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00:00Although comic books are a deeply entertaining medium of storytelling, some of the art can look
00:05preposterous out of context. If you don't know anything about the Guardians of the Galaxy,
00:09you'll be baffled if you pick up a random issue and see a drawing depicting a sentient tree and
00:14a gun-toting raccoon fighting a space gorilla. As ridiculous as that sounds, comic fans understand
00:20panels like this because it makes sense in context. But sometimes, even if you understand
00:25that context, there are certain comic book panels which have become infamous due to either abysmal
00:30artwork, embarrassing typos, or hilarious continuity errors. And that's what we're here to look at
00:35today as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 hilariously bad comic book panels
00:40you won't believe exist. 10. Is She Decapitated? Dark Knight 3, Master Race No. 6
00:48At the end of Frank Miller's Dark Knight 3 No. 6, there's a side story where Batgirl and her
00:53sidekicks face off against Lara, the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman.
00:57Like most of Miller's work, the issue is filled with over-sexualized art of female characters,
01:02and this is most notable in the opening image, which depicts Wonder Woman and Lara hunched over
01:07at an awkward angle to highlight their clenched butt cheeks. Amazingly, this isn't actually the
01:12worst aspect of this panel, because if you look at Lara's head, you'll notice that it's lobbed back
01:17at a 90-degree angle. I know that she has superpowers up the wazoo, but I'm pretty sure that Lara's
01:22skill set doesn't include being able to turn her spine into liquid. It's genuinely baffling how a
01:28professional illustrator could mess up this badly. Drawing dynamic action or authentic facial
01:33expressions is definitely tough, but on the other hand, drawing a person so that her head looks like
01:37it's attached to her bloody body shouldn't prove challenging to anyone over the age of six.
01:41And Lara's design is so distracting that readers probably didn't notice the other grotesque artwork
01:46on the page. 9. Captain America Screws Up His Own Quip
01:50Tales of Suspense 92
01:52Have you ever tried to say a clever comeback but just screwed it up? Although this can definitely
01:57be embarrassing, you probably shouldn't worry about it. After all, this sort of thing can happen to
02:01the best of us. I mean, Captain America is the leader of the bloomin' Avengers, and even he's been
02:05known to mess up a zinger every once in a while. You see, while on patrol, Cap discovered Nick Fury was
02:10being targeted by an android called the Mechno Assassin, which for the record is one of the
02:14worst supervillain names I've ever heard. But despite hitting the robotic hitman with everything
02:19he's got, the Mechno Assassin batters the super soldier senseless. Just as Captain America looks
02:25like he's about to give up, he says the line,
02:27Only one of us is gonna walk out of here, and it won't be me!
02:32Right, okay, so instead of sounding like a badass, Cap apparently confesses to suffering from confidence
02:38issues mid-fight. Superheroes like Iron Man and Spider-Man have a knack for doing killer put-downs,
02:44but it's obvious that Captain America needs to work on his material based on this embarrassing exchange.
02:498. Lend Grim Reaper a Hand
02:51Avengers number 160
02:52The Grim Reaper may not be a well-known supervillain, but he's easy to recognize since he's got a bloody
02:58scythe in place of his right hand. Now, if you met a guy with a reaping tool jutting out of his forearm,
03:03that seems like the type of thing that you definitely remember. Somehow, this detail escaped the attention
03:07of the creative team behind Avengers number 160. While the Grim Reaper battles Earth's mightiest
03:12heroes in this issue, he pulls off his mask to reveal that he's Eric Williams, the brother of
03:17the Avengers member Wonder Man. We then cut to a panel of the Reaper putting his mask back on with
03:22two regular hands, with his scythe nowhere to be seen. Wonder Man then batters the Reaper into
03:28submission, oblivious that his brother's hand has just magically grown back. If you really want to
03:33play devil's advocate, you could claim the penciler, the colorist, and the inker of this comic
03:37suddenly developed amnesia at this point, causing them to forget that the character was one-handed.
03:42However, this makes this flub all the more bewildering, since the Grim Reaper is drawn with
03:45one hand on the same page.
03:487. That Face
03:50Countdown number 36
03:52Countdown is regarded as one of the worst DC events in history. The dialogue is shoddy,
03:58the characterization is unforgivable, and the story is impossible to follow unless you've read 40
04:02spinoffs which are all equally as dire. Countdown also contains so much woeful artwork that we could
04:08have easily filled this entire list with entries from that series alone, but if we had to choose
04:13one example, it would have to be the legendarily awful panel from Countdown number 36. In this issue,
04:19Mary Marvel has become corrupted by Black Adam's power, which encourages her to seek guidance from
04:24magic wielder Zatanna. But after she enters Zatanna's domain, Mary becomes unhinged and grabs at a magic rod,
04:30hoping that it will amplify her magical properties. As the rod's energy surges through her body,
04:35Mary's face is filled with a… well, I don't know what, to be honest. Although Mary is meant to
04:40appear elated, she looks as if she's gotten a little too excited, if you know what I mean,
04:44and that she's following that with a side of bath salts. Because her goofy smile and the lack of
04:48features across her face, this artwork doesn't look bad, just looks incomplete and really weird as a
04:53result.
04:546. What's Spider-Man's name again?
04:56Amazing Spider-Man number 3
04:58After creating or co-creating over 600 comic books, you may wonder how Stan Lee was able to
05:03keep track of them all. Well, the simple answer is, he didn't. Despite his influence on the comic
05:08world, Stan the Man has made it clear that he wasn't blessed with a good memory. In Amazing Spider-Man
05:13number 1, Lee referred to our titular hero as Peter Palmer at one point. In another issue,
05:18he called Bruce Banner Bob, forcing him to retcon the character's name. However, you have to cut Stan Lee
05:23some slack. If you had to devise a new character every week for decades at a time, he'd likely slip
05:28up as well. However, it's hard to justify the blunder in Amazing Spider-Man number 3. This issue
05:33is iconic since it debuted one of Spider-Man's greatest foes, Dr. Octopus. But unfortunately,
05:38Otto Octavius' grand reveal is ruined due to a small but unmistakable spelling mistake.
05:43When Spider-Man confronts Doc Ock for the first time, the tentacled supervillain refers to our hero as
05:48Superman. What makes this gaff funnier is the fact that Stan Lee placed a hyphen in Spider-Man's name
05:54so readers wouldn't mix his name up with Superman. How embarrassing and deeply ironic.
05:59Number 5, Stephen Hawking, JLA number 38. After a part of the Justice League's watchtower blows up,
06:05Batman and the other members do everything they can to stop the entire facility from exploding.
06:10While making his way through the watchtower, Bats discovers that he's been infiltrated by a
06:14supervillain called Prometheus. Prometheus' helmet is designed so it can download information
06:18directly into his brain with the flick of a switch. And since Prometheus has loaded the
06:22device with data on the world's best martial artists and gymnasts, not even Batman can match
06:27his physical skills. Fortunately, the Dark Knight prepared for this eventuality and had the helmet's
06:32program overwritten the instant Prometheus activated it. So instead of being endowed with
06:37the powers of the world's greatest fighters, Prometheus took on the physical abilities of ALS sufferer
06:42Stephen Hawking. Unable to move, Prometheus was defeated in a single punch. Although Batman's
06:47strategy is really clever on paper, it looks unintentionally hilarious to watch the caped
06:52crusader punching a supervillain whilst yelling, Professor Stephen Hawking, at the top of his
06:57lungs. The panel seemed so random out of context that many would assume it was a piece of fan art
07:02or indeed photoshopped. But alas, that is not the case.
07:05Number 4, Doom Just Can't Stop Jamming, Spidey Super Stories, number 53.
07:11In Spidey Super Stories, number 53, Doctor Doom tries to form an alliance with Namor the Submariner,
07:16hoping to use his Atlantean army to take over the world. When Namor refuses to help,
07:21Doom becomes enraged and places a slave collar on him. Unable to break free from his restraints,
07:26Namor is left with no choice but to bring the metal-clad dictator to his kingdom.
07:30And five seconds after the pair arrive at the throne, Doom notices a sea horn on the ground
07:35and immediately becomes transfixed by it. Although Namor orders Doom to leave it be,
07:39the maniacal monarch ignores his plea and begins tooting the horn, which summons a sea monster.
07:44Now just to reiterate, Doctor Doom was ready to take over Atlantis, but stopped because he wanted
07:49to have a go on a musical instrument he just found lying on the floor. Why would anyone do that?
07:54Why would Doctor Doom, of all people, do that? Also, how is Doom able to play that thing underwater
08:00and also without lips? Although many entries on this list seem silly out of context,
08:04this is among the few comic book panels that's more ridiculous in context.
08:08Number 3, Injustice, Gods Among Us, number 17.
08:11It's no surprise comic book series that are released weekly instead of monthly are more
08:15likely to suffer from poor art, since the artists have far less time to finalise their work. So if
08:20you've found some of the art in a weekly series a little off-putting, it's fair to just accept it
08:24for what it is. But not always, because in the case of Injustice, Gods Among Us, there's a panel
08:30of Batman punching a wooden log while a concerned Catwoman looks on from behind. As far as comic
08:35art goes, this set-up sounds pretty straightforward, right? Unfortunately, every aspect of this panel
08:40is a bit wonky. Batman's teeth bulge out so much that it looks like he's wearing a set of dentures
08:45ready to pop out. His welling tears look like the eyes of a subterranean alien, and because of the
08:50angle, it's not clear exactly what Batman is doing. It looks like he's mildly annoyed that his
08:55shoulders are spontaneously combusted. Even though Injustice has its fair share of bad artwork,
09:00this panel was so awful the artist was compelled to redraw it when the issue was republished.
09:05Number 2. What's going on with her spine? Ultimates 3. Number 3.
09:10Joe Maderera has made a name for himself in the comic world. Over the years, he's illustrated some
09:14defining stories in the uncanny X-Men series and the Age of Apocalypse saga. But even though fans of
09:20Big Joe expected great things when he was hired to illustrate Ultimates 3, all of his creations,
09:25well, they came out a bit ugly. Nearly every character is drawn with such disproportionate muscle
09:29structures that they barely resemble human beings. Despite the fact that there are many,
09:33many examples of bad art in this five-part miniseries, there's one moment in Ultimates
09:37number 3 that really takes the cake. While Wolverine recants the time that he met Magneto's
09:42wife, we cut to a shot of the pair getting down to business. Although we only see the silhouette of
09:47the two, next to nothing is left to the imagination here. Not only is this panel borderline pornographic,
09:52it doesn't actually make anatomical sense. Magda's back is arched so obtusely, it's like she's
09:57attempting to win a limbo competition. Her spine is angled at such an impossible angle,
10:01well, you'd swear that she was made out of rubber.
10:04And number 1. What on earth is Sandman doing? Amazing Spider-Man number 215.
10:09I mean, just look at this image. There's really nothing to say here. This image speaks for itself.
10:14If you thought a bit of context would help justify this infamous panel, it doesn't.
10:18Amazing Spider-Man number 215 opens with Spidey and Namor the Sub-Mariner facing off against Sandman,
10:24the Wizard, Trapster, and Liara. And after the Wizard blasts the duo with a disorientating laser,
10:29the corrupt quartet easily make light work of the superhero duo. As Spider-Man attempts to rise to
10:34his feet, Sandman punches him in the back, knocking his nemesis to the ground. Yes,
10:39that's meant to be his back that he's punching right there, not his, uh, well, let's just say
10:43what it is, his web hole. But that's what it looks like, and it will go down forever in infamy.
10:50And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 hilariously bad comic book panels you won't
10:53believe exist. I hope you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it
10:56down in the comments section below. As always, I've been Jules. You can go follow me over on
11:00Twitter at RetroJ, but the O is a zero, or Instagram, where it's the same handle. Hope to
11:05see you over there, my friends. As always, I've been Jules. You have been awesome. Never forget
11:09that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.