Appearances 0

[Lazyboy]

Why are so many people hung up on one definition (look/depiction) when talking about appearances in comics rather than considering the more important one (presence)?

Examples include:

• Incredible Hulk 314 - Banner causes the Hulk to hallucinate and see some of his enemies. Can the issue be considered a Juggernaut appearance?
• Amazing Spider-Man 293 - Kraven the Hunter runs around in a Spider-Man costume. Does that make him Spider-Man? Peter Parker is nowhere to be found, in any guise. Does Spider-Man appear in the issue?
• Superman: The Man of Steel 17 - Yes, you only see his completely covered arm, but it's still the first (brief) appearance of Doomsday
• New Mutants 98 - Copycat (Vanessa Carlysle) appears in the guise of Domino (Neena Thurman). She remains with the team and the fact that she's an impostor isn't revealed until a year later. Which one can claim their first appearance to be NM 98?
• Incredible Hulk Annual 5 - Xemnu creates a bunch of constructs (this is revealed in the story) that appear and act like other Marvel Monsters and sends them after the Hulk. Is it fair to claim the issue contains an appearance by anyone (important) other than the Hulk and Xemnu?
• Batman 513 - Grayson is filling in as Batman. There is a flashback panel showing him as Robin with Batman (Bruce Wayne) when he's telling Robin (Tim Drake) about his big mistake underestimating Two-Face. Does Batman/Bruce Wayne really appear in the issue?

 

Edited March 19, 2017 by Lazyboy