1.
John Cassaday
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John Cassaday is an American comic book artist, writer, and television director, best known for his work on Planetary, Astonishing X-Men, Captain America and Star Wars. He has received multiple Eagle and Eisner Awards and nominations for his work, both Marvel Comics and DC Comics include many of Cassadays iconic images in their marketing, and in their art and poster book collections. Marvel Comics-based animated films have made use of his art. A self-taught illustrator, Cassaday attended film school and directed TV news for five years and he spent one summer working a construction job while working on his portfolio. In 1995, Cassadays first published work appeared in Caliber Comics Negative Burn, other early work includes Flowers on the Razorwire #5-6, and No Profit for the Wise. He showed his portfolio to popular comic book writer and editor Mark Waid at San Diego Comic-Con International 1996, soon after, Cassaday began receiving job offers from bigger publishers. He quit his job and left Texas for New York. In December 1996 he produced art for Dark Horse Comics Ghost, within a year, he was hired to be the regular artist on Desperadoes. In late 1997 was hired by DC and Marvel as artist on the Teen Titans and Flash annuals, X-Men/Alpha Flight and his work on X-Men made him one of its most popular artists. Cassady quickly became an in-demand artist working on many top titles including Gen 13, Superman/Batman, The Hulk and he is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed Planetary with writer Warren Ellis, Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon and Captain America with John Ney Rieber. He based his art on World War II propaganda posters. The art was popular with fans and critics alike and Marvel released the works in a series of art books. He handled covers and art direction on Dynamite Entertainments The Lone Ranger comic-book series, books featuring his art include Wizards PosterMania. Women of Marvel Poster Book, Wolverine Poster Book, New Avengers Poster Book, from 2004 to 2008, Cassaday illustrated the graphic novel trilogy Je suis légion by Fabien Nury from Les Humanoïdes Associés. The English language edition was published as an eight comic series I Am Legion by Devils Due Publishing. In July 2006, Humanoïdes announced a deal with Pierre Spengler for a screen adaptation of the work. At the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that the three series would be directed by Nacho Cerda with a screenplay by Richard Stanley. Cassaday has written stories for Hellboy, Weird Tales, Little Nemo, Dream Another Dream, Rocketeer Adventures, X-Men, Alpha Flight, Bela Lugosi, Takes from the Grave and he also wrote drawing instruction articles for Wizard Magazines Wizard, How to Draw
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.
All-American Comics
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All-American Comics was the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948, characters created for the title, including Green Lantern, the Atom, the Red Tornado, Doctor Mid-Nite, and Sargon the Sorcerer, later became mainstays of the DC comics line. All-American Comics published 102 issues from April 1939 to October 1948, the series was an anthology which included a mixture of new material and reprints of newspaper strips. Editor Sheldon Mayers Scribbly was introduced in the first issue as was Hop Harrigan, the Golden Age Green Lantern was introduced by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in issue #16. The Golden Age Atom debuted in #19 and Mayer created the original Red Tornado in #20, Doctor Mid-Nite first appeared in #25. Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman created the super villain Solomon Grundy in #61. Other features included Toonerville Folks, Mutt and Jeff, and Ripleys Believe It or Not, All-American Publications and all its titles were purchased by National Periodicals in 1946. Responding to the demand for Western comics, All-American Comics changed title, the retitled series had Johnny Thunder as the lead feature. It changed title and format again to All-American Men of War as of #127, a 1999 one-shot issue was a part of the storyline Justice Society Returns. All-American Comics at the Comic Book DB All-American Comics at Mikes Amazing World of Comics
4.
Infinity, Inc.
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Infinity, Inc. is a team of superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, and Mike Machlan, there was also an eponymous comics series starring the group, which ran from March 1984 through June 1988. Roy Thomas and his wife, Dann Thomas, wrote the series throughout its run, artists on the series included Jerry Ordway, Don Newton, Todd McFarlane, Vince Argondezzi, and Michael Bair. The group was organized by Sylvester Pemberton, the original Star-Spangled Kid, #1, when a number of JSA protégés were denied admission to the JSA. They instead formed their own group, members of Infinity, Inc. were known as Infinitors. The series ended in 1988 with the death of the Star-Spangled Kid, several members have gone on to supporting roles in other comics series. Fury filled a role in The Sandman and is the mother of Daniel Hall. Hourman, Obsidian, Nuklon, Silver Scarab, and Power Girl eventually joined the 21st century incarnation of the JSA. Originally, the took place on the parallel world of Earth-Two. From then on, they shared their spot as Los Angeles superteam with the Outsiders, Hector Hall, Lyta Trevor, Norda Cantrell, and Albert Rothstein decide to adopt identities of their own and apply for membership in the Justice Society of America. The four of them adopt the codenames of Silver Scarab, Fury, Northwind and they are turned down, but not willing to give up. They apply again with Jennie-Lynn Hayden and Todd Rice, these two suspect they are Alan Scotts children. Taking pity on the youngsters, Star-Spangled Kid decides to leave the JSA to create a new group, and they are joined by Power Girl, the Huntress, and Brainwave, Jr. The team first faces the Justice Society of America, turned evil by the Stream of Ruthlessness and they defeat the JSA and the Ultra-Humanite and save the world. In a press conference, the team publicly divulge their identities, revealing those of their parents in the process. The Star-Spangled Kid is able to form a partnership with the city of Los Angeles to commission his team as for-hire protectors, Fury is kidnapped in an extortion attempt by the villains known as Helix, all products of invitro genetic manipulation by the mad scientist Doctor Love. The original members are Arak the Wind-walker, Baby Boom, Kritter, Mister Bones, Penny Dreadful and they are defeated by the Infinitors, but manage to escape. Later, the second Wildcat, Yolanda Montez, learns that she is a cousin of new Helix member Carcharo, the two teams battle to a stalemate, Mister Bones is arrested, but the others escape
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Roy Thomas
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Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lees first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Thomas was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2011, Thomas was born in Jackson, Missouri, United States. As a child, he was a comic book fan. The first of these was All-Giant Comics, which he recalls as having featured such characters as Elephant Giant and he graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1961 with a BS in Education, having majored in history and social science. Thomas, then a high school English teacher, took over as editor in 1964 when Bails moved on to other pursuits. Letters from him appeared regularly in the pages of both DC and Marvel Comics, including The Flash #116, Fantastic Four #5, Fantastic Four #15. In 1965, Thomas moved to New York City to take a job at DC Comics as assistant to Mort Weisinger, Thomas had already written a Jimmy Olsen script a few months before, while still living and teaching in the St. Louis area, he said in 2005. I worked at DC for eight days in late June and very early July of 1965 before accepting a job at Marvel Comics, the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins in Fantastic Four #61 describes Thomas admitting that he gave up a scholarship to George Washington University just to write for Marvel. Familiar with editor and chief writer Stan Lees Marvel work, and feeling them the most vital comics around, Thomas just sat down one night at the hotel and – I wrote him a letter. Not applying for a job or anything so mundane as that – I just said that I admired his work, I figured he just might remember me from Alter Ego. Lee did, and phoned Thomas to offer him a Marvel writing test, the writers test, Thomas said in 1998, was four Jack Kirby pages from Fantastic Four Annual #2. Had Sol or someone take out the dialogue, other people like Denny ONeil and Gary Friedrich took it. But soon afterwards we stopped using it, the day after taking the test, Thomas was at DC, proofreading a Supergirl story, when Steinberg called asking Thomas to meet with Lee during lunch, where Thomas agreed to work for Marvel. His employment was announced in the Bullpen Bulletins section of Fantastic Four #47 under the heading How About That, Thomas later described his early days at Marvel, I was hired after taking writers test, and my first official job title at Marvel was staff writer. I wasnt hired as an editor or assistant editor, I was supposed to come in 40 hours a week and write scripts on staff. I sat at this corrugated metal desk with a typewriter in an office with production manager Sol Brodsky. Everybody who came up to Marvel wound up there, and the phone was constantly ringing, with conversations going on all around me. Almost at once, even though Stan proofed all the stories, he and Sol started having me check the corrections before they went out
6.
Todd McFarlane
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Todd McFarlane is a Canadian artist, writer, designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn. In 1992, he helped form Image Comics, pulling the occult anti-hero character Spawn from his high school portfolio, Spawn was a popular hero in the 1990s and encouraged a trend in creator-owned comic book properties. Since leaving inking duties on Spawn with issue No,70, McFarlane has illustrated comic books less often, focusing on entrepreneurial efforts, such as McFarlane Toys and Todd McFarlane Entertainment, a film and animation studio. In September 2006, it was announced that McFarlane would be the Art Director of the newly formed 38 Studios, formerly Green Monster Games, McFarlane used to be a co-owner of the National Hockey Leagues Edmonton Oilers but sold his shares to Daryl Katz. He is also a collector of history-making baseballs. McFarlane was born on March 16,1961 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He began drawing as a hobby at an age, and was a fan of comics creators such as John Byrne, Jack Kirby, Frank Miller and George Pérez. McFarlane created the character Spawn when he was 16, and spent countless hours perfecting the appearance of each component of the visual design. He graduated from Sir Winston Churchill High School, in the early 1980s, McFarlane attended Eastern Washington University on a baseball scholarship, and studied graphic art. He sought to play professionally after graduation, but suffered a career-ending ankle injury in his junior year. He subsequently focused on drawing, working in a book store to pay for the rest of his education. Seeking to find work drawing comics, McFarlane sent out dozens of each month to editors, totaling over 700 submissions in total. Half resulted in no response, while the half resulted in rejection letters. One of them, DC Comics Sal Amendola, gave McFarlane a dummy script in order to gauge McFarlanes page-to-page storytelling ability. They in turn passed it onto Coyote creator Steve Englehart, who reached out to McFarlane to offer McFarlane his first comic job, McFarlane soon began drawing for both DC and Marvel, with his first major body of work being a two-year run on DCs Infinity, Inc. In 1987, McFarlane illustrated the three issues of Detective Comics four-issue Batman, Year Two storyline. From there, he moved to Marvels Incredible Hulk, which he drew from 1987 to 1988, in 1988, McFarlane joined writer David Michelinie on Marvels The Amazing Spider-Man, beginning with issue 298. McFarlane rendered Spider-Mans webbing with far more detail, whereas it has essentially been rendered as a series of Xs between two lines, McFarlane embellished it by detailing far more individual strands, which came to be dubbed spaghetti webbing
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Matt Wagner
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Matt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist, known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel. Wagners first published comic work was Comico Primer #2, which was the first appearance of Grendel. In addition to his creator-owned series Mage and Grendel, he has worked on comics featuring the Demon, in 1991, he illustrated part of the Season of Mists story arc in Neil Gaimans The Sandman series. He wrote and drew Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman, Trinity a limited series featuring DCs three major heroes in 2003 and he followed it with Batman and the Monster Men and Batman and the Mad Monk in 2006. His other projects include Madame Xanadu for Vertigo, with artist Amy Reeder Hadley and he has produced numerous comics covers, including painted ones for Green Arrow and has written several Green Hornet limited series for Dynamite Entertainment. Outside comics, Wagner provided art for the 1984 Villains & Vigilantes adventure Battle Above the Earth written by Steven Crow, Wagner currently resides in Portland, Oregon with his wife Barbara Schutz. Grendel #1–3 Grendel vol.2 #1–4 The Demon vol
8.
John K. Snyder
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John Kenneth Snyder, Sr. sometimes known as Tillie Snyder, was a colorful, outspoken Democratic mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana, from 1973 to 1977 and again from 1982 to 1986. Snyder was an admirer of the late Governor Earl Kemp Long, a tall, physically large man, the good Snyder smoked cigars, was soft-spoken, and remained relaxed and accommodating. However, the bad Snyder had a temper that could snap quickly, even popular Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, who was in office in Baton Rouge for seven of the eight years that Snyder was mayor in Alexandria, was said to have feared Snyders unpredictability. Snyder was born in Pineville, across the Red River from Alexandria, to Joseph Z. Joe Snyder, originally from La Salle Parish, and the former Eva Spotten, a Pineville native. He grew up on Lakeview Street about a block from Fred Baden, as a child, Snyder was given the nickname Tillie because he liked to play the game Tiddly-Winks. He graduated in 1940 from Bolton High School, prior to the establishment in 1952 of Pineville High School and he was a naval aviation cadet during World War II. He attended Georgia Tech in Atlanta but did not graduate and he was a speech writer for political candidates in Louisiana and neighboring states. Snyder first won the election in the spring of 1973. Snyder and Karst had been rivals in the April 5,1969. In that campaign, Karst led with 4,093 votes to Snyders 3,128, the third place candidate, John B. Honeycutt, who like Snyder had run unsuccessfully for Rapides Parish sheriff, the 16-year incumbent, W. George Bowdon, Jr. who had first won the position in 1953 to succeed Carl B. Close, trailed in fourth place with 1,784 votes, three other candidates polled a total of 359 votes. In the mayoral runoff held on May 17,1969, Karst prevailed,6,016 to Snyders 5,188, after Karst defeated Snyder, Governor John McKeithen cancelled the general election because only Democrats had filed for any of the Alexandria municipal offices. In 1969, Snyder filed suit regarding a criminal defamation charge brought against him by Rapides Parish District Attorney Ed Ware, both the original charge and the civil suit were dismissed. After his mayoral defeat, Snyder unsuccessfully challenged the renomination of U. S, representative Speedy O. Long of Louisianas 8th congressional district, since disbanded, in the 1970 Democratic primary. He polled 24,112 votes to Longs 59,032, then, in 1971, Snyder failed in a bid to oust Rapides Parish Sheriff Marshall T. Cappel in the party primary. In 1972, Karst switched affiliation to the Republican Party and retained the head of the Louisiana States Rights Party, Kent Courtney. Karsts mayoral tenure, however, was not particularly known for conservative initiatives, Karst, an attorney who was born in New Orleans, later left the GOP, returned to the Democrats, and thereafter was No Party under Louisianas registration procedure
9.
Justice Society of America
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The Justice Society of America is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The Justice Society of America was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3, making it the first team of superheroes in comic books. The team was popular, but in the late 1940s, the popularity of superhero comics waned. JSA members remained absent from comics until ten years later, when the original Flash appeared alongside a new character by name in The Flash #123. During the Silver Age of Comic Books, DC Comics reinvented several Justice Society members, the Justice Society was established as existing on Earth-Two and the Justice League on Earth-One. This allowed for annual cross-dimensional team-ups of the teams between 1963 and 1985, New series, such as All-Star Squadron, Infinity, Inc. and a new All-Star Comics featured the JSA, their children and their heirs. These series explored the issues of aging, generational differences, the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series, merged all of the companys various alternate realities into one, placing the JSA as World War II-era predecessors to the companys modern characters. A JSA series was published from 1999 to 2006, a new Justice Society of America series ran from 2007 to 2011. As part of DC Comics The New 52, a version of the team appears in the Earth 2 Vol 1, Earth 2 Worlds End. The Justice Society of America first appeared in All Star Comics #3 written by Gardner Fox, the team initially included, Doctor Fate, Hour-Man, the Spectre, the Sandman, the Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman. Because some of characters were published by All-American Publications rather than DC Comics, All-Star Comics #3 is the first inter-company superhero title. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that, This was obviously a great notion, since it offered readers a lot of headliners for a dime, the JSAs adventures were written by Gardner Fox as well as by John Broome and Robert Kanigher. G. Peter, Jack Burnley, Lee Elias, Irwin Hasen, Bob Oksner, Paul Reinman, Everett E. Hibbard, the first JSA story featured the teams first meeting, with a framing sequence for each member telling a story of an individual exploit. Thus, the Flash was replaced by Johnny Thunder after #6, for this reason, Superman and Batman were established as already being honorary members prior to All Star Comics #3. How these two heroes helped found the JSA before becoming honorary members was not explained until DC Special #29 in 1977, Hawkman is the only member to appear in every JSA adventure in the original run of All Star Comics and the Atom missed two issues. All Star Comics #8 featured the first appearance of Wonder Woman, a fan club for the team called the Junior Justice Society of America was introduced in All Star Comics #14. The membership kit included a letter, a badge, a decoder, a four-page comic book. Heroes being removed from the title, as a result, the Flash and Green Lantern returned to the team
10.
All-Star Squadron
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The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in Justice League of America #193 and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. The All-Star Squadron debuted in an insert in Justice League of America #193. The new team was launched in its own series the following month and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler, the eponymous comic book series was published for 67 issues from September 1981 to March 1987 and three annuals were published as well. When Rich Buckler left the series after the issue, editor Len Wein hired Adrian Gonzales as a replacement. He drew the series for 13 issues which included a crossover with the Justice League of America Jerry Ordway and he and Thomas co-created the Infinity, Inc. team in issue #25. All-Star Squadron #32 and #33 detailed how the Freedom Fighters traveled from Earth-Two to Earth-X, several issues of the series detailed origins of various characters including Amazing-Man, Starman, Doctor Fate, Liberty Belle, the Shining Knight, Robotman, Johnny Quick, and the Tarantula. All-Star Squadron #1 contains An Open Letter to the Readers written by Roy Thomas, in it he describes the impetus for the series, namely, DC wanted a comic book telling tales of the Justice Society of America. The last series to do so was All Star Comics, which lasted only seventeen issues, as Roy Thomas put it, DC management gave him a chance to write a return of the JSA. Instead of writing stories in the era, Roy Thomas decided to place the tales during World War II. The cast of characters would include a large ensemble of heroes from both the DC stable and the Quality Comics Group and we even tossed in an Earth-Two version of the venerable Plastic Man, whose series in Adventure was just folding. The All-Star Squadron was an example of retroactive continuity or retcon, the first known use of the term retcon was by Roy Thomas in the letter column of All-Star Squadron #20. The Trylon and Perisphere, actual structures constructed in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York for the 1939 New York Worlds Fair, the Perisphere contained the Squadron meeting hall, while the Trylon was retrofitted as an aircraft hangar/vertical launch platform. The All-Star Squadron had a butler named Gernsback, who was based on the Elektro robots from the fair and was named after science fiction publisher Hugo Gernsback. The All-Star Squadron was left only with the unique to that time period. Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, Green Arrow, Plastic Man, and several other heroes were no longer extant at that point in history, and were thus never Squadron members. Evil analogs were also created for the characters at the same time, Übermensch, Der Grosshorn Eule, Fledermaus, Usil. Young All-Stars was published for 31 issues and one annual, unfortunately, the artwork for issue #49 was printed without Hawkmans cameo included, so it became the only issue to break the streak. The string of appearances had already broken several issues into a mid-1970s revival of All Star Comics
11.
Medical Corps (United States Army)
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The MC traces its earliest origins to the first physicians recruited by the Medical Department of the Army, created by the Continental Congress in 1775. The US Congress made official the designation Medical Corps in 1908, currently, the MC consists of over 4,400 active duty physicians representing all the specialties and subspecialties of civilian medicine. They may be assigned to fixed military medical facilities, to combat units or to military medical research. They are considered fully deployable soldiers, the Chief of the Medical Corps Branch is a colonel and the senior-most Medical Corps officer in the Army is the U. S. Army Surgeon General, a lieutenant general. The language of the Congressional resolution spoke of “an Hospital” which in those days meant a system or medical department. Among the accomplishments of Army surgeons during the years of the Revolution was completion of the first pharmacopoeia printed in America, in 1789, the Department of the Hospital was disbanded and a system of Regimental Surgeons was established in its place. During the period that followed Congress provided for an organization for the Army only in time of war or emergency. For example, in 1812 Congress established the Medical Department of the Northern Army as a response to the need for support during operations in the War of 1812. In 1816, medical officers were given uniforms for the first time, a permanent and continuous Medical Department was not established until 1818. That year a “Surgeon General” was appointed and since then a succession of Surgeons General, Physicians assigned to the U. S. Army were finally accorded military rank in 1847, although the old Regimental Surgeon system of additional designations was also retained until 1908. It was over 30 years, however, before Surgeon General George M. Sternberg would found the Army Medical School, Congress made official the designation Medical Corps in 1908, although the term had long been in use informally among the Medical Departments regular physicians. Meanwhile, part of the role of the AMS was taken over by the new Medical Field Service School which opened at Carlisle Barracks and its purpose was to train both new medical officers and newly enlisted medics in the practice of field medicine. The first woman to receive a Regular Army commission in the MC was Major Margaret D. Craighill in 1943 and she was assigned as Chief Surgeon to the Women’s Army Corps. In 1946, Army residency programs for MC officers were introduced into the Medical Department, in 1954, a prominent thoracic surgeon and Harvard graduate, Frank Berry, was appointed as the second Assistant Secretary of Defense. The “Berry Plan” deferred doctors who were taking their residency, so that the Army would get the benefit of their advanced education, eventually, GME became both a recruiting and a retention tool for the AMEDD, and board-certified specialists were attracted in steady numbers. Those MC officers who did not elect Option 1, or who were not needed immediately, were “deferred. ”Some were allowed Option 3, to complete their residency training and then entered active duty as a fully trained specialist. Those who were deferred for one year of residency were termed “partially trained specialists” and were usually given military assignments that allowed them to work within their specialty. Many residency programs would give a credit toward completion of residency for their time in military service to physicians who served under Option 2
12.
Black Lantern Corps
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The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fictional characters from the publication in zombie form that seek to eliminate all life from the DC Universe, prior to the Blackest Night event, Black Hand had already been established as a villain within the pages of Green Lantern. Writer Geoff Johns revisited his origin and expanded certain aspects of it during the Green Lantern. During the arc, Hands energy-absorbing weapon is revealed to have constructed by Atrocitus, enemy of the Guardians of the Universe. Atrocitus comes to Earth and approaches Hand, recognizing him as a doorway to the black that possesses the power to bring about the Blackest Night, Hand manages to escape and pockets the weapon as he flees. The possession of this weapon soon leads him to become an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps, while being transported to prison, Black Hand experiences a sudden power surge that kills his captors. Xander roams the desert, hearing a voice instructing him to reclaim the souls of characters who were reanimated, Hand murders his family and commits suicide. The Guardian Scar arrives, and creates the first black power ring, Hand later digs up Bruce Waynes corpse, removes his skull, and recites the Black Lantern oath for the first time. Soon after, black rings descend upon the universe and begin reviving the deceased as Black Lanterns that attack the heroes of the DC Universe. It is claimed the Power Battery is in Space Sector 666, at the end of the issue, its shown that Black Hand uses the skull to produce new power rings at will, creating two rings for the newly deceased Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders. In Blackest Night #3, Indigo-1 describes the premise behind the Black Lantern Corps fictional relationship with the universe and she explains that the darkness in existence before the creation of the universe is what powers the Black Lanterns. Banished at the dawn of time by the light of creation. The events transpiring throughout the titles of Blackest Night are a result of the darkness, once again and she goes on to describe how a combination of all seven lights can restore the white light of creation and bring an end to the Black Lanterns.1 percent. After being introduced into a role within the Blackest Night event. The story unfolding in Green Lantern depicts Jordan and Indigo-1 recruiting Carol Ferris, Sinestro, Saint Walker, Atrocitus, in Blackest Night #5, the team assaults the Black Central Power Battery with the opposite results intended. Nekron is strengthened and able to recruit living characters reanimated from death to his Black Lantern Corps, the White Lanterns used the power of the White Light to finally vanquish Nekron and the threat of the Blackest Night passed with the Black Lanterns disintegrating along with their power rings. Though seemingly destroyed, an aspect of the Black Lanterns returned within Firestorm when his dark undead persona emerged - claiming the name Deathstorm, torturing the two hosts of the Firestorm Matrix, Deathstorm later traveled to the White Lantern Power Battery where he corrupted it. Whilst initially he intended to destroy it in order to all life in the universe
13.
Starman (comics)
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Starman is a name used by several different DC Comics superheroes, most prominently Ted Knight and his sons David and Jack. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Jack Burnley, the original Starman, Ted Knight, first appeared in Adventure Comics #61. An astronomer, Knight invented a gravity rod, later reinvented as a rod, allowing him to fly and manipulate energy. Like most Golden Age heroes, Starman fell into obscurity in the 1950s, in the ensuing years, several characters, with varying degrees of relation to the original, briefly took the mantle of Starman. In Zero Hour, Crisis in Time #1, writer James Robinson and artist Tony Harris introduced Jack Knight, a reluctant, non-costumed hero, he inherited his father’s name and mission and used his technology to create a cosmic staff. He starred in an acclaimed series, written by Robinson. The current successor of Starman is Stargirl, formerly the second Star-Spangled Kid, below, in chronological order of activity, are the characters to have used the name Starman. The Starman of 1951 is a superhero who operated in the DC Universe in 1951 and this proved to be only a temporary reprieve for the deceased hero however. In Detective Comics #286 a villainous Star-Man appeared to menace Batman, Mikaal Tomas is a DC Comics superhero, introduced in the 1970s. Tomas is an alien who traveled to Earth to help conquer it and he has blue skin and originally wore Mister Miracle-style flight-discs on his feet that allowed him to fly, and a medallion containing a sonic crystal around his neck. The gem eventually became embedded in his chest and allows him to fire bolts of energy and he first appeared in 1st Issue Special #12. Within the story, Mikaal was given the name Starman not as a means of carrying on Ted Knights legacy, the song tells of a benevolent alien who arrives on Earth in order to save the planet from destruction, a situation which greatly parallels Mikaals backstory. The character later suffered amnesia until he turned up in the 1990s Starman series, the 1990s series revealed that Mikaals homeworld was Talok III, sister planet to Talok VIII, the home of Shadow Lass. The inhabitants of the planet have darker blue skin. Tomas origins have been noted to bear similarities to that of Captain Mar-Vell of Marvel Comics. In James Robinsons 1990s series, Starman became notable for being portrayed in a gay relationship, starmans specific sexual identity was not addressed in print. His long-term relationship with Tony lasted, in DC continuity, twelve years, a 2010 Robinson story subsequently clarified that Mikaal identifies himself as gay. In 2009, writer James Robinson returned to the character, reintroducing him as a character in Justice League
14.
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
15.
Golden Age of Comic Books
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The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from the late 1930s to circa 1950. During this time, modern books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many characters were introduced, including Superman, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman. The first recorded use of the term Golden Age was by Richard A. Lupoff in an article, Re-Birth, an event cited by many as marking the beginning of the Golden Age was the 1938 debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics. Supermans popularity helped make comic books a major arm of publishing, timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, had million-selling titles featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. The comic was published biweekly at one point to capitalize on its popularity, patriotic heroes donning red, white, and blue were particularly popular during the time of the second World War following The Shields debut in 1940. Many heroes of this time period battled the Axis powers, with such as Captain America Comics #1 showing the title character punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. As comic books grew in popularity, publishers began launching titles that expanded into a variety of genres, dell Comics non-superhero characters outsold the superhero comics of the day. The publisher featured licensed movie and literary characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Roy Rogers and it was during this era that noted Donald Duck writer-artist Carl Barks rose to prominence. Additionally, MLJs introduction of Archie Andrews in Pep Comics #22 gave rise to teen humor comics, the educational comic book Dagwood Splits the Atom used characters from the comic strip Blondie. According to historian Michael A. Amundson, appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers fear of nuclear war and it was during this period that long-running humor comics debuted, including ECs Mad and Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge in Dells Four Color Comics. In 1953, the book industry hit a setback when the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was created in order to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency. As a result, the Comics Code Authority was created by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers to enact self-censorship by comic book publishers, at this time, EC canceled its crime and horror titles and focused primarily on Mad. During the late 1940s, the popularity of superhero comics waned, to retain reader interest, comic publishers diversified into genres such as war, Westerns, science fiction, romance, crime and horror. Many superhero titles were cancelled or converted to other genres, in 1946, DC Comics Superboy, Aquaman and Green Arrow were switched from More Fun Comics into Adventure Comics so More Fun could focus on humor. In 1948 All-American Comics, featuring Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder, the following year, Flash Comics and Green Lantern were cancelled. In 1951 All Star Comics, featuring the Justice Society of America, the next year Star Spangled Comics, featuring Robin, was retitled Star Spangled War Stories. Sensation Comics, featuring Wonder Woman, was cancelled in 1953, the only DC superhero comics to continue publishing through the 1950s were Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Detective Comics, Batman, Superboy, Superman, Wonder Woman and Worlds Finest Comics
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Protagonist
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A protagonist is the main character in any story, such as a literary work or drama. The protagonist is at the center of the story, typically makes the key decisions, the protagonist usually affects the main characters circumstances as well, as they are often the primary actor propelling the story forward. If a story contains a subplot, or is a made up of several stories. The word protagonist is used notably in stories and forms of literature and culture that contain stories, in those forms the protagonist may simply be the leading actor, or the principal character in the story. The antagonist will provide obstacles and complications and create conflict that test the protagonist, thus revealing the strengths, the earliest known examples of protagonist are dated back to Ancient Greece. At first dramatic performances involved merely dancing and recitation by the chorus, but then in Poetics, Aristotle describes how a poet named Thespis introduced the idea of having one actor step out and engage in a dialogue with the chorus. This was the invention of tragedy, which occurred about 536 B. C, then the poet Aeschylus, in his plays, introduced a second actor, inventing the idea of dialogue between two characters. Sophocles then wrote plays that required a third actor, euripides play Hippolytus may be considered to have two protagonists. The protagonist of the first half is Phaedra, who dies partway through the play and her stepson, the titular Hippolytus, assumes the dominant role in the second half of the play. In Ibsen’s play The Master Builder, the protagonist is the architect Halvard Solness, the young woman, Hilda Wangel, whose actions lead to the death of Solness, is the antagonist. In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the protagonist and he is actively in pursuit of his relationship with Juliet, and the audience is invested in that story. The character of Tybalt opposes Romeo’s desires, he is the antagonist, in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Prince Hamlet, who seeks revenge for the murder of his father, is the protagonist. The antagonist would be the character who most opposes Hamlet, Claudius, in the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the character Holden Caulfield is the protagonist. He is the character, and the reader is invested in his story. Sometimes, a work will have a false protagonist, who may seem to be the protagonist, the character Marion in Alfred Hitchcocks film Psycho is an example. A novel that contains a number of narratives may have a number of protagonists, alexander Solzhenitsyns The First Circle, for example, depicts a variety of characters imprisoned and living in a gulag camp. Leo Tolstoys War and Peace, depicts fifteen major characters involved in or affected by a war
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Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)
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Daredevil is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Daredevil was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, the character first appeared in Daredevil #1. While he no longer can see, the radioactive exposure heightens his remaining senses beyond normal human ability and his father, a boxer named Jack Murdock, supports him as he grows up, though Jack is later killed by gangsters after refusing to throw a fight. After donning a yellow and dark red costume, Matt seeks out revenge against his fathers killers as the superhero Daredevil, fighting against his enemies, including Bullseye. He also becomes a lawyer after having graduated from law school with his best friend and roommate, Daredevil is also commonly known by such epithets as the Man Without Fear and the Devil of Hells Kitchen. Frank Millers influential tenure on the title in the early 1980s cemented the character as a popular, the character debuted in Marvel Comics Daredevil #1, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with character design input from Jack Kirby, who devised Daredevils billy club. Writer and comics historian Mark Evanier has suggested without confirmation that Kirby also designed the image of Daredevils initial costume. That original costume design was a combination of black, yellow, wally Wood introduced Daredevils modern red costume in issue #7 in which Daredevils battle against the far physically superior Sub-Mariner has become one of the most iconic stories of the series. Jack instills in Matt the importance of education and nonviolence with the aim of seeing his son become a man than himself. In the course of saving a man from the path of an oncoming truck. The radioactive exposure heightens his remaining senses beyond normal human thresholds, enabling him to detect the shape, in order to support his son, Jack Murdock returns to boxing under the Fixer, a known gangster, and the only man willing to contract the aging boxer. When he refuses to throw a fight because his son is in the audience, having promised his father not to use physical force to deal with things, Matt gets around that promise by adopting a new identity who can use physical force. Daredevil would embark on a series of adventures involving such villains as the Owl, Stilt-Man, the Gladiator, in issue #16, he meets Spider-Man, a character who would later be one of his greatest hero friends. Murdock reveals his identity to his girlfriend Karen Page in issue #57. This was the first of several long-term breakups between Murdock and Page, who would prove the most enduring of his love interests and he also moved Daredevil to San Francisco beginning with Daredevil #86, and simultaneously brought on the Black Widow as co-star. The Black Widow served as Daredevils co-star and love interest from #81–124, of which #93-108 were cover titled Daredevil, jann Wenner, the co-founder and publisher of the Rolling Stone music magazine appeared in Daredevil #100 by Gerber and Colan. The writing and editing jobs went to Marv Wolfman with issue #124, Wolfman promptly introduced the lively but emotionally fragile Heather Glenn to replace the Black Widow as Daredevils love interest. Wolfmans 20-issue run included the introduction of one of Daredevils most popular villains, Bullseye, with issue #144, Jim Shooter became the writer and introduced Paladin in issue #150
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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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Sogndal
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Sogndal is a municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located on the shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Sogndalsfjøra is the center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages include Kaupanger, Kjørnes, Fimreite, Nornes, Sogndal Airport, Haukåsen is located 10 kilometres southwest of Kaupanger. The Norwegian dialect spoken in Sogndal is called sognamål, in 1917, a farmer in Sogndal plowed up the Eggja stone, a gravestone with runic inscriptions important for the history of the Old Norse language. Sogndal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838, the original municipality was identical to the Sogndal parish with the sub-parishes of Stedje, Norane, and Kaupanger. On 1 January 1964, the Tingstad area was transferred from Leikanger municipality to Sogndal municipality, on 1 January 2000, the sub-parish of Fjærland was transferred from Balestrand municipality to Sogndal. The Old Norse form of the name was Sóknardalr, the first element is the genitive case of the river name Sókn, the last element is dalr which means valley or dale. The name of the river is derived from the verb sœkja which means to seek, the coat of arms for Sogndal are modern, they were granted on 14 December 1984. The arms show the front of a Viking ship in gold on a blue background, the ship symbolizes the nearby naval Battle of Fimreite between King Sverre of Norway and the local King Magnus Erlingsson in the year 1184. The latter was killed together with many nobles of the time, the Church of Norway has four parishes within the municipality of Sogndal. It is part of the Indre Sogn deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin, the main church of the parish is in Stedje. This is probably one of the oldest church sites in Sogn, the present church was built in 1867, at the same time the old stave church was torn down. A runestone stands near the church, and traces of a Viking settlement have been found nearby, Sogndal has historically had three sub-parishes, Kaupanger, Norane, and Fjærland. All three of these are also old church sites, the first churches in Kaupanger and Norane were probably built as early as the 11th century and in Fjærland the original church was built around 1600. The present church in Fjærland was built in 1861 and in Norane in 1863, in Kaupanger, the old Stave church from the 12th century is still standing. Excavations show that this was probably the church on this site. The church was rebuilt in 1862 and lost most of its original character, but today, as a result of a restoration project you will find the church much as it was prior to 1862
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Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
