History LetsGetDangerous / ComicBooks

* In the Silver Age Superman story "The Most Amazing Camera in the World", a criminal, having gotten ahold of some Kryptonite, has the Man of Steel at his mercy. JimmyOlsen, observing this with horror, runs into the room, brings down the crook with a flying tackle to the knees, and relieves him of the Kryptonite.

* Disney Italy's creation of Paperinik years. The basic idea is DonaldDuck as either an avenger of himself, a SuperHero, or a combination of the two, DependingOnTheWriter (it was originally an avenger of himself, being inspired to freakin' ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}). ''Not'' depending on the writer, he's always awesome: a typical instance of avenging Paperinik is the first story, where he stole Scrooge's money-filled bed ''while he was sleeping on it'' (he [[LampshadeHanging pointed out stealing some of the money bags lying around the room would have been just as lucrative but not as awesome as he was doing it]]), humiliated the police multiple times, ran everyone through a merry chase, and (accidentally) framed Gladstone for all of this (you may understand why stories with the Avenging!Paperinik play him as TheDreaded); and a superhero, Paperinik is pretty much ''{{Batman}}'', only somewhat goofier and a lot more ''workaholic'' (Batman doesn't visit crooks of other towns to scare them in staying out of his way, after all); and as a combination of the two... Well, one time the Beagle Boys organized a marathon with Paperinik's identity (that they didn't know) as the prize to successfully convince every single person in town to leave while they sacked it, and Paperinik's interference ended up getting them caught red-handed and beaten up by the ''entire population of Duckburg'' (he could have stopped them easily in other ways, but it wouldn't have been as punishing). ''[[UpToEleven Then]]'' [[UpToEleven Disney Italy decided Paperinik needed to]] TakeALevelInBadass, and created the series ''PaperinikNewAdventures''.

* Many members of JusticeLeagueInternational are this as well, when they're not being {{Flanderized}}. These include Elongated Man Ralph Dibny, who had the same powers as the aforementioned Plastic Man, a woman who once commanded Darkseid's legions (Big Barda), a god-level genus who could get out of any trap ever devised (Mr. Miracle), an ice goddess (Ice), a woman with fire powers (Fire), one of the most skilled martial artists in the world (Black Canary), a man who could create things out of pure willpower (Guy Gardener/GreenLantern)...most of the time they were just hanging around trying to bumble their why through real world problems, but these were people who regularly teamed up with [[{{Superman}} Power Girl]], MartianManhunter and {{Batman}} himself.

* BoosterGold is an interesting version of this: he used to be a vain gloryhound who was only in the superhero business for the money and fame who could pull through and save the day when needed, but then certain events (like his best friend's death) caused him to TakeALevelInBadass and made him want to be a superhero that was taken seriously, but ''then'' he found out that he had to protect the time stream from people trying to mess with the past and so that none of them ever suspected him of being a serious threat and tried to erase his existence he had to keep acting like an incompetent idiot. So while he used to be this, and he would seem to be this trope to everyone else if and when he manages to save the day, it's actually more ObfuscatingStupidity.

* In DonRosa's "The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros", the villain is leaving on the only canoe available to leave Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito Pistoles trapped in an ancient ruin, to be eaten by a giant anaconda sooner or later. As the three despair of stopping him or ever getting out, Donald mentally hears everyone back home whose disrespectful attitudes he's effectively escaping on this adventure scolding him for failing again. He gets so angry that he swings on a liana over the piranha-infested river to reach the boat and viciously attack the (armed) villain. His example also inspires the other two to get dangerous and do things such as defeat the giant snake with an umbrella.

* In the Silver Age Superman story "The Most Amazing Camera in the World", a criminal, having gotten ahold of some Kryptonite, has the Man of Steel at his mercy. [[KidSidekick Jimmy Olsen]], observing this with horror, runs into the room, brings down the crook with a flying tackle to the knees, and relieves him of the Kryptonite.

* Many members of Justice League International are this as well, when they're not being {{Flanderized}}. These include Elongated Man Ralph Dibny, who had the same powers as the aforementioned Plastic Man, a woman who once commanded Darkseid's legions (Big Barda), a god-level genus who could get out of any trap ever devised (Mr. Miracle), an ice goddess (Ice), a woman with fire powers (Fire), one of the most skilled martial artists in the world (Black Canary), a man who could create things out of pure willpower (Guy Gardener/GreenLantern)...most of the time they were just hanging around trying to bumble their why through real world problems, but these were people who regularly teamed up with [[{{Superman}} Power Girl]], MartianManhunter and {{Batman}} himself.

\When the MartianManhunter turned into a crazy, homicidal Burning Martian who took out the rest of the JLA with ease, Plastic Man was the one who took him on. Single-handedly. It turns out that the main reason Batman wanted Plastic Man on the team was to have somebody who could stop the Martian Manhunter if he went rogue. Because [[CrazyPrepared he's Batman]].\\
\In JLA issues 52-54 (collected in the ''Divided We Fall TPB''), in which the Justice League were divided between the superhero selves and their civilian identities, Plastic Man pretty much became a dadaist lunatic unable to concentrate on anything, more or less a [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] version of his usual personality. ''Eel O'Brian'', on the other hand, was a mean as hell BadassLongcoat who rallied the civilian identity squad together and acted as their leader, not to mention delivering a brutal mocking as he beat the crap out of Bruce Wayne.

** Likewise, in the "Franchise/{{Superman}} and the Comicbook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}" storyline in ''Action Comics'', not only do a group of third-rate villains [[NotSoHarmlessVillain take over the world]], but they're stopped in large part by the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a team that raises WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway to an art form. The Subs don't have crappy powers (one of them has all the energy projection powers of the ENTIRE EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM, for example, from the GL comics), they just have sucky methods of using them. Stone Boy, sure, he has crap powers. But Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, and Rainbow Girl? Just not the best methods of application for their powers. When they use them well? It's pure awesome.

* ComicBook/PlasticMan in the ''{{Justice League| Of America}}'' comics was often this. Despite nominally being the comic relief, he kicked bad guy ass so often that Franchise/{{Batman}} classed him as possibly the most dangerous member of the League. At one point, someone writes Plastic Man off as a useless addition to the team, whereupon Batman points out that this is someone that has survived being shattered into millions of pieces and scattered on the ocean's floor for thousands of years, and is not to be trifled with.
** Notably, in Creator/FrankMiller's ''TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', one character refers to him as "Immeasurably powerful. Absolutely nuts," and asserts that he could kill them all with ease.
** When the MartianManhunter turned into a crazy, homicidal Burning Martian who took out the rest of the JLA with ease, Plastic Man was the one who took him on. Single-handedly.
*** It turns out that the main reason Batman wanted Plastic Man on the team was to have somebody who could stop the Martian Manhunter if he went rogue. Because [[CrazyPrepared he's Batman]].
** In JLA issues 52-54 (collected in the ''Divided We Fall TPB''), in which the Justice League were divided between the superhero selves and their civilian identities, Plastic Man pretty much became a dadaist lunatic unable to concentrate on anything, more or less a [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] version of his usual personality. ''Eel O'Brian'', on the other hand, was a mean as hell BadassLongcoat who rallied the civilian identity squad together and acted as their leader, not to mention delivering a brutal mocking as he beat the crap out of Bruce Wayne.
* ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' is a case of this happening to the main character. Four out of five times, poor [[FauxActionGirl Emp]] winds up [[BoundAndGagged tied up]], beat up, and/or [[TheWoobie humiliated]]. That fifth time, though, is generally a thing of beauty, up to and including the point where she imprisoned an unstoppable monster in a set of power-draining alien bondage gear after it tossed her more-powerful teammates around like rag dolls.
** Plus the fact that she uses her head, but she has a definite CrowningMomentOfAwesome in Volume 4 when she [[spoiler:introduces Fleshmaster/dWARF! to the true meaning of a CurbStompBattle.]]

* In the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'', Susan Storm's powers were used mostly defensively, so she was more an obstacle to a villain than a threat. However, when she started [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] in the '80s, villains soon found that [[BerserkButton beating up Reed Richards in front of his supposedly timid wife]] was a good way to get [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend suffocated, slashed, flattened, mercilessly squeezed, or slammed through walls by those pesky invisible force fields.]]
** Brilliantly demonstrated in one battle where the Absorbing Man, and mind-controlled She-Hulk and Ben Grimm -- three of the most physically powerful beings in the Marvel universe -- are about to kill her daughter. Spider-Man, passing by, rushes in to help but is stopped by Reed Richards, who is cheerfully taking notes and monitoring the battle, because he regards it as a form of ''therapy'' so Sue can deal with the emotional issues she's had with Valeria. Spider-Man is awestruck at the utter curb-stomping and vows ''never'' to make Sue Storm angry.

* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' after everypony else (sans Pinkie) has been caught by the spiders' web, Twilight declares she'll burst out her magic and fires at the biggest spider, though it only serves to [[NoSell singe it's forehead a little.]]
** A better example would be during the climax of "The Return of Queen Chrysalis", where Twilight's friends and the three Crusader fillies have been captured, and Chrysalis is [[FallenHero about to corrupt Twilight]] and gloats that [[TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget she will destroy them herself after being turned to the dark side.]] Twilight gets pissed and immediately blasts a massive hole through ''a stone castle wall,'' leaving astonished {{Jaw Drop}}s all around.
* Disney Italy did one of the most epic examples with the creation of Paperinik years. The basic idea is DonaldDuck as either an avenger of himself, a SuperHero, or a combination of the two, DependingOnTheWriter (it was originally an avenger of himself, being inspired to freakin' ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}). ''Not'' depending on the writer, he's always awesome: a typical instance of avenging Paperinik is the first story, where he stole Scrooge's money-filled bed ''while he was sleeping on it'' (he [[LampshadeHanging pointed out stealing some of the money bags lying around the room would have been just as lucrative but not as awesome as he was doing it]]), humiliated the police multiple times, ran everyone through a merry chase, and (accidentally) framed Gladstone for all of this (you may understand why stories with the Avenging!Paperinik play him as TheDreaded); and a superhero, Paperinik is pretty much ''{{Batman}}'', only somewhat goofier and a lot more ''workaholic'' (Batman doesn't visit crooks of other towns to scare them in staying out of his way, after all); and as a combination of the two... Well, one time the Beagle Boys organized a marathon with Paperinik's identity (that they didn't know) as the prize to successfully convince every single person in town to leave while they sacked it, and Paperinik's interference ended up getting them caught red-handed and beaten up by the ''entire population of Duckburg'' (he could have stopped them easily in other ways, but it wouldn't have been as punishing). ''[[UpToEleven Then]]'' [[UpToEleven Disney Italy decided Paperinik needed to]] TakeALevelInBadass, and created the series ''PaperinikNewAdventures''.

** His oft [[PlatonicLifePartners partner in crime]] BoosterGold is an interesting version of this: he used to be a vain gloryhound who was only in the superhero business for the money and fame who could pull through and save the day when needed, but then certain events (like his best friend's death) caused him to TakeALevelInBadass and made him want to be a superhero that was taken seriously, but ''then'' he found out that he had to protect the time stream from people trying to mess with the past and so that none of them ever suspected him of being a serious threat and tried to erase his existence he had to keep acting like an incompetent idiot. So while he used to be this, and he would seem to be this trope to everyone else if and when he manages to save the day, it's actually more ObfuscatingStupidity.
** Many of his teammates from Justice League International are this as well, when they're not being {{Flanderized}}. These include Elongated Man Ralph Dibny, who had the same powers as the aforementioned Plastic Man, a woman who once commanded Darkseid's legions (Big Barda), a god-level genus who could get out of any trap ever devised (Mr. Miracle), an ice goddess (Ice), a woman with fire powers (Fire), one of the most skilled martial artists in the world (Black Canary), a man who could create things out of pure willpower (Guy Gardener/GreenLantern)...most of the time they were just hanging around trying to bumble their why through real world problems, but these were people who regularly teamed up with [[{{Superman}} Power Girl]], MartianManhunter and {{Batman}} himself.

* The second BlueBeetle, Ted Kord, was a goofy practical joker who didn't seem to take things seriously most of the time and who's only weapons were ridiculous gadgets and some martial arts training, so he was usually seen as a second-rate Batman. The thing is, "second-rate Batman" is still way more badass than any normal human being has the right to be, and he was still an extremely competent fighter and a GadgeteerGenius bordering [[IronMan Tony Stark-levels]] of intellegence. It's also worth noting that while the other two Blue Beetles gained superpowers from the [[AlienArtifact Scarab]], Ted was always a BadassNormal, and he still managed to keep up with them.

** His oft [[PlatonicLifePartners partner in crime]] BoosterGold is an interesting version of this: he used to be a vain gloryhound who was only in the superhero business for the money and fame who could pull through and save the day when needed, but then certain events (like his best friend's death) caused him to TakeALevelInBadass and made him want to be a superhero that was taken seriously, but ''then'' he found out that he had to protect the time stream from people trying to SetWrongWhatOnceWentRight and so that none of them ever suspected him of being a serious threat and tried to erase his existence by messing with the past he had to keep acting like an incompetent idiot. So while he would seem to be this trope to everyone else if and when he manages to save the day, it's actually ObfuscatingStupidity.

** Many of his teammates from Justice League International are this as well, when they're not being {{Flanderized}}. These include Elongated Man Ralph Dibny, who had the same powers as the aforementioned Plastic Man, a woman who once commanded Darkseid's legions (Big Barda), a god-level genus who could get out of any trap ever devised (Mr. Miracle), an ice goddess (Ice), a woman with fire powers (Fire),

* Spider-Man himself is constantly underestimated. He's not the strongest or toughest guy, certainly not the most powerful, but his combination of powers and wits makes him surprisingly formidable especially when he gets serious. He's taken down all the X-men at the same time, tackled the Fantastic Four and beat the herald of Galactus when he finally decided to pull out all the stops.

* PlasticMan in the ''{{Justice League| Of America}}'' comics was often this. Despite nominally being the comic relief, he kicked bad guy ass so often that Franchise/{{Batman}} classed him as possibly the most dangerous member of the League. At one point, someone writes Plastic Man off as a useless addition to the team, whereupon Batman points out that this is someone that has survived being shattered into millions of pieces and scattered on the ocean's floor for thousands of years, and is not to be trifled with.
** Notably, in FrankMiller's ''TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', one character refers to him as "Immeasurably powerful. Absolutely nuts," and asserts that he could kill them all with ease.

** Likewise, in the recent "Franchise/{{Superman}} and the Comicbook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}" storyline in ''Action Comics'', not only do a group of third-rate villains [[NotSoHarmlessVillain take over the world]], but they're stopped in large part by the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a team that raises WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway to an art form. To be fair, the Subs don't have crappy powers (one of them has all the energy projection powers of the ENTIRE EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM, for example, from the GL comics), they just have sucky methods of using them. Stone Boy, sure, he has crap powers. But Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, and Rainbow Girl? Just not the best methods of application for their powers. When they use them well? It's pure awesome.

* In the Silver Age Superman story "The Most Amazing Camera in the World", a criminal, having gotten ahold of some Kryptonite, has the Man of Steel at his mercy. [[{{Sidekick}} Jimmy Olsen]], observing this with horror, runs into the room, brings down the crook with a flying tackle to the knees, and relieves him of the Kryptonite.

* In the Silver Age Superman story "The Most Amazing Camera in the World", a criminal, having gotten ahold of some Kryptonite, has the Man of Steel at his mercy. [[Sidekick Jimmy Olsen]], observing this with horror, runs into the room, brings down the crook with a flying tackle to the knees, and relieves him of the Kryptonite.

* In the Silver Age Superman story "The Most Amazing Camera in the World", a criminal, having gotten ahold of some Kryptonite, has the Man of Steel at his mercy. Jimmy Olsen, observing this with horror, runs into the room, brings down the crook with a flying tackle to the knees, and relieves him of the Kryptonite.

** Likewise, in the recent "Franchise/{{Superman}} and the Comicbook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}" storyline in ''Action Comics'', not only do a group of third-rate villains [[NotSoHarmlessVillain take over the world]], but they're stopped in large part by the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a team that raises WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway to an art form.
*** To be fair, the Subs don't have crappy powers (one of them has all the energy projection powers of the ENTIRE EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM, for example, from the GL comics), they just have sucky methods of using them. Stone Boy, sure, he has crap powers. But Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, and Rainbow Girl? Just not the best methods of application for their powers. When they use them well? It's pure awesome.

** Likewise, in the recent "Comicbook/{{Superman}} and the Comicbook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}" storyline in ''Action Comics'', not only do a group of third-rate villains [[NotSoHarmlessVillain take over the world]], but they're stopped in large part by the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a team that raises WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway to an art form.

* PlasticMan in the ''{{Justice League| Of America}}'' comics was often this. Despite nominally being the comic relief, he kicked bad guy ass so often that {{Batman}} classed him as possibly the most dangerous member of the League. At one point, someone writes Plastic Man off as a useless addition to the team, whereupon Batman points out that this is someone that has survived being shattered into millions of pieces and scattered on the ocean's floor for thousands of years, and is not to be trifled with.

* In ''TheMightyThor'', Volstagg the Voluminous was originally known for being a [[BigFun fat and jolly]] goof with [[MilesGlorious a penchant for bragging that belied his actual cowardice]]. Then it turns out, he's actually got a huge family of children, biological and adopted, whom he loves very much. So much so that when they get threatened, the cowardly braggart goes away and what's left is a [[StoutStrength fat but super-strong]] BoisterousBruiser who will not hesitate to kick ass for their sake. The man (well, Asgardian) once single-handedly kicked an ''army'' out of Asgard to protect his kids. Over the years, however, Volstagg has turned into more of a general BoisterousBruiser.