10 Marvel Characters Shamelessly Ripped Off From DC Comics
6. Quicksilver Was A Quick Fix That Gave Marvel Its Flash
The only thing surprising about Marvel launching a Flash knockoff in 1964 is that it took them 24 years to do it. Although DC debuted its first speedster in 1940's Flash Comics #1, two and a half decades was more than enough time to come up with a derivative just different enough to avoid a suing.
Quicksilver raced onto the scene in X-Men #4, rocking all of the same powers at The Flash. The only key difference was how he got them.
DC's Flash was struck by lightning while Pietro Maximoff's speedy abilities are the result of his mutant origins as the son of Magneto. That's pretty big difference, but Marvel's intention was clearly to create a rival character.
To drive home the point that Quicksilver is about as unoriginal as they come, there was another non-Marvel character with exactly the same name who debuted in Quality Comics' National Comics #5 in 1940. He went on to become DC's Max Mercury.