History Main / FadSuper

* Occasionally employed in a self-aware manner by ''ComicBook/AstroCity''. Many stories set in the past or featuring flashbacks tend to feature characters who are clearly based on the fads of the time--space-racers in the 60s, kung-fu fighters in the 70s, and so on. One single character who embodies this is a character who actively switches between different counterculture fads, such as starting out as the GentlemanThief Mister Cakewalk before becoming the rebellious flapper girl Jazzbaby, being best-recognized as the Bouncing Beatnik at some point in the late 50s.

* ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes' KarateKid, though not in the way you might think. He was created when there was a karate fad in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, and he was reworked to fit the kung-fu fad of the 1970s, so he actually predates the movie ''Film/TheKarateKid'' by decades,[[note]]In fact, the film states that it's not related to the DC Comics character, and had to get DC's permission to use the title.[[/note]] and as such he's not quite as derivative as he sounds. He has since moved beyond his fad into a fairly RoundedCharacter.

* ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes' ComicBook/KarateKid, though not in the way you might think. He was created when there was a karate fad in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, and he was reworked to fit the kung-fu fad of the 1970s, so he actually predates the movie ''Film/TheKarateKid'' by decades,[[note]]In fact, the film states that it's not related to the DC Comics character, and had to get DC's permission to use the title.[[/note]] and as such he's not quite as derivative as he sounds. He has since moved beyond his fad into a fairly RoundedCharacter.

* Books like ''ComicBook/TheMovement'' and ''ComicBook/WeAreRobin'' were created in response to youth-heavy social movies of the 2010's, like Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street. ''The Movement'' also had a counterpart book, a relaunch of a failed 1970s concept of rich-kid adventurers called ''ComicBook/TheGreenTeam''. The idea was that the Movement was "the 99 percent" while the Green Team was "the 1 percent".

** ''Film/GodzillaVsMegalon'' was originally a film starring Anime/{{Mazinger|Z}} / [[Franchise/UltraSeries Ultraman]] hybrid Jet Jaguar, but Godzilla was tackled-on in hopes of better profits.

* ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies''. It's probably not a coincidence that an alternate universe where all the superheroes have become zombies became a recurring theme at the same time that books and movies about zombies were trendy, though there's a bit of "retro on purpose" there, though. The Marvel Zombies universe (the first one, at least, before they go dimension-hopping) is a bit further back in the timeline than the "real", 616 Franchise/MarvelUniverse, but doesn't perfectly match any particular era. Captain America was a colonel, Earth has never seen Galactus before, and most of the zombified heroes wore costumes that those characters hadn't worn since the 1970s. However, Magneto had acolytes, which didn't come along until the 1990s in the 616 Franchise/MarvelUniverse.

** Her Ultimate version in 2000–09 was a punk rocker. This time, [[ContinuityNod the anachronism]] [[TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste was deliberate.]]

* Several Franchise/{{Transformers}} are clearly dated to their time, most famously Soundwave (a cassette recorder whose primary ability is carrying smaller characters who turn into tapes). This has resulted in some awkward retooling as writers try to figure out how to handle such a concept in the modern era.

** His fellow GL, John Stewart, was introduced amidst the racial turmoil of the 1970s as an AngryBlackMan who railed against "The Man" and frequently provided a liberal counterpoint to conservative white Hal Jordan. Like Gardner, Stewart has grown into a [[CharacterDevelopment complex and well-rounded character]].

-->-- ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', "[[https://www.cracked.com/blog/7-comic-characters-who-outlasted-trends-that-made-them/ 7 Comic Characters Who Outlasted the Trends That Made Them]]"

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Villain Magpie used to sport a mohawk and an outfit that made her look like a reject from an 80's hair metal video. They brought her back in the ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman''. To modernize her look, she was redesigned to resemble Music/LadyGaga.

* ComicBook/{{Dazzler}}, who later became a member of the ComicBook/XMen, was introduced with disco-based powers and costume (white jumpsuit and roller skates) just as disco was dying. It didn't help that she was given a big marketing push, meeting up with the likes of Galactus in a vain attempt to make the character cool, or that the entire project had begun as a proposal for a [[LiveActionAdaptation live action film]] in which the character was at one stage to be black, and there are [[http://holdyourfireal.smugmug.com/COMIC-BOOK-IMAGES/Characters/Dazzler/JRJRDazzBogart/871688078_cKqUM-L.jpg John Romita Jr. sketches]] that exist of this early Dazzler. At one point they actually had a singer who was to play the Dazzler persona but the deal between Marvel and Casablanca fell apart. Later on, Jim Shooter put together a treatment for the aforementioned movie (also to feature Music/DonnaSummer, Music/{{Cher}}, Creator/RodneyDangerfield, [[Series/LaverneAndShirley Lenny and Squiggy]], Creator/RobinWilliams, Music/TheVillagePeople and Music/{{KISS}}), and the now revived Dazzler concept's appearance ended up based mainly on Creator/BoDerek, who was slated to star (and when she was still attached to the role, ''People Magazine'' even had her on the cover, the same month the character debuted, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160411111032/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/19800211-750-0.jpg with her husband holding a whole bunch of Marvel mags for research!]]). But at least she wasn't called the Disco Dazzler, as originally planned.
** Her Ultimate version in 2000–09 was a punk rocker. But at least this time, [[ContinuityNod the anachronism]] [[TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste was deliberate.]]

* Live Action TV's HenshinHero boom was popular enough to try to make a few new western-style superheroes, like Creator/GoNagai's ''Anime/{{Devilman}}'' / ''Anime/CuteyHoney'' and Creator/TatsunokoProduction's ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' and their following super hero shows[[note]]Ironically, Go Nagai would help to end the boom with his own Anime/MazingerZ and Gatchaman was a notorious inspiration for [[Franchise/SuperSentai one of the biggest Tokusatsu franchises]][[/note]].

** Also in 1971, Creator/ToeiCompany and Creator/ShotaroIshinomori created ''Franchise/KamenRider'' -- the life-sized action created a HenshinHero craze that would surpass the ratings of ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'', with [[Series/KamenRider the first one]] and [[Series/KamenRiderV3 its sequel]] having the highest Tokusatsu ratings in the 70s and making the previous Kyodai Hero fad short-lived, and forcing still-running shows like ''Spectreman'' to have a mid-season {{Retool}}[[note]]Ironically, ''Silver Kamen'', the only life-sized hero in the previous era, [[{{Retool}} would change to a Kyodai Hero]][[/note]]. The first to follow were PeriodPiece ''Series/KaiketsuLionMaru'' and another Toei show based on a hit mangaka's creation[[note]]Takao Saito, of ''Manga/Golgo13'' fame[[/note]], ''Manga/ChoujinBarom1''. ''Series/UltramanAce'', the latest entry in the Ultra series, would emphasize Rider-like transformations and [[ArchEnemy a single villain]] [[EliteMooks and his own monsters]][[note]][[AssimilationBackfire None of those changes lasted for the entire season]][[/note]] -- Ishinomori's new Henshin Hero, ''[[PeriodPiece Henshin Ninja Arashi]]'', [[DuelingWorks would get big rating fights against]] ''Ace'': Ishinomori's other 1972 creation, ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'', would be much more successful than ''Arashi'', and Tsuburaya tried a more conventional HenshinHero with ''[[AllYourPowersCombined Triple Fighter]]''. ''[[BroadcastLive Totsugeki! Human]]'' would try to do this genre in a recorded live stage. ''Thunder Mask'', of [[Creator/OsamuTezuka Mushi Productions]], tried to straddle the line between the two superhero booms with [[{{Sizeshifter}} a size-changing hero]][[note]]This was done as early as Ultraseven, though[[/note]], and japanese superhero veteran Yasunori Kawauchi (of ''[[Series/MoonlightMask Gekko Kamen]]'' fame) would be called for a new superhero trilogy with ''Series/WarriorOfLoveRainbowman'', ''[[GenieInABottle Diamond Eye]]'' and ''[[SelfPlagiarism Condorman]]''. Even unrelated dramas like ''Suki! Suki! Majo-sensei'' were [[HalfwayPlotSwitch influenced to turn into superhero shows]].

** While the Tokusatsu boom was mostly over, 1975's ''Series/HimitsuSentaiGoranger'' proved to be that year's biggest hit. While Ishinomori did the earliest follow-ups (''Akumaizer 3'' and its sequel ''Chojin Bibyun'', ''Uchu Tetsujin Kyodain'', and the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Goranger'', ''Series/JAKQDengekitai''), other works include ''Series/NinjaCaptor''[[note]]Briefly considered the second Super Sentai show[[/note]], ''Enban Sensou Bankid'' and ''Megaloman''. Toei would later do ''Battle Fever J'' in the style of Ishinomori's ''Goranger'' / ''JAKQ'' and create a still-ongoing franchise, the Franchise/SuperSentai series.

* Occasionally employed in a self-aware manner by ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' -- for instance, flashbacks to TheFifties might feature an appearance by a hero called "The Bouncing Beatnik". The Beatnik's an interesting case, since he changes identities to match social trends of the time -- ragtime, jazz, hippies, etc. (It helps he's not human, but a mystical entity.) The "Dark Ages" story arc references the kung fu fad of the '70s with the Jade Dragons, and the space race with the Apollo Eleven.\\
Older stories have featured brief glimpses of [[ThePioneer the Frontiersman]], complete with coonskin cap. If you don't get it, there was a popular ''Davy Crockett'' TV show in the 1950s.

* ''Literature/{{Wild Cards}}'', being full of nods to the history of comics, created these characters on purpose. Mark Meadows, a hopeless nerd who wants to be a hippie, gets various abilities from different strains of LSD he created, and has various secret identities named after songs from the 60s and 70s. It's inherent in his backstory; by the time he managed to fit into the hippie crowd, the fad was already pretty much dead. Fortunato's motif incorporates the mysticism and occultism fad of the 60s. He actually doesn't give a crap about any of that stuff; a prostitute who worked for him (he was a very high-class pimp) introduced him to the subject and convinced him to study it when he got his powers.

*** ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'''s space opera theme was inspired by ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''.

* Franchise/WonderWoman was once caught up in this trope. [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 For a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s]], Wonder Woman lost her powers and familiar uniform, gained a wise old Asian mentor who taught her martial arts, and had espionage adventures wearing a white jumpsuit... right around the time spy shows like ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' were popular. Most people hated this, Gloria Steinem even commenting how it was a needless depowering of the strongest female hero in comics, and it's pretty well in an AudienceAlienatingEra. Ironically, the spy concept as well as the white-jumpsuit were both used in the volume of ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2006}}'' following ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. Judging by reviews, people liked it.

* The ''ComicBook/New52'' introduced a female villain named the [[BondageIsBad Masochist]], whose initial design bore [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzccj3gtBy1qbujox.jpg more than a passing resemblance]] to Lisbeth Salander, the title character of the then-recently popular film ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo]]''. Due to some backlash, she was renamed Anguish, her design was altered and all of the tattoos, piercings, and fetish elements were removed from the final costume.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-Hip Super-Hip,]] who appeared in DC's ''Adventures of Bob Hope'' comic book, was a parodic example of this trope.
* Fire and Ice from the ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational had very 1980s-looking costumes, complete with [[EightiesHair big hair]] and T-shirts over spandex. Ice even {{Lampshaded}} this by claiming she and Fire looked like they belonged in a HairMetal video. Needless to say, the more recent comics and cartoon adaptations have chosen to give them different outfits.
* Obscure Franchise/{{Batman}} villain Magpie used to sport a mohawk and an outfit that made her look like a reject from an 80's hair metal video. They brought her back in the ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman''. To modernize her look, she was redesigned to resemble Music/LadyGaga.
* DC's ComicBook/SuperYoungTeam subverts this while trying to play it straight. They aren't tied to any specific trend, but they're obsessed with staying fresh and current. That said, Most Excellent Superbat, the most materialistic of the lot, is adamant that they're also somehow more than all that.
* The ComicBook/NewGods were very much written around the debates of the early 1970s - Mr. Miracle is a conscientious objector while his wife Big Barda oozes women's lib, the Black Racer's host is a paralyzed Vietnam veteran, the Forever People are pretty much space hippies, New Genesis and Apokolips have a very obvious environmentalist theme, and Darkseid is based heavily on Richard Nixon. This is a rare case where people generally take umbrage to attempts to ReimaginingTheArtifact, as they see the overall themes Kirby was working with as highly applicable, and taking them away results in a bunch of generic space deities.

* Long-running Creator/{{Toei}} franchises ''Franchise/KamenRider'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' would last long enough without competition to follow their own fads. In the case of ''Kamen Rider'':
** ''Series/KamenRiderAmazon'''s setting, according to Ishinomori, is partially influenced by ''Film/{{Zardoz}}''.
** When the Kamen Series was UnCanceled with the remake ''Series/KamenRiderSkyrider'', the hero got never-before seen flying powers that owe a lot to 1978's ''Film/SupermanTheMovie''.
** While ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' is patterned after the ''Series/MetalHeroes'' franchise, the interactive belt gimmicks are borrowed from ''Series/CaptainPowerAndTheSoldiersOfTheFuture''.
** ''Film/KamenRiderJ'', while originally planned as a ''Film/KamenRiderZO'' sequel, had a [[OutOfCharacterMoment unusual giant transformation]] via ExecutiveMeddling at the expense of the success of the nostalgia-laden ''[[IntercontinuityCrossover Ultraman vs Kamen Rider]]'' TV special.
** ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga'''s down-to-earth police antics were patterned after the success of ''[[PoliceProcedural Bayside Shakedown]]''. This theme would be popular enough to get followed by ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' and [[{{Salaryman}} brought back]] in ''Series/KamenRiderBlade''.
** ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'''s card motif was a response to the popularity of ''Anime/YuGiOh''.
** ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'''s space motif followed on the [[UsefulNotes/{{JAXA}} Hayabusa probe]] film series and the [[MeaningfulReleaseDate fiftieth anniversary of]] [[UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin the first human flight into space]].
** While not the first time the franchise took on a "Battle Royale" story (that would be ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' twenty years prior), ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'' is openly based on popular {{Battle Royale Game}}s like ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' and ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'', as well as other DeadlyGame media like ''Series/SquidGame'' (which had released the year prior).
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' would last long enough to cash on some fads:
** The dance-based ''Series/BattleFeverJ'' (1979) owes its name to Film/SaturdayNightFever. And yes, one of the Rangers there danced disco (Miss America).
** ''Series/KousokuSentaiTurboranger'''s car motif is patterned after the success of Tamiya's Mini 4WD models.
** ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' had dinosaurs on it because Creator/StevenSpielberg's then-upcoming new film [[Film/JurassicPark would be about dinosaurs]]. Ironically, Jurassic Park's fame would be the motive that would lead Haim Saban [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers to adapt Zyuranger]].
** ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'''s martial arts theme followed on the Main/FightingGame boom led by VideoGame/StreetFighterII.
** ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'''s villains wear then-trendy [[FashionVictimVillain Street Fashion]].
** ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger'' would have a new car motif, but this time the japanese trend was about Recreational Vehicles.
** ''Series/KyukyuSentaiGoGoV'''s end-of-the-world prophecies -- inspired on [[MayanDoomsday Nostradamus' 1999 quatrain]] and [[MillenniumBug the Y2K Bug]] -- harken back to the 70s' fascination with ParanormalTropes, with a dose of Japan's increasing awareness on paramedics since the creation of a 1991 law and the 1995 Kobe earthquake.
** ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'' / ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' seemed fit to muscle in on a piece of the ninja pie inspired by ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', as did ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'' / ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury''.
** ''Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger'''s theme was based on the ''Treasure Hunter'' novels, a YoungAdultLiterature series written by Creator/HideyukiKikuchi.
** The producers of ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' justified its {{Pirate}} theme by literally arguing, "Well, ''Manga/OnePiece'' and ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' are popular, innit?" (Averted when it came time to adapt it for ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', though; you'd think they might attempt to piggyback on ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' but instead they tried to downplay the pirate theme as much as possible; ''[[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Super Megaforce]]'' focuses on the [[MilestoneCelebration anniversary]] aspect instead.)
** ''Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger'''s generational family antics were a response to the smash hit drama ''Ama-chan'', while the Yokai enemy motif is from ''Anime/YokaiWatch''. ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' subsequently focused on the ninja-in-training aspect just as ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' began making waves overseas.
** ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'''s space opera theme was inspired by ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''.

This isn't the same as an ''existing'' hero's ability or story being tweaked in response to the times, such as [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] technobabble revisionism. Compare with CaptainEthnic, CyclicNationalFascination, or TotallyRadical. Contrast with OldSuperhero, who is outdated ''on purpose''. Particularly prone to being the subject of ReimaginingTheArtifact if brought back.

* Franchise/WonderWoman was once caught up in this trope. [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 For a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s]], Wonder Woman lost her powers and familiar uniform, gained a wise old Asian mentor who taught her martial arts, and had espionage adventures wearing a white jumpsuit... right around the time spy shows like ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' were popular. Most people hated this, Gloria Steinem even commenting how it was a needless depowering of the strongest female hero in comics, and it's pretty well in a DorkAge. Ironically, the spy concept as well as the white-jumpsuit were both used in the volume of ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2006}}'' following ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. Judging by reviews, people liked it.
* ComicBook/{{Vibe}}, a member of the [[DorkAge much-maligned]] Detroit-based Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, was a breakdancer with vibrational powers. To get an idea of what he used to be like have a look at [[http://youtu.be/2UTKRR3KRyQ this DC short.]] He got rebooted in the ComicBook/{{New 52}} and ''Series/TheFlash2014'', dropping the breakdancing but keeping the vibrational powers.

[[folder:Film]]

** His fellow GL, John Stewart, was introduced amidst the racial turmoil of the 1970s as an {{Angry Black Man|Streotype}} who railed against "The Man" and frequently provided a liberal counterpoint to conservative white Hal Jordan. Like Gardner, Stewart has grown into a [[CharacterDevelopment complex and well-rounded character]].

[[caption-width-right:300:I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible...\\
'''a mirror ball on roller skates!''']]

** ''Series/DenkouChoujinGridman'' and ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger'' both had 1990s-high-tech cyberspace/virtual reality themes. This reached the West as well, as ''Gridman'' was adapted as ''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'' and the idea was applied to the ''Metal Heroes'' CutAndPasteTranslation ''Series/VRTroopers'' (but ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' averted it and modified ''Megaranger'' into [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace an outer space theme]] instead).

* Very common in tokusatsu shows, especially in the seventies:
** In early 1971, [[BehemothBattle Kyodai Heroes]] were the new hit thanks to 1970's Creator/TsuburayaProductions's successful ''{{Series/Ultraman}}'' / ''Series/UltraSeven'' reruns and ''[[ClipShow Ultra Fight]]'''s emission, which made merchandise sales skyrocket - thus creating many new superheroes patterned after Ultraman. 1971's ''Series/{{Spectreman}}'' managed to get first, but very shortly after, the Franchise/UltraSeries would continue with ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'' -- later, ''Series/SilverKamen'' and [[SelfPlagiarism Tsuburaya's own]] ''Series/{{Mirrorman}}'' [[DuelingWorks would compete for ratings]] in the same year[[note]]Both shows would get sequels - ''Silver Kamen'' got ''Series/IronKing'', and ''Mirrorman'' would have ''[[FightingSeries Mirror Fight]]''[[/note]]. Toho, of ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' fame, [[FollowTheLeader would push a more heroic Godzilla]], but would enter late into the TV show fray with ''Series/GoGodman'', ''Series/ZoneFighter'' and ''Go Greenman''.

** ''Series/VRTroopers'', ''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'', and ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger'' all had 1990s-high-tech cyberspace/virtual reality themes (though ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' modified ''Megaranger'' into [[Series/PowerRangersInSpace an outer space theme]]).
** ''Series/MadanSenkiRyuKenDo'' and ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' were made to cash in on western fantasy like ''Literature/HarryPotter'''s popularity, whereas Magiranger's American counterpart, ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' was remade in the style of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings''.
* Long-running Toei franchises Kamen Rider and Super Sentai would last long enough without competition to follow their own fads. In the case of Kamen Rider:

* Super Sentai would last long enough to cash on some fads:

** Though the Weatherlight might draw comparisons to ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and probably capitalized on contemporary ''Star Trek'' revivals (as well as ''Series/{{Firefly}}''), being a crew aboard a ship travelling to different worlds, most of the characters and their dynamics are actually based on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' ones. These ''Buffy'' inspirations continued for a while after the Weatherlight storyline concluded, being present in several cards in the Otaria block (albet as card homages rather than actual characters).
** 2015 saw the funding of the Gatewatch, with several established planeswalker's forming their take on the Avengers; this roughly coincided with the popularity of the Marvel cinematic universe. ''Literature/WarOfTheSparkRavnica'' is unapologetically ''Magic'' s take on ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', with the Gatewatch and various other planeswalkers facing against Nicol Bolas in an allegedly epic confrontation. The Gatewatch as a concept suffered severe backlash because of all of this (not helped by said even being disliked by fans for various reasons), and so ''Magic'' s storyline has toned them down from 2019 onwards, though they still exist and are slated to have a similar event against the phyrexians.

This isn't the same as an ''existing'' hero's ability or story being tweaked in response to the times, such as [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] technobabble revisionism. Compare with CaptainEthnic, CyclicNationalFascination, TotallyRadical or WereStillRelevantDammit. Contrast with OldSuperhero, who is outdated ''on purpose''. Particularly prone to being the subject of ReimaginingTheArtifact if brought back.

** ''ComicBook/EarthX'' [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] Dazzler’s use of this and [[DeconstructedTrope savagely deconstructs it]]; after retiring from superheroics, Dazzler falls back on her music career... and becomes a washed-up relic because [[CondemnedByHistory the fad she built herself around is long-dead]]. She’s [[WereStillRelevantDammit desperately trying to stay relevant]] by staging “comeback” tours, [[{{Tearjerker}} with her audiences shrinking more and more everyday]].

* The 2020 line-up of the cancelled New Warriors comic got swamped with backlash because of this trope. Screentime is rather transparently an attempt to create an internet age superhero with...[[TotallyRadical mixed results]]. His mind was permanently connected to the internet by way of exposure to "[[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum experimental internet gas]]" and his bio helpfully informs readers that he can "instantly Google any fact". But he got off easy compared to his teammates Snowflake and Safespace, who were Marvel's impossibly ill-conceived attempt at [[WereStillRelevantDammit incorporating just about every "woke" hot button issue of the day]] into two heroes that ultimately just communicated the company's ignorance in neon lights.

* ''ComicBook/LadyShiva'' was created to cash in on the 1970s Creator/BruceLee Kung-Fu craze. She debuted within the pages of ''ComicBook/RichardDragonKungFuFighter'', but her popularity outlasted that series. She's still a martial arts master, but no longer looks like a 1970s DragonLady.

** UnreliableNarrator Mephisto the Mentalist notes the large number of [[ILoveNuclearPower atomic-power]] themed superheroes and super-villains during the 1950s - most of whom had died of cancer or acute radiation sickness by 1960.

--->'''Machine Man''': [[{{Understatement}} Her life’s kinda sad now.]]

* It's hard to tell whether ''Marvel: The Lost Generation'''s Hipster, a skinny, goateed beatnik and total JiveTurkey operating in late 1950s San Francisco, is intended as a spoof or a completely straight portrayal of this trope. However, he's definitely an example. When he meets Sunshine, a woman with psychedelic powers, he changes his costume and name to become Captain Hip.

** His fellow GL, John Stewart, was introduced amidst the racial turmoil of the 1970s as an AngryBlackMan who railed against "The Man" and frequently provided a liberal counterpoint to conservative white Hal Jordan. Like Gardner, Stewart has grown into a [[CharacterDevelopment complex and well-rounded character]].