Top 50 WTF Moments In Comics

Who? Imagine creating one of the most enduring comic book characters ever, only to die penniless. Such is the case with Bill Finger, the man who co-created Batman, Robin and most of the Dynamic Duo's early rogues gallery. In fact, if not for Finger, Batman wouldn't even look like Batman, but rather Flash Gordon in a Zorro mask, according to comics historian, Arlen Schumer. So, why is it that we see Bob Kane's name all over Batman but not Finger's? Fancy finagling by Kane's dad (it's been written that he lied about his son's age) kept Finger out of the spotlight, and Kane, ever the showman, never acknowledged the contributions of his collaborator until years after Finger's death. It's a harsh story that, to this day, comic creators use as a cautionary tale; to be "Fingered" means not getting the credit you deserve. It's a real f*cking shame that the man that helped make Batman who he would become is reduced to a cautionary tale.

Astonishing X-Men #4
Raising the dead is par for the course in comics and almost a prerequisite for X-Men comics. The amount of resurrections or pseudo-resurrections among the cast is staggering (Professor X, Magneto, and Jean Grey alone make up at least fifty percent of that ratio), so it comes as no surprise when an X-man is back from the grave, right? Wrong, and leave it to Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to do the Lazarus trick some justice. Peter Rasputin (there's a clue right there), aka Colossus, died when he sacrificed himself to save all of mutantkind from the Legacy Virus (a mutant corollary to the AIDS virus).

For two years (which is like twenty in comics), Colossus remained dead until Whedon and John Cassaday came along and revealed that he wasn't dead; he was a prisoner of an alien who used his blood to create a "cure" for mutant powers. Of course, the X-Men would rescue him and he'd join the ranks again, but it was still a shock to see Colossus back among the living; Whedon had set it up so that the reader would think Jean Grey was coming back. Cassaday even drew up a promo image of the Phoenix that was never used in the actual book! Tricky little hobbits!