10 Secrets Hidden In Famous Comics

WhatCulture

5 months ago

With all the secret swears you dreamt of comics containing.

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00:00Riddles, secrets, mysteries, hidden messages. Comics are full of them. In fact, they form

00:05the backbone of many engaging and thrilling comic book stories, but on a meta level as

00:11well, comics are home to many a secret concealed within their pages. Comics are, ultimately,

00:17a visual medium, and comic book creators are, by definition, creative people, so it's reasonable

00:23to expect them to hide subtle details in the pages of their works. Glimpses of their sense

00:28of humour or frustrations at their industry cunningly concealed within their craft.

00:33However, as much as you might expect these extra details to be hidden away in indie comics

00:38as a little nod from a creator to their small fan base, it's another thing altogether to uncover

00:43a secret hidden in a mainstream front of house flagship comic series. I'm Will, this is WhatCultureComics,

00:51and here are 10 secrets hidden in famous comics. Number 10, Alan Moore and the Marvel Douche.

00:58League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In what fans would likely describe as a classic

01:02Moore move, the writer would include a promotion for a Marvel company douche in the advertisement

01:08section of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen number 5. While for many, this would merely appear

01:13to be a slightly bizarre but legitimate product placement, as the ad is indeed a real one from

01:18the early 1900s, it's impossible not to consider Moore's choice a slight towards Marvel themselves,

01:24likely a result of his long-standing feud with them over the company having reprinted some of

01:29the work he did for them without his permission. Concerned about the possible backlash from their

01:34rival company, DC would change any references to the word Marvel in the ad to the word amaze,

01:41pulping the entire initial release to try and ensure that the potential controversy never got out.

01:47But of course, dear friends, it did. Number 9, Carla in the Justice League, Justice League 5.

01:53If there's one thing that Jim Lee's art makes sure you know, it's that he really,

01:58really loves his wife. He loves her so much, in fact, that he's managed to slip the phrase,

02:02I love Carla, into the cover of Superman Unchained and the pages of Justice League number 5.

02:08These confessions of love are well hidden, however, as you could read Justice League number 5 several

02:13times without realising that, in the panel where Batman jumps on a car, the broken windshield spells

02:19out I love Carla in the cracks. With so much of the hidden secrets in comics being swear words and

02:24genitals, it's soothing to see something entirely more wholesome also sneak its way into the pages of

02:30a comic book, especially when it's so elegantly hidden. Number 8, Windsor Smith's Coins, Conan the Barbarian 8.

02:38A masterfully small detail hidden in Conan the Barbarian 8, artist Barry Smith made his frustrations

02:44with the fine details in the comic known in its pages, writing in a pile of coins,

02:49I must be mad drawing all these coins. While it's a move that is unlikely to get past nowadays,

02:55Smith managed to get his note into the series when it was published back in the 70s, with the issue

03:00not even being reprinted when the note was discovered. After all, it only enhances the comic

03:06itself, as a charming reminder that every panel was painstakingly put together by one long-suffering

03:13artist. It's not a mind-blowing secret, sure, but it's one that makes you appreciate the work

03:18that goes into comics all the more. Number 7, Felix the Cat in Spider-Man.

03:23Having worked on comics since 1985, it's safe to say that Todd McFarlane has had a long time drawing

03:29every superhero and spandex outfit under the sun, which is likely why he decided to spice things up a bit.

03:35As Todd's own account goes, the artist would often visit a comic store in Vancouver, where he would

03:41often see a war vet buying Felix the Cat comics, and only Felix the Cat comics. Fascinated by this

03:47undeniably unique trait, McFarlane asked the man if he would buy the comics he made if he started

03:53putting Felix the Cat in them, to which the man agreed. This one interaction would spark a series of

03:59easter eggs throughout Todd's work, as he continually snuck the animated cats into the pages of Spider-Man,

04:05half in order to please the mysterious comic buyer, and likely half for his own amusement.

04:10Should you ever like to play Where's Waldo with a run of comics, the little furry felines could

04:15provide a scavenger hunt for the ages, or at least until you get bored.

04:19Number 6, The Last Laugh. The Batman Who Laughs 7. With so many hidden secrets in comics being

04:25completely unrelated to the series itself, it's worth mentioning that there are plenty of issues that

04:30include secrets tailor-made to add just that little extra to their plot, as the 2018-19 Batman

04:36Who Laughs series culminates in a sneaky plot moment that many may have missed. After narrowly defeating

04:42the titular Batman Who Laughs by putting the Joker's toxic blood into his own veins, we see Bruce Wayne

04:49speaking to Alfred while administering himself the cure. Only, it's left incredibly vague as to whether this

04:55Bruce will indeed be cured, as the visual cue that he was infected by the Joker's blood, an occasional

05:01red letter appearing in his dialogue, which in turn references the Batman Who Laughs all red dialogue,

05:07spells out the message, right here still, ha ha, suggesting that this universe's Batman will continue

05:14to be affected by the infected blood indefinitely. Number 5, Sexgate. New X-Men 118. Sometimes,

05:22comic secrets aren't all that elaborate, or all that mature. The best example of that lies within the

05:28pages of New X-Men 118, in an infamous panel that includes the word Sex, hidden in the bushes behind

05:34the gate on the right. While this alone would be pretty plain, the word itself crops up repeatedly

05:39throughout the issue, with instances of the word being snuck on all sorts of panels, in tree branches,

05:45in signs and fences, and even one point in lightning. The team who created the issue have claimed that

05:51these discoveries are merely the product of overactive fan imaginations, and that the panels

05:56just so happen to look like the word is written everywhere. Although this isn't strictly impossible,

06:01it does also seem like the team behind the issue created these easter eggs as a joke between them,

06:06and naturally can't confess to doing so, because it would be heavily frowned upon by their superiors.

06:12Number 4, The Secret Swears. Kezar number 1. Proving that sneaking rude words into comics is a pastime

06:19with significant history behind it, 1970s Kezar number 1 contains the F-bomb on the literal first

06:26issue of the series. Hilariously, unlike the vast majority of times profanacy is caught hiding in

06:31comics, Kezar number 1 wasn't edited or republished without the telltale swear, meaning that any copy

06:37you find nowadays will still look the exact same as it did on its initial release in the 70s, complete

06:45with its delightfully little secret. Number 3. Hiding the title, Heroes in Crisis 5. While the vast

06:51majority of secrets hidden in comics are usually minuscule details, occasionally a far larger

06:57easter egg will sneak its way into a series. Take, for example, Heroes in Crisis 5, where artist Clay

07:04Mann managed to hide the name of the series on the issue's second page by using Booster Gold, Blue Beetle,

07:11and the scenery around them. It is incredibly well done, as Mann manages to create this hidden surprise

07:17without making either the characters' poses nor the environment seem unnatural, meaning you could

07:23easily see the panel without spotting the huge detail cleverly concealed within it. Although it's one of

07:29the more readily apparent hidden secrets in comics, it's also undeniably cool to see the artists stretch

07:34their creative muscles by playing around with some of the pages they illustrate. Number 2. Iron Man's

07:41Resignation Letter, Iron Man 127. An unabashedly weird example of office politics slipping into Marvel's

07:48own comics, Iron Man 127 managed to accidentally publish the real resignation letter of artist Dave

07:55Cockrum instead of the letter supposedly written by Jarvis when he quits working for Tony Stark. The letter is

08:02essentially Dave pouring his heart out about his concerns about the company and the office environment,

08:08which is exactly why it stood out so much as not fitting in the story itself, and why it seems so

08:14surreal and weird that Marvel would sign off on having it publicly published. And number 1. Spider-Man's

08:20Harris slander variant, Universe X Spidey. Equal parts a hidden secret and a complete diss to an integral,

08:27if controversial member of Marvel Comics, the first print of Universe X Spidey contained an

08:33unabashed diss of Bob Harris in its pages. Concealed in a bookcase, the message reads,

08:39Bob Harris, haha, he's gone, good riddance to bad rubbish, he was a nasty SOB. Which is the kind of

08:46message that, when discovered, was impossible to read as anything but a complete slander of Marvel's

08:52ex-editor-in-chief. Harris had naturally caused some ire in the office by being closely related to

08:59the much-hated clone saga Spider-Man storyline, which appears to have translated into this particularly

09:06bitter send-off. The issue now resells for roughly 10 times its original price, meaning that although

09:12this was a negative press day for Marvel, it is one that has gained a bizarrely popular sort of

09:17notoriety. And there you have it folks, 10 secrets hiding right there in the world's most famous

09:24comics. Feel free to drop this video a like if you enjoyed it, and give me a follow on Twitter at

09:28youslydogu. I'm Will for WhatCulture, thanks for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.

10 Secrets Hidden In Famous Comics

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