Famous Character Rip-Offs

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Say it ain't so, Joe...

But it is.

Here is an article showing how some of our more beloved characters are actually rip-offs:

6 Famous Characters You Didn't Know Were Shameless Rip Offs

By Juan Arteaga

April 29, 2009

Cracked

I am going to go ahead and spoil it and give the characters, but the article is devastatingly precise.

X-Men --> Doom Patrol

Superman --> Gladiator

The Lion King --> Kimba The White Lion

Cobra --> Hydra

The Green Lantern --> Lensmen

Batman --> Zorro

Dayaamm!

Michael

[emb021]

X-Men --> Doom Patrol

Superman --> Gladiator

The Lion King --> Kimba The White Lion

Cobra --> Hydra

The Green Lantern --> Lensmen

Batman --> Zorro

As a comic book fan, let me comment.

* X-Men/Doom Patrol. Long debated. Yes, there are a lot of similiarities. HOWEVER, as they came out very close to one another, probably NOT influenced. You can't get a whole comic out in just 3 months.

* Superman/Gladiator. This as long be talked about in the comic world. HOWEVER, i've heard recently that the claim is a little dubious. Apparently Wylie's work was really NOT as well known when it came out, and its doubtful that Siegel/Shuster had read him, tho they were sf fans. The claim of influence came much later, prehaps by someone trying to cash in.

* Lion King/Kimba. Also long debated. Just don't know about this.

* Cobra/Hydra. Ehhhh, think this is dubious.

* Green Lantern/Lensmen. Maybe a connection.

* Batman/Zorro. Buzzz, sorry, but the Batman was more inspired by The Shadow. This has been shown recently by several articles in the current Shadow reprints. They even based the first Batman story on a Shadow novel and such.

Dial B for Blog had a series on the secret origins of Batman. Here is the first one: http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/389/

think is, a lot of things are influenced by other things. How many know of the influences of Doc Savage on Superman? Or the link between the Fantastic Four and Challengers of the Unknown (both done by Jack Kirby...)

[Chris Grieb]

Both Michaels; Michael B.; Your post has lots of information however the whole question will not keep me up nights.

[kiaer.ts]

Kimba the White Lion is the earliest TV show I can remember watching other than the Six Million Dollar Man and Star Trek. I have not seen The Lion King, but remember thinking at the time it debuted that it was obviously the same story. I do recommend Kimba the White Lion for young children. It is available in English on DVD U.S. format. It has an "environmentalist" premise, but since the animals are "rational" in essence it teaches rational self-defense and personal responsibility.

Watch YouTube here.

[emb021]

Both Michaels; Michael B.; Your post has lots of information however the whole question will not keep me up nights.

Well, it should!

There are a lot of similiarites between a lot of characters.

DC Comics used to go after other comic companies for creating characters too like Superman. One of the first ones was Wonderman (I believe only one comic came out with him). The publisher of that one lost the case when the writer-artist, Will Eisner, admitted in court that he created the character in the style of Superman at the request of the publisher.

Another character they went after many years later for being too similiar was Captain Marvel. But while they might have had similiar powers, their origins was VERY different (Superman- alien sent to earth as a child, hence his superpowers; Captain Marvel- boy given magic word that transformed him into adult with superpowers).

Nowadays there are many Superman analogues out there.

DC Comics almost sued pulp publisher Thrilling when they came out with The Black Bat, whom DC saw as being too similiar to Batman. But they didn't when one of their writer/editors pointed out that the character came out too soon after Batman to have been a ripoff, the character had to have been in development independently of Batman.

And besides, Batman ripped off elements of The Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro, and other characters.

[Reidy]

Francisco d'Anconia --> Scarlet Pimpernel

Ellsworth Toohey --> Barkilphedro (in The Man Who Laughs)

The Joker (physically, at least) --> Gwynplaine (in The Man Who Laughs)

Edited May 6, 2009 by Reidy