Everyone knows that art imitates life, so it stands to reason that a lot of your favourite
comic book characters where in part based on real people.
We all know about Greg Land tracing playboy models in order to get most of his characters,
but it goes beyond just that.
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The Joker – Conrad Veidt We’ve talked before about The Joker’s
influence on CBR, and aside from pulpy Shadow villains, silent film star Conrad Veidt’s
portrayal of Gwynplaine in ‘The Man Who Laughs’ served as the single biggest visual
influence for the character.
Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson were so in love with the look of Veidt, that they
- with the level of creativity you’d expect from early era Batman – took a picture of
Conrad Veidt, drew him and then coloured his hair green with virtually no other changes
to his appearance.
While there are lots of contradicting stories about the Joker’s origin, one thing all
three creators agree on is that without Conrad Veidt, The Joker could have looked very different.
The Kingpin – Sydney Greenstreet The Kingpin is one of the greatest villains
in Marvel comics, a master manipulator that always pushes Spider-Man and especially Daredevil
to their limits.
When he was originally created however, Wilson Fisk was far from the Kingpin of Crime that
Frank Miller would eventually turn him into.
He was more a villain of the week, and a stereotypical mob boss.
Stan Lee came to John Romita Sr. and said that he had an idea for a character, and that
character’s name would be the Kingpin, and then in true Marvel fashion it was up for
Romita to work out the details.
Romita based the character on Sydney Greenstreet, a mountain of a man who had appeared in several
successful noir films at the time.
Greenstreet’s huge stature and white suit from Casablanca were all taken and attributed
to the Kingpin and since then it’s been more or less Kingpin’s signature look.
Wolverine – Paul D’Amato While Wolverine is one of the most famous
comic characters ever, it took a while before anyone saw Logan unmasked.
When he was finally unmasked he looked a little different to how we imagine him today.
The iconic look of Wolverine, so distinct that he’s instantly recognisable even without
the mask, was created by John Byrne.
Byrne based the look on the actor Paul D’Amato, known for his small role in Slap Shot as Dr.
Hook.
Paul who both looked like Wolverine then and still looks like him now, has exactly the
look you’d expect with the wide face, strong eyebrows and vaguely angry look that lends
itself so wonderfully to Wolverine.
Unfortunately Paul D’Amato never received any royalties for his likeness, nor did his
acting career take him to big Hollywood roles – but at the very least, he can say that
he is The Wolverine.
Iron Fist – David Carradine For years Iron Fist has been one of those
characters that flies under the radar, while the hardest of the hard core know him, others
only became aware of Danny Rand when it was announced that he was going to be the fourth
in the defender’s series.
While he was an attempt to cash in on the Kung Fu craze of the 70s, Danny Rand was specifically
based off martial arts movie veteran David Carradine, who at the time was starring in
the TV show “Kung Fu”.
While the appearance was changed, the core idea was heavily taken from the TV show, and
Marvel added in the mysticism and magic that we’ve come to expect from their comic books.
While he’s had relatively few epic stories compared to other superheroes, we can only
imagine that Iron Fists popularity will surge thanks to the exposure from The Defenders.
Ultimate Nick Fury – Samuel L. Jackson It shouldn’t come as any surprise that these
two are linked.
While initially Ultimate Nick Fury looked more like 616 Fury… but black, they eventually
changed his design drastically and specifically asked Samuel L. Jackson if he’d lend his
likeness to the character.
Samuel L. Jackson agreed in the knowledge that it meant that when the time finally came
to do a movie, he would get to play the character, who he was a fan of.
Which is why when you look at Ultimate Nick Fury and Samuel L. Jackson…
there really is no difference.
So Nick Fury is probably the most seamless transition from comic to film character out
there.
In a world in which it’s so easy to miscast someone for an iconic role, we’re probably
never going to get another casting quite like this.
Constantine - Sting Originally appearing in Saga of the Swamp
thing, the Liverpudlian Hellblazer, John Constantine had his appearance based directly off of the
lead singer of the Police, Sting.
Wanting a rougher look without going the full musclebound route, Constantine was modelled
after the lean, blonde singer and to this day, Alan Moore insists that he has met the
character not once, but twice.
Moore also maintains that it was not Sting he met, but a real life version of the character
he created.
While we can’t attest to the truth of the story, or Alan Moore’s wellness, it does
highlight what is so brilliant about the design of John Constantine; he looks like a guy.
While other comic book characters attempt to be “average” guys, Constantine looks
just like someone you could meet in a bar.
And the less said about the Keanu Reeves version of the character, the better.
Charles Xavier – Martin Luther King & Yul Brynner
While we typically think of Professor X as being an old man because of Patrick Stewarts
portrayal of the character in the movies, when the X-Men were originally conceived it
wasn’t intended for Magneto and Xavier to be much older than their forties.
Whilst Magneto had a holocaust background, the holocaust had only happened some twenty
years before the comics were first written.
As such the design of Charles Xavier was not that of an old man, just a bald one, with
The King and I star Yul Brynner serving as the main inspiration for Charles’ appearance.
Despite the appearance though, Charles Xavier as a person is inspired quite heavily by Martin
Luther King, both are civil rights activists who hope for the union of all races.
With the X-Men being a stand in for oppressed ethnic minorities in a time in which the CCA
prevented much talk about real life discrimination, Xavier is there to put humanity on the right
path.
Magneto – Malcolm X While maybe not initially intended to be based
off Malcolm X.
Magneto certainly became a stand in for Malcolm X when the X-Men became more about Civil Rights.
While Xavier was the Martin Luther King who praises peace, Magneto’s modus operandi
is about mutant superiority and domination.
This is not unlike Malcolm X’s earlier opinions while part of the Nation of Islam, prior to
his pilgrimage and conversion to Sunni Islam, after which he took on a belief more in line
with MLK.
With the X-Men largely being based around the racial discrimination going on in the
day, it’s certainly interesting to see the way that the characters in the comics reflected
the real life events of prior decades.
Magneto has even softened on occasion to work with the X-Men, making him even more like
the later Malcolm X.
Catwoman – Jean Harlow & Hedy Lamarr Batman is heavily inspired by film noir, and
one of the key elements of film noir is the femme fatale.
Actresses like Jean Harlow and Hedy Lamarr over the decades have filled the roles of
beautiful women, who bring nothing but trouble to those who try to pursue them.
Those two actresses served as the primary inspiration behind Batman’s own femme fatale,
Catwoman.
While Catwoman has been reimagined many times, she was originally a classy lady in the same
vein as characters from movies like Chinatown and the Maltese Falcon.
Over time Catwoman has evolved into a more outlandish character with supreme balance,
flexibility and other comic book attributes but she still retains that mysterious, flirtatious
personality that has made her a staple of batman lore.
Harley Quinn – Arleen Sorkin Not unlike Nick Fury, Harley Quinn was inspired
by the actress to play her, TV star Arleen Sorkin, who served as the original voice for
Harley Quinn.
In particular it was inspired by a scene from the Soap Opera ‘Days of Our Lives’ in
which Arleen Sorkin’s character dresses and acts like a Jester.
Paul Dini saw the scene from the fantasy sequence and thought that it fit perfectly with his
idea to give The Joker a female henchman in his gang.
As he was already friends with Arleen Sorkin, he asked her to provide the voice and the
rest is history.
Harley Quinn debuted in Batman the Animated Series and became so popular that she crossed
over into the comics and movies, and eventually went from The Joker’s clownish girlfriend,
into probably the biggest sex symbol in comics.
Good for her.
That’s all we have time for today, but are there any others that you know about that
you wish we would have covered?
Leave a comment and let us know!
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