In one storyline from Amalgam Comics, a mutant-hating cult summons a dragon-like creature and they ask it to kill all of the world's mutants. The dragon promptly fries them, noting that all human DNA is mutated to some extent.
In the Fantastic Four/Superman crossover, the Cyborg Superman — who manipulated the events of the comic book — tells Galactus he wants perfection. Galactus obliges, turning him into a block of metallic alloy, which Reed notes is perfect in every way.
In Superman and Spider-Man, Doctor Doom monologues that Superman is always welcome to visit Latveria and see how utopic it is. Superman reasons that since Doom is the head of state, that means he isn't violating any laws when he flies to Latveria to investigate Doom's current scheme. As it turns out, this is just what Doom was hoping would happen.
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In Astro City, the spells empowered by Tzammath take the form of contracts — essentially: "take this power, and serve Tzammath". Her cult cuts off access to her (extremely powerful and useful) spells in an effort to forcibly conscript all the magic-users who've been using them without serving her in exchange. As it turns out, Tzammath happens to be a raging egotist who loves showing off — the act of using her power is doing her will. And she's not happy with her cult.
All Fall Down gives us AIQ Squared and his promise that "Nothing on Earth is unlawful about what's taking place."
Chlorophylle: Anthracite, having seized the BZ Bomb, approaches Mithron and threatens to use it to blow up Coquefredouille's capital if he isn't made the Police Chief. When Mithron understandably complies, Anthracite does keep his word and spare the city... but keeps the Bomb for himself, and uses it later as part of his Coup d'Etat.
Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin (not to be confused with Star Wars: Darth Vader) has an exchange between a bounty hunter and his client that goes like this: "You will know of my success when you have Vader's head on your lap. You will not see or hear from me again". Cut to the other guy sitting in a chair, his eyes and ears removed. Touch is the only feeling he has left.
Played for Laughs in an Archie Comic when Jughead creates "Springfield Nice", a parody of overly kind police officers starring himself and Archie. They bust a kid for littering and point to a sign that reads "IT'S THE LAW! KEEP YOUR CITY CLEAN!" The kid however explains he is from another city, shows his i.d. to prove it, and points out how that law doesn't obligate him to keep someone else's city clean. Officer Andrews has no choice but to let him go.
Officer Jones: I hate when they get off on a technicality!
In the spy comic Deceivers, CIA agent Patrice Andauer tracks down a couple of con men, Lincoln McCord and Janez Nikovic, and tells them about an international thief known as Ulysses who has been stealing documents from various high-up intelligence agents. She says she 'has reason to believe Ulysses is standing right here, right now'. Both of them deny it and assume it's the other one, and the question of Ulysses' identity drives the plot, with various criminals and spies going after the two of them. In the final issue it's revealed that Patrice was telling the truth: she is Ulysses..
The Black Knight: At the end of his first appearance, Scrooge makes Arpin Lusène (who's a Gentleman Thief above all else) promise that he won't pick Donald's pockets to steal the key to escape his restraints. As soon as he's offscreen, he steals Donald's whole outfit instead.
The Donald Duck story "Paperino e il mistero delle 2 civiltà" features a club of amateur history investigators who have a strictly-enforced rule that they will finalize every debate without ever getting up from their chairs. Then, they turn their interest to a historical mystery that requires travelling abroad to do some investigation on the spot. To avoid violating their rule, they set out on their journey while riding humungous, self-propelled chairs.
Roosevelt: Attention, men! Watch out for that north turret! Soldier: What do you mean, sir? A sniper? Roosevelt: No! I meant what I said! Watch out for the north turret! Here it comes!
In Empowered, Emp has been forbidden from talking about a certain event while it's under investigation, but her teammates have already spread horrible rumors about her relating to the event, so she can't even defend herself without breaking the order. So Ocelotina calls Emp on her show, and then duct-tapes all around Emp's head so she can't say anything and then proceeds to defend Emp in the video. It's nice to see Emp getting some acknowledgement of what was up till then her best Moment of Awesome, even if it is from a mixed-priorities fan.
In an episode of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers published in the 1970s (before cash machines), Phineas Freak was accosted by two muggers who demanded: "Give us all your money!". Interpreting their words literally, Phineas thought of all the effort that would be required in doing this — he and the muggers would have to wait outside the bank all weekend until it opened on Monday morning, so that Phineas could withdraw his savings and give this money to the muggers, among other things — and decided he just couldn't do it. The muggers thought Phineas was stoned (which he was), and they left him alone.
In one issue of G.I. Joe Special Missions, Cobra agents steal the Vector fighter jet and the software of the Skystriker and Conquest jets at an air show. The Vector's pilot, Maverick, gives chase with a stunt pilot in a biplane. At the end, they recover the Vector, but the stunt pilot's biplane is confiscated for an illegal landing. He says he'd ask Maverick for a ride, but there's probably a lot of regulations against that sort of thing. Maverick confirms that there's a regulation against giving civilians a ride in military aircraft...but there's no regulation against letting civilians fly the plane themselves.
Another issue has the team dealing with a Nazi war criminal and a Nazi bomber filled with enough nerve gas to kill the entire US Eastern Seaboard.. They end up making a deal, getting him out of South America and away from the vengeance of the Israelis who want him dead in exchange for getting the nerve gas neutralized. A team of Joes meet up with the criminal and have to deal with a group of Israelis while another team go ahead and neutralize the gas, drive off Cobra from getting it... and discover that there was a second plane filled with stolen gold: the criminal refused to become a martyr for Hitler and killed everyone, then flew the plane with the gold to Argentina. The Joes uphold their end of the bargain by turning the Israelis away (who cheerfully understand what's next) while the criminal's angry companions deal with the criminal for his lies.
In one Richard Corben story in Heavy Metal, a swordsman and his female adventuring partner are on a quest to track down and slay a necromancer. They get separated, and when the man finds her he's too late, and she's already a zombie...but the necromancer is lying dead nearby with a split open skull, and there's a goat wandering around. The woman tells him that he zombified her and then made her help with a sacrificial ritual, holding a goat, giving her a sword, and saying "When I nod my head, strike it!" She explains "He... nods head... I... strike it!"
Dredd pulls one on Mean Machine Angel in the Three Amigos storyline. Dredd agrees that in exchange for Mean Machine's help, he'll release the Angel gang from Mega-City One, free to do as they please, on the understanding that if they try to enter the city again they'll be arrested. Dredd keeps his word, but he releases them from the east exit, on a tiny patch of land surrounded on all sides by the highly-polluted Black Atlantic. The Angels have nowhere to go except back into the city... where he arrests them.
He will frequently use this method as a means to 'trick' criminals in some way. For example, reducing a mook's sentence of 20 years by 1 day, in exchange for them having betrayed their boss, on the basis that he kept his promise to 'shorten jail time' in exchange for information. He's also fond of promising criminals he'll "consider" letting them off the hook. No points for guessing how that one plays out.
The god Luvia demands that the Knights fulfill a deal to bring several horses to be eaten by a troll, planning to take revenge on the Knights because he secretly knows that all horses in the area have died from a spreading plague. Brian, however, points out that the troll didn't specify living horses, and so delivers him ten exhumed plague-infested carcasses.
He'll pull this out of game too. When he was ordering a pizza from B.A. at work and mentioned a bulk deal on dice he'd found for the group, he offered to cut B.A. in if he'd "take care of our pizza and soda today." Of course, he didn't say that his pizza order was the only one he would place that day...
Dave, on the other hand, inverts this by cottoning onto exact words only when they don't make sense.
Sara: What person, living or dead, would you want to be marooned with? Dave: Well that's stupid. Why would anyone want to be marooned with a DEAD person?
In the Greg Rucka / Michael Lark series Lazarus, the protagonist Forever Carlyle went through Training from Hell as a young girl, including brutal hand-to-hand combat and (wooden) swordfighting training with a woman that she nevertheless cared for a great deal (said woman was one of the only people who treated Forever like a person and not a weapon being forged). In order for Forever to be allowed to carry the Carlyle family sword, her father Malcom orders that she have to defeat her mentor in a sword duel. He shows up to supervise the fight but raises the stakes by having them use live steel blades instead of wooden training swords. Forever manages to injure and defeat the older woman, but stops fighting once she's down. When Malcom asks why she held back, Forever reminds him that his orders were to defeat the woman, not kill her. In an inversion, Malcom congratulates her for obeying his orders and rewards her with the family sword.
In Mega Man (Archie Comics) #4, Mega Man is in a deadlock against Dr. Wily's Copy Robot, when the recently-revived Robot Masters barge in to carry out their orders by destroying Mega Man. They do... by destroying the Copy Robot while the real Mega Man hides up above on his Magnet Beam. Mega Man, aware that these Robot Masters were trying to kill him not too long ago, is confused, until Elec Man explains their actions:
Elec Man: It's just like you said. You were programmed to help people, so here you are fighting. We were ordered to destroy one Mega Man. Mission accomplished.
If Mortadelo is asked to check for any guard dogs, he won't mention the hungry crocodile... And if he says there is "nothing" behind a door, don't go rushing through it too fast.
In Magín el Mago (Magín the Magician), the duo is in the city pursuing the titular villain. Filemón is taking the lead and asks Mortadelo to attack Magín if the magician tries to hypnotize him. Magín appears by surprise, attacks Filemón and beats the hell out of him, while Mortadelo stares without doing anything. When Magín leaves, leaving a very battered Filemón behind, Filemón angrily asks Mortadelo why he did not attack their enemy. Mortadelo simply replies that he had been told to attack Magín if he tried to hypnotize Filemón.
Another one in Cacao espacial (Space havoc) has Filemón wanting to investigate a barn. He sends Mortadelo first to check whether the cows are loose. Mortadelo says all the cows are on leashes and Filemón enters the barn, only to run away seconds later chased by a huge bull.
A recurring gag had Filemón putting several locks on the door so that the Super or Bestiájez, who were expected to visit, wouldn't be able to enter when they turned up, while Mortadelo repeatedly assured him "he won't come". In the end, an annoyed Filemón would ask Mortadelo, "Why are you so sure he won't come?"; then Mortadelo would point at the expected visitor sitting on an armchair and give a reply to the effect of "Because he's already here!". Cue Oh, Crap! reaction from Filemón.
In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (IDW)Chrysalis promises Twilight that she would not hurt or drain her friends if Twilight promises to become Chrysalis's apprentice. However, Chrysalis never said Twilight couldn't be made to hurt them.
In the graphic novel version of Neverwhere, the Marquis extracts an hour's Mercy Lead from Croup and Vandemar...except the exact terms were that they "wouldn't touch him" for an hour. This doesn't stop them following him, tearing a ladder he's using off the wall, and standing over his unconscious body counting until they can touch him.
In "The Strange Vow of Robin Hood" from Robin Hood Tales #9, Robin vows not to set foot on English soil until he recovers Richard's ransom. He believed the money was stolen by Norman pirates, but soon learns that in fact the money is being held by the villainous Baron Grote in England. Robin refuses to break his vow, and travels to the robber baron's castle by swinging through the trees, rolling down a river in a barrel, and rides on a stage. When he gets near the castle, he's helped out by a passing draper who rolls a long carpet straight to the castle door.
Roy of the Rovers was once given a challenge by a millionaire to score 40 goals in a season, after which the millionaire would make a big donation to Roy's favourite charity. In the last game of the season, Roy had scored 39, but Rovers were being forced to defend. Roy botched a clearance and scored an own-goal. But, as Roy pointed out, this met the millionaire's challenge, which had said nothing about the goals all being scored for the right team.
In Pierre Tombal, the titular character found a revolutionary way to gather donations: put a "book that contains the names of a lot of people who will die in the future", and tell to people who pass by that "they can have it if they put whatever they want in that urn for the charities of this graveyard". The book turned out to be the phone book. Everyone will die some day, so all the people listed in the phone book fit that bill.
In one Simpsons Comics story, Mayor Quimby exuberantly promises that all the children in Springield Elementary will get straight As if they win a statewide eating contest championship. Principal Skinner and Superintendant Chalmers explain to Quimby what an absurd idea this is and try to sabotage the final, but Springfield ends up winning anyway and everybody gets As in everything... because, as Skinner confides to Lisa (who got straight *s), they implemented a new grading system where A is equal to what was once D, and * is the equivalent to the former A grade.
Sleepless: The magically binding vow taken by the Sleepless Knights sees them swear to serve unto death, with their loyalty and devotion promised to the throne of Harbeny. When they eventually fall unconscious after years of unsleeping service, they sleep for the remainder of their natural lifespan. But Cyrenic's vow to protect Poppy was a modified version of the oath that didn't include this clause. Their contract specified that he would serve her until time's will or her word released him. When she releases him from his vow after three years of service, he falls unconscious for a year before re-awakening — essentially paying off his sleep debt and awakening none the worse for wear.
The mortician who Dr. Aphra and Triple Zero torture for the truth about Padmé's condition before burial eventually confirms Vader's suspicions; that Padmé did give birth before she died - to a son. No mention of any other children, but hey, Aphra didn't ask about that.
Vader gives the droids a priority order to bring Aphra to the Executor which she can't countermand despite otherwise being able to give them orders. The second she's on the ship, she points out the order was accomplished and gives them a new one, to get her off the ship right away.
Queen Trios asks Vader if he made a good choice for queen of Shu-Torun, which he answers by saying there was no other choice. Triple Zero is happy to point out that answer could be interpreted in multiple ways.
Trios (in this series as well as the main series) tells Leia she "will do whatever it takes to ensure my home does not become a second Alderaan." Leia takes that to mean Trios is now a proud ally of the Alliance. Too late, Leia realizes Trios has lured them into an ambush by the Empire. When Leia accuses her of lying, Trios states she meant every word. The issue is that, unlike Leia, she doesn't think the Empire can ever be beaten so "doing what it takes" means joining them.
In the Age of Rebellion one-shot, an Imperial governor takes advantage of Vader having been ordered by Palpatine to obey him to bully him around, making him do whatever he commands. To REALLY push the envelope, the man has his Star Destroyer go to an area that was quarantined from even the Empire and orders Vader to kill the most dangerous thing in the sector. Vader launches, seems like he's going to battle a lobster-like creature... Then turns around and heads back to the ship, lightsaber drawn, ready to kill the governor, as by getting the Star Destroyer there he made himself in the most dangerous thing to the Empire's interests (the monster never leaves the quarantined zone, so it's harmless to the Empire). The man panics and orders Vader to kneel. Vader does so... And allows the monster he lured in to grab the man.
Rare favorable case in Thorgal: Jolan asks Manthor to save his father Thorgal, terminally ill. Manthor says the price is Jolan's life, Jolan agrees. But later, while Jolan expects to die, Manthor clarifies "I wanted your life, not your death". Actually Manthor meant Jolan had to serve him until a specific mission was completed (through the mission is high risk, and Manthor would kill any recruit who would become a hinder rather than an asset for the mission)
In X (Dark Horse Comics), the first mark is a warning. The second mark is death. If the X is completed on your face or an image of your face, then the X-killer will kill you, even if he wasn't the one who put it there.
In Fables #101, Bufkin the winged monkey (though he lost his wings earlier) climbs a magical tree in the Business Office and meets a bird who tells him that if he climbs high enough, the tree will send him home. Bufkin is overjoyed since he thinks the tree will get him back to Fabletown. After many days of climbing, he wakes up and finds he's in a different tree - a Lunch Box Tree. He eats his way through a couple lunch boxes before remembering that the only Lunch Box Tree in existence is in Oz. He's mad at first since he thinks the magic tree screwed up, then he realizes that it did send him home - his original homeland of Oz.
The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye: When Pharma shows up again on Luna-1, Ratchet goads him into a challenge to determine who is the superior medic. The challenge is simple: whoever can fix up a bot who has been cut in half the quickest wins. This ends up killing Ratchet's fellow medic Ambulon, because Pharma does indeed cut him in half. Lengthways. There's a reason he's called "Mad Doctor Pharma".
The Shadow Hero: The mystic promises the spirits give to their hosts work like this. Tortoise even directly says wording is everything. Hank's promise from the Tortoise is that he will never get shot, which means he's Immune to Bullets and lasers and the like, but he can still be hit by anything else. Ten Grand's mystic promise from the Dragon is that all of his fights will end with his victory. When Ten Grand tries to kill him, Hank surrenders, whereupon all Ten Grand's further attempts to attack him are blocked by a mystic barrier. Ten Grand was victorious, therefore the fight had ended.
A regular theme in The Beano and The Dandy is Naughty Is Good characters coming up with an interpretation of instructions from their parents that allows them to do what they want. It's a favourite of Roger the Dodger in particular, but many of the other characters have got in on it. One Desperate Dan strip has Aunt Aggie putting Big Eater Dan on a diet, and telling him that he's only allowed one sandwich and one glass of juice. After he's had an adventure helping Cactusville's butcher, baker and glassblower, they provide him with a whole side of beef, two slices of bread large enough to cover it, and a glass as tall as he is.
