what superheroes are ripoffs of previously created characters?

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Wasn't the Shadow kind of borrowed from Agent 13? (And wasn't HE a take on "The Man In Black;" an obscure character from the late 1800's?)

And for your perusal, here's a few more:

6 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Were Shameless Rip Offs | Cracked.com

The Doom Patrol/X-Men thing makes me think: Marvel and DC have done that a LOT, each coming up with an idea that's either similar (if not completely the same) as the other. It's funny how often it's not a ripoff, but weird parallel development. (Probably 'cos so many of the creators move in the same circles and partake of the same interests.)

I was gonna post a bunch of links, but there's so many you might as well check 'em out yourselves:

Comic Book Legends Revealed History | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources

Don C.

[StrangeVisitor]

Sentry- Superman-Shazam
Vigilante-Punisher
Hawkeye-Green Arrow
Bucky-Robin
Quicksilver-Flash

Not only did Marvel's Quicksilver swipe Flash's superpower he took his name from the guy later known as Max Mercury (Quality Comics).

[aquatroy]

The original Green Arrow concept is a blatant Batman rip-off.

[The Toyroom]

But Captain America came after The Shield (who didn't have a shield, but was the first patriotic super hero)s

Ahhh...but The Shield DID have a shield on his chest....which Captain America ripped off for his original shield. Timely asked MLJ to change it, which they did, to the round shield in issue #2.

[thunderbolt]

The Doom Patrol borrowed heavily from the Fantastic Four. Disfunctional group, 4 members, indestructible superstrong guy with an attitude problem (Robotman/ Thing), invisible member (Chief((behind the scenes "invisible"/Sue Storm) energy based flying member (Negative Man/Human Torch) and the stretching member (Elastigirl/Mr. Fantastic). The Doom Patrol swapped around the team roles a bit, but the similarities are there. The Chief also had a arch nemesis from his younger days in The Brain.

[WannabeMego]

Doc Savage was definitely ripped off by Superman. First name is Clark, has a Fortress of Solitude, indestructible.
Batman borrowed from the Shadow. Alter ego is a well to do socialite, dresses in black, wants to strike fear in the hearts of criminals, and later trained in the orient.

I'm glad someone mentioned this...

Let's not forget that Doc Savage is the Man of Bronze and Superman is the Man of Steel...

To me, these rip-offs are absolutely blatant.

[Blue Meanie]

The Doom Patrol borrowed heavily from the Fantastic Four. Disfunctional group, 4 members, indestructible superstrong guy with an attitude problem (Robotman/ Thing), invisible member (Chief((behind the scenes "invisible"/Sue Storm) energy based flying member (Negative Man/Human Torch) and the stretching member (Elastigirl/Mr. Fantastic). The Doom Patrol swapped around the team roles a bit, but the similarities are there. The Chief also had a arch nemesis from his younger days in The Brain.

Wrong...Doom Patrol for years has been compared/linked to the X-Men. I'm not sure which came out first, X-Men or Doom Patrol, but I do remember articles being written about the comparisons between the 2 teams in Comic Journal and CBG.

As for the Fantastic Four...Comparisons have been drawn between the Fantastic Four and the Challengers of The Unknown...and isn't it coincidental that Jack Kirby was on both books.

[The Toyroom]

Wrong...Doom Patrol for years has been compared/linked to the X-Men. I'm not sure which came out first, X-Men or Doom Patrol, but I do remember articles being written about the comparisons between the 2 teams in Comic Journal and CBG.

Doom Patrol debuted in June '63.....X-Men in Sept. '63. Considering that's only a 3-month difference I'm not sure that was enough lead time for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to rip off Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani.

[thunderbolt]

Wrong...Doom Patrol for years has been compared/linked to the X-Men. I'm not sure which came out first, X-Men or Doom Patrol, but I do remember articles being written about the comparisons between the 2 teams in Comic Journal and CBG.

As for the Fantastic Four...Comparisons have been drawn between the Fantastic Four and the Challengers of The Unknown...and isn't it coincidental that Jack Kirby was on both books.

Not sure why that makes my comparrison wrong. The DP and XMen books were in production at exactly the same time, so any similarities are just coinkidink. Arnold Drake used the FF as an inspiration/template for the Patrol, and If I wanted to dig around I could fing the interview where he stated it, but I have better things to do.

[Blue Meanie]

Doom Patrol debuted in June '63.....X-Men in Sept. '63. Considering that's only a 3-month difference I'm not sure that was enough lead time for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to rip off Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani.

Now your gonna make me have to dig out my old issues of the Journal and CBG I know that I have seen more than one article about the comparisons between the 2.

I can also say that I've never heard of a comparison between the FF and Doom Patrol...and I've been collecting for 30 years.

Doom Patrol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[BlackKnight]

sept 63 is pretty right on for X-men..., was looking at some stuff a few weeks back..., I dunno Crap About the Doom Patrol outside of the characters in the Group.

[The Toyroom]

Now your gonna make me have to dig out my old issues of the Journal and CBG I know that I have seen more than one article about the comparisons between the 2.

Oh there's always been comparisons made between the two because of their close debut dates.....but I also think because their debuts WERE so close it's probably more coincidental than anything else.

Similar stories have been around as far as Man-Thing and Swamp Thing's 1st appearances too...but those seem to be a little more hazy/shady considering that Len Wein (Swamp Thing's creator) and Gerry Conway (Man-Thing's 1st scripter) were roomates at the time.

[Blue Meanie]

Here's a quote from Arnold Drake:

"...I’ve become more and more convinced that (Stan Lee) knowingly stole The X-Men from The Doom Patrol. Over the years I learned that an awful lot of writers and artists were working surreptitiously between (Marvel and DC). Therefore from when I first brought the idea into (DC editor) Murray Boltinoff’s office, it would’ve been easy for someone to walk over and hear that (I was) working on a story about a bunch of reluctant superheroes who are led by a man in a wheelchair. So over the years I began to feel that Stan had more lead time than I realized. He may well have had four, five or even six months."

Right from the Creator of Doom Patrol. Think he was a little ticked considering what X-Men has gone on to become for Marvel??

Either way...Doom Patrol is still a great book. All I can say is I wish that junkie version from the 90's never existed after issue 19 (I think that was when it got popular for DC...made the book unrecognizable) Kupperburg was doing fine on the book before it became that Vertigo styled book.

[fallensaviour]

Doc Savage was definitely ripped off by Superman. First name is Clark, has a Fortress of Solitude, indestructible.
Batman borrowed from the Shadow. Alter ego is a well to do socialite, dresses in black, wants to strike fear in the hearts of criminals, and later trained in the orient.

Well said!!!
I think most of todays heros owe alot to Doc,Shadow and the phantom.
Plain and simple.

[ctc]

>I also think because their debuts WERE so close it's probably more coincidental than anything else.

That's been the consensus for a while now.

>it would’ve been easy for someone to walk over and hear that (I was) working on a story about a bunch of reluctant superheroes who are led by a man in a wheelchair.

That's possible too.... Someone could have overheard something, seen something, and come up with the idea AND a case of source amnesia. I think this happened a fair bit between companies. (Especially given how many people worked for both, or assoiated with each other outside of work.) I think it's led to a lot of simialr; but not similar enough to really be called "copies" kind of books. I also think some of it's intentional; but from this end it's impossible to say exactly what. Some examples:

-I know Crisis (the first one) was intended as an answer to Secret Wars, but ended up going somewhere completely different.
-likewise Crystar and Amethyst have a lot of similarities, but are different enough to not be ripoffs.
-shortly after Ambush Bug realized he was a comic book character She-Hulk did the same.
-The Marvel Zombies/Blackest Night thing has been mentioned, and both are based around the "dead superhero" idea. They get there in different ways, although I can really see Blackest Night ending they way they implied Marvel Zombies would in the second series. ('Course it looks like Marvel is planning a more direct rip X-Men book. "If it's good enough for the competition to steal, it's good enough for us to steal BACK!")
-The Watchmen and Squadron Supreme minis both examine similar ideas. (Although Squadrom was MUCH more superhero about it.)
-and this:
Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #140 | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources

Sometimes it's notably intentional:

-The Squadron Supreme was supposed to be a parody of the DC universe; notably the Justice League.
-Likewise, the Shi'ar Imperial Guard is a parody of the Legion of Superheroes.
-and these:
Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #118 | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Legends Revealed #203 | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources
>Similar stories have been around as far as Man-Thing and Swamp Thing's 1st appearances too

Here ya go. Turns out they're BOTH ripoffs:

Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #3! | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources

And if you REALLY want to compare superhero similarities, bon appetite!:
The Atlas Archives

Don C.