History UnbuiltTrope / ComicBooks

*** This is continued even further in the first sequel, ''Marshal Law Takes Manhattan''. While the traditional Marvel heroes get some pretty brutal parodying, including things like a Spider-Man analog who's all about [[ADateWithRosiePalms shooting a different sticky fluid]] in public, they're treated as stupid and banal, but mostly harmless. Meanwhile, the Punisher analog gets by ''far'' the most direct satire, with him being portrayed as a fascist, racist, paranoid sadist with [[NeverMyFault a persecution complex a mile deep]], the ugliest part of the RightWingMilitiaFanatic power fantasy taken to its endpoint. And even he's no different from Law, being his old mentor, implying that Law's archetype is rotten at the root.

** If you read the very first Batman/Joker story, it almost looks like someone decided to actually combine the violence and murder of [[Creator/FrankMiller Frank Miller's]] ''Comicbook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' with the campiness of [[Series/Batman1966 the Adam West version]]. (This was also before writer Bill Finger decided NOT to have the Joker be one of the villains that spew terrible puns.) It has simplistic art and bad dialogue, but people actually die laughing with huge unnatural smiles on their faces. It also has the Joker painting his face with flesh-colored makeup, which many have thought was created for the 1989 Creator/TimBurton [[Film/Batman1989 film]] (and in the comic, the makeup is ''not'' a PaperThinDisguise, but actually works). Furthermore, in this first story the Joker never smiles, bringing to mind the dour Joker of Miller's ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder''.

** The Human Bomb stories going back to 1941 always had a fair amount of Wangst in them. Everything he touched exploded, and the stories, like something from Marvel from the seventies, often explored how that would affect his psyche. Some of the time. Some of the time they played it as a joke.

* CutLexLuthorACheck is a widely mocked aspect of comic book Mad Scientist villains, who could have made more money by [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood using their inventions legitimately]]. However, Whiz Comics #15 plays with this. It's revealed Doctor Sivana, the ArchEnemy of [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], started out as an idealistic scientist intending to use his inventions to revolutionize society. However, he was instead mocked and ill-treated for his plans, which were called impractical and fake, including by people who preferred society the way it was. As a result, of this he was driven mad and angry against society, turning him into a villain. Sivana was one of the earliest MadScientist villains of Comic Books.

* CutLexLuthorACheck is a widely mocked aspect of comic book Mad Scientist villains, who could have made more money by [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood using their inventions legitimately]]. However, Whiz Comics #15 plays with this. It's revealed Doctor Sivana, the ArchEnemy of [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], started out as an idealistic scientist intending to use his inventions to revolutionize society. However, he was instead mocked and ill-treated for his plans, which were called impractical and fake, including by people who preferred society the way it was. As a result of this he was driven mad and angry against society, turning him into a villain. Sivana was one of the earliest MadScientist villains of Comic Books.

** Also, while Wolverine is the TropeCodifier for HealingFactor in comics, a power that would be frequently used later on, it was significantly more downplayed than the FromASingleCell example so often used (including the ''Film/XMen1'' movie and later Wolverine stories). While he was difficult to kill, he could still be heavily wounded or laid out or even die. In fact his power essentially consisted of "healing slightly faster than normal".

* ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'' is often cited as one of the earliest and most famous instances of StuffedIntoTheFridge, predating the {{Trope Namer|s}} by 21 years. It embodies many of the misogynistic hallmarks of the trope: Gwen has no agency of her own, barely has any lines before she dies, her plotline gets completely unresolved, she's not even the most important female character of the titular story (that's Mary Jane), it was done by [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] to spite Franchise/SpiderMan, and Spidey even ([[ValuesDissonance rather uncomfortably for modern audiences]]) refers to her as "my woman" even after she dies. However, unlike the many, ''many'' derided examples it inspired, this one in particular stands out positively and is seen as a good story even now for two primary reasons. The first is that Gwen's death has meaningful consequences for Spider-Man, both the mythos and the character, becoming a ShockingDefeatLegacy that aspired Spidey to be a better hero. Gwen herself is treated as TheLostLenore and ''not'' a DisposableLoveInterest, as it took years for Spidey to fully accept her death, and even after Mary Jane became his SecondLove, he will always mourn Gwen with the utmost respect, compared to the usual example of a fridged character being mostly forgotten and replaced. There's a very, ''very'' good reason why the story named ILetGwenStacyDie, instead of the incident being known as "Dropped From a Bridge".

* ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'' is often cited as one of the earliest and most famous instances of StuffedIntoTheFridge, predating the TropeNamer by 21 years. It embodies many of the misogynistic hallmarks of the trope: Gwen has no agency of her own, barely has any lines before she dies, her plotline gets completely unresolved, she's not even the most important female character of the titular story (that's Mary Jane), it was done by [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] to spite Franchise/SpiderMan, and Spidey even ([[ValuesDissonance rather uncomfortably for modern audiences]]) refers to her as "my woman" even after she dies. However, unlike the many, ''many'' derided examples it inspired, this one in particular stands out positively and is seen as a good story even now for two primary reasons. The first is that Gwen's death has meaningful consequences for Spider-Man, both the mythos and the character, becoming a ShockingDefeatLegacy that aspired Spidey to be a better hero. Gwen herself is treated as TheLostLenore and ''not'' a DisposableLoveInterest, as it took years for Spidey to fully accept her death, and even after Mary Jane became his SecondLove, he will always mourn Gwen with the utmost respect, compared to the usual example of a fridged character being mostly forgotten and replaced. There's a very, ''very'' good reason why the story named ILetGwenStacyDie, instead of the incident being known as "Dropped From a Bridge".

* Marvel's ''ComicBook/SecretWars'' (preceding ''Crisis'' itself) was the start of the CrisisCrossover... and for the most part it never crossed over into the ''characters' books''. You'd just get a few panels of the character disappearing for the crossover and reappearing.

** If you read the very first Batman/Joker story, it almost looks like someone decided to actually combine the violence and murder of [[Creator/FrankMiller Frank Miller's]] ''Comicbook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' with the campiness of [[Series/Batman1966 the Adam West version]]. (This was also before writer Bill Finger decided NOT to have the Joker be one of the villains that spew terrible puns) It has simplistic art and bad dialogue, but people actually die laughing with huge unnatural smiles on their faces. It also has the Joker painting his face with flesh-colored makeup, which many have thought was created for the 1989 Creator/TimBurton [[Film/Batman1989 film]] (and in the comic, the makeup is ''not'' a PaperThinDisguise, but actually works). Furthermore, in this first story the Joker never smiles, bringing to mind the dour Joker of Miller's ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder''.

* Speaking of ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns''... it's remembered today as ''the'' bedrock of modern DarkerAndEdgier Batman, featuring not only a WretchedHive setting where villains actually kill people (already, as mentioned, present in the Golden Age) but Batman himself as a humorless, sadistic brute who views even his closest allies with thinly-veiled contempt. For all that, it plays a lot of Silver Age silliness surprisingly straight, most notably in the Joker's GadgeteerGenius arsenal (Sentient [[ActionBomb exploding]] Kewpie dolls? MindControl lipstick?!) and ComicBook/{{Superman}} healing himself by draining solar energy from a sunflower field.

* Marvel's [[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers comics]] preceded all other Transformers fiction, but also went a hefty way to deconstruct the premise and clichés that the cartoon would thoughtlessly use. Characters could be KilledOffForReal at any time if their toys weren't in stock, sometimes [[TheBadGuyWins the Decepticons won battles]], the Autobots often won at heavy costs, there were shown to be [[GreyAndGrayMorality evil Autobots and good Decepticons]], the ineffectual Megatron gets taken out by issue 25 and replaced by the legitimately dangerous Shockwave, the Matrix of Leadership is depicted as an [[BlueAndOrangeMorality unknowable]] force that can be both good and evil, and the human sidekicks often meet tragic fates including being killed off.
* Despite [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastic]] being the trope namer for ReedRichardsIsUseless, canon states that he actually ''does'' patent a lot of his gadgets; he just doesn't sell the insanely dangerous ones like interdimensional transporters. It's also been shown that a chunk of his money comes from other companies ''paying'' him to not release stuff expressly because the devices would drive them into bankruptcy through competition they couldn't hope to match.

* While the ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeDitko Lee-Dikto Spider-Man]]'' run codified the idea of a [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld teenage superhero in high school]], very little of the run actually deals with high school. One reason is that Peter's intelligent enough to get good grades despite his role as Spider-Man. Another is that Peter is far too much of a loner, and his classmates too mean and judgmental, for him to hang out with other students. Peter even graduates by issue 28. Most of the stories follow Peter working at the Daily Bugle and trying to earn a living, or working as Spider-Man. Later high school superhero stories, as well as [[Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan later]] [[Comicbook/SpiderManLovesMaryJane adaptations]], would put much more emphasis on the heroes' high school career and social life.

* While ''ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan'' codified the idea of a [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld teenage superhero in high school]], very little of the run actually deals with high school. One reason is that Peter's intelligent enough to get good grades despite his role as Spider-Man. Another is that Peter is far too much of a loner, and his classmates too mean and judgmental, for him to hang out with other students. Peter even graduates by issue 28. Most of the stories follow Peter working at the Daily Bugle and trying to earn a living, or working as Spider-Man. Later high school superhero stories, as well as [[Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan later]] [[Comicbook/SpiderManLovesMaryJane adaptations]], would put much more emphasis on the heroes' high school career and social life.

* ComicBook/LoisLane's modern portrayal as an intrepid, competent DamselOutOfDistress is often thought to be the result of [[SocietyMarchesOn cultural changes]] in the 60s and 70s. In reality, however, it's a return to her [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] characterization. She actually ''started'' as a tough, intelligent IntrepidReporter before the advent of UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode caused her to suffer {{chickification}} during UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks. That's right: probably the original superhero female LoveInterest was a [[ActionGirl kickass go-getter]] all the way back in the 1930s.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' seems like an obvious candidate as a proto-NinetiesAntiHero, debuting in 1977 and clearly inspired by {{Cowboy Cop}}s such as ''Film/DirtyHarry''. Judge Dredd is a violent and gritty JudgeJuryAndExecutioner who enforces the laws of a dystopian future police state, has acquired a '''massive''' bodycount over the years, and tends to fight [[BlackAndGrayMorality enemies even worse than he is]]. However, Judge Dredd is far less one-dimensional than popular culture portrays him as: even in the early comics, he was clearly a ByTheBookCop who takes "protect the innocent and uphold the law" ''very'' seriously, and abhorred corruption and wanton violence. After the "Democracy" arc, he actually resigned when he lost faith in the Justice system.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' seems like an obvious candidate as a proto-NinetiesAntiHero, debuting in 1977 and clearly inspired by {{Cowboy Cop}}s such as ''Film/DirtyHarry''. Judge Dredd is a violent and gritty JudgeJuryAndExecutioner who enforces the laws of a dystopian future police state, has acquired a '''massive''' bodycount over the years, and tends to fight [[BlackAndGrayMorality enemies who are even worse than himself]]. However, Judge Dredd is far less one-dimensional than popular culture portrays him as: even in the early comics, he was clearly a ByTheBookCop who takes "protect the innocent and uphold the law" ''very'' seriously, and abhorred corruption and wanton violence. After the "Democracy" arc, he actually resigned when he lost faith in the Justice system.

*** This is continued even further in the first sequel, ''Marshal Law Takes Manhattan''. While the traditional Marvel heroes get some pretty brutal parodying, including things like a Spider-Man analog who's all about [[ADateWithRosiePalms shooting a different sticky fluid]] in public, they're treated as stupid and banal, but mostly harmless. Meanwhile, the Punisher analog gets by ''far'' the most direct satire, with him being portrayed as a fascist, racist, paranoid sadist with [[NeverMyFault a persecution complex a mile deep]], the ugliest part of the RightWingMilitiaFanatic power fantasy taken to its endpoint. And even he's NotSoDifferent from Law, being his old mentor, implying that Law's archetype is rotten at the root.

* Marvel's [[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers comics]] preceded all other Transformers fiction, but also went a hefty way to deconstructing the premise and clichés that the cartoon would thoughtlessly use. Characters could be KilledOffForReal at any time if their toys weren't in stock, sometimes [[TheBadGuyWins the Decepticons won battles]], the Autobots often won at heavy costs, there were shown to be [[GreyAndGrayMorality evil Autobots and good Decepticons]], the ineffectual Megatron gets taken out by issue 25 and replaced by the legitimately dangerous Shockwave, the Matrix of Leadership is depicted as an [[BlueAndOrangeMorality unknowable]] force that can be both good and evil, and the human sidekicks often meet tragic fates including being killed off.

* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} was the {{Trope Namer|s}} for WolverineClaws, but unlike a lot of other examples of the trope, stories with him have actually addressed that having claws come out of his hands ''HURTS''; in fact some stories with him depicted blood coming out of his hands whenever he uses his claws and a period where he didn't have his HealingFactor addressed that without it he had to constantly bandage his hands whenever he used his claws. While also considered one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s for the HealingFactor power, having it had drawbacks like meaning anesthesia can't be used on him.
** Also while Wolverine is the TropeCodifier for HealingFactor in comics, a power that would be frequently used later on, it was significantly more downplayed than the FromASingleCell example so often used (including the ''Film/XMen1'' movie and later Wolverine stories). While he was difficult to kill, he could still be heavily wounded or laid out or even die. In fact his power essentially consisted of "healing slightly faster than normal".

* ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'' is often cited as one of the earliest and most famous instances of StuffedIntoTheFridge, predating the TropeNamer by 21 years. It embodies many of the misogynistic hallmarks of the trope: Gwen has no agency of her own, barely has any lines before she dies, her plotline gets completely unresolved, she's not even the most important female character of the titular story (that's Mary Jane), it was done by [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] to spite Franchise/SpiderMan, and Spidey even ([[ValuesDissonance rather uncomfortably for modern audiences]]) refers to her as "my woman" even after she dies. However, unlike the many, ''many'' derided examples it inspired, this one in particular stands out positively and is seen as a good story even still for two primary reasons. The first is that Gwen's death has meaningful consequences for Spider-Man, both the mythos and the character, becoming a ShockingDefeatLegacy that aspired Spidey to be a better hero. Gwen herself is treated as TheLostLenore and ''not'' a DisposableLoveInterest, as it took years for Spidey to fully accept her death, and even after Mary Jane became his SecondLove, he will always mourn Gwen with the utmost respect, compared to the usual example of a fridged character being mostly forgotten and replaced. There's a very, ''very'' good reason why the story named ILetGwenStacyDie, instead of the incident being known as "Dropped From a Bridge".

** In other words, Conway's story reads like a parody of comic tropes that came afterwards (i.e. DeathIsCheap, StatusQuoIsGod, DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest especially as it came to be seen in the wake of ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'') and why should Gwen even return since Peter's feelings he once had for her would not be enough to renew a relationship, which contrasts heavily with Cyclops dumping Madelyne Pryor for the revived Jean Grey even when he had married and had a child with her. It also contrasts completely against the spirit and intent of the second and more notorious Clone Saga, which was a stunt intended to return Peter "back to basics" and reverse his CharacterDevelopment, when in Conway's the story the character who has that attitude, Dr. Miles Warren, is an old creepy stalker/professor who fixates on Gwen, his former student, and clearly the villain who is insane for having that attitude.

** In that story, Prof. Miles Warren who became the Jackal (and who was intended as a one-time villain who died at the end of the story) is a stand-in for fans of Gwen Stacy who hounded Conway and others for killing off the character, and who likewise blamed Peter Parker and not the Green Goblin for her death. While the Gwen who came back is revealed later to be a clone, initially Peter and everyone assumed she was real, and Peter's still conflicted about Gwen's return because he's not [[CharacterDevelopment the same person]] who loved her anymore, he has moved on and his feelings for [[ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson MJ]] are stronger than his grief for Gwen, because unlike Miles Warren, who had a lecherous and creepy obsessive fixation for Gwen (putting her on a pedestal and fixating on her looks), Peter's at heart a normal and optimistic guy and indeed he overcomes his CloningBlues when he realizes that since he's now in love with Mary Jane, he's the real deal since the clones are all fixated on his past with Gwen.

* ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk is the TropeNamer and TropeCodifier for HulkingOut, yet originally he had absolutely nothing in common with the trope he inspired. Instead of being a green rage monster, Bruce Banner/Hulk was much closer to [[JekyllAndHyde Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]. Hulk was a Jungian shadow self (the part of Banner's personality he keeps hidden) and instead of simply being a misunderstood monster, [[{{sadist}} he was often cruel and delighted in hurting others]]. Banner also had no way of keeping the Hulk in check; rather than transforming while angry, he became Hulk when the sun fell whether he wanted to or not. And he spoke in complete sentences rather than HulkSpeak. After the original six issue ''Hulk'' series was cancelled, it was relaunched and retooled with the Incredible Hulk we all know today.

** To a modern reader, Rorschach feels like a deconstruction of the NinetiesAntiHero, when he was largely the inspiration for many DarkerAndEdgier heroes whose creators [[MisaimedFandom missed the point]]--namely that Rorscharch is a deranged sociopath with a child's grasp of right and wrong, and that he's kind of incompetent: he loses in a fight against the police, gets caught and unmasked, and fails to solve the mystery because of his EntertaininglyWrong conclusions; it's the more BoringButPractical-minded Nite Owl who actually manages to take them to the bad guy's lair. Creator/AlanMoore is bemused that so many people consider what he thought was Rorscharch's unattractive qualities--his paranoia, his propensity for violence and self-righteousness--heroic rather than tragic.

* Most modern DC stories featuring ComicBook/HarleyQuinn go out of their way to make her independent in her criminal exploits after it became clear that they could no longer have the primary public perception of her be as the girlfriend/punching bag of ComicBook/TheJoker, even though a handful of episodes of WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries, the series that Harley made her debut in, made it clear that Joker and Harley's relationship is an abusive one that she keeps going back to in spite of herself, as well as had some of those episodes feature her on crimes sprees alongside ComicBook/PoisonIvy or by herself, with Joker not even being mentioned.

* Most modern ''ComicBook/DC'' stories featuring ''ComicBook/HarleyQuinn'' go out of their way to make her independent in her criminal exploits after it became clear that they could no longer have the primary public perception of her be as the girlfriend/punching bag of ''ComicBook/TheJoker'', even though a handful of episodes of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', the series that Harley made her debut in, made it clear that Joker and Harley's relationship is an abusive one that she keeps going back to in spite of herself, as well as had some of those episodes feature her on crimes sprees alongside ''ComicBook/PoisonIvy'' or by herself, with Joker not even being mentioned.