18 DC Characters Based on Real People

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Many comic book artists take inspiration from the world around them and the tradition of "casting" real-life actors as characters in the pages of comics goes back to the birth of the medium. Following on from a previous video about 15 Marvel Characters Based on Real People, Josh from Panels to Pixels explores the real life inspirations behind some of your favourite DC superheroes and supervillains.
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0:00 Intro
0:57 Superman
2:22 Batman
3:56 Lois Lane
5:31 Joker
6:40 Catwoman
7:27 Talia al Ghul
8:09 Harley Quinn
9:10 Sponsored Content
10:43 Wonder Woman
12:21 Shazam
13:19 Green Lantern
15:37 Jack Kirby’s New Gods
18:27 Vertigo Characters
21:18 Outro
#DC #Superheroes #PanelstoPixels

[@PanelstoPixels]

The first 1000 people to use the link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/panelstopixels06211

[@davidogundipe808]

Should have included death of the endless, she's based on a real person also.

[@matthewrosenthal753]

Just a minor mention but Douglas Fairbanks starred in the Silent Film “The Mark of Zorro“ not “The mask of Zorro, which was the 2000’s film Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Bandaras.

[@Warriorropp]

🎉❤🎉😢😢😢😢🎉😢😢🎉

[@hydrolito]

There was a serial film called The Bat in 1926 with villain that wore a Bat face masked also had dark automobile bat signal although from his belt more the way spider-man used a light, climbing rope and a gun (earlier episodes Batman used a gun) Cat Woman started out with a mask with a cat face instead of Bat face and originally called herself The Cat so could have inspired both Batman and The Cat also called Catwoman. The Bat was also released in 1933 as The Bat whisperer. Bob Kane was sued by maker of movie and Bob Kane bought films rights from him.

[@stevekoller3314]

Bonus Fact: The Atom (Dr. Ray Palmer) was named after Raymond A. Palmer, a science fiction writer who was well-known for being short in stature (4'8). His height was the result of a spinal injury he sustained as a child, which stunted his growth and rendered him a hunchback.

[@ruru6643]

(灬ºωº灬)?

[@jackofallclaws6672]

You know, I’d actually like to see Josh do a video talking about the accounts of plagiarism surrounding the creation of Batman.

[@kevincruz7958]

Yeah. He was not inspired by the Shadow but it was a direct copy of it. Some panels even tracing its art. I think Razorfist has a video about it. It would be fun to see them collaborate.

[@stationarywanderer7910]

Wonder Woman's physical appearance was also based on Olive Byrne.And Byrne is the person who got Marston involved in comics. she was a fan, and her brother Jack was a writer and editor for comics companies. One of the companies Jack worked for had a character named Amazona, and he origin was partly used by Marston for Wonder Woman.

[@sheshotjfk8375]

Also, before DC created Wonder Woman, another comic creator named Will Eisner created a superhero name Wonder Man. But DC sued for the rights to Wonder Man claiming copyright infringement saying it was a ripoff of Superman. A few months after winning the case they coincidentally came out with a Wonder Woman comic. But it didn't end there. Decades later, in 1964, Marvel Comics came out with a superhero (or I think he started off as a villain) named Wonder Man. Again, DC sued, this time claiming it was a rip off of Wonder Woman so Stan Lee dropped the character. But then DC ripped off Marvel's Power Man by creating Power Girl. So Stan Lee brought Wonder Man back LOL

[@CynthiaJFinnegan]

Oh, and how Captain Marvel looked in the Golden Age depended on who was drawing him. Early on, Beck did model Cap on MacMurray; Marc Swayze modeled Cap off of Clark Gable; Pete Costanza drew Cap to look like Cary Grant; and Kurt Schaffenberger based his version of Cap off of Jack Oakey.

[@danewood2309]

and in the line of Actors becoming their Comic Characters, after Christopher Reeve played Superman, Superman was redrawn to look more like Christopher Reeve... then when Christopher Reeve died in 2006, DCs Superman Comic had a full page "obituary" showing Superman stood with his head bowed in front of a grave stone , with Christopher Reeves details on it and the words " A Symbol of Courage".

[@kalphil4385]

It's great to see that Douglas Fairbanks Zorro was an influence on both Superman and Batman.

[@EGRJ]

It goes deeper. The Scarlet Pimpernel inspired Zorro, and both inspired Batman.

[@Duck_Dodgers]

The shadow inspired batman almost all super heroes are based on pulp fiction heroes

[@lefantomer]

Joachim Phoenix's Joker is closer to Gwynplane from "Man Who Laughs. Ledger's extraordinary Joker is closer to Greek tragic theater characters who represent a certain quality, such as madness, or in his case chaotic nihilism.

[@moogleplay9131]

Sting came to my city perform back in the 90's. He wouldn't perform an encore for us all and you could tell he'd rather be dead than perform for us. Melissa Etheridge opened up for him and I thought she was better, was happy to perform.

[@ericprice5471]

Also interesting; Heath Ledger’s Joker is a very faithful imitation of Tom Waits. The voice, the posture, the accent… it all came from Tom Waits.

[@RyVo-gl4ov]

Jonah Hex should have been mentioned, since he's look was somewhat based on young Clint Eastwood, though with the added iconic scar,

[@riftwytch]

Speaking of Jack Kirby's time at DC, he also drew Don Rickles in his comics; both as the comedian himself, and a superhero named Goody Rickles. Check out the issues of Jimmy Olsen that Kirby created; kind of strange, but still entertaining.

[@winnerwatson1883]

For the Lois Lane segment, another inspiration was American journalist Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, better known by her pen name Nellie Bly.

[@thriddoctor]

The Mad Hatter was based on a Victorian furniture salesman called Theophilus Carter .

[@joadams8022]

Further on the real world inspirations of the Sandman characters, Death was Cinamon Hadley, a goth model who based her look on Siouxsie Soux and Patricia Morrison. Original ideas and Neill Gaiman never being particularly close associates.

[@antipatsy]

THANK you. I was just about to blow a gasket!

[@CynthiaJFinnegan]

Another Tori Amos song, titled "Tear In Your Hand," has another Sandman reference in a line that goes "me and Neil will be hanging out with the Dream King."

[@KOMF]

6:20 “ We Live in A Society…” I See What You did there

[@HeatherNickless-vt8zr]

I have two Diana Rigg Films: "The Worst Witch" and "The Great Muppet Caper".

[@digipeeper]

Also forget: Dream(Morpheus) based on Cure’s Robert Smith and Peter Murphy!!!!

[@44excalibur]

Only Superman was based on Zorro actor Douglas Fairbanks. Batman and Bruce Wayne were based on actor Tyrone Power from The Mark of Zorro, and his look was inspired by the villain from the suspense thriller, The Bat Whispers.

[@arielfilmsinc1926]

Carol Ferris was SUPPOSEDLY modeled after Elizabeth Taylor

[@tomboughan2718]

Jackson Guice made a likeness of Amy Grant on cover of Dr. Strange and got sued by Amy Grant. She said she don't want to be associated with occult. Amy Grant was a Christian singer. Jackson said that he did not know Amy, but saw her pic and thought it was good model for a Dr. Strange disciple, whose name I forgot.

[@thanosdoomjuggernaut2846]

Superman was based off of Hugo Danner from the book “Gladiator”.

[@YouLousyKids]

Before I even watch the video, let me list the few I know: Clark Kent was based on Harold Lloyd's look and inspired by the fact Lloyd could take off his famous glasses and walk through NYC and not be recognized. Big Barda was based on Lainie Kazan (who oddly enough is who should now be cast to play Granny Goodness!). Sue Dibny was based on Shirley Maclaine from The Apartment.

[@foxhound13]

I love the origin of Harley Quinn creation. Its nice Paul Dini was good friends who also became the actress to voice the inspiration.

[@bodyfarmbrat]

the bat man cartoon was where i first saw harley too....had no idea her voice was the actress who inspired them. !

[@willmfrank]

I'm pretty sure that the 1960's iterations of Superman were modeled on Peter Lupus.

[@TheNedH]

Funny that there would be a rumor about Hal Jordan being based on Paul Newman, given that Paul Newman is famous in part for his blue eyes, whereas Hal is one of the few comics characters to be consistently portrayed as having brown eyes.

[@joneshugh]

Actually Green Lantern & also The Lantern Corps were based on a sci-fi or pulp novel

[@louisjohnson5239]

you missed dream being inspired partly by either robert smith from the cure, or peter murphy from bauhaus, but im certain you knew that already,

[@crazygamers2015]

Great video as always!

[@jamessutton1866]

Another informative and entertaining video from Josh 👏

[@kahnkretefpv7594]

That person with no prosthetics, no CGI, no special effects other than makeup WAS, The Joker incarnate. Holy shit, I was blown away by that Joker smile!!! And shot on a shitty as$ caveman camera!

[@richardcoleman3425]

Brilliant, Josh - another great video. Hope you're keeping well, son. :)

[@fernandoluna6589]

Excellent work Josh

[@nestoraoc32]

great video and excellent explanation!

[@TruthTellert63]

Although Miller has never confirmed it (as far as I know), it's clear that he based the older Bruce Wayne in "Dark Knight Returns" on Charlton Heston -- the resemblance is too great to be a coincidence. (He then based the younger Wayne in Batman: Year One on Gregory Peck, as noted).

[@mostafafarweez3161]

Beautiful video and marvel's video too :) I like them a lot :) Please post more videos like this :)

[@ivane5110]

Great video. Lists like this are ones that I usually end up having at least heard most of already, even if not in detail, but I think with two exceptions I had no idea of the rest. Now I'll be picturing (moet) of these actors/celebrities being dream cast in these roles (especially GL, Sinestro and ost especially Darkseid). Here's hoping that one of your viewers fan-edits some old movie clips into a DC short or two based on these.

[@GetMeAReubenSandwich]

RIP Arleen Sorkin. She passed very recently. She may be gone, but Harley Quinn will live on forever.

[@Robert-zx2ir]

Vicki Vale was based on Marilyn Monroe. Bob Kane hooked up with Monroe twice.

[@44excalibur]

It is ironic how Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Jack Kirby, who all co-created the entire Marvel universe together, ended up on bad terms, with Kirby departing Marvel for DC and Ditko leaving Marvel for Charlton Comics.

[@riveraharper8166]

business do that to people...

[@menckenwolf]

A lot of people held grudges against Lee.

[@jerrysstories711]

It's fun to watch those old scene from Days Of Our Lives two most goofy characters. You've basically watching Harley Quinn dating Q from Star Trek!

[@Razorgeist]

That concept surprisingly works... Oh Mr Q.

[@judahqualls1473]

What song did you use for the opening? It is fantastic.

[@joshuagray2310]

Excellent video

[@AllanMogensen]

The laughing man and the Joker - it doesn´t get more obvious :)

[@ElvingsMusings]

Referring to Joker as Batman's soul-mate a la Lois is great.

[@AnEntity0]

Suprised that you didn't mention gaiman himself being the visual modle for dream.

[@nigelbennington4565]

Because he wasn't. The visual model for Morpheus was Trent Reznor, at least according to Gaiman.

[@emsleywyatt3400]

Legion of Super-Heroes member "Tyroc" was based on actor/football player Fred Williamson.

[@fRikimaru1974]

No hay nadie con más cara de The Joker que ese actor.

[@brainfat1]

Imagine being William Marston just forcing your kink on the kids of America. Thankfully it appears the obvious subtext was lost on the youth of the forties but it did help give fuel to the ideas espoused in the book Seduction Of The Innocent that directly led to the creation of the Comics Code. I wonder how he would feel about Lady Dimitrescu?

[@EgyptianChiefKeef]

I didn’t know the man who laughs was a real person

[@jarredsdad]

Here’s an idea, “How old would they be now?”. Starting with Superman in 1938 or before, how old would all these heroes and villains be in 2023 with respect with respect to their age in the year of introduction?

[@pulsarstargrave256]

What about DREAM himself? One reason why I started reading SANDMAN. was an article where someone (Gaiman?) said something about Dream being modelled after the lead singer of THE CURE (Robert Smith)!

[@systemSkynet]

Dude you just made this whole episode up.

[@HAMrJHA]

I had no idea that Captain Marvel/Shazam was based off, Fred MacMurray! He lived in little ol’ Beaverdam Wisconsin, my hometown. haha My dad actually met him a handful of times.

[@jimbullard441]

Sandman was based upon a real rock star as well - namely the lead singer of the Cure!

[@sierraking4312]

The man who laughs is actually a great movie. And I definitely see the insperaction Joker got from it.

[@PixelaDay]

Great vid! My inner pedant compels me to say: did you mean “devil may care” attitude? 😅

[@PanelstoPixels]

Did I really say "devil-may-cry attitude"? Video games are rotting my brain. 😩

[@yegenek]

I also think that Sandman's looks are based on a combination of Robert Smith and Neil Gaiman himself.

[@HeatherNickless-vt8zr]

I wonder if Joanne Carter was also a partially modeled inspiration for the British Marvel hero Peggie Carter/Captain Carter and I wonder if she was also the name sake of the former-living subject herself?

[@zacharywiebe5820]

did you see the guardians of the galaxy announcement and gameplay demo and if so can you make a video off of it

[@AshTheDuke]

Good content

[@seencapone]

The character of Morpheus (Dream from Sandman) had a lot of looks, especially in the early issues, but there's several instances where he was very obviously modeled after Robert Smith of the Cure, I think in the "Doll's House" story arc, and I vaguely remember either Gaiman or Dringenberg saying so specifically.

[@m.scottmcgahan9900]

Where did you find the picture with all the DC characters signed by all the artists?

[@xr7t7]

Black Canary was modeled after Hollywood starlet Veronica Lake.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

It is quite ironic that DC used real people as reference for their characters but the cities they lived in are fictitious.

[@markclason2717]

What is the font used in the credits at the end of the video?

[@paulnolan4971]

Niven/Sinestro spot on. 'A Matter of Life and Death' is one of the best films ever made.

[@user-wc1no1cw4j]

I like the way bob finger is mentioned first when talking of batman he was the true creator of batman

[@marcelogazzoli4279]

Was by any chance the Swamp Thing based on his creator, Allan Moore? Or Allan Moore is based on Swamp Thing?

[@jasonbean2764]

I sure am glad John Totleben got recognition.:)

[@redbarchetta8782]

And Diana Riggs went on to killing it in Game of Thrones. RIP Diana.

[@SuperOmnicronsj44]

I'll bet Funky Flashman was the inspiration for the character in Justice League Action. Syd , that tried to pretend to be Superman to get a scoop on Darkseid taking Superman and him rescuing him for the Daily Planet .

[@grewntd]

Big Barda inspiration girl is quite inspirational

[@patrickhaag]

Torchy Blaine was modeled after Dorothy Kilgallen

[@bostonrailfan2427]

you could have done The Guardians in your Green Lantern section being based on David Ben-Gurion and you want citations? look closer: it’s obvious, especially given the sates of publication.

[@garrettmasters7281]

Does anybody know what the song he used in the opening?

[@Filmation77]

i would've NEVER Guessed that Lanie Kazan was the inspiration for Big Barda . color me surprised

[@veeseee128]

The man who laughs is clearly the joker. 6:20

[@stevencommander8441]

Ray Palmer was based off of actor, Robert Taylor

[@ParkerGabriel]

No apparent mention was made here of the model or models for the description Harry G. Peter designed Wonder Woman to answer.

[@paulnolan4971]

Nice pop. D.C. equivalent. I shall enjoy.

[@ellismartin260]

I love aTori. I had a feeling she and comics went well together

[@stationarywanderer7910]

Lois Lane's name was inspired by actress Lola Lane.

[@deespaeth8180]

Prof. X was originally based on Yul Brinner, not Patrick Stewart.

[@Hemprechaun]

I remember reading as a kid years ago that Hal Jordan was based on Gary Cooper.

[@BillyTheBigKid82]

Everyone knows that Hal Jordan is based on Ryan Reynolds.

[@emsleywyatt3400]

I think you got that backwards.

[@BillyTheBigKid82]

@@emsleywyatt3400 Ryan Reynolds is based on Hal Jordan?😮

[@CosmicDuskWolf]

So Clark Kent's personality was based off the movie that Bruce's parents died after seeing from getting gunned down in the ally way? My mind is blown. I actually did know Harley Quinn first showed up in the animated series because I looked it up when I was younger.

[@otakubancho6655]

I had no idea that Arlene Sorkin was the original Harley Quinn!😮😮😮

[@metal87power]

david bowie is actually a villain in venture bros

[@djay6651]

Are we not gonna talk about Dream, from the Endless, looking like a thin Robert Smith from the Cure?

[@CC-ef1wg]

The Cure's lead singer Robert Smith is The Sandman a/k/a Morpheus, a/k/a Dream

[@just_joe.__1997]

We don’t deserve such high effort and high quality videos, thank you josh keep up the good work

[@JulesGaerlan-nh7ir]

Bob kane creator batman (DC 1930s) bob kane image because of Bob 's Square jaw ❤

[@aaronjones9259]

Oh w❤w that's very cool I like this

[@KellyKMc]

R.I.P. Arleen Sorkin, the IRL Harley Quinn.

[@babaganoosh1969]

Always thought Sinestro was based off Vincent Price...much like Dr. Strange

[@martinfvarela]

You forgot how much Stan Lee's wife looks like Granny Goodness. Look it up.

[@PRIMEEDITS76]

My mind is blown

[@damaniqphillip2756]

nice