In Drawing Crazy Patterns, I spotlight at least five scenes/moments from within comic book stories that fit under a specific theme (basically, stuff that happens frequently in comics). Note 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.
SPOILER WARNING FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE! Just stop reading before that point!
ROBIN
In Detective Comics #226 (by Edmond Hamilton, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris), we learn that when Bruce Wayne was the age that Dick Grayson is now, he decided to meet the brilliant detective, Harvey Harris, to learn some tricks about how to become a great detective himself. Since Bruce couldn't very well tell him that his name was Bruce Wayne and that he was studying to become a crimefighter (since Bruce wanted to keep that part of his life a secret), he instead decided to dress up in a special costume to disguise himself...
Now, do note that nowhere in this story does it make any sense as to why Bruce put an R on his chest.
However, the costume then inspires Harris to name Bruce "Robin"...
Again, why the R, Bruce?
Anyhow, when Batman later adopted a young lad to become his sidekick, he obviously remembered his old costumed crimefighting identity from when he was a kid of that age and so that became Robin's name (and costume).
BATMAN
Nine issues after the Robin revelation, in Detective Comics #235 (by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Stan Kaye), Bruce and Dick are in an office in Wayne Manor that once belonged to Bruce's father, Thomas, when suddenly they discover an old "Batman" costume worn by Thomas when Bruce was a kid, thereby making Bruce realize that when the bat broke through his window so many years earlier, it had reminded him of a subconscious memory of his father being Batman when Bruce was a kid...
That story actually went on a WHOLE other direction that involved coming up with a new motive for the murder of the Waynes, but that's a story for another day.
BLACK PANTHER
When we learned the origin of Black Panther in his second ever appearance in Fantastic Four #53 (by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and Joe Sinnott), do note that T'Chaka very much was NOT the Black Panther when he died...
Look at that image on the third page. It is pretty evident that what we are seeing here is not a guy deciding to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors, but rather, a dude deciding to wreak vengeance on the wicked for the death of his parent. Really, what we're seeing here is very much the Black Panther version of Batman's origin. Only instead of a bat inspiring him to become a bat, he instead is inspired by a piece of his cultural history to become a Black Panther.
You can see that in the rest of the origin...
It was not until over 12 years later, in Jack Kirby's run on Black Panther's solo series that we learned in Black Panther #7 (by Kirby and inker Mike Royer) that the "Black Panther" is a title that gets passed down from generation to generation.
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SHINING KNIGHT
In Adventure Comics #66, writer/artist Craig Flessel introduced Sir Justin, the Shining Knight, a knight from Camelot who was frozen until being awoken from suspended animation in the present day!
During Seven Soldiers, though, Grant Morrison revealed in Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #1 (by Morrison and Simone Bianchi) that the Shining Knight in this story (Sir Ystin)...
came into the future, but this Shining Knight came from 10,000 years ago!
The theory, then, is that the whole King Arthur deal is a cyclical thing that has popped up in history many times over the centuries and there have been multiple Shining Knights since Sir Ystin (who turns out to be Ystina later on).
SCARLET WITCH
In X-Men #4 (by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and Paul Reinman), we first meet the Scarlet Witch...
Over 50 years later, in Scarlet Witch #3 (by James Robinson and Chris Visions), the Scarlet Witch goes back in time and meets her mother, who was ALSO called the Scarlet Witch! Yep, it is a hereditary name!
Okay, time for that Captain Marvel spoiler, which reveals why I did this topic now!
At the end of the new Marvel film, Captain Marvel, we see that Nick Fury took the name for the Avengers from Carol Danvers' Air Force nickname, Carol "Avenger" Danvers.
If anyone has an idea for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!