Atlanta
Atlanta is the capital of, the most populous city in, the U. S. state of Georgia. With an estimated 2017 population of 486,290, it is the 38th most-populous city in the United States; the city serves as the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, home to 5.8 million people and the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the nation. Atlanta is the seat of the most populous county in Georgia. A small portion of the city extends eastward into neighboring DeKalb County. Atlanta was founded as the terminating stop of a major state-sponsored railroad. With rapid expansion, however, it soon became the convergence point between multiple railroads, spurring its rapid growth; the city's name derives from that of the Western and Atlantic Railroad's local depot, signifying the town's growing reputation as a transportation hub. During the American Civil War, the city was entirely burned to the ground in General William T. Sherman's famous March to the Sea. However, the city rose from its ashes and became a national center of commerce and the unofficial capital of the "New South".
During the 1950s and 1960s, Atlanta became a major organizing center of the civil rights movement, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ralph David Abernathy, many other locals playing major roles in the movement's leadership. During the modern era, Atlanta has attained international prominence as a major air transportation hub, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic since 1998. Atlanta is rated as a "beta" world city that exerts a moderate impact on global commerce, research, education, media and entertainment, it ranks in the top twenty among world cities and 10th in the nation with a gross domestic product of $385 billion. Atlanta's economy is considered diverse, with dominant sectors that include transportation, logistics and business services, media operations, medical services, information technology. Atlanta has topographic features that include rolling hills and dense tree coverage, earning it the nickname of "the city in a forest."
Revitalization of Atlanta's neighborhoods spurred by the 1996 Summer Olympics, has intensified in the 21st century, altering the city's demographics, politics and culture. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in north Georgia, Creek Indians inhabited the area. Standing Peachtree, a Creek village where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River, was the closest Indian settlement to what is now Atlanta; as part of the systematic removal of Native Americans from northern Georgia from 1802 to 1825, the Creek were forced to leave the area in 1821, white settlers arrived the following year. In 1836, the Georgia General Assembly voted to build the Western and Atlantic Railroad in order to provide a link between the port of Savannah and the Midwest; the initial route was to run southward from Chattanooga to a terminus east of the Chattahoochee River, which would be linked to Savannah. After engineers surveyed various possible locations for the terminus, the "zero milepost" was driven into the ground in what is now Five Points.
A year the area around the milepost had developed into a settlement, first known as "Terminus", as "Thrasherville" after a local merchant who built homes and a general store in the area. By 1842, the town had six buildings and 30 residents and was renamed "Marthasville" to honor the Governor's daughter. J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, suggested the town be renamed Atlanta; the residents approved, the town was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847. By 1860, Atlanta's population had grown to 9,554. During the American Civil War, the nexus of multiple railroads in Atlanta made the city a hub for the distribution of military supplies. In 1864, the Union Army moved southward following the capture of Chattanooga and began its invasion of north Georgia; the region surrounding Atlanta was the location of several major army battles, culminating with the Battle of Atlanta and a four-month-long siege of the city by the Union Army under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman.
On September 1, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood made the decision to retreat from Atlanta, he ordered the destruction of all public buildings and possible assets that could be of use to the Union Army. On the next day, Mayor James Calhoun surrendered Atlanta to the Union Army, on September 7, Sherman ordered the city's civilian population to evacuate. On November 11, 1864, Sherman prepared for the Union Army's March to the Sea by ordering the destruction of Atlanta's remaining military assets. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Atlanta was rebuilt. Due to the city's superior rail transportation network, the state capital was moved from Milledgeville to Atlanta in 1868. In the 1880 Census, Atlanta surpassed Savannah as Georgia's largest city. Beginning in the 1880s, Henry W. Grady, the editor of the Atlanta Constitution newspaper, promoted Atlanta to potential investors as a city of the "New South" that would be based upon a modern economy and less reliant on agriculture. By 1885, the founding of the Georgia School of Technology and the Atlanta University Center had established Atlanta as a center for higher education.
In 1895, Atlanta hosted the Cotton States and International Exposition, which attracted nearly 800,000 attendees and promoted the New South's development to the world. During the first decades of the 20th century, Atlanta experienced a period of unprecedented growth. In three decades' time, Atlanta's population tripled as the city limits expanded to include nearby streetcar suburbs; the city's skyline emerged with the construction of the
Final Destination
Final Destination is an American horror franchise composed of five films, comic books and novels. It is based on an unproduced spec script by Jeffrey Reddick written for The X-Files television series, was distributed by New Line Cinema. All five films center around a small group of people who escape impending death when one individual has a sudden premonition and warns them that they will all die in a terrible mass-casualty accident. After avoiding their foretold deaths, the survivors are killed one by one in bizarre accidents caused by an unseen force creating complicated chains of cause and effect, resembling Rube Goldberg machines in their complexity, read omens sent by another unseen entity in order to again avert their deaths; the series is noteworthy among other films in the horror genre in that the antagonist is not a stereotypical slasher or other physical being, but Death personified, subtly manipulating circumstances in the environment with a design on claiming anyone who escapes their fated demise.
In addition to the films, a novel series, which includes the novelizations of the first three films, was published throughout 2005 and 2006 by Black Flame. A one-shot comic book titled Final Destination: Sacrifice was released alongside select DVDs of Final Destination 3 in 2006, a comic series titled Final Destination: Spring Break was published by Zenescope Entertainment in 2007. In the original Final Destination, high school student Alex Browning boards Volee Airlines Flight 180 with his classmates for a field trip to Paris, France. Before take-off, Alex has a premonition that the plane will explode in mid-air, killing everyone on board; when the events from his vision begin to repeat themselves in reality, he panics, a fight breaks out, which leads to several passengers being left behind, including Clear Rivers, Carter Horton, Billy Hitchcock, Valerie Lewton, Terry Chaney, Tod Waggner, who witness the plane explode moments later. Afterwards, the survivors begin to die one by one through a series of bizarre accidents, Alex attempts to find a way to "cheat" Death's plan before it is too late.
Six months Alex and Carter travel to Paris to celebrate their survival, believing they have cheated Death. Final Destination 2, picking up one year after the first film, features college student Kimberly Corman heading to Daytona Beach for spring break with her friends Shaina and Frankie. En route, Kimberly has killing everyone involved, she stalls her SUV on the entrance ramp, preventing several people from entering the highway, including state trooper Thomas Burke, Eugene Dix, Rory Peters, Kat Jennings and Tim Carpenter, Evan Lewis, pregnant Isabella Hudson. While Officer Burke questions Kimberly, the pile-up occurs. In the days following the accident, the survivors begin to die one by one in a series of bizarre accidents. After learning about the explosion of Flight 180, Kimberly teams up with Clear Rivers, the only survivor of Flight 180, to try to save a new group of people from Death; this time the survivors are told that only "new life" can defeat Death, they must stay alive long enough for Isabella to have her baby.
It is revealed that Isabella was never meant to die in the pile-up, Kimberly drowns herself in a lake so that she can be resuscitated by emergency staff, thus granting her "new life". Final Destination 3, set five years after the explosion of Flight 180 and four years after the pile-up on Route 23, has high school student Wendy Christensen visiting an amusement park for grad night with her friends Kevin Fischer, Jason Wise, Carrie Dreyer; as Wendy and her friends board the Devil's Flight roller coaster, Wendy has a premonition that the ride will crash, killing everyone on board. When Wendy panics a fight breaks out and several people leave or are forced off the ride before the accident occurs, including Kevin, Wendy's younger sister Julie, Ian McKinley, Perry Malinowski, Erin Ulmer, Lewis Romero, Frankie Cheeks, Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin; when the survivors start to die one by one in a series of strange accidents and Kevin set out to save those who remain after they learn of the events of the first two films.
Most of their attempts are futile, with the exception of Julie and themselves, leading them to believe they have cheated Death. However, the three "coincidentally" cross paths five months and are caught in a horrifying subway accident. In The Final Destination, set nine years after the explosion of Flight 180, eight years after the pile-up on Route 23 and four years after the Devil's Flight disaster, college student Nick O'Bannon visits the McKinley Speedway for a study break with his friends Lori Milligan, Janet Cunningham, Hunt Wynorski. While watching the race, Nick has a premonition that a race car crash will send debris into the stands, causing the stadium to collapse on the guests; when Nick panics a fight breaks out and several people leave before the accident occurs, his friends Lori and Hunt, security guard George Lanter, spectat
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game franchise produced by Sega centering on a series of high-speed platform games. Sonic, the protagonist, is an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog with supersonic speed. Sonic must stop antagonist Doctor Eggman's plans for world domination helped by his friends, such as Tails and Knuckles; the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, released in 1991, was conceived by Sega's Sonic Team division after Sega requested a new mascot character to replace Alex Kidd and compete with Nintendo's mascot Mario. Its success spawned many sequels and helped Sega become one of the leading video game companies during the 16-bit era of the early 1990s; the first major 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in 1998 for the Dreamcast. Spin-offs have explored other genres, including racing games such as Sonic R and sports games such as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. By March 2011, the series had sold over 89 million physical copies, grossed over $5 billion by 2014; as of 2018, the series has shifted 800 million copies, including free-to-play mobile game downloads.
Several Sonic games are included in lists of the greatest games of all time. The franchise has crossed over into a variety of different media including animation, comic books, a Hollywood film; the first Sonic game, Sonic the Hedgehog, is a platform game released in 1991. Players control the anthropomorphic blue hedgehog Sonic, who can run and jump at high speeds using springs and loops. Sonic must stop Dr. Robotnik from taking over the world using the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 increased the overall size and speed of the series' gameplay and was the second best-selling Genesis game, it introduced Sonic's sidekick and best friend, Miles "Tails" Prower, who followed Sonic throughout the game, allowed a second player to control him in a limited fashion. This game introduced Sonic's "spin dash" maneuver, an ability which allows Sonic to burst forwards from a complete standstill, unlike the previous game, where Sonic could only gain speed with momentum. Sonic 2 was followed in 1993 by an arcade game, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, featuring new characters Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel.
The next console game, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, was released in 1994. The game introduced a temporary shield maneuver called the "insta-shield", added new shield types to the series, allowed Tails to be playable under a second player's control, as well as adding the option for players to utilize Tails' flying ability in levels, it introduced the character, Knuckles the Echidna, who served as an additional antagonist with Doctor Robotnik for the game. Sonic & Knuckles, another platform game in the Sonic series, was released in 1994; the game featured Knuckles as a playable character with gliding and wall climbing abilities and allowed gamers to plug in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to the top of the Sonic and Knuckles cartridge as part of the game's "lock on" functionality. This allowed gamers to play the game as it was intended. There were several Sonic games for the Genesis. Sonic Spinball, released in 1993, was a pinball simulation modeled after the Spring Yard and Casino Night Zones from the first two Sonic games.
The game, unlike general pinball simulations, had an overall goal of collecting all the Chaos Emeralds in each level and defeating the levels' bosses. It was one of the few video games that had elements from the cartoons Sonic the Hedgehog and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine was a puzzle game similar to Puyo Puyo, set in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog universe. Sonic 3D Blast, an isometric, 2.5D platform game released in 1996 and developed by Traveller's Tales, featured Sonic running through pseudo-3D environments while trying to rescue Flickies from Doctor Robotnik. The Sega Genesis had "add-on" systems. Sonic CD, released for the Sega CD, was a 2D platform game released in 1993; the game introduced the characters Amy Rose and Metal Sonic and featured levels that differed depending upon whether Sonic was in the past, present, or future time frames. Knuckles' Chaotix, a spin-off released in 1995 for the Sega 32X, featured Knuckles and a new group named Chaotix fighting against Dr. Robotnik.
The game featured a two-player cooperative system in which the on-screen characters were connected by magic rings. There was Sonic Eraser, a puzzle game released on Sega Game Toshokan in 1991. Due to the success of Sonic games on the Sega Genesis, the series was introduced to the Master System and the Game Gear. Sega began by releasing Sonic the Hedgehog, a 2D platform game, in 1991; the game featured Sonic's ability to run and to jump at high speeds like its Mega Drive/Genesis counterpart but with notably different level design and music. Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog 2 another 2D platform game, in 1992; the game differed from its Genesis counterpart with different levels and music and by not including a "spin dash" maneuver. It featured a different storyline in which Doctor Robotnik kidnaps Tails, non-playable in the Master System/Game Gear version. Sonic Chaos/Sonic and Tails, released in 1993, was similar to the earlier two Sega Master System/Game Gear Sonic games, but featured Tails as a playable character.
A sequel, Sonic Triple Trouble/Sonic and Tails 2, a 2D platform game, was released in 1994 for the Game Gear and introduced a new character, Nack the Weasel, along with Knuckles and Doctor Robotnik, raced to collect the Chaos Emeralds. One of the last games for the Sega Game Gear, Sonic Blast, was released in 1996 and featured prerend
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc. Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Worldwide's parent company. Marvel started in 1939 the common name in the Golden Age was Timely Comics, by the early 1950s, had become known as Atlas Comics; the Marvel era began in 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and many others. The Marvel brand had been used over the years, but solidified as the company's only brand with in a couple of years. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, the Punisher and Deadpool, such teams as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Midnight Sons, the Defenders, the Guardians of the Galaxy, supervillains including Galactus, Doctor Doom, Ultron, Green Goblin, Red Skull, Doctor Octopus and Venom.
Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe, with most locations mirroring real-life places. Pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman founded the company known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939. Goodman, who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by already popular—new medium of comic books. Launching his new line from his existing company's offices at 330 West 42nd Street, New York City, he held the titles of editor, managing editor, business manager, with Abraham Goodman listed as publisher. Timely's first publication, Marvel Comics #1, included the first appearance of Carl Burgos' android superhero the Human Torch, the first appearances of Bill Everett's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner, among other features; the issue was a great success. While its contents came from an outside packager, Inc. Timely had its own staff in place by the following year; the company's first true editor, writer-artist Joe Simon, teamed with artist Jack Kirby to create one of the first patriotically themed superheroes, Captain America, in Captain America Comics #1.
It, proved a hit, with sales of nearly one million. Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc. beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941. While no other Timely character would achieve the success of these three characters, some notable heroes—many of which continue to appear in modern-day retcon appearances and flashbacks—include the Whizzer, Miss America, the Destroyer, the original Vision, the Angel. Timely published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton's best-known features, "Powerhouse Pepper", as well as a line of children's funny-animal comics featuring characters like Super Rabbit and the duo Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal. Goodman hired his wife's cousin, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939; when editor Simon left the company in late 1941, Goodman made Lieber—by writing pseudonymously as "Stan Lee"—interim editor of the comics line, a position Lee kept for decades except for three years during his military service in World War II. Lee wrote extensively for Timely.
Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of corporations all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies through which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55; as well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12, were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961. The post-war American comic market saw superheroes falling out of fashion. Goodman's comic book line dropped them for the most part and expanded into a wider variety of genres than Timely had published, featuring horror, humor, funny animal, men's adventure-drama, giant monster and war comics, adding jungle books, romance titles and medieval adventure, Bible stories and sports. Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company, the newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated November 1951 though another company, Kable News, continued to distribute his comics through the August 1952 issues.
This globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Atlas, rather than innovate, took a proven route of following popular trends in television and movies—Westerns and war dramas prevailing for a time, drive-in movie monsters another time—and other comic books the EC horror line. Atlas published a plethora of children's and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlo's Homer the Happy Ghost and Homer Hooper. Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, Captain America. Atlas did not achieve any breakout hits and, according to Stan Lee, Atlas survived chiefly because it produced work cheaply, at a passable quality; the first modern comic books under the Marvel Comics brand w
Friday the 13th (franchise)
Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television show, comic books, video games, tie‑in merchandise. The franchise focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all as either the killer or the motivation for the killings; the original film, created to cash in on the success of Halloween, was written by Victor Miller and was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham; the films have grossed over $464 million at the box-office worldwide. Frank Mancuso, Jr. a producer of the films developed the television show Friday the 13th: The Series after Paramount released Jason Lives. The television series was not connected to the franchise by any character or setting, but was created based on the idea of "bad luck and curses", which the film series symbolized.
While the franchise was owned by Paramount, four films were adapted into novels, with Friday the 13th Part III adapted by two separate authors. When the franchise was sold to New Line Cinema, Cunningham returned as a producer to oversee two additional films, in addition to a crossover film with character Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street film series. Under New Line Cinema, thirteen novellas and various comic book series featuring Jason were published. Although the films were not popular with critics, Friday the 13th is considered one of the most successful media franchises in America—not only for the success of the films, but because of the extensive merchandising and repeated references to the series in popular culture; the franchise's popularity has generated a fanbase who have created their own Friday the 13th films, fashioned replica Jason Voorhees costumes, tattooed their bodies with Friday the 13th artwork. Jason's hockey mask has become one of the most recognizable images in popular culture.
In the original Friday the 13th, Mrs. Pamela Voorhees stalks and murders the teenagers preparing Camp Crystal Lake for re‑opening, she is determined to ensure that the camp does not reopen after her son Jason drowned in the lake due to the negligence of two staff members. The last counselor, Alice Hardy, fends off Mrs. Voorhees long enough to grab a machete and decapitate her. In Friday the 13th Part 2, Jason is revealed to be alive and grown. After killing Alice Hardy, Jason returns to Crystal Lake to guard it from all intruders. Five years a group of teenagers arrive at Crystal Lake to set up a new camp, but Jason murders them. Ginny Field, the last counselor Jason attempts to kill, finds a cabin in the woods with a shrine built around the severed head of Mrs. Voorhees. Ginny slams a machete through Jason's shoulder. Jason is left for dead. During the events of Friday the 13th Part III, Jason removes the machete from his shoulder and finds his way to Chris Higgins' local homestead. Chris returns to her property with some friends, Jason kills anyone who wanders into the barn where he is hiding.
Taking a hockey mask from a victim to hide his face, Jason leaves the barn to kill the rest of the group. Chris kills Jason with an axe to his head, but the night's events drive her into hysteria as the police take her away. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter continues where Part III leaves off, with Jason found by the police and taken to the local morgue after removing the axe. Upon arrival, Jason awakens to kill a nurse before returning to Crystal Lake. A group of friends fall victim to Jason's rampage. After killing the teens, Jason seeks out Tommy Jarvis, who live next door. While distracted by Trish, Jason is attacked and killed by Tommy. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning follows Tommy Jarvis, committed to a mental health institution after the events of The Final Chapter and grew up afraid that Jason would return. Roy Burns uses Jason's persona to become a copycat killer at the halfway home to which Tommy has moved. Tommy, supervisor Pam, a young boy named Reggie manage to defeat Roy, they learn that Roy had a son, murdered by one of the patients at the institution, triggering Roy to take on Jason's likeness and kill everyone there.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives begins with Tommy visiting Jason's grave after being released from another mental institution. Tommy inadvertently resurrects Jason with a piece of the fence surrounding the cemetery acting as a lightning rod. Jason heads back to Crystal Lake and kills the people working at the new summer camp. Tommy chains Jason to a boulder that he tosses into the lake, where he leaves Jason to die. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood begins an indeterminate length of time after Jason Lives. Jason is resurrected again, this time by the telekinetic Tina Shepard, trying to resurrect her father who drowned in the lake when Tina was a child. Jason once again begins killing those who occupy Crystal Lake and is returned to the bottom of the lake after a battle with Tina. Jason is resurrected again in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan by an underwater electrical cable, he follows a group of students on their senior class cruise to Manhattan, where he kills the ship's crew and the majorit
Vampirella
Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1. Writer-editor Archie Goodwin developed the character from horror-story hostesses, in which capacity she remained through issue #8, to a horror-drama leading character. Vampirella appeared in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazine Vampirella #1, running to issue #112; the title was a sister magazine of Eerie. Like those magazines' respective mascots, Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie, Vampirella hosted horror stories, though unlike them, she would star in her own story, which would headline each issue. Vampirella was edited by Bill Parente, it would be edited by Archie Goodwin, Billy Graham, Bill DuBay and Louise Jones. As comics historian Richard J. Arndt describes, "Forrest Ackerman created, or at least had a strong hand in creating, Vampirella and he had a major influence in shaping the lighthearted bad-girl story style of this issue as well."
Her costume and hair style were designed by comics artist Trina Robbins. The character's first story artist was Tom Sutton. Artist Frank Frazetta's first-issue cover "was a substitute for the original cover by European artist Aslan."José González became the character's primary artist starting with issue #12. Other artists who would draw Vampirella during her magazine's original run included Gonzalo Mayo, Leopold Sanchez, Esteban Maroto, José Ortiz, Rudy Nebres, Ramon Torrents, Pablo Marcos, Jim Janes, John Lakey, Val Lakey, Louis Small, Jr.. Backup features appearing in Vampirella included "Tomb of the Gods", "Pantha" and "Fleur". Vampirella herself appeared in a story with fellow Warren characters Pantha and the Rook in Eerie #94–95, with most of the Warren characters in a company crossover special in Eerie #130; the final issue of the original Vampirella was cover-dated March 1983. Upon Warren's bankruptcy shortly afterward, Harris Publications acquired the company assets at auction in August 1983, although legal murkiness and a 1999 lawsuit by Warren publisher James Warren resulted in his reacquisition of the rights to sister publications Creepy and Eerie.
Harris Comics published Vampirella stories in various series and miniseries from 1991 to 2007. Harris published Vampirella #113, a one-issue continuation of the original series, containing reprinted stories, in 1988. At the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention in January 2007, Scott Licina, editor-in-chief of Fangoria Comics, announced his company had acquired the character from Harris. However, on April 30, 2007, Harris editor Bon Alimagno denied there had been such an arrangement in place and that Fangoria's claim was "not factual". Harris subsequently launched the title Vampirella Quarterly. On March 17, 2010, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to Vampirella from Harris Comics; the publisher started a new ongoing series with Vampirella #1, in November 2010. A new monthly series and the Scarlet Legion, was released in May 2011 following the main title; the series lasted for thirty-eight issues before concluding in January 2014. The character and series was rebooted in June 2014 with Vampirella #1 by author Nancy Collins.
The series was relaunched in 2016 but set in the same continuity with another Vampirella #1 in March 2016 with a new costume. In 2017, Vampirella was relaunched again in another new series, first written by Paul Cornell, by Jeremy Whitley. Vampirella was presented as an inhabitant of the planet Drakulon, a world where a vampiric race lived on blood and where blood flowed in rivers. Drakulon orbits twin suns that were causing droughts across the planet, marking certain doom for Vampirella and her race; the race of which Vampirella was born, the Vampiri, were able to transform themselves into bats at will, possessed superhuman physical attributes, sprout wings when required to fly, drink blood. The story begins with the inhabitants of Drakulon dying due to the drying up of its blood; the last few lie dying when a spaceship from Earth crashes on the planet. Vampirella, sent to investigate, is attacked. In order for her race to survive, she manages to pilot the ship back to Earth where her adventures begin.
Vampirella becomes a "good" vampire, devotes her energy to ridding our world of the evil kind. Evil vampires owe their existence to Dracula, corrupted by Chaos. Harris Comics revived Vampirella in the miniseries Morning In America, written by Kurt Busiek. Soon thereafter, the story "Mystery Walk" revised her origin, she learned that she was, in fact, the daughter of Lilith, whom popular medieval Jewish lore depicts as the first wife of Adam. Lilith was cast out of Eden by God. Lilith spawned demons, but repented and went to Eden to bear children to fight the evil she had created, her first attempt was Magdalene, who turned to evil. Her brother and sister brainwashed her into believing, her origin was revised in Vampirella Lives and elaborated on in Blood Lust. Drakulon was real, but was a place in Hell. Vampirella was brought to Eden, not born there, it is implied that Vampirella was raised in Drakulon, not in Eden. She was made to believe that Drakulon was another planet by Lilith, not by her sister.
Vampirella and her boyfriend restore the rivers of blood to Drakulon. Lil
Swamp Thing (comic book)
The fictional character Swamp Thing has appeared in five American comic book series to date, including several specials, has crossed over into other DC Comics titles. The series found immense popularity upon its 1970s debut and during the mid-late 1980s under Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben; these eras were met with numerous awards. However, over the years, Swamp Thing comics have suffered from low sales which have resulted in numerous series cancellations and revivals; the first Swamp Thing series ran for 24 issues, from 1972 to 1976. Len Wein was the writer for the first 13 issues before David Michelinie and Gerry Conway finished up the series. Horror artist Berni Wrightson drew the first ten issues of the series while Nestor Redondo drew a further thirteen issues, the last issue being drawn by Fred Carrillo. Swamp Thing fought against evil as he sought the men who murdered his wife and caused his monstrous transformation, as well as searching for a means to transform back to human form.
Swamp Thing has since fought many villains, most notably the mad Dr. Anton Arcane. Though they only met twice during the first series and his obsession with gaining immortality, aided by his nightmarish army of Un-Men and the tragic Patchwork Man, became Swamp Thing's nemesis as Swamp Thing developed a close bond with Arcane's niece Abigail Arcane. Involved in the conflict was Swamp Thing's close friend turned enemy Matthew Cable, a federal agent who mistakenly believed Swamp Thing responsible for the deaths of Alec and Linda Holland. Despite Wein's writing the first thirteen issues, only the first ten issues of the original Swamp Thing series had been collected in trade paperbacks or reprint comics due to the popularity of Wrightson's artwork, stopping rather than concluding the story arc. Wein ended his run as writer by having Swamp Thing reveal his identity to Matt Cable and avenging the death of his wife by defeating Nathan Ellery; the full Wein 13-issue run was released in hardback by DC in June 2009.
As sales figures plummeted towards the end of the series, the writers attempted to revive interest by introducing fantasy creatures, sci-fi aliens, Alec Holland's brother, into the picture. The appearance of Holland's brother toward the end of the series marked a series of plot developments, designed to provide the series with a happy ending, which generated much controversy. In Swamp Thing #23, Alec regains his humanity and while the creature was on the cover of the 24th and final issue of the series, Holland appeared as human throughout the interior story; the cover illustration showed a yellow muscular creature, beating up Swamp Thing. A battle between Swamp Thing and Hawkman was promised for the next issue, but no such battle occurred until vol. 2 #58. During the short-lived revival of Challengers of the Unknown by Gerry Conway, Swamp Thing returned as Alec Holland who, without continually producing and self-medicating with the bio-restorative formula, reverted into the form of Swamp Thing.
Holland, along with the Challengers of the Unknown, encountered the supernatural being known as Deadman, a fact that would confirm the post-Wein Swamp Thing stories existence in DCU continuity years when Deadman and Swamp Thing met again during Alan Moore's run as writer. Swamp Thing appeared with Batman in The Brave and the Bold and with Superman in DC Comics Presents. In the latter, by Steve Englehart, he tried in vain to stop Superman from committing what he perceived as genocide on sixty Solomon Grundys living in the sewers of Metropolis. In an issue dated May 1982, DC Comics revived the Swamp Thing series to try to capitalize on the summer 1982 release of the Wes Craven film of the same name; the title, called Saga of the Swamp Thing, featured in its first Annual the comic book adaptation of the Craven movie. Now written by Martin Pasko, the book loosely picked up after Swamp Thing's appearance in Challengers of the Unknown, with the character wandering around the swamps of Louisiana as something of an urban legend, feared by locals.
Martin Pasko's main arc depicted Swamp Thing roaming the globe, trying to stop a young girl named Karen Clancy from destroying the world. The series featured back-up stories involving the Phantom Stranger by Mike W. Barr, which led to a collaboration between Swamp Thing and the Stranger in a guest run by Dan Mishkin that featured a scientist who transformed himself into a silicon creature; the primary artist for the bulk of Pasko's run was Tom Yeates. Bissette and Totleben, who had known Yeates at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, had been ghosting various pages for Yeates, were given the assignment on Pasko's recommendation. In issue #6, editor Len Wein declared, in response to a published letter, that Alec never had a brother and that every Swamp Thing series story after issue #21 of the original series never happened; the letter, questioned why Swamp Thing had reverted, explained in the Challengers of the Unknown run. A column pointed this out, so they said they would not deliberately cont
