The Boys’ Subtlest Comic Reference Exposes Compound V’s Surprising Inspiration

Within The Boys canon, Compound V is the substance that gives regular humans superpowers, with the most common being super strength and near invulnerability (something that can even be achieved temporarily with the right cocktail). Given the fact that The Boys is a pretty consistent parody of Marvel and DC, one would assume that Compound V was more or less a parody of Marvel’s super soldier serum or DC’s venom. However, it seems as though Compound V was actually inspired by a much more obscure comic, and one subtle reference confirms it.