- They didn't know we had the power of invisibility.
- They did not.
What a surprise.
- So when the first modern comic books
were released in 1933 in the United States,
they immediately became a huge hit
that would prove to be successful for decades to come.
- And although comic books themselves
aren't as popular as they once were,
many characters from the comics are more popular than ever.
Like Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and Iron Man.
- But what you might not know is
some of the fictional characters from the comics
that we've come to love, are actually based
on real life people.
- So today, we gathered those characters
that you never knew weren't based on fiction.
So, here they are.
- Ten comic book characters inspired by real people.
Number one is the Joker.
First appearing in Batman #1 on April 25, 1940,
the Joker's become one of the most
well-known villains, not just in the Batman franchise,
but of all time.
The Joker's distinctive look was inspired by
German actor Conrad Veidt.
Everything, including his wide smile, haircut,
and even the looks in his eyes,
inspired the design of the Clown Prince of Crime.
In the German Expressionist film, The Man Who Laughs
from 1928, Veidt played a man whose face was
disfigured into a permanently wide smile,
further inspiring the look of the Joker.
Conrad went on to star in such films
as Casablanca, but the Joker, upon introduction,
was labeled as a psychopath with a warped sense of humor,
which wasn't too favorable with audiences.
However, by the late 1950's, the character became
more goofy in response to the Comics Code Authority.
The Joker is one of my favorites for sure.
A great example of how an innocent smile
can get really creepy if you hold it for too long.
- Number two is John Constantine.
First appearing in the Saga of the Swamp Thing #25
in 1984, John Constantine is a working-class magician,
a cold detective, and conman stationed in London.
His creator, Steve Bissette and John Totleben
wanted to draw a character that looked
like the musician Sting, as they were fans of his music.
They created a character named John Constantine
who was similar to Sting in looks and age,
but made him a street-wise, chain smoking mystic.
After appearing in the Swamp Thing,
Constantine starred in his own Hellblazer comic
for 300 issues, before refreshing the character for D.C.'s
New 52 Universe, naming this new series Constantine.
The character was finally brought to the screen
in both a 2005 film starring Keanu Reeves,
and most recently, in an NBC television series
starring Matt Ryan.
And for those who think it's odd to base Constantine
off Sting because Sting isn't magic,
hello, have you heard him sing?
If that's not magic, I don't know what is.
- Number three is Tintin.
Made famous from the long running Belgian
comic series by the then cartoonist Hergé,
Tintin the globe-trotting comic reporter
first made his appearance in Tintin in the Land
of the Soviets, in 1929.
The real life inspiration for the character
came from the Danish boy scout named Palle Huld.
After winning a contest to reenact A Trip Around the World
In 80 Days, based on the novel,
he caught Hergé's attention, who was inspired.
Tintin was created the following year,
and the first series of Tintin stories, along with
his other collected works, have since sold
over 200 million volumes, becoming internationally beloved.
Tintin is huge in his home of Belgium,
so much so that the Hotel Amigo in Brussels
opened two special Tintin rooms,
including a huge mural of Tintin and his dog, Snowy.
I find it intriguing that Tintin became so popular.
I mean, who wants to be entertained
by a nerdy, skinny dude?
- (clears throat)
I am literally sitting right next to you.
- (chuckles nervously)
- Number four is The Hellfire Club.
The Hellfire Club is a fictional society
within the Marvel Comics universe,
that often battles the X-Men.
First introduced in the Uncanny X-Men #129, in 1980.
Multiple members of the club were inspired by actors
who Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, its creators,
were familiar with.
Mastermind was designed to look
like a young Vincent Price.
Robert Shaw inspired Sebastian Shaw,
Donald Sutherland inspired Donald Pierce,
Orson Welles inspired Harry Leland,
and Diana Rigg inspired Emma Frost.
The Hellfire Club became longstanding
antagonists to the X-Men, and vital parts
of The Phoenix Saga.
Both Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost
can be seen in the film X-Men: First Class,
at their regular spots, The Hellfire Club.
Interestingly, a Hellfire Club was historically
a nickname for places in the 18th century,
that were known for immoral acts
such as gentlemen's establishments.
And now you know the secret connection
between X-Men and strip clubs,
which explains their stage names, especially Cyclops.
- Number five is Magneto and Professor X.
Both Magneto and Professor X first appeared
in the X-Men #1, in September 1963,
around the height of the Civil Rights movement.
Since many of the X-Men could be a parable
to the fight of any equal rights groups,
it's not surprising that the opposing forces
of Magneto and Charles Xavier were based
off of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
Like Malcolm X and King, both men worked
to fight the oppression of their people,
but each go about doing it differently.
Magneto opts for more forceful approach, like Malcolm X,
while Xavier works with the opposition
diplomatically, like King.
The characters have been vital figure heads
in the longstanding X-Men comic series,
and can be seen in a series of X-Men films
played by Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.
While Magneto and Professor X may not see eye-to-eye,
but have you seen Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart's
photos from their days out friendshipping?
It's adorable.
- Number six is Iron Man.
Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39
in 1963, and has been ranked highly
as one of the top comic book characters of all time.
Tony Stark, the man within the Iron Man suit,
was inspired by American icon, Howard Hughes.
Hughes was a business tycoon, investor,
aviator, inventor, filmmaker, engineer,
and philanthropist, and during his life,
was one of the richest men in the world.
Hughes' handsome, rich, and Renaissance man persona
are what Stark's character were based upon.
In addition, Hughes' internal struggles
have also popped up in Stark's battles with alcoholism.
Inspiration goes even further when you know
that Tony's father is actually named Howard Stark.
Tony Stark and his superhero persona of Iron Man
have become huge pop culture icons,
since the 2008 film, Iron Man.
If only Hughes had built an Iron Man suit
that maybe, maybe, people wouldn't have thought
that he was so nuts for hoarding jars of his own pee.
Yeah, that happened, and I do it, too.
Come at me.
- Number seven is Lucifer Morningstar.
First appearing in Jimmy Olsen #65, in 1962,
the character of Lucifer Morningstar is a
modern interpretation of Satan.
During the late 1980's, Neil Gaiman was aiming
to redesign the character of Lucifer,
that had appeared in earlier D.C. Comics
for his own comic, The Sandman.
He wanted the devil to draw people in,
and naturally knew that the one other person
that could easily do that was David Bowie.
Bowie was not only a singer-songwriter
and actor, he ended up having the exact look
Neil was looking for.
The Sandman went on to be incredibly successful,
and was one of the few graphic novels
to be in The New York Times best seller list,
along with the Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.
In fact, as of February of this year,
Fox and Warner Brothers are planning a TV
adaptation for the character called,
you guessed it, Lucifer.
I don't blame game, and Bowie is quite devilish.
I mean, especially those eyes.
Those eyes.
- Number eight is Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn was introduced in the highly regarded
Batman: The Animated Series cartoon,
and then made her comic book appearance
in the Batman Adventures #12, in 1993.
Paul Dini was working to develop some new
henchmen characters for the Joker,
and thought to add a woman to the group.
He recalled a scene from the daytime soap opera,
Days of Our Lives, where his friend,
Arleen Sorkin, played a court jester in a fantasy sequence.
Dini got Sorkin involved and together,
they developed the character into
Dr. Harleen Quinzel, better known as Harley Quinn.
Snorkin even voiced the character
with a little splash of Southern belle.
Harley Quinn has since become one of the most
popular Batman villains, and soon
will make her first live action appearance
in the upcoming movie Suicide Squad,
set for 2016.
Did I mention she's going to be played by Margot Robbie?
Yeah, I'm seeing this movie.
- Number nine is J. Jonah Jameson.
J. Jonah Jameson is the editor in chief
at The Daily Bugle, and was introduced in the first issue
of The Amazing Spiderman #1, in 1963.
Believe it or not, he was inspired by the
one and only Stan Lee.
Between the silver sides of hair and the stylish mustache,
the similarities are striking.
Jameson is always demanding photos of Spiderman
because Stan himself would do that all the time
with his artists, along with being somewhat
grumpy and irritable at times.
Stan Lee has become the face of Marvel Comics,
thanks to his early work with Jack Kirby,
creating some of the most well-known
Marvel characters, and the many cameos he's had
in pretty much every Marvel film that has,
and will, come out.
Stan Lee has to be one of the coolest old men on the planet,
just behind Chuck Norris.
Nobody beats Chuck Norris.
- And number ten is Darkseid.
Just by looking at Darkseid, it's not hard to see
why Adolf Hitler was the inspiration
for the longstanding Superman villain.
First introduced in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134
in 1970, the supreme ruler of the planet
Apocalypse Darkseid was created by Jack Kirby,
following the move to D.C. from his
long time work at Marvel.
When it came to developing the villain,
Kirby took visual inspiration from actor Jack Palance,
but his personality from the infamous Nazi Party leader.
Darkseid is considered one of the most
powerful enemies in the D.C. Universe.
And since debuting, has appeared in
four decades of comics.
Darkseid would also serve as the inspiration
for the Marvel villain, Thanos,
my all time favorite purple supervillain.
There was also once a character created
called Thanoseid, that merged the two characters.
But that's just too much awesomeness for this video.
Don't want to damage your brain and all.
You need that for thinking,
and watching more videos.
- And that's it for this video, guys.
Thank you so much for watching.
Big thanks to Jake, A.K.A Vsauce3,
A.K.A my baby bird,
(makes bird squawking sounds)
for helping me with this video.
And if you enjoyed this one,
you should definitely check out the video
that we just shot for his channel, called
- What if Quicksilver Ran Past You?
- Featuring, of all people, they're not really people,
The Muppets.
- The Muppets and Matthew Santoro.
- And me.
So, if you guys want to check that out,
I will put an annotation right here for you to click,
and there will be a link in the description
that you guys should definitely click and check out.
One more time, thank you Jake.
- Thank you, baby snake. - Baby bird.
- (in unison) And, as always, thanks for watching.
Peace!
(electronic music)