Favorite Characters That Appeared First In Non-Comics Media

[Overhazard]

Terry McGinnis, the only Bat-character I still like.

[Güicho]

The Barcave isn't a character of course, but I was surprised to learn that it first appeared in one of the Batman serials.

Yeah while the idea of a lair was around, the name "Batcave" appeared first in the movie serials, in the comics it was still referenced as:

"The secret labyrinth that lead to the lair of the Batman!"

Which somewhat paralleled a certain Lair of the Fox, the

1920s Fairbanks Mark of Zorro.

A secret entrance through a deserted barn, secret passage through the barn floor, leading to a tunnel, and a flight of stairs going up, where he steps through another secret panel into the secret room/lair, then out through an old clock and into the mansion....

Although not called the Batcave yet. Almost shot for shot the "Lair" first appeared in
(1941) Detective #47


By 1942 Still using the barn entrance, they later added a secret hanger where now the car and other vehicles went.
Still not called "the Batcave".

(1942) Batman #12


continued...

[Güicho]

continued from above.
...And it wasn't until the 1943 movie serial that they officially dubbed it the "Batcave".

(1943) The Batman movie serial


And added the grandfather clock secret entrance,
(1943) The Batman


Which again seemed to hearken back to Fairbanks Zorro
(1920) Mark of Zorro

[Güicho]

Others not mentioned yet (not all DC)
Morph from the X-Men cartoon
Phil Coulson
Firestar

Oh, we are doing Marvel?!

Hi!
\

[Jim Kelly]

Martian Manhunter dealt with the white Martians much earlier around 1968, in the Denny O'Neil Justice League (if memory serves). Morrison was rebooting that idea, but of course Burroughs had some influence and came long before that.

Jimmy Olsen is debatable--as I like to think various boys who showed up in the comics could be him. And Perry White was essentially George Taylor with a differnt name. But how about Professor Pepperwinkle and Inspector Henderson? They were both on THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN in the '50s and then showed up in the comics later.

[AdamFTF]

+ = ?

As Hanna Barbera's El Dorado? Or as Young Justice's Eduardo Dorado? Sadly we didn't get an Ultimen Dorado.

Or maybe a hybrid/combination of both? (actually what I would love to see for all the HB creations)

The Hanna Barbera version is the one I was thinking of. I know people like the Young Justice versions, but I don't care for the fact that he's a teenager and I just don't like his origin. I usually like teen characters, but lately it seems like there are a million of them in comics and the old ones don't get a proper send-off before they're ignored and replaced with a new crop. As for origins, it's the whole bit with him being experimented on by aliens. The Hanna Barbera El Dorado had no origin. And being a big folk tales and legends buff, I'd want to introduce El Dorado in a way that connects him to the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold. DC's always had these grand mythical locations in its canon like Themyscira, Atlantis and Nanda Parbat. I thought it would be cool to see a new one introduced. I mean, El Dorado is kind of a blank slate character-wise. A lot can be done with him in general. But imagine introducing a major DC mythos element like that along with him.

[Sandy Hausler]

Richard Dragon and the Bronze Tiger.

Took the words out of my mouth. Unfortunately, I have never read (or even seen a copy of) Denny O'Neil's novel from which these characters stemmed. Of course, in the book, it was Ben Turner, not Bronze Tiger.

Sandy Hausler

[Batman Begins 2005]

Harley Quinn (Batman: The Animated Series)
Andrea Beaumont (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm)
Terry McGinnis (Batman Beyond)
Phil Coulson (MCU)

[codystarbuck]

Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. They first appeared in pulp stories; but, in the early 70s, had a short lived series, Sword & Sorcery, that was published by DC. They debuted in Wonder Woman and interacted with both WW and Catwoman. A close second would be Denny O'Neil and Mike Kaluta's Shadow, who did go on to interact with Batman.

[Güicho]

the Gray Ghost



Besides the oft referenced Zorro, a huge nod to Batman's other spiritual predecessors.
was the obvious visual and thematic nod to the Shadow.



And the other is the original Lee Falk Phantom.
Originally a black and white comic strips, before they switched to the color Sunday, he was conceived of and implicitly referred to as a gray costumed character, and as well as called the "Ghost who Walks", one of his original names was the "Gray Ghost".
Hence it's a double homage to both the Shadow and The Phantom's influence on Batman.

[Güicho]

LOL two Awesome Andreas

Phantasm (Andrea Beaumont)


Angel of Vengeance (Andrea Rojas) Somewhat the first masked/costumed themed hero in the Smallville U?


(LOL she was not a well received character, and never merged into the DCU)

Actually, Renee was created for the show, but appeared in the comics first.

Yeah the fact she was created for the show is why I'm including her.
I'm allso counting Barbara Gordon incarnation of Batgirl, as the impetus for her creation was also for 66 TV series.

[Shockingjustice]

He was in the Arrow series played by Michael Jai white.

[Hawkman]

Mercy Graves, hands-down.

I also really liked Phantasm (Andrea Beaumont) from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, but I guess she doesn't count, since (to my knowledge) she's never actually appeared in the comics.

[Agent Z]

Aya and Razer (Green lantern: The Animated Series)

The Runaways (Young Justice)

[Carabas]

Mercy Graves, hands-down.

I also really liked Phantasm (Andrea Beaumont) from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, but I guess she doesn't count, since (to my knowledge) she's never actually appeared in the comics.

The OP specifies that actually appearing in a comic book is optional.

So I'll just add Alex Danvers from the Supergirl show to the list then.