Summary
- Comic books often follow trends in popular culture, and video games were big in the 1980s for plot inspirations.
- DC Comics delved into video game plots during the 1980s, introducing characters like Colonel Computron and General Electric.
- Batman dealt with villains bringing video games to life, showcasing a unique twist on the concept.
In the latest Drawing Crazy Patterns, where we spotlight five recurring themes in comics, we examine five times that DC Comics superheroes found themselves sucked into video games.
As I’ve noted a few times recently, comic books have always been really big on fads. If something is big in the popular culture, it is bound to eventually be worked into a comic book. And really, that just makes sense. You have to come up with at least 12 new stories every year, right? Sure, multi-part stories makes that a little bit easier (and it is why Stan Lee claimed Marvel started doing more multi-part stories, as that way you only had to come up with ONE plot and it would serve a few issues), but still, there is always a need for plot ideas, so going topical makes a lot of sense.
Naturally, then, during the 1980s, when the video game boom was first a really big deal in popular culture, it made sense that comic books would get on board with plots involving video games. DC Comics, in particular, had a few stories that involved superheroes getting sucked into video games, and that’s a concept that has remained in use for longer than you would expect, as this concept was used in a DC comic book as recently as 2017. Let’s take a look at five examples of DC superheroes being sucked into video games!
Captain Marvel Used to Have a Lot of Trouble With Cars
Back before she was Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers had a surprising lot of trouble with cars in her civilian identity, and as Ms. Marvel
The Flash has the strangest feeling that he’s a video game character
What’s funny about the popularity of video games at the time is that comic books of the era even did variations on the theme, like the Thing fighting aliens who were the INSPIRATION for a Pac-Man-esque video game. However, in 1981’s Flash #304 (by Cary Bates, Carmine Infantino and Bob Smith), we get to see a good ol’ “character getting sucked into a video game” plot.
A new villain, Colonel Computron, is introduced, who is a disgruntled toy company employee…
Computron’s plan is to have his jerk boss absorbed into a video game, where he will die. However, the Flash stepped into the blast meant for the boss, so it is the FLASH who is sucked into the video game…
Once in the game, Flash homages one of the most classic Flash Silver Age moments, where Flash has the strangest feeling that he’s being turned into a puppet.
After being bounced around the screen for a time, the Flash is able to escape somehow…
It’s funny seeing the extremely early video game technology, which didn’t leave a whole lot of room for Bates to imagine different scenarios for what would happen to the Scarlet Speedster once he was inside the game.
General Electric – Bringing evil things to life!
1982’s Wonder Woman #296 (by Roy Thomas, Dan Mishkin, Gene Colan and Frank McLaughlin) sees Wonder Woman at odds with…General Electric? Yes, the villain’s name is General Electric. He is a telepath who has developed a video game that allows him to access other people’s minds, and when he forces Wonder Woman to play the game (Commander Video), she gets sucked into the game itself!
Wonder Woman defeats Commander Video, but she’s still at risk for getting stuck in the video game, but Steve Trevor helps save the day by messing with the generator that powers the game, and Wonder Woman returns to the real world…
Still can’t believe the villain was named General Electric.
Batman puts a twist on the being sucked into a video game
In a three-part storyline in 1991’s Detective Comics #635-637 (by Louise Simonson, Jim Fern and Steve Mitchell), a villainous scientist at Arkham Asylum is manipulating a boy with tremendous powers. He uses the boy to bring video games to life, with deadly consequences. This is a bit of a tricky riff, as the kid really transforms reality INTO a video game rather than you getting sucked INTO a video game. However, in the grand scheme of things, is that really much of a difference? I think it’s a difference without a distinction, and so I think it counts for this, as Batman deals with the Bat-Cave becoming a video game in Detective Comics #636…
Luckily, Robin knows the video game well, so he talks Batman threw playing AND winning the game…
There’s then an epic sequence in the final issue of the arc where Arkham Asylum itself is transformed into a video game, including some of the famous Batman Rogues housed there.
Five Times Doctor Doom Made a Dramatic Last Page Reveal
While he is not as known for it as Magneto or Darkseid, Doctor Doom still occasionally makes some dramatic last page reveals in the comics
Jimmy Olsen gets into all sorts of trouble
In 2001’s Adventures of Superman #592 (by Joe Casey, Mike Wieringo and Jose Marzan Jr.), Strange Visitor, the superhero who became a being of energy, and could only maintain a corporeal state by using one of Superman’s old containment suits when HE became a being of energy, losts control of her powers, and accidentally transports herself AND Jimmy Olsen into the video game that Jimmy was playing at the time…
She ultimately freaks out, haunted by what she perceives as her failures at being a superhero, and ultimately abandons Jimmy, but luckily, Superman reboots the game in time, and Jimmy returns to the real world. Strange Visitor would soon sacrifice herself to help in the Imperiex War.
Cyborg does some old school video game playing
In 2017’s Cyborg #11 (by John Semper Jr., Will Conrad, Tom Derenick, Tony Kordos, Ivan Nunes and Guy Major), Cyborg had been traveling through the universe through Boom Tube technology, trying to get back home to Earth to help his father. Well, his latest Boom Tube sent him into a digital world created by an old childhood friend of Victor’s, who created this world based on the video game that the two of them had created back in computer camp as kids. The kid, Keiji, is now going by H8-Bit…
Cyborg’s father had wiped Victor’s memory when he became a cyborg, so he forgot about Keiji, who blames Vic because of a prank they pulled where he gave Keiji access codes to S.T.A.R. Labs to mess with their system, and they got into trouble, and he blames Vic for that ruining his life. Keiji, though, is lying to him, as he LATER became a computer hacker and got arrested. In a tragic twist, after Vic successfully defeats the game, and makes it crash (using a bug in the game he remembered from when the were kids), he learns that H8-Bit is actually the ONLY Keiji anymore, as the real Keiji was beaten to death in a juvenile detention facility.
DARK ENDING!
Remember, everyone, that these lists are inherently not exhaustive. They are a list of five examples (occasionally I’ll be nice and toss in a sixth). So no instance is “missing” if it is not listed. It’s just not one of the five examples that I chose. If anyone has suggestions for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!
