1.
Superman
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Superman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, high school living in Cleveland, Ohio. They sold Superman to Detective Comics, the future DC Comics, Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, newspaper strips, television programs, films, and video games. With this success, Superman helped to create the superhero archetype, the character is also referred to by such epithets as the Man of Steel, the Man of Tomorrow, and The Last Son of Krypton. Discovered and adopted by a Kansas farm couple, the child is raised as Clark Kent, very early on he started to display various superhuman abilities, which, upon reaching maturity, he resolved to use for the benefit of humanity through a secret Superman identity. Superman resides and operates in the fictional American city of Metropolis, as Clark Kent, he is a journalist for the Daily Planet, a Metropolis newspaper. Supermans love interest is generally Lois Lane, and his archenemy is supervillain Lex Luthor and he is typically a member of the Justice League and close ally of Batman and Wonder Woman. Like other characters in the DC Universe, several versions of Superman have been depicted over the years. Supermans appearance is distinctive and iconic, he wears a blue costume with a red-and-yellow emblem on the chest, consisting of the letter S in a shield shape. This shield is used in media to symbolize the character. Superman is widely considered an American cultural icon and he has fascinated scholars, with cultural theorists, commentators, and critics alike exploring the characters impact and role in the United States and worldwide. The characters ownership has often been the subject of dispute, with Siegel, the character has been adapted extensively and portrayed in other forms of media as well, including films, television series, and video games. Several actors have portrayed Superman in motion pictures and TV series including Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill, Siegels fanzine did not sell well. Siegel and Shuster shifted to making comic strips, which they self-published in a book they called Popular Comics, the pair dreamed of becoming professional authors and believed that syndicated newspaper strips offered more lucrative and stable work than pulp magazines. The art quality standards were lower, making them more accessible to the inexperienced Shuster. In early 1933 or in 1934, Siegel developed a new character, also named Superman, but now a heroic character and this first prototype of Superman had no fantastic abilities and wore casual clothing. Siegel and Shuster often compared this version to Slam Bradley, a character they created in 1936. Siegel shared his idea with Shuster and they decided to turn it into a comic strip, the first publisher they solicited was Humor Publishing in Chicago, after having read one of their comic books, Detective Dan
2.
Doctor Manhattan
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Doctor Manhattan is a fictional character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He debuted in the novel miniseries Watchmen, published in 1986 and 1987. Doctor Manhattan was created by writer Alan Moore with artist Dave Gibbons, following his reanimation, he was immediately pressed into service by the United States government, who gave him the name Doctor Manhattan, after the Manhattan Project. He is the character in the story that possesses actual superpowers. The Watchmen series has been noted for addressing issues and questions. He is often used as an example of a posthuman god, reception towards the character is positive, and he has appeared and has been mentioned in various forms of media. Billy Crudup portrays Doctor Manhattan in the 2009 film adaptation directed by Zack Snyder, Doctor Manhattan later appears in the Before Watchmen comic book prequel, with his own individual issue miniseries. In 2016, Doctor Manhattan became the first Watchmen character to be included in the main DC continuity, during the DC Rebirth event, Doctor Manhattan was partly based on DC Comics Captain Atom who in Moores original proposal was surrounded by the shadow of nuclear threat. However, the writer found he could do more with Manhattan as a a supreme super-hero than he ever could have with Captain Atom, Moore sought to delve into nuclear physics and quantum physics in constructing the character of Dr. Manhattan. The writer believed that a living in a quantum universe would not perceive time with a linear perspective. Moore also wanted to avoid creating a character like Spock from Star Trek, so he sought for Dr. Manhattan to retain human habits and to grow away from them. Gibbons had created the blue character Rogue Trooper, and explained he reused the blue skin motif for Doctor Manhattan as it resembles skin tonally, Moore incorporated the color into the story, and Gibbons noted the rest of the comics color scheme made Manhattan unique. Moore recalled that he was unsure if DC would allow the creators to depict the character as fully nude, Dr. Manhattans forehead is marked with the atomic structure of hydrogen, which he put on himself, declining a helmet with the atom symbol. Jonathan Osterman was born in 1929 and his father was a watchmaker, and Jon planned to follow in his footsteps. When the US drops the bomb on Hiroshima, Jon is sixteen. Jon Osterman attends Princeton University from 1948–58 and graduates with a Ph. D. in atomic physics, here he meets Janey Slater, a fellow researcher, they eventually become lovers. During a trip to New Jersey in July 1959, Jon, janeys watchband breaks, and the watch is damaged when a fat man steps on it. Jon decides that he can repair the watch, and tells Janey so, while Jon is inside the test chamber retrieving his coat the door closes, automatically locking as a safety feature
3.
Gary Frank
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Gary Frank is a British comic book artist, notable for pencilling on Midnight Nation and Supreme Power, both written by J. Michael Straczynski. He has also worked with author Peter David on The Incredible Hulk and he had a creator-owned series, Kin, which he wrote himself, published by Top Cow in 2000. Gary Frank began his career in 1991, illustrating covers and interior short stories for publications such as Doctor Who Magazine. This led to a stint at Marvel UK in 1992 as regular series artist on Motormouth & Killpower and it was on that series that he began a long-running collaboration with inker Cam Smith, who would continue to ink Franks work for many years. In 1992, Frank was recruited by Marvel Comics to illustrate covers for The Incredible Hulk, shortly thereafter, he was hired as the series ongoing artist beginning with issue No.403 and ending with No.425. He drew covers for Acclaim Comics Ninjak and Harris Comics Vampirella, in 1996, Frank and Smith were hired as the art team on DC Comics new Supergirl ongoing series, which re-teamed Frank with writer Peter David. Franks run as penciller ended with issue No,9, although he continued to provide covers for the series until issue No.21. Other assignments for DC included a Birds of Prey one-shot and the DC/Marvel Amalgam Comics one-shot, the Arcudi/Frank/Smith tenure on the series lasted two years, until issue No.41. It was during this run, in 1998, that Wildstorm head Jim Lee moved his studio, therefore, issues #25–36 were published by Image and issues #37–41 were published by DC/Wildstorm. Kin, a six-issue miniseries created, written and penciled by Frank, was published under Images Top Cow imprint, the story tells of a secret government agency named S. I. A. The miniseries conclusion was open-ended, with questions left unanswered, the trade paperback collection of Kin entitled Kin, Descent of Man includes six pages of additional story that were not featured in the original issues. In 2000, Frank began his first collaboration with J. Michael Straczynski, Frank served as penciller on Straczynskis Midnight Nation, a 12-issue limited series published by Top Cow from 2000 to 2002 under their now-defunct Joes Comics imprint. The first issue of the series included a 5-page interview with Frank, One of the inkers on the series was Jon Sibal, with whom Frank would begin a long-running artistic collaboration that continues to this day. On 16 July 2002, it was announced that Frank had signed a contract with Marvel. His first work under contract was a two-issue story arc on The Avengers issues #61–62, written by Geoff Johns. In 2003, Frank re-teamed with Straczynski on Supreme Power, a revamp of Marvels superhero team Squadron Supreme, with its realism and mature storytelling, the series became Marvels first MAX title to sell over 100,000 copies, making it their best-selling mature-readers series of all time. The series ran for 18 issues from October 2003 to October 2005,515 and 517, Black Panther #10, and numerous others, as well as two pages of interior art for the Avengers, Finale one-shot. On 10 May 2007, having worked several years on a Marvel exclusive contract and he served as the artist on Action Comics with writer Geoff Johns
4.
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
5.
Limited series (comics)
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In the field of comic books, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from a series in that the number of issues is finite and determined before production. The term is used interchangeably with miniseries and maxiseries, usually depending on the length. In Dark Horse Comics definition of a series, This term primarily applies to a connected series of individual comic books. A limited series refers to a book series with a clear beginning, middle. Dark Horse Comics and DC Comics refer to limited series of two to eleven issues as miniseries and series of issues or more as maxiseries. The limited series has a story to tell. It follows the standard plot set-up of beginning, middle, usually, all plot points are covered by the end of the series. There have been limited series done in a format. Limited series are often done by a creative team, but in cases where there are changes. The number of issues is determined by some combination of the writers plotting. In 1979, in the process of recovering from the DC Implosion, publisher DC Comics experimented with a new format in the World of Krypton miniseries, as DC termed such short-run works. The new format allowed the company to tell stories that may not have fit into a series and to showcase characters into a short story without the risk. With the success of the format, DC followed by experimenting with longer stories. Debuting in 1982, Camelot 3000 was the first limited series to run to twelve issues, DC coined the term maxiseries as a promotional description for this. It did not take long for other publishers to begin using the limited-series format, Marvel Comics used it to feature popular characters from team titles and put them in solo adventures. Wolverines earliest solo adventures were told in limited series, crossovers were introduced in limited series form before the concept of multi-title crossovers was conceived. Contest of Champions brought forth the idea of an event affecting the Marvel Universe
6.
Superhero comics
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Superhero comics are the most common genre of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s and has remained the dominant form of book in North America since the 1960s. Superhero comics feature stories about superheroes and the universes these characters inhabit, in comics format, superpowered and costumed heroes like Popeye and The Phantom had appeared in newspaper comic strips for several years prior to Superman. The masked detective The Clock first appeared in the comic book Funny Pages #6, in the Great Depression and World War II era the first Superhero Comics appeared, the most popular being Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman and Captain America. Beginning in the 1950s, DC began publishing revised versions of their 1940s superhero characters such as The Flash, Anti-Hero becomes popular with appearances of the Punisher, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and a 1980s revival of Daredevil by Frank Miller. Superhero Comics became darker with the release of landmark deconstructive works such as Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, in the 1990s, Image Comics released successful new characters including the Anti-Hero Spawn which were predominantly creator owned as opposed to Marvel and DCs which were corporate owned. Superhero Comics of the Silver Age, The Illustrated History, Superhero Comics of the Golden Age, The Illustrated History. Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels, and Film,485 p. ISBN 978-0-06-199210-0 Jacobs, Will and Gerard Jones. The Comic Book Superheroes, from the Silver Age to the Present, xi,292 p. ISBN 0-517-55440-2 Klock, Geoff. How to Read Superhero Comics and Why and our Gods Wear Spandex, The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes. Superheroes and Gods, A Comparative Study from Babylonia to Batman
7.
DC Universe
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The DC Universe is the fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. DC superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are from this universe, and it also well known supervillains such as the Joker, Lex Luthor. It should be noted that in context, DC Universe usually refers to the main DC continuity, the term DC Multiverse refers to the collection of all continuities within DC Comics publications. Within the Multiverse, the main DC Universe has gone by many names and its not to be confused with Earth Prime. The fact that DC Comics characters coexisted in the world was first established in All Star Comics #3 where several superheroes met each other in a group dubbed the Justice Society of America. Subsequently, the Justice Society was reintroduced as the Justice League of America, over the course of its publishing history, DC has introduced different versions of its characters, sometimes presenting them as if the earlier version had never existed. Similarly, they had such as Batman whose early adventures set in the 1940s could not easily be reconciled with stories featuring a still-youthful man in the 1970s. To explain this, they introduced the idea of the multiverse in Flash #123 where the Silver Age Flash met his Golden Age counterpart. In addition to allowing the conflicting stories to co-exist, it allowed the differing versions of characters to meet, the writers gave designations such as Earth-One, Earth-Two, and so forth, to certain universes, designations which at times were also used by the characters themselves. Earth-One was the world of this publication era. Over the years, as the number of titles published increased, in order to continue publishing stories of its most popular characters, maintaining the status quo became necessary. However, not all the books rebooted post-Crisis, for example, the Legion of Superheros book acted as if the Pre-Crisis Earth-1 history was still their past, a point driven home in the Cosmic Boy miniseries. The Zero Hour limited series gave them an opportunity to revise timelines, meanwhile, DC has published occasional stories called Elseworlds, which often presented alternate versions of its characters. For example, one told the story of Bruce Wayne as a Green Lantern, in another tale, Speeding Bullets, the rocket ship that brought the infant Superman to Earth was discovered by the Wayne family of Gotham City rather than the Kents. In 1999, The Kingdom reintroduced a variant of the old Multiverse concept called Hypertime which essentially allows for alternate versions of characters, the entire process was possibly inspired by Alan Moores meta-comic, Supreme, Story of the Year. The Convergence crossover officially retconned the events of Crisis after heroes in that went back in time to prevent the collapse of the Multiverse. However, Brainiac states Each world has evolved but they all still exist, the Infinite Crisis event remade the DC Universe yet again, with new changes. The limited series 52 established that a new multiverse now existed and this follows the conclusion of the Flashpoint crossover storyline, which provided a jumping-off point for the existing continuity
8.
Geoff Johns
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Geoff Johns is an American comic book and television writer, film producer, and television producer. He is the president and Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics and his most notable work in different media has used the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash, and Superman. He is well known for his work on The WB/The CWs Smallville, Arrow and he is also a comic book retailer who co-owns Earth-2 Comics in Northridge, California with Carr DAngelo and Jud Meyers. Johns was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Barbara and Fred Johns, and grew up in the suburbs of Grosse Pointe and Clarkston and he is of half Lebanese ancestry. As Johns continued collecting comics, he gravitated toward DC Comics and later Vertigo, after graduating from Clarkston High School in 1991, he studied media arts, screenwriting, film production and film theory at Michigan State University. He graduated from Michigan State in 1995, and then moved to Los Angeles, Johns started off copying scripts, and after about two months, was hired as a production assistant for Donner, whom Johns regards as his mentor. While working on production of Donners 1997 film Conspiracy Theory, Johns visited New York City, where he met DC Comics personnel such as Eddie Berganza, reigniting his childhood interest in comics. Berganza invited Johns to tour the DC Comics offices, and offered Johns the opportunity to suggest ideas, a series based on the second Star-Spangled Kid and her stepfather, to editor Chuck Kim a year later. Johns expected to write comics on the side, until he met David Goyer and James Robinson, after looking at Stars and S. T. R. I. P. E. Robinson offered Johns co-writing duties on JSA in 2000, and Johns credits both him and Mike Carlin with shepherding him into the comics industry and that same year, Johns became the regular writer on The Flash ongoing series with issue 164. I make a lot of my characters from Detroit, I think self-made, blue-collar heroes represent Detroit. Wally Wests Flash was like that, I took the inspiration of the city and the people there and used it in the books. Johns Flash run concluded with #225 and he co-wrote a Beast Boy limited series with Ben Raab in 2000 and crafted the Return to Krypton story arc in the Superman titles with Pasqual Ferry in 2002. After writing The Avengers vol.3 #57-76 and Avengers Icons, The Vision #1-4 for Marvel Comics, Johns oversaw the re-launch of Hawkman and Teen Titans. Johns was responsible for the return of Hal Jordan in 2005 as the writer of the Green Lantern, Rebirth mini-series, Johns was the writer of the Infinite Crisis crossover limited series, a sequel to 1985s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Following this, Johns was one of four writers, with Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, in 2006, Johns and Kurt Busiek co-wrote the Up, Up and Away. Story arc in Superman and Action Comics and he then reunited with Richard Donner on the Last Son storyline in Action Comics with Donner co-plotting the series with his former assistant. The Justice Society of America series by Johns and artist Dale Eaglesham began in February 2007 and six months later, he and that same year, Johns helmed the critically acclaimed Sinestro Corps War storyline in the Green Lantern titles
9.
Penciller
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A penciller is a collaboration artist who works in creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with focus on primary pencil illustrations, hence the term penciller. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form and these artists are concerned with layout to showcase steps in the plot. Beyond this basic description, however, different artists choose to use a variety of different tools. While many artists use traditional wood pencils, others prefer mechanical pencils or drafting leads, still other artists do their initial layouts using a light-blue colored pencil because that color tends to disappear during photocopying. Most US comic book pages are drawn oversized on large sheets of paper, the customary size of comic book pages in the mainstream American comics industry is 11 by 17 inches. The inker usually works directly over the pencil marks, though occasionally pages are inked on translucent paper, such as drafting vellum. The artwork is later reduced in size during the printing process. With the advent of digital illustration programs such as Photoshop, more and more artwork is produced digitally, Jack Kirby From 1949 until his retirement, Jack Kirby worked out of a ten-foot-wide basement studio dubbed The Dungeon by his family. When starting with clean piece of Bristol board, would first draw his lines with a T-square. Arthur Adams Arthur Adams begins drawing thumbnail layouts from the script hes given, the thumbnails range in size from 2 inches x 3 inches to half the size of the printed comic book. When working on the illustration board, he does so on a large drawing board when in his basement studio. After tracing the thumbnails, he will then clarify details with another light-blue pencil, for a large poster image with a multitude of characters, he will go over the figure outlines with a marker in order to emphasize them. He will use photographic reference when appropriate, as when he draws things that he is not accustomed to, because a significant portion of his income is derived from selling his original artwork, he is reluctant to learn how to produce his work digitally. Jim Lee Artist Jim Lee is known to use F lead for his pencil work and he uses this lead because it strikes a balance between too hard, and therefore not dark enough on the page, and too soft, and therefore prone to smearing and crumbling. Campbell avoids its closest competitor because he finds it too waxy, campbell has also used HB lead and F lead. He maintains sharpness of the lead with a Berol Turquoise sharpener, changing them every four to six months, campbell uses a combination of Magic Rub erasers, eraser sticks, and since he began to ink his work digitally, a Sakura electric eraser. He often sharpens the eraser to an edge in order to render fine detailed work. Travis Charest Artist Travis Charest uses mainly 2H lead to avoid smearing and he previously illustrated on regular illustration board provided by publishers, though he disliked the non-photo blue lines printed on them
10.
Comic book
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A comic book or comicbook, also called comic magazine or simply comic, is a publication that consists of comic art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by brief descriptive prose and written narrative, although comics has some origins in 18th century Japan and 1830s Europe, comic books were first popularized in the United States during the 1930s. Comic books are reliant on their organization and appearance, authors largely focus on the frame of the page, size, orientation, and panel positions. These characteristic aspects of books are necessary in conveying the content. The key elements of comic books include panels, balloons, text, balloons are usually convex spatial containers of information that are related to a character using a tail element. The tail has an origin, path, tip, and pointed direction, there are many technological formulas used to create comic books, including directions, axes, data, and metrics. Following these key formatting procedures is the writing, drawing, Comics as a print medium have existed in America since the printing of The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck in 1842 in hardcover, making it the first known American prototype comic book. The introduction of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shusters Superman in 1938 turned comic books into a major industry, the Golden Age originated the archetype of the superhero. Historians generally divide the timeline of the American comic book into eras, the Golden Age of Comic Books began with the introduction of Superman in 1938, spurring a period of high sales. The Silver Age of comic books is considered to date from the first successful revival of the then-dormant superhero form. The demarcation between the Silver Age and the era, the Bronze Age of Comic Books, is less well-defined. The Modern Age of Comic Books runs from the mid-1980s to the present day, in response to attention from the government and from the media, the U. S. comic book industry set up the Comics Magazine Association of America. The CMAA instilled the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the self-censorship Comics Code that year and it was not until the 1970s that comic books could be published without passing through the inspection of the CMAA. In the early 1970s, a surge of creativity emerged in what known as underground comix. Published and distributed independently of the comics industry, most of such comics reflected the youth counterculture. Underground comics were almost never sold at newsstands, but rather in such youth-oriented outlets as head shops and record stores, frank Stacks The Adventures of Jesus, published under the name Foolbert Sturgeon, has been credited as the first underground comic. The rise of comic book specialty stores in the late 1970s created/paralleled a dedicated market for independent or alternative comics in the U. S, some independent comics continued in the tradition of underground comics. A few represented experimental attempts to bring closer to the status of fine art
11.
Watchmen
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Watchmen is an American comic-book limited series published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987, and collected in 1987. The series was created by a British collaboration consisting of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. As Moores proposed story would have many of the characters unusable for future stories. Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to deconstruct, the story focuses on the personal development and moral struggles of the protagonists as an investigation into the murder of a government-sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement. Creatively, the focus of Watchmen is on its structure, Gibbons used a nine-panel grid layout throughout the series and added recurring symbols such as a blood-stained smiley face. Structured, at times, as a narrative, the story skips through space, time. In the same manner, entire scenes and dialogue have parallels with others through synchronicity, coincidence, the BBC described it as The moment comic books grew up. After a number of attempts to adapt the series into a feature film, a video game series, Watchmen, The End Is Nigh, was released in the same year to coincide with the films release. In 2012, DC Comics published Before Watchmen, a comic-book series acting as a prequel to the original Watchmen series, without Moore and Gibbons involvement. Watchmen, created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, was first published as a 12-issue maxiseries from DC Comics, cover-dated September 1986 to October 1987. In February 1988, DC published a limited-edition, slipcased hardcover volume, produced by Graphitti Design, in 2005, DC released Absolute Watchmen, an oversized slipcased hardcover edition of the series in DCs Absolute Edition format. Assembled under the supervision of Dave Gibbons, Absolute Watchmen included the Graphitti materials and that December DC published a new printing of Watchmen issue #1 at the original 1986 cover price of $1.50 as part of its Millennium Edition line. In 2012, DC launched a line, with various creative teams producing the characters early adventures before the events of the graphic novel. In 1985, DC Comics acquired a line of characters from Charlton Comics, during that period, writer Alan Moore contemplated writing a story that featured an unused line of superheroes that he could revamp, as he had done in his Miracleman series in the early 1980s. Moore reasoned that MLJ Comics Mighty Crusaders might be available for such a project, Moore used this premise and crafted a proposal featuring the Charlton characters titled Who Killed the Peacemaker, and submitted the unsolicited proposal to DC managing editor Dick Giordano. Giordano was receptive to the proposal, but opposed the idea of using the Charlton characters for the story, Moore said, DC realized their expensive characters would end up either dead or dysfunctional. Instead, Giordano persuaded Moore to continue with new characters, Moore had initially believed that original characters would not provide emotional resonance for the readers, but later changed his mind. Artist Dave Gibbons, who had collaborated with Moore on previous projects, I rang Alan up, saying I’d like to be involved with what he was doing
12.
Alan Moore
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Alan Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books including Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. Frequently described as the best graphic novel writer in history, he has been recognised by his peers. Moore started writing for British underground and alternative fanzines in the late 1970s before achieving success publishing comic strips in such magazines as 2000 AD, during that decade, Moore helped to bring about greater social respectability for comics in the United States and United Kingdom. He prefers the term comic to graphic novel, despite his own personal objections, his books have provided the basis for a number of Hollywood films, including From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta, and Watchmen. Moore has also referenced in popular culture, and has been recognised as an influence on a variety of literary and television figures including Neil Gaiman, Joss Whedon. Moore was born on 18 November 1953, at St Edmonds Hospital in Northampton to a family who he believed had lived in the town for several generations. He grew up in a part of Northampton known as The Boroughs, an area with a lack of facilities and high levels of illiteracy. I didnt know there was anything else. He lived in his house with his parents, brewery worker Ernest Moore and he read omnivorously from the age of five, getting books out of the local library, and subsequently attended Spring Lane Primary School. In the late 1960s Moore began publishing his own poetry and essays in fanzines, eventually setting up his own fanzine, through Embryo, Moore became involved in a group known as the Northampton Arts Lab. The Arts Lab subsequently made significant contributions to the magazine and he began dealing the hallucinogenic LSD at school, being expelled for doing so in 1970 – he later described himself as one of the worlds most inept LSD dealers. Whilst continuing to live in his parents home for a few years, he moved through various jobs, including cleaning toilets. In late 1973, he met and began a relationship with Northampton-born Phyllis Dixon, soon marrying, they moved into a new council estate in the towns eastern district while he worked in an office for a sub-contractor of the local gas board. Moore felt that he was not being fulfilled by this job, abandoning his office job, he decided to instead take up both writing and illustrating his own comics. He had already produced a couple of strips for several alternative fanzines and magazines, mouse for the local paper Anon, and St. Pancras Panda, a parody of Paddington Bear, for the Oxford-based Back Street Bugle. Alongside this, he and Phyllis, with their newborn daughter Leah, not long after this, in 1979 he also began publishing a new comic strip known as Maxwell the Magic Cat in the Northants Post, under the pseudonym of Jill de Ray. Earning a further £10 a week from this, he decided to sign off of social security, to learn more about how to write a successful comic-book script, he asked advice from his friend, comic-book writer Steve Moore, whom he had known since he was fourteen. Interested in writing for 2000AD, one of Britains most prominent comic magazines, Alan Moore then submitted a script for their long running, while the first few were rejected, Grant advised Moore on improvements, and eventually accepted the first of many
13.
Dave Gibbons
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David Chester Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and he was an artist for the UK anthology 2000 AD, for which he contributed a large body of work from its first issue in 1977. Gibbons was born on 14 April 1949, at Forest Gate Hospital in London, England, to Chester, a planner, and Gladys. He began reading books at the age of seven. A self-taught artist, he illustrated his own comic strips, Gibbons became a building surveyor but eventually entered the UK comics industry as a letterer for IPC Media. He left his job to focus on his comics career. Gibbons entered the British comics industry by working on horror and action titles for both DC Thomson and IPC, working on early feature Ro-Busters, Gibbons became one of the most prolific of 2000 ADs earliest creators, contributing artwork to 108 of the first 131 Progs/issues. He illustrated a handful of Thargs Future Shocks shorts, primarily with author Alan Moore, Gibbons was known, by sight but not by name, to readers of the short-lived IPC title Tornado. Whereas 2000 AD was said to be edited by the alien Tharg, Tornado was edited by superhero Big E,69, missing only four issues during that time. The Doctor Who Storybook 2007 features a story called Untitled which includes the name Gibbons in a list of artists of Earth history. Gibbons first DC work was on the Green Lantern Corps story in Green Lantern No,161, with writer Todd Klein, as well as the concurrently released Creeper two-part backup story in The Flash #318–319. Gibbons drew the story in The Brave and the Bold No.200 which featured a team-up of the Batmen of Earth-One. 172, Gibbons joined writer Wein on the feature while continuing to illustrate the backup features. 182, Wein and Gibbons made architect John Stewart, who had been introduced previously in issue No, ceding the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup features to various other individuals from No. 181, Gibbons last issue with Wein was issue No.186, Gibbons returned to pencil the backup story Mogo Doesnt Socialize with Alan Moore in issue No.188. For the 1985 Superman Annual No,11, Gibbons drew the main story For the Man Who Has Everything, again written by Alan Moore. In December 1986, he contributed to Harrier Comics Brickman No.1 alongside Kevin ONeill, Lew Stringer, between May and August 1988, he contributed covers to The Phantom miniseries, inked Kevin Maguires pencilled contribution to Action Comics No. 600, and produced the cover to Action Comics Weekly No.601, Gibbons believes that his own involvement likely came about after the idea was already in its early initial stages
14.
DC Rebirth
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The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the Flashpoint crossover storyline, DC cancelled all of its existing titles, among the renumbered series were Action Comics and Detective Comics, which had retained their original numbering since the 1930s. The relaunch included changes to the format, for example, print. New titles were released to bring the number of ongoing monthly series to fifty-two, various changes were also made to DCs fictional universe to entice new readers, including to DCs internal continuity to make characters more modern and accessible. In addition, characters from the Wildstorm and Vertigo imprints were absorbed into the DC Universe, the New 52 branding ended after the completion of the Convergence storyline in May 2015, although the continuity of The New 52 continued. In June 2015,24 new titles were launched, alongside 25 returning titles, in February 2016, DC announced their Rebirth initiative with the release of an 80-page one-shot on May 25,2016, and continuing through late 2016. Following the conclusion of the Flashpoint limited series, all set in the DC Universe were cancelled and relaunched with new #1 issues. The new continuity features new outfits and backstories for many of DCs long established heroes, while many characters underwent a reboot or revamp, much of the DC Universes history remained intact. DC editorial has also constructed a timeline that details the new history, on August 31,2011, Midtown Comics Times Square held a midnight event at which they began selling Justice League #1 and Flashpoint #5. On hand to sign the books were DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, the new titles were dubbed the Second Wave, Dial H, Earth 2, G. I. On June 8,2012, DC announced that in September 2012, in addition, the Third Wave of titles was announced, Talon, Sword of Sorcery, Phantom Stranger, and Team 7. With these additions to the line, Justice League International, Captain Atom, Resurrection Man, in October and November 2012, DC announced new titles Threshold, Justice League of America, Katana, Justice League of Americas Vibe, and Constantine. Threshold would be published in January 2013, Constantine in March 2013, DC later consolidated these new titles as the Fourth Wave of The New 52. Grifter, Blue Beetle, and Legion Lost were cancelled as a result, young Romance, A New 52 Valentines Day Special #1 was published as the 52nd title in February 2013. In January 2013, DC Comics announced the cancellation of I, Vampire, to celebrate the 60th birthday of Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman, DC solicited variants drawn by Mad artists for 13 titles being published in April 2013. Starting with titles released on January 28,2013, all printed New 52 publications featured advertisements for fictional news channel, Channel 52. The two page back-ups, titled Channel 52, appear in all books, starting in February 2013 and this news feature stars Bethany Snow, Ambush Bug, Vartox, and Calendar Man as reporters and anchors on the fictional in-universe news show. The art is provided by Freddie E. Williams II, each week brings new content regarding the current or future goings-on in the DC universe
15.
Superman logo
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The Superman shield, also known as the Superman logo, is the iconic emblem for the fictional DC Comics superhero Superman. As a representation of one of the first superheroes, it served as a template for character design decades after Supermans first appearance. In its original inception in Action Comics #1, Supermans symbol was a letter S with red, the symbol was first changed a few issues later in Action Comics #7. The shield varied over the first few years of the comics, the shield first became a diamond in the Fleischer cartoon serial Superman. It was black with a red S outlined with white, the S has varied in size and shape and the diamond shape containing it has also changed size and shape. It has, in most incarnations, retained its original color, the classic logo is the basis for virtually all other interpretations of the logo. In 1997s Superman Vol 2 #123 Supermans new powers forced him to find a suit that was capable of containing his new abilities, the effective material found to create Supermans suit, along with being blue and silver, was also courtesy of Lex Luthor. Not only did the colors and powers change, the logo evolved into a re-imagined electric emblem. In the miniseries Kingdom Come, an aged Superman sported an S-like symbol against a background in a red pentagon. In the 2000s TV series Smallville, the S symbol originally appeared as a diamond with an infinity symbol. Initially, the S-shield had one meaning, S for Superman, after the Superman reboot story The Man of Steel, the symbols story was that it was designed by Jonathan Kent and was derived from an ancient Native American symbol. This was also included in the 1997 Superman encyclopedia, in 2004, Mark Waids Superman, Birthright series says the S-Shield is the Kryptonian symbol for hope and Superman believes it may have begun as a coat of arms for the House of El. Later, writer Geoff Johns confirmed it was indeed a coat of arms, in the 2013 film Man of Steel, when asked by Lois Lane what the S stands for, Superman states that it is not an S, but rather the Kryptonian symbol for hope. In Supergirl Season 1, episode 2 Kara states that the Kryptonian symbol stands for her familys motto, the shield has since been taken as a coat of arms, resulting in Jor-Els continued presence in the council despite his mad findings. The other two are described, including Pol-Us eye of vigilance and Kol-Ars open hand of truth. In almost all versions, Supermans red cape has a version of the logo. A notable exception is in Superman, The Animated Series, where the logo was absent from Supermans cape, in the 2006 film Superman Returns, the logo appeared on the belt buckle in reverse colors instead of on Supermans cape. The logo is also absent from Supermans cape in the 2013 film Man of Steel, in the 2011 reboot of the comic book series, on his cape is a black pentagon and S with red background pieces
16.
Ozymandias (comics)
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Ozymandias is a fictional character in the acclaimed graphic novel miniseries Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, published by DC Comics. Named Ozymandias in the manner of Ramesses II, he is a version of the comic book character Peter Cannon. His name recalls the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, which takes as its theme the fleeting nature of empire and is excerpted as the epigraph of one of the chapters of Watchmen. Ozymandias is ranked number 25 on Wizards Top 200 Comic Book Characters list, adrian Alexander Veidt was born in 1939, and is the son of wealthy German American immigrant parents. As a child, he received high grades in school, and he then hid this information from his elders and peers by deliberately achieving average marks. His rationale was that he wanted to be free from money and make something of himself on his own, during an excursion into the Middle East, Veidt consumed a ball of hashish and developed visions of the past. At the conclusion of his travels, in Egypt, he realized that Alexander the Great was an imitation of Ramesses II who became Veidts new hero. Returning to America after a year of traveling, Veidt named himself Ozymandias and became a costumed vigilante and he debuted in early 1958 by exposing a drug ring in New York City. During the early 1960s, he was a member of the Crimebusters, which was organized by former Minuteman and adventurer Captain Metropolis, due to the increasingly negative perceptions of vigilantes by the media, Veidt predicted that the public would turn away from them. Upon completion of his project, Veidt planned to all of his accomplices and arrange the psychological deterioration. As part of his experimentation, he created a genetically-engineered feline. Watchmen starts shortly after Blakes murder, Veidt is first seen when Rorschach visits him to get his opinion on Blakes murder, Rorschach is unconvinced of Veidts theory that Blake was assassinated by a bitter arch-rival. Veidt is one of the few people attending Blakes funeral, at which he reminisces about the failed Crimebusters meeting, halfway through the Watchmen story, Veidt narrowly escapes an assassination attempt that leaves his assistant dead. The would-be assassin dies from a cyanide capsule before Veidt can interrogate him. When Rorschach and Nite-Owl arrive at Karnak, Veidts Antarctic retreat, the United States and the Soviet Union, on the brink of nuclear confrontation, would then end their feud and join forces against the supposed alien invaders. Doctor Manhattan then returns from his exile with Silk Spectre. The ever-prepared Veidt attacks them, but his method of defeating Doctor Manhattan fails. He disintegrates Manhattan, who soon reforms himself, as Rorschach prepares to return to America and reveal Veidts plan to the world, he ultimately lets Manhattan kill him
17.
Rorschach (comics)
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Rorschach is a fictional character and an antihero of the acclaimed 1986 graphic novel miniseries Watchmen, published by DC Comics. While the series has an ensemble cast, some consider Rorschach to be the protagonist as he drives most of the plot forward, in the beginning of the story, he is introduced as the only remaining active masked vigilante not employed by the government. A ruthless crime-fighter, his beliefs in moral absolutism—good and evil with no shades of grey—have driven him to seek to punish evil at all costs. Reception towards the character is positive and he has been referenced several times in comic book stories and has appeared in other forms of media. Jackie Earle Haley portrays Rorschach in the 2009 film adaptation directed by Zack Snyder, Rorschach later appears in the Before Watchmen comic book prequel, with his own individual issue miniseries. As with the rest of the characters of Watchmen, Alan Moore based Rorschach on Charlton Comics characters. The characters Rorschach was specifically based on were the Question and Mr. A, Ditko, who was inspired by the writings of Ayn Rands personal philosophy of objectivism, created both the Question and Mr. A as followers of the ideology. Regarding Rands philosophy, Moore said he found it laughable. In spite of this, Moore had a respect for Ditko despite having different views politically. Moore recalled that Ditkos very right-wing agenda was quite interesting to him at the time, and that probably led to me portraying Rorschach as an extremely right-wing character. On how he decided Rorschachs name, Moore recalls, I noticed, when I was a teenager, Moore came to view Rorschach as a logical extension of both Mr. A and the Question. On the other hand, upon being asked whether hed seen Watchmen, Ditko himself described Rorschach as being like Mister A, Moore stated that Rorschach was created as a way of exploring what an archetypical Batman-type character—a driven, vengeance-fueled vigilante—would be like in the real world. He concluded that the answer was a nutcase. Moore also stated that the tone of Rorschachs diary was inspired by the Son Of Sam letters David Berkowitz sent to the newspapers, while Moore came up with Rorschachs name and descriptions, Dave Gibbons was in charge of the characters appearance. Originally in Gibbons initial designs, Rorschach wore white clothing which had not only on his head. He also wore a large blue trench-coat, red gloves, red-blue hat, when designing the characters of the series, Gibbons said Rorschach was his favorite to draw due to his relatively simpler features. He described, If I had a character to draw. Basically, you just have to draw a hat, If you can draw a hat, then you’ve drawn Rorschach, you just draw kind of a shape for his face and put some black blobs on it and you’re done
18.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
19.
Nuclear warfare
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Nuclear warfare is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is used to inflict damage on the enemy. In contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can produce destruction in a much shorter time-frame, some activists had claimed in the 1980s that with this potential nuclear winter side-effect of a nuclear war, almost every human on Earth could starve to death. So far, two nuclear weapons have been used in the course of warfare, both by the United States near the end of World War II, on August 6,1945, a uranium gun-type device was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, a plutonium device was detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. These two bombings resulted in the deaths of approximately 120,000 people, in 1974, India, and in 1998, Pakistan, two countries that were openly hostile toward each other, developed nuclear weapons. Israel and North Korea are also thought to have developed stocks of nuclear weapons, the Israeli government has never admitted to having nuclear weapons, although it is known to have constructed the reactor and reprocessing plant necessary for building nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons have been detonated on over 2,000 occasions for testing purposes, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the resultant end of the Cold War, the threat of a major nuclear war between the two nuclear superpowers was generally thought to have declined. Since then, concern over nuclear weapons has shifted to the prevention of localized nuclear conflicts resulting from nuclear proliferation, the possibility of using nuclear weapons in war is usually divided into two subgroups, each with different effects and potentially fought with different types of nuclear armaments. The first, a nuclear war, refers to a small-scale use of nuclear weapons by two belligerents. This term could apply to any use of nuclear weapons that may involve military or civilian targets. The second, a nuclear war, could consist of large numbers of nuclear weapons used in an attack aimed at an entire country, including military, economic. Such an attack would almost certainly destroy the economic, social, and military infrastructure of the target nation. Some Cold War strategists such as Henry Kissinger argued that a nuclear war could be possible between two heavily armed superpowers. Some predict, however, that a war could potentially escalate into a full-scale nuclear war. Even the most optimistic predictions of the effects of a nuclear exchange foresee the death of many millions of victims within a very short period of time. However, such predictions, assuming total war with nuclear arsenals at Cold War highs, have not been without criticism. The authors of the study estimated that as much as five tons of soot could be released, producing a cooling of several degrees over large areas of North America. The cooling would last for years and could be catastrophic, according to the researchers, either a limited or full-scale nuclear exchange could occur during an accidental nuclear war, in which the use of nuclear weapons is triggered unintentionally
20.
Nite Owl
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Nite Owl is the name of two fictional superheroes in the comic book limited series Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics. The duo are modified analogues of the first two Blue Beetle characters created for Fox Feature Syndicate and later sold to Charlton Comics, the second Nite Owl parodies the appearance of the iconic popular superhero Batman while the first parodies The Phantom. The second Nite Owl received a four-part miniseries as part of the Before Watchmen prequel franchise, Hollis T. Mason was the first Nite Owl. At the age of 12, his left the family farm in Montana and moved to New York City. Starting out as a New York City policeman in 1938, he was inspired by Action Comics Superman and his costume was designed to free his arms and legs while protecting his chest, abdomen and head with a tough leather tunic. With the tunic hiding his hair, a domino mask concealed his identity and he became a member of the Minutemen, a masked adventurer league in mid-1939. Mason was an old school crimefighter, a real Boy Scout in the eyes of Captain Metropolis and he stopped colorful criminals like the Screaming Skull and went on to fight supposed Axis operatives including Captain Axis during World War II. He retired in May,1962 to open a business and write his memoir of his crime-fighting exploits. By reading Under the Hood, Silk Spectre II later learned of the Comedians attempted rape of her mother Silk Spectre I, soon after Hollis retired, Daniel Dreiberg sought him out and asked if he could use the name and persona of Nite Owl to fight crime. Mason acceded and Dreiberg became the second Nite Owl, after Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II break Rorschach out of prison on Halloween night, the Knot-tops street gang are angered by what they perceive to be vigilantism. Under the influence of the drug KT-28, the Knot-tops believe Mason to be the same Nite Owl who had participated in the prison break, Daniel learns about Holliss murder and vows revenge on the gang. He beat up one of Knot-Tops gang member and he threatens to kill him, however, Ozymandias monster ultimately kills the gang leader that murdered Hollis. Born in 1945, Daniel Dreiberg, a Batman-like figure, relied more upon technical wizardry and tools than toughness, all of his gadgets and costumes are based on an owl theme. Dreiberg met fellow costumed adventurer Rorschach, who suggested they partner to take on organized crime, the two became, not only a team, but also best friends. He supported the idea of costumed vigilantes forming a group to fight crime strategically, but Rorschach, Rorschach would later say regarding his retirement, No staying power. Following the Keene Act, he contributed articles to ornithological journals. As a costumed adventurer he would also have had access to fellow hero Dr. Manhattans futuristically advanced level of nuclear technology, Dreiberg becomes romantically entangled with the second Silk Spectre, Laurie Juspeczyk, after she leaves Doctor Manhattan. He returns to vigilantism along with her, beginning with a night out in costume in which they successfully save the occupants of a burning building
21.
Jonathan and Martha Kent
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Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent, often referred to as Pa and Ma Kent, are the fictional adoptive parents of Superman. They live in the town of Smallville, Kansas. The Kents are usually portrayed as caring parents who instill within Clark a strong sense of morals, in a few continuities, Martha is also the one who creates Clarks superhero costume. In DC Comics continuity before John Byrnes 1986 reboot of the Superman story, in post-Crisis continuity, they both remain alive even after Clark becomes an adult, with the Kents as supporting characters until Pa Kents death during an attack by the supervillain Brainiac. Ma Kent remains a character in Superman comics until 2011s the New 52 continuity reboot. The Kents first names vary in stories from the 1940s and this issue firmly establishes that it is the Kents who discover the infant Kal-El. The Kents take him to a home for foundlings and express an interest in adopting him and this story also establishes that Clark is Mary Kents maiden name. Oddly, no mention of Superboy is included, though that feature had already been established, Pa Kent is first named Jonathan in Adventure Comics v1 #149. Ma Kent is first named Marthe in Superboy v1 #12 and Martha in subsequent appearances and her full name is given as Martha Hudson Clark Kent in answer to a letter writers query in Superman v1 #148. The Kents made few appearances in Superman stories until the introduction of the Superboy comic book series in 1949, in this series, they are regular supporting characters of the teenage superhero. The Superboy stories establish the Kents backstory, Jonathan, a former race car driver, is a farmer on a farm just outside Smallville. After he and Martha find the toddler Kal-El in his rocket, they take him to the Smallville Orphanage and later adopt him. They soon discover that Clark possesses an array of superpowers. Around the time Clark starts school, the Kents sell their farm, and the moves into Smallville. During Clarks early grade school years, Jonathan trains young Clark in the use of his superpowers to the best of his knowledge while urging him to keep the use of his powers a secret, at the age of eight, Clark begins a superhero career as Superboy. The Kents assist their son on many adventures as Superboy. In Superboy vol.1 #145, Jonathan and Martha are rejuvenated physically, after this, Jonathan and Martha were drawn by artists as late middle-aged — as opposed to elderly — in appearance until Supermans 1986 reboot. Before dying, Jonathan reminds Clark that he must always use his powers for the benefit of humanity, Clark mourns his parents and moves to Metropolis to attend college
22.
Lois Lane
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Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1, Lois is a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper, the Daily Planet, an award-winning journalist and the primary love interest of Superman. Her physical appearance was based on Joanne Carter, a model hired by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. For her character, Siegel was inspired by actress Glenda Farrell, Siegel took her name from actress Lola Lane. She was also influenced by the real-life journalist Nellie Bly, depictions of the character have varied spanning the comics and other media adaptations. The original Golden Age version of Lois Lane, as well as versions of her from the 1970s onwards, portrays Lois as a tough-as-nails journalist and intellectually equal to Superman. During the Silver Age of Comics, she was the star of Supermans Girl Friend, Lois Lane, beginning in 2015, she stars as the protagonist in the young adult novel series, Lois Lane, by writer Gwenda Bond. Lois is among the female comic book characters. She has appeared in various Superman media adaptations, Actress Noel Neill first portrayed Lois Lane in the 1940s Superman film series and late reprise her role in the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. Margot Kidder played the character in four Superman films in the 1970s and 80s, Teri Hatcher portrayed her in the 1990s television series Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman and Erica Durance in the 00s series, Smallville. In the 2006 film Superman Returns, she was played by Kate Bosworth, the character was most recently portrayed by actress Amy Adams in the films Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice. Lois Lane was one of the first female comic book characters introduced in the superhero comics, Lois is the daughter of Ella and Sam Lane. In earlier comics, her parents were farmers in a town called Pittsdale and she has one younger sibling, her sister Lucy Lane. Lois is a journalist for the Daily Planet, one of the best investigative reporters, in some stories, she has been shown obtaining superpowers and becoming a superhero. Some of her superhero identities are Superwoman and Red Tornado of Earth 2, aspects of Lois personality have varied over the years, depending on the comic book writers handling of the character and American social attitudes toward women at the time. In most incarnations, Lois has been depicted as a smart, determined, strong-willed and her physical appearance has varied over the years, depending either on contemporary fashion, or media adaptations. Traditionally in the comics, the character has shown with black hair, however, from the late 1980s through the 90s. In other media, shes been shown with blonde hair on the television series Smallville
23.
Gotham City
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Gotham City or Gotham is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batmans place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4, the city is depicted as being within close proximity to Metropolis, and the vast majority of DC Comics references place Gotham City specifically in New Jersey. Cities such as New York City and Chicago have also influenced the look, within the DC Extended Universe, the 2016 film Suicide Squad reveals Gotham City to be located in New Jersey. Writer Bill Finger, on the naming of the city and the reason for changing Batmans locale from New York City to a city, said. Then I tried Capital City, then Coast City, then I flipped through the New York City phone book and spotted the name Gotham Jewelers and said, Thats it, Gotham City. We didnt call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it, irving took the name from the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, England, a place inhabited, according to folklore, by fools. The villages name derives from Old English gāt goat and hām home, literally homestead where goats are kept, the Joker references this etymology in Detective Comics #880, in which he tells Batman that the word means a safe place for goats. In contrast, Gotham as used for New York has a different pronunciation by analogy to other words spelled with th and is pronounced as /ˈɡɒθəm/ GOTH-əm, like the word Goth. In Amazing World of DC Comics #14, publisher Mark Gruenwald discusses the history of the Justice League, Worlds Finest Comics #259 also confirms that Gotham is in New Jersey. In the World’s Greatest Super Heroes comic strip, a map is shown placing Gotham City in New Jersey, New Adventures of Superboy #22 and the 1990 Atlas of the DC Universe both show maps of Gotham City in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware. Detective Comics #503 includes several references suggesting Gotham City is in New Jersey, a location on the Jersey Shore is described as twenty miles north of Gotham, and Robin and Batgirl drive from a secret New Jersey airfield to Gotham City and then drive on the Hudson County Highway. Hudson County is the name of a county in New Jersey. Batman, Shadow of the Bat, Annual #1 further establishes that Gotham City is in New Jersey, sal E. Jordans drivers license in the comic reveals his address is 72 Faxcol Dr Gotham City, NJ12345. Gotham City is the home of Batman, just as Metropolis is the home of Superman, given the close proximity of the two cities, Batman and Superman often work together and frequent each others cities. Gotham City is usually depicted to be within driving distance of Metropolis, the Atlas of the DC Universe from the 1990s places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in New Jersey. During the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the Metro-Narrows Bridge was depicted as the route connecting the twin cities of Metropolis. It has been described as being the longest suspension bridge in the world, a map appeared in The New Adventures of Superboy #22, that showed Smallville within driving distance of both Metropolis and Gotham City. However, the location of the two cities has varied
24.
Conspiracy theory
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Conspiracy theories often produce hypotheses that contradict the prevailing understanding of history or simple facts. The term is a derogatory one, people formulate conspiracy theories to explain, for example, power relations in social groups and the perceived existence of evil forces. Conspiracy theories have chiefly psychological or socio-political origins, some people prefer socio-political explanations over the insecurity of encountering random, unpredictable, or otherwise inexplicable events. Some philosophers have argued that belief in conspiracy theories can be rational, the Oxford English Dictionary defines conspiracy theory as the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties, spec. A belief that some covert but influential agency is responsible for an unexplained event, as a neutral term, conspiracy is derived from Latin con- and spirare. In many respects, they have a right to be angry, the phrase conspiracy theory is not neutral. It is value-laden and carries with it condemnation, ridicule, and it is a lot like the word cult, which we use to describe religions we do not like. Clare Birchall at Kings College London describes conspiracy theory as a form of knowledge or interpretation. By acquiring the knowledge, conspiracy theory is considered alongside more legitimate modes of knowing. The relationship between legitimate and illegitimate knowledge, Birchall claims, is far closer than common dismissals of conspiracy theory would have us believe, other popular knowledge might include alien abduction narratives, gossip, some new age philosophies, religious beliefs, and astrology. Harry G. West discusses conspiracy theories as a part of American popular culture, comparing them to hypernationalism, some theories have dealt with censorship and excoriation from the law such as the Holocaust denial. Currently, conspiracy theories are present on the Web in the form of blogs and YouTube videos. Whether the Web has increased the prevalence of conspiracy theories or not is a research question. By contrast, the term Watergate conspiracy theory is used to refer to a variety of hypotheses in which those convicted in the conspiracy were in fact the victims of a deeper conspiracy. In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime at some time in the future, as one basic American police academy text defines it, When a crime requires a large number of people, a conspiracy is formed. Conspiracy theory examines the actions of secretive coalitions of individuals. S, sociologist Türkay Salim Nefes underlines the political nature of conspiracy theories. He suggests that one of the most important characteristics of these accounts is their attempt to unveil the real, according to Barkun, the appeal of conspiracism is threefold, First, conspiracy theories claim to explain what institutional analysis cannot. They appear to sense out of a world that is otherwise confusing
25.
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
26.
Wayne Enterprises
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The American diversified multinational conglomerate is owned and chaired by American billionaire Bruce Wayne, who is also Batman. Wayne Enterprises is a company based out of Gotham City. Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Foundation are largely run by Bruce Waynes business manager Lucius Fox, Fox makes most company decisions on Bruce Waynes behalf, since Waynes time is largely occupied as the vigilante Batman. Fox is typically depicted as being unaware that Wayne is Batman, founded by merchant ancestors of the Wayne family in the 17th century as a merchant house, it is among the oldest companies in the DC Universe. The company began as a dozen businesses started by Judge Solomon, with the revenue generated Judge Wayne essentially built Gotham City by hiring Cyrus Pinkney. Judge Waynes and heir, Alan Wayne, officially made it a company in the 19th century. Alan Wayne, who was Bruce Waynes great, great grandfather, erected Wayne Shipping, Wayne Chemical, all these companies were energized by the worlds Industrial Revolution, more branches were created and diversified while others dwindled and were discarded. Along the years, it has developed from a merchant house to a multinational conglomerate company in the DC Universe, exceeding LexCorp, Stagg Enterprises. Under the control of Patrick and Laura Wayne, Wayne Enterprises became a green company, Wayne Tower is the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. Also called Old Wayne Tower and Wayne Industries Headquarters, it was built in 1888 by Alan Wayne, after its construction, the tower was the tallest building in Gotham City. Built as a symbol to all of those who enter the city, Wayne Tower has 13 gargoyles or guardians. There is a gargoyle or guardian, to visitors for each entry point into the city. The five guardians on the first tier watch the original five gateways into Gotham, higher up, the seven guardians watch the seven train lines that converge at Union Station below the towers base. A 13th guardian was added in 1930 and sits in the middle of the tower and this last one, added by Henry Wayne, watches the airport and cannot be seen by elevator or from the deck. At the top of the tower is an observation deck which Alan Wayne asserted be open to the public for every weekend. It has double bonded laminated float glass for windows that are crystal-quality, weatherproof, the Wayne Foundation is the holding company for the Thomas Wayne Foundation and the Martha Wayne Foundation, it is the largest transparently operated private foundation within the DC Universe. It also has an elevator that leads to a matching Batcave in a secret sub-basement under the building. This arrangement also provides a network of connections in the world of charities
27.
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
28.
Lex Luthor
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Alexander Joseph Lex Luthor is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Lex Luthor first appeared in Action Comics #23 and has endured as the archenemy of Superman. The character is a wealthy, power-mad American business magnate, engineer, philanthropist to the city of Metropolis, given his high status as a supervillain, he also comes into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Lex Luthor has traditionally lacked superpowers or an identity and typically appears with a bald head. He periodically wears his Warsuit, a battle suit giving him enhanced strength, flight. Lex Luthor is the owner of a corporation called LexCorp, with Mercy Graves as his personal assistant, Luthor has carefully crafted his public persona in order to avoid suspicion and arrest. He is well known for his philanthropy, donating vast sums of money to Metropolis over the years, funding parks, foundations, and charities. The character was ranked 4th on IGNs list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time, Luthor is one of a few genre-crossing villains whose adventures take place in a world in which the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended. In his first appearance, Action Comics #23, Luthor is depicted as a genius and is referred to only by his surname. He resides in a city suspended by a dirigible and plots to provoke a war between two European nations. Lois Lane and Clark Kent investigate, which results in Lois being kidnapped, Luthor battles Superman with a green ray but Luthor is ultimately defeated by him, and Lois is rescued. Superman destroys Luthors dirigible with him still on it, implying Luthor may have died, Luthor returns in Superman #4 and steals a weapon from the U. S. Army that is capable of causing earthquakes. Superman battles and defeats Luthor, and the device is destroyed by Superman. The scientist who made the device commits suicide to prevent its reinvention. In a story in the issue, Luthor is also shown to have created a city on the sunken Lost Continent of Pacifo and to have recreated prehistoric monsters. Superman thwarts his plans, and Luthor appears to have killed by the dinosaurs he created. Luthor returns in Superman #5 with a plan to place hypnotic gas in the offices of influential people and he intends to throw the nation into a depression with the help of corrupt financier Moseley, but the story ends with Superman defeating him. Luthors obsessive hatred of Superman came later in the characters development, in Luthors earliest appearances, he is shown as a middle-aged man with a full head of red hair
29.
Metropolis (comics)
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Metropolis is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of Superman. First appearing by name in Action Comics #16, Metropolis is depicted as a prosperous and massive city in the Northeastern United States, within close proximity to Gotham City. The co-creator and original artist of Superman, Joe Shuster, modeled the Metropolis skyline after Toronto, since then, however, the look and feel of Metropolis has been greatly influenced by New York City. Within the DC Universe, Metropolis is depicted as being one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world, Superman co-creator Joe Shuster moved to Cleveland at age ten, where he met co-creator and Ohio native Jerry Siegel. Action Comics #2, however, mistakenly portrays Clark Kent as a reporter for the Cleveland Evening News, in Superman #2, Metropolis was actually placed in the US state of New York, making it the earliest specific reference to the location of Metropolis. In that issue, Clark Kent sends a telegram to George Taylor, in the 1940s Superman cartoons, produced by Paramount Pictures and Fleischer Studios, Superman is said to live on the island of Manhattan. In the seventh cartoon of the series, Electric Earthquake, a Native American mad scientist claims that his people are the owners of Manhattan. Metropolis is even seen spelled out twice on the Metropolis Munition Works and that same column stated that Green Arrows home, Star City, was in Connecticut, Flashs Central City was in Ohio, and Hawkmans Midway City was in Michigan. An earlier issue of DCs fanzine Amazing World of DC Comics, however, stated that Metropolis was located in Delaware, the 1990 Atlas of the DC Universe role playing game supplement, published by Mayfair Games, states that Metropolis is in Delaware. The most blatant of these might be the statement he cites from Action Comics #143, the Statue of Liberty, in fact, stands in New York Harbor. In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths comics, Smallville was often shown as being within driving distance of Metropolis, John Byrnes 1986 revamp of Superman cited the city as being in Kansas. The beam from that machine is depicted originating from the area of the mid-western United States where Kansas is located, in the second part of the episode Last Son of Krypton when Lois is introduced to Clark Kent, she is told he is from Smallville, she replies Smallville. Never heard of it, prompting Clark Kent to ask her if she had ever been to Kansas, Lois replies God No. while turning her head in a sign of visible disgust. Frank Miller has said that Metropolis is New York in the daytime, Gotham City is home to Batman, whose activities are more often nocturnal, while Metropolis is home to Superman, who usually operates during the day. New York City has been recently used as a locale in the DC Universe, like the Marvel Universe, in which it exists as a separate city from Metropolis. The Justice Society of America, for example, is based in New York, Metropolis is frequently depicted as being within driving distance of Gotham City, home of Batman. This happens, for example, in the three-issue 1990 mini-series of Worlds Finest Comics by Dave Gibbons, Steve Rude, in Bronze Age stories that depicted Metropolis and Gotham City as twin cities, the Metro-Narrows Bridge was said to be the main route connecting Metropolis to Gotham City. A similar map appeared in The New Adventures of Superboy #22, 1990s The Atlas of the DC Universe also places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in New Jersey
30.
Johnny Thunder
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Johnny Thunder is the name of three fictional characters in comics published by DC Comics. A fourth character has the variant name Jonni Thunder, the first, second, and fourth characters are superheroes, while the third character is a supervillain. Johnny Thunder first appeared in Flash Comics #1 and was created by John Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier. John L. Thunder is the son of a seventh son, born at 7 a. m. on Saturday, July 7, the seventh day of the week. This causes him to be kidnapped and sold to a group of men from the country of Badhnesia who had been looking for someone born at this time on this day. However, the plan is aborted after an attack from a neighboring country. Johnny underwent several adventures before finally learning of the Thunderbolts existence, in the first few issues of Flash Comics the title of the feature was Johnny Thunderbolt. He accidentally joined, when saying he felt the Justice Society should have let him join, despite recurring impatience with his stupidity, his fellow JSAers genuinely valued Johnnys good-heartedness and dedication and considered him a friend. He finally became a member after the Flash left and the group told him to capture Mister X, like most of the JSA members, he had his aging factor greatly slowed during an encounter with the villain Ian Karkull. Johnnys adventures ceased in the late 1940s when he was replaced in the Justice Society stories by a heroine he had begun teaming up with, the Black Canary. The reason for his leaving the Justice Society is eventually explained to be that his control over his Thunderbolt is weakening, in the early 1950s, Johnny is kidnapped again by agents from Badhnesia, with the intention of executing their original world conquest plan. Johnny manages to summon Superman, and the would-be conquerors plans are defeated, Johnny spent some time in Badhnesia afterwards, teaching the native citizens about democracy. He returns home after the country elects its first President, Johnny joins the Justice Society on various adventures. Following the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was the one-shot Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special and this book depicted the sacrifice of Johnny and his JSA teammates as they left the new post-Crisis world and entered into a limbo dimension. Caused by the actions of Adolf Hitler in April 1945, a wave of destruction appears over Earth even as it is settling down from the Crisis, in order to stop a literal Ragnarök, the heroes enter into an eternal battle, and so leave the world. The absence of the JSA and of Johnny Thunder did not last long, in 1992 DC published Armageddon, Inferno, the mini-series which brought the JSA out of limbo and into the post-Crisis world. This was followed by Justice Society of America and this series showed how the heroes were adjusting to a normal life. Johnny is depicted as a man, not as old as his friends
31.
Joker (character)
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The Joker is a fictional supervillain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson who first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book Batman published by DC Comics. Credit for the Jokers creation is disputed, Kane and Robinson claimed responsibility for the Jokers design, although the Joker was planned to be killed off during his initial appearance, he was spared by editorial intervention, allowing the character to endure as the archenemy of the superhero Batman. In his comic appearances, the Joker is portrayed as a criminal mastermind. The Joker has had various possible origin stories during his decades of appearances, the most common story involves him falling into a tank of chemical waste which bleaches his skin white, turns his hair green, and his lips bright red, the resulting disfigurement drives him insane. The antithesis of Batman in personality and appearance, the Joker is considered by critics to be his perfect adversary, the 1990s introduced a romantic interest for the Joker in his former psychiatrist, Harley Quinn, who becomes his villainous sidekick. Although his primary obsession is Batman, the Joker has also fought other heroes including Superman, one of the most iconic characters in popular culture, the Joker has been listed among the greatest comic book villains and fictional characters ever created. The characters popularity has seen him appear on a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectable items, inspire real-world structures, Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, and others have provided the characters voice. Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson are credited with creating the Joker, Robinson claimed that it was his 1940 card sketch that served as the characters concept, and which Finger associated with Veidts portrayal. Kane hired the 17-year-old Robinson as an assistant in 1939, after he saw Robinson in a white jacket decorated with his own illustrations, beginning as a letterer and background inker, Robinson quickly became primary artist for the newly created Batman comic book series. In a 1975 interview in The Amazing World of DC Comics, Robinson said he wanted a supreme arch-villain who could test Batman and he wanted an exotic, enduring character as an ongoing source of conflict for Batman, designing a diabolically sinister-but-clownish villain. Robinson was intrigued by villains, his studies at Columbia University taught him that some characters are made up of contradictions, leading to the Jokers sense of humor. He said that the name came first, followed by an image of a card from a deck he often had at hand. I wanted somebody that would make an impression, would be bizarre. He told Finger about his concept by telephone, later providing sketches of the character, Finger thought the concept was incomplete, providing the image of Veidt with a ghastly, permanent rictus grin. In a 1994 interview with journalist Frank Lovece, Kane stated his position, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson came to me with a playing card of the Joker. Thats the way I sum it up, looks like Conrad Veidt – you know, the actor in The Man Who Laughs, by Victor Hugo. Bill Finger had a book with a photograph of Conrad Veidt and showed it to me and said, Jerry Robinson had absolutely nothing to do with it, but hell always say he created it till he dies. He brought in a card, which we used for a couple of issues for him to use as his playing card
32.
Arkham Asylum
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Arkham Asylum first appeared in Batman #258, written by Dennis ONeil and drawn by Irv Novick. Arkham Asylum serves as a hospital for the Gotham City area. Arkham Asylum is located in the greater Gotham City area, sometimes depicted as being on the outskirts of the city, Arkham is where Batmans foes who are considered to be mentally ill are brought as patients. Although it has had numerous administrators, recent comic books have featured Jeremiah Arkham, in addition, prisoners with unusual medical conditions that prevent them from staying in a regular prison are housed in Arkham. Arkham Asylum, on the outskirts of Gotham City, has a long and brutal history, beginning when its own architect became mentally unwell and he was convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the same asylum he had been building. The one-shot graphic novel Arkham Asylum, A Serious House on Serious Earth establishes that the asylum was named after Elizabeth Arkham, the original name of the asylum was Arkham Hospital. Its dark history began in the early 1900s when Arkhams mother, having suffered from mental illness most of her life, however, it was later revealed that her son had actually euthanized her, and repressed the memory. Amadeus then decided, as the heir to the Arkham estate, to remodel his family home in order to properly treat the mentally ill. Upon telling his family of his plans, they moved back to his home to oversee the remodeling. Shortly afterward, Amadeus Arkham returned to his home to find his front door wide open, inside, he discovered the corpses of his wife and daughter in an upstairs room, with Mad Dogs alias carved on Harriets body. Despite this family tragedy, the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane officially opened that November, with his sanity in tatters, Dr. Arkham designed a floor plan that evoked occult runes, he believed that the pattern would drive away the mysterious bat that haunted his dreams. One of its first patients was Mad Dog, whom Amadeus Arkham insisted on treating personally, after treating Mad Dog for six months, Amadeus Arkham strapped him to an electroshock couch then deliberately and purposefully electrocuted him. The staff treated the death as an accident, but it contributed to Amadeus Arkhams gradual descent into mental illness, eventually, Amadeus Arkham was a patient in his own asylum, where he died. Arkham Asylum first appeared in October 1974 in Batman #258, written by Dennis ONeil, in this story, it is named as Arkham Hospital, although it is not clear what kind of hospital it is. Also in 1979, the move to have the closer to Gotham had begun, that was completed in 1980. It is perhaps for this reason that Batman #326 is listed in some histories as the first appearance of Arkham Asylum and it was also Wein who, in 1985s Whos Who #1, created its current backstory. Arkham Asylum has been demolished or destroyed several times in its history, notably during the events of Batman and it is also seriously damaged at the beginning of the Knightfall storyline, when Bane uses stolen munitions to blow up the facility and release all the patients. After these events, the asylum is relocated to a mansion known as Mercey Mansion
33.
Antarctica
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It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,000,000 square kilometres, it is the fifth-largest continent, for comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km in thickness, Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents. Antarctica is a desert, with precipitation of only 200 mm along the coast. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2 °C, though the average for the quarter is −63 °C. Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra. The continent, however, remained neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of easily accessible resources. In 1895, the first confirmed landing was conducted by a team of Norwegians, Antarctica is a de facto condominium, governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty System that have consulting status. Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959, and thirty-eight have signed it since then, the treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, prohibits nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal, supports scientific research, and protects the continents ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists from many nations, the name Antarctica is the romanised version of the Greek compound word ἀνταρκτική, feminine of ἀνταρκτικός, meaning opposite to the Arctic, opposite to the north. Aristotle wrote in his book Meteorology about an Antarctic region in c.350 B. C, marinus of Tyre reportedly used the name in his unpreserved world map from the 2nd century A. D. Before acquiring its present geographical connotations, the term was used for locations that could be defined as opposite to the north. For example, the short-lived French colony established in Brazil in the 16th century was called France Antarctique, the first formal use of the name Antarctica as a continental name in the 1890s is attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew. Antarctica has no population and there is no evidence that it was seen by humans until the 19th century. Explorer Matthew Flinders, in particular, has credited with popularising the transfer of the name Terra Australis to Australia. Cook came within about 120 km of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of ice in January 1773. The first confirmed sighting of Antarctica can be narrowed down to the crews of ships captained by three individuals, according to various organisations, ships captained by three men sighted Antarctica or its ice shelf in 1820, von Bellingshausen, Edward Bransfield, and Nathaniel Palmer
34.
Remorse
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Remorse is an emotional expression of personal regret felt by a person after they have committed an act which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or violent. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and self-directed resentment, when a person regrets an earlier action or failure to act, it may be because of remorse or in response to various other consequences, including being punished for the act or omission. In a legal context, the remorse of an offender is assessed by Western justice systems during trials, sentencing, parole hearings. However, it has pointed out that epistemological problems arise in assessing an offenders level of remorse. A person who is incapable of feeling remorse is often labelled with antisocial personality disorder - as characterized in the DSM IV-TR, in general, a person needs to be unable to feel fear, as well as remorse, in order to develop psychopathic traits. Legal and business such as insurance have done research on the expression of remorse via apologies, primarily because of the potential litigation. Two studies on apologising are The Five Languages of Apology by Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas, apologies may also include some form of restitution, compensation or token gesture in line with the damage that you caused. John Kleefeld has encapsulated this into four Rs that typically make for a fully effective apology, remorse, responsibility, resolution and reparation. When an apology is delayed, for if a friend has been wronged and the offending party does not apologise. This is sometimes known as compounding remorse, compunction refers to the act of actively expressing remorse, usually requiring the remorseful individual to physically approach the person to whom they are expressing regret. In a study led by Leanne ten Brinke, a professor at the University of British Columbia, participants genuine, Brinke and others found a significant difference in the presence of facial expressions in real and false remorse. The positive emotions felt by participants demonstrating a deceptive description of remorse are likely due to the leakage of genuine feelings from incomplete deception, in contrast to deceptive and falsified accounts, genuine accounts were expressed with fewer emotions. Participants showing deceptive or falsified emotions overcompensated their emotional performance, genuine negative feelings of remorse leaked by the lower face were immediately covered up with a neutral expression. Psychopathic individuals are best known for their flagrant disregard for social and moral norms, psychopaths have dysfunctional personal relationships, characterized by violence, exploitation, and philandering. Emotionally, they are incapable of feeling guilt or empathy, they respond abnormally to fear and pain, and other emotions are shallow compared to population norms. Psychopaths refuse to adopt social and moral norms because they are not swayed by the emotions, such as guilt, remorse, or fear of retribution, as human beings, we hold dear to the value of remorse. The lack of remorse leads us to all believe a person to be despicable and it is widely accepted that remorse is the proper reaction to any misconduct. Remorse may originate in from either actual or contrived regret for the misconduct that results in getting caught or causing harm, research has shown that the facial expressions of offenders on trial affect the jurys attitude and, in turn, the sentencing decision
35.
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time
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Is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in 1994, consisting of an eponymous five-issue central miniseries and a number of tie-in books. The crossover involved almost every DC Universe monthly series published at the time, the issues of the series itself were numbered in reverse order, beginning with issue #4 and ending with #0. The series was written and penciled by Dan Jurgens, with inks by Jerry Ordway and this series is noted for its motif of the DC Universe gradually fading out as events reached their climax. Was intended by DC as a belated follow-up to their landmark limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths and it promised to do for the inconsistent future timelines of the DC Universe what Crisis had done for its parallel worlds, unify them into a new one. This event served as an opportunity to reconcile some of the problems left unaddressed by Crisis, the character of Hawkman was one of the most problematic, since the revised version did not first appear until 1989. This raised the question of what version of Hawkman had been seen since 1986, the Legion of Super-Heroes faced similar problems with the eliminations of Superboy and Supergirl from DC continuity. These and other retcons were not always received by readers. The Sandman, Worlds End is loosely connected with Zero Hour, then a wave of nothingness is seen moving from the end of time to its beginning, erasing entire historical ages in the process. The apparent villain of the story presented in the miniseries was a character named Extant, formerly Hawk of the duo Hawk, Extant had acquired temporal powers, using them to unravel the DC Universes timeline. In a confrontation with members of the Justice Society of America, Extant aged several of them, calling himself Parallax, Jordan had gone insane, and was now trying to remake the universe, undoing the events which had caused his breakdown and his own murderous actions following it. Although Jordan was severely weakened from using so much energy he managed to survive when Green Arrow shot an arrow into his heart. DC published a fold-out timeline inside the cover of Zero Hour #0 which identified various events and key stories which were part of its newly singular timeline. The Legion of Super-Heroes continuity was completely rebooted following Zero Hour, and they resumed their previous numbering or went on to #1, for new series, the following month. A major part of Batmans origin was retconned after the events in Zero Hour, in this version, Batman never caught or confronted the killer of his parents, and more importantly, Batman was thought of as being an urban legend. Also, Catwoman was not a prostitute, but rather lived in the low area of Gotham. Finally, contributing to a point not fully explored in Batman, Year Three. For those and other reasons, DC later introduced a variation of the concept of the Multiverse. In the end, this more ecumenical solution did not satisfy DC editors either, inevitably leading to the Infinite Crisis event in 2005, Zero Hour also served to launch or end several ongoing series
36.
Saturn Girl
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Saturn Girl is a fictional character appearing in DC comic books. A talented telepath from the 30th century, Imra first appeared in Adventure Comics #247 as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Imras Saturn Girl title refers to her homeworld of Titan, the largest moon of the planet Saturn and she was ranked 50th in Comics Buyers Guides 100 Sexiest Women in Comics list. There have been three versions of Imra since her debut, separated by the events of both the Zero Hour and Infinite Crisis limited series. During the Silver Age of comics, 30th century Earth is a member of the United Planets and home to its military branch, the most talented telepath among a race of powerful mentalists, Imra left her homeworld of Titan to join the Science Police as a teenager. However, during her flight to Earth, an attempt was made on the life of fellow passenger. Using her powers of telepathy, Imra discovered the plot, and and they traveled back to the 20th century and gave him a place on the team after he passed their tests. When Lex Luthor and the Legion of Super-Villains were about to kill Superman, Saturn Girl offered to die in his place, using her telepathy, Imra forced the other Legionnaires to vote her leader and then ordered them not to use their powers during the attack. However, Lightning Lad defied her orders and took her place in death, distraught over his selfless act of devotion, Imra vowed to do all in her power to bring him back. A method was developed which could revive Lightning Lad. Imra again interfered in the process to ensure hers was the life taken, but her plan was foiled by Proty, Proty admired Imra and tricked her so that it could take her place. Upon Protys death, Lightning Lad was restored, despite this series of events, Imras leadership was highly valued in the Legion, and her position as leader, despite its means of acquisition, was allowed to stand. She earned a second term the following year, as leader of the Legion, Saturn Girl was the first female comic book character to head a group of superheroes. Romantically, Lightning Lad had pursued Imra for some time, however, after he sacrificed his life for her own, she understood the depth of his feelings and came to realize that she returned them. After dating for almost ten years, Garth proposed marriage but Imra initially rejected his offer due to a Legion rule which forced married members to retire, after consulting with her mentors on Titan, however, Imra relented. However, the retirement was short-lived, a few months after their marriage, war broke out in which all active Legionnaires were captured. Imras telepathic skills were instrumental in the Legions eventual victory, the Ranzzes returned to active duty until Imra gave birth to their son, Graym, after which they both retired in order to devote their energy to him. Unbeknown to the couple, however, Graym had a twin who was stolen at birth by Darkseid and transported into the past, Validus fought the Legion on numerous occasions, but was eventually returned as a normal infant to his parents by Darkseid at Imras insistence
37.
Alfred Pennyworth
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Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with Batman. Pennyworth is depicted as Bruce Waynes loyal and tireless butler, legal guardian, best friend, aide-de-camp, as an ex-Special Air Service operative of honor and ethics with connections within the intelligence community, he has been called Batmans batman. He also provides comic relief, as his sarcastic and cynical attitude often adds humor to dialogue between himself and Batman, a vital part of the Batman mythos, Alfred was nominated for the Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Supporting Male Character in 1994. The character first appeared in Batman #16, and was created by writers Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and artist Jerry Robinson. DC editors wanted the comic Alfred to resemble his cinematic counterpart, so in Detective Comics #83, Alfred vacationed at a health resort and this look has remained with the character ever since, even surviving his apparent death and resurrection. Alfred was originally conceived as a foil for Batman and Robin. In most early tales, he made bungling attempts to be a detective on a par with the young masters and he was given a four-page feature of his own, and the feature lasted thirteen issues, skipping Batman #35, with the last story in Batman #36. The stories followed a formula, with Alfred solving a crime. In later years, the aspects of the character were downplayed. To that end, Alfred introduced himself to Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson at Wayne Manor and insisted on becoming their valet. Although the pair did not want one, especially since they did not want to jeopardize their secret identities with a servant in the house, they did not have the heart to reject Alfred. Initially, Alfred discovered their identities by accident, while fighting a burglar in Batman #16, he hit a switch. As it turned out, the wounds were insignificant. Since then, Alfred included the support staff duties of the Dynamic Duo on top of his regular tasks, ironically, Alfreds loyalty would lead him to become a member of Batmans rogues gallery. While pushing Batman and Robin out of the way of a falling boulder and it was revealed in Detective #356 that he had been revived by a scientist named Brandon Crawford. His time as the Outsider is collected in Showcase Presents, Batman Volumes 1 and 2, Alfred was later reunited with his long-lost daughter, Julia Remarque, though this element was not included in Post-Crisis comics. Her mother was the DC war heroine Mademoiselle Marie, whom Alfred had met while working as an agent in occupied France during World War II. In the Post-Crisis comics continuity, Alfred has been the Wayne family valet all of Bruces life and had helped his master establish his career from the beginning
38.
Arms race
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An arms race, in its original usage, is a competition between two or more parties/groups to have the best armed forces. Each party competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, superior military technology, the term is also used to describe a competitive situation, in which the purpose is only to be more successful than ones competitors. From 1891 to 1914, an arms race between the United Kingdom and Germany took place. British concern about rapid increase in German naval power resulted in a building competition of Dreadnought-class ships. This tense arms race lasted until 1914, when the war broke out, after the war, a new arms race developed among the victorious Allies, which was temporarily ended by the Washington Naval Treaty. A nuclear arms race developed during the Cold War, a period between the Soviet Union and the United States and some other countries. This was one of the causes that began the cold war. On both sides, perceived advantages of the led to large spending on armaments and the stockpiling of vast nuclear arsenals. Proxy wars were all over the world in which the superpowers conventional weapons were pitted against each other. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, tensions decreased and the nuclear arsenal of both countries were reduced. More generically, the arms race is used to describe any competition where there is no absolute goal. An arms race may also imply futility as the competitors spend a great deal of time and money, an evolutionary arms race is a system where two populations are evolving in order to continuously one-up members of the other population. This is related to the Red Queen effect, where two organisms co-evolve to overcome each other but each fails to progress relative to the other interactant, rowohlt, Reinbek 1984, ISBN 3-499-11450-X Jürgen Bruhn, Der Kalte Krieg oder, Die Totrüstung der Sowjetunion
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Justice League
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The Justice League, also known as the Justice League of America, is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The Justice League was conceived by writer Gardner Fox, and first appeared in The Brave, the team is an assemblage of superheroes who join together as the Justice League. The seven original members were Batman, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The team roster has rotated throughout the years, consisting of many superheroes from the DC Universe like Atom, Black Canary, Shazam, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Cyborg, the Justice League received its own comic book title called Justice League of America in November 1960. With the 2011 relaunch of its titles, DC Comics released a volume of Justice League. In July 2016, the DC Rebirth initiative relaunched the Justice League comic book titles with the volume of Justice League. Since its inception, the team has featured in various television programs. Various comic book featuring the Justice League have remained generally popular with fans since inception and, in most incarnations. A live-action film was also in the works around 2008 before being shelved, on June 6,2012, Warner Bros. announced a new live action Justice League film was in development with Will Beall hired as screenwriter. However, the project was scrapped again, after the success of the Superman reboot Man of Steel, a film titled Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice was released in March 2016, directed by Zack Snyder. Batman v Superman script writer Chris Terrio has also penned the script for Justice League, in a story told in flashback in Justice League of America #9, the Appelaxians infiltrated Earth. Competing alien warriors were sent to see who could conquer Earth first, the aliens attacks drew the attentions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. While the superheroes individually defeated most of the invaders, the heroes fell prey to a single competitors attack, for many years, the heroes heralded this adventure as the event that prompted them to agree to pool resources when confronted with similar menaces. When the group formalized their agreement, they suppressed news of it because of anti-Martian hysteria, while most subsequent accounts of the League have made little mention of this first adventure, the animated Justice League series adapted this tale as the origin of the Justice League as well. Secret Origins #32 updated Justice League of America #9s origin for post-Crisis continuity, differences included the inclusion of the Silver Age Black Canary as a founding member and the absence of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. The JLA, Year One limited series, by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn and Barry Kitson, in Justice League Task Force #16, during Zero Hour, a then unknown superhuman named Triumph appeared. Triumph was revealed to have been a member of the Justice League and was their leader. On his first mission with the Justice League, Triumph seemingly saved the world but was teleported into a limbo that also affected the timestream
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Pittsburgh
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Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
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Alan Scott
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Alan Ladd Wellington Scott is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern. He was created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell first appearing in the comic book All-American Comics #16, Alan Scott fights evil with the aid of a magic ring that grants him a variety of supernatural powers. The original Green Lantern was created by an American artist named Martin Nodell, Nodell mentions Richard Wagners opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung and the sight of a trainmans green railway lantern as his inspiration. After seeing this opera, Nodell sought to create a superhero who wielded a variety of powers from a magic ring. Nodell wanted a colorful and interesting costume for his character, deriving from elements of Greek mythology, as Nodell recalled in an undated, latter-day interview, When I sent it in, I waited into the second week before I heard the word to come in. I was ushered into Mr. Gaines office, publisher, and after sitting a long time and flipping through the pages of my presentation, he announced, I did the first five pages of an eight-page story, and then they called in Bill Finger to help. We worked on it for seven years, Nodell chose the name Alan Scott by flipping through New York telephone books until he got two names he liked. The character of Alan Scott made his debut in All-American Comics #16 and he also appeared as part of the superhero team Justice Society of America in All Star Comics #3. He served as the second chairman in #7, but departed following that issue and returned a few years later. His villains tended to be humans, but he did have a few paranormal ones, such as the immortal Vandal Savage. Green Lantern proved popular and was given his own series, Green Lantern, most of his adventures were set in New York. In 1941, Alan Scott was paired with a sidekick named Doiby Dickles, a rotund Brooklyn taxi driver, in 1948, Alan also got a canine sidekick named Streak. The dog proved so popular that he starred in his own solo side-stories, after World War 2, superheroes declined in popularity. Green Lantern was cancelled in 1949 after 38 issues and All-American Comics dropped superheroes in favor of westerns, Alan Scotts final Golden Age appearance was in All-Star Comics #57. He remained out of publication for 12 years, and even after his revival he never got another solo series, in 1959, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz reinvented Green Lantern as a science fiction hero. The new Green Lantern, named Hal Jordan, was empowered by alien masters to serve as a lawman and had many adventures set in outer space. His powers were similar to Alans but he was otherwise completely unrelated—Alan Scott never existed as far as the new stories were concerned, Hal Jordan proved popular, but readers still had an interest in the old Green Lantern. Some years later, Alan Scott reappeared as a guest star in The Flash #137, to avoid continuity conflicts with the Hal Jordan character, Alan Scott and all his old stories were written as being from a parallel universe
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Green Lantern
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Green Lantern is the name of a number of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, the first Green Lantern character, Alan Scott, was created in 1940 during the initial popularity of superheroes. Alan Scott usually fought common criminals in New York City with the aid of his magic ring, the publication of this character ceased in 1949 during a general decline in the popularity of superhero comics, but the character saw a limited revival in later decades. Additional members of this agency, all of whom call themselves Green Lanterns, were introduced over time, prominent Green Lanterns who also have had starring roles in the books include Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. The Green Lanterns are among DC Comics longer lasting sets of characters and they have been adapted to television, video games, and motion pictures. Martin Nodell created the first Green Lantern and he first appeared in the Golden Age of comic books in All-American Comics #16, published by All-American Publications, one of three companies that would eventually merge to form DC Comics. This Green Lanterns real name was Alan Scott, an engineer who, after a railway crash, came into possession of a magic lantern which spoke to him. From this, he crafted a ring which gave him a wide variety of powers. The limitations of the ring were that it had to be charged every 24 hours by touching it to the lantern for a time, and that it could not directly affect objects made of wood. Alan Scott fought mostly ordinary human villains, but he did have a few paranormal ones such as the immortal Vandal Savage, most stories took place in New York. As a popular character in the 1940s, the Green Lantern featured both in books such as All-American Comics and Comic Cavalcade, as well as his own book. He also appeared in All Star Comics as a member of the team known as the Justice Society of America. After World War II the popularity of superheroes in general declined, the Green Lantern comic book was cancelled with issue #38, and All Star Comics #57 was the characters last Golden Age appearance. When superheroes came back in fashion in later decades, Alan Scott was revived, initially, he made guest appearances in other superheroes books, but eventually got regular roles in books featuring the Justice Society. He never got another solo series, between 1995 and 2003, DC Comics changed Alan Scotts superhero codename to Sentinel in order to distinguish him from the newer and more popular science fiction Green Lanterns. In 2011, the Alan Scott character was revamped and his costume was redesigned and the source of his powers was changed to that of the mystical power of nature. In 1959, Julius Schwartz reinvented the Green Lantern character as a science fiction hero named Hal Jordan, Hal Jordans powers were more or less the same as Alan Scotts, but otherwise this character was completely different and unrelated to the Green Lantern of the 1940s. He had a new name, a costume, and a rewritten origin story
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IGN
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The website was the brainchild of media entrepreneur Chris Anderson and launched on September 29,1996. It focuses on games, films, television, comics, technology, the company is located in San Franciscos SOMA district in California, United States. Originally a network of websites, IGN is now distributed on mobile platforms, console programs on the Xbox and PlayStation, FireTV, Roku, and via YouTube, Twitch, Hulu. IGN was sold to publishing company Ziff Davis in February 2013 and now operates as a J2 Global subsidiary. com, PSXPower, Saturnworld, Next-Generation. com and Ultra Game Players Online. Imagine expanded on its owned-and-operated websites by creating a network that included a number of independent fansites such as PSX Nation. com, Sega-Saturn. com, Game Sages. In 1998, the network launched a new homepage that consolidated the individual sites as system channels under the IGN brand, the homepage exposed content from more than 30 different channels. Next-Generation and Ultra Game Players Online were not part of this consolidation, dissolved with the cancellation of the magazine, and Next-Generation was put on hold when Imagine decided to concentrate on launching the short-lived Daily Radar brand. In February 1999, Imagine Media incorporated a spin-off that included IGN and its channels as Affiliation Networks. In September, the newly spun-out standalone internet media company, changed its name to Snowball. com, at the same time, small entertainment website The Den merged into IGN and added non-gaming content to the growing network. Snowball held an IPO in 2000, but shed most of its properties during the dot-com bubble. In June 2005, IGN reported having 24,000,000 unique visitors per month, with 4.8 million registered users through all departments of the site, IGN is ranked among the top 200 most-visited websites according to Alexa. In September 2005, IGN was acquired by Rupert Murdochs multi-media business empire, News Corporation, IGN celebrated its 10th anniversary on January 12,2008. IGN was headquartered in the Marina Point Parkway office park in Brisbane, California, on May 25,2011, IGN sold its Direct2Drive division to Gamefly for an undisclosed amount. In 2011, IGN Entertainment acquired its rival UGO Entertainment from Hearst Corporation, ultimately, News Corp. planned to spin off IGN Entertainment as a publicly traded company, continuing a string of divestitures for digital properties it had previously acquired. Financial details regarding the purchase were not revealed, prior to its acquisition by UGO, 1UP. com had previously been owned by Ziff Davis. Soon after the acquisition, IGN announced that it would be laying off staff and closing GameSpy, 1UP. com, the role-playing video game interest website Vault Network was acquired by IGN in 1999. GameStats, a review website, was founded by IGN in 2004. GameStats includes a GPM rating system incorporates an average press score and average gamer score
