# How many superheroes are immediately recognizable out of costume? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561 "2009-01-29T15:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/41 "2009-01-29T19:13:12Z")
Guy Gardner is unmistakable. I disagree about Oliver Queen. There was a comic where Travis Morgan (out of costume) turned up in Seattle, and was constantly mistaken for Oliver. I’ve never read a _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic_, apart from the Usagi Yojimbo crossover. Is there any logical reason why they wear masks? (Not DCU, I know, but still…) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/42 "2009-01-29T19:16:38Z")
Lobo ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/43 "2009-01-29T19:21:18Z")
[Jason Blood](http://www.novanotes.com/specul/batson3.jpg) is pretty easy to pick out of a crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/44 "2009-01-29T19:23:35Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Guy Gardner is unmistakable. > > I disagree about Oliver Queen. There was a comic where Travis Morgan (out of costume) turned up in Seattle, and was constantly mistaken for Oliver. > I’ve never read a _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic_, apart from the Usagi Yojimbo crossover. Is there any logical reason why they wear masks? (Not DCU, I know, but still…) Travis Morgan is the 70’s character Warlord, right? He does look a lot like Ollie Queen, but IIRC Morgan’s hair was white whereas Ollie always had the yellow that symbolizes blond hair. The average fan who isn’t aware of the Warlord character probably would say both were Ollie Queen. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/45 "2009-01-29T19:33:21Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’ve never read a _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic_, apart from the Usagi Yojimbo crossover. Is there any logical reason why they wear masks? (Not DCU, I know, but still…) Just a guess, so the reader can tell them apart? I haven’t read too many of the comics, but I know in the animated show and in the movies, it makes it a lot easier to know that Leonardo = blue, Donatello = purple, Michaelangelo = orange, and Raphael = red. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/46 "2009-01-29T19:35:27Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Just a guess, so the reader can tell them apart? I haven’t read too many of the comics, but I know in the animated show and in the movies, it makes it a lot easier to know that Leonardo = blue, Donatello = purple, Michaelangelo = orange, and Raphael = red. Maybe I’m misremembering, but it seems to me that the TMNT comics I saw when the characters were first introduced had color covers but BW stories. They still wore masks. I don’t recall those stories being really slapstick funny, either. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/47 "2009-01-29T19:40:47Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Travis Morgan is the 70’s character Warlord, right? He does look a lot like Ollie Queen, but IIRC Morgan’s hair was white whereas Ollie always had the yellow that symbolizes blond hair. The average fan who isn’t aware of the Warlord character probably would say both were Ollie Queen. The first time I read a _Warlord_ comic, my first thought was, "What the hell is Green Arrow doing in this fantasy milieau? With a GUN? And what’s with the hot, all-but-naked cat chick whose hanging out with him? Is he suicidal? Because Canary’s going to KILL him when the Justice League arrives to rescue him. Warlord rocked. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/48 "2009-01-29T19:46:54Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Just a guess, so the reader can tell them apart? I haven’t read too many of the comics, but I know in the animated show and in the movies, it makes it a lot easier to know that Leonardo = blue, Donatello = purple, Michaelangelo = orange, and Raphael = red. > [@Scumpup](#): > > Maybe I’m misremembering, but it seems to me that the TMNT comics I saw when the characters were first introduced had color covers but BW stories. They still wore masks. I don’t recall those stories being really slapstick funny, either. The different-colored masks is a television thing. Even when the comics are done in color, they all wear red masks. You can tell them apart by their weapons. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/49 "2009-01-29T19:49:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Mostly because I was never that much of a Marvel reader. Also, at the time I was an active reader/collector, Wolverine was a peripheral character in a goofy yellow outfit. He didn’t take on his current importance for Marvel or fans until years later. So, I just didn’t think of him. So you read Marvel comics more than twenty years ago then? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/50 "2009-01-29T20:53:32Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > So you read Marvel comics more than twenty years ago then? Yes. I’m 47. I started reading comic books at around 7. Started actively collecting, rather than just accumulating at around 11. Sold everything off at about 20 or 21. Right after they got done fucking everything up with Infinite Crisis, anyway. Since then, I’ve purchased only the odd Elseworlds or bound collection. I haven’t read anything regularly in all that time. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/51 "2009-01-29T21:33:36Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Warlord rocked. Yeah. Although I thought it kind of wrong when they showed him as a regular character in some DC contiunity title. Does that mean that there’s a whole other world inside the Earth of the DC univers and people like Superman never noticed? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/52 "2009-01-29T21:46:12Z")
Hair is perhaps the most consistent giveaway. Matt Murdock is almost always recognizable. Even without his glasses – there aren’t that many red-haired characters. Barry Allen had a crew cut. Doc Samson has green hair. If it’s a male with white hair, it’s probably either Quicksilver or Northstar. White hair only at the temples, check the eyes. Normal: Reed Richards. Shaded or glowing: Phantom Stranger. If it’s blue hair, then it’s Marge Simpson. One character that is never recognizable to me out of uniform is Hawkeye. For some reason, I just don’t expect him to be a blond guy. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/53 "2009-01-29T22:09:47Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Jason Blood](http://www.novanotes.com/specul/batson3.jpg) is pretty easy to pick out of a crowd. Except for the fact he looks a hell of a lot like [recent depictions of the original Jim Corrigan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Corrigan.png). But speaking of the Demon, Klarion the Witchboy, when drawn PROPERLY (ie, based upon his Kirby design, not the abomination that appeared in Young Justice), is quite recognizable. > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > White hair only at the temples, check the eyes. Normal: Reed Richards. Shaded or glowing: Phantom Stranger. One missing, Nick Fury. Oh, and speaking of Fury, the Ultimate version is easily recognizable - Samuel L. Jackson with an eyepatch. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/54 "2009-01-30T03:14:00Z")
I think Blue Devil and Detective Chimp are pretty obvious. On the other hand, how much alike do Captain Marvel (Shazam), Superman, and Wonder Man look? Big dark haired guys… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/55 "2009-01-30T03:17:06Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > The different-colored masks is a television thing. Even when the comics are done in color, they all wear red masks. You can tell them apart by their weapons. Maybe because they’re ninjas, then, and it’s traditional? I dunno, I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/56 "2009-01-30T03:22:39Z")
Tigra would be recognizeable as well… ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/57 "2009-01-30T10:48:51Z")
Clark Kent is identifiable when drawn into a different company’s comic, as a cameo, without words. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/58 "2009-01-30T11:31:08Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Wolverine, because of his distinctive facial hair, is a character that readers would recognize in an out of context panel where he is in normal clothing. “Facial” hair? There may not be lots of guys with sideburns in the comics (although there are more than one) but I’m still trying to figure out how is anybody’s head hair supposed to grow like that without a whole factory’s worth of grease! Thankfully he’s the only _major_ character to sport that 'do… Sabretooth has the size, the eyes (no pupils or irises, they’re all yellow) and the same barber as Logan. Juggernaut is quite evident too. He’s not the only guy out there who’s the approximate size of a truck, but most guys his size in Marvel comics are some sort of strange coloring, he isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/59 "2009-01-30T13:33:11Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > One missing, Nick Fury. Or old Superman. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561/60 "2009-01-30T14:10:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Or old Superman. This is true. Old Superman…they call him Kal-L don’t they?..is pretty easily recognizable with his graying hair and his squinty eyes. I was going to offer old Captain Marvel too. He was drawn to look exactly like Fred MacMurray; but the problem is that he was never seen in “civies.” When he wasn’t Captain Marvel he was Billy Batson and Billy wasn’t really much different from any comic-strip kid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superheroes-are-immediately-recognizable-out-of-costume/483561.md?page=4)