History FunWithAcronyms / ComicBooks

* In the Italian translation of ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'', Obelix's CatchPhrase is translated as "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani" ("They are mad, these Romans") The letters SPQR, which originally stood for "'''S'''enatus '''P'''opulus'''q'''ue '''R'''omani", still appear on street furniture in modern Rome and it's long been a joke there that the letters stand for '''S'''ono '''P'''azzi '''Q'''uesti '''R'''omani. Since the original French words are "Il's sont fous, ces Romains", echoing the Italian closely, it seems reasonable to assume that this was in René Goscinny's mind all along.

--->'''Gray Hulk''': Ah, M.O.D.O.K. The Mental Organism Designed Only for Kick-ball.\\

--->'''Maria Hill:''' What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for, Agent Ward?
--->'''Agent Ward:''' Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
--->'''Maria Hill:''' And what does that mean to you?
--->'''Agent Ward:''' ...It means somebody really wanted our initials to spell "shield".[[note]]This might even be the truth, since in the MCU S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded by former colleagues of Captain America after his believed death.[[/note]]

*** Hank [=McCoy=]'s [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] of S.W.O.R.D. in AXM #6;
--->'''Abigail Brand:''' I head the Sentient Worlds Observation and Reaction Department.
--->'''Hank [=McCoy=]:''' The government and their acronyms. Honestly, it's adorable.

---> "It's stitched on your colorful new uniform and you don't even know. Well, here's what blind faith will get you."

** Averted with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s biggest enemy organization, ComicBook/{{Hydra}}. Though some erroneously write it with all-caps, making it look like it could be an acronym, it's actually named for the mythological creature - [[HydraProblem "Cut off one head, two more will take its place."]]
** The 2015 anniversary issue has the S.H.I.E.L.D. operative who goes by the name of "The Man Called D.E.A.T.H." - '''D'''a Vinci '''E'''lavating '''A'''gents '''T'''o '''H'''elm. And yes, the fact that "Da" means "Of" gets a LampshadeHanging.
--->'''Agent Coulson:''' "Da Vinci" is a place - "Of Vinci", a town in Florence, Italy - not a name.
--->'''D.E.A.T.H.:''' Fury liked his shorthand. He meant Leonardo.

** Played straight ''and'' mocked in 2023's ''Fury'' one-shot with the new Z.O.D.I.A.C. ('''Z'''ero-'''O'''rder '''D'''istributed '''I'''nternational '''A'''narchist '''C'''oalition), apparently the newest form of the Zodiac group. Their front-person, S.C.O.R.P.I.O. ('''S'''pecial '''C'''ombat '''O'''perative '''R'''eserved for '''P'''rimary '''I'''ntelligence '''O'''bjectives) tries outlining the reasoning behind their name, but Nick Fury tells her to knock it off - he knows they just wanted a cool-sounding acronym.
--->'''Nick Fury:''' Ya made up a word to fit the Z in there. We all do it.

* The ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' storyline saw the formation of the Phoenix Five - '''P'''yotr (Colossus), '''E'''mma Frost, '''N'''amor, '''I'''llyana (Magik) and '''S'''cott (Cyclops.) The first letters of each of their names smells out '''P.E.N.I.S.'''

* Joe Carioca's recurring "villains" are '''ANACOZECA''': '''A'''ssociação '''NA'''cional dos '''CO'''bradores do '''ZE''' '''CA'''rioca, or in English, the National Association of Joe Carioca's Debt Collectors. It cheats a lot (and thus usually isn't written with dots), but at least you can pronounce the acronym as a word.

-->T.I.O.? Ha, ha! T.I.A. against T.I.O.? Hey, why don't you put the matter in hands of one of those "marriage counselors" and have them air their dirty laundry?

* Marvel's super-man ComicBook/TheSentry had a super-computer which allowed him to decide which disasters to respond to in order to save as many lives as possible - '''CLOC''', the '''C'''entrally '''L'''ocated '''O'''rganic '''C'''omputer, which only received this illustrious name with the second volume of the series. In the same series, the Sentry's {{evil twin}} the Void was revealed to possess '''COLC''', the '''C'''omputer for '''O'''bliterating '''L'''ife '''C'''ompletely.

* Also from the New 52, A.R.G.U.S. -- which seems to replace Checkmate as DC's S.H.I.E.L.D. counterpart -- is the '''A'''dvanced '''R'''esearch '''G'''roup '''U'''niting '''S'''uperheroes ... currently. In the last issue of the ''A.R.G.U.S.'' miniseries, they turn out to have been around for longer than anyone suspected, being founded in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution as '''A'''rmed '''R'''evolutionaries '''G'''overning '''U'''nder '''S'''ecrecy, and changing their name in TheWildWest to '''A'''nonymous '''R'''anger '''G'''roup of the '''U'''nited '''S'''tates. Possibly they had another name in the 20th century, but if so it hasn't been revealed yet.

* ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'': A fan letter published at Issue #16 has "'''B'''atman '''A'''dventures - '''T'''errific covers '''M'''agnificent '''A'''rtwork '''N'''ever '''A D'''ull moment '''V'''ery '''E'''xciting '''N'''ew stories '''T'''he '''U'''ltimate '''R'''endition of '''E'''veryone's favorite '''S'''uperhero. '''I S'''alute you!!! '''#1'''

--->'''Dr. Light:''' In the thick of things, we released this. A Batesian Universal Ground recon unit. "B.U.G." for short.

-->'''Jerry:''' Huh. Then that'd be F.E.O.T.L.W.I.A.N.E.!

* Several things relating to the Junior Woodchucks (specifcally, the ranking titles) are in the form of acronyms, including the title of the Creator/DonRosa story: '''W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N.''', or '''W'''hen '''H'''uey '''A'''nd '''D'''ewey '''A'''nd '''L'''ouie '''O'''riginally '''T'''hought '''T'''o '''A'''dapt '''J'''unior-Woodchuck '''A'''ttitudes, '''R'''egulations, and '''G'''randiose '''O'''rganizational '''N'''omenclature!

** The 2010 ''ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}'' miniseries has the RetCon that "The Shield" is an AncientTradition dating back to AncientEgypt, which presumably implies the relatively recent S.H.I.E.L.D. incarnations were backronyms ''within the story''.

** Referenced after Creator/DCComics sued Captain Marvel's creators, Fawcett Comics, out of existence by DC itself. In the 1960s, Franchise/{{Superman}} fought an antagonist named Zha-Vam, who was created by the gods '''Z'''eus, '''H'''ercules, '''A'''chilles, '''V'''ulcan, '''A'''pollo and '''M'''ercury. (Note he shares all but two of those with Shazam, but Vulcan and Apollo substituted for Solomon and Atlas. Suitably Superman defeated him with the help of Atlas.)

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': Once after Hal Jordan went crazy and Kyle Rayner became the only Green Lantern, the real life organization dedicated to undoing this development was called '''HEAT.''' '''H'''al's '''E'''merald '''A'''dvancement '''T'''eam.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': After being vague as possible about just what happened on Peter and MJ's wedding day in the new timeline caused by the ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' CosmicRetcon, Marvel announced that a new storyline and sequel of sorts to One More Day would be released. As One More Day was considered to be an absoulte train wreck with the whole Peter and MJ were now never married thing and served as a vehicle to do little more than break up the pairing, this was a bit of a hot button topic. The story in question was called '''O'''ne '''M'''oment '''I'''n '''T'''ime. WordOfGod said it was intentional. The fandom was not amused (especially not so when the story turned out to be, if possible, even crappier than One More Day).

* ''Comicbook/WildCATs'' originally stood for '''C'''overt '''A'''ction '''T'''eams. The ''Comicbook/InfiniteFrontier''-era DCU version are the '''[[CrisisCrossover C]]'''[[CrisisCrossover risis]] '''A'''version '''T'''actical '''S'''quad.

* The MarvelUniverse has '''S.H.I.E.L.D.''', Nick Fury's U.N.-backed paramilitary and intelligence organization. The acronym originally stood for '''S'''upreme '''H'''eadquarters, '''I'''nternational '''E'''spionage, '''L'''aw-enforcement '''D'''ivision but this was changed in the early nineties to stand for '''S'''trategic '''H'''azard '''I'''ntervention, '''E'''spionage and '''L'''ogistics '''D'''irectorate. Within the confines of the [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate Marvel Universe]], ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan has admitted that he has ''no clue'' what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for, even though he has regular encounters with them and Nick Fury.

* WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry appeared in a story from Western Publishing's Little Big Books series (stories with comic book panel illustrations). In it, Tom becomes secret agent F.E.L.I.N.E. ('''F'''earless '''E'''nforcer of the '''L'''aw with '''I'''ndominable and '''N'''ever-ending '''E'''nergy. (Jerry cracks that it would make it F.E.O.T.L.W.I.A.N.E.E.)

* WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry appeared in a story from Western Publishing's Little Big Books series (stories with comic book panel illustrations). In it, Tom becomes secret agent F.E.L.I.N.E. ('''F'''earless '''E'''nforcer of the '''L'''aw with '''I'''ndomnible and '''N'''ever-ending '''E'''nergy. (Jerry cracks that it would make it F.E.O.T.L.W.I.A.N.E.E.)