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.
00:57League 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
01:30the 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
02:25genitals, 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
03:01even being reprinted when the note was discovered. After all, it only enhances the comic itself.
03:06As 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
03:17that 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 cat 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 provide
04:15a scavenger hunt for the ages, or at least until you get bored. Number 6, The Last Laugh, The Batman
04:22Who Laughs 7.
04:23With so many hidden secrets in comics being completely unrelated to the series itself,
04:27it's worth mentioning that there are plenty of issues that include secrets tailor-made to add just
04:32that little extra to their plot, as the 2018-19 Batman Who Laughs series culminates in a sneaky plot
04:39moment that many may have missed. After narrowly defeating the titular Batman Who Laughs by putting
04:45the Joker's toxic blood into his own veins, we see Bruce Wayne speaking to Alfred while administering
04:51himself the cure. Only, it's left incredibly vague as to whether this Bruce will indeed be cured,
04:57as the visual cue that he was infected by the Joker's blood, an occasional red letter appearing in
05:02his dialogue, which in turn references the Batman Who Laughs all red dialogue, spells out the message,
05:09right here still, ha ha, suggesting that this universe's Batman will continue to be affected
05:15by the infected blood indefinitely. Number 5, Sexgate, New X-Men 118.
05:21Sometimes, comic secrets aren't all that elaborate, or all that mature. The best example of that lies
05:27within the pages of New X-Men 118, in an infamous panel that includes the word sex hidden in the
05:33bushes behind the gate on the right. While this alone would be pretty plain, the word itself crops
05:39up repeatedly throughout the issue, with instances of the word being snuck on all sorts of panels,
05:44in tree branches, in signs and fences, and even one point in lightning. The team who created the issue
05:50have claimed that these discoveries are merely the products of overactive fan imaginations,
05:55and that the panels just so happen to look like the word is written everywhere. Although this isn't
06:00strictly impossible, it does also seem like the team behind the issue created these easter eggs
06:05as a joke between them, and naturally can't confess to doing so, because it would be heavily frowned
06:10upon by their superiors. Number 4, The Secret Swears, Kezar No. 1. Proving that sneaking rude
06:17words into comics is a pastime with significant history behind it, 1970s Kezar No. 1 contains the
06:24F-bomb on the literal first issue of the series. Hilariously, unlike the vast majority of times
06:30profanacy is caught hiding in comics, Kezar No. 1 wasn't edited or republished without the telltale swear,
06:36meaning that any copy you find nowadays will still look the exact same as it did on its initial release
06:43in the 70s, complete with its delightfully little secret. Number 3, Hiding the Title, Heroes in Crisis
06:505. While the vast majority of secrets hidden in comics are usually miniscule details, occasionally,
06:56a far larger easter egg will sneak its way into a series. Take, for example, Heroes in Crisis 5,
07:03where artists claim Mann managed to hide the name of the series on the issue's second page by using
07:09Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and the scenery around them. It is incredibly well done, as Mann manages
07:16to create this hidden surprise without making either the character's poses nor the environment seem
07:21unnatural, meaning you could easily see the panel without spotting the huge detail cleverly concealed
07:27within it. Although it's one of the more readily apparent hidden secrets in comics, it's also undeniably
07:33cool to see the artists stretch their creative muscles by playing around with some of the pages they
07:38illustrate. Number 2, Iron Man's Resignation Letter, Iron Man 127. An unabashedly weird example of office
07:47politics slipping into Marvel's own comics, Iron Man 127 managed to accidentally publish the real
07:53resignation letter of artist Dave Cockrum instead of the letter supposedly written by Jarvis when he quits
08:00working for Tony Stark. The letter is essentially Dave pouring his heart out about his concerns about
08:06the company and the office environment, which is exactly why it stood out so much as not fitting in
08:11the story itself, and why it seems so surreal and weird that Marvel would sign off on having it
08:17publicly published. And number 1, Spider-Man's Harris Slander Variant, Universe X Spidey. Equal parts a hidden
08:25secret and a complete diss to an integral, if controversial member of Marvel Comics, the first
08:30print of Universe X Spidey contained an unabashed diss of Bob Harris in its pages. Concealed in a bookcase,
08:38the message reads, Bob Harris, haha, he's gone, good riddance to bad rubbish, he was a nasty SOB. Which is
08:46the
08:46kind of message that, when discovered, was impossible to read as anything but a complete slander of Marvel's
08:53ex-editor in chief. Harris had naturally caused some ire in the office by being closely related to the
08:59much hated clone saga Spider-Man storyline, which appears to have translated into this particularly
09:05bitter 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 source of
09:18notoriety. 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
09:28at
09:29uSlyDogU. I'm Will for WhatCulture, thanks for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.
Comments