10 Superheroes You Totally Forgot Were Rip-Offs

The tale of DC's Swamp Thing and Marvel's Man-Thing has been a point of contention for decades because nobody is entirely sure what ripped off what in this instance. Or if there had even been any ripping off at all. They both debuted for their respective brands within a month of each other in 1971 and featured near identical designs, powers, settings, origins, and side characters.

Swamp Thing was created by Len Wein while Man-Thing was the brainchild of Gerry Conway. And when both characters were being written, Wein and Conway were living together. Though both have denied there was any plagiarism going on, it is remarkably suspicious that two writers, living together and writing for rival companies, could produce two characters with such blatant similarities at the exact same time.

Ultimately, however, the debate is pointless because, in fact, both characters were ripping off a third party. Neither Marvel or DC ever pursued legal action in the matter because they were both well aware that their writers and artists had been heavily influenced by The Heap, a similar character created in 1942 and co-owned by Hillman Periodicals and Airboy Comics. Since both companies were still around at the time, Marvel and DC quietly decided to let this one slip so neither would draw the attention of a potential lawsuit.