It can be very hard to know what’s going to be a hit and what’s not in the world of comics. Sometimes, a hero debuts to much ballyhoo and acclaim, becoming a juggernaut. Sometimes, quite the opposite happens and a hero no one expects comes out of nowhere with a little success and conquers the world, becoming a household name.
In fact, more often than not, these sleeper hit superheroes are the rule rather than the exception with some of the biggest superheroes around starting from humble beginnings to become some of the most popular fictional characters in recent memory, if not of all time.
10 Booster Gold Was The Breakout Star Of The JLI
Taking the Justice League, one of the most decorated and acclaimed team of heroes in comics, and filling them with B-listers was a gamble and it paid off. However, the real star of the show, the one character who came out of nowhere and became the most popular member of the group was also the most annoying one: Booster Gold.
Debuting in his own mini series by writer/artist Dan Jurgens, Booster Gold was a modest success that caught fire in Justice League by writers J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and artist Kevin Maguire, becoming the most popular character. Since then, Booster has helmed his own series and become a big part of the DC Universe.
9 Captain Marvel Has Been On An Upward Trajectory Since Her Debut
Carol Danvers first appeared in 1968’s Marvel Super-Heroes #13, a member of the Air Force and compatriot of the Kree Captain Marvel. From there, she got her own series, Ms. Marvel in 1977, a feminist superhero for the modern day. She would join the Avengers and go through years of ups and downs before becoming Captain Marvel herself, one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Universe.
Captain Marvel has kept on moving up her entire existence, defying the odds and gaining popularity steadily. She went from a modestly popular sidekick to the one of the big guns of the Marvel Universe, not to mention a movie star.
8 The Hulk Couldn’t Even Sustain His Own Book For A While
Nowadays the Hulk is known as the strongest one there is and battles it out with the most powerful heroes and villains, often coming out on top against the odds. However, there was a time when the Hulk’s book was cancelled, with his debut book only lasting six issues. A guest appearance in Fantastic Four kept him fresh in readers’ minds and his short time as an Avenger would get him back into the spotlight.
Taking over Tales To Astonish, the anthology series would eventually be re-christened The Incredible Hulk and thanks to a popular TV show in the late ’70s and early ’80s, the Hulk would become one of the biggest heroes in the Marvel Universe.
7 Cable Became A Trendsetter Overnight
Cable rose from humble beginnings to become one of the defining characters of the ’90s and no one ever would have predicted it. Debuting in New Mutants #87, the gun-toting mutant made an immediate impression on fans, and his popularity continued to grow and would be the fuel that spurred X-Force #1 into becoming one of the biggest comics of all time.
Everyone tried to ape the success of Cable, as big guns, pouches, and cybernetic arms became the order of the day. Cable set a whole new trend in the comic industry, one that re-made the ’90s in his image and indirectly led to Image Comics, as co-creator Rob Liefeld was one of the main agitators who spurred the exodus from Marvel.
6 Deadpool Went From Assassin Cliché To Merch-Moving Icon
Back when he debuted, Deadpool was a basic villain cliché, the evil assassin who was kind of funny and had swords and guns, a standard bad guy that no one would have figured to become one of the biggest comic characters of all time. However, the lord of the fourth wall break would rise to unexpected stardom thanks to appearances in X-Force and his own book by writer Joe Kelly and artist Ed McGuinness.
Kelly would re-define the character and create the Deadpool everyone knows and loves today: The fourth wall breaking, hyper-violent yet goofy assassin that everyone loves. From there he would go on to Hot Topic stardom in the ’00s and the rest is history.
5 Wolverine Was The Breakout Star Of The Biggest Book Of The ’80s
It’s hard to imagine a time when Wolverine wasn’t one of the biggest names in comics, but the ol’ Canucklehead rose from humble origins to the top. First appearing in The Incredible Hulk #181 and battling the Hulk and Wendigo, he would become a star in the pages of Uncanny X-Men, one of the team’s most integral members and spin-off into his own book and guest appearances everywhere.
Wolverine’s blend of ultra-violence and loner with a heart of gold personality caught fire and he became one of the biggest comic characters ever, a household name whose popularity has never slowed down.
4 No One Expected Spider-Man To Sell
Stan Lee expected Spider-Man to bomb. Although his concept for the ultimate hero with feet of clay was sound, Lee and company all thought that no one would like the character because of people’s general dislike of spiders. However, thanks to Lee’s bombastic dialogue and Steve Ditko’s deft plotting and art, Spider-Man would become one of Marvel’s greatest successes.
Spider-Man’s entire existence has been one of rising to greater heights, whether it be helming multiple books in the ’80s or going from street level superstar to the Avengers and beyond, becoming one of Marvel’s most iconic heroes.
3 Shazam Almost Toppled Superman
The first character to ever be called Captain Marvel (back when Marvel Comics was still called Timely), Shazam debuted in Whiz Comics #2 as one of many Superman copycats but with a twist that greatly appealed to his young audience: He was a young boy who transformed into a superhero. Instead of being an adult, he was just like the reader and this spurred him to stardom.
Sales on his books kept going up and an entire Marvel Family of characters was introduced with the Captain at the center. Shazam would almost eclipse Superman and DC responded by suing Fawcett Comics out of existence, buying up their characters, and wooing away their talent. Shazam would be folded into the nascent DC Universe and the rest is history.
2 Batman Combined A Pulp Hero Aesthetic With Superhero Flourishes
After the debut of Superman, everyone was trying to get in on the superhero game. Bob Kane and Bill Finger went another direction, though, taking cues from the pulp detective comics of the day and combining them with superheroes to create Batman. Like the older pulp heroes, Batman had a tragic back story and like the superheroes, an outlandish costume and name.
Batman would rise to stardom quickly, gaining his own book and sidekick in record time, with the book where he first appeared, Detective Comics, lending its initials to the company he helped make into a juggernaut: DC Comics.
1 Superman Was The First Superhero & Started A Phenomenon
Without Superman, pop culture would be a very different place. Starting as the brain child of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two friends from Pittsburgh, Superman would burst out of nowhere and set the comic world on its ear— wresting it away from the likes of the Phantom and the Shadow and starting the superhero trend that lives on to this day.
Superman kept moving up, up, and away, going from comics to radio to movie serials to TV to his own feature length movie and beyond, remaking pop culture in his image. Borrowing from the heroes of myth and combining that with modern day aesthetics, Superman is the Hercules of our age, the mythological titan that defines our imagination and who we are as society in a way that everyone that came after him can only dream of.
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