*Superhero comics used to be published in Brazil in a smaller format, popularly known as formatinho. An infamous trait of it was that stories were literally edited down to fit its smaller pages, a process that included erasing and redrawing speech bubbles.
pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formati...
Cover of a Brazilian comic series titled "Estréia" (Debut) featuring Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter. The title, in Portuguese, says "Estréia presents, as a guest hero, Green Arrow! Plus Ajax, the Martian!"
Cover of Brazilian comic series "Os Melhores do Mundo" (The World's Finest). The cover shows Green Lantern, Aquaman, the Flash, and Black Canary mourning the loss of Martian Manhunter. It's captioned "The Execution of Ajax".
Back in the 60's, Brazilian editors thought "Martian Manhunter" was too long of a name for their redrawn speech bubbles*, so they renamed him "Ajax".
That name was used until the early 2000's, when it was replaced with "Caçador de Marte" (Manhunter from Mars).
Bruce Wayne becomes Man.
(Gotham S04E02,"The Fear Reaper", 2017)
(Fawcett, Charlton, etc moments retroactively count)
(Selena is better known as Selene, and modern comics refer to her as such)
First pic from Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (1942), by writer Otto Binder and artist Marc Swayze.
Second one from here: www.cbr.com/comic-book-l...
A panel from Captain Marvel Adventures issue eighteen, captioned "Introduces Mary Marvel". Mary stands alongside Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and the Wizard Shazam. Her powers are listed behind them. "The Grace of Selena, Goddess of the Moon. The Strength of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. The skill of Ariadne, Spirit of Skill. The Fleetness of Zephyrus, Spirit of the West Wind. The Beauty of Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn. The Wisdom of Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom." This six women's initials are highlighted in red, spelling out Shazam.
Black text on a white background. "In Comics Interview #18, in an interview of Reed by John Pierce, Reed notes: (beginning of quote) Here's a scoop. Selena represents the first letter in Mary's Shazam, right. Well, man, the original was Sappho! I killed her. I was not then enlightened about the healthful effects of homosexuality and lesbianism. In a small way, I was the Anita Bryant of my time. But I said, 'Ol' Sappho must go,' and that's how Selena got in. (end of quote) Imagine if that had not been changed (actually, I bet it wouldn't have been that much different back then, see Wonder Woman's use of 'Suffering Sappho!' without incident, but when DC picked the characters up in the 1970s I wonder if it would have been altered)! Thanks to Comics Interview, John Pierce and Rod Reed for the information!"
Trivia:
The "S" in Mary Marvel's "Shazam" acronym was to be Sappho, an Ancient Greek poet from Lesbos, but Fawcett editor Rod Reed, in his own words "not then enlightened about the healthful effects of homosexuality and lesbianism", had it be changed to the moon goddess Selena.
i wasnt even aware they did that on the very first episode
Bro accepted his fate with no hesitation
Lana Lang's parents get hit by a meteor.
(Smallville S01E01, 2001)
Three posters for Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler, showcasing Alfred Pennyworth and his supporting cast. The first one's tagline is "At your service." The second one's is "Bring down the house." The third one's is "Peace, love, and mind control."
A screenshot from Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler, showcasing Alfred and his fellow soldiers charing into battle. One of the soldiers is a blue man wearing heavy armor.
A screenshot from Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler, showcasing a character wearing a black hat, black clothes and a smiley white hat with a goatee, similar to V from V for Vendetta.
A screenshot from Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler, showcasing a crowd as they watch London get nuked.
July 2019 saw the premiere of Pennyworth (later retitled Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler), a TV series following a young Alfred as he fought the fascist Raven Society in 1960s London.
It was canceled after 3 seasons, and, naturally, served as a prequel to Gotham and V For Vendetta.
An image of Absolute Penguin. He's a very short man using guns as crutches. He says "I still run this town."
Concept art of Absolute Penguin. He's a very short man using guns as crutches.
An image of Absolute Two-Face. He's a man with long white hair and half his body burnt, wearing a suit that's black on the right side and white on the left side. He says "Dead or alive..."
Concept art for Absolute Two-Face. He's a man with long white hair and half his body burnt, wearing a suit that's black on the right side and white on the left side.
- Writer: Scott Snyder;
- Artist: Nick Dragotta;
- Color Artist: Frank Martin;
- Letterer: Clayton Cowles.
Absolute Penguin and Two-Face designs by Nick Dragotta:
Six panels from Absolute Batman #12. In a flashback, Bane, a very tall and absurdly muscular man, stares down at Bruce Wayne's three best friends. He says "Hello." Oswald, one of Bruce's friends, asks "Who the hell are you supposed to.." before being grabbed by Bane. Bane, before beating him to a pulp, tells him "You want so badly to be big, don't you? The pink, gym-raw muscles, the lifts in your shoes."
Eleven panels from Absolute Batman #12. In the present day, as we see a montage of Oswald being beaten up, Doctor Leslie Thompkins tells Bruce "Whoever did his is an abomination. They broke nearly every bone in Oswald's body. Some in multiple places. But somehow, they did it in a way that missed each vital organ. It was precise, surgical, cruel beyond measure. If Oswald lives, he'll be almost two feet shorter, and his hands, his feet... It'll be hard, Bruce. A life of constant pain." Bruce tells her: "I'll do whatever I can. We all will. Has Harvey come by?" She tells him "Harvey? Did they not tell you?" Concerned, Bruce asks her "Tell me what, Dr. Thompkins? Tell me what?!" She says "Harvey... is in the next room."
A panel from Absolute Batman #12. We see Harvey Dent in a hospital bed, half his body covered in bandages. Doctor Thompkins says "It's bad, Bruce. Third to fourth degree burns across the left side of his body, straight fifty percent. But worse, they crushed his skull. Cracked it down the center. When the police found him, his head was basically lying in two separate parts."
Five panels from Absolute Batman #12. A horrified Bruce talking to a mutilated Ed Nygma. Ed says "Yeah. Said if I won, he's let me kill him. He even handed me his gun. Can you believe it?" Bruce says "Eddie...? Eddie continues, repeating Bane's words. "I'll be you like Riddles, he said." Bruce asks "What... what did you do?" We see a flashback of Bane gouging Eddie's eyes out. Eddie narrates "It only took him a minute to beat me. And before I knew it, he was shaking my head. Slamming the fron of my brain into my skull. The frontal lobe, the part responsible for intelligence? Bang! It was wild, Bruce! Like, bang! And suddenly facts became questions. Bang! Questions, questions everywhere."
In Absolute Batman #12 (2025), we learn Bane brutalized all of Bruce Wayne's friends.
For Oswald Cobblepot, who was insecure about his own height, Bane crushed so many bones in his body that he became almost 61cm (2 feet) shorter.
Hellblazer #234 cover by Rick Bermejo. It depicts John Constantine smoking in an alley, surrounded by undead people in casual clothing.
Alan Moore claims to have met his creation on two occasions. In 1993, he told Wizard magazine: "One day, I was in Westminster in London—this was after we had introduced the character—and I was sitting in a sandwich bar. All of a sudden, up the stairs came John Constantine. He was wearing the trenchcoat, a short cut—he looked—no, he didn't even look exactly like Sting. He looked exactly like John Constantine. He looked at me, stared me straight in the eyes, smiled, nodded almost conspiratorially, and then just walked off around the corner to the other part of the snack bar. I sat there and thought, should I go around that corner and see if he is really there, or should I just eat my sandwich and leave? I opted for the latter; I thought it was the safest. I'm not making any claims to anything. I'm just saying that it happened. Strange little story." His second meeting with his creation was illustrated in 2001's Snakes and Ladders, an adaptation by Eddie Campbell of one of Moore's performance art pieces. They met a third time in fiction, when Moore was written into issue #120 of Hellblazer by then-author Paul Jenkins. Moore is seen sitting in silhouette at the back of a bar as John Constantine raises a drink to him. Writers who had their run on the Hellblazer series have also claimed to have met the character in real life. A rumour has persisted for many years that the Liverpool occult writer Tom Slemen served as a model for Constantine. Slemen has always denied this. Original Hellblazer writer Jamie Delano also claims to have encountered Constantine, during his run on the character, outside the British Museum. Peter Milligan saw Constantine at a party around 2009 and rushed after him, only to find he'd disappeared. Brian Azzarello once saw him in a Chicago bar but avoided him, saying that "the thing about John is, the last thing you'd want to be is his friend." Paul Jenkins and Rick Veitch have sighted him at East Croydon station.
A tweet by Paul Jenkins. It says: "You're missing two people: myself and Rick Veitch. I ran into him on the platform at East Croydon station on my way to a Palace match."
John Constantine's Wikipedia page has an "In real life" section.
That's because Alan Moore, Jamie Delano, Peter Milligan, Brian Azzarello, Paul Jenkins, and Rick Veitch claim to have met him.
(Hellblazer #234 cover by Lee Bermejo)
First pic: The Flash #112 (1960) cover by penciler Carmine Infantino, inker Joe Giella, and letterer Ira Schnapp.
Third pic from Don Markstein's Toonopedia: toonopedia.com/elongman.htm
Cover for The Flash #112. It depicts Elongated Man stretching himself around a tree as he sneaks on the Flash, who is chasing him. Elongated Man thought's bubble says "Flash thinks he's about to capture me-- but by stretching out my body-- can capture him!" The cover is captioned "Featuring... Mystery of the Elongated Man!" An additional caption, at the very bottom of the cover, says "Extra! A whirlwind Kid Flash adventure!"
A screenshot of an episode of "Batman: The Brave and the Bold", featuring Elongated Man and Plastic Man standing side by side.
Black text on a white background. It reads: "Elongated Man was Ralph Dibny, who as a child had been fascinated by the 'India rubber men' who used to work as circus freaks. In real life, they're simply contortionists whose bones are as hard as anyone else's, but in DC Comics they're flexible folks who, Ralph discovered, got that way by excessive use of a soft drink called Gingold. Isolating the active ingredient, he succeeded in concocting a substance which, when ingested on a regular basis, made him as bendable and as stretchable as Plastic Man. In fact, editor Julius Schwartz later said that if he'd known DC owned the name 'Plastic Man' (which it had acquired when Quality Comics, Plas's publisher, sold its properties to DC in 1956), he'd never have chosen such an unwieldy name for his own character. ('Elastic' had already been taken — Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen had been turning himself into Elastic Lad for a couple of years. In 1961, when Marvel Comics launched a similar character, they side-stepped the issue by calling him Mr. Fantastic.)"
The Elongated Man, who debuted in 1960, only has "such an unwieldy name" because "Elastic" was already taken by Jimmy Olsen's Elastic Lad, and editor Julius Schwartz believed "Plastic Man" was still owned by Quality Comics.
Schwartz later learned DC owned Plastic Man since 1956.
(this is also the Obama vs. Grodd episode)
A screenshot from the seventeenth episode of the third season of Legends of Tomorrow. The screenshot shows the characters Rip Hunter and Sara Lance standing side by side in the Legends' ship, the Waverider. Rip says "Well, the vocal similarity to Mallus is uncanny.
A screenshot from the seventeenth episode of the third season of Legends of Tomorrow. The screenshot shows the character Heat Wave watching the 2003 movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, with the character Denethor, played by John Noble, on screen. Sara Lance, off-screen, says "Gideon? Who is that actor?"
A screenshot from the seventeenth episode of the third season of Legends of Tomorrow. The screenshot, labeled "New Zealand 1999", shows the character Ray Palmer standing outside of John Noble's trailer during the production of a Lord of the Rings movie. Ray says "Mister Noble, we have some last minute rewrites."
A screenshot from the seventeenth episode of the third season of Legends of Tomorrow. Continuing from the previous screenshot, now John Noble, dressed as his character Denethor, walks out of his trailer and says "Tell Peter Jackson no more chickens. I had four this morning."
In "Legends of Tomorrow" S03E17 ("Guest Starring John Noble"; 2018), the Legends noticed the demon Mallus (played by John Noble) sounded exactly like John Noble, so they time traveled to the set of LotR and gave Noble a fake script so they could record it and manipulate Mallus' followers.
In the Brazilian dub of The Flash S08E01 ("Armageddon, Part 1", 2021), audio was accidentally left in of Barry's voice actor saying "Look at this shitty dialogue" ("Ó que diálogo merda").
It's theorized this happened because the people behind the sound editing/mixing didn't speak Portuguese.
The interview in the second pic (it looks squished now for some reason):
www.polygon.com/comics/22679...
A comic cover by Ryan Sook. It depicts Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Oracle, surrounded by multiple monitors as she watches over her fellow Birds of Prey (Black Canary, Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk).
An excerpt from an interview with Brenden Fletcher, co-writer of Batgirl's Burnside era and Gotham Academy, and writer of DCYou's Black Canary. The excerpt reads "There was ultimately very little pushback from editorial to the way we all envisioned the character. They loved our take on Batgirl and adored the costume redesign. Our only struggles came in the way we saw the use of our supporting cast and the overarching plot. Turns out “Oracle” was a dirty word back in 2014/2015, and a lot of what we had planned ultimately had to be tossed to hold to the mandate that Barbara’s previous alter ego never be used or even mentioned in any context, no matter our intentions with it."
A tweet from Batgirl and Birds of Prey writer Gail Simone. She says "Okay, enough time has passed... I will answer New 52 questions for a few minutes. We mostly haven't talked about it since then. Again, it was a sincere effort, there's no villains. So, go ahead if you have questions in the next few minutes!" A user named Justin Partridge asks "Were you given any explicit instructions for your titles?" Gail Simone replies "Yeah, as I said, Birds of Prey was just two paragraphs that made no sense, so I turned that down. Batgirl had all kinds of stuff turned down, she couldn’t wear glasses, she couldn’t be a librarian, we had a cool hideout, she couldn’t have that. Lots."
During the New 52/DCYou era, Barbara Gordon's Oracle identity could "never be used or even mentioned in any context, no matter [the writers'] intentions with it."
Barbara was also forbidden from wearing glasses, being a librarian, and having a cool hideout.
Two photos from the set of the 2016 movie Suicide Squad. In the first photo, actor Will Smith, who played Deadshot in the movie, carries multiple shopping bags while wearing a trenchcoat and a hat. In the second photo, an armored man nonchalantly leans against a wall.
The same photos from the first picture in this post, but now as part of a CBR article. The text reads "Now, a new photo has emerged from the shoot that appears to show the actor -- or perhaps a stunt double -- in his full-on supervillain regalia. Debuting via Sean O'Neill's Twitter feed, the photo is very obviously shot on the same set as earlier pics, and features a fully-armored character leaning nonchalantly against a building."
The same photos, again, but now in a tweet by photographer Sean O'Neill. The tweet reads "Spotted this on set of Suicide Squad. Hashtag Deadshot." A reply is highlighted, tweeted by the armored man in the picture. His alias is Ninja Knight, and he says "Truth is I am a Real Life Superhero in Toronto trying to make by city a better place".
A wiki page for Ninja Knight, the Real Life Superhero mistaken for a Suicide Squad character. It reads "Ninja Knight was a Canadian Real Life Superhero based out of Toronto, Canada, and a member of the Trillium Guards of Ontario. He appears to be inactive. Ninja Knight's Facebook page appeared on September 3, 2014. He was particularly active from May through November of 2015."
In 2015, a mysterious armored man was spotted on the set of "Suicide Squad" (2016). Many thought he was a character in the movie, with Deadshot being a popular guess.
He was just a Real Life Superhero guy who walked by.
Page from "Future State: Justice League" #2.
- Writer: Joshua Williamson
- Penciller: Robson Rocha
- Inker: Daniel Henriques
- Color Artist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
- Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Partial timeline for the Future State event. It reads: 2050: Kara Zor-El Superwoman, Yara Flor, Superman versus Imperius Lex. 2070: Superman/Wonder Woman. 3000: House of El, Legion of Super-Heroes. 4500: Swamp Thing. 82,020: Black Adam. The End of Time: Immortal Wonder Woman.
(The names in the timeline refer to stories, not characters. 2025's Robin Eternal is Tim's book, and 2040's Justice League is where his hologram shows up.)
Timeline from "DC Nation Presents DC Future State" (2020). Here's the other half of it.
Page from Future State: Justice League. In it, the League is eating while looking at a hologram of heroes who might join the team. The candidates are Tanya Spears Power Girl, Crush, Guardian, Tim Drake Robin, Miss Martian, and Shilo Norman Mister Miracle. Green Lantern asks "Who do we invite to join our Justice League?"
Partial timeline for the Future State event. It reads: 2025: Arkham Knights, Batgirls, Batman/Superman, Batman, Catwoman, Gotham City Sirens, Harley Quinn, Grifters, Nighttwing, Outsiders, Red Hood, Robin Eternal. 2027: Dark Detective, The Flash, Teen Titans. 2029: Shazam!. 2030: Aquaman, Black Racer, Justice League Dark, Metropolis Midnighter, Mister Miracle, Suicide Squad, Superman of Metropolis, Superman: Worlds of War, Nubia. 2035: The Last Lantern. 2040: Justice League.
According to the official timeline for the "Future State" (2021) event, Tim Drake is still Robin in big 2040.
Blue Beetle Vol. 3 #3 cover by Dick Giordano.
Note 1: Only retroactively a DC moment, as this was actually published by Charlton Comics.
Note 2: There are more 1960s comics with GRRM fan letters out there, such as Avengers #12 and Fantastic Four #17/#20/#32, in case anyone is curious.
Cover for Blue Beetle issue 3. The comic's title takes almost one third of the cover. Next to it, in much smaller letters, the following text is written: "The gallant crusader for the forces of good, meets the evil Mr. Thunderbolt! The sinister mastermind of a plot to destroy Earth!!!" The cover art features Blue Beetle being hit by lightning bolts, with Mr. Thunderbolt's head behind him. Thunderbolt says: "You cannot escape me, Blue Beetle! You are doomed!"
A fan letter from George R.R. Martin, sent from Bayonne, New Jersey. The letter reads: "Dear Editor: The first issue of Blue Beetle wasn't the greatest comic book I've ever seen, but it was the best stuff to come from your company. The plot of his origin story was excellent, and the tale itself was very good. I really liked Blue Beetle's costume, especially those cool eyepieces. Somehow this get-up is snazzy in its simplicity." The editor responds: "I wear sunglasses that curve, that's where I got the idea for Blue Beetle's eyepiece."
Blue Beetle #3 (1964) featured a fan letter from 16 year-old George R.R. Martin.
"The first issue of BB wasn't the greatest comic book I've ever seen, but it was the best stuff to come from your company. The plot of his origin story was excellent, and the tale itself was very good."
In The Flash S03E19 (2017), H.R. Wells and Cisco sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".
In the Latin American Spanish dub, they sing "Cha-La Head-Cha-La", the first opening theme of Dragon Ball Z, likely referencing the fact Mario Castañeda voices both Wells and adult Goku.
1, 2) Action Comics (1938) #242.
- Writer: Otto Binder;
- Artist: Al Plastino.
3, 4) LoSh (1989) #94, #106
- Writers: Tom McCraw & Tom Peyer;
- Penciler: Lee Moder (94), Jason Armstrong (106);
- Inkers: Ron Boyd, Prentis Rollins;
- Colors: Tom McCraw;
- Letterer: Pat Brosseau.
panel from Action Comics issue 242 in which Superman, in his Clark Kent identity, uses his X-Ray vision to look inside Brainiac's ship. Superman exclaims "An enemy from some alien planet!". Brainiac, with his pet monkey Koko on his shoulder, rambles "Did the earthlings dare to send a ship to stop me, Brainiac, master of super-scientific forces? We'll show them, Koko! The next ray I shoot out will do far worse than make animals dance madly! Ha, ha!". The panel is captioned "As Clark Kent, who is secretly Superman, probes into the unknown craft with his X-Ray Vision..."
A panel from Action Comics issue 242 in which Brainiac and his pet monkey Koko lay inside a chamber filled with a gas that will put them in suspended animation. Brainiac says "It is a long, long trip back to my world, Koko! We must go into suspended animation, to avoid aging! We will awaken after a lifetime has passed me by!". The panel is captioned "Meanwhile, having filled all his bottles with Earthly cities, Brainiac finally turns his ship toward outer space and..."
A one-page story from Legion of Super-Heroes issue 94, titled "Koko! Koko! Koko!". In it, while Brainiac 5 is asleep, his pet monkey Koko leaves his room through an open window and, atop of a boulder, makes a speech to several other monkeys. Both the speech and the monkey's chants are just "Koko!" repeated over and over. Koko then returns to his owner's room, with a mischievous look on his face.
Three panels from Legion of Super-Heroes issue 106. In the first one, Brainiac 5, with a tablet in his hands, says "Don't be so rough on people, Rond. Right now, fear is clouding tehir intellect, but that doesn't make them bad. They'll come around sooner or--". He's interrupted by his pet monkey Koko, who joyfully shouts his own name in the second panel as he leaps towards his owner. In the third panel, a happy Koko sits on Brainiac 5's shoulder, saying "Koko! Koko! Koko!". Brainiac 5 says "There's my little guy! How'd you get here?"
In Brainiac's first appearance (1958), he was accompanied by his alien pet monkey, Koko.
In the Post-Zero Hour (1994) era, the Legion of Super-Heroes' Brainiac 5 also had his own Koko.
The little guy is still remembered sometimes.
Creative teams:
- Writer: Steve Skeates;
- Pencilers: Jim Aparo (Aquaman), Jaime Brocal (Eerie), Dan Adkins (Sub-Mariner);
- Inkers: Dick Giordano (Aquaman), Vince Colletta (Sub-Mariner);
- Color Artists: Linda Lessmann (Sub-Mariner);
- Letterers: Jim Aparo (Aquaman), Artie Simek (Sub-Mariner).
Four panels from Aquaman issue 56. In the first panel, one of the villains says "Good! We can't afford to shoot now! Might hit the equipment! But once we've got the door open, don't hesitate! Shoot to Kill!". Another villain says it will be "A pleasure!". In the second panel, Aquaman stares at a button label "Destruct". He says "Don't know what will happen to me once that door's down! But that's hardly important now! This is the control panel! Now, where's-- ah, here's the button I was looking for! Don't know how the Don Powers I just met would have felt! But I do know what the Don Powers I used to know would want me to do! In the third panel, Aquaman presses the button. In the fourth panel, captioned "And at that same instant, far from the surface of the Earth...", the villain's satellite explodes. A second caption reads "The End".
The first page from Eerie issue #37, introducing a storie titled "The Other Side of Atlantis"
Four panels from Sub-Mariner issue 72. The first panel shows a satellite in space, and a green, goop-like creature latches onto it. The caption reads "And finally comes to rest upon an artificial satellite." In the second panel, the creature, "curious, enters this man-made capsule, to explore among the computers that click with cacophonus tedium." In the third panel, captioned "Meanwhile, back on Earth", a man presses a button labeled "Destruct", and says "This is the control panel! Now, where's-- ah, here's the button I was looking for!", just like Aquaman did in his own comic. In the fourth panel, the satellite explodes.
A panel from Sub-Mariner issue 72. The green creature falls from the exploding satellite, heading to Earth. The captions read "Who that man is... and why he wished to destroy the satellite... that need not concern us! Instead, let us watch as this intelligent life clings to the wreckage and falls toward the sea!"
"Aquaman" #56 (1971), written by Steve Skeates, was intended to kickstart a new story arc, but the series was canceled on that issue.
When Skeates wrote Warren Publishing's "Eerie" #37 & #40 (1972) and Marvel's "Sub-Mariner" #72 (1974), he used them as sequels to his Aquaman story.
