A Calvacade of Cameo First Appearances!

[howardhallis]

Ah yes... the cameo.

 

As most of us know, many of the most popular characters in comics made their first appearances with a tiny little teaser. Sometimes these were advertisements, while other times they were single panels in a larger story. In other cases the characters appeared on the last page in the comic, gearing readers up for the full length debut to follow in the next issue.

 

Of course, there is a debate as to whether or not these cameos truly count as the "official" first appearances of these characters, but I thought it would be interesting to have a thread that showcases these brief yet historically significant introductions.

 

We'll start with one that inspired this thread that I remembered from my childhood.

 

If you ask most comic fans what the very first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume was, most folks will tell you Amazing Spider-Man #252. What many people don't realize is that Marvel Age #12 published some rough sketches of the suit almost half a year before #252 came out... Note that the spider symbol was red!

[howardhallis]

Speaking of the black Spidey suit, who could forget the full page splash of Venom from Amazing Spider-Man #299:

 

[howardhallis]

Now on to more historically significant super heroes. I snagged this image from Durden08 in the Golden Age boards, and it's absolutely amazing... It's from More Fun Comics #31, which came out in May, 1938... one month before Action #1! Could this be the very first appearance of Superman? (This isn't counting Siegel and Schuster's "Reign of The Supermen" pamphlet, which really wasn't "Superman" per se...)

 

[howardhallis]

Now on to Batman: Did this 1 panel ad in Action Comics #12 come out before Detective #27? It certainly seems so, as it says "Starts In The May issue", implying that it hasn't been released yet. Still, both comics are dated May 1939, so it would be hard to prove this was on the shelves first. Thanks to Norrin Radd for this amazing scan:

 

[howardhallis]

No cameo first appearance discussion would be complete without the most famous 1 panel debut in comics (Incredible Hulk #180):

 

[howardhallis]

This one panel ad introducing The Spectre increased the value of More Fun Comics #51 by thousands of dollars:

 

[howardhallis]

Darkseid's one panel debut in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134. Note he's not nearly as grey as he will become:

 

[howardhallis]

Speaking of super villains, how about another famous 1 panel debut. Although this one is much more spectacular... Galactus from Fantastic Four #48:

 

[howardhallis]

Then there's The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, appearing for the first time on the back cover ad in Gobbledygook #1:

 

[howardhallis]

And Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman, who appears in this tiny ad on the cover of Mad #21:

 

 

If anyone out there has any more cool cameo debuts to post, like Hellboy from San Diego Comic Con Comics #2, Gambit from X-Men Annual #14, or anything else I missed, please do so!

[joe_collector]

From Iron Fist 13:

 

[MutantKeys]

all good ones

[joe_collector]

From Avengers 195:

 

[joe_collector]

From New Mutants 86:

 

[mr_highgrade]

Speaking of the black Spidey suit, who could forget the full page splash of Venom from Amazing Spider-Man #299:

 

 

 

 

[mr_highgrade]

From Avengers 195:

 

 

 

[joe_collector]

Don't remind me of that stupid CGC notation. .

 

P.S. Mr Highgrade, do you actually read comics so you can contribute something to the thread?

[Zonker]

I think this one should rate as a first appearance (despite all the teases leading up to it)

 

[howardhallis]

Thought I should add bluechips amazing historical scans of the ads featuring Captain America that appeared in Human Torch #3... A MONTH BEFORE Captain America Comics #1 came out!

 

Thanks to metropolisent for starting a very interesting thread about this in the Golden Age forum

 

[Shadow]

Love seeing some of those old ones.