History KarmaHoudini / ComicBooks

* Norman Osborn AKA The Green Goblin likes to shove blonde women off bridges and throw exploding pumpkins into crowds. Due to massive political manipulation, he was in the right place at the right time to kill a Skrull Queen on camera, so now the President has given him complete control over superhuman activity. Don't worry though, he's [[ChronicVillainy too evil and crazy to hold onto it]].

* ''{{Watchmen}}'', in which [[spoiler:the WellIntentionedExtremist literally commits a massive act of unadulterated ''[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans mass murder]]'' and not only gets away with it scot-free, but is actually aided in covering it up by the heroes if only because to expose the scheme would endanger the world even more.]] Although it's left open to interpretation whether or not his plan will ultimately succeed: [[spoiler: before chasing Adrian, Rorscharch left his personal notes at the local newspaper. In the last page, after the HappyEnding, a guy in the newspaper took the notes, and is about to read them.]]

* ''{{Watchmen}}'', in which [[spoiler:the WellIntentionedExtremist literally commits a massive act of unadulterated ''[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans mass murder]]'' and not only gets away with it scot-free, but is actually aided in covering it up by the heroes if only because to expose the scheme would endanger the world even more.]] Although it's left open to interpretation whether or not his plan will ultimately succeed.

* Gepetto in ''{{Fables}}'' runs an evil empire killing thousands of beings, and enslaving millions. After his empire comes crashing down, the good guys offer him amnesty and move him into an apartment in New York City with all amenities paid.

* No matter what appalling feats of megalomaniacal super-villainy he engages in, LexLuthor always, always, ''always'' finds some loophole through which he is able to eventually restore his image and regain trust (or at least PlausibleDeniability), which is the one thing that makes it impossible for either {{Superman}} or the law to touch him and gives him access the the immense power accessible through [[MegaCorp LexCorp]]. The fact that Luthor can pull this trope right out of his ass no matter how incriminating the circumstances never fails to drive Clark Kent bonkers every time it happens.

* Tortuous Convolvulus from the fifteenth volume of ''{{Asterix}}'' is a master of these. The only reason why he didn't succeed with his mission of wiping out the Gauls once and for all by sowing the seeds of dissent and having them turn on each-other was that he had been put in charge of the most intellectually relieved Roman legion north of Rome (to put that into perspective, it was thanks to them he had his VillainousBreakdown). His only punishment for everything he did was to be shipped back to Rome accused of high-treason, and that would've been all good and well if it wasn't for the fact that he had already been thrown to the lions in the arena once before (resulting in the lions turning on each-other) and a [[WordOfGod statement from the narrator]] that there's no reason to fear for his well-being since he, as long as he has his ability to sow dissent, (cue picture of his boat back nearly capsizing because no-one takes orders from the captain any longer) would always come out in one piece.

* In ''{{Comicbook/Miracleman}}'', the murderous sociopath Kid Miracleman not only escapes justice for all the [[NightmareFuel horrific]] atrocities he perpetrated, but [[spoiler: it's his innocent and tortured human alter ego Johnny Bates that ultimately [[ShootTheDog pays the price]] for his crimes]]. (Although this effectively [[spoiler:leaves him locked for the rest of eternity in a form of stasis that leaves him still conscious]].)
** Did you read the same comic that I did: Kid Miracleman got impaled by a metal beam and had half his head replaced by a brick, that's a hideous fate. Probably not on the level of his victims, but a agonizing death is still a punishment.

** Well, he's an idiot. So the other characters just tend to see it as VillainExitPursuedByABear.

* BombQueen... [[XJustX just... Bomb Queen]].

* BombQueen =[[XJustX just... Bomb Queen]].

* BombQueen =[[X, Just... X just... Bomb Queen]].

** It is left ambiguous whether he will ultimately be able to live with his actions: He reveals to Dr. Manhattan that he has been having nightmares in which he becomes a monster despite his intentions (''Yes, that's what the Black Freighter story is''), and essentially asks whether what he did was right, since it ended well; since he's talking to Dr. Manhattan, the response is, naturally, "Nothing ''ever'' ends, Adrian". The look on his face after that, which is the last time we ever see him, indicates that he is extremely unsure of himself by that point. It should also be noted that he mentioned feeling the weight of the dead on his shoulders.

* ''{{Camelot 3000}}'': a somewhat disturbing subversion here in that the ''hero'' of the piece, KingArthur, is the apparent Houdini. Rape a woman in a past life? Be reborn a lesbian, as Sir Tristan was. Assist your fellow knight to commit said rape? Betray your brother in the next life and get killed with a radiation blast. Be a king who orders ''the murder of hundreds of babies?'' Come back to life, get your Queen back, get Excalibur back, free Merlin and generally have a great old time until you can make a HeroicSacrifice and wait for your next reincarnation.

* BombQueen =[[X, Just... X just... Bomb Queen]].

* BombQueen [[XJustX just... BombQueen]].

* No matter what appalling feats of megalomaniacal super-villainy he engages in, LexLuthor always, always, ''always'' finds some loophole through which he is able to eventually restore his image and regain trust (or at least PlausibleDeniability), which is the one thing that makes it impossible for either {{Superman}} or the law to touch him and gives him access the the immense power accessible through [[MegaCorp LexCorp]]. The fact that Luthor can pull this trope right out of his ass no matter how incriminating the circumstances never fails to drive Clark Kent bonkers every time it happens.

** It is left ambiguous whether he will ultimately be able to live with his actions: He reveals to Dr. Manhattan that he has been having nightmares in which he becomes a monster despite his intentions (''Yes, that's what the Black Freighter story is''), and essentially asks whether what he did was right, since it ended well; since he's talking to Dr. Manhattan, the response is, naturally, "Nothing ''ever'' ends, Adrian".

* Gepetto in ''{{Fables}}'' runs an evil empire killing thousands of beings, and enslaving millions. After his empire comes crashing down, the good guys offer him amnesty and move him into an apartment in New York City with all amenities paid.

* Gepetto in ''Fables'' runs an evil empire killing thousands of beings, and enslaving millions. After his empire comes crashing down, the good guys offer him amnesty and move him into an apartment in New York City with all amenities paid.

*** Then again, Crossbones is also on the team and he makes Moonstone look like a saint.

* Even given the comic book creed of JokerImmunity, Lex Luthor in ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' comics during his CorruptCorporateExecutive period seemed to be made of Teflon - no matter what he did, it was impossible for Superman or anyone to pin anything on him.
** Really, the only comic book villains who are NOT going to benefit from this trope are those who aren't popular or well known, or those who are replaced by other characters using the same/similar identity. In all other cases payback is purely on a fleeting, temporary basis.

* Crazy Harry of ''FunkyWinkerbean'': He's managed to skate through both {{Time Skip}}s in relative happiness (a good job, hot wife, healthy daughter), ducking the ''bad'' karma the rest of the cast seems to [[DeusAngstMachina soak up like sponges]].
** Questionable example, since he's also one of the more likable characters in the strip.
* In the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour/PowerPack'' mini, Jack Power does the following: reveals the team's secret identities; runs away from home; incites Frankin Richards to run away with him, a course of action that ultimately gets him possessed by Doctor Doom; gets his entire family grounded; runs off ''again''; then gets his older brother Alex grounded ''again'' for something that was Jack's fault. Alex's attempts to reprimand him are presented as harsh and unfair, and the idea that Jack could tell their parents that the whole mess was his fault and take the blame is never raised.

* ''TheBeano'', which was originally published by stern Dundonian Presbyterians, had a rule that all the NaughtyIsGood characters that filled the pages ''had'' to be [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin punished at the end of the strip]]. For some reason, this never seemed to apply to Minnie the Minx, and that strip was all the better for it.

* While they remain heroes, Supergirl and Wonder Girl pulled off a truly epic Karma Houdini in the pages of the much-reviled "Amazons Attack". With Wonder Girl's mother imprisoned by the US government for "Amazon sympathies", the young heroines defected to the side of the Amazons (who had been portrayed as murdering innocent civilians, including children) and decided to try to end the war...by taking down Air Force One and kidnapping the President. [[SarcasmMode Surprisingly, the villains couldn't be trusted]], and they led the President of the United States into an Amazon ambush, nearly getting him killed. Their punishment for this? Some mild public displeasure, mostly portrayed by writers as anti-Amazon bigotry. [[DisContinuity And then it was never mentioned again.]]

** And Maria Hill, who - despite playing TheAtoner once she got the boot and Osborne took over, has yet to even be confronted for what she did to CaptainAmerica at the start of ComicBook/CivilWar.
*** Cap is a bit of an example himself. After leading Atlantian troops against representatives of his own government (which, in real life, you would get hanged as a traitor for), Cap has his crimes explicitly handwaved from the President because he's, you know, Captain America.

*** Then again, Crossbones is also on the team and he makes Moonstone look like a saint.
* Subverted by 8-Ball, the first human supervillain fought by {{Sleepwalker}}. After leaving Sleepwalker for dead when his throat is cut by the Hobgoblin, 8-Ball doesn't appear in the Sleepwalker series again before it's cancelled. The subversion comes when he reappears several years later in the Dan Slott-written {{She-Hulk}} series, where he shows up as one of the villains imprisoned in the Big House. While it's never really explained how he got there, it's entirely feasible that Sleepwalker caught up to him and they settled their grudge off-stage.

*** Then again, Crossbones is also on the team and he makes Moonstone look like a saint.