy - though the story has him being called "a goofy guy"; in one story, Goofy was discovered by talent scouts after they didn't like his original name, ''Dippy Dawg''), unfinished stories (it was published across 3 issues as movie serials were popular in those days), only eight pages in color, and a trivia section filled with ValuesDissonance (telling stories of animals suffering accidents, such as "jiraffes"''[sic]'' being decapitated by telegraphic wires). 10 years later, the collection released to celebrate the 60th anniversary had its first issue come with [[EmbeddedPrecursor a facsimile of ''Donald Duck'' #1]], letting readers experience Early Installment Weirdness firsthand.
62** On a lesser scale, the Italian character [[ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures Paperinik]], Donald's superhero alter ego: in the early stories, he wasn't Disney's LighterAndSofter counterpart to Batman, but Donald using the tools of a disappeared GentlemanThief (and some gadgets provided by Gyro Gearloose) to vent his anger and get revenge on anyone pissing him off too much, committing blatantly illegal acts (including [[ImpossibleTheft stealing Scrooge's bed while he's sleeping on it]]), and was openly considered the public enemy number 1. Later stories sometimes keep part of the 'avenger of himself and criminal' part (with Angus Fangus in ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' [[JerkassHasAPoint devoting his journalistic career to get him arrested]]), but Paperinik has become an obviously more benign character, often working alongside the police who should be coming after him.
63* Before Creator/ECComics made its iconic horror, crime, war and science fiction classics like ''Tales From The Crypt'' and ''Weird Science'', and later satirical comics like MAD magazine, its first three years were as a fairly standard comic label called Educational Comics, which had wholesome fare like ''Picture Stories From The Bible'' and ''Animal Fables'', the total antithesis of the kind of stories and art that would put EC on the map from 1949 and on.
64* ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'' had some of these while Creator/LarryHama was still figuring out the details of the setting.
65** In Issue #3, the Cobra make use of a giant robot and while they would later reintroduce sci-fi elements like Serpentor at Hasbro's insistence, this would be mostly ignored with GI Joe avoiding the more outlandish elements of the cartoon and Marvel in general.
66** In Issue #4, Cobra provides the First Strike militia with two nuclear weapons. As incredibly powerful and influential as Cobra would later prove to be, it's damned near impossible to imagine they wouldn't keep the nukes for themselves.
67** In Issue #8, the Baroness said that Cobra must have been betrayed by some of the Joe's capitalist allies. As Cobra is eventually revealed to be, they are ''incredibly'' capitalist and actually have an ideology based on making money.
68* The opening mini-series of IDW's ''[[ComicBook/GodzillaIDWPublishing Godzilla]]'' comics — ''[[ComicBook/GodzillaKingdomOfMonsters Kingdom of Monsters]]'' — is so markedly different from the subsequent two-part [[ComicBook/GodzillaOngoing ongoing]] [[ComicBook/GodzillaRulersOfEarth series]] that it's fully possible to skip it completely ([[FanonDiscontinuity which most fans do]]) and fully understand the rest of the story. The tone is much darker with the {{Kaiju}} portrayed as basically evil monsters, lots of aversions of NoEndorHolocaust (up to and including [[DeathOfAChild kids dying]]), very few (and very brief) fight scenes, and there is a big focus on mean-spirited ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''-esque social commentary and then-current pop cultural references, complete with a lot of the cast being [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed obvious stand-ins for real people]]. The ongoing proper is [[ReverseCerebusSyndrome vastly more lighthearted and idealistic]], being a pulpy and [[ActionizedSequel action-packed]] GenreThrowback to old-school {{Toku}} series and superhero comics, most of the Kaiju are more heroic, and the celebrity/pop culture parodies are thrown out completely in favor of purely original characters or characters from [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} the source material]] and a semi-timeless BMovie vibe. Pretty much all of this can be chalked up to ''KOM'' being written by a completely different writer who was not asked to return for subsequent issues.
69* ''ComicBook/GrimmFairyTales'': The first three issues demonstrate how the creators were still figuring out the ongoing plot structure and Sela's role.
70** The first issue only has Sela's book, with Britney Waters thinking she dreamed the story only to discover a cut on her cheek and leaves in her bed implying that characters would live through the stories in order to learn their lesson.
71** The second issue introduces Sela proper, but she appears more malevolent as she implies she'll offer Cindy her heart's desire in exchange for her soul. [[spoiler:This would be brought up several issues later when Sela's confronted with this, stating she doesn't remember meeting Cindy and realizing she was being controlled by Belinda at the time. The creators revealed Sela's behavior was originally meant to mimic that of certain characters in the fairy tales, here acting like the Fairy Godmother. In the third issue she would've taken on traits similar to the gingerbread witch, but this was scrapped in the released version.]]
72** By the third issue, Sela's finally cemented in the role of the mysterious but well meaning figure using her storybook to help people avoid making tragic mistakes.
73* In his first appearance, obscure Golden Age Western hero ComicBook/{{Gunsmoke}} is summoned by Pedro via smoke signals. This element never appears again.
74* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'':
75** The first few stories are very odd to read in comparison to later installments, thanks to Creator/JohnByrne's writing. Under Byrne, Hellboy uses a PrivateEyeMonologue to describe the story, tying him more closely into the NinetiesAntiHero archetype. When Byrne left and Mike Mignola, the series' creator, took over dialogue in addition to plotting and art, this form of exposition vanished.
76** Also, the first stories were initially published under Dark Horse's Legends imprint, with the idea that all the Legends comics would fit into a shared universe. As a result, "Seed of Destruction" has a brief but significant cameo by The Torch of Liberty, a Nazi-fighting superhero from John Byrne's ''Danger Unlimited''. But Mignola and Byrne soon agreed they'd both be better off telling their own stories independently, and they dropped the shared universe angle. The Torch of Liberty, and any implication of other Cape characters like him, quietly disappeared from the series.
77* Creator/ImageComics' early days in TheNineties where they codified the NinetiesAntiHero and had a ClicheStorm that embodied MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks could be seen as this. Since then, they've [[GrowingTheBeard greatly diversified their lineup]] with hits such as ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'', ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'', ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'', ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'', and ''ComicBook/{{Saga}}'', among many others. While DarkerAndEdgier compared to Marvel and DC, it isn't to the over-the-top extreme like it was in the '90s. This also had the effect of making series introduced back then, such as ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'', ''ComicBook/YoungbloodImageComics'', and ''ComicBook/SavageDragon'', look rather [[TheArtifact out of place]] today.
78* ''ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats'' started out under the name ''She's Josie''. Josie's hairstyle was a bouffant, rather than a bob, and she had an AlliterativeName ("Josie Jones" rather than "Josie [=McCoy=]"). Instead of Valerie, they had a friend named Pepper, who was a DeadpanSnarker and a SoapboxSadie (she was PutOnTheBus for decades before reappearing in the 2010s). Instead of Alan, we have Albert, who was also a folk singer (though it wasn't a trait of his until the seventh issue). Albert was later phased out for Clyde Didit, a guitarist whose RunningGag was being hit by something he was singing about. When Alan finally made his debut, he had his own band called "Alan & the Jesters", but that didn't last beyond that particular issue. Alexandra was lacking her streaked hair, did not have witchcraft or her cat Sebastian, and was much less of a hothead initially. And of course, the Pussycat band itself did not exist until issue 45.
79* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' was originally set in New York City (although the second issue did mention it was part of Mega-City One), the judges were "elected by the people" and regular police still appeared. Dredd's build was disturbingly lanky, he looked more like a teenager that his usual burly self.
80* ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'': The series started as a comic strip in the back of SHADIS gaming magazine and as such, the character were flat and Sara had not been added yet. The Knights were simple gamer stereotypes shifting to fit the gag of the strip (for example, Dave, Bob and Brian all knowing the stats for a monster whereas in later strips, only Brian had stats and charts memorized like that.)
81* The series ''La parejita'' started in 1993 as "Emilia-o", the story of a 18-year-old couple who had to serve in the Spanish military service. Emilia, the girl, disguised herself as a man to stay with her boyfriend during that time instead of being sent to different destinations. After a year of military jokes, author Manel Fontdevila decided to put the couple back in the city and write a story about their day-to-day life, which he described as "putting the same actors in a different set".
82* The "Locas" stories in ''ComicBook/LoveAndRockets'' initially had sci-fi elements, but they were soon dropped and the series became very present-day real-life in nature.
83** The Palomar stories were very much an EnsembleCast about the various townspeople, and the closest to a main character was Carmen acting as a GreekChorus; as the series went on, Palomar itself was dropped, and the focus was shifted to Luba and her family in Los Angeles.
84* In the very first ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' comic book, Lord Zedd is shown using Rita Repulsa's mannerisms, such as throwing his staff to Earth to MakeMyMonsterGrow and an affinity for headaches. The editors admitted in a later letter column that they had no idea how Zedd acted then, thus they had to wing it.
85* In the early strips of ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'', both worked alone as private detectives instead of being secret agents, Filemón was always angry and smoked a pipe, Mortadelo was even more stupid and clumsy, and there was barely any of the {{Slapstick}} that defines the series nowadays.
86* The first two ''ComicBook/NemesisTheWarlock'' stories - ''Terror Tube'' and ''Killer Watt'' - refer to Torquemada as chief of Tube Police, while later he is referred to as "Grand Master of Termight". Nemesis spends both stories inside his ship, with no clue about his identity or appearance, saying nothing but his CatchPhrase ''Credo!'', which he tends to use at odd moments. A lot implies it wasn't even established that Nemesis is even an alien back then, with narration referring to him as "not an ordinary man" at best. The FantasticRacism of Torquemada would only be added later as well.
87* The first three issues of ''ComicBook/NinjaHighSchool'' were drawn in a somewhat different style from the rest of the series.
88* In the first of the ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' comics, Nate Timely was portrayed as more of an UnluckyEverydude rather than the gluttonous ditz with occasional moments of genius he would be established as by later issues, and Patrice Blazing, compared to her OnlySaneWoman portrayal in future issues, was written as somewhat of a maverick. The first issue was also the only issue where Crazy Dave was ever given proper dialogue that wasn't entirely in gibberish that only Patrice understands, and it's also the only issue where Dr. Zomboss doesn't have dialogue (evil laughter notwithstanding).
89* ''ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'':
90** The original incarnation of Sabrina from [[http://www.themarysue.com/archie-sabrina-50th/2/ the original five page comic]] was a VillainProtagonist. She also couldn't cry and would float in water, which is old witch lore. Early comics had a witch head known as "Della" who disappeared randomly.
91** Sabrina's two aunts were originally her mothers who created her through magic. Later on, they became her biological aunts, with Sabrina being half-human/half-witch.
92** Salem started out black in the original short comic before becoming red in the finalized comic. He was changed back to black ([[DependingOnTheArtist sometimes]] tuxedo) in the 1990s and that's since stuck. Originally, Salem was just Sabrina's {{familiar}} and was a normal cat that couldn't speak. The 1990s [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch show]] changed him so that he was a warlock cursed into a cat form, which [[RetCanon the comic later canonized]].
93* On their very first appearance in "Johan and Peewit: The Flute with Six Holes", ComicBook/TheSmurfs had five fingers on each hands, their village was on a rocky, barren landscape and their houses were different sizes and species of mushrooms.
94* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
95** ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
96*** The early comics were very comedic and often even stranger than what came later, with lots of [[NoFourthWall fourth wall demolition]], BetterThanABareBulb, and HurricaneOfPuns. This was more due to following the tone of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' and using a few [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 video game stages]] in the early days. Also, Dave Manak and Michael Gallagher were the primary artist and writer respectively, both of whom had a more zany cartoonish style than their successors. Roboticization was shown differently with people with hypnotized eyes instead of out and out robots. The series wouldn't reach the ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAm'' levels until Dulcy showed up in issue 28. Once other artists and writers began to take over (although Gallagher and Manak never fully left), the art style and overall tone became [[CerebusSyndrome comparatively more serious]] for the most part.
97*** The lore for Chaos Emeralds was subject to some changes over the course of the series prior to the ContinuityReboot. In the earliest comics, there were much more than seven Chaos Emeralds. While Sonic could achieve his Super Sonic state with seven Emeralds, there were still more around Mobius, all of which were green. Other planets had Chaos Emeralds of their own, including the red Chaos Emeralds of Thoraxia, the blue Emeralds of Xorda, and so forth. It wouldn't be until Issue #170 in 2006 when the Emeralds took on a form more in-line with how they appear in the games: every Chaos Emerald in the known universe would disappear into the Zone of Silence, where the godlike entity Feist condensed them into seven Emeralds, one of each color from their world of origin, and rewards them to the heroes for completing trials within his "[[BonusStage Special Zone]]".
98*** This also extends to its video game tie-ins. Prior to the ContinuityReboot, video game events were done in BroadStrokes; for instance, ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog3'' was translated in issue #13 as Robotnik and Snively stranded on the Floating Island, stealing its singular Chaos Emerald without the Death Egg showing up at all (it wouldn't show up for another two years). After the ContinuityReboot, WordOfGod states that ''all'' video games, with the exceptions of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' and ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'' are canon and happened the way they did in the games.
99** ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'':
100*** For a while it was full of one-shots that barely related to each other (often featuring OffModel drawings). It took several issues for it to become plot-orientated, and even afterwards it took a while for it to drop the one-shot routine.
101*** The comic itself was also set up more lika a magazine full of game previews and strips featuring characters from other games than Sonic, which (with the notable exception of one based on VideoGame/DecapAttack) slowly got phased at as the comic progressed.
102*** The first few issues didn't include Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis alongside Sonic and Tails. They were characters, but not Freedom Fighters. Amy, Tekno, and Shortfuse also didn't appear for several issues.
103*** Early strips written by Creator/MarkMillar place Sonic's home as the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Green Hill Zone]], while from the eighth issue onwards, Nigel Kitching placed it as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 the Emerald Hill Zone]]. Millar's strips published after the change have been edited to also use the Emerald Hill Zone, as evidenced by a strip involving Sonic running around the planet in five seconds listing the Spring Yard Zone and Marble Zone as being on his path to the Emerald Hill Zone.
104* Before ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' was on the air, its spiritual predecessor ''ComicBook/TheIntertidalZone'' featured a prototype version of the character called Bob the Sponge. Unlike the later show, it was an edutainment comic.
105* In the second issue of Marvel's ''Franchise/StarWars'', the scene between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt (or Hut here) is included, but Jabba looks absolutely nothing like the familiar character as seen in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. The character depicted is one of the background aliens from the Cantina scene, who was eventually given the name Mosep Binneed and, as a DiscontinuityNod, was revealed to be one of Jabba's executive staff.
106** Though this persisted for much of the comic series, as another story about Han and Jabba uses the same humanoid design as the adaptation of ''A New Hope''. It wasn't until ''Return of the Jedi'' came out that Jabba was depicted as he is now.
107** Jabba's humanoid design was from a scene that was originally deleted, and it was said that it wasn't the final version. At the time, they couldn't do what they wanted to, so it ended up deleted. When the "Special Edition" version of ''A New Hope'' came out, the Jabba from ''Return'' was inserted in as a CGI model.
108* In his first appearance, obscure Golden Age hero ComicBook/TheSteelFist only had a cowl on his head. He got a Domino Mask added immediately afterwards.
109* ''Superlópez'' began as a direct and shameless parody of ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'', mocking several Creator/MarvelComics characters and plotlines. When the original writer Efepé left, it changed into a "regular dude thrown into a superhero role", focusing notably on López's life and work. From the 90's on, though, a decent roster of villains had been added and the stories became more adventure-oriented, with several [[RippedFromTheHeadlines political jokes and references]] thrown everywhere.
110* While people often note the various changes that came about when the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles changed from being merely a comic book to a multimedia franchise, the original [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Mirage comics]] were also subject to quite a bit of this. Most notable is the Creator/FrankMiller-esque narration, which was gone by the series' second issue; the idea that the turtles had grown to look like their present-day selves in the space of a year, which was ignored when the writers decided to write stories featuring younger versions of the characters; and the bit where Splinter expressly trained the turtles so they would kill The Shredder for him, which was glossed over with time. The Shredder himself was originally a TokenMotivationalNemesis and StarterVillain who died in the end of issue one. He did kill Hamato Yoshi, yes, but he was pretty much the [[ComicBook/SpiderMan crook who shot Uncle Ben]] but with a cooler outfit.
111* ''ComicBook/TomPoes'': Tom Poes was a lot taller in the early stories and looked more like a real cat than in later albums.
112* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'':
113** It's established in the first issue that the titular robots evolved from "naturally-occurring gears and pulleys" on Cybertron. This origin was never mentioned again, and eventually superseded by the "children of Primus" origin established by Simon Furman. Similarly, the Matrix of Leadership is completely unrecognizable; it's called the Creation Matrix ([[MythologyGag later suggested as an alternate name in later continuities]]) and is portrayed as a sort of {{Magitek}} program or engram encoded in the current Autobot leader "once every ten millenia", complete with a whole plot point of Optimus Prime keeping it out of enemy hands by ''uploading it'' somewhere else, instead of a physical talisman carried in the Autobot leader's chest. About the only thing kept the same is that it has life-giving properties and is used to create new Transformers.
114** Space bridges are likewise radically different, being depicted as a singular dangerous SuperPrototype resembling a ''literal'' bridge amongst other things.
115** Initially, much like previous Creator/MarvelComics toy tie-ins ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'' and ''ComicBook/{{Micronauts|MarvelComics}}'', ''ComicBook/{{The Transformers|Marvel}}'' was set in the Marvel Universe proper, with ComicBook/SpiderMan guest-starring in issue 3 (along with cameos by [[ComicBook/NickFury Nick Fury and Dum-Dum Dugan]], and a thinly-veiled reference to ''another'' Marvel-licensed character, ComicBook/{{Godzilla|KingOfTheMonsters1977}}[[note]]Marvel no longer had the license by then so he wasn't referred to by name[[/note]]), and the Dinobots fighting Shockwave in the Savage Land in issue 4. But after having Circuit Breaker cameo in ''ComicBook/SecretWarsII'' (for [[ExecutiveMeddling rights issues]]) and sending Ratchet to the Savage Land to fish the Dinobots out of a tar pit in issue 8, the Transformers' connection to Earth-616 was dropped.
116** The first issue also mention in passing that the Transformers developed their transformation abilities over the war. Practically every other bit of TF media depicts transformation as a natural ability.
117** More related to later media, but some TF fans reading the original run might be shocked with how little Megatron actually leads the Decepticons. After Shockwave enters the plot at the end of issue 4, Megatron is ousted from leadership and, when he returns, it's in a dual leadership with Shockwave until issue 19 when he convinces Shockwave to stand down...and that's only for another six issues that ends in Megatron seemingly committing suicide. When he comes back later, he ''doesn't'' become leader again and instead stays an independent villain for the remainder of the series. The Decepticons actually cycle through about six leaders over the series's run, even more in the UK comics, with Scorponok serving the longest.
118*** Speaking of Decepticon leaders, there's a weird quirk in the early parts of the series where Laserbeak is almost used like a living crown to denote the leader of the Decepticons by often perching on their shoulders (demonstrated explicitly when Shockwave cedes leadership back to Megatron by having Laserbeak fly from the former's shoulder to the latter). This idea is swiftly dropped when Ratbat becomes leader and never mentioned again.
119** By a similar count, one might be surprised to see that Starscream has a very small role in the early comics; he was outright killed off with little ceremony in the nineteenth issue, and he didn't do much before that point (in the US, anyway; the UK made more use of him). His first really prominent role happened in "Club Con!", the forty-seventh issue, at which he then rose to more prominence in the Underbase arc and became a mainstay thereafter.
120** Rounding the early weirdness with the "big four" Decepticons (Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave), new fans will likely be surprised by how the Marvel comics, especially the UK exclusive issues, depict Soundwave. Instead of the cartoon's more famous slavishly loyal idealist who serves as [[TheDragon Megatron's trusted right-hand man and personal enforcer]], he's portrayed as a sort of mix between TheCreon and TheSpymaster; a sneaky, untrustworthy LovableRogue who is constantly spying on his allies, collecting secrets, and working to maintain his comfy position in the Decepticon hierarchy. About the only similarity he has with the more familiar take on the character is that he's still the most sympathetic member of the big four, but even this is different, as he's a MrViceGuy who does the right thing in the end despite his opportunism (and is suggested to [[HiddenDepths secretly wish the war would end]]) instead of a NobleDemon who truly believes in the cause.
121** The designs in the first two issues were heavily modelled on the toys. Starting with the third issue, the comic always used the cartoon designs.
122* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'':
123** In ''Transformers: Infiltration'', Ratchet is depicted as young and inexperienced to the point that Earth seems to be his first deployment. By ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', his characterization had shifted to being an elderly curmudgeon who'd been around forever and seen nearly as much as Kup, more closely matching his depictions in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' and ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''.
124** In his first appearance in ''Spotlight: Soundwave'', Soundwave is depicted as a self-serving opportunist who ends up going against Bludgeon's gang because EvenEvilHasStandards, an attempt at RevisitingTheRoots funnily enough (see the Marvel section above). In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'', he's an extremely idealistic character who joined the Decepticons out of loyalty to Megatron, fights for the equality of all Cybertronians, and considers his cassette partners ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg except Ratbat]]) to be his equals rather than expendable minions.
125** In ''Spotlight: Arcee'', Arcee was stated to have been an attempt by a MadScientist to introduce gender to a species that didn't have it, and the process made her violently psychotic. This was because Simon Furman, the writer, had a longstanding dislike of female Transformers. IDW eventually realized the UnfortunateImplications of this and provided several retcons, first by introducing several new female Transformers in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'', then by retconning Arcee into being UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} and having asked for the scientist to change her. Her psychotic tendencies were changed to having been a result of being tortured, and she eventually got over them.
126** ''Spotlight: Optimus Prime'' has Optimus talk about the past Prime's as a great HeroicLegacy, as they traditionally are in the mythos. This clashes massively with Barber/Roberts work, which portrayed the Prime's as having long been corrupted into brutal authoritarian fascists responsible in large part for the collapse of Cybertronian society, with Optimus' status as a RedeemingReplacement becoming a central part of the IDW version of the character. Indeed, he ''became'' a Prime after rebelling against his predecessor Zeta, who'd been an AxCrazy megalomaniac.
127* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' has some minor cases:
128** In his first few appearances Rung has a slightly different, more boxy design, which clashes with important character traits and backstory established later, like him never changing body. He also is drawn with wheels and other seemingly vehicular kibble even though he's supposed to transform into a vague, key-like object without wheels. Later issues retconned those parts to be a scooter he carries with him in order to avoid continuity/logic issues.
129** In the first two or three issues, Swerve comes across as being disliked by the rest of crew, with his jokes and MotorMouth tendencies being seen as annoying. This doesn't jibe with the ideas his character arc is built around, namely that he suffers self esteem issues because he thinks people only like him for his jokes.
130** When first introduced in season 1, the Galactic Council is talked about as if they're the only major interstellar government around, with no mentions of the Black Block Consortia.
131** Comics written before Roberts came along showed Spinister as a fairly normal Decepticon soldier who served alongside elites like the Predacons and was living on Cybertron after the war ended. MTMTE explicitly establishes Spinister as the exact opposite; a stupid/borderline mentally disabled guy who would probably ''never'' get the chance to serve under someone like Razorclaw and was flying around with the Scavengers in the rim worlds after the war ended.
132** Another example of contradicting characterization is Drift, who lacks his trademark spiritualistic and obnoxiously upbeat persona in comics not written by Roberts, being depicted as a more stoic and serious warrior.
133* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' had a bit of unevenness in the beginning: in addition to being a bit more violent than it is now, non-mammals and humans are seen in crowd shots and two human/oids have speaking roles (they're both villains). Currently the only non-mammal characters are Lord Hebi, a giant snake, and his human boss Lord Hikiji, [[TheFaceless whose face hasn't been seen in ages.]] We can only speculate what foreigners could look like since [[MisplacedWildLife lions, tigers, and rhinos]] already live in Japan. Stan Sakai has stated that he regrets having made Hikiji human.
134* In the early days, the Tiddlers of ''Wham'' (a British comic) had a teacher named Super Sir, who not only approved of their mischief-making, he would join in on it. After a few strips, however, he was replaced with a stereotypical long-suffering put-upon bald bespectacled teacher.
135* In ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'', Will was a major ButtMonkey and it seemed all she existed for, beyond being leader, was having something horrible happen to her. She lampshades this when her dormouse is run over after she and her friends save her family's livelihood from her JerkAss, gambling-addicted father.

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