5. Marvel Have Their Own Homage To Green Lantern
The House Of Ideas has a perpetual rebellious streak, especially when it comes to poking fun at their Distinguished Competition. Theyve always been nabbing ideas, from Deadpools unmistakable resemblance to Deathstroke (not to mention the formers real name of Wade compared to Deathstrokes Slade), to Thanos appearing a few years after Darkseid. Sometimes those rip-offs are more playful homages than abject copyright theft, though. Case in point: Doctor Spectrum of the Squadron Sinister, a supervillain team introduced during Roy Thomas and Sal Buscemas Avengers run, with each member being loosely based on a hero from the Justice League Of America. The story served to highlight the differences between Marvel and DCs approach to superhero comics, with Doctor Spectrum being a particularly obvious mirror image of Green Lantern: he wielded a cosmic weapon called the Power Prism which allows him to do...pretty much whatever he wants. Theres been a half-dozen Doctor Spectrums over the years, too.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
