Characters That First Appeared in Surprising Places

[berk]

It surprises me that people think of him as anything but. I assume you mean Daredevil? Thinking about it, I can see why some people would think that, but it'd never occurred to me before.

And on a similar note, Deathbird, who would grow into a major X-Men villain over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, made her debut in the pages of Ms. Marvel as well! While it is Mystique who was most commonly linked to Carol Danvers in '80s X-Men issues because of an old hatred she harboured toward Carol, I liked Deathbird's warrior-like rivalry with Carol most in that first solo title.

While I don't read Daredevil, I was under the impression that the Kingpin had consistently been a Daredevil villain in the past couple of decades. It was mainly the Spider-Man animated series from the 90s that re-established the Kingpin as a major antagonist for Spidey. Both the times that Daredevil has appeared in film (the Affleck film and the Incredible Hulk TV Series special), he is pitted against the Kingpin as the main villain.

Yeah, that's what I was getting at: readers my age or even substantially younger, grew up thinking of the Kingpin as a Spider-Man villain, but I imagine that anyone who started reading Marvel in the 80s might see him as a Daredevil viallin, since he became so important in Miller's DD series. Maybe it's changed back again now, I don't know; I don't know enough about what's happened since the 80s to say one way or the other.

[foxley]

Ambush Bug first appeared in DC Comics Presents #52, as a relatively silly villain.

[Shellhead]

Rogue first appeared in Avengers Annual #10. She looked middle-aged in that issue and seemed 10 years younger when she showed up in X-Men, but that might have just been a difference between artists.

[Romero]

I had assumed the original poster meant "well done" as "overcooked."

Like, "Shouldn't we take that steak off the grill and toss it? It's--it's pretty well done."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I got this new 'X-Force' sauce that'll make it taste good as new."

I actually meant pretty well OVER WITH, or finished, which was a better choice of words, LOL.

Even at 16 years old, I was not a real Liefeld fan and was pissed at what he did to one of my favorite books!

[Scott Harris]

Quick, guess which major DC character first appeared in this comic:




Yes, it's... Zatanna!

[Rob Allen]

Some other heroes that debuted in their own mags include (in no particular order):

The Flash, National (1940)

Well, "Flash Comics" was an anthology, and I think they decided on the anthology title first and then decided to create a character by that name. When the character proved popular, he got his own book, All-Flash.

In Flash Comics, he wasn't even on all the covers - they alternated covers between Flash and Hawkman.

[Phil Maurice]

Well, "Flash Comics" was an anthology, and I think they decided on the anthology title first and then decided to create a character by that name. . .

So we really dodged a bullet there (heh), since the lead feature could easily have been a guy who, clad only in a raincoat, opens it from time to time to unleash his own brand of "justice": The Flash!

[foxley]

Crazy Quilt, best known as Batman (or, more specifically, a Robin villain) made his first appearance battling the Boy Commandos in Boy Commandos #15.

[Reptisaurus!]

New Teen Titans

In DC Comics Presents, which ain't all that strange since the original Teen Titans first showed up in Brave and the Bold.

This Message Brought to You by the Team-Up Book Appreciation Society of Eastern Iowa.

[MichikoS]

A few more surprising first appearances...with astonishing longevity!

Guardians of the Galaxy - Marvel Super Heroes #18 (January, 1969; also introduces the alien race the Badoon)

Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow (as a cold war spy femme fatale villain vs. Iron Man) - Tales of Suspense #52

Nick Fury (superspy with eyepatch) - Strange Tales #135

Adam Warlock (as "Him") - Fantastic Four #66

The High Evolutionary - Thor #134

Michi

[Roquefort Raider]

First origin of a design rather than an actual character: Roy Thomas' and Barry Smith's version of Conan first appeared in Chamber of Darkness #4 (although he was called "Starr the slayer" for that story).