1.
Batman (comic book)
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Batman is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication with a cover date of Spring 1940. It was first advertised in early April 1940, one month after the first appearance of his new sidekick, Robin, the original series ended in 2011 and was relaunched with a new first issue. Using the end of the New 52 initiative as a launching point, Batman #1 was the debut bimonthly relaunch of the comic book series. The character of Batman made his first appearance in the pages of Detective Comics #27 in May 1939, in Spring of 1940, Batman #1 was published and introduced new characters into Batmans pantheon, most notably those of Catwoman and Batmans eventual nemesis, the Joker. Alfred Pennyworth, the Wayne family butler, was introduced in issue #16, editor Whitney Ellsworth assigned a Batman story to artist Dick Sprang in 1941. Anticipating that Bob Kane would be drafted to serve in World War II, Sprangs first published Batman work was the Batman and Robin figures on the cover of Batman #18, reproduced from the art for page 13 of the later-published Detective Comics #84. Like all Batman artists of the time, Sprang went uncredited as a ghost artist for Kane, villains which debuted during this early era included the Mad Hatter in issue #49 and Killer Moth in issue #63. Bill Finger and Moldoff introduced Ace the Bat-Hound in #92, the early part of the era known to comics fans and historians as the Silver Age of Comic Books saw the Batman title dabble in science fiction. New characters introduced included Mr. Freeze and Betty Kane, the original Bat-Girl, in 1964, Julius Schwartz was made responsible for reviving the faded Batman titles. He jettisoned the sillier aspects that had crept into the series such as Ace the Bathound and Bat-Mite, schwartzs first issue of the Batman title was #164 which was written by France Edward Herron and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff. The Riddler returned after an absence in #171. Among the new villains introduced during this period was Poison Ivy in #181, in the 1960s, Batman comics were affected by the popular Batman television series, with campy stories based on the tongue-in-cheek premise of the series. After the Batman television programs influence had died down, writer Frank Robbins and artist Irv Novick sent Dick Grayson off to attend college, in 1971, writer Dennis ONeil and artist Neal Adams came aboard the title and re-infused it with the darker tones of the 1940s. ONeil and Adams introduced a new villain named Ras al Ghul, ONeil said his work on the Batman series was simply to take it back to where it started. I went to the DC library and read some of the early stories, I tried to get a sense of what Kane and Finger were after. Issues #254 to #261 of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format, the series reached its 300th issue with a June 1978 cover date and featured a story by writer David Vern Reed and artists Walt Simonson and Dick Giordano. Julius Schwartz ended his tenure as editor of the series with issue #309, marv Wolfman briefly wrote Batman and co-created the Electrocutioner in issue #331
2.
DC Comics
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DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher. It is the unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. a division of Time Warner, the company has also published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta and many titles under their alternative imprint Vertigo. The initials DC came from the popular series Detective Comics. Random House distributes DC Comics books to the market, while Diamond Comic Distributors supplies the comics shop specialty market. DC Comics and its major, longtime competitor Marvel Comics together shared 70% of the American comic book market in 2016, entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications in autumn 1934. The company debuted with the tabloid-sized New Fun, The Big Comic Magazine #1 with a date of February 1935. That title evolved into Adventure Comics, which continued through issue #503 in 1983, in 2009 DC revived Adventure Comics with its original numbering. In 1935, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman, created Doctor Occult. Wheeler-Nicholsons third and final title, Detective Comics, advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, the themed anthology series would become a sensation with the introduction of Batman in issue #27. By then, however, Wheeler-Nicholson had gone, Detective Comics, Inc. was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack S. Liebowitz, Donenfelds accountant, listed as owners. Major Wheeler-Nicholson remained for a year, but cash-flow problems continued, shortly afterward, Detective Comics, Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied, also known as Nicholson Publishing, at a bankruptcy auction. Detective Comics, Inc. soon launched a fourth title, Action Comics, Action Comics #1, the first comic book to feature the new character archetype—soon known as superheroes—proved a sales hit. The company quickly introduced such popular characters as the Sandman and Batman. That year, Gaines let Liebowitz buy him out, and kept only Picture Stories from the Bible as the foundation of his own new company, at that point, Liebowitz promptly orchestrated the merger of All-American and Detective Comics into National Comics. Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, Independent News, National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on the stock market in 1961. The company began to move aggressively against what it saw as copyright-violating imitations from other companies, such as Fox Comics Wonder Man and this extended to DC suing Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel, at the time comics top-selling character. Despite the fact that parallels between Captain Marvel and Superman seemed more tenuous, the courts ruled that substantial and deliberate copying of copyrighted material had occurred, faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost, Fawcett capitulated in 1955 and ceased comics publication
3.
Bob Kane
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Bob Kane was an American comic book writer and artist who co-created, with Bill Finger, the DC Comics character Batman. He was inducted into the book industrys Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1994. Robert Kahn was born in New York City, New York and his parents, Augusta and Herman Kahn, an engraver, were of Eastern European Jewish descent. A high school friend of fellow cartoonist and future Spirit creator Will Eisner, Robert Kahn graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School and he studied art at Cooper Union before joining the Max Fleischer Studio as a trainee animator in 1934. He entered the field two years later, in 1936, freelancing original material to editor Jerry Igers comic book Wow. Including his first pencil and ink work on the serial Hiram Hick, for that last title he went on to do his first adventure strip, Rusty and his Pals. In early 1939, DCs success with the seminal superhero Superman in Action Comics prompted editors to scramble for more such heroes, in response, Bob Kane conceived the Bat-Man. Bill Finger joined Bob Kanes nascent studio in 1938, an aspiring writer and part-time shoe salesperson, he had met Kane at a party, and Kane later offered him a job ghost writing the strips Rusty and Clip Carson. He recalled that Kane. had an idea for a character called Batman, I went over to Kanes, and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of. Reddish tights, I believe, with boots, with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope. He had two wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings. And under it was a big sign, Finger additionally said his suggestions were influenced by Lee Falks The Phantom, a syndicated newspaper comic strip character with which Kane was familiar as well. Finger, who said he devised the characters civilian name, Bruce Wayne, wrote the first Batman story. Kane, who had submitted the proposal for Batman at DC. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the creation of artist Bob Kane, according to Kane, Bill Finger was a contributing force on Batman right from the beginning. He wrote most of the stories and was influential in setting the style. I made Batman a superhero-vigilante when I first created him, Bill turned him into a scientific detective. The character debuted in Detective Comics #27 and proved a breakout hit, within a year, Kane hired art assistants Jerry Robinson and George Roussos
4.
Jerry Robinson
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Sherrill David Robinson, known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin and the Joker and he was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004. Jerry Robinson was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Mae and he was of Russian Jewish descent. He attended Columbia University, but did not graduate, Robinson was a 17-year-old journalism student at Columbia University in 1939 when he was discovered by Batman creator Bob Kane, who hired him to work on that fledgling comic as an inker and letterer. Kane, with writer Bill Finger, had shortly before created the character Batman for National Comics, Robinson rented a room from a family in The Bronx near Kanes familys Grand Concourse apartment, where Kane used his bedroom as an art studio. He started as a letterer and an inker, shortly graduating to inking secondary figures. Within a year, he became Batmans primary inker, with George Roussos inking backgrounds, Batman quickly became a hit character, and Kane rented space for Robinson and Roussos in Times Squares Times Tower. In addition to Batman, Robinson and Roussos did inks and backgrounds on Target, Roussos recounted of his collaboration with Robinson, It was hard to make the deadlines, because Jerry was a heavy sleeper. I used to have to go to the Bronx to get him to come to work, id go and wake him up 2 oclock in the afternoon so we could work all night. We were committed to do about 13 pages a week, Jerry was always behind - he was always whiting out things and re-inking them. Bobs stuff was so sketchy, Jerry had to do a lot of work, approximately a year and a half after Robinson, Roussos, and Finger were hired by Kane, National Comics lured them away, making them company staffers. By early 1940, Kane and Finger discussed adding a sidekick, Robinson suggested the name Robin after Robin Hood books he had read during boyhood, saying that he was inspired by one books N. C. The new character, orphaned circus performer Dick Grayson, came to live with Bruce Wayne as his ward in Detective Comics #38. Robin would inspire many similar sidekicks throughout the remainder of the Golden Age of Comic Books, Batmans nemesis, the Joker, was introduced around the same time, in Batman #1. Credit for that characters creation, however, is disputed, Robinson has said he created the character. In 1943, when Kane left the Batman comic books to focus on penciling the daily Batman newspaper comic strip, only Kanes name appeared on the strip. From 1944 to 1946, Robinson and his friend Meskin formed a studio which produced material for the short-lived Spark Publications, Robinson worked on numerous other characters for several publishers, at one point doing freelance illustrations for a textbook publisher. After leaving superhero comics, he became a newspaper cartoonist and created True Classroom Flubs and Fluffs, Robinson also did a political satire cartoon panel feature, Still Life which began national syndication on June 3,1963
5.
Batman
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Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, originally named the Bat-Man, the character is also referred to by such epithets as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and the Worlds Greatest Detective. Batmans secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, after witnessing the murder of his parents Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne as a child, he swore vengeance against criminals, an oath tempered by a sense of justice. Wayne trains himself physically and intellectually and crafts a bat-inspired persona to fight crime, Batman operates in the fictional Gotham City, with assistance from various supporting characters, including his butler Alfred, police commissioner Gordon, and vigilante allies such as Robin. A large assortment of villains make up Batmans rogues gallery, including his archenemy, Batman became popular soon after his introduction in 1939 and gained his own comic book title, Batman, the following year. As the decades went on, differing interpretations of the character emerged, the late 1960s Batman television series used a camp aesthetic, which continued to be associated with the character for years after the show ended. Various creators worked to return the character to his dark roots, the success of Warner Bros. live-action Batman feature films have helped maintain the publics interest in the character. The character has also intrigued psychiatrists, with trying to understand the characters psyche. In 2015, FanSided ranked Batman as number one on their list of 50 Greatest Super Heroes In Comic Book History. Kevin Conroy, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Anthony Ruivivar, Jason OMara, Batman has been portrayed in both film and television by Lewis Wilson, Robert Lowery, Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck. In early 1939, the success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications to request more superheroes for its titles, in response, Bob Kane created the Bat-Man. Collaborator Bill Finger recalled that Kane had an idea for a character called Batman, I went over to Kanes, and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of. Reddish tights, I believe, with boots, with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope. He had two wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings. And under it was a big sign, the bat-wing-like cape was suggested by Bob Kane, inspired by Leonardo Da Vincis sketch of an ornithopter flying device as a child. Finger suggested giving the character a cowl instead of a domino mask, a cape instead of wings. Finger said he devised the name Bruce Wayne for the secret identity, Bruce Waynes first name came from Robert Bruce. Wayne, being a playboy, was a man of gentry, I searched for a name that would suggest colonialism
6.
Special Air Service
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The Special Air Service is a special forces unit of the British Army. The SAS was founded in 1941 as a regiment, and later reconstituted as a corps in 1950, the unit undertakes a number of roles including covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, direct action and hostage rescue. The Special Air Service traces its origins to 1941 and the Second World War and it was reformed as part of the Territorial Army in 1947, named the 21st Special Air Service Regiment. It was conceived as a force to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign. Its first mission, in November 1941, was a drop in support of the Operation Crusader offensive. Due to German resistance and adverse conditions, the mission was a disaster,22 men. Its second mission was a major success, transported by the Long Range Desert Group, it attacked three airfields in Libya, destroying 60 aircraft with the loss of 2 men and 3 Willys MB. In September 1942, it was renamed 1st SAS, consisting at that time of four British squadrons, one Free French, one Greek, in January 1943, Colonel Stirling was captured in Tunisia and Paddy Mayne replaced him as commander. In April 1943, the 1st SAS was reorganised into the Special Raiding Squadron under Maynes command and the Special Boat Squadron was placed under the command of George Jellicoe. The Special Raiding Squadron fought in Sicily and Italy along with the 2nd SAS, the Special Boat Squadron fought in the Aegean Islands and Dodecanese until the end of the war. In 1944 the SAS Brigade was formed from the British 1st and 2nd SAS, the French 3rd and 4th SAS and the Belgian 5th SAS. It was tasked with parachute operations behind the German lines in France and carried out supporting the Allied advance through Belgium, the Netherlands. As a result of Hitlers issuing of the Commando Order on 18 October 1942, in July 1944, following Operation Bulbasket,34 captured SAS commandos were summarily executed by the Germans. In October 1944, in the aftermath of Operation Loyton another 31 captured SAS commandos were summarily executed by the Germans, at the end of the war the British Government saw no further need for the force and disbanded it on 8 October 1945. The following year it was decided there was a need for a long-term deep-penetration commando unit, ultimately, the Artists Rifles, raised in 1860 and headquartered at Dukes Road, Euston, took on the SAS mantle as 21st SAS Regiment on 1 January 1947. In 1950, a 21 SAS squadron was raised to fight in the Korean War, after three months of training in Britain, it was informed that the squadron would no longer be required in Korea and so it instead volunteered to fight in the Malayan Emergency. Upon arrival in Malaya, it came under the command of Mike Calvert who was forming a new unit called the Malayan Scouts, the Rhodesians returned home after three years service and were replaced by a New Zealand squadron. By this time the need for a regular army SAS regiment had been recognised, in 1959 the third regiment, the 23rd SAS Regiment, was formed by renaming the Reserve Reconnaissance Unit, which had succeeded MI9 and whose members were experts in escape and evasion
7.
American comic book
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An American comic book is a thin periodical, typically 32-pages, containing primarily comics content. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics and this was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II. After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the book industry rapidly expanded, and genres such as horror, crime. The 1950s saw a decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television. The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a revival. Since the later 20th century, comic books have gained note as collectable items, Comic shops cater to fans, and particularly valuable issues have fetched in excess of a million dollars. Systems of grading comic books have emerged with plastic sleeves and cardboard backing available to maintain the condition of comic books, standard comics are 6.625 inches ×10.25 inches and about 32 pages long. While comics can be the work of a creator, the labour of making them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a writer and artist, or there may be separate artists for the characters. The process begins with the coming up with an idea or concept, then working it into a plot and story. After the art production, letters are placed on the page, the creative team, the writers and artists, may work with a comic book publisher for help with marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A distributor like Diamond Comic Distributors, the largest in the U. S. helps to distribute the product to retailers. Another part of the involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator. Fan art and letters to the editor were printed in the back of the book until the early 21st century. Comic specialty stores did help encourage several waves of independently-produced comics, the development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the U. S, the Yellow Kid in McFaddens Flats, in 1897. The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes text by E. W. Townsend, measured 5×7 inches. The neologism comic book appears on the back cover, despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Companys Comic Monthly, did not appear until 1922
8.
Superhero
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A female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine. Fiction centered on characters, especially in American comic books since the 1930s, is known as superhero fiction. By most definitions, characters do not require actual supernatural or superhuman powers or phenomena to be deemed superheroes, some superheroes use their powers to counter daily crime while also combating threats against humanity from supervillains, who are their criminal counterparts. Often at least one of these supervillains will be the superheros archenemy, some long-running superheroes such as Iron Man, Captain America, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Spider-Man have a rogues gallery of many villains. The word superhero dates to at least 1917, antecedents of the archetype include such folkloric heroes as Robin Hood, who adventured in distinctive clothing. The 1903 play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized the idea of a masked avenger, during the 1940s there were many superheroes, and only a few of these were female. The Flash, Green Lantern and Blue Beetle debuted in this era, most of the other female costumed crime-fighters during this era lacked superpowers. The most iconic comic book superheroine, who debuted during the Golden Age, is Wonder Woman, inspired by the Amazons of Greek mythology, she was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston, with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. Wonder Womans first appearance was in All Star Comics #8, published by All-American Publications, in 1952, Osamu Tezukas manga Tetsuwan Atom was published. The series focused upon a robot boy built by a scientist to replace his deceased son, the 1950s saw the Silver Age of Comics. During this era DC introduced the likes of Batwoman in 1956, Supergirl, Miss Arrowette,1958 saw the debut of superhero Moonlight Mask on Japanese television. In 1963, Astro Boy was adapted into a highly influential anime television series, Phantom Agents in 1964 focused on ninjas working for the Japanese government and would be the foundation for Sentai-type series. Another important event was the debut of Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, Go Nagai also wrote the manga Cutey Honey in 1973, although the Magical Girl genre already existed, Nagais manga introduced Transformation sequences that would become a staple of Magical Girl media. The dark Skull Man manga would later get a television adaptation, the protagonist was redesigned resemble a grasshopper, becoming the renowned first masked hero of the Kamen Rider series. Kamen Rider is a motorcycle riding hero in an insect-like costume, both major publishers began introducing new superheroines with a more distinct feminist theme as part of their origin stories or character development. Examples include Big Barda, Power Girl, and the Huntress by DC comics, and from Marvel, the second Black Widow, Shanna the She-Devil, and The Cat. In 1975 Shotaro Ishinomoris Himitsu Sentai Gorenger debuted on what is now TV Asahi, it brought the concepts of multi-colored teams, in 1978, Toei adapted Spider-Man into a live-action series. In subsequent decades, popular characters like Dazzler, She-Hulk, Elektra, Catwoman, Witchblade, Spider-Girl, Batgirl, volume 4 of the X-Men comic book series featured an all-female team as part of the Marvel NOW. branding initiative in 2013
9.
Butler
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A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the room, wine cellar. Some also have charge of the entire floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house. A butler is usually male, and in charge of male servants, while a housekeeper is usually a woman, traditionally, male servants were rarer and therefore better paid and of higher status than female servants. The butler, as the male servant, has the highest servant status. He can also be used as a chauffeur. The precise duties of the employee will vary to some extent in line with the title given, in the grandest homes or when the employer owns more than one residence, there is sometimes an estate manager of higher rank than the butler. The butler was also the steward in a lascar ships crew. In Britain, the butler was originally a member of the staff of a grand household. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the butler gradually became the senior, usually male, member of a households staff in the very grandest households. However, there was sometimes a steward who ran the estate and financial affairs, rather than just the household. To Butler, To butler, to dispense wines or liquors, the modern role of the butler has evolved from earlier roles that were generally concerned with the care and serving of alcoholic beverages. The care of these assets was therefore generally reserved for trusted slaves, the biblical book of Genesis contains a reference to a role precursive to modern butlers. The early Hebrew Joseph interpreted a dream of Pharaohs שקה, which is most often translated into English as chief butler or chief cup-bearer. In ancient Greece and Rome, it was nearly always slaves who were charged with the care and service of wine, while during the Medieval Era the pincerna], the modern English butler thus relates both to bottles and casks. Eventually the European butler emerged as a member of the servants of a great house. While this is so for household butlers, those with the same title, the Steward of the Elizabethan era was more akin to the butler that later emerged. In the very grandest households there was sometimes an Estate Steward or other senior steward who oversaw the butler and his duties
10.
Aide-de-camp
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An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant or secretary to a person of high rank, usually a senior military, police or government officer, a member of a royal family, or a head of state. This is not to be confused with an adjutant, who is the administrator of a military unit. The first aide-de-camp is typically the foremost personal aide, in some countries, the aide-de-camp is considered to be a title of honour, and participates at ceremonial functions. The badge of office for an aide-de-camp is usually the aiguillette, whether it is worn on the left or the right shoulder is dictated by protocol. A controversy was raised in 2006, when president Néstor Kirchner decided to promote his army aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Graham to colonel, upon taking office, former president Cristina Kirchner decided to have, for the first time, female officers as her aides-de-camp. In each of the forces, the chief of staff and other senior officers have their own adjutants, normally of the rank of major or lieutenant colonel. An aiguillette is worn on the shoulder by aides-de-camp and adjutants as a symbol of their position. In Belgium the title of Honorary Aide-de-camp to the King can be granted by the court for services rendered. Notable people include Major General Baron Édouard Empain, Count Charles John dOultremont, generals being field marshals, have four, lieutenant generals two, major generals one”. In British colonies and modern-day British overseas territories, the aide-de-camp is appointed to serve the governor, in 1973, the Governor of Bermuda, Sir Richard Sharples, and his aide-de-camp, Captain Hugh Sayers, were murdered on the grounds of Government House. On the last day of British rule in Hong Kong on 30 June 1997 and he then gave the Vice Regal Salute before proceeding, with the Pattens, to leave Government House for the last time. Prince Charles is a personal aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II, Honorary aides-de-camp to the Governor-General or state governors are entitled to the post-nominal ADC during their appointment. Officers of and above the ranks of admiral, major general. Within the navy, an aide-de-camp is called a flag lieutenant, aides-de-camp in Canada are appointed to the Queen and some members of the royal family, the governor general, lieutenant governors, and to certain other appointments. All aides-de-camp also wear the cypher or badge of the principal to whom they are appointed, aides-de-camp to the governor general wear the governor generals badge and aides-de-camp to a lieutenant governor wear the lieutenant governors badge. They are appointed officers of the Canadian Forces. In certain instances, civilians may be appointed, non-uniformed civilians do not wear the aiguillette, but do wear their lieutenant governors badge as a symbol of their appointment. Aides-de-camp to royal and vice-regal personages wear the aiguillette on the right shoulder, aides-de-camp to all others wear their aiguillette on the left shoulder
11.
Thomas Wayne
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Dr. Thomas Wayne, M. D. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in the Batman comic book series. A gifted physician and philanthropist, Dr. Thomas Wayne is the father of Bruce Wayne and he is the inheritor of the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne, which was built through industry and real estate by previous generations. He is first introduced in Detective Comics #33 in the first exposition of Batmans origin story, in the story, he and his wife are murdered by a mugger, traumatizing yet influencing their son to become Batman. Thomas Wayne is seldom shown outside of Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworths memories of him and he is frequently depicted as looking very much like his son, but sporting a thick mustache. A notable occurrence in Thomass biography was when Bruce falls through a fissure on the Wayne property, Thomas eventually rescues his terrified son from the cave. According to the story, Dr. Waynes actions result in crime boss Lew Moxon being imprisoned, ten years later, realizing Moxon ordered his parents killed, Batman confronts Moxon, now suffering from amnesia and thus has no memory of Dr. Wayne. When his costume is torn, Batman wears his fathers in order to frighten Moxon, sure enough, the costume restores Moxons memory, the former crime boss panics, believing that Thomass ghost is attacking, and flees into the streets and is struck and killed by a truck. These events were retold in the 1980 miniseries The Untold Legend of the Batman, following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Thomas as the First Batman was retconned - he instead attends the masquerade ball as Zorro. Dr. Wayne was once suspected to be the father of Bane, however, DNA testing proved this to be false, and Banes real father was recently revealed to be King Snake. In Batman, The Long Halloween, a flashback reveals that Thomas Wayne saved the life of gangster Carmine Falcone, falcones father Vincent Falcone came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot by rival gangster Luigi Maroni. Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to the hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting, after saving Carmines life, he was offered a reward or favor, but refused to accept any form of payment. Unbeknownst to Thomas, young Bruce watched this all in silence from afar, years later, Bruce contemplates whether Gotham would have been better off had his father let Falcone die, Alfred replies that Thomas would have helped anyone in need. In Superman/Batman #50, it is revealed that, while on a drive with a pregnant Martha Wayne, as he inspects it, Thomas consciousness is transported to Krypton, and presented in a holographic form. There, he encounters Jor-El, wishing to know what kind of a world Earth is, Thomas tells Jor-El that the people of Earth arent perfect, but are essentially a good and kind race, who would raise the child right, convincing Jor-El to send Kal-El there. Upon returning to his body, Thomas uses the technology in the Kryptonian probe to revitalize a failing Wayne Enterprises, years later, the alien technology would be the basis of much of Batmans crimefighting technology. Thomas recorded his encounter in a diary, which was discovered by Bruce in the present day, when exiting a theatre, Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne are murdered by a mugger right in front of their son Bruce Wayne. This tragedy shocks Gotham and leads to Park Row being labeled Crime Alley, most importantly, it serves as the motivation for Bruce one day becoming Batman. Bruces age has varied, usually between six and ten years old, the murderer is consistently identified as Joe Chill, though the mythos alternates between versions where Batman learns the killers identity, and ones in which he never finds out
12.
Martha Wayne
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Martha Wayne is a fictional character of the Batman series of comic books, published by DC Comics. She is Bruce Waynes mother and Dr. Thomas Waynes wife, when she and her husband are murdered during a holdup, her son swears to avenge their deaths by fighting crime and fulfills this as Batman. Martha Wayne first appeared in Detective Comics #33 in a story by Bob Kane, initially little more than a cipher whose death inspired her heroic son, later comics would expand upon her history. Born Martha Kane, Martha was the heir to the Kane Chemical fortune and it has been revealed she is related to Kate Kane in Detective Comics Rebirth issue #934, but no other connection to the other prominent Kanes of Gotham, such as Bette Kane. She also had a social conscience and often used her familys wealth. As revealed in the miniseries Batman, Family by John Francis Moore, both were renowned for their beauty, which caught the attention of a gangster named Denholm. Martha dated Denholm for a prior to meeting Thomas Wayne. Celia, who had had dealings with Denholm, became very protective of her friend. In the process it came to light just why Celia was familiar with him, Celia, it turned out, was a criminal herself and had been embezzling money from an orphanage that was one of Marthas charities. She attempted to hide the evidence of this by setting fire to the building, before Celia departed for her familys home in Greece, Martha threatened to expose her should she ever return to Gotham. Celia would return to Gotham many years later as Athena, the leader of a criminal cartel, in this guise, she attempted to stage a coup of Wayne Enterprises, until Batman discovered the true nature of his mothers history with Celia and defeated her. Shortly after Celias departure, Martha met and fell in love with prominent physician and they were wed soon after and Martha eventually gave birth to their son Bruce Wayne. Though mention of Marthas occupation is small, some stories have indicated that, like Bruce and this version fought against the abuse of Gothams children and against the trafficking of children around the globe. Learning of his mothers mission prior to death, Batman gained further inspiration, when Bruce Wayne was eight years old, his parents took him to a screening of a Zorro movie at a cinema in Gothams Park Row. Returning to the car through an alley, they were confronted by a gunman, who attempted to steal Martha Waynes pearl necklace. In the ensuing struggle, the thief shot both the Waynes dead, in the wake of this tragedy, Park Row was given the nickname Crime Alley. The identity of the Waynes killer has varied through different versions of the Batman story, initially, he was said to be the criminal Joe Chill. Later retellings would claim that Chill had been hired by gangster Lew Moxon, an enemy of Thomas Wayne, after DC Comics history-altering Zero Hour series, this interpretation was abandoned in favor of the Waynes deaths being a random street crime
13.
Special Operations Executive
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The Special Operations Executive was a British World War II organisation. Few people were aware of SOEs existence, to those who were part of it or liaised with it, it was sometimes referred to as the Baker Street Irregulars, after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as Churchills Secret Army or the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, SOE operated in all countries or former countries occupied by or attacked by the Axis forces, except where demarcation lines were agreed with Britains principal Allies. It also made use of territory on occasion, or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by the Axis. The organisation directly employed or controlled just over 13,000 people, after the war, the organisation was officially dissolved on 15 January 1946. A memorial to SOEs agents was unveiled on the Albert Embankment by Lambeth Palace in London in October 2009, the organisation was formed from the merger of three existing secret departments, which had been formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Immediately after Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, the Foreign Office created an organisation known as Department EH. In the autumn of the year, the War Office expanded an existing research department known as GS. GS was renamed MI in early 1939 and these three departments worked with few resources until the outbreak of war. There was much overlap between their activities and Section D and EH duplicated much of each others work, on the other hand, the heads of Section D and MI knew each other and shared information. They agreed a rough division of their activities, MI researched irregular operations which could be undertaken by regular uniformed troops, during the early months of the war, Section D was based first at St Ermins Hotel in Westminster and then the Metropole Hotel near Trafalgar Square. The Section attempted unsuccessfully to sabotage deliveries of vital materials to Germany from neutral countries by mining the Iron Gate on the River Danube. MI meanwhile produced pamphlets and technical handbooks for guerrilla leaders, on 13 June 1940, at the instigation of newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Lord Hankey persuaded Section D and MI that their operations should be coordinated. On 1 July, a Cabinet level meeting arranged the formation of a single sabotage organisation, on 16 July, Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was appointed to take political responsibility for the new organisation. As Dalton was leaving Churchills study after being given his new task, the new organisation was formally created on 22 July. Dalton used the Irish Republican Army during the Irish war of Independence as a model for the organisation, Campbell Stuart left the organisation, and the flamboyant Major Grand was returned to the regular army. At his own request, Major Holland also left to take up an appointment in the Royal Engineers. However, Hollands former deputy at MI, Brigadier Colin Gubbins, one department of MI, MI R, which was involved in the development of weapons for irregular warfare, was not formally integrated into SOE but became an independent body codenamed MD1
14.
Batman (military)
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A batman is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant. Before the advent of motorized transport, an officers batman was also in charge of the officers bat-horse that carried the pack saddle with his officers kit during a campaign, the U. K. English term is derived from the obsolete bat, meaning pack saddle. In armies where officers typically came from the class, it was not unusual for a former batman to follow the officer into later civilian life as a domestic servant. In the French Army the term for batman was ordonnance, batmen were officially abolished after World War II. However, in the 1960s there were still batmen in the French Army, in the German Army the batman was known as Ordonnanz from the French ordonnance, or colloquially as Putzer or as Bursche. The old British term orderly continued into the post-independence Indian Army and it has now, however, been replaced with the Hindi word sahayak, which translates as assistant or helper. There have been suggestions to do away with the practice, as the Indian Navy, in the Italian Army the term for batman was attendente, from the Italian verb attendere. Attendenti were eventually abolished in 1971, the term batman in the Pakistan Army dates from the period of the British Indian Army. In the modern Pakistan Army, civilian personal are employed in this role and are designated as NCB, the term implies that the present-day batman is not a soldier or part of the fighting cadre of the army, and works only as a personal servant to each officer. The employment of NCBs in the Pakistan Air Force and the Pakistan Navy is not officially recognized, however both these services pay their officers an extra allowance comparable to the average pay of a household servant. The Imperial Russian Army used the term denshchik for a batman, however, they were hired help, and had to be provided with a horse also. After the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire, many went on campaign without servants. The term was borrowed from the French, but adopted to Russian pronunciation as ordinarets, several ordirnartsy of the marshals and generals commanding fronts and armies during the Second World War wrote memoirs about their service. Buchin drove Zhukov throughout the war and although he began the war as a private, buchin wrote his memoirs called One hundred and seventy thousand kilometres with Zhukov, at the suggestion of the marshal in the 1970s. The term emir eri was used for a soldier that attends an officer, the practice was abolished in 1950. The official term used by the British Army in the First World War was soldier-servant, every officer was assigned a servant, usually chosen by the officer from among his men. The term batman replaced this in the inter-war years, batwomen also served in the womens services. Batman was usually seen as a desirable position, the soldier was exempted from more onerous duties and often got better rations and other favours from his officer
15.
Myth
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A myth is any traditional story consisting of events that are ostensibly historical, though often supernatural, explaining the origins of a cultural practice or natural phenomenon. The word myth is derived from the Greek word mythos, which means story. Mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths, myth can mean sacred story, traditional narrative or tale of the gods. A myth can also be a story to explain why something exists, human cultures usually include a cosmogonical or creation myth, concerning the origins of the world, or how the world came to exist. The active beings in myths are generally gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, or animals, most myths are set in a timeless past before recorded time or beginning of the critical history. A myth can be a story involving symbols that are capable of multiple meanings, a myth is a sacred narrative because it holds religious or spiritual significance for those who tell it. Myths also contribute to and express a cultures systems of thought and values, myths are often therefore stories that are currently understood as being exaggerated or fictitious. According to Albert A. Anderson, a professor of philosophy, in these works, the term had several meanings, conversation, narrative, speech, story, tale, and word. Like the related term logos, mythos expresses whatever can be delivered in the form of words, Anderson contrasts the two terms with ergon, a Greek term for action, deed, and work. The term mythos lacks an explicit distinction between true or false narratives, in the context of the Theatre of ancient Greece, the term mythos referred to the myth, the narrative, the plot, and the story of a theatrical play. According to David Wiles, the Greek term mythos in this era covered an entire spectrum of different meanings, from undeniable falsehoods to stories with religious, according to philosopher Aristotle, the spirit of a theatrical play was its mythos. The term mythos was also used for the material of Greek tragedy. The tragedians of the era could draw inspiration from Greek mythology, David Wiles observes that modern conceptions about Greek tragedy can be misleading. It is commonly thought that the ancient audience members were familiar with the mythos behind a play. However, the Greek dramatists were not expected to faithfully reproduce traditional myths when adapting them for the stage and they were instead recreating the myths and producing new versions. Storytellers like Euripides relied on suspense to excite their audiences, in one of his works, Merope attempts to kill her sons murderer with an axe, unaware that the man in question is actually her son. According to an ancient description of reactions to this work. They rose to their feet in terror and caused an uproar, David Wiles points that the traditional mythos of Ancient Greece, was primarily a part of its oral tradition
16.
Michael Gough
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Gough was born in Kuala Lumpur, Federated Malay States on November 23,1916, the son of British parents Francis Berkeley Gough and Frances Atkins. Gough was educated at Rose Hill School, Tunbridge Wells, and at Durham School, he moved onto Wye Agricultural College which he left to go to the Old Vic. During World War II Gough was an objector, like his friend Frith Banbury, although he was obliged to serve in the Non-Combatant Corps. In 1948, Gough made his debut in Blanche Fury and thereafter. In 1955, he portrayed one of the two murderers who kill the Duke of Clarence, as well as the Princes in the Tower in Laurence Oliviers Richard III and he also appeared in the comedy film Top Secret. Alongside Val Kilmer, with whom he would work later in the Batman franchise. Gough guest-starred in Doctor Who, as the villain in The Celestial Toymaker and he was introduced in the first-season episode Maximum Security of Colditz as Major Willi Schaeffer, the alcoholic second-in-command of the Kommandant. In the Ian Curteis television play Suez 1956, he portrayed Prime Minister Anthony Eden, in 1981, he was reunited with Laurence Olivier in Granada Televisions Brideshead Revisited, portraying the doctor to Oliviers dying Lord Marchmain. Gough also appeared in The Citadel as Sir Jenner Halliday, in 1985s Out of Africa as Lord Delamere and his later roles included Alfred Pennyworth for Tim Burton, including Batman and Batman Returns. He also reprised his role as Alfred in the 1994 BBC radio adaptation of Batman, Knightfall and in Batman Forever, Gough was one of two actors to have appeared in the four Batman films in the Burton/Schumacher series, the other actor was Pat Hingle. Gough worked for Burton again in 1999s Sleepy Hollow and Corpse Bride and he also briefly reprised his Alfred role in six 2001 television commercials for the OnStar automobile tracking system, informing Batman of the systems installation in the Batmobile. Other commercial appearances famously included Gough as Alfred in a 1989 advertisement for Diet Coke, Gough retired in 1999 after appearing in Burtons Sleepy Hollow. He would emerge from retirement twice more, both as a favor to Burton, to voice Elder Gutknecht in Corpse Bride and the Dodo in Alice in Wonderland, Gough was married four times—one of his ex-wives is Anne Elizabeth Leon. They married in 1950, their daughter Emma Frances was born in 1953, another ex-wife is Doctor Who actress Anneke Wills, who portrayed the Doctors companion Polly. Gough adopted Wills daughter Polly and in 1965, their son Jasper was born, Gough won Broadways 1979 Tony Award as Best Actor for Bedroom Farce. He was also nominated in the category in 1988 for Breaking the Code. In 1957, he won a BAFTA TV Award and in 1971, was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for his work in The Go-Between. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play in 1979 for Bedroom Farce, Gough died on 17 March 2011 in London, England after a short illness
17.
Michael Caine
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Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor and author. Renowned for his working class cockney accent, Caine has appeared in over 115 films and is regarded as a British film icon. His most notable roles in the 1970s included Get Carter, The Last Valley, Sleuth, for which he earned his second Academy Award nomination, The Man Who Would Be King, and A Bridge Too Far. He achieved some of his greatest critical success in the 1980s, with Educating Rita earning him the BAFTA, in 1986, he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Woody Allens Hannah and Her Sisters. Caine played Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol, Caine played Nigel Powers in the 2002 parody Austin Powers in Goldmember, and Alfred Pennyworth in Christopher Nolans The Dark Knight Trilogy. He appeared in other of Nolans films including The Prestige, Inception. He also appeared as a character in Alfonso Cuaróns Children of Men. As of February 2017, films in which he has starred have grossed over $3.5 billion domestically, Caine is ranked the eleventh highest grossing box office star. Caine is one of two actors nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s. In 2000, Caine was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contribution to cinema. Caine was born in St Olaves Hospital in Rotherhithe, London, the son of Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a market porter, and Ellen Frances Marie Burchell. His father had English, Irish, and, reportedly, Irish Traveller ancestry and he was brought up in his mothers Protestant religion. Caine had a maternal half-brother, David William Burchell and a full brother, Caine grew up in Southwark, London, and during the Second World War, he was evacuated to North Runcton near Kings Lynn in Norfolk. In 1944, he passed his eleven plus exam, winning a scholarship to Hackney Downs School, after a year there he moved to Wilsons Grammar School in Camberwell, which he left at sixteen after gaining a School Certificate in six subjects. He then worked briefly as a clerk and messenger for a film company in Victoria Street. He had gone into Korea feeling sympathetic to communism, coming as he did from a poor family, Caine would like to see the return of national service to help combat youth violence, stating, Im just saying, put them in the Army for six months. Youre there to learn how to defend your country, then when you come out, you have a sense of belonging rather than a sense of violence. Adopting the stage name Michael Scott, in July 1953 he was cast as the drunkard Hindley in the Companys production of Wuthering Heights and he moved to the Lowestoft Repertory Company in Suffolk for a year when he was 21
18.
Jeremy Irons
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Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppards The Real Thing, Irons first major film role came in the 1981 romantic drama The French Lieutenants Woman, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. After starring in such as Moonlighting, Betrayal, and The Mission. In 1990, Irons played accused murderer Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune, other notable films have included Steven Soderberghs mystery thriller Kafka, the period drama The House of the Spirits, the romantic drama M. Irons has also made several notable appearances on TV. He earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited. In 2005, Irons starred opposite Helen Mirren in the historical miniseries Elizabeth I, for which he received a Golden Globe Award, from 2011 to 2013 he starred as Pope Alexander VI in the Showtime historical series The Borgias. He is one of the few actors who won the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, in October 2011, he was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Irons was born in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, the son of Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant and his paternal great-great-grandfather was a Metropolitan Policeman who was sacked for drunkenness, and later a Chartist. He has an amount of Irish ancestry, tracing back to County Cork. Irons has a brother, Christopher, and a sister, Felicity Anne and he was educated at the independent Sherborne School in Dorset from 1962 to 1966. He was the drummer and harmonica player in a school band called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. Irons trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and he made several appearances on British television, including the childrens television series Play Away and as Franz Liszt in the BBC1974 series Notorious Woman. More significantly he starred in the 13-part adaptation of H. E, the role which brought him fame was that of Charles Ryder in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waughs Brideshead Revisited. First broadcast on ITV, the ranks among the greatest British television dramas. Brideshead reunited him with Anthony Andrews, with whom he had appeared in The Pallisers seven years earlier, in the same year he starred in the film The French Lieutenants Woman opposite Meryl Streep. On 23 March 1991, Irons hosted Saturday Night Live on NBC in the US, in 2005, Irons won both an Emmy award and a Golden Globe award for his supporting role in the TV mini-series, Elizabeth I. A year later Irons was one of the participants in the series of the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are. In 2008, he played Lord Vetinari in Terry Pratchetts The Colour of Magic, on 6 November 2008, TV Guide reported he would star as photographer Alfred Stieglitz with Joan Allen as painter Georgia OKeeffe, in a Lifetime Television biopic, Georgia OKeeffe
19.
Alan Napier
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Alan William Napier-Clavering, better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatres, he had a film career, first, in Britain and, then. Napier is best known today for portraying Alfred Pennyworth the butler in the 1960s live-action Batman television series and he was educated at Packwood Haugh School and after graduating from Clifton College, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He was engaged by the Oxford Players, where he worked with the likes of John Gielgud, ironically, as Napier recalled, height played a crucial part in his securing the position and also almost losing it. Fagan had dismissed Tyrone Guthrie because he was too tall for most parts, Napier was interviewed as Guthries replacement while sitting down. Fagan realized that Napier was even taller than Guthrie when he stood up, Napier performed for ten years on the West End stage. He made his American stage debut as the lead opposite Gladys George in Lady in Waiting. Though his film career had begun in Britain in the 1930s, there he spent time with such people as James Whale, a fellow ex-Oxford Player. He appeared in films as Random Harvest, Cat People. In The Song of Bernadette, he played the ethically questionable psychiatrist who is hired to declare Bernadette mentally ill and he also played the vicious Earl of Warwick in Joan of Arc. In 1949, he made an appearance on the television anthology series Your Show Time as Sherlock Holmes. In the 1950s, he appeared on TV in four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, in 1965, he was the first to be cast in the Batman TV series, as Bruce Waynes faithful butler Alfred, a role he played until the series cancellation in 1968. I had never read comics before and my agent rang up and said, I think you are going to play on Batman, I said What is Batman. He said, Dont you read the comics and he said, I think you are going to be Batmans butler. I said, How do I know I want to be Batmans butler and it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard of. He said, It may be worth over $100,000, so I said I was Batmans butler. Napiers career extended into the 1980s, with TV roles in such miniseries as QB VII, The Bastard and Centennial and he finally retired in 1981, at the age of 78. In early 1988, Napier appeared on FOX Late Show talk show in a Batman reunion show, though in a wheelchair and visibly tired, Napier was lucid, with fond memories of his work on the show
20.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
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Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F. B. I. He is also known as recurring character Dandy Jim Buckley in the series Maverick and as the voice behind the character Alfred Pennyworth in Batman, The Animated Series and associated spin-offs. He also voiced Doctor Octopus in the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, Zimbalist was born in New York City, the son of Jewish parents. His parents were Russian-born violinist Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. and Romanian-born operatic soprano Alma Gluck and his stepmother was Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist, the founder of the Curtis Institute of Music. He attended Fay School in Southborough, Massachusetts and he was awarded the Purple Heart for a leg wound received during the battle of Hürtgen Forest. Following the war, Zimbalist returned to New York and made his Broadway acting debut in The Rugged Path and this led to a stage career as both an actor and producer. His producing successes included bringing three Gian Carlo Menotti operas to Broadway, one of which, The Consul, won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1950, in 1954–1955 he co-starred in his first television series, Concerning Miss Marlowe. In 1956, Zimbalist was put under contract by Warner Bros. zimbalists first recurring role in a Warner Bros. Television series was as roguish gambler Dandy Jim Buckley on Maverick, opposite James Garner in 1957, in 1958, Zimbalist played the co-lead Stuart Stu Bailey in 77 Sunset Strip, a popular detective series running until 1964. During this period, he made several concurrent appearances in other Warner Bros. television shows, such as Hawaiian Eye, The Alaskans, and Bronco. He also starred as the lead in several films for Warners, such as Bombers B-52, The Deep Six, A Fever in the Blood. Zimbalist was in demand that he was given leave by Jack L. Warner due to exhaustion from his busy schedule, Jack Warner lent him to Columbia Pictures for By Love Possessed in exchange for adding several years to his Warners contract, but refused to let him make BUtterfield 8 for MGM. In 1959, he was awarded the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, Zimbalist was generous in his praise of producer Martin and of his own experience starring in the show. Those who worked with him on the show were equally admiring of the stars professionalism, Zimbalist maintained a strong personal relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, who requested technical accuracy for the show and that agents be portrayed in the best possible light. Actors who played F. B. I. employees were required by Hoover to undergo a background check, Zimbalist passed his background check with ease. He subsequently spent a week in Washington, D. C. where he was interviewed by Hoover, Hoover and Zimbalist remained mutual admirers for the rest of Hoovers life. Hoover later held Zimbalist up as a role model for F. B. I. employees to emulate in their personal appearance
21.
Ian Abercrombie
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Ian Abercrombie was an English actor. Abercrombie was born on 11 September 1934 in Grays, Essex and he began his theatrical career during the Blitz in World War II. After his footwork years during which he earned Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals in stage dancing, he performed in London, Scotland, Ireland, and he moved to the United States at age 17. He made his American stage debut in 1955 in a production of Stalag 17 with Jason Robards, many plays in summer stock, regional, and off-Broadway followed in a variety of theatrical offerings, from revues to Shakespeare. In 1957 he was drafted into the U. S. Army and stationed in West Germany as part of Special Services, in the United States, he went to California for a backersaudition, which went nowhere, but he began a long film and television career. He received awards for his work in Sweet Prince with Keir Dullea, Teeth Nsmiles, A Dolls House with Linda Purl and he received acclaim for the one-man show Jean Cocteau—A Mirror Image. Abercrombie was known to film audiences as Wiseman in the comedy horror film Army of Darkness. He guest-starred in many series such as Seinfeld, The Nanny, Wizards of Waverly Place, Airwolf, Babylon 5. On radio, he was heard in several productions of the Hollywood Theater of the Ear, Abercrombie voiced Ambrose in 2011s Oscar-nominated Rango. He also portrayed Ganthet in Green Lantern, The Animated Series, Abercrombie portrayed Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the 2008 film, the television adaption, and two spin-off video games. However, Abercrombie also voiced the character in the Clovis story arc of the Lost Missions since it was originally a part of the Season Four, thus, it was finished before his death. This was his final released work both on the show and in his life, shown in 2014, Abercrombie died in Los Angeles, California on 26 January 2012 at age seventy-seven from complications due to a kidney failure. During Celebration VI, there was a show called Vocal Stars of The Clone Wars hosted by James Arnold Taylor, and it included cast members Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, Dee Bradley Baker and they all dedicated the show to Ian and stated that they miss him deeply. Furthermore, in The Clone Wars episode The Lawless, the opening credits honored him, Ian Abercrombie at the Internet Movie Database Ian Abercrombie at Find a Grave Ian Abercrombie at Memory Alpha
22.
David McCallum
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David Keith McCallum, Jr. is a Scottish actor and musician. He first gained recognition in the 1960s for playing Russian spy Illya Kuryakin in the television series The Man from U. N. C. L. E. and as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel. In recent years, McCallum has gained renewed recognition and popularity for his role as NCIS medical examiner Dr. Donald Ducky Mallard in the American television series NCIS. McCallum was born in Kirkland Street, Maryhill, Glasgow, the second of two sons of Dorothy Dorman, a cellist and orchestral violinist David McCallum Sr, when he was three, his family moved to London for his father to play as concertmaster in the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Early in the Second World War, he was evacuated back to Scotland, McCallum won a scholarship to University College School, a boys independent school in Hampstead, London, where, encouraged by his parents to prepare for a career in music, he played the oboe. In 1946 he began doing boy voices for the BBC radio repertory company, also involved in local amateur drama, at age 17, he appeared as Oberon in an open-air production of A Midsummer Nights Dream with the Play and Pageant Union. He left school at age 18 and, following service with the Royal West African Frontier Force, attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. McCallum next did his National Service, for which he was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment, in March 1954 he was promoted to full Lieutenant. In 1951 McCallum became assistant stage manager of the Glyndebourne Opera Company and he began his acting career doing boy voices for BBC Radio in 1947 and began taking bit parts in British films from the late 1950s. His first acting role was in Whom the Gods Love, Die Young playing a doomed royal, a James Dean-themed photograph of McCallum caught the attention of the Rank Organisation, who signed him in 1956. However, in an interview with Alan Titchmarsh broadcast on 3 November 2010, early roles included a juvenile delinquent in Violent Playground, an outlaw in Robbery Under Arms, and as junior RMS Titanic radio operator Harold Bride in A Night to Remember. His first American film was Freud, The Secret Passion, directed by John Huston, McCallum played Lt Cdr Eric Ashley-Pitt in The Great Escape, which was released in 1963. He took the role of Judas Iscariot in 1965s The Greatest Story Ever Told, other television roles included two appearances on The Outer Limits and a guest appearance on Perry Mason in 1964 as defendant Phillipe Bertain in The Case of the Fifty Millionth Frenchman. Intended as a vehicle for Robert Vaughn, made McCallum into a sex symbol, McCallums role as the mysterious Russian agent Illya Kuryakin was originally conceived as a peripheral one. McCallum, however, took the opportunity to construct a character whose appeal rested largely in what was shadowy. Kuryakins popularity with the audience and Vaughns and McCallums on-screen chemistry were quickly recognized by the producers, although the show aired at the height of the Cold War, McCallums Russian alter ego became a pop culture phenomenon. The actor was inundated with fan letters, and a Beatles-like frenzy followed him everywhere he went, while playing Kuryakin, McCallum received more fan mail than any other actor in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayers history, including such popular MGM stars as Clark Gable and Elvis Presley. Hero worship even led to a record, Love Ya, Illya, performed by Alma Cogan under the name Angela and the Fans, which was a pirate radio hit in Britain in 1966
23.
Sean Pertwee
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Sean Pertwee is an English actor and voice actor. Pertwee attended Teddington School and Sunbury College, Pertwee has played Captain Fitzpatrick in the play Tom Jones, Sergeant Wells in Dog Soldiers, Pilot Smith in Event Horizon, Inspector Lestrade in CBSs Elementary and Alfred Pennyworth in Foxs Gotham. He is also the narrator of MasterChef, The Professionals, Pertwee was born in London, the son of English actor Jon Pertwee, known for his roles in The Navy Lark, and his German wife Ingeborg Rhoesa. He attended Teddington School in London, in the early 1980s, Pertwee was cast as Captain Fitzpatrick in the play Tom Jones, based on the novel by Henry Fielding. After leaving Sunbury College, Pertwee trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and, after graduating in 1986, in 1999 he portrayed Brutus in the Hallmark channel film Cleopatra. He co-owned the Natural Nylon film production company along with Sadie Frost, Jude Law, Jonny Lee Miller, and Ewan McGregor. Pertwee is perhaps best known for his portrayals of grimacing death in many of his film roles. Pertwee starred in the 2008 film Doomsday as Doctor Talbot and he is also the voice behind the Northeasts tourism advertisement which started broadcasting at the start of 2009. He was the narrator of Masterchef, The Professionals, replacing India Fisher for the series which began on 7 November 2011. Sean appeared in the film Devils Playground, a horror film directed by Mark McQueen. He starred alongside Danny Dyer, Jaime Murray, Janet Montgomery, the film was released in October 2010. Pertwee appeared in the Nazi zombie film The 4th Reich which he filmed in 2010, pertwees recent dramatic work for BBC Radio 4 includes playing the actor Oliver Reed in the play Burning Both Ends by Matthew Broughton. He is also known for being the agent in The first and second goal movie In 2014, Pertwee was cast in Foxs TV series Gotham, Pertwee portrays Alfred Pennyworth, a tough-as-nails ex-special forces from east London who loyally serves the Wayne family. In the wake of the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Pertwee is the brother of actress Dariel Pertwee, grandson of actor and screenwriter Roland Pertwee, jacqui gave birth to twins, Alfred and Gilbert, around Christmas 2001. They were born prematurely, Gilbert died four days later, Pertwee has been a supporter of the Labour Party and did a party political broadcast in the run up to the 2010 UK general election. In the broadcast he makes reference to his fathers resolve, Sean Pertwee at the Internet Movie Database Sean Pertwee at TV Guide Sean Pertwee on TV. com Sean Pertwee on Twitter
24.
Batman (serial)
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The Batman is a 1943 black-and-white 15-chapter theatrical serial from Columbia Pictures, produced by Rudolph C. Flothow, directed by Lambert Hillyer, that stars Lewis Wilson as Batman, J. Carrol Naish played the villain, an original character named Dr. Daka, a secret agent of the Japanese Imperial government. Rounding out the cast are Shirley Patterson as Linda Page, Bruce Waynes love interest, the serial is based on the DC Comics character Batman, first published in Detective Comics #27, the May 1939 issue. The serials storyline involves the Batman, a secret U. S. government agent, serving Daka are his traitorous American henchmen. The serial also changed the course of how Alfred Pennyworths physical appearance was depicted in Batman stories, at the time Batman was released in theaters, Alfred was overweight in the comics. Subsequent issues suddenly portrayed Alfred as trim and sporting a thin mustache, the serial was commercially successful and in 1949, four years after World War II, spawned another Columbia chapter serial, Batman and Robin. The entire first Batman serial was re-released theatrically in 1965 as An Evening with Batman and Robin and its success inspired the action-comedy lampoon series Batman starring Adam West and Burt Ward. The Batman/Bruce Wayne, and his ward, Robin/Dick Grayson, secret government agents following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, bruces girl friend Linda Page asks for his help in finding her uncle, Martin Warren, who was abducted by the ring after he was released from prison. Dr. Tito Daka, the Japanese leader of the ring, plans to steal the citys supply to power his invention. He forces from Warren the location of the vault where the radium is stored, Daka sends his American henchmen, along with a zombie that he controls by microphone via an electronic brain implant, to steal the precious metal. Batman discovers the plot and eventually routs the gang after a terrific battle, Batman and Robin infiltrate the gangs lair, hidden inside a still-open business, a Fun House ride. There, they find Linda bound, gagged, and unconscious, after she is rescued by the Dynamic Duo, Daka transforms her uncle Warren into a zombie, and plots the derailment of a heavily laden supply train. Once again, Dr. Dakas sabotage efforts are stopped by the Batman, traps and counter-traps follow with breath-taking rapidity in the chapters that follow, as the Dynamic Duo continue to thwart the plans of the Japanese agent and his henchmen. When Dr. Daka attempts to steal Americas Victory Plans, the Batman and they oversee the capture of Dakas men and finally the destruction of the Japanese agent as he tries to escape and falls through his own hidden trapdoor into an underground pit of hungry crocodiles. Carrol Naish as Dr. Tito Daka/Prince Daka Shirley Patterson as Linda Page William Austin as Alfred Pennyworth Robert Fiske as Foster Charles Middleton as Ken Colton, all primary cast members are deceased. In a scene one of Dakas henchmen turns on him, saying, early narration in the first chapter references the U. S. Since a wise government rounded up the shifty-eyed Japs, it has become virtually a ghost street, just like many other contemporary serials, Batman also suffered from a low budget. It is driven top-up when it is the Batmobile, and top-down when it is Bruce Waynes car
25.
Moustache
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A moustache is facial hair grown on the upper lip. Moustaches can be groomed by trimming and styling with a type of pomade called moustache wax, shaving with stone razors was technologically possible from Neolithic times, but the oldest portrait showing a shaved man with a moustache is an ancient Iranian horseman from 300 BC. Various cultures have developed different associations with moustaches, for example, in many 20th-century Arab countries, moustaches are associated with power, beards with Islamic traditionalism, and lack of facial hair with more liberal, secular tendencies. In Islam, trimming the moustache is considered to be a sunnah and mustahabb, that is, the moustache is also a religious symbol for the male followers of the Yarsan religion. The moustache forms its own stage in the development of hair in adolescent males. As with most human biological processes, this order may vary among some individuals depending on ones genetic heritage or environment. Moustaches can be tended through shaving the hair of the chin and cheeks, a variety of tools have been developed for the care of moustaches, including shaving razors, moustache wax, moustache nets, moustache brushes, moustache combs and moustache scissors. The longest moustache measures 4.29 m and belongs to Ram Singh Chauhan and it was measured on the set of the Italian TV show Lo Show dei Record in Rome, Italy, on 4 March 2010. The World Beard and Moustache Championships 2007 had six sub-categories for moustaches, Dalí – narrow, long points bent or curved steeply upward, freestyle – All moustaches that do not match other classes. The hairs are allowed to start growing from up to a maximum of 1.5 cm beyond the end of the upper lip, hungarian – Big and bushy, beginning from the middle of the upper lip and pulled to the side. The hairs are allowed to start growing from up to a maximum of 1.5 cm beyond the end of the upper lip, imperial – whiskers growing from both the upper lip and cheeks, curled upward Natural – Moustache may be styled without aids. Other types of moustache include, Chevron – covering the area between the nose and the lip, out to the edges of the upper lip. Popular in 1970s and 1980s American culture, Fu Manchu – long, downward pointing ends, generally beyond the chin. Handlebar – bushy, with upward pointing ends. Worn by Hulk Hogan and Bill Kelliher, Pancho Villa – similar to the Fu Manchu but thicker, also known as a droopy moustache. A Pancho Villa is much longer and bushier than the moustache normally worn by the historical Pancho Villa. Pencil moustache – narrow, straight and thin as if drawn on by a pencil, closely clipped, outlining the upper lip, popular in the 1940s, and particularly associated with Clark Gable. More recently, it has been recognised as the moustache of choice for the fictional character Gomez Addams in the 1990s series of films based on The Addams Family, also known as a Mouth-brow, and worn by Vincent Price, John Waters, Sean Penn and Chris Cornell
26.
Double act
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If the audience identifies primarily with one character, the other will often be referred to as a comic foil. The term feed comes from the way a man is wont to set up jokes. Despite the names given to the roles, the straight man need not be humorless. Where the straight man serves no personal comic purpose but acts as a device to make the comic look good and this is sometimes considered a derogatory term. Most often, however, the humor in a double act comes from the way the two personalities play off other, rather than from the individuals themselves. In many successful acts the roles are interchangeable, the template for the modern double act began in the British music halls and the American vaudeville scene of the late nineteenth century. Here, the man was a necessity, as he would repeat the lines of the comic. This was done simply because the audience would be noisy, soon the dynamic developed so that the straight man became a more integral part of the act, setting up jokes to which the comic could then deliver the punchline. At various stages, acts such as George Burns and Gracie Allen, Abbott and Costello, Flanagan and Allen, Gallagher and Shean, the dynamic continued to develop, with Abbott and Costello using a modern and recognizable formula in routines such as Whos On First. In the 1930s and Flanagan and Allen using cross talking, by the 1920s, double acts were beginning to attract worldwide fame more readily through the silent era. However, because of the restrictions, the comedy was not derived from cross talk or clever verbal exchanges but through slapstick routines. The first double act to gain fame through film was Laurel. Before meeting, the pair had never worked together on stage, though both had worked in vaudeville—Stan Laurel with Charlie Chaplin as part of Fred Karnos Army and Oliver Hardy as a singer. Laurel could loosely be described as the comic, though the pair were one of the first not to fit the mold in the way that many double acts do, the pair first worked together as a double act in the 1927 film Duck Soup. The first Laurel and Hardy film was called Putting Pants on Philip though their characters had not yet been established. The first film both appeared in was Lucky Dog in 1917. Indeed, they were one of the few silent acts who made a successful transition to spoken word pictures in the 1930s. The year 1940 saw the release of Laurel and Hardys Saps at Sea, their film for long-term producer
27.
Robin (character)
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Robin is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger. The team of Batman and Robin is commonly referred to as the Dynamic Duo or the Caped Crusaders, the characters first incarnation, Dick Grayson, debuted in Detective Comics #38. Conceived as a vehicle to attract young readership, Robin garnered overwhelmingly positive critical reception, the early adventures of Robin included Star Spangled Comics #65–130, which was the characters first solo feature. The characters second incarnation Jason Todd debuted in Batman #357 and this Robin made regular appearances in Batman related comic books until 1988, when the character was murdered by the Joker in the storyline A Death in the Family. Jason would later find himself alive after a reality changing incident, the premiere Robin limited series was published in 1991 which featured the characters third incarnation Tim Drake training to earn the role of Batmans vigilante partner. Following two successful sequels, the monthly Robin ongoing series began in 1993 and ended in early 2009, in 2004 storylines, established DC Comics character Stephanie Brown became the fourth Robin for a short duration before the role reverted to Tim Drake. Damian Wayne succeeds Drake as Robin in the 2009 story arc Battle for the Cowl, Dick Grayson resumed his role as Nightwing and Stephanie Brown was introduced anew as Spoiler once again in the pages of Batman Eternal. The 2016 DC Rebirth continuity relaunch starts off with Damian Wayne as Robin, Tim Drake as Red Robin, Jason Todd as Red Hood, Robins have also been featured throughout stories set in parallel worlds, owing to DC Comics longstanding Multiverse concept. For example, in the original Earth-Two, Dick Grayson never adopted the name Nightwing, in the New 52s Earth-2 continuity, Robin is Helena Wayne, daughter of Batman and Catwoman, who was stranded on the Earth of the main continuity and takes the name Huntress. About a year after Batmans debut, Batman creators Bob Kane, the name Robin the Boy Wonder and the medieval look of the original costume were inspired by The Adventures of Robin Hood. Robinson noted he came up with Robin Hood because The Adventures of Robin Hood were boyhood favorites of mine, I had been given a Robin Hood book illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. and thats what I quickly sketched out when I suggested the name Robin Hood, which seemed to like. And if you look at it, its Wyeths costume, from my memory, because I didnt have the book to look at. In Batman stories the character of Robin was intended to be the Batmans Watson, Bill Finger, writer for many early Batman adventures, wrote, as I said, Batman was a combination of Douglas Fairbanks and Sherlock Holmes. The thing that bothered me was that Batman didnt have anyone to talk to, I found that as I went along Batman needed a Watson to talk to. Thats how Robin came to be, Bob called me over and said he was going to put a boy in the strip to identify with Batman. I thought it was a great idea, Batman investigated the crime and, as his alter ego billionaire Bruce Wayne, had Dick put under his custody as a legal ward
28.
Detective
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A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. Some are private persons, and may be known as private investigators, as The Eye That Never Sleeps, in some police departments, a detective position is achieved by passing a written test after a person completes the requirements for being a police officer. In many other systems, detectives are college graduates who join directly from civilian life without first serving as uniformed officers. Some people argue that detectives do a different job and therefore require completely different training, qualifications. In some countries, the practice of a detective is not yet recognized in courts, one of these countries is Portugal, where the proof presented loses all significance when collected by a private detective. Even under this circumstance, the practice of this activity is in demand, some private detectives also disguise themselves as other people so that no one could recognize them. Before the 1800s, there were few police departments, though the first had been created in Paris in 1667. As police activities moved from appointees helped by volunteers to professionals, the first private detective agency was founded by Eugène François Vidocq in Paris in the early 1800s, who had also headed a police agency in addition to being a criminal himself. Police detective activities were pioneered in England by the Bow Street Runners, the first police detective unit in the United States was formed in 1846 in Boston. Detectives have a variety of techniques available in conducting investigations. However, the majority of cases are solved by the interrogation of suspects and the interviewing of witnesses, besides interrogations, detectives may rely on a network of informants they have cultivated over the years. Informants often have connections with persons a detective would not be able to approach formally, evidence collection and preservation can also help in identifying a potential suspect. Criminal investigation, the investigation of criminal activity is conducted by the police, Criminal activity can relate to road use such as speeding, drunk driving, or to matters such as theft, drug distribution, assault, fraud, etc. In criminal investigations, once a detective has suspects in mind, physical forensic evidence in an investigation may provide leads to closing a case. Forensic science is the application of a spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or to a civil action, many major police stations in a city, county, or state, maintain their own forensic laboratories while others contract out the services. Detectives may use public and private records to provide information on a subject. Police detectives can search through files of fingerprint records, Police maintain records of people who have committed felonies and some misdemeanors
29.
Crisis on Infinite Earths
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It was produced by DC Comics to herald a simplification of its then 50-year-old narrative continuity. The series was written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by George Pérez, Mike DeCarlo, Dick Giordano, the series removed the multiverse concept from the fictional DC Universe, depicting the death of long-standing characters Supergirl and the Barry Allen incarnation of the Flash. Continuity in the DC Universe is divided into pre-Crisis and post-Crisis periods and it inspired the titles of four DC crossover series, Zero Hour, Crisis in Time. Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, and Convergence, before Crisis on Infinite Earths was published, DC storylines had many continuity problems, no characters backstory was entirely consistent and reliable. DCs oldest superhero, Superman, could not originally fly, his strength came from evolving on a planet with stronger gravity than Earths and he was later depicted flying, with his powers explained as deriving from Earths yellow sun. Supermans history later incorporated his exploits as Superboy, more Krypton survivors were introduced, contradicting the original premise that Superman was the sole survivor of Kryptons destruction. Issues also arose about the age of some characters, batman retained his youth and vitality well into the 1980s despite his World War II heroism, and his sidekick Robin took over 30 years in real time to graduate from high school. Characters such as the Flash, the Atom and Green Lantern appeared in conflicting storylines, with differing origins, the biggest perceived problem was DCs vast array of parallel Earths. Beginning as a story in Flash #123, the Silver Age version of the Flash met his Golden Age counterpart. Marv Wolfman and Len Wein saw Crisis as a chance to clean up DCs convoluted continuity, the term Crisis denoted an inter-dimensional crossover, similar to the annual Justice League–Justice Society crossovers that began with Crisis on Earth-One. Early in planning, a list was made of characters that were part of the DC Universe, the crossover was fleshed out and coordinated at a meeting attended by president Jenette Kahn, Paul Levitz, vice president and executive editor Dick Giordano and DCs editors. According to writer Steve Gerber, Crisis on Infinite Earths got virtually no promotion, how many handouts did you see. How many posters did you see in peoples windows, how much information was really distributed to the press and how much was gotten just by individual reporters going to Marv Wolfman and George Pérez. Despite this the series was successful, renewing interest in the books and attracting readers with the slogan. During a lull in the war the villains unite under Brainiac, the Anti-Monitor tries to use an antimatter cannon to penetrate the limbo universe and destroy the five partially merged Earths. The Flash dies stopping this attempt, a furious Anti-Monitor vows to travel back through time to prevent the creation of the multiverse. The villains fail, and Krona continues his experiment, the five Earths merge into a single shared universe, and the superheroes return to the present, only those present at the dawn of time remember the original realities. A cosmically empowered Anti-Monitor attacks again, transporting the new Earth to the antimatter universe and he falls in a carefully planned counterattack culminating in a battle with Kal-L, Alexander Luthor of Earth-Three and Superboy of Earth-Prime, with help from New Gods adversary Darkseid
30.
Intelligence agency
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Means of information gathering are both overt and covert and may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. The assembly and propagation of information is known as intelligence analysis or intelligence assessment. Intelligence agencies can provide the services for their national governments. There is a distinction between security intelligence and foreign intelligence, security intelligence pertains to domestic threats. Foreign intelligence involves information collection relating to the political, or economic activities of foreign states, zegart, Flawed by Design, The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC, Stanford, Calif. Нариси з історії розвідки субєктів державотворення на теренах України / Заг, journals The Journal of Intelligence History Reports Ruiz, Victor H.2010. A Knowledge Taxonomy for Army Intelligence Training, An Assessment of the Military Intelligence Basic Officer Leaders Course Using Lundvalls Knowledge Taxonomy
31.
Dick Grayson
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Richard John Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 the character retires his role as Robin and assumes the superhero persona of Nightwing, created by Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez. The youngest in a family of known as the Flying Graysons. Batman takes him in as a ward and the crime-fighting partner Robin. He is written by authors as the first son of Batman. As well as being Batmans crime-fighting partner, Dick establishes himself as the leader of the Teen Titans, as a young man, he retires as Robin and takes on his own superhero identity to assert his independence, becoming Nightwing. As Nightwing, he continues to lead the Teen Titans and later the Outsiders, in the first volume of his eponymous series, he becomes the protector of Blüdhaven, Gothams economically troubled neighboring city, the locale the character is most closely associated with. He has also served stints protecting the streets of New York, Chicago, Dick Grayson has taken on the identity of Batman on a few occasions. Dick again assumes the following the events of Batman R. I. P. As Batman, Dick moves to Gotham City following his mentors apparent death and partners with the fifth Robin, on Bruces return, both men maintained the Batman identity until 2011, when Dick returned to the Nightwing identity with DCs The New 52 continuity reboot. Following the conclusion of the Grayson series, and the restoration of his identity in the series final issue. Loren Lester voiced the character as Robin in Batman, The Animated Series, in May 2011, IGN ranked Dick Grayson #11 on their list of the Top 100 Super Heroes of All Time. In 2013, ComicsAlliance ranked Grayson as Nightwing as #1 on their list of the 50 Sexiest Male Characters in Comics, the character was first introduced in Detective Comics #38 by Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Robins debut was an effort to get readers to enjoy Batman. He was born on the first day of spring, son of John Grayson and Mary Grayson, in his first appearance, Dick Grayson is a circus acrobat, and, with his parents, one of the Flying Graysons. While preparing for a performance, Dick overhears two gangsters attempting to extort money from the circus owner. The owner refuses, so the gangsters sabotage the trapeze wires with acid, during the next performance, the trapeze from which Dicks parents are swinging snaps, sending them to their deaths. Before he can go to the police, Batman appears to him, when Batman recounts the murder of his own parents, Dick asks to become his aide
32.
Wayne Manor
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Wayne Manor is a fictional American mansion appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics and is the personal residence of Bruce Wayne, who is also Batman. The residence is depicted as a large mansion on grounds outside Gotham City, maintained by the Wayne familys butler. It was without exception referred to in the 1960s TV series as stately Wayne Manor, the manor grounds include an extensive subterranean cave system that Bruce Wayne discovered as a boy and later used as his base of operations, the Batcave. The method used to access it has varied across the different storylines in the comics, movies, Wayne came to this decision when Dick Grayson went off to college, which led him to decide that the mansion was now impractical with only one resident and one servant. Furthermore, Wayne decided he wanted to be closer to his field of operations in Gotham City than a home situated outside the main urban area would allow. During the events of Batman, Cataclysm a massive earthquake struck Gotham City, the mansion was seriously damaged, as was the cave network beneath. The ground beneath the mansion shifted significantly, and actually revealed the Batcave below, the original Manor was damaged beyond repair, forcing Bruce Wayne to redesign the Manor along with the Batcave. The new Manor is a fortress, a pastiche of Gothic architecture combined with features of castellated architecture. Solar panels are installed in the new Manor, providing environmentally-friendly electricity generation for the complex and it also includes a heliport for commercial helicopters. However, Bruce returns to the manor when he realizes who he used to be, in Kingdom Come, the Manor was mostly destroyed by Two-Face and Bane after Batmans true identity was exposed, the Batcave, however, remained relatively untouched. By the end of the novel, the Manor has been rebuilt as a hospital/hospice for Gulag battle victims. In the 1960s live action series, the exteriors were shot at 380 South San Rafael Avenue in Pasadena, the interiors were shot at various soundstages. The primary passage to the Batcave from the manor was located in Bruce Waynes study behind a bookshelf that retracted into the wall, the bookshelf was activated by a switch hidden in a bust of William Shakespeare. The bookshelf would disappear to reveal two labeled firepoles descending to the Batcave, through an undisclosed mechanism, the poles allowed for Batman and Robin to go from their civilian garb to costume. The interiors and exterior of the Wayne Manor was also used in the original Mission, Impossible TV series episodes Charity and The Visitors. It was used in 2016 for another group as the residence of Hydra leader, Gideon Malick. Webb Institutes Stevenson Taylor Hall reprises its earlier role as Wayne Manor in the pilot for the TV series Gotham. The 1943 Batman serial originated the use of a clock as a door to the bat cave
33.
Batcave
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The Batcave is a fictional subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Originally, there was only a secret tunnel that ran underground between Wayne Manor and a dusty old barn where the Batmobile and Batmicrolite were kept, later, in Batman #12, Bill Finger mentioned secret underground hangars. In 1943, the writers of the first Batman movie serial, titled Batman, gave Batman a complete underground crime lab, the entrance was via a secret passage through a grandfather clock and included bats flying around. Bob Kane, who was on the set, mentioned this to Bill Finger who was going to be the initial scripter on the Batman daily newspaper strip. Finger included with his script a clipping from Popular Mechanics that featured a cross section of underground hangars. Kane used this clipping as a guide, adding a study, crime lab, workshop, hangar and this illustration appeared in the Batman dailies on October 29,1943 in a strip entitled The Bat Cave. In this early version the cave itself was described as Batmans underground study and, like the rooms, was just a small alcove with a desk. Like in the serial, the Batmans symbol was carved into the rock behind the desk and had a candle in the middle of it. The entrance was via a bookcase which led to a secret elevator, the Batcave made its comic book debut in Detective Comics #83 in January 1944. Over the decades, the cave has expanded along with its owners popularity to include a vast trophy room, supercomputer, there has been little consistency as to the floor plan of the Batcave or its contents. The design has varied from artist to artist and it is not unusual for the same artist to draw the cave layout differently in various issues. The cave was discovered and used long before by Bruce Waynes ancestors as a storehouse as well as a means of transporting escaped slaves during the Civil War era, the 18th century frontier hero Tomahawk once discovered a gargantuan bat inside what can be assumed will become the Batcave. In addition to a base, the Batcave serves as a place of privacy and tranquility, in earlier versions of the storyline, Bruce Wayne discovered the cave as an adult. In The Origin of the Batcave in Detective Comics #205, Batman tells Robin he had no idea the cave existed when he purchased the house live in. He discovered the cave by accident when testing the floor of an old barn on the rear of the property, and this story also established that a frontiersman named Jeremy Coe used the cave as a headquarters 300 years earlier. Bruce Wayne discovering the cave as an adult remained the case at least through Whos Who #2 in 1985, upon his initial foray into crime-fighting, Wayne used the caves as a sanctum and to store his then-minimal equipment. As time went on, Wayne found the ideal to create a stronghold for his war against crime. The cave is accessible in several ways, another secret entrance, covered by a hologram, waterfall or a camouflaged door, allows access to a service road for the Batmobile
34.
Secret passage
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Secret passages, also commonly referred to as hidden passages or secret tunnels, are hidden routes used for stealthy travel, escape, or movement of people and goods. Such passageways are sometimes inside buildings leading to secret rooms, others allow occupants to enter or exit buildings without being seen. Hidden passages and secret rooms have been built in castles and houses owned by heads of state and these passages have helped besieged rulers to escape from their attackers, including Pope Alexander VI in 1494, Pope Clement VII in 1527 and Marie Antoinette in 1789. Passages and tunnels have used by criminals, armies and political organizations to smuggle goods. Some entrances are more elaborately concealed and can be opened only by engaging a hidden mechanism or locking device, other hidden doors are much simpler, a trapdoor hidden under a rug can easily conceal a secret passage. Some buildings have secret areas built into the plans, such as secret passages in medieval castles. Some medieval castles secret passages were designed to enable the inhabitants to escape from an enemy siege, other castles secret passages led down to an underground water source, which provided access to water during a prolonged siege. Traditional Arabic houses sometimes have a Bab irr, a secret door used as an emergency exit built into the walls, the name comes from one of the six gates cut through an ancient wall in Aden, which was opened only in the event of a state security emergency. In modern-day Spain, the Arab fortress of Benquerencia has a Bab al-Sirr known as the Door of Treason, other secret passages have sometimes been constructed after the initial building, particularly secret tunnels. These tunnels have often created as escape routes from prisons or prisoner-of-war camps. These secret tunnels typically require an opening or door, and may also involve other deceptive construction techniques. Other tunnels have been made for different reasons, such as smuggling tunnels used for smuggling firearms, illegal drugs, in some cases, a secret door to a burial chamber was hidden behind a statue. Early Christians, who were persecuted by Roman authorities in the 2nd century AD, in 1330, Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, imprisoned King Edward II of England in a coup détat. A small group of armed supporters of Edward II used a passage to attack Mortimer. The attackers entered through a long, winding secret passage which led directly into the building in which the queen was lodged, an accomplice inside the castle slid back the bolts to the door, which allowed the attackers to arrest Mortimer. The Passetto is a passage that links the Vatican City with Castel SantAngelo, Pope Alexander VI crossed it in 1494, when Charles VIII invaded the city, and Pope Clement VII escaped to safety through it during the Sack of Rome, in 1527. Catholic priests, in Britain, used hidden rooms called priest holes to escape Protestant persecution, in 1789, at the outset of what would become the French Revolution, angry demonstrators in Paris marched in the streets and stormed the Bastille. The revolution spread to towns, where tax offices were attacked, and to the French countryside
35.
Psychokinesis
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Psychokinesis, or telekinesis, is an alleged psychic ability allowing a person to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Psychokinesis experiments have historically been criticized for lack of proper controls, there is no convincing evidence that psychokinesis is a real phenomenon, and the topic is generally regarded as pseudoscience. The word psychokinesis was coined in 1914 by American author Henry Holt in his book On the Cosmic Relations. The term is a blend or portmanteau of the Greek language words ψυχή – meaning mind, soul, spirit, or breath – and κίνησις – meaning motion. Rhine coined the term extra-sensory perception to describe receiving information paranormally from an external source, following this, he used the term psychokinesis in 1934 to describe mentally influencing external objects or events without the use of physical energy. His initial example of psychokinesis was experiments that were conducted to determine whether a person could influence the outcome of falling dice. The word telekinesis, a portmanteau of the Greek τῆλε – meaning distance –, in September 2006, a survey about belief in various religious and paranormal topics conducted by phone and mail-in questionnaire polled 1,721 Americans on their belief in telekinesis. Of these participants, 28% of male participants and 31% of female participants selected agree or strongly agree with the statement, It is possible to influence the world through the mind alone. Some phenomena – such as apports, levitation, materialization, psychic healing, pyrokinesis, retrocausality, telekinesis, in 2016, Caroline Watt stated Overall, the majority of academic parapsychologists do not find the evidence compelling in favour of macro-PK. There have been claimants of psychokinetic ability throughout history, angelique Cottin known as the Electric Girl of France was an alleged generator of PK activity. Cottin and her family claimed that she produced electric emanations that allowed her to pieces of furniture. Spiritualist mediums have also claimed psychokinetic abilities, eusapia Palladino, an Italian medium, could allegedly cause objects to move during séances. However, she was caught levitating a table with her foot by the magician Joseph Rinn, other alleged PK mediums that were exposed as frauds, include Anna Rasmussen and Maria Silbert. A photograph of her taken in 1909, which shows a pair of floating in between her hands, is often found in books and other publications as an example of telekinesis. Scientists suspected Tomczyk performed her feats by the use of a thread or hair. This was confirmed when psychical researchers who tested Tomczyk occasionally observed the thread, annemarie Schaberl, a 19-year-old secretary, was said to have telekinetic powers by the parapsychologist Hans Bender in the Rosenheim Poltergeist case in the 1960s. Magicians and scientists who investigated the case suspected the phenomena were produced by trickery, the Russian psychic Nina Kulagina came to wide public attention following the publication of Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeders best seller, Psychic Discoveries Behind The Iron Curtain. The alleged Soviet psychic of the late 1960s and early 1970s was filmed apparently performing telekinesis while seated in numerous short films
36.
Zatanna
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Zatanna Zatara is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published DC Comics. The character was created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, Zatanna is both a stage magician and an actual magician, like her father Giovanni John Zatara. As such she has many of her fathers powers relating to magic, Zatanna is the daughter of magician Giovanni Zatara who appeared in Golden Age comic books and Sindella, a member of the mystical Homo magi race. Her younger cousin, the teenager Zachary Zatara, is also a magician in the DCU, Zatanna makes her living as a stage illusionist prior to discovering her magical abilities while investigating the disappearance of her father. Her original costume is based upon her fathers costume but substituting fishnet stockings, the series culminated in Justice League of America #51. This Justice League adventure took place during the Batman television craze where Batman was featured prominently on the cover and she briefly was featured in backup features in Adventure Comics and Supergirl from 1971 to 1973. Zatanna assists the Justice League of America on a few missions before being elected to membership in Justice League of America #161, soon after Zatanna joined the group, the identity of her mother was revealed in a multi-issue storyline. Zatanna teamed with Superman in DC Comics Presents and with Batman in The Brave, a ten-page short story in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #5 revealed new details about Zataras origin and how Zatannas quest to locate her father began. During her tenure with the Justice League, her power level diminishes, so that she can control the four elements of earth, air, fire. She starred in a feature in Worlds Finest Comics #274–278. She assists Wonder Woman and several other superheroines in fighting an extraterrestrial threat, after a brief stay she sent Molly home and Tim wandered off on his own adventures. In the 2004 limited series Identity Crisis, Zatanna is a member of the Justice League at the time the villain Doctor Light rapes the Elongated Mans wife, when apprehended, he threatens the JLA members families. Zatanna, Hawkman, and the Atom vote for such action, while Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna mind-wipes Light, and the process results in his intellectual abilities being lowered. In the midst of the process, Batman appears and tries to stop it, Zatanna freezes him, and the members vote unanimously to erase Batmans memories of the incident as well. Her working relationship to Batman sours after he discovers the alteration to his memory, when Zatanna helps Batman with reconnaissance at one of Ras al Ghuls Lazarus Pits, she asks him why he came to her. I needed someone I could trust, Batman says, but I had to settle for you. After Infinite Crisis, their relationship appears to have warmed, in Detective Comics #824 he calls her for information on an involved in scamming the Penguin. He makes no mention of their conflict, and casually calls her by her nickname, Catwoman discovers that Zatannas mind-wipe of Dr. Catwoman comes to distrust her memories, motives, and the choices she has made since that incident
37.
Batmobile
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The Batmobile /ˈbætməˌbiːl/ is the primary vehicle driven by the superhero Batman in American comic books published by DC Comics. Kept in the Batcave, which it accesses through a hidden entrance, the Batmobile made its first appearance in Detective Comics #27. Then a red sedan, it was referred to as his car. Soon it began featuring a prominent bat motif, typically including distinctive wing-shaped tailfins. Depictions of the vehicle have evolved along with the character, with each incarnation reflecting evolving car technologies, some depictions present the Batmobile as able to be unmanned or remotely operated. It has appeared in every Batman iteration—from comic books and television to films, Batman drives a red convertible vehicle in Detective Comics #27, the first Batman story. However, this car was never mentioned by name as the Batmobile, although the Batplane was introduced in Detective Comics #31, the name Batmobile was not applied to Batmans automobile until Detective Comics #48. It became a specially built high-powered auto by Detective Comics #30, and in Batman #5, it featured a bat hood ornament, eventually, the predominant designs included a large, dark-colored body and bat-like accessories, including large tailfins scalloped to resemble a bats wings. Other bat-vehicles soon followed, including the Batcycle, Batboat, Batman #5 introduced a long, powerful, streamlined Batmobile with a tall scalloped fin and an intimidating bat head on the front. Three pages after it was introduced, it was forced off a cliff by the Joker to crash in the ravine below, however, an identical Batmobile appeared in the next story in the same issue. The live action series was so popular that its campy humor. But the high camp and general silliness of the show did not sit well with long-time Batman comic book fans. So, when the series was canceled in 1968, the comic books reacted by becoming darker and more serious and its replacement for a number of years was a much simpler model with a stylized bats head silhouette decal on the hood being the only decoration of note. The 1960s TV style Batmobile still appears from time to time in the books, most recently in Detective Comics #850. In mid-1985, a variation of the Super Powers toyline Batmobile appeared in both Batman and Detective Comics. This design had a set of front and rear canopies, Coke-bottle sides, integrated fins. The only difference between this car and its toy counterpart is the nose, which was drawn to appear longer. Beginning in the 1990s, the number of comics featuring Batman mushroomed with spin-off titles, limited series, at the same time, there was considerable experimentation with styles of illustration
38.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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