10 Comic Characters You Didn't Know Were Related

Dramatic reveals of secret family members in comics are about as common as a spandex outfit. While these wacky surprises are always interesting, they do have one negative result, because after a while, readers may begin to presume that every unusual family tie will be clearly handed to us on a silver platter.

But many of the weirdest family relations aren't given big reveals, instead lying in wait for you to discover them and spend the next week haunted by the realisation.

Because, when you find out that Lois Lane technically gave birth to Darkseid, or that Doc Ock almost married the woman who would become his parental figure, you can't help but let this knowledge linger in the darkest corners of your mind. When it's with characters you know and love, it almost feels like you've found out the hidden secret of a friend - carrying all the feelings of excitement and embarrassment that goes along with this.

And in these fictional worlds where anything can happen, it's reassuring to see that there are still things that can surprise us, even after all this time.

The Parker family is, for lack of a better term, all seven flavours of messed up. Poor Petey is technically related to J. Jonah Jameson - who is both his boss and a raging collection of anger issues - and it's still unclear if his mother is actually his mother, or in fact his aunty.

This wild time is made a touch more wild by the fact that it's later revealed Peter has a secret sister. Not only was Teresa's birth kept a secret from even Peter, she was sent off to be adopted after their parents died, leaving Spidey with no way of uncovering his hidden sibling.

Or, at least, that was the case until she saved Peter's life, and revealed the small plot twist of who she was to him. Although Spider-Man is initially pretty surprised, he deals with it characteristically quickly. After all, in the grand scheme of his life, it's not even in the top ten weirdest things that happened to him that week.

Plus, she is a secret agent, and discovering your secret sister is also a secret agent has to be a double scoop of badass news.