History EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference / TheDCU

** The first story where Jimmy Olsen gained powers as Elastic Lad, which was included in issue 31, had Jimmy wear a costume that was green instead of magenta and had the writing on his chest include a definite article in his codename by reading "The Elastic Lad" instead of just "Elastic Lad".

** [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s debut in issue 134 of ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen'' shows his face on a monitor used by Morgan Edge, depicting him with a white helmet when he is more well-known for wearing blue armor and having a Caucasian skin tone rather than gray. In addition, his eyes used to be more normal-looking before they were eventually changed so that they were colored red and lacked pupils.

** Hippolyta initially looked [[IdenticalGrandson nearly exactly like her daughter]], before suddenly gaining blond hair during the Silver Age. Since then, artists have gone back and forth on her hair color, with the Comicbook/PostCrisis [[Comicbook/WonderWoman1987 run]] restoring her black hair, only for the Comicbook/{{New 52}} [[Comicbook/WonderWoman2011 run]] to make it blond again, with the Comicbook/DCRebirth [[Comicbook/WonderWomanRebirth run]] once again making it black.
** Cassie Sandsmark's original Comicbook/WonderGirl costume included a leather jacket, glasses, kneepads, gloves, and a black wig to hide her blond hair. Cassie herself also had a fairly plain appearance, especially when compared to other superheroines or even Donna Troy, her immediate predecessor. She got ProgressivelyPrettier over time, and would eventually ditch the wig and glasses (as well as the rest of her original outfit) during her tenure with ''Comicbook/{{Young Justice}}''.

* ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} originally had yellow gloves rather than green. Later artists would use this difference to distinguish between the Golden and Silver Age iterations of the character. In the Silver Age, Aquaman's KidSidekick Aqualad had brown hair instead of black in his earliest appearances.

* ComicBook/GreenArrow was originally clean shaven, had brown hair instead of blond, and sported a simpler, far less detailed costume. His iconic design and goatee were not introduced until TheSeventies, when he adopted a radically new look in the pages of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''.

** While the Doom Patrol's archenemy the Brain is recognizable from his brain being encased in a skull-shaped container, that wasn't the case for his first appearance in ''Doom Patrol'' volume one issue 86, where he was depicted as a generic BrainInAJar. It wasn't until issue 108 that the Brain was depicted in a container remotely resembling the iconic skull-tank look.
* The original ComicBook/BlackCanary wore a DominoMask early on but it was quickly discarded. Post-Crisis, the mask was mainly used as a way to distinguish between the original Black Canary Dinah Drake and her LegacyCharacter daughter Dinah Lance.
* The android Red Tornado originally had gloves, boots, trunks and a cape that were all colored purple and lacked the T chest insignia (instead having a purple tornado icon on his belt buckle) as well as the yellow arrow on his forehead.

EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference in this series.

* When Beast Boy's origin was first shown in ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', he was originally a brunette. When his origin was regiven a few issues later he was shown to be blond. He's been depicted as blond ever since, barring the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' cartoon where he was a redhead, ''ComicBook/TeenTitansEarthOne'' where he was brunet, and ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls2019'' where he's a brunet. Also, his transformations were drastically different. For his first few appearances in the Doom Patrol he transformed into normal colored animals that had his green, human face on it, rather than just a green animal.

* When Beast Boy's origin was first shown in ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', he was originally a brunette. When his origin was regiven a few issues later he was shown to be blond. He's been depicted as blond ever since, barring the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' cartoon where he was a redhead, ''ComicBook/TeenTitansEarthOne'' where he was brunet, and ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' where he's a brunet. Also, his transformations were drastically different. For his first few appearances in the Doom Patrol he transformed into normal colored animals that had his green, human face on it, rather than just a green animal.

** [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s debut in issue 134 of ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmy Olsen'' shows his face on a monitor used by Morgan Edge, depicting him with a white helmet when he is more well-known for wearing blue armor and having a Caucasian skin tone rather than gray. In addition, his eyes used to be more normal-looking before they were eventually changed so that they were colored red and lacked pupils.

** [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s debut in issue 134 of ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' shows his face on a monitor used by Morgan Edge, depicting him with a white helmet when he is more well-known for wearing blue armor and having a Caucasian skin tone rather than gray. In addition, his eyes used to be more normal-looking before they were eventually changed so that they were colored red and lacked pupils.

* The android Red Tornado originally had gloves, boots, trunks and a cape that were all colored purple and lacked the yellow arrows covering his body.

** The Calvin Ellis Superman (who is President of the United States and comes from a world where the superheroes are predominantly black) was nearly indistinguishable from the regular Superman in his introduction at the end of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', with the exceptions of his ethnicity and the colors of his chest insignia being inverted. By issue nine of ''ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52'', he not only follows the standard Superman's omission of UnderwearOfPower, but is also made more distinguishable by no longer having a spit curl and his costume overall having a more distinct design (particularly the cape and boots).

** The Calvin Ellis Superman (who is President of the United States and comes from a world where the superheroes are predominantly black) was nearly indistinguishable from the regular Superman in his introduction at the end of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', with the exceptions of his ethnicity and the colors of his chest insignia being inverted. By issue nine of ''ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52'', he not only follows the standard Superman's omission of UnderwearOfPower, but is also made more distinguishable by no longer having a spit curl and his costume having a more distinct design (particularly the cape and boots).

** The Calvin Ellis Superman (who is President of the United States and comes from a world where the superheroes are predominantly black) was nearly indistinguishable from the regular Superman in his introduction at the end of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', with the exceptions of his ethnicity and the colors of his chest insignia being inverted. By issue nine of ''ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52'', he not only follows the standard Superman's omission of UnderwearOfPower, but is also made more distinguishable by no longer having a spit curl and having a more distinct look for his cape and boots.

** The Calvin Ellis Superman (who is President of the United States and comes from a world where the superheroes are predominantly black) was nearly indistinguishable from the regular Superman in his introduction at the end of ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', with the exceptions of his ethnicity and the colors of his chest insignia being inverted. By issue nine of ''ComicBook/ActionComics'', he not only follows the standard Superman's omission of UnderwearOfPower, but is also made more distinguishable by no longer having a spit curl and having a more distinct look for his cape and boots.

* The original ComicBook/BlackCanary wore a DominoMask early on but it was quickly discarded. Post-Crisis, the mask was mainly used as a way to distinguish between the original Black Canary Dinah Drake and her LegacyCharacter daughter Dinah Lance.

** In her debut in ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell'', Jane Doe had skin, brown hair, and was a Western, deliberate invocation of {{Mukokuseki}} with slightly darker skin and Asian-esque eyes. While she briefly got a a mildly sexier tweak following [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison the Black Glove's takeover of Arkham]] and the Asylum being destroyed shortly after [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis Batman's presumed death at the hands of Darkseid]], shortly after ''those'', when she came into conflict with [[ComicBook/Manhunter Kate Spencer]] was when her more well-known skinless look debuted.

* ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} originally had yellow gloves rather than green. Later artists would use this difference to distinguish between the Golden and Silver Age iterations of the character. In the Silver Age, Aquaman’s KidSidekick Aqualad had brown hair instead of black in his earliest appearances.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

** ComicBook/LexLuthor originally had a full head of red hair, and was sometimes drawn with a pudgy physique. Both of these elements were brought back for Creator/JohnByrne's ComicBook/PostCrisis reboot of Luthor in the ''[[ComicBook/TheManOfSteel Man of Steel]]'' mini-series.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

** The modern version of ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} debuted in the series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', with a different look than what she'd sport in her ongoing series and ''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' appearances. Kate was first depicted as having long auburn-red hair, was more into dresses for her fashion sense, and had brown eyes. When her series came around, her skin was dramatically lightened to be a "vampire porcelain white" (to better reflect a redhead's complexion), she was depicted as dressing in a more Goth[=/=]PunkRock style (as well as [[BadassInANiceSuit favoring suits over dresses for formal occasions]]), her hair became short and a highly saturated shade of red, and her [[SignificantGreenEyedRedhead eyes were changed to green]].

** While the Doom Patrol's archenemy the Brain is recognizable from his brain being encased in a skull-shaped container, that wasn't the case for his first appearance in ''Doom Patrol'' volume one issue 86, where he was depicted as a generic BrainInJar. It wasn't until issue 108 that the Brain was depicted in a container remotely resembling the iconic skull-tank look.

* On the subject of the Doom Patrol, Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl and Larry Trainor/Negative Man were originally depicted in solid green uniforms, but would start donning the Doom Patrol's more familiar red and white costumes in the 89th issue of the first ''Doom Patrol'' series (which was originally titled ''My Greatest Adventure'' before rebranded to focus solely on the Doom Patrol at issue 86). Mento was also initially depicted with a yellow costume and a helmet that left the top of his head uncovered before quickly wearing a black costume with only the lightning bolt insignia colored yellow as well as his helmet covering the top of his head completely.

* On the subject of the Doom Patrol, Rita Farr/Elasti-Girl and Larry Trainor/Negative Man were originally depicted in solid green uniforms, but would start donning the Doom Patrol's more familiar red and white costumes in the 89th issue of the first ''Doom Patrol'' series (which was originally titled ''My Greatest Adventure'' before rebranded to focus solely on the Doom Patrol at issue 86).

* When Beast Boy's origin was first shown in ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', he was originally a brunet. When his origin was regiven a few issues later he was shown to be blond. He's been depicted as blond ever since, barring the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' cartoon where he was a redhead, ''ComicBook/TeenTitansEarthOne'' where he was brunet, and ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' where he's a brunet. Also, his transformations were drastically different. For his first few appearances in the Doom Patrol he transformed into normal colored animals that had his green, human face on it, rather than just a green animal.