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10 Secrets Hidden In Famous Comics
WhatCulture
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yesterday
With all the secret swears you dreamt of comics containing.
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00:00
Riddles, secrets, mysteries, hidden messages. Comics are full of them. In fact, they form
00:05
the backbone of many engaging and thrilling comic book stories, but on a meta level as
00:11
well, comics are home to many a secret concealed within their pages. Comics are, ultimately,
00:17
a visual medium, and comic book creators are, by definition, creative people, so it's reasonable
00:23
to expect them to hide subtle details in the pages of their works. Glimpses of their sense
00:28
of humour or frustrations at their industry cunningly concealed within their craft.
00:33
However, as much as you might expect these extra details to be hidden away in indie comics
00:38
as a little nod from a creator to their small fan base, it's another thing altogether to uncover
00:43
a secret hidden in a mainstream front of house flagship comic series. I'm Will, this is WhatCultureComics,
00:51
and here are 10 secrets hidden in famous comics. Number 10, Alan Moore and the Marvel Douche.
00:58
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In what fans would likely describe as a classic
01:02
Moore move, the writer would include a promotion for a Marvel company douche in the advertisement
01:08
section of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen number 5. While for many, this would merely appear
01:13
to be a slightly bizarre but legitimate product placement, as the ad is indeed a real one from
01:18
the early 1900s, it's impossible not to consider Moore's choice a slight towards Marvel themselves,
01:24
likely a result of his long-standing feud with them over the company having reprinted some of
01:29
the work he did for them without his permission. Concerned about the possible backlash from their
01:34
rival company, DC would change any references to the word Marvel in the ad to the word amaze,
01:41
pulping the entire initial release to try and ensure that the potential controversy never got out.
01:47
But of course, dear friends, it did. Number 9, Carla in the Justice League, Justice League 5.
01:53
If there's one thing that Jim Lee's art makes sure you know, it's that he really,
01:58
really loves his wife. He loves her so much, in fact, that he's managed to slip the phrase,
02:02
I love Carla, into the cover of Superman Unchained and the pages of Justice League number 5.
02:08
These confessions of love are well hidden, however, as you could read Justice League number 5 several
02:13
times without realising that, in the panel where Batman jumps on a car, the broken windshield spells
02:19
out I love Carla in the cracks. With so much of the hidden secrets in comics being swear words and
02:24
genitals, it's soothing to see something entirely more wholesome also sneak its way into the pages of
02:30
a comic book, especially when it's so elegantly hidden. Number 8, Windsor Smith's Coins, Conan the Barbarian 8.
02:38
A masterfully small detail hidden in Conan the Barbarian 8, artist Barry Smith made his frustrations
02:44
with the fine details in the comic known in its pages, writing in a pile of coins,
02:49
I must be mad drawing all these coins. While it's a move that is unlikely to get past nowadays,
02:55
Smith managed to get his note into the series when it was published back in the 70s, with the issue
03:00
not even being reprinted when the note was discovered. After all, it only enhances the comic
03:06
itself, as a charming reminder that every panel was painstakingly put together by one long-suffering
03:13
artist. It's not a mind-blowing secret, sure, but it's one that makes you appreciate the work
03:18
that goes into comics all the more. Number 7, Felix the Cat in Spider-Man.
03:23
Having worked on comics since 1985, it's safe to say that Todd McFarlane has had a long time drawing
03:29
every superhero and spandex outfit under the sun, which is likely why he decided to spice things up a bit.
03:35
As Todd's own account goes, the artist would often visit a comic store in Vancouver, where he would
03:41
often see a war vet buying Felix the Cat comics, and only Felix the Cat comics. Fascinated by this
03:47
undeniably unique trait, McFarlane asked the man if he would buy the comics he made if he started
03:53
putting Felix the Cat in them, to which the man agreed. This one interaction would spark a series of
03:59
easter eggs throughout Todd's work, as he continually snuck the animated cats into the pages of Spider-Man,
04:05
half in order to please the mysterious comic buyer, and likely half for his own amusement.
04:10
Should you ever like to play Where's Waldo with a run of comics, the little furry felines could
04:15
provide a scavenger hunt for the ages, or at least until you get bored.
04:19
Number 6, The Last Laugh. The Batman Who Laughs 7. With so many hidden secrets in comics being
04:25
completely unrelated to the series itself, it's worth mentioning that there are plenty of issues that
04:30
include secrets tailor-made to add just that little extra to their plot, as the 2018-19 Batman
04:36
Who Laughs series culminates in a sneaky plot moment that many may have missed. After narrowly defeating
04:42
the titular Batman Who Laughs by putting the Joker's toxic blood into his own veins, we see Bruce Wayne
04:49
speaking to Alfred while administering himself the cure. Only, it's left incredibly vague as to whether this
04:55
Bruce will indeed be cured, as the visual cue that he was infected by the Joker's blood, an occasional
05:01
red letter appearing in his dialogue, which in turn references the Batman Who Laughs all red dialogue,
05:07
spells out the message, right here still, ha ha, suggesting that this universe's Batman will continue
05:14
to be affected by the infected blood indefinitely. Number 5, Sexgate. New X-Men 118. Sometimes,
05:22
comic secrets aren't all that elaborate, or all that mature. The best example of that lies within the
05:28
pages of New X-Men 118, in an infamous panel that includes the word Sex, hidden in the bushes behind
05:34
the gate on the right. While this alone would be pretty plain, the word itself crops up repeatedly
05:39
throughout the issue, with instances of the word being snuck on all sorts of panels, in tree branches,
05:45
in signs and fences, and even one point in lightning. The team who created the issue have claimed that
05:51
these discoveries are merely the product of overactive fan imaginations, and that the panels
05:56
just so happen to look like the word is written everywhere. Although this isn't strictly impossible,
06:01
it does also seem like the team behind the issue created these easter eggs as a joke between them,
06:06
and naturally can't confess to doing so, because it would be heavily frowned upon by their superiors.
06:12
Number 4, The Secret Swears. Kezar number 1. Proving that sneaking rude words into comics is a pastime
06:19
with significant history behind it, 1970s Kezar number 1 contains the F-bomb on the literal first
06:26
issue of the series. Hilariously, unlike the vast majority of times profanacy is caught hiding in
06:31
comics, Kezar number 1 wasn't edited or republished without the telltale swear, meaning that any copy
06:37
you find nowadays will still look the exact same as it did on its initial release in the 70s, complete
06:45
with its delightfully little secret. Number 3. Hiding the title, Heroes in Crisis 5. While the vast
06:51
majority of secrets hidden in comics are usually minuscule details, occasionally a far larger
06:57
easter egg will sneak its way into a series. Take, for example, Heroes in Crisis 5, where artist Clay
07:04
Mann managed to hide the name of the series on the issue's second page by using Booster Gold, Blue Beetle,
07:11
and the scenery around them. It is incredibly well done, as Mann manages to create this hidden surprise
07:17
without making either the characters' poses nor the environment seem unnatural, meaning you could
07:23
easily see the panel without spotting the huge detail cleverly concealed within it. Although it's one of
07:29
the more readily apparent hidden secrets in comics, it's also undeniably cool to see the artists stretch
07:34
their creative muscles by playing around with some of the pages they illustrate. Number 2. Iron Man's
07:41
Resignation Letter, Iron Man 127. An unabashedly weird example of office politics slipping into Marvel's
07:48
own comics, Iron Man 127 managed to accidentally publish the real resignation letter of artist Dave
07:55
Cockrum instead of the letter supposedly written by Jarvis when he quits working for Tony Stark. The letter is
08:02
essentially Dave pouring his heart out about his concerns about the company and the office environment,
08:08
which is exactly why it stood out so much as not fitting in the story itself, and why it seems so
08:14
surreal and weird that Marvel would sign off on having it publicly published. And number 1. Spider-Man's
08:20
Harris slander variant, Universe X Spidey. Equal parts a hidden secret and a complete diss to an integral,
08:27
if controversial member of Marvel Comics, the first print of Universe X Spidey contained an
08:33
unabashed diss of Bob Harris in its pages. Concealed in a bookcase, the message reads,
08:39
Bob Harris, haha, he's gone, good riddance to bad rubbish, he was a nasty SOB. Which is the kind of
08:46
message that, when discovered, was impossible to read as anything but a complete slander of Marvel's
08:52
ex-editor-in-chief. Harris had naturally caused some ire in the office by being closely related to
08:59
the much-hated clone saga Spider-Man storyline, which appears to have translated into this particularly
09:06
bitter send-off. The issue now resells for roughly 10 times its original price, meaning that although
09:12
this was a negative press day for Marvel, it is one that has gained a bizarrely popular sort of
09:17
notoriety. And there you have it folks, 10 secrets hiding right there in the world's most famous
09:24
comics. Feel free to drop this video a like if you enjoyed it, and give me a follow on Twitter at
09:28
youslydogu. I'm Will for WhatCulture, thanks for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.
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