# Which was the most recent "universally" known comic character? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784 "2010-02-20T18:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/101 "2010-02-25T16:51:48Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Continuing the hijack: it has just occured to me that a big way that an American could not know about Tom Brady is if they watch very little television. I say that because Brady’s big enough to have done credit-card commercials and to have hosted _Saturday Night Live_, among other things such as numerous appearances on tabloid TV. I’m an American, and I have never heard of Tom Brady until right now. Of course, I haven’t lived in America for a long time and certainly don’t waste my time with TV when I do go there. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/102 "2010-02-25T17:58:27Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Tell me … just how irrelevant are professional sports to your personal life? 😃 > > [Tom Brady info](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Brady). > EDIT: brief hijack > > **Chronos** , does the “encouraging guy” in [this commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8kMrLx6_aQ) ring a bell at all? I did not know Tom Brady, either. My interest in sports is pretty much non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/103 "2010-02-25T18:05:54Z")
I was wondering – how recognizable to the mainstream is Marvel’s version of “Thor, God of Thunder”? [![](https://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/thor.jpg) ](https://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/thor.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/104 "2010-02-25T18:07:52Z")
**Justin\_Bailey** said: > [@](#): > > Eh, I’m not sure I’d count the Ninja Turtles or G.I. Joe or the Transformers. > > The Turtles because most people have no idea they even are comic book characters and the Joes and the Transformers are disqualified in my mind because while both debuted in comics, the toy line/cartoon were much more important to the franchise and only debuted later because of the lead time needed to make a TV show or toy versus a comic book. I don’t necessarily care if most people know they originated in comic books, just that they have mainstreamed enough to be across several media. However, I will grant that G.I.Joe and Transformers may not count because their primary importance is the toy line, and the other media are just promotional tools for the toys. (Which isn’t quite the same as Star Wars, which the merchandising was done heavily and promoted by the films, but the films were the primary source and had merit without the toys.) **Ellis Dee** said: > [@](#): > > Tom Brady is more famous to non-sports fans than Yogi Berra is, at least to anyone under 30. (Possibly even 40.) The fact that you don’t know who he is perfectly illustrates how easily a non-comic book fan could not know who Wolverine is. Just like you tune out the ubiquity of Tom Brady – who is not limited to the sports arena at all – someone who thinks of comic books as you think of sports could easily tune out Wolverine. Thank you for making my point. I realize Yogi Berra has been out of the media long enough that the youngsters don’t know who he is - I _barely_ do. I could have gone with Michael Jordan, because his legacy isn’t quite as old (though still fading). The problem is that sports people’s careers end, they lose their market share, but comic book characters don’t have to go away just because they’ve been around a long time, so they can stay atop the podium. Thus Superman and Batman are still hot properties, but Michael Jordan is someone I bet most teenagers would give you a quizzical look over, and anyone under 10 will think you mean Michael _Jackson_. It’s an analogy, so it isn’t quite a direct analogue. There’s room for quibbling over the individual comparisons. The principle is sound. > [@](#): > > Just to get a feel of how well you tune out sports, do you know who Peyton Manning is? I’ve heard the name, I know he’s a quarterback, I might could recognize him in a photo or commercial. But I don’t follow football (or most sports, for that matter), and tune out names when I hear them. Unless it’s about the Cowboys (because my family follow them), I just don’t absorb it much. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/105 "2010-02-25T18:31:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Now tell me what percentage of Americans bought tickets (domestic gross / ~$9) to the three X-Men movies and you’ll understand how apt the comparison is. Just like you don’t have a clue who Tom Brady is, many many people can easily not have a clue who Wolverine is. > > This was a perfect illustration of a point, so kudos to us both. I could get behind that. I wouldn’t say that Tom Brady nor Wolverine is “universal”, though I would say that both Babe Ruth and Superman are. I think that the bare minimum definition I’d accept for “universal” would be “recognized by 50% of Americans”, or possibly “50% of the developed world” (yes, I know that that ignores the rest of the world, but we’re talking universal in the context of a culture, here), and I’d be much more inclined to set the bar at 90%. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/106 "2010-02-25T19:54:16Z")
Agreed, Chronos. My contribution to this thread is more along the lines of the other recent thread about comic book ubiquity. I forget what it was titled, but a recurring theme in it was that comic book characters aren’t as ubiquitous as comic book fans would think. I believe that got distilled down to nothing is as ubiquitous as hardcore fans of that thing would like to think. Some posters seemed to have trouble relating to the concept, and I remember thinking at the time why would it be hard to imagine people completely ignoring an entire subject that dominates the media? It’d be like not knowing anything about sports, which I imagine is not uncommon among comic book fans. So again, I’m not trying to prove a point or argue with anyone in here. I just offered a comparative example to help those who can’t imagine how someone could ignore something as prevalent in pop culture as, say, Wolverine. By the way, Tom Brady is more famous than just his four Superbowls thanks to marrying Gisele Bundchen (supermodel) and the fact that [Bridget Moynahan](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005256/) (actress) is his baby mama. When you knock up an actress then marry a supermodel, yeah, that gets people talking. He’s also widely considered hot by women, so he passes the “do soccer moms know who he is?” smell test quite nicely, being a hot celebrity on all the gossip shows. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/107 "2010-02-25T20:49:39Z")
Folks who don’t know Tom Brady – at least check out [this SNL short](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBVuAGFcGKY). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/108 "2010-02-26T00:29:48Z")
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Half-serious, here. ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/109 "2010-02-26T01:18:01Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > [Pikachu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikachu) – first published in 1996, and probably more universally recognised than most American superheroes. I was going to say this, too. Merchandised all over the world, TV, comics, multiple movies…there’s a whole generation of kids that can recognize Pikachu. Even _South Park_ did a Pikachu parody. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/110 "2010-02-28T22:52:59Z")
Pikachu’s a videogame character, not a comic character. Unless you’re going to count characters that have appeared in comics incidental to their main appearances, then you’re opening a big can of worms and have to count Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog as “universally” known comic characters. Hell, you’d have to count Hulk Hogan and The Rock for that matter. I think either TMNT or MIB are the best answers given in this thread, with Wolverine being the answer for mainstream Marvel/DC characters. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/111 "2010-03-01T01:03:36Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I think either TMNT or MIB are the best answers given in this thread, with Wolverine being the answer for mainstream Marvel/DC characters. I’m not entirely sure TMNT count as comic characters since 99% of people know them from the Saturday morning cartoon, and Men In Black are products of '50s Cold War Paranoia and later Conspiracy Theorism, long before any comics or movies about them came about. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/112 "2010-03-01T01:14:24Z")
The Transformers are not comic book characters. At least not originally. They entered the culture first as toys. Comic books followed. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/113 "2010-03-01T10:59:59Z")
Not true, Spoke. The names and characters of the Transformers were all created by Marvel Comics. Jim Shooter and Denny O’Neil, specifically, over a weekend. The whole Autobots, Decepticons, Cybertron, and so on. (It’s fun to go back through earlier comics and see previous uses of the name. Cybertrons were a group of robots that fought the X-Men at one point, just before the series was put into reruns.) The figures predated the concepts, but not as a toyline. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/114 "2010-03-01T16:15:33Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > Snoopy. > > With Charlie Brown a close second. I’ll second that. Snoopy is still making commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/115 "2010-03-01T16:22:12Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Not true, Spoke. The names and characters of the Transformers were all created by Marvel Comics. Jim Shooter and Denny O’Neil, specifically, over a weekend. Jim Shooter and Denny O’Neil were hired by Hasbro to create a backstory for the toys. Like I said, toys first, comics later. [From Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers): > [@](#): > > The Transformers began with the 1970s Japanese toy lines Microman, Diaclone and Mecha. The former utilized varying humanoid-type figures while the latter presented robots able to transform into everyday vehicles, electronic items or weapons. Hasbro, fresh from the success of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, which utilized the Microman technology to great success, bought the Diaclone toys, and partnered with Takara. Jim Shooter and Dennis O’Neil were hired by Hasbro to create the backstory, the latter of whom christened Optimus Prime. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/116 "2010-03-01T16:56:58Z")
Like **Kimstu** , I’ll provide another data point. I’m 57 and have had virtually no direct exposure to comic books since reading them in the early '60s. And I think I represent my circle of friends pretty well because we had a discussion similar to this at a recent party. Limiting my recognition quotient to comic book superheroes, here is my list: Superman Batman Spider-Man Hulk Wonder Woman (but only because of the television series showing at a time when my hormones were raging) I’d actually also recognize the Phantom because he was one of my favorites as a kid, but I don’t think he’d make anyone else’s list. Wolverine is a close call. I had heard of the X-Men but have never seen any of the movies, yet because of movie trailers I think I’d recognize him. But only if I could see his hands. Otherwise I’d likely mis-label him as the Wolfman. Iron Man? Until I saw the movie I didn’t know he was a comic book character. Captain America? Sandman? Death? I’ve heard of Captain America, but not the others. Then there is the whole other universe of cartoon characters that fall outside of the superhero genre but are recognizable by a large portion of society: All the Disney characters All the Peanuts characters (though probably only Snoopy and Woodstock are most recognizable) Simpsons Garfield Dilbert Calvin and Hobbes. Popeye and Olive Oyl Pikachu? Nope. I might have been able to place the character as some sort of Asian creation, but that’d be about it. Pulling a name out of my memory would have been impossible. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/117 "2010-03-01T17:01:32Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Jim Shooter and Denny O’Neil were hired by Hasbro to create a backstory for the toys. Like I said, toys first, comics later. [From Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers): Entirely correct, spoke. But really, what _is_ a character? Is Ultra Magnus the same as Optimus Prime? The toy was the same in the Diaclone line. (Powered Convoy even had a little Roller toy.) That’s why I consider the Transformers themselves to be originated by Marvel. Much more so than, say, Shogun Warriors or Godzilla. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/118 "2010-03-01T17:37:40Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Entirely correct, spoke. But really, what _is_ a character? Is Ultra Magnus the same as Optimus Prime? The toy was the same in the Diaclone line. (Powered Convoy even had a little Roller toy.) That’s why I consider the Transformers themselves to be originated by Marvel. Much more so than, say, Shogun Warriors or Godzilla. Still doesn’t change the fact that they’re not comic book characters. The comic was always created as a spinoff of the toy line and the TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/119 "2010-03-01T17:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Entirely correct, spoke. But really, what _is_ a character? Is Ultra Magnus the same as Optimus Prime? The toy was the same in the Diaclone line. (Powered Convoy even had a little Roller toy.) That’s why I consider the Transformers themselves to be originated by Marvel. Much more so than, say, Shogun Warriors or Godzilla. Except that, in the case of the Transformers at least, the storyline isn’t really essential to what they are. What’s essential to Optimus Prime (by any name) is that he’s a semi truck that turns into a giant robot. If I got an Optimus Prime toy for Christmas, the limit of my interest in his backstory was that he was the leader of the good guys. As long as he transformed, it didn’t really matter where he came from or the like. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/120 "2010-03-01T18:43:51Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > I’d actually also recognize the Phantom because he was one of my favorites as a kid, but I don’t think he’d make anyone else’s list. Excellent post! Billy Zane is not a good approximation of “The Ghost Who Walks” and thus his movie probably suffered for it. Perhaps [other versions](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0027936/) would help some people remember him. It’s a shame, too. With all his toys and dog and horse and ring and mask and such, he was a kid’s fantasy hero. The Shadow was the only one of those characters, after The Lone Ranger of course, from my comic book days to last into my teen and young adult consciousness. (That’s excluding the obvious OP characters.) I would suggest that anybody over 50 still wild about comic books is outside the “universal” group anyway. And I could definitely be wrong there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784.md?page=7)