Sunday, March 02, 2008
7 comic book charecters that were based on real life
I wrote this up and submitted it to cracked.com but they apparently were not interested so i decided to post it here instead.
7 comic characters that were based on real life persons
Shadowcat
Who is she? Shadowcat, aka Katherine Pryde, is one of the x-men, a team of mutant superheroes made popular in the Marvel series of comics and movies. She has the mutant ability to walk through walls and disable electronics at a touch.
Who was she based on? Katherine Pryde, a woman who went to school with Marvel Artist John Byrne and went on to become an internationally famous artist in her own right.
What happened? Mr. Byrne liked her name and asked if he could use it in a comic. At first, the young Katherine Pryde thought nothing would come of it. Then years later she got a package containing the first hand drawn Shadowcat and a signed comic book with her first appearance. As the character’s popularity grew, so did her own. After several action figures, a record, and countless nerds tracking her down, she abbreviated her name to K.D. Pryde to avoid fans asking for her autograph.
Tony Twist
Who is he? Tony Twist was one of Spawn’s enemies in the comic series. Without getting into any legally damaging situations, the fictional Tony Twist was a bad guy.
Who was He based on? Todd Mcfarlane based the character on “Anthony Twist”, a NHL player with a reputation for violence and intimidation.
What happened? Mr. Twist did not appreciate his likeness being used in a comic in a negative way and sued for 15 million dollars.
Captain America
Who was he? Steve Rodgers, a young man who was injected with a chemical substance in 1943. This turned him into a stronger, faster “super soldier” who went on to fight the Nazis and help win WW2.
Who was he based on? This is one of those “Too weird to be true tales”. At the time that “Captain America” was being written, the U.S. military was actually experimenting with chemicals to turn men into “super soldiers”. The chemical involved was called “Catabolized Amphetamines” or “CAT”. It did make soldiers who took it stronger, faster, and more reactive than those who did not. It had the unfortunate side effect of driving them completely insane. The recipie for CAT was locked in a vault for decades. Later on, the military would try again except that instead of catabolizing the amphetamines, they would add a methyl group to it. The methylated amphetamines were much easier to make, but were extremely addictive and caused insanity. The compound was declared “top secret” and locked away.
What happened? Someone thought it would be a good idea to open classified military vaults from decades ago, and methylated amphetamines, or meth, became commonplace.
Lianne Cartman
Who is she? She is the hermaphroditic promiscuous parent of Eric Cartman on Southpark, who often poses for “Crackwhore” magazine.
Who was she based on? She was based on Trey Parker’s former Fiancee, named Lianne.
What happened? Just a wild guess, but having a hermaphrodite promiscuous drug addict named after you means it’s over.
Mr. Burns
Who is he? The out of touch reclusive billionaire on the Simpsons.
Who was he based on? The out of touch reclusive Norwegian Billionaire Frederick Olson.
What happened? Nothing. He probably never watched the show.
Lois Lane
Who is she? Superman’s girlfriend and later wife.
Who was she based on? Joanne Carter, a model hired by the creators to provide the body image for Lois Lane.
What happened? She married one of the creators, Jerry Siegel. In a strange turn of events, she was denied any rights to the character of Lois Lane and any other characters, despite the fact that she was the basis of the character and her deceased husband had created them. On April 16 1999, She and her daughter were granted 50% of all rights related to superman or related charecters in any and all medium.
Betty Boop
Who is she? An animated 1930’s animated sex symbol
Who was she based on? Helen Kane, a singer and actress popular at the time.
What happened? Helen Kane sued the producers of Betty Boop, claiming that they had stolen her “Boop-oop-a-doop” line. Her career had gone downhill since the 30’s, and Paramount had promoted Betty Boop over her. She eventually lost the case because of two facts. Firstly, Betty Boop was quite similar to Clara Bow, another actress of that era. Secondly, a black singer known as “Baby Ester” had beaten them both by years.
7 comic characters that were based on real life persons
Shadowcat
Who is she? Shadowcat, aka Katherine Pryde, is one of the x-men, a team of mutant superheroes made popular in the Marvel series of comics and movies. She has the mutant ability to walk through walls and disable electronics at a touch.
Who was she based on? Katherine Pryde, a woman who went to school with Marvel Artist John Byrne and went on to become an internationally famous artist in her own right.
What happened? Mr. Byrne liked her name and asked if he could use it in a comic. At first, the young Katherine Pryde thought nothing would come of it. Then years later she got a package containing the first hand drawn Shadowcat and a signed comic book with her first appearance. As the character’s popularity grew, so did her own. After several action figures, a record, and countless nerds tracking her down, she abbreviated her name to K.D. Pryde to avoid fans asking for her autograph.
Tony Twist
Who is he? Tony Twist was one of Spawn’s enemies in the comic series. Without getting into any legally damaging situations, the fictional Tony Twist was a bad guy.
Who was He based on? Todd Mcfarlane based the character on “Anthony Twist”, a NHL player with a reputation for violence and intimidation.
What happened? Mr. Twist did not appreciate his likeness being used in a comic in a negative way and sued for 15 million dollars.
Captain America
Who was he? Steve Rodgers, a young man who was injected with a chemical substance in 1943. This turned him into a stronger, faster “super soldier” who went on to fight the Nazis and help win WW2.
Who was he based on? This is one of those “Too weird to be true tales”. At the time that “Captain America” was being written, the U.S. military was actually experimenting with chemicals to turn men into “super soldiers”. The chemical involved was called “Catabolized Amphetamines” or “CAT”. It did make soldiers who took it stronger, faster, and more reactive than those who did not. It had the unfortunate side effect of driving them completely insane. The recipie for CAT was locked in a vault for decades. Later on, the military would try again except that instead of catabolizing the amphetamines, they would add a methyl group to it. The methylated amphetamines were much easier to make, but were extremely addictive and caused insanity. The compound was declared “top secret” and locked away.
What happened? Someone thought it would be a good idea to open classified military vaults from decades ago, and methylated amphetamines, or meth, became commonplace.
Lianne Cartman
Who is she? She is the hermaphroditic promiscuous parent of Eric Cartman on Southpark, who often poses for “Crackwhore” magazine.
Who was she based on? She was based on Trey Parker’s former Fiancee, named Lianne.
What happened? Just a wild guess, but having a hermaphrodite promiscuous drug addict named after you means it’s over.
Mr. Burns
Who is he? The out of touch reclusive billionaire on the Simpsons.
Who was he based on? The out of touch reclusive Norwegian Billionaire Frederick Olson.
What happened? Nothing. He probably never watched the show.
Lois Lane
Who is she? Superman’s girlfriend and later wife.
Who was she based on? Joanne Carter, a model hired by the creators to provide the body image for Lois Lane.
What happened? She married one of the creators, Jerry Siegel. In a strange turn of events, she was denied any rights to the character of Lois Lane and any other characters, despite the fact that she was the basis of the character and her deceased husband had created them. On April 16 1999, She and her daughter were granted 50% of all rights related to superman or related charecters in any and all medium.
Betty Boop
Who is she? An animated 1930’s animated sex symbol
Who was she based on? Helen Kane, a singer and actress popular at the time.
What happened? Helen Kane sued the producers of Betty Boop, claiming that they had stolen her “Boop-oop-a-doop” line. Her career had gone downhill since the 30’s, and Paramount had promoted Betty Boop over her. She eventually lost the case because of two facts. Firstly, Betty Boop was quite similar to Clara Bow, another actress of that era. Secondly, a black singer known as “Baby Ester” had beaten them both by years.
