10 Comic Secrets Hiding In Plain Sight

10. Steve Gerber Is Thundersword - Secret Wars II

One of the weirdest trends in comics is that when creators have a fall out, they will often turn the person they've beefed with into a supervillain in their upcoming work. It's... wild.

While the most famous occasion of this is Stan Lee being made into the Funky Flashman by an irate Jack Kirby, it's not the funniest. No, the funniest is Thundersword, who was made by the suitably named Jim Shooter in an attempt to mock Steve Gerber, who had recently left Marvel.

Having quit over disputes about his ownership of Howard the Duck (who he had created), Gerber made sure to make a few tastefully disparaging comments about the company, before going to work with DC and in animation.

And so it was more than a little suspicious when Thundersword rocked up, who was coincidentally also a children's animator who was outspoken about excessive violence in kids' TV.

Couple this with the fact that Stewart Gadwell has a pretty goddamn similar name, and it's clear that this villain's suddenly turn to violence himself was Shooter's way of satirising Gerber's involvement with the violent media he verbally opposed.

On the plus side though, the armour Thundersword wore was kind of cool, so Gerber maybe wouldn't have been too offended.