DC Comics have taken several risks with their characters and stories over the years. It may seem incredible today, but in 1938, just having Superman lifting a car on the cover of Action Comics #1 was once considered controversial as many thought readers would find the image of a man able to raise a car over his head too unbelievable. In this case – and in many other future stories – such risks paid off and DC earned a deserved reputation as a company that pushed the envelope with creative choices.
Other times, however, some of the scenes in DC Comics became infamous for all the wrong reasons. Whether it was the result of an unfortunate printing error, a bad creative choice, or simply terrible timing, certain comics gained a level of notoriety the creators probably never intended. Here are just five now-collectible DC Comics that gained an infamous reputation for the wrong reasons.
All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder #10
The All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder series earned early notoriety for having Batman give the highly controversial and meme-worthy line, “I’m The g*****n Batman” to Robin in the second issue. However, the tenth issue raised even more controversy thanks to a printing error. This issue showcases Batgirl beating up a gang of potty-mouthed thugs. Batgirl unleashes some fairly colorful language of her own, although the comic blacks out the offensive letters.
However, early printings of the book used a fainter ink that allowed readers to make out all the curse works beneath the black ink, making it obvious what Batgirl was saying when she screamed, “This here arcade belongs to the ****ing Batgirl!” Thousands of copies needed to be withdrawn, although surviving issues have become notorious collector’s items.
Elseworlds 80-Page Giant
Years before The Incredibles animated short Jack-Jack Attack, DC Comics came out with “Letitia Lerner, Superman’s Baby-Sitter” in Elseworlds: 80 Page Giant. The comic showed a hapless teenage babysitter trying to look after a baby Clark Kent who kept swinging from ceiling fans, biting phone cords, taking joy rides on horses, and sleeping in traffic. Letitia manages to bring Clark safely home, but in the final panels, Clark crawls into the microwave oven and Letitia accidentally microwaves him.
Naturally, this didn’t kill the baby Superman, but editor and vice-president Paul Levitz found the scene offensive and had the issue recalled and pulped. Ironically, the story went on to win an Eisner Award.
Swamp Thing #11
When Swamp Thing was rebooted for the New 52, the eleventh issue of his new comic showed the hero trying to protect his love interest Abby from some monsters with tentacles. Unfortunately, some of the tentacles were drawn to look a bit too… phallic. To make matters worse, the colorist gave them flesh tones. The art was revised, cropping out the offensive tentacles, but images of the original art still exist.
Green Lantern #54
This scene was so infamously inappropriate, it became the basis for a trope that illustrated how badly women could be portrayed in comics. After returning from a brief mission, new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner returns home to find his girlfriend Alexandra DeWitt was murdered by the supervillain Major Force and stuffed into a refrigerator. While the scene was grotesque, it was particularly horrific since Alexandra had basically been created just to be killed in order to motivate the male hero.
This led to discussions on how other female characters – like Marvel’s Gwen Stacy and Elektra – were also killed just to motivate the hero, making some later writers more careful not to repeat the “Woman In the Refrigerator” trope.
The Killing Joke
Although regarded today as a classic Batman/Joker story, The Killing Joke has also received some deserved criticism for the way it had the Joker paralyze Barbara Gordon, making her another victim in the “Women in the Refrigerator” trope. Even worse, the Joker then possibly raped Barbara, took sexually explicit photos of her, and showed the photos to her father Commissioner Gordon in an attempt to drive him insane.
Barbara later became a hero to many paraplegics when she became the cyber crimefighter Oracle, but the circumstances of her paralysis are still considered some of the most exploitative moments in comic book history.
After over eighty years, DC Comics has had its share of groundbreaking storytelling moments. Along with its triumphs, however, it’s also had a fair share of disturbing, inappropriate scenes. Whether the result of honest artistic mistakes or “shock value” storytelling, these moments serve as examples of when comic book storytelling goes too far.
