Funny Comic Misconceptions

[Munkiman]

The majority of my friends aren't comic book readers. They know who Superman and Batman are, and they watch the movies, but they don't have much in-depth knowledge of comic book history. Sometimes this leads to funny misconceptions.

For instance, one of my friends was surprised to learn that the Flash wasn't Superman's sidekick.

Anyone have any of those sort of stories to share?

And I'm not just talking about, "My friend didn't know that the Martian Manhunter was named J'onn J'onnz, how hilarious!" I mean actual misconceptions, like, "My friend thought the Martian Manhunter was a Batman villain."

[Slaughter]

My dad still thinks of Batman in his campy allen west incarnation :biggrin: Then again, he's almost fifty, so the Batman was VERY different in his time.

[Bouncing Boy]

About 10 years ago (give or take a few years) I knew a guy who knew I liked comics, and tried to talk to me about comics, but he knew absolutely nothing about comics. Here are some of my favorite things he believed.

He was convinced that Superman was created in the 1950's and when I tried to tell him his first appearance was in 1938, he argued with me.

When he saw me reading a comic with both Batman and Superman on the cover he said, "Batman and Superman in the same comic, has that ever happened before?"

[Free-Man]

You'd be surprised to see the number of people who are shocked to find out that there are minority and gay superheroes.

[px2418]

You'd be surprised to see the number of people who are shocked to find out that there are minority and gay superheroes.

WHAT!!!!???.... i heard someone say something along the like of green lantern's ring being made out of kryptonite .... it was in reference to parallax knocking sups on his ass in one punch.... you can see all the wrong i am sure

[joao_miranda]

When I showed to a friend the final scene in Final Crisis 6, with Superman holding the dead Batman, he asked me what were they doing together.

When I told him they were from the same publisher, he told me he tougth Superman was from the same publisher then Spiderman.

[AdamYJ]

I find that people don't quite understand what an amalgous genre superhero comics are. I remember when the Halloween episode of Smallville was on, my Dad said something like "Vampires on Smallville. They must be running out of ideas". To which I responded "What? Comics do this stuff all the time. Superman can be affected by magic. The X-Men have fought Dracula before. Heck, the various members of the JLA draw from all sorts of different things like Greek mythology, the lost continent of Atlantis, science fiction and a bunch of others." To which he just shook his head and said "running out of ideas".

Granted, they are running out of ideas, but that episode wasn't the biggest sign of it.

[aut0matic]

i have a friend who's a huge old school gaming nerd (one of my other nerdy hobbies) and he loved the recent justice league animated show. his favorite character is the flash, who's alter ego is "flash gordon."

i'm too kind to embarass him with the truth :tongue:

[gorosaurus]

I remember a bunch of weenies thinking that the name of the original Captain Marvel was "Shazam"; mainly because of the live action show. Flash was "Flash Gordon", the Avengers were Emma Peel and John Steed.:confused:

[Personamanx]

Well To be fair The Avegers Were Emma Peel, and John Steed.
From the old Spy Show of the same name.

[Vidocq]

I know someone who thinks that Marvel's main Competition is Capcom and every time I corrected him he argued like a mule, because he is apparently convinced that Marvel bought DC years ago...

He also thinks that Dr Destiny is the same character as Dr Doom.

[Munkiman]

i have a friend who's a huge old school gaming nerd (one of my other nerdy hobbies) and he loved the recent justice league animated show. his favorite character is the flash, who's alter ego is "flash gordon."

i'm too kind to embarass him with the truth :tongue:
I know someone who thinks that Marvel's main Competition is Capcom and every time I corrected him he argued like a mule, because he is apparently convinced that Marvel bought DC years ago...

He also thinks that Dr Destiny is the same character as Dr Doom.
These two are my favorites so far. :biggrin:

tenth post

[Hullababy]

One of my friend thinks that Dick Grayson is still Robin. He also thinks the Joker is actually the father of Batman.
:rolleyes:

[carabas]

Well To be fair The Avengers Were Emma Peel, and John Steed.
From the old Spy Show of the same name.Indeed. First season came out in 1961 too, two years before Avengers #1 did.

[EZMOHR]

I think Tim Burton and Sam Hamm have pretty much cemented for 95% of the public that The Joker killed Thomas and Martha Wayne.......and yes I say that even in the shadow of The Dark Knight. You ask most people who don't know comics, and to this day, 95% of them will tell you The Joker killed Batman's parents, and you can't tell them any different.

[Shatterpoint]

Most of my friends expected the titular character of Green Lantern to be John Stewart because of years of exposure to Justice League and JLU. I don't blame 'em.

[Mister Blisterfists]

nope.

I blame DC, for making it a sociopath, instead.

[JumpingJupiter]

"Stan Lee did the Spider-Man movies, didn't he?"

"Batman can fly can't he?"

"Your comics might be worth something someday."

[carabas]

"Your comics might be worth something someday."
Yeah, this one. along with "Comcs are just for kids and nerds." and "Comics? Do they still make those?"

Three nails in the comics medium's coffin right there, at least as far as America is concerned.

[TROUBLEZ]

"The Joker actually killed Robin? And these comics are for kids?"

"Batwoman is gay? But Robin isn't?"

"Stan Lee wrote, drew and created the Marvel Universe."

"Who does DC have besides Batman and Superman??"

"You mean you don't buy them because they'll be worth something later?"

[JurassicParkIsAnAwesomeMovie]

Definitley "How much money will you make off of them?"

Also I don't think many people outside of the comic fanbase understand how dark and sophisticated comics have become

[carabas]

Definitley "How much money will you make off of them?"

Also I don't think many people outside of the comic fanbase understand how dark and sophisticated comics have becomeI
often wonder wher it is that the American comics industry went so totallty and completely off the rails, took that right turn where Europe and Japan went left.

It can't be just the comics code, can it?

[JumpingJupiter]

I
often wonder wher it is that the American comics industry went so totallty and completely off the rails, took that right turn where Europe and Japan went left.

It can't be just the comics code, can it?

Very good question...

[Free-Man]

I
often wonder wher it is that the American comics industry went so totallty and completely off the rails, took that right turn where Europe and Japan went left.

It can't be just the comics code, can it?

DC and Marvel can't compete with Manga from a pricing standpoint. Think about it.

If you were a kid, would you rather pay:

3 dollars for a 22 page story about the heroes you love from movies and tv?

Or 5 dollars for a phonebook sized collection of stories about anime characters you love?

[Absent-minded Prof]

... because he is apparently convinced that Marvel bought DC years ago....

While I have a friend who was once (in the 80s) an avid comic reader, but who alleges that it was the other way around - DC bought Marvel in the 90s.

[carabas]

DC and Marvel can't compete with Manga from a pricing standpoint. Think about it.Two things:
- manga and American comic are not in competition. Around these parts, both manga and native coùics flourish.
- american comics took a dive a long, long time before manga became commercially viable in America.

[Dorsai]

People unfamiliar with the industry seem to really think the only reason to buy comics is for the value to a collector.

Another misconception is that all comic books are about tights and capes. Well, except for the Stephen King Dark Tower comics.

Alex Ross is the only person that has actually used paint and canvas for a comic book.

No president before Obama has ever appeared in a comic book.

"Comics" and comic strips are the same thing even though one is a magazine/TPB/hard cover book and the other is a piece of newsprint in the Sunday paper. I have run into people that think comic books are really like a collection of comic strips. They expect comic books to be like the Doonesbury collections.

People either assume comics mean Archie and Jughead, Garfield, or Superman and Spiderman. There can't be anything else out there...

[bongoes]

I find that people don't quite understand what an amalgous genre superhero comics are. I remember when the Halloween episode of Smallville was on, my Dad said something like "Vampires on Smallville. They must be running out of ideas". To which I responded "What? Comics do this stuff all the time. Superman can be affected by magic. The X-Men have fought Dracula before. Heck, the various members of the JLA draw from all sorts of different things like Greek mythology, the lost continent of Atlantis, science fiction and a bunch of others." To which he just shook his head and said "running out of ideas".

Granted, they are running out of ideas, but that episode wasn't the biggest sign of it.
My sister asked me why there are magicicans when everyone has superpowers
Most of my friends expected the titular character of Green Lantern to be John Stewart because of years of exposure to Justice League and JLU. I don't blame 'em.
This happens way to often.

[Free-Man]

This happens way to often.

I see that a lot at my LCS an in oter places. When Mortal Kombat vs DC came out, a lot of my friends were like "Isn't that guy supposed to be black?"

Another misconception I've seen from a number of people:
John Stewart and Hal Jordan are the same person. They just made him black on the TV show to increase diversity.

[aut0matic]

before i got into comics, i thought green lantern was supposed to be black. i also thought superman was all-powerful, to the point where he made the other heroes practically useless. pretty much how SBP is.

[Personamanx]

When I first started reading The Only Flash known to me was Wally West. I guarantee if you ask someon what The Flash's real name is They would say Wally West rather than Barry Allen.

[Munkiman]

nope.

I blame DC, for making it a sociopath, instead.

Who, Hal Jordan? He's a sociopath now?

I do need to get caught up with GL... :rolleyes:

[aut0matic]

When I first started reading The Only Flash known to me was Wally West. I guarantee if you ask someon what The Flash's real name is They would say Wally West rather than Barry Allen.

or flash gordon :redface:

[Personamanx]

or flash gordon :redface:

That goes without saying.
:tongue:

[Shatterpoint]

I see that a lot at my LCS an in oter places. When Mortal Kombat vs DC came out, a lot of my friends were like "Isn't that guy supposed to be black?"

Another misconception I've seen from a number of people:
John Stewart and Hal Jordan are the same person. They just made him black on the TV show to increase diversity.

Oh geez, that's gold!

[Greg Anderson]

The John Stewart one is VERY common. My sister was taken aback when Hal was GL in The Batman and many people who come into my LCS and the one by my school always believe GL is black and that Hal is the "fake" GL. There's been times people came into the shops hoping for a GL book with John as the main character/focus. Once I show them ones with Hal they'd say something like, "Wait, I thought GL was black." I explain to them that it's a different character and doesn't quite have no book of his own, they seem uninterested and sometimes leave without anything. :frown:

[Mister Blisterfists]

Who, Hal Jordan? He's a sociopath now?

I do need to get caught up with GL... :rolleyes:

yup. Murdered the entire corps, and the guardians.

this happened pretty recently though, so I don't blame you for missing it.

so long as you consider 1994 "recent".

[vitruvian]

The John Stewart one is VERY common. My sister was taken aback when Hal was GL in The Batman and many people who come into my LCS and the one by my school always believe GL is black and that Hal is the "fake" GL. There's been times people came into the shops hoping for a GL book with John as the main character/focus. Once I show them ones with Hal they'd say something like, "Wait, I thought GL was black." I explain to them that it's a different character and doesn't quite have no book of his own, they seem uninterested and sometimes leave without anything. :frown:

This is one instance where those coming at things from different media may have the better idea, after all. DC really could have done worse than to let Dwayne McDuffie run with JLA exactly how he wanted to and gradually JLUize it. You don't have to get rid of Hal Jordan, but there's nothing wrong with having John Stewart being more prominent to capitalize on anybody coming in to comics from the cartoon.

Note that Dick Grayson Batman now can fly, or at least glide with his cape, much as Bale Batman does in the movies. Which is fine, since it does go back to some of the very earliest depictions of the character.

[Munkiman]

yup. Murdered the entire corps, and the guardians.

this happened pretty recently though, so I don't blame you for missing it.

so long as you consider 1994 "recent".
He was possessed by the yellow impurity, Parallax. This was retroactively revealed pretty recently though, so I don't blame you for missing it.

So long as you consider 2004 "recent". :rolleyes:

[jade_nova]

Here's one that I read in a review for the Superman/Batman book Enemies and Allies:

What would happen if Batman and Superman were to meet? D.C. Comic fans have sat in their parents' basements for ages contemplating this very idea for years.

It is funny because they have met many times and are very good friends.

[dancj]

It is funny because they have met many times and are very good friends.
They meet all the time, but they haven't been friends since the Byrne revamp. They're more like trusted colleagues.

[Munkiman]

Here's one that I read in a review for the Superman/Batman book Enemies and Allies:

What would happen if Batman and Superman were to meet? D.C. Comic fans have sat in their parents' basements for ages contemplating this very idea for years.

It is funny because they have met many times and are very good friends.
That's just downright insulting. Yes, of course all DC Comic fans live in their parents' basements, HA HA QUITE HILARIOUS.

Why would whoever wrote that even being reviewing a comic book if they don't even know that Superman and Batman have met before? Have they really never heard of the Justice League?

[Matthew E]

My sister asked me why there are magicians when everyone has superpowers.

That's actually not a bad question. I mean, you can come up with an answer for it, but it's not a stupid question at all.

[Reptisaurus!]

DC and Marvel can't compete with Manga from a pricing standpoint.

Sure they can.

They choose not to, but there's no reason they can't do something along the lines of the Archie Digests which are, what?, 3-4 bucks a-piece?

[carabas]

Sure they can.

They choose not to, but there's no reason they can't do something along the lines of the Archie Digests which are, what?, 3-4 bucks a-piece?It would depend; Possibly the manga format isn't feasable, or at least not at that price, for the more limited audience of Marvel and DC.
Both of the Big Two have experimented with it.

[Free-Man]

It would depend; Possibly the manga format isn't feasable, or at least not at that price, for the more limited audience of Marvel and DC.
Both of the Big Two have experimented with it.

Are you referring to the Marvel Mangaverse and the Batman: Deathmask books? BEcause that's not really a sincere attempt at manga. They were still published in 32 page full color issues, and priced about the same.

[carabas]

Are you referring to the Marvel Mangaverse and the Batman: Deathmask books?Absolutely not.
I am refering to Marvel's digest format, DC's smaller sized books (like some of the Minx and Verigo lines), and the Marvel Essential and DC's Showcase Presents books.

How well does manga sell anyway in America? Hundreds of thousands per voolume of a popular title? Less? Much more?

[Free-Man]

Absolutely not.
I am refering to Marvel's digest format, DC's smaller sized books (like some of the Minx and Verigo lines), and the Marvel Essential and DC's Showcase Presents books.

How well does manga sell anyway in America? Hundreds of thousands per voolume of a popular title? Less? Much more?

I'm not exctly sure, about the sales, but I certainly see a far greater number of people buying manga at places like Borders than I see people buying superhero comics at an LCS.

And from what I understand, the digest books from Marvel are actually doing well. Someone recently pointed out to me that nothing in the Marvel Age line or even the Runaways sells well. The thing is, Marvel distributes it's all ages digests through Scholastic, so they actually have huge market penetration with younger kids.

So a kid is more likely to order say, a Wolverine First Class digest from his school book order than he is to go looking for a random comic in an LCS.

[Chad]

I guess this misconception can be excused considering my age at the time, but I remember reading the Spider-Man newspaper strip as a kid and being confused by Peter Parker's Spider-Sense. Now, I understood what this power was, how it worked, how he got it, and perhaps this had something to do with the fact that as soon as it went off, Spider-Man would have to get out of whatever room he was in as if he didn't want anyone to see him at that moment, but...

You know how artists would indicate that Peter Parker's Spider-Sense was going off by drawing half of Parker's face with Spider-Man's mask while little electric bolts would shoot out of it? I never understood why no one ever said anything to him about that. I honestly couldn't figure out why J Jonah Jameson would never say something like "Good Lord Parker! What the hell is going on with your face!?" I thought it was like the Bat Signal or something.

[px2418]

don't know if this really counts but yesterday i had to argue with 2 people that Heath Ledger is NOT cgi for half of dark knight... they would not believe me, god bless wikipedia... take that laura and carleen!

[DeTroyes]

Well To be fair The Avegers Were Emma Peel, and John Steed.

EXACTLY! :biggrin:

[Augusto]

I guess this misconception can be excused considering my age at the time, but I remember reading the Spider-Man newspaper strip as a kid and being confused by Peter Parker's Spider-Sense. Now, I understood what this power was, how it worked, how he got it, and perhaps this had something to do with the fact that as soon as it went off, Spider-Man would have to get out of whatever room he was in as if he didn't want anyone to see him at that moment, but...

You know how artists would indicate that Peter Parker's Spider-Sense was going off by drawing half of Parker's face with Spider-Man's mask while little electric bolts would shoot out of it? I never understood why no one ever said anything to him about that. I honestly couldn't figure out why J Jonah Jameson would never say something like "Good Lord Parker! What the hell is going on with your face!?" I thought it was like the Bat Signal or something.
Same thing happened to me in my childhood, regarding Bruce Wayne's shadow, always drawn as the shape of a bat.