History LateArrivalSpoiler / ComicBooks

** The Green Goblin's identity was a secret for over two years (in real time). He debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #14 and wouldn't be revealed as Norman Osborn until #39. Now everyone with more than a passing knowledge of Spider-Man knows Norman is the Green Goblin.

* The ''ComicBook/MetalGearSolid2'' graphic novel adaptation casually spoils the reveal that Raiden used to be the legendary child soldier Jack the Ripper in Raiden's introductory scene. It also spoils The Sorrow being Ocelot's father, though it's not particularly clear why this is significant to someone who doesn't know [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater the sequel]].

* The ''ComicBook/MetalGearSolid2'' graphic novel adaptation casually spoils the reveal that Raiden used to be the legendary child soldier Jack the Ripper in Raiden's introductory scene. It also spoils The Sorrow being Ocelot's father, though it's not particularly clear why this is significant to someone who doesn't know [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 the sequel]].

* Related to that, due to some rather ridiculous ScheduleSlip, ''Secret Wars'' was delayed long enough that parts of the ending were already spoiled by the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' relaunch. The ''All-New, All-Different Avengers'' preview given out on Free Comic Book Day already spoiled that certain characters would survive and that [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Miles Morales]] would be joining the MarvelUniverse, but the first issue of the new ''ComicBook/IronMan'' took it even further by spoiling that Doctor Doom survived the events of ''Secret Wars'', and has healed his face to boot!

* The title of the first post-''ComicBook/CivilWar'' ComicBook/CaptainAmerica TPB? ''Captain America: ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica''. While yes, there was a huge media blitz about it when it happened, it kind of sucks for new readers, or people in other countries who didn't get that hype.

** The first big twist in the 2019 ''ComicBook/XMenTheKrakoanAge'' mega-arc is that Moira [=MacTaggert=], the human geneticist who's been one of their closest allies since 1975's ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'', isn't human. She's a mutant with ResurrectiveImmortality who's a living ResetButton, returning the timeline to the point of her birth each time she dies.

* The trade paperback for one ''{{Transformers}}'' story was called ''Transformers: Legacy of Unicron''. This was a big deal when the comic was first published: the title was blanked in the table of contents.

** Frank [=McConnell's=] foreword to the ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' trade paperback "The Kindly Ones" actually features the line, "Dream dies at the end." Not only that, but [=McConnell=] is utterly unapologetic about spoiling it for people who haven't read the comic yet: "Sorry to bust your bubble, but this is a tragedy, or at least, as classically tragedy has been written in a long time, so you should know at the outset how it's going to end." Thanks, Frank, but if Neil Gaiman felt that way, he probably would have started with that scene and flashed back, or had a Greek chorus tell us how the arc would end, or ''do anything but tell the story in a chronological fashion''.

* The title of the first post-''Comicbook/CivilWar'' ComicBook/CaptainAmerica TPB? ''Captain America: ComicBook/TheDeathOfCaptainAmerica''. While yes, there was a huge media blitz about it when it happened, it kind of sucks for new readers, or people in other countries who didn't get that hype.

* The ComicBook/Robin1993 trade paperback that features the return of Spoiler has this plastered on everywhere. The Spoiler alert tag itself is a spoiler. Spoiler is on the cover. Then inside, the reader discovers very quickly that without doubt it's Stephanie Brown. So it's more about Robin's reaction to and refusal to believe it.

* Back in the 1960s in Comicbook/TheAvengers, a new character called "Yellowjacket" appeared, claimed that he had killed Henry Pym, kidnapped the Wasp, and to everybody's surprise, when they returned the Wasp organized a wedding with him. It was revealed that end of the story that Yellowjacket ''is'' Henry Pym, with a SplitPersonality. Still, after being cured from the split personality problem, he kept being "Yellowjacket" as his superhero identity (or at least, one of the several he had over the years). For this reason, hardly any modern reader of the Avengers will read the TPB and not realize what was really going on long before the reveal.

* ''Comicbook/XMen'':

** Similarly, Jason Wyngarde from Comicbook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga. This mysterious behind-the-scenes player has a long-term scheme unfolding over ''many'' issues (this is before the DecompressedComic; several issues meant several stories.) Then we discover he's part of a group called the Hellfire Club, and we meet Emma Frost and the Club wants the then-newly-encountered Comicbook/KittyPryde and it's only when the Hellfire Club arc is in full swing that we get TheReveal that the mastermind of their plan was... well, Mastermind. Their loooooooong-unseen old enemy used his MasterOfIllusion powers to take on a posh appearance and a new alter ego. Of course, as with the above example, we've known who he is for so long that it's impossible to not know who he is from the beginning of the story. In fact, any time they've run into him ''since'' then, someone will always say "remember when you did that thing to Phoenix that resulted in her going apocalyptically nutso?! You're going down for that!"
** And for that matter, spoiler alert: Comicbook/JeanGrey is going to get supercharged and become Phoenix. Then she's gonna go apocalyptically nutso. And die. And get better. ''Each'' of those things was a surprise at the time, ''each'' a major game-changer and a milestone moment for the franchise.

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman'' featured Comicbook/TheIlluminati trying to stop 'Incursions', the collision of alternate universe Earths, the result of which is the destruction of both universes that the Earths belonged to. We are told that the only way to avert this is to destroy one of the parallel Earths, which spares both universes. The Illuminati set out to stop these Incursions without having to destroy another Earth. However, the explicit premise of ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', also by Hickman, is that the Incursions were not stopped in time, and that the fragments of the destroyed Multiverse were forged into Battleworld by Comicbook/DoctorDoom. Not only that, but a ''Secret Wars'' #0 was given away for free on Free Comic Book Day, and it gave the premise of ''Secret Wars (2015)'' away in order to make it friendlier to newer readers, meaning even the most casual of readers knew the Illuminati would fail.
* Related to that, due to some rather ridiculous ScheduleSlip, ''Secret Wars'' was delayed long enough that parts of the ending were already spoiled by the ''Comicbook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' relaunch. The ''All-New, All-Different Avengers'' preview given out on Free Comic Book Day already spoiled that certain characters would survive and that [[Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan Miles Morales]] would be joining the MarvelUniverse, but the first issue of the new ''Comicbook/IronMan'' took it even further by spoiling that Doctor Doom survived the events of ''Secret Wars'', and has healed his face to boot!
* The ''Comicbook/MetalGearSolid2'' graphic novel adaptation casually spoils the reveal that Raiden used to be the legendary child soldier Jack the Ripper in Raiden's introductory scene. It also spoils The Sorrow being Ocelot's father, though it's not particularly clear why this is significant to someone who doesn't know [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 the sequel]].

** A popular arc of featured a warped and bizarre Metropolis in which the villainous Superman every night busted out and had to be brought back to jail by the resident superhero, Bizarro. The reason behind this sudden change and the entity responsible? The mystery was tightly kept during the original release, but the fact that the paperback collection was titled ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'' ruined the big surprise.

* ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' got hit with this ''hard'' when Megatron joined the Lost Light crew at the start of season 2. Not only did ''IDW itself'' spoil him joining the crew through solicitations, but the cover for volume 6 prominently displays Megatron with an Autobot symbol. Just to make it worse IDW spoiled this ''before the story it occurs in was over''. [[Wiki/TVTropes This Very Wiki]] has this problem. The pages for MTMTE were blanking out Megatron's joining with spoiler tags, but his role was so big and [[ItWasHisSled he was so thoroughly spoiled]] that it was decided there was no point in blanking out everything.

** In one story, the X-Men find themselves in the Savage Land, in the company of a white-haired but not-too-old-looking man. Eventually he puts on a certain familiar helmet. At the time it was a major shocker, because we'd never seen ComicBook/{{Magneto}} unmasked or ''not'' acting like the dramatic EvilIsHammy wa-ha-ha BigBad that was his then-current portrayal. It was a ''very'' effective disguise. Of course, now, we know Erik's face as well as his costume (even DependingOnTheArtist doesn't change his most distinctive aspects to the point of him being hard to recognize, just like there's no not knowing Wolverine no matter who's drawing.) to the point that a much later story where he went incognito had him dramatically unmasked with his ''real'' face, no costume needed. It isn't just not a surprise; you'll spend the whole story ''confused'' that nobody's reacting like they should until you get to TheReveal and realize this is the first time they saw him.

** Part of the run is the aftermath of ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'' and how it's effecting Batman -- including Bane's murder of Alfred.
** For the rest of the run, there's how ''ComicBook/TheJokerWar'' effected Bruce: the Joker stealing the majority of Bruce's money and gear, and Lucius Fox's family disowning Bruce and being in control of Wayne Enterprises (the latter being part of the premise of ''ComicBook/TheNextBatmanSecondSon'' and ''ComicBook/IAmBatman'').