Welcome to the five hundred and thirty-fourth in a series of examinations of comic book legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the first five hundred (I actually haven't been able to update it in a while). This week, did Marvel nearly reboot their comic book line in 1986? Was Daria really influenced by Enid from Ghost World? And what comic book artist had to flee TWO separate countries due to protesting the governments there?

Let's begin!

NOTE: The column is on three pages, a page for each legend. There's a little "next" button on the top of the page and the bottom of the page to take you to the next page (and you can navigate between each page by just clicking on the little 1, 2 and 3 on the top and the bottom, as well).

COMIC LEGEND: Jim Shooter's original plan for the New Universe was to just reboot the Marvel Universe.

STATUS: I'm Going With True

Last week, I discussed the New Universe, the line of Marvel Comics created by Jim Shooter that was launched for Marvel's 25th Anniversary that showed superheroes in the "real world."



However, the idea for doing this new line of comics was actually the SECOND idea Shooter had for his plans for the celebration of Marvel's 25th anniversary.

In 2000, Marvel launched the Ultimate Universe, a side line of comics that basically re-created the Marvel Universe from scratch.



That, as it turns out, was Shooter's ORIGINAL plan for the New Universe!

In 1986, DC had just finished their Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, and they then relaunched their universe with a bunch of reboots of classic DC series, like Wonder Woman and Superman...





So that was Shooter's original plan, telling CBR years ago:

You could start everything over from number one, like the Marvel universe reborn. Like the anniversary in May or June, all the titles wrap up the month before and start again the next month. Sort of like Marvel, 2nd edition, do it right and really make that spectacular."

Shooter also considered that this relaunch would allow him to get creator participation contracts for the likes of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, et al for their creations, as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the X-Men would all be relaunched (it never got that far, but I don't believe such a plan would have actually worked, but I suppose Marvel could have just GIVEN the rights away - seems a bit unlikely, though).

But that plan was quickly squelched because Marvel was doing so well in sales that it was decided that it was best not to rock the boat (plus, if he even had broached the topic of creator participation with Marvel executives, that probably didn't go over well, either). So Shooter quickly moved on to the new universe idea.

Can you even imagine the dramatic shift in comic book history?!

Thanks to reader Bill O. for asking about this one. I was planning to do it anyways after next week, but Bill did write to me about it, so thanks, Bill!

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Check out some entertainment and sports legends from this week at Legends Revealed:

How Did the Way Tom Petty’s Wife Say the Word “Age” Give Us the Hit Stevie Nicks Song, “Edge of Seventeen”?

Was the Olympic Flame Once Extinguished and Then Re-Lit With a Cigarette Lighter?

How Did Robert Altman’s Son Make Over a Million Dollars Writing the Lyrics to “The Stupidest Song Ever Written”?

Was the Apartment Building in 227 the Same One Used on Sesame Street?

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On the next page, which came first, Ghost World or Daria?

COMIC LEGEND: Daria was based on Daniel Clowes' Enid Coleslaw.

STATUS: False

Enid Coleslaw is the protagonist of Daniel Clowes' brilliant series of stories generally known as "Ghost World," from his Eightball comic book series. It is a wonderful story of a disaffected youth. Here, she and her friend Rebecca play a mean prank and then slowly realize just HOW mean it was...









The character later was featured in the acclaimed movie Ghost World...



So anyhow, the character has long been considered similar to the MTV animated character, Daria (and her best friend Jane)...



One person who thinks so is Clowes himself, saying in an interview:

She is often lumped together with other moody young women like Daria or Margot Tenenbaum. We’re guilty of that on Rookie. Do you see that comparison or no?

Daria came along after Enid, and I always felt like it was influenced by it, though I have no great specific evidence for that, so I was always somewhat resentful of Daria, though I’ve actually never watched it. But I’m sure there was sort of a zeitgeist of that type of character floating around in the air at the time. Enid first appeared back in 1993 when I did that first episode of Ghost World [in Eightball], and it really felt more like you weren’t seeing that type of person at all in any type of culture.

Here's the thing, though. Daria first appeared on Beavis and Butthead before she got her own series...



And her first appearance on Beavis and Butthead came on March 19, 1993 in the episode titled "Sign Here", right before Enid debuted in Eightball #11 (cover-dated June 1993, but likely released in April 1993) So no, Daria was not based on Enid. Although, it is a very real possibility that the Daria TV series itself was influenced by Clowes' work, as Daria as a character did develop more when she got her own series. Daria's creator, former Beavis and Butthead story editor Glenn Eichler, said that he based her on Janeane Garofolo and a girl he knew in high school.

Thanks to Dan Felty for suggesting this one to me SIX years ago!

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Check out my latest Movie Legends Revealed at Spinoff Online: How did the internet change Snakes on a Plane?

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On the next page, learn the amazing real life story of the comic book artist who fled TWO separate countries over his political beliefs!

COMIC LEGEND: The co-creator of Doom Patrol found himself driven from two separate countries due to his outspoken beliefs.

STATUS: I'm Going With True

Bruno Premiani co-created the Doom Patrol with Arnold Drake, staying on the feature until the very end (here he is drawn at the end of the Doom Patrol's final original story).







How Premiani came to be in the United States is amazing. You see, he was born in 1907 in what was then part of Austria-Hungary, but eventually became Italy. When Benito Mussolini came to power, Premiani protested against the fascist government in editorial cartoons. He had to flee the country.

He ended up in Argentina, where he lived in the 1930 and 1940s. He continued doing editorial cartoons and Italy kept track of him, determining that he would be arrested if he ever returned to Italy (luckily, years later they would allow him to return for his mother's funeral).

However, his views then ran afoul of the government of Juan Peron in Argentina in the late 1940s!

So he moved to the United States in the 1950s, where he began to work for DC Comics and where he became the artist on Doom Patrol.

He eventually moved back to Argentina at the end of his life. Isn't it awesome when the comic CREATORS live lives as crazy as the comics themselves?

Okay, that's it for this week!

Thanks to the Grand Comics Database for this week's covers! And thanks to Brandon Hanvey for the Comic Book Legends Revealed logo!

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Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed

See you all next week!