Biggest rip off characters?

[KRYPTON INC.]

I like Captain Marvel... Really. There are some very distinct differences between him and Superman, sure... But C'mon... He is inspired by Superman in the most obvious ways, from the general power sets that define them, to the visuals and even at the time the tones of their respective stories. For all the talk of early Seigel and Shuster Supes being a "Bare knuckle social crusader" a lot of their stories are also very much goofy, comedic stories in the same vein as many of Captain Marvel's stories.

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

come on now lord of the dead! there are differences sure, but CM is most definitely a Superman rip! like everything if you change 10% you can argue that it is something totally different, but and as you have agreed to " everything is ripped off from something else." if there was no Superman ! these guys would never exist probably! the square jawed, noble, cape fluttering in the wind dude( the dude even has a flipping FAMILY like supes!( a crazy ass uncle but still a family!) Supes is the archetype where all these dudes come from, even CM! i wouldn't put it past Fawcett that they used one of Supes weakness."Magic" jto empower CM just to hit that home!its nothing against CM ( though i personally dont like him) but it says everything to how much Supes has impacted all other characters in comics!

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

To be fair, Superman's "Family" and all that came with it was part of Weisinger's reign on the books and he had been instrumental in crafting Cap with Otto Binder. So it's not surprising that suddenly we get Supergirl and Super-Monkey and Super-Cat, ect during that time.

Still, my final word on this is that I'm pretty sure that, like a lot of the characters created soon after his birth on the newstands, "make me a character like Superman" called out from behind an editor's desk is more likely the impetus for Captain Marvel's creation than some lucky coincidence that they share so many similarities.

 

[Anubis]

come on now lord of the dead! there are differences sure, but CM is most definitely a Superman rip! like everything if you change 10% you can argue that is is something totally different but and as you have agreed to " everything is ripped off from something else." if there was no Superman ! these guys would never exist probably! the square jawed, noble, cape fluttering dude ( the dude even has a flipping FAMILY like supes!( a crazy ass uncle but still a family!) Supe is the archetype where all these dudes come even CM! i wouldn't put it past Fawcett that they used one of Supes weakness. magic just to hit that home!it nothing against CM ( though i personally dont like him) but it says to everything how much Supes has impacted all other characters in comics!

Well yeah, EVERYBODY is a rip of him in one way or another. As you said, he is the Superhero archetype. Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, etc, etc. But singling out Captain Marvel as a straight up rip is just boos**t. I'd say he has just enough of his own thing going on that he is his own character. As much as any superhero can be that isn't Superman that is.

Also, Supes Magic weakness is fairly recent. And Billy had the family first. If Mary was created around the same time as Billy, which was the 40's, and Supergirl didn't show up until like 58, then who ripped off who?

 

[KevanG]

Even Superman was a rip off of a similar pulp fiction hero, at first anyway. He had super strength, was an adventurer and a few other similarities, they even took the lifting the car over the head pose from him for Action Comics #1.

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

hahahaha you just like that dude! i get it! i get like that when people tell me the Doom patrol was inspired by Xmen and DP sucks!!(i compare DP to liking some indy band and i dont usually like indy bands!)
I aint mad at you! and okay! as you and Krypton mentioned CM had the family 1st!
but everybody give Supes a hard time for having a DOG yet i never hear anybody losing their mind over CM having a Bunny wearing his outfit!

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Supes is a riff on Hercules, who's kinda a riff on Samson, who's kinda a riff on Gilgamesh... IT'S SUPECEPTION!!!

 

[KevanG]

hahahaha you just like that dude! i get it! i get like that when people tell me the Doom patrol was inspired by Xmen and DP sucks!!(i compare DP to liking some indy band and i dont usually like indy bands!)
I aint mad at you! and okay! as you and Krypton mentioned CM had the family 1st!
but everybody give Supes a hard time for having a DOG yet i never hear anybody losing their mind over CM having a Bunny wearing his outfit!

I'm cool with Krypto. Who doesn't want a dog that can destroy a tank?

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

Supes is a riff on Hercules, who's kinda a riff on Samson, who's kinda a riff on Gilgamesh... IT'S SUPECEPTION!!!

and KRYPTO IS THE DOG!! hehe I love that dude uh dog!

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I'm cool with Krypto. Who doesn't want a dog that can destroy a tank?

Umm... What about when he wants to hump your leg though, Kev?

 

[KevanG]

That's what Kryptonite is for. Of course if he breaks out the heat vision then you're ****ed no matter what.

 

[Havok83]

These two pairs are pretty apparent

Spoiler

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Starlin has straight up admitted that Thanos was a riff on Darkseid. Originally Thanos was going to be thin and totally cerebral in nature. Since his Titan Eternals are all so Kirby-rific his editor just plain told him, "If you're gonna steal from the New Gods why not steal the only good one?" And so Thanos was born.

Can I honestly say that I'm not sure if Bumblebee was always a Wasp rip off? Can those in the know tell me if she could always shrink?

 

[SuperFerret]

And "winners" are always superior?

Academy Awards for best picture are always your favorite film of the year?

Titanic is the #1 box office film of all time so its the best film of all time?

Batman beat Superman in TDKR so he's the better superhero?

I think "rip-offs" by definition are of worse quality than the original. That's where the term comes from.

If it's better than the original I'd say it would be considered a "creative re-imagining" or an "improvement."

One of these answered my question (and is also wrong, but that's a different post), the other is nonsense.

 

[Gillis]

I am always surprised how many times Punisher has been ripped off before. I would suggest that the Frank Castle punisher is something unique, but yet we have Vigilante and Scourge trying to be Punisher while adding very little to the conversation. That would be my vote right here.

 

[SuperFerret]

The Punisher is basically Death Wish in comics.

 

[random_havoc]

I am always surprised how many times Punisher has been ripped off before. I would suggest that the Frank Castle punisher is something unique, but yet we have Vigilante and Scourge trying to be Punisher while adding very little to the conversation. That would be my vote right here.

Welcome to the Hype Gillis

 

[Feiry mask]

Anyone from squadron supreme since their all based on DC characters.

Almost all the main watchmen lineup i guess, they were based off of original Charlton comics characters.

 

[random_havoc]

Anyone from squadron supreme since their all based on DC characters.

Almost all the main watchmen lineup i guess, they were based off of original Charlton comics characters.

Yeah I'm going to use the Squadron Supreme, but the Charlton characters I won't. Since they were owned by DC who gave Moore and Gibbon permission to copy them just doesn't seem fair to call them a ripoff

 

[vbar1]

Nothing to do with ripped off characters, just a bit more of Rob Liefeld hating lol
http://www.progressiveboink.com/2012/4/21/2960508/worst-rob-liefeld-drawings

 

[random_havoc]

Hey all, here's the finished product!

http://comicsbulletin.com/columns/7040/top-ten-image-comics-superhero-ripoffs/

I didn't end up using most of your fine suggestions because as I went I found the most shameless ripoff characters were almost entirely from Image comics so I made the whole list about Image ripoff characters. Give it a glance over you'll see what I mean. It's pretty horrendous.

Let me know what you think

 

[Namor ll]

Nothing to do with ripped off characters, just a bit more of Rob Liefeld hating lol
http://www.progressiveboink.com/2012/4/21/2960508/worst-rob-liefeld-drawings

i just died a little LMAO!!!

"What the **** must go through Liefeld’s head when he’s drawing a character? "Yep, crew cut, I’ll put Boba Fett’s rocket on his back. Hmm, oh, GOTTA go with the metal shoulderpads and enormous Run-DMC gold rope chain. Okay, belt…uh…pouchespouchespouchespouchespouchespouches leg things, oh, KNEEEEEEPADSSSSSS yessss." In conclusion, I hate Rob Liefeld and he should be thrown in a well."

 

[Silicon Surfer]

Captain Marvel came first thus Superman is the rip-off character. The original Vigilante character was from the Golden Age and was a western character. The second Vigilante debuted in Teen Titans Annual number 2. This was September 1983 while the Punisher debuted in 1974. However the question is whether the Vigilante 2 is a rip-off of the Punisher or a successor to the Vigilante 1 character. In either case the Vigilante 1 character long predates Punisher. Vigilante 1 had the same fundamental motivation as the other two characters in that it was his father that was killed.

 

[Brainiac 8]

More Superman ripoffs:

Heck, his name is Kallark lol.

Sort of a joke character but his entire origin was Superman's, down to being found by a farmer couple in a field after his ship crashed. (he was a Skrull though it turned out)

 

[Duke]

Worth mentioning:

Spoiler

Surprisingly Marvel wins this round.

Personally, I like Aquaman a lot better than Namor.