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Hmmmm....
Agree? Disagree?
Don C.
Agree? Disagree?
Don C.
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Hmm...I didn't know about the Spider-Queen. I knew about DC's Tarantula (sometimes called "spider-man" in captions in his stories). I didn't realize the Shark predated Namor either.
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>I didn't realize the Shark predated Namor either.
Yeah.... that surprised me too. Weird that there were so many aquatic heroes back in the day.
Don C.Comment
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These are cool, but I think "rip-off" is a bit overstated for all of these. Like anything creative there are a lot of instances were ideas are bred from the zeitgeist. Looking back it's sometimes easier to see the end result without being able to know all the details.
I'm not saying I do know all the details, but for example - obviously a US Shield is a very important US symbol - it wasn't invented in comics:
I don't know this for a fact, but it doesn't seem far fetched that people in the media might have been referring to the US Shield metaphorically leading up to the US involvement in WWII.
Another example, when The Punisher came around in the 70s anti-heroes was the IN thing - in movies especially. And it seems to me that the violent Viet Nam vet thirsting for justice was a meme in itself. Even though they came after The Punisher was introduced I don't think "Taxi Driver" or "First Blood" ripped off The Punisher - I think people at that time were thinking about a lot of similar themes and came up with similar ideas.Comment
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>I think "rip-off" is a bit overstated for all of these.
Well.... some of them seem AWFUL close, but yeah; I think there's a bit more to it in many cases. Parrallel development is a big thing for stuff like superheroes, since a lot of the creators drew from the same well. Not just that; but a lot of them worked for different companies, leading to a lot of cross-pollination and a lot of exposure to the same material. (AND a lot of intellectual inbreeding.)
....but that's why I wonder about all the water heroes; SOMETHING must have inspired them, but I can't think of what.
Don C.Comment
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Disagree. All heroes have influences. And I didn't see anything about any of these heroes to say they were blatant "rip offs" of an original concept. That would be like saying every hero in tights ripped off the Phantom. And while we're on the subject of the Phantom, look at his Phantom cave which influenced the creation of the bat cave. It's all relative. Unless your using a copyrighted design, everything is open to being used in different capacities to bring about a new idea. Tights, capes, masks, abilities are always subject to new twists for new heroes. That's the world we live in and why we embrace these characters. They all share common traits.Comment
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I know what you mean, but they already had guys on land, in the sky and in space - to me it makes sense that there would be attempts to try ocean dudes too. It seems like the natural next step. I suppose I maybe oversimplifying that in my head because it already exists, so it's hard for me to suppose it's not natural to exist - if that makes sense.Last edited by Brazoo; Sep 25, '12, 2:43 PM.Comment
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I've always wondered how Marvel Comics got away with the Squadron Supreme? It was so obvious they were rip offs of the Justice League of America. I know they didn't amount to anything but the Squadron Supreme did have a limited series.
Anybody know if DC ever really complained or what was up with that?
[img]http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/2/22664/1413047-squadron_supreme2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i56.tinypic.com/ib9ahg.jpg[/img]More custom Mego madness on Facebook right here...
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>I've always wondered how Marvel Comics got away with the Squadron Supreme? It was so obvious they were rip offs of the Justice League of America.
Heee heee.... yeah. I think they got away with it under the "parody" clause: they were SUPPOSED to be a jab/homage/parody of the DC universe. Same with the Imperial Guard being the Legion of Superheroes.
>I didn't see anything about any of these heroes to say they were blatant "rip offs" of an original concept.
Well.... I do think some of it's real close, (they surprisingly didn't mention the X-Men/Doom Patrol thing) but I hold to the idea that a lot of it is parallel development. You see that a LOT in Marvel and DC; how one does something that emulates the other and even though it's not a direct rip there's a lot of similar underlying concept. No doubt due to the creators being inspired by the same ideas making the rounds.
Like how so many water guys at the same time implies some outside source inspired the creators.
Don C.Comment
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Aren't all Superheroes rip offs of something....Superman is a ripoff of all the Strongmen and musclemen of the time. I don't care if the character is a spawn of another as long as you can spin a new tale with it ,it doesn't matter. Batman came from many sources and still is an amazing character....Last edited by kingdom warrior; Sep 26, '12, 10:03 AM.Comment
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The one that use to blow my mind was The Heap/Man-Thing/Swamp Thing
I guess it originates with a pulp story called "It!", by Theodore Sturgeon. It's weird to me that this every happened - and if you think about it, it seems incredibly surprising that all these versions of half-man half-swamp sludge were all pretty successful.Comment
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>Aren't all Superheroes rip offs of something
Yeah, but ripoff might be kind of a strong term. Kind of. There's a tendency, since the 60's mostly, of superheroes drawing from things that are popular:
Which is why I figure parallel development plays such a big role. There's also been a tendency for superhero books (and their publishers) to be quite insular, which leads to ideas circulating over and over; mixing with bits of new to create things with weird similarities. Add to that how many people work for durned near ALL the superhero publishers at one time or another and you get a lot of recycling:
-Check out #1: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...s-revealed-19/
-#1 and 3: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...s-revealed-16/
-#1: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...s-revealed-60/
-#3: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...s-revealed-27/
....anyhoo; there's a bunch.
Don C.Comment
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Captain Marvel/Shazam! could be a rip-off of Supes but before Supes was there any other hero that had his abilities? There's always been a tenuous lineage between Zorro, The Shadow and Batman. Stan Lee practically admits The HULK is Jeckyll & Hyde in Origins of Marvel Comics. Did the Elongated Man and Plastic Man pre-date Mr. Fantastic? I think Plas did. I hate the unoriginality of some villains. Flash-reverse Flash, Superman-Bizarro, Captain Marvel-Black Adam, Spider-Man-Venom-Carnage, Green Hulk-Red Hulk.Comment
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