Silliest DC Comic Book Misconception that You've Had :)

[ryerye17]

Face it. We were newbs once. Once upon a time, we picked up our first comic book. Or even, in recent times we picked up a comic we have no idea about.

And there was a character/plot device that you thought different from what it SHOULD be and when you google-d/wiki-d it, it was SOOOO embarassing.

MINE WAS on watching a marathon of Justice League Unlimited. In particular, the Hawk and Dove episode. I had NO clue who Hawk and Dove are. And the entire banter between them and their personalities made me assume that they were homosexual lovers (That and the fact that they weren't hitting on Wonder Woman.)

Of course upon wiki-ing Hawk and Dove, it turns out there were brothers.

Sigh.:frown:

So what are yours?

[another_version]

These are pretty bad... forgive me...

I got into comics thru Batman R.I.P., and I thought that Bruce died when Bane broke his back, because I didn't wiki anything at all. This, and that I was surprised that new comics came out EVERY Wednesday. That's a load off of my chest. Whew!

I'll post more if I can think of them.

[Freakzeek]

I though Lex luthor in JLU was Black

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/toy-archive/wp-content/uploads/Mattel/JLU/JLU3P09LexLFront.jpg

[Batman Fan 31593]

Back in 1992, I was 10 years old and had just become a Batman fan after watching the animated series on FOX. I remember one particular episode of B:TAS, "Night of the Ninja", in which the villain, Kyodai Ken, escaped capture at the end of the episode.

Not long after that, I picked up a copy of Batman #486, in which Batman was on the trail of the villain Black Mask, who had recently escaped capture. Not having read the previous issue (#485), I assumed that the cartoon and the comics were taking place in the same continuity and that Black Mask and Kyodai Ken were the same person and #486 was picking up where "Night of the Ninja" left off.

I don't recall exactly how, but I had realized my mistake a few months later, because by the time "Knightfall" was coming out I was well aware that the comics and the animated series were seperate continuities.

[DonC]

I bought Batman "Year Three" thinking it reprinted the third year of Batman comics.

[daveageallen]

I bought Batman "Year Three" thinking it reprinted the third year of Batman comics.

they should do that! year one the actual first year published! nice idea.

[Sir Tim Drake]

I thought DC was always going to publish a Legion title.

[Personamanx]

Not A DC one. But It was only until 2 or 3 years ago that I realized that Hank Pym, and Scott Lang were not the same Ant-man

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

This is kinda boring, but I used to think it was pronounced "Dark-SEED."

[T Hedge Coke]

When Detective and such were hundred pagers, I didn't realize they were mostly reprints. I thought all those stories were contemporaneous and the DCU was just that wild, crazy, and free-wheelin'.

[superchick]

I picked up my first comics in the nineties thinking Supergirl was Kara and Robin was Dick.

[bongoes]

I didn't know there was a second Robin who died for a while.

I saw an issue of JLA with Kyle and thought it was Hal because I didn't know he had died. Of course when I found out he did (and became evil) Rebirth came out and I was happy. Of course I didn't start reading regularly until a few years later.

[another_version]

I though Lex luthor in JLU was Black

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/toy-archive/wp-content/uploads/Mattel/JLU/JLU3P09LexLFront.jpg

Isn't he?!

Haha

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

I thought the Legion Of Superheroes, being set a thousand years in the future, would be free of the sorts of continuity issues that plague books set in the DCU!

I thought Superman was THE LAST Kryptonian!

they should do that! year one the actual first year published! nice idea.

The Batman Chronicles series of trades does this.

[SJNeal]

This is kinda boring, but I used to think it was pronounced "Dark-SEED."

Ditto. It also took me years to pronounce "J'Onn J'Onzz" right. I finally asked my comic shop guy.

[SJNeal]

This is kinda boring, but I used to think it was pronounced "Dark-SEED."

Ditto. It also took me years to pronounce "J'Onn J'Onzz" right. I finally asked my comic shop guy.

[mgs]

I used to wonder why the old cartoons and the comics never matched! :redface:

And, that Superman didn't need to breathe oxygen and could just 'breathe' in outer space.

[Psavell2]

When Barry Allen died I assumed there would be no more Flash comics(I was ten at the time). Now don't ask me how I could go on reading comics and not notice that there were indeed still Flash comics on the racks, but somehow it was years before I did.

My first thought was "Barry's back and I missed it!"

Now here's the really embarrassing part: I opened the book and the first words were "My Name Is Wally West and I'm the fastest man alive", and I'm thinking "Who in the hell is Wally West?" I put the book back on the rack in disgust and it was another ten years before I realized that Wally had actually been Kid Flash, who I had been a fan of, but forgotten about.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

And, that Superman didn't need to breathe oxygen and could just 'breathe' in outer space.

I thought that as well.

Could be because he talks in space in the films!

[Lorendiac]

It's been a very long time since I was a real "newbie" to the DCU . . . but I still get confused at times. By legacy characters, for instance, where it seems I am supposed to "already know" about their origins and their predecessors and so forth as I first stumble across them. Here are a few cases which occurred to me:

When I first became aware of Connor Hawke, sometime in the mid-to-late 90s, I quickly caught on that he was the late Ollie Queen's long-lost son . . . but I assumed it was from some affair Ollie had in high school or college or something, long before he began his costumed career as the original Green Arrow, because otherwise the timing would make absolutely no sense!

A few years ago I said something about that on a forum, and someone called me on it, explaining (if I remember this right) that as far as Chuck Dixon was concerned, his Pet Character Creation of the mid-90s (Connor, the new star of the Green Arrow title he was writing) was conceived AFTER Ollie and Hal were already "On The Road" together as a pair of costumed heroes, traveling across America, encountering social injustices and things. Even though the timing makes absolutely no sense in terms of "continuity-time" if Connor was already full-grown when he took over his daddy's role as Green Arrow! (For all the other old-timers from the original JLA, it sure hasn't been 18 or 20 years already since they first put on their costumes -- around the same time Hal and Ollie presumably did!)

On a similar note, it wasn't until maybe 5 years ago that I found out that the original "Wonder Girl" was first presented, in Silver Age comics, as simply being "Diana, the future Wonder Woman, at a much younger age!" All those years I'd been collecting Titans comic books, and I'd always assumed that Wonder Girl had been "her own person" from Day One! Funny how those old retcons can sneak up behind you and yank the rug out from under you when you ain't looking!

That reminds me of another one. When I started reading "Young Justice," I had never heard the name "Arrowette" before. I gradually realized that Cissie's mom was not just a "stage mother," but a woman who had once been an archer superhero herself! I assumed that all this was being retconned in out of thin air in the late 90s! It was several years later, during some online research, that I finally realized that there really was a Silver Age heroine called "Miss Arrowette" who used to flirt with Green Arrow or something . . . apparently appeared in just four stories . . . and then was completely forgotten for over 30 years before someone at DC decided to dust her off and give her a teenage daughter and successor! :smile:

And going back to "newbie" territory -- I had been reading the JLA regularly for over a year when, around 1983?, Gerry Conway wrote a story about a JLA/JSA teamup in which Johnny Thunderbolt's Thunderbolt attacked their latest get-together, and someone realized, after the dust had cleared, that T-Bolt's attacks had hit "Earth-1 natives" much harder than "Earth-2 natives." It was during that story that I learned two stalwart members of the JLA, Black Canary and Red Tornado, were both immigrants from Earth-2! I swear, you think you really know somebody, and then this sort of thing is sprung on you . . . how was I supposed to have known that Ollie's girlfriend went back to the Golden Age of superheroics? (The story was largely meant to explain that she was really the daughter of the original Black Canary, but with the original's own memories, and that conveniently no one in the JLA or the JSA had ever noticed she looked decades younger than she had any business looking!)

(Which reminds me . . . it was only in the last several years, when I began reading the TPB collections of the JSA series -- the one before the current one -- that I realized the android "Red Tornado" wasn't the first user of that heroic alias! I'd never heard of Ma Hunkel, the Golden Age Red Tornado, before!)

[Pixie_Solanas]

That WW was actually a relevant character. lol @ my mistake.

[DetectiveDupin]

That WW was actually a relevant character. lol @ my mistake.

same here.

[SmoManCometh]

This is kinda boring, but I used to think it was pronounced "Dark-SEED."

I don't care what anyone says. I will always read it as Dark SEED because I've called him that since I was 12 and didn't hear any different until I was in my twenties.

I always make a fool of myself when I talk to people about the character, I pronounce it really slow like SIDE is hard to say so that I don't just blurb out Darkseed.

[goat]

I used to think "Despero" was pronounced "Despair O" as in, oh man this guy is going to bring despair down on ya! Ah, to be young playing JL Task Force on the SNES with my Total Justice figures laying on the carpet next to me. So 90s.

[ryerye17]

Well, I used to pronounce it "Seers" (Circe).

Studying Greek Mythology in history taught me it's "keerke."

"Seers" sounds more FUN.

[Hullababy]

When I was 5 or 6, I used to think Batman could fly.

[Babylon23]

When I was young I used to think that the Teen Titans stories were adventures of the adult heroes before they grew up. I though Wonder Girl was Wonder Woman, Kid Flash was Flash, Aqualad was Aquaman (despaite the different hair colour) and Robin was Batman before he grew up and had Dick Grayson become Robin. I always expected to see Superboy in the team because of this.

[AdamYJ]

Well, I used to pronounce it "Seers" (Circe).

Studying Greek Mythology in history taught me it's "keerke."

"Seers" sounds more FUN.

I always pronounced it "Sir-see", which I've heard used as the pronunciation when I studied the Odyssey in both high school and college. So, it's a common pronunciation if not entirely correct.

[Anxy]

When Detective and such were hundred pagers, I didn't realize they were mostly reprints. I thought all those stories were contemporaneous and the DCU was just that wild, crazy, and free-wheelin'.


I didn't realize they were mostly reprints either, but I was just a lil' squirt when those things came out (we're talking about the giant sized comics from the mid-70s?) and such matters as continuity were blissfully far over my head.

[BrightestDay]

This is kinda boring, but I used to think it was pronounced "Dark-SEED."

In all seriousness, I thought it was pronounced that way until I came into this thread.:biggrin: In my defense I haven't really read very many stories featuring him so I haven't spent much time thinking about it.

I didn't know there was a second Robin who died for a while.


Same here. In fact, when I first started reading comics in the 90's I was a Marvel guy all the way and my only real Batman exposure was the movies and the animated series on FOX, which I loved. So when I picked up my first issue of the Robin monthly I thought it was about Dick Grayson (the costume looked the same I'm tellin ya) and had no idea who Tim Drake was, let alone that Jason Todd had even existed. It actually didn't take long for Drake to become my favorite Robin though, so it all worked out in the end.

[Mr. Bungle]

I though Lex luthor in JLU was Black

So did (and possibly does) my college roomate.

[Static-Pulse]

I once thought Oracle was supposed to be smart.

Man, was my face red when I finally figured it out.

[Kylun123]

I just realized in the last month or so that Alan Scott and his Green Lantern are completely based on magic and have absolutely no relation to the Intergalactic Police Force by the same name . . . sounds like an odd coincidence to me . . .

[Mr. Bungle]

I just realized in the last month or so that Alan Scott and his Green Lantern are completely based on magic and have absolutely no relation to the Intergalactic Police Force by the same name . . . sounds like an odd coincidence to me . . .

I hope that a link is made between the two in Blackest Night.

[Jarath]

I just realized in the last month or so that Alan Scott and his Green Lantern are completely based on magic and have absolutely no relation to the Intergalactic Police Force by the same name . . . sounds like an odd coincidence to me . . .

I thought the link was something about the guardians trying to put all chaotic magic into a comic called the starheart and a chunk of it fell to earth as a lantern, then alan scott made a ring out of it? Or is that an old link that got retconned out?

[Utility Belt]

When "The Death of Superman" occurred, I actually thought he was gone for good! And more than that, I thought Mon-El would take his place permanently because in the "funeral procession" poster he was standing almost directly behind the coffin. This in spite of the fact that I had been reading comics for many years and should have known better.

[Lemurion]

I thought the link was something about the guardians trying to put all chaotic magic into a comic called the starheart and a chunk of it fell to earth as a lantern, then alan scott made a ring out of it? Or is that an old link that got retconned out?

I think it got retconned out because, if I remember correctly, it was the Earth-1 Guardians and they sent it to Earth-2 which didn't have a GLC in its universe. I don't know if it got tweaked or retconned after Crisis though.

[Freakzeek]

due to the superfriends, I NEVER knew BLACK manta, was actually Black. I was so shocked it wasn't even funny

[arrowsonthemyscira]

I think it got retconned out because, if I remember correctly, it was the Earth-1 Guardians and they sent it to Earth-2 which didn't have a GLC in its universe. I don't know if it got tweaked or retconned after Crisis though.

Really? Wow... I think I just found one of my misconceptions. I to this very day thought that Alan Scott became the Green Lanter because the Guardians tried to gather up all the magic in the universe and contain it in the "Starheart." But the Starheart couldn't be bound, and a chunk of it fractured off and landed on earth where Alan forged it into a lantern shaped ring. (I always assumed that he chose that particular shape because of some ambient telepathic signature from the Guardians or something.)

I thought there were post-Crisis stories that dealt with this too though. I seem to recall Jade fighting the Starheart when it came to life, or some such thing.

***

Like many other, I thought Darkseid was pronounced Dark-seed.

[Shush]

It took me for too long to get my head around post crisis continuity in regards to precrisis.

[dupersuper]

Really? Wow... I think I just found one of my misconceptions. I to this very day thought that Alan Scott became the Green Lanter because the Guardians tried to gather up all the magic in the universe and contain it in the "Starheart." But the Starheart couldn't be bound, and a chunk of it fractured off and landed on earth where Alan forged it into a lantern shaped ring. (I always assumed that he chose that particular shape because of some ambient telepathic signature from the Guardians or something.)

I thought there were post-Crisis stories that dealt with this too though. I seem to recall Jade fighting the Starheart when it came to life, or some such thing.


I'm pretty sure there were; both in Gerard Jones GL run in the early 90's and the GL/Flash mini in the mid-late 90's

[FailureByDesign]

Not my own, but im sick of the stereotype that comes with comic books by the general population that they are appealing only to "nerds" and "geeks".
Sorry for the rant but i hate feeling like i should be embarrassed for buying something i love reading.

[gatchamandave]

Being British mine are probably too blo- sorry - bluddy obscure, what what?

I ALMOST believed that V for Vendetta was Johnny Bates, returned and recovering in a post-apocalyptic dystopia where his superpowers were harnessed for "good" - or good as he saw it. Yeah, right...:evilsmile: .

And - to show that one can learn the wrong lessons from experience- so twisted had I become that by 1987 I thought that the theory that my friends were floating after issue 6 of a certain mini-series - that Adrian Veidt was behind it all and had faked the assasination attempt - was too simplistic by half and Moore had "something even cleverer" ( sic) in mind.

Oh, and I still think Lex is black having just watched the two seasons of the animated Superman

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Until her comeback a couple of years ago, I always thought Zantanna was just another character - I didn't realise that all the other heroes relied on her so much.

[True Herald]

Really? Wow... I think I just found one of my misconceptions. I to this very day thought that Alan Scott became the Green Lanter because the Guardians tried to gather up all the magic in the universe and contain it in the "Starheart." But the Starheart couldn't be bound, and a chunk of it fractured off and landed on earth where Alan forged it into a lantern shaped ring. (I always assumed that he chose that particular shape because of some ambient telepathic signature from the Guardians or something.)

I thought there were post-Crisis stories that dealt with this too though. I seem to recall Jade fighting the Starheart when it came to life, or some such thing.


Yeah, there was a 3-issue Green Lantern/Sentinel mini that recounted all of those facts.

http://www.gtcomics.biz/dc/greenlantern/Green%20Lantern%20&%20Sentinel%20Heart%20of%20Darkness%203%20May%2098 .jpg

[Joker2503]

Until someone like Bruce Timm comes out and says, "We meant him to be white", I'll continue to believe that the DCAU Lex Luthor was black.

[n8twing]

I thought "Rogue" was pronounced rouge... "rewj"... like ladies blusher.

I thought Darkseid was pronounced "Dark-SEED" as well.

And I always thought Raven had glowing ears. Most people insist they were earrings... but we never, ever saw her take them off, and they were never mentioned a earrings. I still debate this. lol.

As a kid, I thought Peter Parker's spider sense really "went off" visually, like they showed it.

And when Diana Prince spun into Wonder Woman, I always wondered how no one heard that thunder blast or saw the big flash of light.

[carabas]

About Alan Scott's Starheart...

Of arguable canonicity of course, but there is a very interesting 'origon story' of sorts for it in the Sandman book "Endless Nights" about a romance between a Guardian of the Universe and Sto-Oa, Oa's green star, back in the day long before they started to call themselves the Guardians of the Universe.

[LEADER DESSLOK]

I thought Robin was dead.

I had gotten the first Batman comic I had ever owned by a mail order subscription. I'm pretty sure it was BATMAN 261, a 100 Page giant in which Robin appeared in every story except the first one...the only modern day one whereas the others were reprints. Well, maybe he was at school or something. Several issues later, there was still no Robin nor any mention of him. The only thing my then, ten year old brain could conclude was they had killed him off. My idea of death was a little vague back then but I knew that it meant they weren't coming back!

"Those dirty bums," I thought. "That's why I only like the T.V. Batman!"

I later found out that I had started collecting Bats on the tail end of Denny O'neil's now legendary tenure as Bats' writer plus the nature of Robin's absence. Although my outlook matured, my opinion didn't diverge too much after O'neil killed off the original BATWOMAN just a few years later! You can probably imagine my rage over the Jason Todd Phone campaign!

"Those dirty bums, that's why I only like the "real" (Kane Studio) Batman!"

And so it goes...

[Mr. Kerchak]

I thought it was Lois Lane. Pronounced 'Loyz'.
And Tarzan's friend was Paul Darnot. Pronounced, well, darnot. What did I know about French pronunciations.

[dupersuper]

Oh, and I still think Lex is black having just watched the two seasons of the animated Superman

He's really not...they based him on Telly Sevalis, who was a LITTLE darker skinned, but that's all.

Until someone like Bruce Timm comes out and says, "We meant him to be white", I'll continue to believe that the DCAU Lex Luthor was black.

They have; watch the bonus features on the dvd's.

[Sean Walsh]

I started reading DC Comics with CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.

And I understood it.


....I have no misconceptions about anything anymore. :biggrin: :tongue:

(Seriously. No foolin', I really did break into DC with COIE.)

[Apathetic-piggy]

I started reading DC Comics with CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.

And I understood it.


....I have no misconceptions about anything anymore. :biggrin: :tongue:

(Seriously. No foolin', I really did break into DC with COIE.)

In my final year of high school, a freshman I befriended (blasphemy, I know) tried to break in with just that. Trial by fire, I suppose. And if you're not turned away by CoIE being your introduction, well, then you should do fine in the hobby.

And to get back on topic, when I was young I saw a cover in a shop depicting a dead Batman and seriously thought that was the final issue. I just gave up on Superheroes in general after that, since Batman was my introduction to them. Years later he gets vaporized by Darkseid and here I am. Funny how that works out, I guess.

[Teal_Lantern]

When I first saw him on JLU, I thought Elongated man was a knock off of Mr. Fantastic:redface:

[Tequilamokinbrd]

Ok, I'll admit it....when I got into comics, I had no idea Batman was on his 3rd Robin.




My mom started buying single issues of comics around the time I was 7, but the first two comic series where I had every issue from beginning to end were The Death/World Without/Return of Superman & Knightfall around 9 & 10.


Having come into comics fully in this era, I was TOTALLY FLOORED to find out that Dick Grayson grew up, was replaced by Jason Todd only to see Jason killed and replaced by Tim Drake. The whole dynamic of there being 3 Robins the second of which was killed was the cause of much confusion for me as a lad....



I remember there was a scene on a rainy rooftop after Superman died where all the heroes were remembering Superman & trying to honor some of his final wishes or something, and Nightwing mentions knowing him since he was a kid and I was like, "who the hell is this johnny come lately Batman knockoff who's known Superman forever?"

A few moments later, Tim Drake thinks to himself something along the lines of, "I liked Superman too, but if I say anything in front of these guys I'll look like an idiot!" I was like, "since when does Robin of all people not really know Superman that well, especially when Supes found time to hang with this Nightwing guy?"



Oh the funny thoughts I had before I was able to put it all together(which was a lonely effort at the time, since I didn't talk to my comic store guy, didn't have comic friends, and there was no internet much less something like Wikipedia).

I remember at one point I hadn't seen Nightwing called Dick Grayson yet, or at least I didn't notice it, and there was that issue of Knightfall where Batman comes across the Joker and gives him that "JASON TODD!!" beating where he just says jason's name over and over. I remember thinking that Jason Todd was probably the original Robin in the comics and that Dick Grayson was a made up name for the show(even at ten I knew things like that were done), so for awhile I thought the Joker killed the original Robin in the comic book universe.