# 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:** 2\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/121 "2010-03-01T22:48:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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%. You really think that 50% of the developed world knows who Babe Ruth was, do you? :rolleyes: Very little of the developed (or undeveloped) world outside of America gives a shit about baseball. ---
**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, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784/122 "2010-03-01T23:02:46Z")
Speaking of Disney, we should perhaps add Uncle Scrooge McDuck to the list of widely recognized comic book characters. He was a creation of comic books (not movies or shorts), making his first appearance in Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #178. Uncle Scrooge comics are still very popular in Europe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-was-the-most-recent-universally-known-comic-character/529784.md?page=6)