History ParentalSubstitute / ComicBooks

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The series is of course filled to the brim with parental substitutes, starting of course with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. After Ben Parker's murder, the irascible J. Jonah Jameson came to assume a quasi-paternal role, eventually playing "bad surrogate dad" to Joe Robertson's "good surrogate dad" (however Jonah, even though he is a notorious skinflint, footed the bill for Peter and Mary Jane's wedding). Gwen Stacy's father, Captain George Stacy, also took a kindly father approach to Peter (deducing his identity with Spider-Man) until his untimely death. In later years reporter Ben Urich, Ezekiel, Doc Connors (at times, in the Animated Series he even gave MJ away at their wedding), and detective Lamont would all take a fatherly attitudes to him. Not so many mother substitutes, although Betty and Gwen did have a tendency to mother the seemingly shy and insecure Peter Parker, and Aunt Anna functioned as a surrogate mother to Mary Jane.

** Jameson also functioned as a father figure to Betty Brant. Betty's mother used to work as Jameson's secretary, and when she died Jameson gave Betty her mother's job to support herself. When Betty married ''Daily Bugle'' reporter Ned Leeds, Jameson was the one to give her away. She and Ned were PutOnABus after that, and a RunningGag quickly developed that depicted Jameson going through all kinds of hassle trying to find a new secretary, which revealed just how much Jameson depended on Betty's help.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsKanan'': As in most master-padawan interactions Depa Billaba quickly becomes a mother figure to her padawan Caleb Dume, which contributes to how much guilt he feels over leaving her to her death even though she ordered him to decades later after he's taken up the name Kanan to hide from the Empire.
* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' has several parental figures.

** Its not uncommon for this to happen with any other young and not-so-young hero too. Bucky, Rick Jones (who himself like Doctor Strange also took care of Hulk when he was in child-like Savage Hulk mode), Spider-Man, and many other young heroes have looked up to Cap as a father and vice versa. He even acted sorta like this to Comicbook/MoonKnight (yes, [[AxeCrazy THAT Moon Knight]]) in the ComicBook/SecretAvengers, being one of the few who didn't see him as nothing but a crazy schizoid and encouraging his more heroic attempts.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' is chock full of Parental Substitute goodness.

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Wally West considers [[CoolUncle Barry Allen]] as a more of father than his own biological one. In return Barry thinks of him as his own as well. Considering Barry's fate (or Wally's depending on universe), their relationship turns into {{Tear Jerker}} between them.

** Pre-Comicbook/New52 Power Girl was already an adult woman when she arrived on Earth, but Superman and Lois Lane treated her as their daughter anyway.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' is of course filled to the brim with parental substitutes, starting of course with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. After Ben Parker's murder, the irascible J. Jonah Jameson came to assume a quasi-paternal role, eventually playing "bad surrogate dad" to Joe Robertson's "good surrogate dad" (however Jonah, even though he is a notorious skinflint, footed the bill for Peter and Mary Jane's wedding). Gwen Stacy's father, Captain George Stacy, also took a kindly father approach to Peter (deducing his identity with Spider-Man) until his untimely death. In later years reporter Ben Urich, Ezekiel, Doc Connors (at times, in the Animated Series he even gave MJ away at their wedding), and detective Lamont would all take a fatherly attitudes to him. Not so many mother substitutes, although Betty and Gwen did have a tendency to mother the seemingly shy and insecure Peter Parker, and Aunt Anna functioned as a surrogate mother to Mary Jane.

** Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers become post-Crisis Kara's guardians when she moves into National City in ''Comicbook/SupergirlRebirth''. They are both her DEO-appointed handlers and her foster parents, and they try to help her understand and adapt to Earth.
** ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'': Franchise/WonderWoman became Kara's surrogate mother when she showed up on Earth.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}:

* During Marvel's ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', Tony "Iron Man" Stark and Peter "Spider-Man" Parker fell into a father/son relationship, until [[spoiler:Peter realized he didn't like what Tony was up to and tried to rebel against Stark's superhuman registration initiative.]] After that, they stopped seeing eye-to-eye.

** The Joe Fixit incarnation identified Michael Berengetti, the Mob boss he worked for in his Vegas thug days as a father figure.
** When Bruce Banner’s father killed his mother and was institutionalized, he was taken in by his Aunt Susan, his father’s estranged sister, who, being a child of abuse herself, did everything she could to protect him and lavished him with all the care and attention she could. Subverted in that Bruce’s trauma, repressed emotions and vastly superior intelligence meant he could never really bond with her no matter how much she tried.

* ComicBook/DoctorStrange has served as this for the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk's simple and childlike Savage Hulk incarnation. The Ancient One may have been a father-figure for Strange himself, judging by all the LikeASonToMe dialogue between them.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Professor Xavier was this to the original five, but especially serves as a father substitute for Cyclops. Which, given Charles's modern-day trend of grasping the JerkassBall, tends to make for a dysfunctional relationship.

** In the movie adaptations, Norman Osborn tried to become Peter's paternal substitute in the first one.

*** Bruce acknowledges this as well; in a ''Batman and the Outsiders'' special following ''ComicBook/BatmanRIP'', Bruce has left a prerecorded message for Alfred in case of his death where he calls Alfred his second father, and takes the opportunity to say "Goodbye, Dad".

* Comicbook/DoctorStrange has served as this for the Comicbook/IncredibleHulk's simple and childlike Savage Hulk incarnation. The Ancient One may have been a father-figure for Strange himself, judging by all the LikeASonToMe dialogue between them.

* ''Comicbook/PowerGirl'':
** Pre-Comicbook/{{New 52}} Power Girl was already an adult woman when she arrived on Earth, but Superman and Lois Lane treated her as their daughter anyway.

** Superman, in turn, has taken on this role to Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} and, to some degree, to ComicBook/JimmyOlsen.
** Also Comicbook/{{Nightwing}}'s, if ''Nightwing: Year One'' is any indication. After Batman fires him, he goes to see Clark. It's not hard to interpret it as a child getting away from his abusive father (the story portrays Batman as a JerkAss) and instead staying with his mother (the caring, [[NiceGuy nice Superman]]).
** In ''Comicbook/KryptonNoMore'', Superman is tricked into believing that Jonathan and Martha were really his birth parents and Fred and Edna Danvers are his cousin Linda's natural ones. Later on, he figures out that he was lied to.

* ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' has ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, which has been alluded to several times in canon. Hawkeye, who had an abusive, alcoholic father and several irresponsible successors of that field, unconsciously sees Captain America as a father figure. This is highlighted whenever Hawkeye has a tough time and Cap is there to give him a pep talk or lecture. The earliest examples of the relationship, in fact, took place as soon as Hawkeye joined the team. He jokingly called Cap "dad" and Cap felt a responsibility to look after him. It doesn't help that Stan Lee initially intended for Hawkeye to be Cap's long-lost illegitimate son.

** Bruce Wayne serves as a father-substitute for [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]], Jason Todd, [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]], and [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]], all of whom he adopted in the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint continuity. Cass also has a mother substitute in Barbara Gordon.

*** During [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}} her own series]], ComicBook/{{Oracle}}[=/=]Barbara begins to act as one for Stephanie as well, which is strange considering Steph's mom is very much alive. She also acts like this to Wendy Harris, helping her deal with the loss of her legs and her brother, and help her re-enter the superhero world.
*** In ''ComicBook/Batgirls2021'', Barbara has a similarly maternal relationship with Stephanie and [[{{ComicBook/Batgirl 2000}} Cassandra Cain]], she's even shown reading a book about raising teenagers at one point.

** Franchise/{{Wolverine}} has a tendency to become this to young teammates, especially female ones (Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Jubilee), but also e. g. to Colossus (in a more "tough love" kind of way).

** Also from the X-Men, there's foundling Nightcrawler and his adoptive gypsy family, and his kinda-stepsister Rogue, raised by supervillain couple Mystique and Destiny after running away from home.

*** Batman R.I.P. stresses the father/son relationship between Bruce and Alfred to the point where [[spoiler:the possibility is raised that Alfred might be Bruce Wayne's biological father, if the scandalous rumors spread by the Black Glove are to be believed.]]

** When Bruce Banner’s father killed his mother and was institutionalised, he was taken in by his Aunt Susan, his father’s estranged sister, who, being a child of abuse herself, did everything she could to protect him and lavished him with all the care and attention she could. Subverted in that Bruce’s trauma, repressed emotions and vastly superior intelligence meant he could never really bond with her no matter how much she tried.

** Pre-''Comicbook/{{New 52}}'' Power Girl was already an adult woman when she arrived on Earth, but Superman and Lois Lane treated her as their daughter anyway.
** Post-New 52 Power Girl was a little child when her rocket landed on Earth. Pa and Ma Kent volunteered to raise her, and Superman took her in when she was a teenager.

** In the ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Post-Crisis series]]'', ComicBook/LanaLang filled in as her parental figure. In ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'', Kara all but asks Lana to adopt her officially.

* The UrExample in comics has to be Franchise/{{Superman}}'s Earth parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. While Kal-El would always have powers by virtue of being Kryptonian by birth, the comics stress repeatedly that it was the Kents' ''values'' that made Superman the hero he is. Lampshaded in the "Reign of the Supermen" series with regard to the JerkAss Superboy clone:
-->'''Jonathan Kent:''' No son of ours would act like that, powers or no!

** Also ''Comicbook/{{Nightwing}}'''s, if Nightwing: Year One is any indication. After Batman fires him, he goes to see Clark. It's not hard to interpret it as a child getting away from his abusive father (the story portrays Batman as a JerkAss) and instead staying with his mother (the caring, [[NiceGuy nice Superman]]).

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Professor Xavier was this to the original five, but especially serves as a father substitute for Cyclops.

* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' Wally West considers [[CoolUncle Barry Allen]] as a more of father than his own biological one. In return Barry thinks of him as his own as well. Considering Barry's fate (or Wally's depending on universe), their relationship turns into {{Tear Jerker}} between them.

** There is also Bart Allen, 'Impulse' and later 'Kid Flash' who comes from future. With his father being dead and his mother in future, he considers Max Mercury as his father figure. Like his predecessors Wally and Barry, theirs also ends in tragedy.

* In Gail Simone's ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' series, Bane tries to become a father figure to Scandal after she becomes depressed about the loss of her beloved Knockout. While he's not always good at it, since he never had a normal family life himself, they do eventually end up genuinely caring for each other this way. The fact that Scandal's actual dad is an asshole who doesn't accept her sexuality doesn't hurt either.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' is of course filled to the brim with parental substitutes, starting of course with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. After Ben Parker's murder, the irascible J. Jonah Jameson came to assume a quasi-paternal role, eventually playing "bad surrogate dad" to Joe Robertson's "good surrogate dad" (however Jonah, even though he is a notorious skinflint, footed the bill for Peter and Mary Jane's wedding). Gwen Stacy's father, Captain George Stacy, also took a kindly father approacht to Peter (deducing his identity with Spider-Man) until his untimely death. In later years reporter Ben Urich, Ezekiel, Doc Connors (at times, in the Animated Series he even gave MJ away at their wedding), and detective Lamont would all take a fatherly attitudes to him. Not so many mother substitutes, although Betty and Gwen did have a tendency to mother the seemingly shy and insecure Peter Parker, and Aunt Anna functioned as a surrogate mother to Mary Jane.

* In ''Venom'' we learn that Bennet Brant (Betty Brant's older brother) had a surrogate father-figure in the form of the Crime Master. [[spoiler: This had the unfortunate effect of causing Bennet to take up the Crime Master identity years later when he decided to become a supervillain and continue the legacy of the original. He also took on Jack O'Lantern as a protégé/son-figure; given that Jack O'Lantern is basically an AxCrazy lunatic who runs around with a pumpkin on his head, you can guess how well that turned out]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Violine}}'', [[spoiler: it turns out Violine's "mother" is really her father's old governess, Marushka, who falsely claimed to be her mother]].

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Professor Xavier gave this the original five, but especially serves as a father substitute for Cyclops.

*** During [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}} her own series]], Oracle/Barbara begins to act as one for Stephanie as well, which is strange considering Steph's mom is very much alive. She also acts like this to Wendy Harris, helping her deal with the loss of her legs and her brother, and help her re-enter the superhero world.

** Jim Gordon is sometimes played up as this as well, particularly in one episode of the animated series where Batman says that part of his close connection with Gordon is because Gordon is approximately the same age Thomas Wayne would be were he still alive.

** Bruce Wayne serves as a father-substitute for Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Cassandra Cain, all of whom he adopted in the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint continuity. Cass also has a mother substitute in Barbara Gordon.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' is chock full of Parental Substitute goodness. Alfred Pennyworth serves as a father-substitute for Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne serves as a father-substitute for Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake (for whom Dick Grayson also serves as a bit of a brother-figure).
** Bruce/Batman is also a father substitute for Cassandra Cain (Batgirl II), who also has a mother substitute in Barbara Gordon (Batgirl I/Oracle).

** Alfred has, through the years, gone back and forth between an objective servant to an adoptive-father-figure and back, depending on the writer. However, it's become very common to portray him as an amalgam of the two - officially a servant, but acting as Bruce's surrogate father. This is shown strongly by Alfred being the only one who can tell Bruce off without any repercussions, and is openly stated by Alfred in the ''"Battle for the Cowl"'' arc:

** It seems that now Dick has become [[PromotionToParent promoted to father]] of [[spoiler: Batman's AntiHero son, Damian]].
** Leslie Thompkins is occasionally referred to as a mother figure by Bruce.
** Jim Gordon is sometimes played up as this as well - particularly in one episode of the animated series where Batman says that part of his close connection with Gordon is because Gordon is approximately the same age Thomas Wayne would be were he still alive. As for Alfred, Batman R.I.P. stresses it to the point where [[spoiler:the possibility is raised that Alfred might be Bruce Wayne's true father, if the scandalous rumors spread by the Black Glove are to be believed.]]
** Damian Wayne, Bruce's son, is starting to see Dick Grayson as a mix of an older brother and a father. Especially after [[spoiler: his mother Talia was actually cloning him and deemed him not perfect enough and kicked him out of the Al Ghul's house.]]

** In the ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Post-Crisis series]]'', ComicBook/LanaLang filled in as her parental figure.

** In the ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Post-Crisis series]]'', ComicBokk/LanaLang filled in as her parental figure.