History KangarooCourt / ComicBooks

** During ''The Kree [=/=] Skrull War'', the team is called to a court case by a thinly-veiled [=McCarthy=] {{Expy}} who accuses them of siding with aliens. It doesn't get off to a great start when the Vision is called up, asked to corroborate that as a synthezoid he is incapable of lying... and then told that his word is totally unreliable because he's not human. "Witnesses" include Ben Grimm, whose testimony is just insulting the Avengers because he doesn't know them, which nearly causes a brawl, which the Avengers get blamed for. The fact the man calling this trial is clearly a maniac off his head does nothing to slow anyone down, and the Avengers's reputation gets worse.

* ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'': When various alien organizations learn Jean Grey is alive again, they seek to prosecute her for ''[[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga her future self's actions as Dark Phoenix]]''.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}: ComicBook/TwoFace has a penchant for setting these up, first doing it to Batman around the time of ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' and explicitly denying him any sort of defense, where the "trial" was an excuse to demand answers from him and to berate Batman. He also subjects Commissioner Gordon and Renee Montoya to this in ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''. The latter manage to get off by naming [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind Harvey Dent]] their defense attorney.
* Diamondback really didn't have much hope for acquittal in the trial the rest of the Serpent Society gave her for betraying them to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (she was only dating him) although Asp, Black Mamba, and Anaconda voted to acquit. Seeing as King Cobra offered "clemency" if she double-crossed Cap (she refused) that may have been his intent all along. (She was saved from execution by Cap and Paladin, and this was one of the most biggest influences towards a HeelFaceTurn.)
* A visual joke (having an actual kangaroo preside over the court) was used in ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew''.
* ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} has a variation in the trial of the main character, in that not only he ''was'' guilty of almost everything he had been accused and more (as Clerville's justice system didn't know yet of most of his crimes, and still don't know of many of them), it was by ''complete accident'': the prosecution only had the (correct) guesswork of [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist inspector Ginko]] that the individual was indeed the ''rumored'' criminal known as Diabolik and guilty of multiple crimes but no evidence aside for the police finding in his home some strange devices ''similar'' to the ones used in crimes (rightly) attributed to Diabolik plus some [[LatexPerfection plastic masks]] (explaining [[MasterOfDisguise Diabolik's rumored ability to take anyone's appearance]]), a biased and psychologically fragile witness (Elisabeth Gay - his lover at the time, who'd indeed go insane upon finding out he was about to break up with her), and him confessing he had murdered Walter Dorian ([[IdenticalStranger a man who happened to look like him]]) and taken his identity ''in another country'' (thus it couldn't be punished in Clerville, aside for seizing Dorian's properties as he had no heirs), but two of the crimes he was charged for, namely bringing down a plane and the first attempt at stealing the Garian knife collection (and the accompanying body count and collateral damage) had terrified the entire country to the point the public, the judge, jury, and even the ''defense attorney'' subconsciously just wanted this ended and him made unable to commit further harm, resulting in the defense just making a weak attempt at an InsanityDefense, the jury declaring him guilty on little evidence, and the judge sentencing him to death. To add insult to injury, Diabolik was actually ''innocent'' of one of the crimes that scared everyone into the kangaroo court: he had nothing to do with bringing down the plane and for years would have no idea why the pilot claimed otherwise on radio right before it would go down.

* Bufkin's trial in Oz in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''. As Bufkin was the resistance leader against the Nome King, the Nome King was never going to pass any sentence other than death.

* In ''ComicBook/TheFurtherAdventuresOfIndianaJones'' #23, Lord Harry, the self-proclaimed ruler of WretchedHive island in the South Pacific, arrests a film crew who were accompanying Indy on his latest jaunt, a plans to dispose of them quickly to cover his theft of an archeological treasure:

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' faces those sometimes, but one of the most jarring happens in ''Lucky Luke VS Joss Jamon'', where Joss is the victim, Luke the accused and Joss's friends the court personnel. And just to add an extra layer, [[JokerJury the jury was made up of well-known outlaws]] (one of Joss's henchmen, Billy The Kid, the Dalton Brothers, Jesse James and Calamity Jane.[[note]]Not in the roughly heroic version that appeared later in the series.[[/note]]) One guess as to the verdict. [[spoiler:Fortunately, the verdict is aborted as this motivates the townsfolk enough to start an uprising.]]

* The drow judge who orders the heroes arrested in a ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'' strip clearly has no interest in an actual trial, claiming to have already found them guilty ''in absentia'' of the wanton destruction of Lolth's Spider-Ship. (Which they ''were'' guilty of, btw; the previous story wasn't exactly the typical dungeon crawl...) Ironically, the judge ''could'' be bargained with and let them go after offering someone Lolth would be interested in knowing, [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan given her "solitary existence"]]. (Who? [[spoiler:ComicBook/SpiderMan!]])
* ComicBook/RedSonja finds herself before one in the ''Red Sonja: Berserker'' one-shot after maiming two young hotheads who mistook her for a prostitute and then attacked her. One of them was the son of the justicar who sat in judgement on her.
* In the 2019 ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' series, when the Shazam family find themselves in the Wildlands, home to FunnyAnimals, they are immediately captured, accused of being personally responsible for every example of HumansAreBastards, and sentenced to the arena. The judge is, of course, an actual kangaroo.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

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* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers:'' During ''The Kree [=/=] Skrull War'', the team is called to a court case by a thinly-veiled [=McCarthy=] {{Expy}} who accuses them of siding with aliens. It doesn't get off to a great start when the Vision is called up, asked to corroborate that as a synthezoid he is incapable of lying... and then told that his word is totally unreliable because he's not human. "Witnesses" include Ben Grimm, whose testimony is just insulting the Avengers because he doesn't know them, which nearly causes a brawl, which the Avengers get blamed for. The fact the man calling this trial is clearly a maniac off his head does nothing to slow anyone down, and the Avengers's reputation gets worse.

* ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'s trial was one of these-but in a variation, not only he ''was'' guilty of almost everything he had been accused and more (as Clerville's justice system didn't know yet of most of his crimes, and still don't know of many of them), it was by ''complete accident'': the prosecution only had the (correct) guesswork of [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist inspector Ginko]] that the individual was indeed the ''rumored'' criminal known as Diabolik and guilty of multiple crimes but no evidence aside for some strange devices ''similar'' to the ones used in crimes (rightly) attributed to Diabolik plus some [[LatexPerfection plastic masks]] (explaining [[MasterOfDisguise Diabolik's rumored ability to take anyone's appearance]]), a biased and psychologically fragile witness (Elisabeth Gay-his lover, who'd indeed go insane upon finding out he was about to break up with her), and him confessing he had murdered Walter Dorian ([[IdenticalStranger a man who happened to look like him]]) and taken his identity ''in another country'', but one of the crimes he was charged for had terrified the entire country to the point the public, the judge, jury, and even the ''defense attorney'' subconsciously just wanted this ended and him made unable to commit further harm, resulting in the defense just making a weak attempt at an InsanityDefense, the jury declaring him guilty on little evidence, and the judge sentencing him to death.
** This became a plot point in a later issue, as by then the only thing keeping the State of Clerville from abolishing death penalty was Diabolik's death sentence-and right when Diabolik had been arrested again and was about to be executed without his lover and accomplice Eva Kant being able to break him out in time an activist used this to try and have Diabolik retried and sentenced to ''life in jail'' (because, sham trial or not, Diabolik still remained a thief, smuggler, scammer and mass murderer), only for [[InsaneTrollLogic the judge to deny a retrial because by then the evidence had been discovered]]. Thankfully for the reputation of Clerville's judiciary, it turned out that [[spoiler:the judge was actually Eva Kant in disguise, who had finally put together a way to break Diabolik out and needed him out of his breakout-proof cell to make him escape. Once freed the judge ''still'' denied a retrial, and while we don't know the opinion the activist admits it was sound]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': In the trial scene in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheLaurelWreath'', everyone involved is so certain that Asterix and Obelix will get sentenced to be thrown to the lions that the prosecutor and the defense decide to use the trial to practice their oratory rather than actually try the case. After a while, Asterix has to step in and take over for the prosecutor (he actually ''wants'' to get thrown to the lions, as part of a plan to get close to Caesar as he oversees the executions) to get the trial to end.

* ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'': When various alien organizations learn ComicBook/JeanGrey is alive again, they seek to prosecute her for her future self's actions as Dark Phoenix

* Franchise/{{Superman}} and ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' stories have several examples:
** Superman was the victim of one in the aptly named "Trial of Superman!" arc. An intergalactic tribunal sentenced Superman to death for the crimes of his ancestor Kem-L, who invented the device that prevented Kryptonians from leaving their planet as it destroyed itself.
** Zigzagged in the ''ComicVook/NewKrypton'' arc. When Supergirl brings [[ArchEnemy Reactron]] to Kryptonian justice, her mother Alura coldly informs him that he'll be judged, found guilty and executed. However she intends to put him on trial rather than lynching him, unlike most of the Kryptonians. However during a preliminary hearing a judge questions the trial's legality since Reactron hasn't been extradited lawfully, and Alura dismisses his concerns. When a lynch mob breaks into the building though, she protects Reactron.

** ''[[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]'': Ghorkos, Dread Master of Phobos, inner moon of Mars, is holding a trial for Steve Trevor where Steve "will be shot if he tells the truth, hanged if he lies, but can name his own execution if he pleads guilty". When Steve chooses Wonder Woman to be his lawyer since no one in Phobos will defend him, the prosecutor, unable to outright prohibit her from doing so, sets an ImpossibleTask to "prove her fitness to practice law on Phobos" and says she'll be killed if she accepts the challenge and fails. [[spoiler:Upon Wonder Woman's advice, Steve says "You're going to hang me!". Hanging is the punishent for lying and it cannot be done without turning Steve's statement into the truth. Shooting is the penalty for telling the truth and it cannot be done without turning Steve's statement into a lie. Because the statement won't be considered a guilty plea either way, he's acquitted.]]

* ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'s trial was one of these-but in a variation, not only he ''was'' guilty of almost everything he had been accused and more (as Clerville's justice system didn't know yet of most of his crimes, and still don't know of many of them), it was by ''complete accident'': the prosecution only had the (correct) guesswork of [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist inspector Ginko]] that the individual was indeed the ''rumored'' criminal known as Diabolik and guilty of multiple crimes but no evidence aside for some strange devices ''similar'' to the ones used in crimes (rightly) attributed to Diabolik plus some [[LatexPerfection plastic masks]] (explaining [[MasterOfDisguise Diabolik's rumored ability to take anyone's appearance]]), a biased and psychologically fragile witness (Elisabeth Gay-his lover, who'd indeed go insane upon finding out he was about to break up with her), and him confessing he had murdered Walter Dorian ([[IdenticalStranger a man who happened to look like him]]) and taken his identity ''in another country'', but one of the crimes he was charged for had terrified the entire country to the point the public, the judge, jury, and even the ''defense attorney'' subconsciously just wanted this ended and him made unable to commit further harm, resulting in the defense just making a weak attempt at an InsanityDefense, the jury declaring him guilty on little evidence, and the judge sentencing him to death.
** This became a plot point in a later issue, as by then the only thing keeping the State of Clerville from abolishing death penalty was Diabolik's death sentence-and right when Diabolik had been arrested again and was about to be executed without his lover and accomplice Eva Kant being able to break him out in time an activist used this to try and have Diabolik retried and sentenced to ''life in jail'' (because, sham trial or not, Diabolik still remained a thief, smuggler, scammer and mass murderer), only for [[InsaneTrollLogic the judge to deny a retrial because by then the evidence had been discovered]]. Thankfully for the reputation of Clerville's judiciary, it turned out that [[spoiler:the judge was actually Eva Kant in disguise, who had finally put together a way to break Diabolik out and needed him out of his breakout-proof cell to make him escape. Once freed the judge ''still'' denied a retrial, and while we don't know the opinion the activist admits it was sound]].

* ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'': When various alien organizations learn ComicBook/JeanGrey is alive again, they seek to prosecute her for her future self's actions as Dark Phoenix.
* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' has a literal Kangaroo Court: two kangaroos (namely, Hip and Hop from ''VideoGame/SonicSpinball'') were the judges. During the "Mecha Madness" arc, Sonic proposed a plan to have himself roboticized using a Neural Overrider to retain his free will to destroy Robotnik's empire from the inside, only for the plan to be overruled by the others; subsequently, Sonic was sneak-attacked by Nack the Weasel and brought to Robotnik to be roboticized without the overrider. After being restored, Sonic was promptly put on trial because the Freedom Fighters believed that he deliberately disobeyed orders and went through with his plan; Hip and Hop themselves outright told Sonic that if it were up to them, Sonic would have already been banished from Knothole. Antoine acted as the prosecutor and did everything he could to ensure Sonic's conviction, [[LiteralMetaphor badgering]] Amy and questioning witnesses in a way that made Sonic seem undeniably guilty, only for Sonic to put Antoine on the spot by revealing that Antoine had left his spot at Knothole's jail, allowing Nack to escape and bring Sonic to Robotnik in the first place, with Antoine being too preoccupied planning his own coronation party to notice that Nack was gone. Even after Antoine admits his guilt, Sally explicitly states that it's ''Sonic's'' trial, with the judges declaring Sonic guilty. Nonetheless, Sally agrees to give Sonic a chance to prove himself innocent, which he does by capturing Nack and dragging him back to Knothole. Later on, Geoffrey St John is put on trial for betrayal when he shot Sonic with a tranquilizer dart in the special zone, left him for dead, and freed Ixis Naugus so that he could become king. Despite Geoffrey's claims, Antoine's arguments convince Hip and Hop to declare Geoffrey guilty. Unfortunately Naugus, who became king of Knothole by that time, overturned the ruling with his power, allowing Geoffrey to get off scot-free.

* A visual joke (having an actual kangaroo preside over the court) was used in ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew''.

* ''Comicbook/LuckyLuke'' faces those sometimes, but one of the most jarring happens in ''Lucky Luke VS Joss Jamon'', where Joss is the victim, Luke the accused and Joss's friends the court personnel. And just to add an extra layer, [[JokerJury the jury was made up of well-known outlaws]] (one of Joss's henchmen, Billy The Kid, the Dalton Brothers, Jesse James and Calamity Jane.[[note]]Not in the roughly heroic version that appeared later in the series.[[/note]]) One guess as to the verdict. [[spoiler:Fortunately, the verdict is aborted as this motivates the townsfolk enough to start an uprising.]]

* In the 2019 ''Comicbook/{{Shazam}}'' series, when the Shazam family find themselves in the Wildlands, home to FunnyAnimals, they are immediately captured, accused of being personally responsible for every example of HumansAreBastards, and sentenced to the arena. The judge is, of course, an actual kangaroo.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''

* Franchise/{{Superman}} and ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' stories have several examples:

** Zigzagged in the ''Comicbook/NewKrypton'' arc. When Supergirl brings [[ArchEnemy Reactron]] to Kryptonian justice, her mother Alura coldly informs him that he'll be judged, found guilty and executed. However she intends to put him on trial rather than lynching him, unlike most of the Kryptonians. However during a preliminary hearing a judge questions the trial's legality since Reactron hasn't been extradited lawfully, and Alura dismisses his concerns. When a lynch mob breaks into the building though, she protects Reactron.
** In ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', secondary character Sheko became a [[TheBerserker Red Lantern]] because she was a judge on a planet where kangaroo courts were the rule, the concept of justice had been turned into a joke, rich and powerful people got away with anything, and when she tried to make her job fairly, she got shot.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Ghorkos, Dread Master of Phobos, inner moon of Mars, is holding a trial for Steve Trevor where Steve "will be shot if he tells the truth, hanged if he lies, but can name his own execution if he pleads guilty". When Steve chooses Wonder Woman to be his lawyer since no one in Phobos will defend him, the prosecutor, unable to outright prohibit her from doing so, sets an ImpossibleTask to "prove her fitness to practice law on Phobos" and says she'll be killed if she accepts the challenge and fails. [[spoiler:Upon Wonder Woman's advice, Steve says "You're going to hang me!". Hanging is the punishent for lying and it cannot be done without turning Steve's statement into the truth. Shooting is the penalty for telling the truth and it cannot be done without turning Steve's statement into a lie. Because the statement won't be considered a guilty plea either way, he's acquitted.]]

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': Ghorkos, Dread Master of Phobos, inner moon of Mars, is holding a trial for Steve Trevor where Steve "will be shot if he tells the truth, hanged if he lies, but can name his own execution if he pleads guilty". When Steve chooses Wonder Woman to be his lawyer since no one in Phobos will defend him, the prosecutor, unable to outright prohibit her from doing so, sets an ImpossibleTask to "prove her fitness to practice law on Phobos" and says she'll be killed if she accepts the challenge and fails. [[spoiler:Upon Wonder Woman's advice, Steve says "You're going to hang me!". Hanging is the punishent for lying and it cannot be done without turning Steve's statement into the truth. Shooting is the penalty for telling the truth and it cannot be done without turning Steve's statement into a lie. Because the statement won't be considered a guilty plea either way, he's acquitted.]]

** This became a plot point in a later issue, as by then the only thing keeping the State of Clerville from abolishing death penalty was Diabolik's death sentence-and right when Diabolik had been arrested again and was about to be executed without Eva being able to break him out in time an activist used this to try and have Diabolik retried and sentenced to ''life in jail'' (because, sham trial or not, Diabolik still remained a thief, smuggler, scammer and mass murderer), only for [[InsaneTrollLogic the judge to deny a retrial because by then the evidence had been discovered]]. Thank

* In ''ComicBook/TheFurtherAdventuresOfIndinaJones'' #23, Lord Harry, the self-proclaimed ruler of WretchedHive island in the South Pacific, arrests a film crew who were accompanying Indy on his latest jaunt, a plans to dispose of them quickly to cover his theft of an archeological treasure:

* In the trial scene in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheLaurelWreath'', everyone involved is so certain that Asterix and Obelix will get sentenced to be thrown to the lions that the prosecutor and the defense decide to use the trial to practice their oratory rather than actually try the case. After a while, Asterix has to step in and take over for the prosecutor (he actually ''wants'' to get thrown to the lions, as part of a plan to get close to Caesar as he oversees the executions) to get the trial to end.

* Most of the trials faced by the Untouchable Trio in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' fall into this category. They are usually excuses for B.A. inflict some humiliating punishment on the characters, such as having runes of shame branded on their buttocks.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''
** It was strongly implied that the judge who convicted Joe Robinson of withholding evidence after Tombstone's arrest had been bribed by ComicBook/TheKingpin. (Most everyone realized that a three-year prison sentence for such a crime given to a man with a clean record was pretty excessive, and when it turned out Joe had been sent to the same prison as Tombstone himself, the motive for this was pretty obvious.) Joe was eventually granted a Presidential pardon with the aid of a government prosecutor who, as it turned out, was the younger brother [[CharacterWitness of an inmate whom Joe had befriended.]]
** During ComicBook/TheCloneSaga, Judas Traveler brought Spider-Man to the Ravencroft Asylum where he put the hero on trial with himself as the judge, Carnage as the prosecutor, and various other inmates as witnesses. (As Spider-Man commented, "All that's missing is the Queen of Hearts yelling 'Off with his head'!") Traveler, being the {{Chessmaster}} he is, later "acquitted" Spider-Man and wiped the memories of the event from everyone involved except the hero.
* Diamondback really didn't have much hope for acquittal in the trial the rest of the Serpent Society gave her for betraying them to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (she was only dating him) although Asp, Black Mamba, and Anaconda voted to acquit. Seeing as King Cobra offered "clemency" if she double-crossed Cap (she refused) that may have been his intent all along. (She was saved from execution by Cap and Paladin, and this was one of the most biggest influences towards a HeelFaceTurn.)

* Bufkin's trial in Oz in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''. As Bufkin was the resistance leader against the Nome King, the Nome King was never going to pass any sentence other than death.
* Franchise/{{Batman}}: ComicBook/TwoFace has a penchant for setting these up, first doing it to Batman around the time of ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' and explicitly denying him any sort of defense, where the "trial" was an excuse to demand answers from him and to berate Batman. He also subjects Commissioner Gordon and Renee Montoya to this in ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''. The latter manage to get off by naming [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind Harvey Dent]] their defense attorney.
* ''Comicbook/LuckyLuke'' faces those sometimes, but one of the most jarring happens in ''Lucky Luke VS Joss Jamon'', where Joss is the victim, Luke the accused and Joss's friends the court personnel. And just to add an extra layer, [[JokerJury the jury was made up of well-known outlaws]] (one of Joss's henchmen, Billy The Kid, the Dalton Brothers, Jesse James and Calamity Jane.[[note]]Not in the roughly heroic version that appeared later in the series.[[/note]]) One guess as to the verdict. [[spoiler:Fortunately, the verdict is aborted as this motivates the townsfolk enough to start an uprising.]]
** Another happens in ''The Tenderfoot'', where the titular character, a new ranch owner, is accused of murdering a local. Everyone but Luke, the tenderfoot, and his butler are convinced that he's guilty - the defense lawyer introduces himself with "What are you guilty of?" - and the whole trial is just to determine when he'll be executed. [[spoiler:It requires Luke bringing in the very much alive "murder victim" and revealing the whole ordeal as attempted fraud to set things right.]]
* ComicBook/RedSonja finds herself before one in the ''Red Sonja: Berserker'' one-shot after maiming two young hotheads who mistook her for a prostitute and then attacked her. One of them was the son of the justicar who sat in judgement on her.
* UndergroundComics author Ted Richards did a recurring strip "EZ Wolf's Kangaroo Court" where a kangaroo judge doled out karmic justice to societal offenders like TV programming executives and millionaire self-help gurus.
* ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'': When various alien organizations learn ComicBook/JeanGrey is alive again, they seek to prosecute her for her future self's actions as Dark Phoenix.
* The drow judge who orders the heroes arrested in a ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'' strip clearly has no interest in an actual trial, claiming to have already found them guilty ''in absentia'' of the wanton destruction of Lolth's Spider-Ship. (Which they ''were'' guilty of, btw; the previous story wasn't exactly the typical dungeon crawl...) Ironically, the judge ''could'' be bargained with and let them go after offering someone Lolth would be interested in knowing, [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan given her "solitary existence"]]. (Who? [[spoiler:ComicBook/SpiderMan!]])

* In the trial scene in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheLaurelWreath'', everyone involved is so certain that Asterix and Obelix will get sentenced to be thrown to the lions that the prosecutor and the defense decide to use the trial to practice their oratory rather than actually try the case. After a while, Asterix has to step in and take over for the prosecutor (he actually ''wants'' to get thrown to the lions, as part of a plan to get close to Caesar as he oversees the executions) to get the trial to end.

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' has a literal Kangaroo Court: two kangaroos (namely, Hip and Hop from ''SonicSpinball'') were the judges. During the "Mecha Madness" arc, Sonic proposed a plan to have himself roboticized using a Neural Overrider to retain his free will to destroy Robotnik's empire from the inside, only for the plan to be overruled by the others; subsequently, Sonic was sneak-attacked by Nack the Weasel and brought to Robotnik to be roboticized without the overrider. After being restored, Sonic was promptly put on trial because the Freedom Fighters believed that he deliberately disobeyed orders and went through with his plan; Hip and Hop themselves outright told Sonic that if it were up to them, Sonic would have already been banished from Knothole. Antoine acted as the prosecutor and did everything he could to ensure Sonic's conviction, [[LiteralMetaphor badgering]] Amy and questioning witnesses in a way that made Sonic seem undeniably guilty, only for Sonic to put Antoine on the spot by revealing that Antoine had left his spot at Knothole's jail, allowing Nack to escape and bring Sonic to Robotnik in the first place, with Antoine being too preoccupied planning his own coronation party to notice that Nack was gone. Even after Antoine admits his guilt, Sally explicitly states that it's ''Sonic's'' trial, with the judges declaring Sonic guilty. Nonetheless, Sally agrees to give Sonic a chance to prove himself innocent, which he does by capturing Nack and dragging him back to Knothole. Later on, Geoffrey St John is put on trial for betrayal when he shot Sonic with a tranquilizer dart in the special zone, left him for dead, and freed Ixis Naugus so that he could become king. Despite Geoffrey's claims, Antoine's arguments convince Hip and Hop to declare Geoffrey guilty. Unfortunately Naugus, who became king of Knothole by that time, overturned the ruling with his power, allowing Geoffrey to get off scot-free.

* ''Comicbook/LuckyLuke'' faces those sometimes, but one of the most jarring happens in ''Lucky Luke VS Joss Jamon'', where Joss is the victim, Luke the accused and Joss's friends the court personnel. And just to add an extra layer, [[JokerJury the jury was made up of well-known outlaws]] (one of Joss's henchmen, Billy The Kid, the Dalton Brothers, Jesse James and Calamity Jane.[[note]]Not in the roughly heroic version that appeared later in the series.[[/note]]) One guess as to the verdict. [[spoiler: Fortunately, the verdict is aborted as this motivates the townsfolk enough to start an uprising.]]

* The drow judge who orders the heroes arrested in a ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'' strip clearly has no interest in an actual trial, claiming to have already found them guilty ''in absentia'' of the wanton destruction of Lolth's Spider-Ship. (Which they ''were'' guilty of, btw; the previous story wasn't exactly the typical dungeon crawl...) Ironically, the judge ''could'' be bargained with and let them go after offering someone Lolth would be interested in knowing, [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan given her "solitary existence"]]. (Who? [[spoiler: ComicBook/SpiderMan!]])

* The drow judge who orders the heroes arrested in a ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'' strip clearly has no interest in an actual trial, claiming to have already found them guilty ''in absentia'' of the wanton destruction of Lolth's Spider-Ship. (Which they ''were'' guilty of, btw; the previous story wasn't exactly the typical dungeon crawl...) Ironically, the judge ''could'' be bargained with and let them go after offering someone Lolth would be interested in knowing, given her "solitary existence". (Who? [[spoiler: ComicBook/SpiderMan!]])

* Most of the trials faced by the Untouchable Trio in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' fall into this category. They are usually excuses for B.A. inflict some humilitaing punishment on the characters, such as having runes of shame branded on their buttocks.

* ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'': When various alien organizations learn ComicBook/JeanGrey is alive again, they seek to prosecute her for her future self's actions as Dark Phoenix.* Most of the trials faced by the Untouchable Trio in ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' fall into this category. They are usually excuses for B.A. inflict some humilitaing punishment on the characters, such as having runes of shame branded on their buttocks.
* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' has a literal Kangaroo Court: two kangaroos (namely, Hip and Hop from ''SonicSpinball'') were the judges. During the "Mecha Madness" arc, Sonic proposed a plan to have himself roboticized using a Neural Overrider to retain his free will to destroy Robotnik's empire from the inside, only for the plan to be overruled by the others; subsequently, Sonic was sneak-attacked by Nack the Weasel and brought to Robotnik to be roboticized without the overrider. After being restored, Sonic was promptly put on trial because the Freedom Fighters believed that he deliberately disobeyed orders and went through with his plan; Hip and Hop themselves outright told Sonic that if it were up to them, Sonic would have already been banished from Knothole. Antoine acted as the prosecutor and did everything he could to ensure Sonic's conviction, [[LiteralMetaphor badgering]] Amy and questioning witnesses in a way that made Sonic seem undeniably guilty, only for Sonic to put Antoine on the spot by revealing that Antoine had left his spot at Knothole's jail, allowing Nack to escape and bring Sonic to Robotnik in the first place, with Antoine being too preoccupied planning his own coronation party to notice that Nack was gone. Even after Antoine admits his guilt, Sally explicitly states that it's ''Sonic's'' trial, with the judges declaring Sonic guilty. Nonetheless, Sally agrees to give Sonic a chance to prove himself innocent, which he does by capturing Nack and dragging him back to Knothole. Later on, Geoffrey St John is put on trial for betrayal when he shot Sonic with a tranquilizer dart in the special zone, left him for dead, and freed Ixis Naugus so that he could become king. Despite Geoffrey's claims, Antoine's arguments convince Hip and Hop to declare Geoffrey guilty. Unfortunately Naugus, who became king of Knothole by that time, overturned the ruling with his power, allowing Geoffrey to get off scot-free.
* A visual joke (having an actual kangaroo preside over the court) was used in ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew''.
* During ComicBook/TheCloneSaga, Judas Traveler brought Spider-Man to the Ravencroft Asylum where he put the hero on trial with himself as the judge, Carnage as the prosecutor, and various other inmates as witnesses. (As Spider-Man commented, "All that's missing is the Queen of Hearts yelling 'Off with his head'!") Traveler, being the {{Chessmaster}} he is, later "acquitted" Spider-Man and wiped the memories of the event from everyone involved except the hero.
* Diamondback really didn't have much hope for acquittal in the trial the rest of the Serpent Society gave her for betraying them to ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (she was only dating him) although Asp, Black Mamba, and Anaconda voted to acquit. Seeing as King Cobra offered "clemency" if she double-crossed Cap (she refused) that may have been his intent all along. (She was saved from execution by Cap and Paladin, and this was one of the most biggest influences towards a HeelFaceTurn.)
* The Kree Empire in Marvel have a weird idea of what a trial is. When [[KnightTemplar Ronan the Accuser]] was first sent to judge the ComicBook/FantasticFour for destroying the robotic Sentry-459 (which they perceive as a criminal act, apparently) the "trial" is [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner simply him declaring them guilty and attacking them.]] However, he gets his ass handed to him, and seeing as he's the best Accuser they have, they're ''much'' more cautious in dealing with the heroes from then on. (Which eventually leads to the Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell arriving on Earth.)
* This is the only court available in ''ComicBook/SinCity'', given the thoroughly corrupt legal system in general. As an example, the police threaten Marv's elderly mother to coerce Marv into confessing so he can be sent to the electric chair.
* Franchise/{{Superman}} and ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' stories have several examples:
** Zigzagged in the ''Comicbook/NewKrypton'' arc. When Supergirl brings [[ArchEnemy Reactron]] to Kryptonian justice, her mother Alura coldly informs him that he'll be judged, found guilty and executed. However she intends to put him on trial rather than lynching him, unlike most of the Kryptonians. However during a preliminary hearing a judge questions the trial's legality since Reactron hasn't been extradited lawfully, and Alura dismisses his concerns. When a lynch mob breaks into the building though, she protects Reactron.
** In ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', secondary character Sheko became a [[TheBerserker Red Lantern]] because she was a judge on a planet where kangaroo courts were the rule, the concept of justice had been turned into a joke, rich and powerful people got away with anything, and when she tried to make her job fairly, she got shot.
* Bufkin's trial in Oz in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}''. As Bufkin was the resistance leader against the Nome King, the Nome King was never going to pass any sentence other than death.
* Franchise/{{Batman}}: ComicBook/TwoFace has a penchant for setting these up, first doing it to Batman around the time of ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' and explicitly denying him any sort of defense, where the "trial" was an excuse to demand answers from him and to berate Batman. He also subjects Commissioner Gordon and Renee Montoya to this in ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand''. The latter manage to get off by naming [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind Harvey Dent]] their defense attorney.
* ''Comicbook/LuckyLuke'' faces those sometimes, but one of the most jarring happens in ''Lucky Luke VS Joss Jamon'', where Joss is the victim, Luke the accused and Joss's friends the court personnel. And just to add an extra layer, [[JokerJury the jury was made up of well-known outlaws]] (one of Joss's henchmen, Billy The Kid, the Dalton Brothers, Jesse James and Calamity Jane.[[note]]Not in the roughly heroic version that appeared later in the series.[[/note]]) One guess as to the verdict. [[spoiler: Fortunately, the verdict is aborted as this motivates the townsfolk enough to start an uprising.]]
* ComicBook/RedSonja finds herself before one in the ''Red Sonja: Berserker'' one-shot after maiming two young hotheads who mistook her for a prostitute and then attacked her. One of them was the son of the justicar who sat in judgement on her.
* UndergroundComics author Ted Richards did a recurring strip "EZ Wolf's Kangaroo Court" where a kangaroo judge doled out karmic justice to societal offenders like TV programming executives and millionaire self-help gurus.
* ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'': When various alien organizations learn that ComicBook/JeanGrey is alive again, they seek to prosecute her for her future self's actions as Dark Phoenix.

* During ComicBook/TheCloneSaga, Judas Traveler brought Spider-Man to the Ravencroft Asylum where he put the hero on trial with himself as the judge, Carnage as the prosecutor, and various other inmates as witnesses. (As Spider-Man commented, "All that's missing is the Queen of Hearts yelling 'Off with his head'!") Traveler, being the {{Chessmaster}} he is, later "acquitted" Spider-Man and wiped the memories of the event from everyone involved except the hero.