10 Superheroes You Totally Forgot Were Rip-Offs

8. Teen Titans - Ripped-Off Giant Size X-Men

Doom Patrol Xmen
Warner Bros.

DC seemed fine with Stan Lee ripping off their Doom Patrol to create his X-Men, so long as they would be free to do the same years later. Turnabout is fair play. While the original Teen Titans was just a brief assembly of teenage sidekicks to DC's most prominent heroes, designed for a one-shot teaser, the "New" Teen Titans was a more fleshed out expanded team with a mix of sidekicks and original heroes. And from the cover of the first issue, they were a rip-off of the Giant Size X-Men, which had done the same to the then-flagging Marvel series.

The most obvious copyright violations were in the new characters introduced to both teams. Raven's billowing cloak was clearly meant to mimic Storm's wide cape. Cyborg shared a general aesthetic, vernacular tone, and serious personality with Colossus. Starfire and Nightcrawler both represented physiologically alien members who were perhaps the most human and likeable components of their respective groups.

Wolverine and Beast Boy were built around the idea of humans adopting animal attributes which reflected in their wild personalities. Both teams were even designed around a central, iconic romantic pairing, Cyclops and Jean Grey for the X-Men and Robin and Starfire for the Teen Titans. And yes, both fought their universe's version of a Brotherhood of Evil.

Contributor

A writer, blogger, comedian, and actor in New York City, Mason relishes any opportunity to discuss his favorite topics. He has many strong opinions on all facets of media and pop culture.