Establishing Character Moment/Comic Books


 * Cassandra Cain throwing herself in front of Commissioner Gordon to prevent him from being shot by an assassin whom we later learn is her father. She swiftly becomes the new Batgirl 2000, with Barbara Gordon's blessing and gratitude.
 * Captain America summed up real quick.
 * Batman first appeared on a rooftop beating up thugs.
 * By far one of the most famous lines in all of comics, "Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot!" It is almost mandatory for Mary Jane to say some form of that line in any later incarnations.
 * Hilariously parodied in this Winnie the Pooh image, which was made before Disney acquired Marvel!
 * Bookhunter's opening chapter is unrelated to the larger plot, and instead serves to set the tone of the story to follow. A SWAT team has been called in to deal with a freelance censor, and when they invade his apartment, they find the perp threatening to immolate himself and the books he stole; clearly, in this universe, books are Serious Business. Detective Bay's response to the standoff shows that, underneath his veneer of rationality, he is a Cowboy Cop willing to do completely insane things in his pursuit of criminals.
 * The first dozen or so pages of Runaways exist solely to provide one of these for each of the kids: Gert is shown correcting her dad's Latin in the middle of an argument about politics, Chase is shown getting beaten up by his dad for getting bad grades, etc. Similarly, the first time we see Ascended Fanboy Victor, he's talking about superheroes with his buddy Jorge.
 * Joseph in Scott Pilgrim seems shy and unassuming at first, but the first time he opens his mouth...
 * Watchmen
 * Rorschach's opening narration provides a glimpse into his unstable mind.
 * The first time we see Dr. Manhattan he is shown as a giant which showcases his power as well as his truly alien nature to the rest of the world.
 * Superman in a nutshell.
 * Issue #1 of The Fantastic Four: It all begins with one strange man shooting a signal flare into the air -- a flare announcing, "The Fantastic Four!" Sue Storm was hanging out with a Socialite friend at the moment the flare went off. She promptly turns invisible and walks out into public, testing her powers by taking a cab and attempting to pay the unsuspecting cabbie the fine. Ben Grimm, who is at a clothing shop in heavy disguise, hears of the signal flare and sheds his constricting clothing, revealing himself as the monsterous Thing. His debut catches the attention of the police, who open fire on him and thus force him to escape through the sewers. Johnny Storm is at a service station getting his car fixed when he learns of the flare (which by now had turned into the number 4). He flames on and flies through the air as the Human Torch. The Nation Guard attacks him with a nuclear warhead hunter missile. Two stretchy arms grab the missile before it could obliviate him and disposes of it via the sea. By now Johnny's flames had worn out and is plummeting to his death, but the strange man from before saves him, revealing himself to be Dr. Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic. And this is all before the Super Hero Origin!