Mythology Gag/Comic Books

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • The X-Men movies and comics do these gags toward each other:
    • In the first movie, Logan isn't thrilled by his black leather X-Men costume. Cyclops taunts him, asking if he'd prefer yellow spandex—Wolverine's traditional costume in the comics.
    • The comics Rogue has a poster of The Piano (in which Anna Paquin, movie-Rogue, appeared.) and Nightcrawler puts down Brainchild's fake English accent (as Scottish actor Alan Cumming was put down for the fake German accent he used with movie Nightcrawler.)
    • In an issue of Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and Storm go to see the Broadway production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Wolverine comments that the lead actor reminds him of himself; it was Hugh Jackman.
    • Additionally, in an issue of X-Treme X-Men, Storm is at one point complimented on a recent James Bond movie, having evidently been mistaken for Halle Berry, who played both Storm in the X-Men movies and Jinx in the then most recent James Bond film, Die Another Day.
    • X 2 X Men United has a line from Magneto: "When will these people learn how to fly?" which, according to the screenwriters, was supposed to be a subtle Take That Us at the movieverse Rogue and Storm (and to a lesser extent, Jean), who of course can fly in the comics.
    • A comic-to-comic Mythology Gag: For those who remember the original Phoenix Saga, in which the alien Shi'ar Empire sentence Jean Grey to death (not to mention the recent story where they wipe out her entire family, just to be on the safe side), there's something very ironic about Ultimate Marvel's human "Church of Shi'ar Enlightenment" funding the X-Men because they want Jean to manifest the Phoenix. All the same players (more or less), very different game.
    • In an issue of X-Men, shortly after the Grey massacre by the Shi'ar Death Commandos, Scott enters Rachel's room and finds several rented movies on her bed. The films all star cast members of the X-Men film series, such as Swordfish, which featured Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman, who played Storm and Wolverine in the X-Men trilogy, respectively.
    • There was an issue where Beast says, "In the words of my favorite TV psychiatrist, I'm listening." Dr. Frasier Crane's catch phrase, played by Kelsey Grammer, who also played Beast in the movies.
  • In the standard Batman Backstory, Bruce Wayne is inspired by a bat that flies in through an open window while he's trying to come up with a motif that will strike fear into the hearts of evil-doers. In The Movie of Batman the Animated Series, a Flash Back to the early days of Wayne's crimefighting career shows him trying to come up with a motif that will strike fear into the hearts of evil-doers... but it's raining, and all the windows are closed. (He eventually does have the bat inspiration, but later and under different circumstances.)
    • In the movie, the bat can be briefly seen before flying away.
    • Similarly, in The Batman vs. Dracula, he has a nightmare that starts with the window closed, and the bat crashes through it and dies.
      • The bat crashing through the window is canon in modern continuity (or at least it was): The bat was deafened by a scientific experiment done by Kirk Langstrom, who would become Man-Bat. Seriously.
    • In the Elseworld Detective No. 27, in which Bruce Wayne becomes the World's Greatest Detective without donning a costume, he is interrupted in his revery by the arrival of Lee Travis (the Crimson Avenger) inviting him to join the Secret Society of Detectives. So he shuts the window and leaves the study, and doesn't even look round when something "thunk"s against it.
      • Heck, the title itself is a Mythology Gag. Tell me, what comic and issue number does Batman debut in?
      • Similarly, in In Darkest Knight (where Bruce becomes Green Lantern instead), the bat is scared off by a projection of Abin Sur, who crashed on Bruce's property.
  • The TV and movie adaptations of DC's Superman/Superboy characters have provided a rich treasure trove for fans of the Mythology Gag.
    • In Richard Donner's Superman (1978), there is a scene where Clark desperately needs to become Superman. He runs to the nearest pay phone, then stops -- apparently expecting an old-style phone booth and ending up with a then-new phone-on-a-post instead.
      • That joke was foreshadowed in the 1975 inter-company crossover Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, only there it happened to Spider-Man.
    • Superman Returns comes a close second for Mythology Gags, referencing both the comic book version and the 1978 Richard Donner movie.
      • It also recreates on film an iconic image from the cover of the first issue of Action Comics, which featured Superman dashing the front end of a car into the ground -- albeit that the film version inverts it as part of Superman's successfully lowering the out-of-control car to the ground. The image even reappears as a photograph of Superman later on in the film.
      • It gave a (parodic) nod to a Catch Phrase from the early Superman radio serials and later Silver Age comics ("Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"): Lois Lane, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen are looking over some blurry photographs of something flying in the skies over Metropolis. Lane says the shape is a bird. White disagrees and says it's a plane. Jimmy Olsen begins to say "It's--" but is cut off by a knock on the door as Clark Kent enters, saying to White "You wanted to see me?"
        • The original Superman movie also subtly parodies the Catch Phrase. As Superman flies through the air in his first public appearance to rescue Lois Lane, a couple of reporters with a camera remark on camera "What the hell's that?"
      • There's also a scene where Superman utters the line "Well, I hope this experience hasn't put you off flying. Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel." In the first movie, it's said to Lois. In Returns, it's said to the plane full of passengers that Supes has just saved.
      • Also in the movie, Superman's first heroic deed upon returning is saving a space shuttle. In the comics, his first Post-Crisis appearance was also saving a spaceplane.
      • Not to mention the entire plot being Superman foiling a real estate scheme by Lex Luthor that will kill millions.
        • BILLIONS!
    • Going the other way, JLA: Earth-2 had the League burst into LexCorp, and Luthor say into his intercom "Miss Tessmacher, hold my calls." Not a Canon Immigrant, because she doesn't actually appear, but...
    • During his time as President Evil, Luthor also had a bumbling PA called Nathaniel "Mac" Mackelveny, who was clearly modeled on Otis from The Motion Picture right down to calling him "Mr Lew-thor". He was eventually revealed to be the Martian Manhunter.
      • In at least three continuities (Red Son, Superman: The Dark Side, and Superman: The Animated Series), the Man of Steel goes evil (or at least benevolent dictator): two of those involved service to Darkseid. Somewhat similarly, Lex Luthor aspires to, or becomes, the US President in as many continuities (Red Son, Justice League, and the mainstream DCU): only in Red Son is he remotely successful.
  • The late 1980s-early 1990s NOW Comics adaptations of The Green Hornet featured a number of Mythology Gags referring to both The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger (another property created by the creator of The Green Hornet). In the entire series (an ambitious reconciliation of the Hornets of the radio series, 1940s film serials, and the TV series), the second Kato (partner of the TV series Hornet) is named "Hayashi Kato", a reference to actor Raymond Hayashi, the first actor to play Kato in the radio series. In the comic book Green Hornet: Dark Tomorrow, the Green Hornet of the future is named Clayton Reid. This is a reference to the actor Clayton Moore, best known for playing the Lone Ranger, who is often claimed as the Hornet's ancestor. Also, a family tree feature giving the genealogies of the Reid and Kato families gave Clayton Reid's father the name "Gordon Reid" (a nod to actor Gordon Jones, who played Britt Reid/The Green Hornet in the 1940 film serial) and stated that a future Kato would be named "Luke" (a nod to actor Keye Luke, who played Kato in both the 1940 and 1941 film serials).
  • In Marvel 1602, a man named Peter Parquah keeps nearly getting bitten by a spider.
  • The return of the Injustice League in the 2006 Justice League of America run contains huge amounts of references to The DCAU. For example:
    • On the cover of the book, Toyman appears as he does in the DCAU, rather than as in the comic itself.
    • John Stewart jokes that Black Lightning's newly shaved head isn't a good look for him, but says that he, on the other hand, could definitely pull it off, especially if he added a Goatee.
    • Lex Luthor's plan appears to be, when he first reveals it, exactly what Grodd planned for the New Secret Society / Legion of Doom in Justice League, a protection racket for supervillains (he eventually reveals that it is something else). Later on, Grodd and Luthor have a conversation where Luthor gives orders and Grodd begrudgingly relents, apparently planning to overthrow Luthor, a reversal of the Justice League relationship.
  • Yet another "Legion" example: Most of the characters in the Dark Age Space Police comic L.E.G.I.O.N. were callbacks (or callforwards?) to characters from Legion of Super-Heroes: Vril Dox and Lyrissa Mallor were distant ancestors of Brainiac 5 and Shadow Lass; Lar Gand and Phase were time-displaced versions of Mon-El and Phantom Girl; Strata, the Durlan, and Dagon-Ra were the same species as Blok, Chameleon Boy, and Element Lad; and so on.
    • The 2009 R.E.B.E.L.S. series continues this, with Dox's new recruits including Wildstar, who comes from the same planet as Dawnstar and combines Dawny's powers and name with those of her love interest Wildfire; and Bounder, who wears an inflatable armoured suit that duplicates Bouncing Boy's powers.
  • Back in The Silver Age of Comic Books, Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen had an unfortunate tendency to turn into a giant rampaging Turtle Boy from time to time. Post-Crisis, this was sent up when Jimmy briefly got a job donning a costume to play Turtle Boy for a kids' show.
    • In the New 52 reboot (Action Comics v2 #10), Jimmy drags Clark along to a screening of fictional movies "The Giant Turtle Man" and "The Human Porcupine".
    • In Countdown to Final Crisis, Jimmy's strange transformations are all the famous Silver Age ones. Which leads to Turtle Boy Jimmy vs DARKSEID!
      • Probably counts double considering Darkseid debuted in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen.
    • Another early Post-Crisis Superman story had Supes accosting what looked like Lex Luthor in his pre-Crisis Powered Armor... but which was revealed on the next page to be a robot the Corrupt Corporate Executive version of Luthor sent after him.
    • And given that it wasn't even an especially memorable story, it's amazing how many ways Post-Crisis continuity found to refer to Superman getting a big, red ant-head. In one case, a squad of "Super-Ants" were created by an insectoid alien who based her human form on Lana Lang, another Mythology Gag, because pre-Crisis Lana was an occasional super-heroine called Insect Queen.
  • All over the place in Ultimate Marvel.
    • One memorable Running Gag is in Ultimate Spider-Man: whenever Spidey swings by the police station, the cops are taking away some screaming nut in a superhero costume who somehow references the latest Crisis Crossover in the main Marvel universe. So far we've seen "Scarlet Witch" claiming that she wasn't crazy (House of M), "Speedball" yelling "Not like this! Not like this!" (Civil War), and "Elektra"(?) asking who can you trust (Secret Invasion).
    • We've also seen a female dressed suspiciously like a Green Lantern shouting, "Choose your side!! Choose your side!!", suggesting the comic has progressed to needling the Distinguished Competition (Green Lantern Corps and its storyline Blackest Night).
    • A girl dressed as Spider-Woman was seen during a story which marked Ultimate Mysterio's debut.
    • After his Opposite Gender Clone leaves, Peter muses on her organic web shooters before dismissing them as a silly idea. During this time, the main Marvel Universe Spider-Man still had organic web shooters.
    • At one point in Ultimate Spider-Man, Sam Raimi is directing a Spider-Man movie starring Tobey Maguire with (judging from Spidey's "You were cool in Evil Dead" comment) Bruce Campbell involved somehow. Why does that sound familiar?
  • Deadpool, notable breaker of the fourth wall, once commented, "And the Boy Scout branch made a big show of cooperating, by having Spider-Man reveal his identity on national TV... as if we hadn't seen the movies already and didn't know it was dreamy doe-eyed Tobey Maguire under the mask!" Maguire, of course, played Spider-Man in the movies.
    • It should be noted that Deadpool does things like this frequently. In the third issue of his own series, he sings the theme song from the 1960s Hulk cartoon.
  • In the first issue of Greg Rucka's Queen and Country, SIS agent Tara Chace comments, "the last time I was this cold, I was in Antarctica," which is a nod to Lily Sharpe, the SIS agent in the writer's first comic, Whiteout. Rucka originally intended to use Sharpe as the lead for Q&C, but in the course of development, Chace became more of a Spiritual Successor.
  • In Watchmen, Walter Kovacs was sent to the Charlton Home for Orphans.
    • Also, The Movie has something of a cross between this and a Discontinuity Nod in the codename of Ozymandias's movie-changed plan, seen on a computer in one scene. The name? S.Q.U.I.D. -- which refers to the fan nickname for the comic's original method.
  • The out-of-continuity Strange Adventures strip in Wednesday Comics includes a scene where Adam Strange has a conversation with Doctor Fate about his psychological block on finding the Zeta Beam. Dr Fate tries to help but points out that, like Strange, he's a doctor of archeology, and psychology isn't his forte. In The DCU, the then-current Dr Fate, grand-nephew of the archeologist, was a psychoanalyst.
  • Kevin Smith's Batman: The Widening Gyre opens with a Flash Back to the days when Dick Grayson was Robin, as they try to stop a Neo-Nazi supervillain stealing an ancient copy of the Torah. Robin makes his entrance shouting "Holy scrolls, Batman!"
  • Being a time traveling superhero, this comes with the territory for Booster Gold, as he makes references to events and people in The DCU during his heroics through time. For instance, in an effort to keep Sinestro from meeting Guy Gardner early, Booster inspired the naming of the Sinestro Corps.
  • Elf Quest—the second series titled Wavedancers features one insane and deformed character whose delusions apparently are based on the first Wavedancers series, which was removed from the canon because of differences with the team that made that.
  • In one Marvel What If story, Logan is an Expy of The Punisher and takes on the Chicago mob in the Roaring Twenties. He never pops his signature claws, but when we get to see Al "Scarface" Capone from the front, the mob boss has a scar suspiciously reminiscent of the wounds that 616-Wolverine would cause.
  • In one Fantastic Four story, they rescue a pair of amateur filmmakers from aliens, and Reed refers to them as "wannabe Roger Cormans." Roger Corman made the unreleased 1994 Fantastic Four movie.
  • In a Marvel UK Transformers Generation 1 comic, Optimus Prime mentions that Swoop was known as Divebomb on Cybertron. When the toys were originally being released, Divebomb was considered as a name for the toy that ended up being named Swoop.
    • In a movie tie-in comic, Optimus has been recently found out to be a Prime. He makes a comment saying it might not being important, he says something along the lines of, "For all we know, Prime could mean 'records clerk' or something." In the Dreamwave comics, Optimus was a records clerk before he became Prime.
    • In one Dreamwave comic Megatron basically beats the ever living slag out of and kills Cy-Kill the Gobot (not sure if that's a mythology gag or a shout out though).
    • At the end of the IDW Transformers storyarc All Hail Megatron, as the defeated Deceptions flee into space, Starscream ponders on what to do with the badly injured, near dead Megatron, saying at one point "I'd unceremoniously toss him out the air lock if I didn't have a nagging suspicion that he'd somehow return, more powerful than ever." This is exactly what Starscream did in the original animated movie, which ended with Megatron becoming the more powerful Galvatron and returning to kill Starscream in revenge.
  • The Hack Slash and Re-Animator crossover ends with Doctor West being approached by government agents, who tell him the president is dead and the country needs him, a nod to the unmade House of Re-Animator.
  • In Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode, the Silver Shamrock masks from Halloween III: Season of the Witch appear for one panel in a store.
  • Marvel Adventures often references the main Marvel verse with these. For instance, when Bruce Banner tells the Avengers to eject him from their rocket if he hulks out mid-flight, Iron Man responds "Oh please Bruce, that's just silly. Like we would ever throw Hulk into space."
  • The two-issue Batman: Orphans miniseries opens with a dead kid in a Robin costume. The boy is revealed to be Chris Ward, the estranged son of industrialist Adam Ward.
  • Characters from Sonic the Comic cameoed in a non-canon Sonic the Hedgehog issue.
  • The one-shot all-humor 1982 comic "The Fantastic Four Roast" does a little zig-zagging. When Dr. Doom takes the podium, he says that he became Dr. Doom after being upset that Reed Richards and his college brothers didn't invite him to go on a panty raid.
  • In Batman Incorporated, the African Batman has the same costume as the non-existent African-American Batman in the 1970s story "The Batman Nobody Knows!"
  • In Mega Man, the first issue's Short Circiuts had Mega Man asking if he was now a Super Fighting Robot. As it turns out, he was upgraded into the infamously bad cover art from the first Mega Man game.
  • Graphics Classics: H.P. Lovecraft: "Sweet Ermengarde" is a comedy rather than cosmic horror, but for this product, it was illustrated as a play put on by humans for an audience of Eldritch Abominations. The front row of the audience, includes a Deep One, Herbert West (with a severed head and a syringe), Keziah Mason and Brown Jenkin, referencing The Shadow over Innsmouth, Herbert West, Reanimator and Dreams in the Witch House.
  • The Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes comic, the Trek part of which is firmly Star Trek: The Original Series continuity, rather than the 2011 movie, nonetheless has Uhura refer to having an Orion roommate at the Academy.
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