Comic Book Characters You Didn't Know Were Based On Real People

Comic book characters are often larger-than-life representations of the kind of people we admire or strive to be. Think of Superman: A godlike character with extraordinary powers. While artists Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel weren't influenced by real people in creating Superman, instead turning to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs and others, Clark Kent is far more grounded in reality. Characters like him and others with impressive powers, superior skills, or over-the-top characterizations are often based on real people.

After all, most artists and writers take inspiration from their own lives or the people they know, so it stands to reason that comic book creators are no different. Looking back through nearly a century of comic book publishing, there are far more characters based on or inspired by real people than most fans realize.

Occasionally, an artist will model a character on someone they admire (or revile), and it never hurts to draw inspiration from someone who ... well, inspired them at some point in their lives. Whether they consider it an homage or satire, there are plenty of examples of this in comic book history. All of these characters are relatively well-known, have been featured in either a TV or feature film adaptation, and are based, at least in part, on a real person.

Popeye is one of those beloved figures in animation history. He's been around since 1929, selling spinach throughout the 20th century, and has been featured in cartoons, comic books, comic strips, and even a live-action feature film starring Robin Williams in the titular role. He's Popeye the Sailor Man, and everybody knows him. Most people probably don't know that Popeye was modeled after a real person, though there's some confusion over this, thanks to an oft-shared meme.

You may have seen it — a black-and-white photo of a man who looks exactly like Popeye. E.C. Segar created Popeye, and he used a man named Frank "Rocky" Fiegel as his template. The meme points to several common characteristics, and the photo undeniably resembles Popeye, but the guy in the picture isn't actually Fiegel. In reality, Segar took several aspects of Fiegel, who lived in his hometown, and put them into his design.

Fiegel had a prominent chin, was rarely spotted without his signature pipe, and had a penchant for brawling. According to The New York Times, Fiegel didn't know he inspired Popeye until Segar's death. While Segar never spoke about it, the similarities became folklore in the town of Chester, Illinois. Fiegel died in 1947 and was buried in an unmarked grave. Fortunately, the Official Popeye Fan Club fixed this in 1996 when they erected a headstone bearing an image of Popeye with the epitaph "Inspiration for Popeye the Sailor Man" emblazoned upon the base.

Tintin is another character who's been around since 1929. While he was well known throughout Belgium and France in the 20th century, many in the United States first met the character in 2011, via Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin." Regardless of where you first encountered Tintin, he got his start in "Le Petit Vingtième," a supplement to the Belgian paper, "Le Vingtième Siècle," in a story called "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets." He was published in the paper for years and became the star of his own comic series, cartoons, and feature films.

Tintin was created by Hergé, the pen name used by Georges Remi. He said in his biography, "Herge: The Man Who Created Tintin," that "the idea for the character of Tintin and the sort of adventures that would befall him came to me, I believe, in five minutes, the moment I first made a sketch of the figure of this hero: that is to say, he had not haunted my youth nor even my dreams. Although it's possible that as a child, I imagined myself in the role of a sort of Tintin."

When pressed for more, Hergé' admitted he modeled much of Tintin on his younger brother, Paul. When he came up with Tintin's look, he used some of his own physical traits, but took many from his brother. Another source of inspiration was likely Palle Huld, a Danish actor long believed to be connected to the character. His life and Tintin's are strikingly similar, though Hergé never confirmed this long-held assumption.

Thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Doctor Stephen Strange in the MCU, he's one of the most recognizable characters in Marvel's library. Granted, it doesn't hurt that Cumberbatch looks just like the character in the comics, but he had nothing to do with the character's creation. For that, you have to go back to 1963, when Steve Ditko presented the design to Stan Lee, who rushed a five-page story into "Strange Tales" #110.

It took some time, but Dr. Strange developed into a popular character, and he's remained one for decades. Over the years, Lee and many others molded Strange into the one we recognize today, but initially, he was inspired by two people. Strange's origin story, which involves an American traveling to the East to learn magic, is taken from Chandu the Magician, a popular radio show aired in the 1930s. The two have several similarities, and Lee cited Chandu as Strange's key inspiration.

When it came to Dr. Strange's look, Ditko took inspiration from Vincent Price: Specifically, Price's portrayal of Dr. Erasmus Craven in the 1963 comedy gothic horror, "The Raven." Price's pencil mustache, costume, and demeanor fit Strange perfectly, and it's easy to see the influence in Ditko's work. Additionally, Dr. Strange's middle name is Vincent, which was likely chosen as an homage to the man who inspired his look.

If you started reading Marvel Comics in 1963 and wondered how Samuel L. Jackson was cast to play Nick Fury in the MCU, you likely missed out on the Ultimate Marvel scene from the early 2000s. Nick Fury was first introduced in 1963 as a white World War II soldier with a full head of hair. That's the Nick Fury who existed through the entirety of the 20th century, and he's still around.

In 2001, a new version of the character was introduced in "Ultimate Marvel Team-Up" #5. The new Nick Fury was a Black man without a hair on his head, and you'd only need a passing glance to tell he was none other than Samuel L. Jackson. He was created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, and nobody asked Jackson if he was cool with it. Millar wanted to place a Black character at the head of SHIELD, so he looked to the coolest guy he could think of and landed on Jackson. Of course, he never thought his Nick Fury/Samuel L. Jackson would make it into a movie.

It took some time, but Millar finally met Jackson years later on the set of "Kingsman: The Secret Service," and they had a brief conversation which he recalled to Business Insider. "The first thing I said was, 'I hope you don't mind me completely exploiting your appearance in my book 13 years back,' and he said, 'f***, no, man. Thanks for the nine-picture deal.'"

Tony Stark has long been one of Marvel's most popular characters. He debuted in 1963 and went on to become a founding member of the Avengers as well as the leader of SHIELD. He was the first superhero tapped to unveil the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and thanks to Robert Downey Jr.'s brilliant portrayal of him, he's one of the most beloved comic book characters in the world.

While Downey seemed born to play Stark, the character's roots extend back to the heyday of aviation. To create a troubled billionaire playboy, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby put their heads together and thought of one man: Howard Hughes. In a December 1997 "Bullpen Bulletin," Lee described the source for Stark's inspiration, calling him "one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a multi-billionaire, a ladies' man, and, finally, a nutcase." Lee further clarified, "Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes."

If you plucked Hughes from his own time and planted him in the 21st century, it's easy to see how he could be an inspiration for the Tony Stark of the MCU. As it happens, that's not where Marvel looked for inspiration. Downey's take on the character was based on Elon Musk, who scored a cameo playing himself in "Iron Man 2" in 2010.

If you've seen the hit series "Lucifer," you likely already know the character comes from the comics. Sure, there's a Lucifer in the Christian Bible, but think of that as more of a loose inspiration than a source. The titular character from the television series first appeared in "The Sandman" #4 in 1989, and he was created by Neil Gaiman, who based him less on the Bible and far more on John Milton's "Paradise Lost." Gaiman, being a writer, came up with his characterization, but he didn't draw him – that responsibility fell to artist Kelley Jones.

Still, Gaiman explicitly instructed him on what he wanted Lucifer Samael Morningstar to look like. According to Jones in "Hanging Out With the Dream King," "Neil was adamant that the Devil was David Bowie. He just said, 'He is. You must draw David Bowie. Find David Bowie, or I'll send you David Bowie. Because if it isn't David Bowie, you're going to have to redo it until it is David Bowie.' So, I said, 'Okay, it's David Bowie,' which I never had a problem with. It's one of those things."

Lucifer looks a lot like Bowie did on the cover of "Memory of a Free Festival," but if you watch the series, you may notice that Tom Ellis doesn't look anything like Bowie. There's a lot of Bowie's music in the series, and because it wasn't possible to have Bowie play Lucifer, the choice was made to go in a slightly different direction while still paying homage to Ziggy Stardust.

John Constantine was created by the inimitable Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben for "Swamp Thing" #37 in 1985. He remained a "Swamp Thing" character until 1993, when he headlined DC Comics' Vertigo series, "Hellblazer," which ran for 300 issues. This made "Hellblazer" the most successful title in the Vertigo library, and it was clear the character had staying power. Unlike most comic book characters, Constantine's appearance changed over time, and by the end of the series, he looked like he'd been to Hell and back ... mostly because he had.

Constantine has been a fixture in both animation and live-action, first appearing in his eponymous 2005 film starring Keanu Reeves. That depiction differed greatly from the comics, and in 2014, Matt Ryan brought Constantine to the small screen in a more comic-accurate depiction. When he was first introduced, Constantine was in his early twenties and hadn't been beaten up by demons and occultists too badly ... yet. He also bore a strong resemblance to Sting.

Alan Moore created the character, and after learning that Bissette and Totleben were fans of The Police, he asked that Constantine be made to look like the band's frontman. Moore explained this in a 1993 interview with Wizard, "I can state categorically that the character only existed because Steve and John wanted to do a character that looked like Sting." According to Moore, Sting "was very flattered to have a comic character who looked like him."