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Eric Jansen Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013 Location: United States Posts: 2418
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 7:15am | IP Logged | 1
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I just watched FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, the 12th James Bond movie. In it, Bond teams with Melina, a Greek woman who uses primitive weaponry to avenge her (mother and) father's death, played by Carole Bouquet with a slender body and long straight dark hair. She compares herself to the mythical Elektra at one point. "Oh," I thought, "Frank Miller was inspired by this movie to create Daredevil's lover/enemy Elektra--he just comicbook-ified her!" And then I looked it up--Miller's Elektra intro was Jan. 1981 and the Bond movie came out in June, 1981! There's no way either could have copied the other--it must be a coincidence! (Curiously, inker Klaus Janson later did the finished artwork over Miller's layouts--Bouquet really looked like Janson's Elektra!) (And, in case you were thinking Miller read the original story, in Fleming's short story the parents were British and the girl was named Judy.)
So, it looks like Elektra joins the long line of comic book creation coincidences! All of these either premiered the same month or too close for any company to have copied the other (with the info as I know it):
The Vision (Aug. 1968) and Red Tornado (Aug. 1968)--two red androids who start as a threat and soon join the Avengers/JLA as a hero who eventually shows humanity and falls in love.
The Doom Patrol (June, 1963) and the X-Men (Sept. 1963)--two groups of misunderstood freaks led by a genius in a wheelchair, who soon fight a group called the Brotherhood of Evil (Mutants).
Man-Thing (May, 1971) and Swamp Thing (Wein's first version came in July, 1971)--two scientists working on a serum in a lab in the swamp with their wives are attacked by bad guys, leading to the serum interacting with the swamp to turn the scientist into a monster. Stan Lee and Roy Thomas came up with the Man-Thing idea and were discussing five different origins, but Gerry Conway scripted the first story (over Roy's plot). Len Wein created Swamp Thing--and Wein and Conway were roommates!
Deathlok (Aug. 1974) and OMAC (Oct., 1974)--two one-man-armies with a mental link to a heartless though sentient computer, set in a dystopian future America. In a further coincidence, Deathlok was created by Rich Buckler who often emulated the style of Jack Kirby, OMAC's creator.
Does anybody have enlightening information on these (or other) apparent coincidences? (I'm sure I'm forgetting some.)
Edited by Eric Jansen on 31 March 2025 at 7:21am
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 134097
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 8:55am | IP Logged | 2
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Swamp Thing and Man-Thing were both inspired by the Heap, a Golden Age monster who’d gotten a write up in Steranko’s HISTORY OF COMICS. The Heap was itself inspired by Theodore Sturgeon’s short story IT.
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ron bailey Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 October 2016 Location: United States Posts: 1191
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | 3
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Did James Cameron ever give any credit to DOFP since the Terminator? I have read he has credited two episodes of the Outer Limits as inspiration, but I doubt he didn't know of that story as at least proof it could work in a visual format.
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Brian Hughes Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 June 2015 Location: United States Posts: 330
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 1:18pm | IP Logged | 4
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A few weeks ago I had pointed out that three months after the Alpha Flight story "Snowblind" went on sale, that "The Snowblind Moon", by John Byrne Cooke, son of Masterpeiece Theater's Alistair Cooke was published.
I'd call that coincidental creations.
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Eric Jansen Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013 Location: United States Posts: 2418
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 1:55pm | IP Logged | 5
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Speaking of James Cameron, his DARK ANGEL TV show starring Jessica Alba as Max, a genetically altered young superwoman in the near future premiered in October, 2000...just months after the third (and final) CHAMELEON TV movie (the third was May, 2000; the first aired Oct., 1998) starring Bobbie Philips as Kam. Both women wore black leather (not TOO surprising) and were suped up with animal DNA.
The third CHAMELEON movie was subtitled "Dark Angel."
Not really sure if this is a coincidence or if DARK ANGEL was a rip-off. (Enough time had passed, especially to steal the subtitle of the third movie.)
Edited by Eric Jansen on 31 March 2025 at 2:11pm
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Eric Jansen Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013 Location: United States Posts: 2418
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 2:09pm | IP Logged | 6
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We could really get into the weeds if we include all the times one film studio ripped off another (even though some movie trends do seem completely coincidental).
But I am reminded of how much CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE (June, 2003)--especially the beginning--totally felt like J. Scott Campbell's DANGER GIRL (premiered March, 1998).
You could say that Campbell "stole" (borrowed?) the three-woman adventure team idea from the original TV show, but its distinct style was totally different. (Note that the comic pre-dated both the 2000 CHARLIE'S ANGELS movie and also the 2001 TOMB RAIDER movie, but came way after the Sean Connery and Roger Moore JAMES BOND movies.)
The opening scenes of FULL THROTTLE felt so much like DANGER GIRL, any faithfully done DANGER GIRL movie would be perceived as ripping off FULL THROTTLE! (For the next 20 years at least! Maybe they can do one now.)
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 134097
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | 7
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Not quite what we’re talking about but……When I was ten, inspired by a Disney cartoon with cavemen, I cooked up the idea of a Stone Age community that had prehistoric versions of our 20th Century gadgets. Cars, TVs, airplanes, you name it. A few weeks later THE FLINTSTONES debuted on TV. Cut to a few years later, and in an age of “gimmick” detectives, I came up with a cop who leaves the force to become a priest, but continues solving mysteries. Not long after, George Kennedy appeared in SARGE: THE BADGE OR THE CROSS. Coincidences, but they gave me the idea that maybe I really did have a knack for storytelling.
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Mark Haslett Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 6730
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 3:23pm | IP Logged | 8
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In the apparently, but not really department of coincidences:
Will Eisner swore in court that he created Wonder Man for Victor Fox with no awareness that just upstairs from Fox’s offices there was a character at National Periodicals named “Superman”.
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Matt Hawes Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 16582
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 7:12pm | IP Logged | 9
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No disrespect to Will Eisner, but if he was claiming he was working in comics and not aware of Superman, and that his Wonder Man not only had superhuman abilities, but also wore a skintight costume... well...
But from what I've read elsewhere, Wonder Man's publisher, Victor Fox, who was publishing astrology magazines, saw reports on the sales for Action Comics and decided to publish comic books. He hired Eisner who created Wonder Man for Wonder Comics, which was published in 1939.
Eisner's fictional account based on the copyright lawsuit as depicted in his graphic novel, The Dreamer, apparently conflicts with his testimony at the trial.
And there's this quote from Eisner I found on a blog:
“One day Eisner received a letter and sample art from two Cleveland kids, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. They were peddling two comic strips, one called 'Spy', the other 'Superman'.
'The truth of the matter is that when I saw their stuff, I didn’t think that any of our customers would buy it, and I was right,' Eisner said.” [A SPIRITED LIFE, pg. 43]
So, for me, Eisner claiming he wasn't aware of Superman's existence is like Yoko Ono claiming she didn't know who the Beatles were in 1966 when she met John Lennon. But, according to Paul McCartney, he referred her to John after she tried hitting him up first for some manuscripts to donate to a charity cause.
To work in comics in 1939 for a publisher who specifically started in the business precisely because of the success of Superman is ludicrous. I believe that's why, despite what Eisner on trial, he altered his story later in public interviews. It was a hard story to swallow, and the court didn't buy it, either.
No coincidence, that.
Edited by Matt Hawes on 31 March 2025 at 7:16pm
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Robbie Moubert Byrne Robotics Member
Evertonian
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 1510
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 9:32pm | IP Logged | 10
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The first one that springs to mind for me is Dennis the Menace, with the US and UK versions appearing in the same week in March 1951.
Hank Ketcham's single panel cartoon first appeared in US newspapers on the 12th March 1951. The UK Dennis, not yet in his classic red and black jumper, debuted in a half-page strip, drawn by David Law, in the Beano cover dated 17th March 1951. Some sources say that that edition of the Beano would have been on sale on the 12th March, while I've seen some claim it would have been even earlier. Artist and historian Lew Stringer wrote in 2016 that, at the time, the comic would have been dated for the weekend ahead and was published on Wednesdays, giving us an on sale date of 14th March. Lew knows his stuff so I would go with his date and say the US Dennis "wins" by two days.
Edited by Robbie Moubert on 31 March 2025 at 9:32pm
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Eric Jansen Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 October 2013 Location: United States Posts: 2418
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 9:54pm | IP Logged | 11
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I forgot about that one! That's a great example!
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Colin Ian Campbell Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 April 2015 Location: England Posts: 226
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Posted: 31 March 2025 at 10:22pm | IP Logged | 12
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The Vision (Aug. 1968) and Red Tornado (Aug. 1968).* Avengers #57 was cover dated October 1968, two months after Justice League of America #64.
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