In comic books, continuity has also come to mean a set of contiguous events, sometimes said to be " set in the same universe " ( see fictional crossover and fictional universe ) or " separate universes " ( see intercompany crossover ).

An early triumph of Luthor's first term occurs during the Our Worlds at War comic book crossover, in which he coordinates the U. S. Army, Earth's superheroes, and a number of untrustworthy alien forces to battle the main villain of the story arc, Imperiex.

* In the 1997 comic book / graphic novel Manga Shi ( comics ) and Vampirella crossover, the former steals an artifact worn by the latter and discovers that it bears an Enochian inscription which reads simply, " I will always love you, mother.

She returned for the final arc of the series, a crossover with the Ducktales comic also published by Boom !, where she teamed up with other female Disney villains and exploited black " slime " that could turn normal people evil and villains into stronger forms.

Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series ( identified as a " 12-part maxi-series ") and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity.

Crisis also helped popularize the formula of the line-wide " crossover " comic book series, a concept deployed previously in Marvel's Contest of Champions ( 1983 ) and Secret Wars ( 1984 ).

Since 1985, superhero publishers such as DC and Marvel have had frequent " summer crossover " series designed to tie many of their comic book titles together under a single storyline.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars is a twelve-issue comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics.

No other Marvel characters ever appeared in the series, and Toxie never made his way into any other Marvel comic, although a crossover with Marvel's RoboCop title was planned before that series was cancelled.

Marvel earlier used the newspaper format to promote Marvel's crossover events Civil War and House of M — reporting on storyline events as if the comic book Daily Bugle had come to life.

Marvel has also had many large crossover events which depicted an alternative universe, many springing from events in the X-Men books, such as Days of Future Past, the seminal Age Of Apocalypse, and 2006's House Of M. In addition the Squadron Supreme is a DC inspired Marvel Universe that has been used several times, often crossing over into the mainstream Universe in the Avengers comic.

The most common outlet for political cartoonists is the editorial page of the newspaper, not the dedicated comic section, although certain cartoons or comic strips have achieved crossover status.

Lara Croft first appeared in a crossover in Sara Pezzini's Witchblade, and later starred in her own comic book series in 1999.

A JLA / Avengers crossover was to have been published in the 1980s, but differences between DC and Marvel forced the comic to be canceled.

* Civil War: The Initiative, a comic book crossover storyline.

He also wrote " Dark Deception ", a crossover story arc that appeared across X-Men: Legacy and Wolverine: Origins, and tied into X-Men: Original Sin, he retold the Beast's origin story in X-Men: Origins, wrote an Iceman story in X-Men: Manifest Destiny, a comic book adaptation of Ender's Shadow, and the Vertigo Comics series The Unwritten.

* Zero Hour ( comics ), a 1994 DC Comics comic book miniseries and crossover storyline

( However, Power Rangers in Space had previously mentioned a Ranger-based comic book in its crossover with Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.

Around this time, Doom 2099 became the only 2099 comic to crossover with a present-day Marvel comic when he traveled back to 1996 and met Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and Namor in a story partially told in Fantastic Four # 413.

The relentless and merciless riffing on classic comics ( i. e. a series where Osama bin Laden comes to live with the Family Circus, causing the parents, Billy, Jeffy, Dolly and PJ to be sent to Guantanamo Bay detention camp ) has earned Pastis the disdain of many comic artists, which Pastis referenced in a later storyline where the Pearls cast is not invited to the 75th anniversary crossover party of Blondie.

A crossover in comic book terms only occurs when a story spans more than one title.

His Age of Apocalypse appearance ( referred to as Spikey ), classic costume ( his standard look ), original costume ( his first comic appearances, with his face completely frosted over ), and Bobby Drake ( the look he adopts in the New X-Men series and his subsequent solo series: he appears in his human form, wearing a leather trenchcoat, with only his hands appearing frozen ) are alternate costumes for Iceman.

Chris Claremont, longtime writer of the X-Men comic book, has said that Begin was inspiration for the character Magneto.

The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where stories in most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.

* Jean Grey, aka Phoenix, aka Dark Phoenix, a character in the X-Men comic books

Sin City was a critical hit in 2005 as well as a box office success, particularly for a hyperviolent comic book adaptation that did not have name recognition comparable to the X-Men or Spider-Man.

In the joke comic Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are killed by silent, black, man-sized " Ninja Sentinels ".

* Sebastian Shaw ( comics ), a character from the X-Men comic books by Marvel Comics

* In the Marvel Comics comic book series The X-Men, the Hellfire Club is a criminal organization that has played a prominent role in various story lines since its introduction during the Dark Phoenix Saga.

The " all-new, all-different X-Men " were led by Cyclops from the original team and consisted of the newly created Colossus ( from the Soviet Union ), Nightcrawler ( from West Germany ), Storm ( from Kenya ), and Thunderbird ( a Native American from the Apache nation ), along with three previously introduced characters, Banshee ( from Ireland ), Sunfire ( from Japan ), and Wolverine ( from Canada ), who eventually became the breakout character on the team and, in terms of comic sales and appearances, the most popular X-Men character.

By the early 1980s, X-Men was Marvel's top-selling comic title.

The growing popularity of Uncanny X-Men and the rise of comic book specialty stores led to the introduction of a number of ongoing spin-off series nicknamed " X-Books.

" X-Men comic books have often portrayed mutants as victims of mob violence, evoking images of the lynching of African Americans in the age before the American civil rights movement.

It has been said that the comic books and the X-Men animated series delved into the AIDS epidemic with a long-running plot line about the Legacy Virus, a seemingly incurable disease thought at first to attack only mutants ( similar to the AIDS virus which at first was spread through the gay community ).

The insecurity and anxieties in Marvel's early 1960s comic books such as The Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and X-Men ushered in a new type of superhero, very different from the certain and all-powerful superheroes before them, and changed the public's perception of them.

* September – Marvel Comics releases the first-ever X-Men comic book

* Colossus ( comics ), a superhero in the X-Men comic book series

" In developing Buffy, Whedon was greatly inspired by Kitty Pryde, a character from the pages of the superhero comic X-Men.

Firestar makes her debut in Marvel's mainstream comic book universe in Uncanny X-Men # 193 ( May 1985 ).

* Romany Wisdom ( Marvel Comics ), comic book character and sister to X-Men ally Pete Wisdom

* Warren Worthington III, a. k. a. X-Men member Angel ( Marvel Comics, comic book character )

* Aero ( comics ), A comic book character associated with the New X-Men

* Jack Kirby, comic book artist, creator of the X-Men