1.
American comic book
–
An American comic book is a thin periodical, typically 32-pages, containing primarily comics content. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics and this was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II. After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the book industry rapidly expanded, and genres such as horror, crime. The 1950s saw a decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television. The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a revival. Since the later 20th century, comic books have gained note as collectable items, Comic shops cater to fans, and particularly valuable issues have fetched in excess of a million dollars. Systems of grading comic books have emerged with plastic sleeves and cardboard backing available to maintain the condition of comic books, standard comics are 6.625 inches ×10.25 inches and about 32 pages long. While comics can be the work of a creator, the labour of making them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a writer and artist, or there may be separate artists for the characters. The process begins with the coming up with an idea or concept, then working it into a plot and story. After the art production, letters are placed on the page, the creative team, the writers and artists, may work with a comic book publisher for help with marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A distributor like Diamond Comic Distributors, the largest in the U. S. helps to distribute the product to retailers. Another part of the involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator. Fan art and letters to the editor were printed in the back of the book until the early 21st century. Comic specialty stores did help encourage several waves of independently-produced comics, the development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the U. S, the Yellow Kid in McFaddens Flats, in 1897. The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes text by E. W. Townsend, measured 5×7 inches. The neologism comic book appears on the back cover, despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Companys Comic Monthly, did not appear until 1922
2.
Marvel Comics
–
Marvel Comics is the common name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc. formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, an American publisher of comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwides parent company, Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the early 1950s had generally become known as Atlas Comics. Marvels modern incarnation dates from 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others. Most of Marvels fictional characters operate in a reality known as the Marvel Universe. Martin Goodman founded the later known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939. Martin Goodman, a magazine publisher who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by then already highly popular—new medium of comic books. The issue was a success, with it and a second printing the following month selling, combined. While its contents came from an outside packager, Funnies, Inc, Timely had its own staff in place by the following year. It, too, proved a hit, with sales of one million. Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc. beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941, Goodman hired his wifes cousin, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939. Lee wrote extensively for Timely, contributing to a number of different titles, Goodmans 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 companies through which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55. As well, some 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 and this globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher, staff and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Atlas also published a plethora of childrens and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlos Homer the Happy Ghost, Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. Atlas did not achieve any hits and, according to Stan Lee, Atlas survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply. During this time, the Comic Code Authority made its debut in September 1954, Wertham published the book Seduction of the Innocent in order to force people to see that comics were impacting American youth. He believed violent comics were causing children to be reckless and were turning them into delinquents, in September 1954, comic book publishers got together to set up their own self-censorship organization—the Comics Magazine Association of America—in order to appease audiences
3.
Venus (mythology)
–
Venus is the Roman goddess whose functions encompassed love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the mother of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was central to religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles. The Romans adapted the myths and iconography of her Greek counterpart Aphrodite for Roman art, in the later classical tradition of the West, Venus becomes one of the most widely referenced deities of Greco-Roman mythology as the embodiment of love and sexuality. It has connections to venerari and venia through a common root in an Indo-European *wenes- or *u̯enis. Their common Proto-Indo-European root is assumed as *wen- or *u̯en- to strive for, wish for, desire, Venus has been described as perhaps the most original creation of the Roman pantheon, and an ill-defined and assimilative native goddess, combined with a strange and exotic Aphrodite. The ambivalence of her persuasive functions has been perceived in the relationship of the root *venes- with Latin venenum, in the sense of a charm, in myth, Venus-Aphrodite was born of sea-foam. Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and her male counterparts in the Roman pantheon, Vulcan and Mars, are active and fiery. Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposites of male and female in mutual affection and she is essentially assimilative and benign, and embraces several otherwise quite disparate functions. She can give military victory, sexual success, good fortune, in one context, she is a goddess of prostitutes, in another, she turns the hearts of men and women from sexual vice to virtue. Images of Venus have been found in murals, mosaics. Petronius, in his Satyricon, places an image of Venus among the Lares of the freedman Trimalchios lararium, prospective brides offered Venus a gift before the wedding, the nature of the gift, and its timing, are unknown. Some Roman sources say that girls who come of age offer their toys to Venus, it is unclear where the offering is made, in dice-games, a popular pastime among Romans of all classes, the luckiest, best possible roll was known as Venus. Venus signs were for the most part the same as Aphrodites, Venus statues, and her worshipers, wore myrtle crowns at her festivals. Likewise, Roman folk-etymology transformed the ancient, obscure goddess Murcia into Venus of the Myrtles, myrtle was thought a particularly potent aphrodisiac. The female pudendum, particularly the clitoris, was known as murtos, as goddess of love and sex, Venus played an essential role at Roman prenuptial rites and wedding nights, so myrtle and roses were used in bridal bouquets. Marriage itself was not a seduction but a condition, under Junos authority. Venus was also a patron of the ordinary, everyday wine drunk by most Roman men and women, in the rites to Bona Dea, a goddess of female chastity, Venus, myrtle and anything male were not only excluded, but unmentionable
4.
Aphrodite
–
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is identified with the planet Venus, and her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus, as with many ancient Greek deities, there is more than one story about her origins. According to Hesiods Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranuss genitals and threw them into the sea, according to Homers Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In Plato, these two origins are said to be of hitherto separate entities, Aphrodite Ourania and Aphrodite Pandemos, Aphrodite had many lovers—both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. She played a role in the Eros and Psyche legend, and was lover and surrogate mother of Adonis. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite, Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea and Cypris after the two cult sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed to be her place of birth. Myrtle, roses, doves, sparrows and swans were sacred to her, the ancient Greeks identified her with the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor. Aphrodite had many names such as Acidalia and Cerigo, each used by a different local cult of the goddess in Greece. The Greeks recognized all of these names as referring to the single goddess Aphrodite, despite the differences in what these local cults believed the goddess demanded of them. The Attic philosophers of the 4th century, however, drew a distinction between a celestial Aphrodite of transcendent principles, and a separate, common Aphrodite who was the goddess of the people, hesiod derives Aphrodite from aphrós sea-foam, interpreting the name as risen from the foam. Michael Janda, accepting this as genuine, claims the birth myth as an Indo-European mytheme. Likewise, Witczak proposes an Indo-European compound *abʰor- very and *dʰei- to shine and it has been argued that etymologies based on comparison with Eos are unlikely since Aphrodites attributes are entirely different from those of Eos or the Vedic deity Ushas. A number of improbable non-Greek etymologies have suggested in scholarship. One Semitic etymology compares Aphrodite to the Assyrian barīrītu, the name of a demon that appears in Middle Babylonian. Hammarström looks to Etruscan, comparing prϑni lord, an Etruscan honorific loaned into Greek as πρύτανις and this would make the theonym in origin an honorific, the lady. Hjalmar Frisk and Robert Beekes reject this etymology as implausible, especially since Aphrodite actually appears in Etruscan in the borrowed form Apru, the medieval Etymologicum Magnum offers a highly contrived etymology, deriving Aphrodite from the compound habrodíaitos, she who lives delicately, from habrós and díaita. The alteration from b to ph is explained as a characteristic of Greek obvious from the Macedonians. Aphrodite is usually said to have been born near her chief center of worship, Paphos, on the island of Cyprus, however, other versions of her myth have her born near the island of Cythera, hence another of her names, Cytherea
5.
Roman mythology
–
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. Roman mythology may also refer to the study of these representations. The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements, the stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individuals personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are concerned with ritual, augury. Romes early myths and legends also have a relationship with Etruscan religion. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovids Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, because ritual played the central role in Roman religion that myth did for the Greeks, it is sometimes doubted that the Romans had much of a native mythology. This perception is a product of Romanticism and the scholarship of the 19th century. From the Renaissance to the 18th century, however, Roman myths were an inspiration particularly for European painting, the Roman tradition is rich in historical myths, or legends, concerning the foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only occasional intervention from deities, in Romes earliest period, history and myth have a mutual and complementary relationship. As T. P. Wiseman notes, The Roman stories still matter, as they mattered to Dante in 1300 and Shakespeare in 1600, what does it take to be a free citizen. Can a superpower still be a republic, how does well-meaning authority turn into murderous tyranny. Major sources for Roman myth include the Aeneid of Vergil and the first few books of Livys history as well as Dionysius s Roman Antiquities. Other important sources are the Fasti of Ovid, a six-book poem structured by the Roman religious calendar, scenes from Roman myth also appear in Roman wall painting, coins, and sculpture, particularly reliefs. The Aeneid and Livys early history are the best extant sources for Romes founding myths, material from Greek heroic legend was grafted onto this native stock at an early date. By extension, the Trojans were adopted as the ancestors of the Roman people. Rape of the Sabine women, explaining the importance of the Sabines in the formation of Roman culture, numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome who consorted with the nymph Egeria and established many of Romes legal and religious institutions. Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, whose mysterious origins were freely mythologized. The Tarpeian Rock, and why it was used for the execution of traitors, lucretia, whose self-sacrifice prompted the overthrow of the early Roman monarchy and led to the establishment of the Republic
6.
Greek mythology
–
It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
7.
Siren (mythology)
–
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on small islands called Sirenum scopuli. All such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks, although a Sophocles fragment makes Phorcys their father, when Sirens are named, they are usually as daughters of the river god Achelous, with Terpsichore, Melpomene, Sterope, or Chthon. In Euripides play, Helen, Helen in her anguish calls upon Winged maidens, although they lured mariners, the Greeks portrayed the Sirens in their meadow starred with flowers and not as sea deities. Roman writers linked the Sirens more closely to the sea, as daughters of Phorcys, Sirens are found in many Greek stories, notably in Homers Odyssey. Their number is reported as from two to five. In the Odyssey, Homer says nothing of their origin or names, according to Ovid, the Sirens were the companions of young Persephone. They were given wings by Demeter to search for Persephone when she was abducted, however, the Fabulae of Hyginus has Demeter cursing the Sirens for failing to intervene in the abduction of Persephone. Their song is continually calling on Persephone, the term siren song refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if heeded, will lead to a bad conclusion. As Jane Ellen Harrison notes of The Ker as siren, It is strange and beautiful that Homer should make the Sirens appeal to the spirit, not to the flesh. The siren song is a promise to Odysseus of mantic truths, with a promise that he will live to tell them, they sing, Once he hears to his hearts content, sails on. We know all the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured on the plain of Troy when the gods willed it so— all that comes to pass on the fertile earth. They are mantic creatures like the Sphinx with whom they have much in common and their song takes effect at midday, in a windless calm. The end of song is death. That the sailors flesh is rotting away, suggests it has not been eaten and it has been suggested that, with their feathers stolen, their divine nature kept them alive, but unable to provide food for their visitors, who starved to death by refusing to leave. According to Hyginus, sirens were fated to live only until the mortals who heard their songs were able to pass by them, Sirens were believed to combine women and birds in various ways. In early Greek art, Sirens were represented as birds with womens heads, bird feathers. Later, they were represented as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without wings, playing a variety of musical instruments, especially harps
8.
Comics Buyer's Guide
–
Comics Buyers Guide, established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards from 1982–2008, the publication ceased with the March 2013 issue. The magazine was headquartered in Iola, Wisconsin, CBG was founded in February 1971 by Alan Light under the title The Buyers Guide to Comics Fandom as a monthly newspaper in a tabloid format. TBG began primarily as an advertising venue – known in comics fandom as an adzine, frantz also provides background on Lights interaction with the WE Seal of approval program, with which he cooperated in order to help combat mail fraud. Frantz in addition describes the infamous long-running feud between Light and Comics Journal founder Gary Groth, tBGs frequency was changed to twice-monthly with issue #18. Besides occasional letter columns, beginning with issue #19, prominent fans Don and Maggie Thompson began a monthly column, a news column, What Now. by Murray Bishoff, was added with #26. These provided the editorial content required by the United States Postal Service to qualify for second class mail, TBG went weekly with issue #86. Cat Yronwode succeeded Bishoff as news reporter with issue #329, renaming the column “Fit to Print, in 1983 The Buyers Guide was purchased by Krause Publications. Columnists Don and Maggie Thompson were hired as editors, Krause changed the name with their first issue #482 to Comics Buyers Guide. At that time Krause instituted the controversial CBG Customer Service Award, writer Peter Davids column, But I Digress. The magazine added Mark Evaniers column P. O. V. in late 1994, in 1992, the magazine spun off its distributor and retailer news into a separate periodical, Comics & Games Retailer. Co-editor Don Thompson died in May 23,1994, in 1998, Krause brought on John Jackson Miller as managing editor and Brent Frankenhoff as projects editor, with Maggie Thompson remaining as editor. Frankenhoff was promoted to CBG Editor in 2006, with Maggie Thompson assuming the title of Senior Editor, in July 2002, Krause was acquired by F+W Publications. With issue #1595, CBG changed its format from a tabloid to a monthly perfect bound magazine. In July 2005, the magazine began archiving past features at its CBGXtra. com service, in late 2009, CBGs page count was reduced, the perfect binding ended, and some of the features changed, including the removal of the price guide listings. On January 9,2013, Krause Publications announced the cancellation of Comics Buyer’s Guide effective with issue #1699, the website CBGXtra and its Facebook page will continued as archived resources. Alter Ego #122 is an issue devoted to Comics Buyers Guide with features regarding what would have made the 1700th CBG issue if the magazine had continued. A complete collection of CBG and its predecessor is held by the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection, CBG hosted many columns over the years in addition to Don and Maggie Thompsons Beautiful Balloons, Murray Bishoffs What Now. and Cat Yronwodes Fit to Print
9.
Agents of Atlas
–
Agents of Atlas is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is composed of characters appearing in unrelated stories published in the 1950s by Marvels predecessor company. The characters debuted as a team in What If #9 and starred in the 2006 limited series Agents of Atlas, written by Jeff Parker and with art by Leonard Kirk. This group of heroes, which was not a team in 1950s comics, was established through retroactive continuity as having formed in the 1950s. They had appeared as a group in the non-canonical What If #9, the limited series Agents of Atlas #1-6 was set in the present day and likewise set in mainstream continuity. Paniccia says the idea came to him when he picked up a copy of the What if, story and found the cover intriguing, it instantly tickles the nostalgia bone. The team made a appearance in the The Resistance, an eight-page story that was part of the Secret Invasion crossover story arc. Parker and editor Paniccia said in July 2008, that the former will write an Agents of Atlas ongoing series which is one of the titles launching as part of the Dark Reign storyline, the series was cancelled with Atlas #5. Parker explained that original What if, team-member 3-D Man was left out ecause he wasnt really around in the 1950s. When the Agents of Atlas took over the Atlas Foundation, the following have joined, the group was formed in Spring 1958 by Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Jimmy Woo to rescue President Dwight D. Eisenhower from the villainous Yellow Claw. Woo first recruits Venus and Marvel Boy and he then tries to recruit Namora, who declines but tells Woo where to find a broken but potentially useful robot named M-11. While Marvel Boy fixes M-11, Woo asks Jann of the Jungle to take Marvel Boy to extend an invitation to Gorilla-Man, years later, Woo, by now a high-ranking agent of S. H. I. E. L. D. Attempts a secret raid of a group identified as the Atlas Foundation, going AWOL and taking several other willing agents with him, Woo invades an Atlas location, resulting in all of the recruits being killed. Woo himself is critically burned and loses his higher brain functions, Gorilla-Man, by now also a S. H. I. E. L. D. Agent, gives the organization a record of the 1950s team, had no knowledge, and rescues Woo with the aid of M-11 and Marvel Boy, who can only restore Woo to his 1958 self. Namora, whom the group believed dead, is located by the Agents, the team learns M-11 is a double agent for the Yellow Claw, and that Venus is one of the legendary Sirens given flesh, not the Venus/Aphrodite of mythological legend. Chu created Atlas to put Woo again in the spotlight, Woo accepts his destiny, takes over Atlas hoping to turn it into a force for good, and the Yellow Claw, having found his heir, appears to commit suicide. They resurfaced in New York City, where the team, together with Spider-Man and they later worked as a resistance cell against the invasion of Earth by the shapeshifting alien race the Skrulls
10.
Leonard Kirk
–
Leonard Kirk is an American-born comic book artist living in Canada. He has worked on properties as Supergirl, JSA, Star Trek, Batman. Currently Kirk is exclusively signed for Marvel Comics, Kirk first broke into the comics field pencilling issue #5 of the Malibu Comics title Dinosaurs for Hire and issue #1 of Captain Canuck vol.2. He then went on to pencil Star Trek, Deep Space Nine comics for Malibu, in 1995, he began working with Marvel, penciling the Ultragirl miniseries. In 1997, he began an association with DC Comics. Following that, he penciled the Dan Jolley written Bloodhound, which was canceled within a year and he penciled the Fred Van Lente written Scorpion story in the Marvel anthology title Amazing Fantasy. Following that, he illustrated the miniseries, Freshmen, written by Seth Green and Hugh Sterbakov, for Top Cow. He returned for a year to work at DC, filling in on Aquaman and doing the layouts in Detective Comics One Year Later storyline Face the Face that ran through both Batman and Detective Comics. Later in 2006, Kirk signed a deal with Marvel Comics, his first project being a six issue Jeff Parker written Agents of Atlas miniseries. Agent, Derek Khanata from the Scorpion story he penciled in Amazing Fantasy, Marvel has proceeded to assign him to pencil Marvel Adventures, The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man Family, and a fill-in for the World War Hulk storyline in The Incredible Hulk #108. In 2008 Kirk provided the art for Captain Britain and MI,13, written by Paul Cornell, in 2011 Kirk began a run on X-Factor, reuniting him with his Supergirl collaborator, Peter David, penciling issues 225 -228. Kirk would return to that title with issue 233, and remained the regular penciller on it until it ended in mid-2013 with issue 256, David has named Kirk one of the three artists whose art has mostly closely matched the visuals he conceived when writing comic book scripts. Aquaman #34-38 Batman #651-654 Bloodhound #1-8,10 Deadman, Dead Again #1,3,5 Detective Comics #817-820 H. E. R. O
11.
God Squad (comics)
–
God Squad is a fictional team of gods appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. God Squad is the name that the character Amadeus Cho gave to a team of gods brought together to face the oncoming Secret Invasion, the team was brought together in Incredible Hercules #117 by writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, and artist Rafa Sandoval. They get to the Skrulls in a made from the Rainbow Serpents skin after stealing a chart from Nightmare using Mikaboshis deception. However a Skrull agent disguised as Chos coyote pup Kirby destroys it and this happens around the time of Reed Richards escape at Secret Invasion #5. Mikaboshi stays behind after killing Slgurt and takes over the Skrull Pantheon, Hercules senses Mikaboshis coming, and to counter him and his hordes, assembles a new version of the God Squad to help fight him in the devastating Chaos War. Hercules Amadeus Cho Snowbird Ajak Amatsu-Mikaboshi Demogorge Hercules Amadeus Cho Thor Galactus Silver Surfer Venus Sersi Daimon Hellstrom Panther God Sources
12.
Marvel Universe
–
The Marvel Universe is the shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place. Marvel superheroes such as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men are from this universe, in this context, Marvel Universe is taken to refer to the mainstream Marvel continuity, which is known as Earth-616 or currently as Earth Prime. Headline characters in one title would make cameo or guest appearances in other books, eventually many of the leading heroes assembled into a team known as the Avengers. The Marvel Universe was also notable for setting its central titles in New York City, by contrast, care was taken to portray the city and the world as realistically as possible with the presence of superhumans affecting the common citizens in various ways. What happens on Earth in the main Marvel Universe would normally have no effect on what happens on a parallel Earth in another Marvel-created universe, however, storywriters would have the creative ability to write stories in which people from one such universe would visit this alternative universe. In 1982, Marvel published the mini-series Contest of Champions, in all of the major heroes in existence at the time were gathered together to deal with one threat. The Marvel Universe is strongly based on the real world, Earth in the Marvel Universe has all the features of the real one, same countries, same personalities, same historical events, and so on. However, it contains many other fictional elements, countries such as Wakanda and Latveria, and organizations like the espionage agency S. H. I. E. L. D. and its enemy, HYDRA. In 2009 Marvel officially described its worlds geography in a two-part miniseries, most importantly, the Marvel Universe also incorporates examples of almost all major science fiction and fantasy concepts, with writers adding more continuously. Aliens, gods, magic, cosmic powers and extremely advanced human-developed technology all exist prominently in the Marvel Universe, monsters also play a more prominent role with east Asian origins of magical incantation, outlandish sorcery and manifesting principle in the Marvel Universe. One such case is Fin Fang Foom arising from the ashes of tantric magic, thanks to these extra elements, Earth in the Marvel Universe is home to a large number of superheroes and supervillains, who have gained their powers by any of these means. Marvels major heroes were created in the 1960s, but the amount of time that has passed between then and now within the universe itself has most recently identified as thirteen years. Consequently, the settings of some events which were contemporary when written have to be updated every few years in order to sense in this floating timeline. Thus, the events of previous stories are considered to have happened within a number of years prior to the publishing date of the current issue. Because of the timeline, where stories refer to real-life historic events. For instance, the origin of Iron Man was changed in a 2004 storyline to refer to armed conflict in Afghanistan, additionally, the DC Comics Universe is also said to exist in the Marvel Universe as one of the many alternative universes. The reverse may also be said with respect to the DC Universe and this is one method of explaining the various crossover stories co-published by the two companies. Pop culture characters such as Dracula and Frankenstein actually exist in the Marvel Universe and this is usually justified as a second hand account of events as told to credited authors Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley although the general public continues to believe them as fictional
13.
Silver Age of Comic Books
–
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. The popularity and circulation of books about superheroes declined following World War II. However, controversy arose over alleged links between comic books and juvenile delinquency, focusing in particular on crime and horror titles, in 1954, publishers implemented the Comics Code Authority to regulate comic content. In the wake of changes, publishers began introducing superhero stories again. In response to demand, DC began publishing more superhero titles including Justice League of America. Silver Age comics have become collectible, with a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, Comics historian and movie producer Michael Uslan traces the origin of the Silver Age term to the letters column of Justice League of America #42, which went on sale December 9,1965. Letter-writer Scott Taylor of Westport, Connecticut wrote, If you guys keep bringing back the heroes from the Golden Age, according to Uslan, the natural hierarchy of gold-silver-bronze, as in Olympic medals, took hold. Fans immediately glommed onto this, refining it more directly into a Silver Age version of the Golden Age, very soon, it was in our vernacular, replacing such expressions as. Second Heroic Age of Comics or The Modern Age of comics and it wasnt long before dealers were. Specifying it was a Golden Age comic for sale or a Silver Age comic for sale, a number of major superheroes were created during this period, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and Captain America. In subsequent years comics were blamed for a rise in crime statistics. The result was a decline in the comics industry, to address public concerns, in 1954 the Comics Code Authority was created to regulate and curb violence in comics, marking the start of a new era. The Silver Age began with the publication of DC Comics Showcase #4, at the time, only three superheroes—Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—were still published under their own titles. According to DC comics writer Will Jacobs, Superman was available in great quantity, editor Julius Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox, and artist Carmine Infantino were some of the people behind the Flashs revitalization. Robert Kanigher wrote the first stories of the revived Flash, with the success of Showcase #4, several other 1940s superheroes were reworked during Schwartz tenure, including Green Lantern, the Atom, and Hawkman, as well as the Justice League of America. The DC artists responsible included Murphy Anderson, Gil Kane and Joe Kubert, in the mid-1960s, DC established that characters appearing in comics published prior to the Silver Age lived on a parallel Earth the company dubbed Earth-Two. Characters introduced in the Silver Age and onward lived on Earth-One and it was established that the two realities were separated by a vibrational field that could be crossed, should a storyline involve superheroes from different worlds teaming up. Unsuccessful attempts to revive the superhero archetypes popularity include Captain Comet, supermouse and Mighty Mouse were published continuously in their own titles from the end of the Golden Age through the beginning of the Silver Age
14.
Sub-Mariner
–
Namor the Sub-Mariner is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. During that period, known to historians and fans as the Golden Age of Comic Books, Everett said the characters name was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridges poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Everett came up with Namor by writing down noble sounding names backwards, the first known comic book antihero, the Sub-Mariner has remained a historically important and relatively popular Marvel character. He has served directly with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Invaders, the Defenders, the X-Men, and the Illuminati as well as serving as a foil to them on occasion. Namor the Sub-Mariner first appeared in April 1939 in the prototype for a planned giveaway comic titled Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, the only eight known samples among those created to send to theater owners were discovered in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. When the giveaway idea fell through, creator Bill Everett used the character for Marvel Comics #1, the final panel of the earlier, unpublished eight-page Sub-Mariner story had included a Continued Next Week box that reappeared, sans lettering, in an expanded 12-page story. The series Marvel Comics was retitled Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2, in his first appearances Namor was an enemy of the United States. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that Namor was a freak in the service of chaos, although the Sub-Mariner acted like a villain, his cause had some justice, and readers reveled in his assaults on civilization. His enthusiastic fans werent offended by the carnage he created as he wrecked everything from ships to skyscrapers, everetts antihero would eventually battle Carl Burgos android superhero, the Human Torch, when in 1940 Namor threatened to sink the island of Manhattan underneath a tidal wave. When the U. S. entered World War II, Namor would aid the Allies of World War II against Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers. Supporting characters included Betty Dean, a New York City policewoman introduced in Marvel Mystery Comics #3, who was a steady companion, Namor starred in the Golden Age comic book Sub-Mariner Comics, published quarterly, then thrice-yearly, and finally bimonthly, from issues #1–32. A backup feature each issue starred the detective-superhero the Angel, along with many other Timely characters, Namor disappeared a few years after the end of World War II and the decline in popularity of superhero comics. Both these super-groups were built around the core of Namor, Captain America, the Sub-Mariner experienced a brief revival in the mid-1950s at Atlas Comics, the 1950s iteration of Marvel. Along with Captain America and the original Human Torch, he was revived in Young Men #24, soon afterward, Sub-Mariner Comics was revived with issues #33–42. During this time, Namora had her own spin-off series, a planned live-action television program starring Namor did not appear and the revival of the comic book series was cancelled a second time. Storm helps him recover his memory, and Namor immediately returns to his undersea kingdom – identified, for the first time in the Marvel canon, finding it destroyed from nuclear testing, Namor assumes his people are scattered and that he will never find them. He again becomes an antihero during this period, as two elements – a thirst for vengeance and a quest for identity – would dominate the Sub-Mariner stories of the 1960s. He was both a villain and a hero – striking against the race who destroyed his home
15.
Venus
–
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. It has the longest rotation period of any planet in the Solar System and it is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It is the second-brightest natural object in the sky after the Moon, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6. Because Venus orbits within Earths orbit it is a planet and never appears to venture far from the Sun. Venus is a planet and is sometimes called Earths sister planet because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun. It is radically different from Earth in other respects and it has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more than 96% carbon dioxide. The atmospheric pressure at the surface is 92 times that of Earth. Venus is by far the hottest planet in the Solar System, with a surface temperature of 735 K. Venus is shrouded by an layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid. It may have had water oceans in the past, but these would have vaporized as the temperature rose due to a greenhouse effect. The water has probably photodissociated, and the hydrogen has been swept into interplanetary space by the solar wind because of the lack of a planetary magnetic field. Venuss surface is a dry desertscape interspersed with rocks and is periodically resurfaced by volcanism. As one of the brightest objects in the sky, Venus has been a fixture in human culture for as long as records have existed. It has been sacred to gods of many cultures, and has been a prime inspiration for writers and poets as the morning star. Venus was the first planet to have its motions plotted across the sky, as the closest planet to Earth, Venus has been a prime target for early interplanetary exploration. It was the first planet beyond Earth visited by a spacecraft, Venuss thick clouds render observation of its surface impossible in visible light, and the first detailed maps did not emerge until the arrival of the Magellan orbiter in 1991. Plans have been proposed for rovers or more missions. Venus is one of the four planets in the Solar System
16.
Handmaiden
–
A handmaiden, handmaid or maidservant is a personal maid or female servant, or someone whose primary role is to serve or assist. The term is not commonly used nowadays, the terms maid or domestic worker being more commonly used, in each of these cases, the mistress gave their handmaid to their husbands to wife, to bear his seed. The use in the Torah of the prefix to, as in gave to wife, the text repeats that these people remain handmaids of their mistress though they are also the mistresss husbands concubine. The Handmaids Tale The Handmaids Tale The Handmaiden, a 2016 South Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook
17.
Hercules (Marvel Comics)
–
Hercules is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character is based on Heracles of Greek mythology, the character has starred in three self-titled limited series and been a perennial member of the superhero team the Avengers, appearing in each of the three titles. In 2008, Hercules debuted in his own series titled The Incredible Hercules, the character was ranked 21st in IGNs list of The Top 50 Avengers, and has appeared in various forms of media including television series and video games. The character was adapted from mythology by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, Hercules debuted in Avengers #10 as a minion of Immortus, although his appearance was revealed in the limited series Avengers Forever #1 -12 as being an impostor. The characters first formal appearance in the Marvel Universe became Journey into Mystery Annual #1, Hercules became a regular guest star in the title Thor, appearing in issue #126. The character guest-starred in Tales To Astonish #79, and a battle with the Hulk established Hercules as a powerhouse. The character teamed up with the Avengers, as of issue #38, in issue #45 of The Avengers, Hercules became a Full-Fledged Avenger by way of Goliaths announcement to the press during the first annual Avengers Day. Hercules also guest starred in Marvel Team-Up #28 and Marvel Premiere #26 before starring along with four other heroes in the Champions which ran for 17 issues, after this, Hercules made a guest appearance in Marvel Two-In-One #44. Hercules starred in two limited series by writer-artist Bob Layton, with set in an alternate universe. A 24th century version of Hercules starred in Hercules #1 -4, the storylines dealt with Herculess exile from Olympus, completion of a series of quests and opportunity to leave his past behind and create a new identity. The story lead directly into the Assault on Olympus storyline in Avengers #281 -285, the character starred in the self-titled limited series Hercules vol. 3, #1 -5, and guest starred in limited series Thor, Blood Oath #1 -6, the series concluded with Incredible Hercules #141, and was followed by the 2-issue mini-series Hercules, Fall of an Avenger. The mini-series is scheduled to lead into the new title, Prince of Power #1, also written by Pak. One 2010 comic includes a development which suggests that Hercules had a sexual encounter with gay male superhero Northstar at an earlier point in time. Writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente started a brand new Hercules series, entitled Herc, featuring the hero without powers, Hercules first appears when pulled from the past by the villain Immortus to battle the Thunder God Thor. This story is not referenced in the next appearance, which depicts Hercules. The discrepancy is explained when it is revealed that the first Hercules encountered was actually an alien Space Phantom in disguise. Hercules guest-stars in an extended Thor storyline, defeating a depowered Thunder God, Hercules unwittingly becomes the slave of fellow Olympian god Pluto when he signs a contract which he thinks is for a film, but actually states that he will now rule the Netherworld instead of Pluto
18.
Zeus (Marvel Comics)
–
Zeus, full name Zeus Panhellenios, is a fictional character, a god appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic version of Zeus is based on the god of the name from Greek mythology. Zeus first appears in Venus #5, and was adapted by Stan Lee, Zeus is the youngest son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, the children of sky god Ouranos and elder goddess Gaea. His father Cronus rose to power in the dimension which later known as Olympus. As he lay dying, Ouranos prophesied that one of the children of Cronus would overthrow him in turn and his wife Rhea hid Zeus, their sixth child, on Mount Lycaeum in Arcadia, and tricked Cronos into eating a stone instead of the infant Zeus. There Zeus grew to adulthood and then plotted his revenge on Cronus, the Cyclopes gave the three gods their respective weapons and taught Zeus how to wield his energy-manipulating powers, and Zeus led his allies in a ten-year war against Cronus and the Titans. After winning the war, Zeus imprisoned Cronus and most of the male Titans in Tartarus, Zeus drew lots with his brothers Hades and Poseidon, and became supreme ruler of the Olympian gods, their dimension and the sky. Zeus married Hera, but engaged in relationships with goddesses and mortal women alike. Some of his children from these unions were gods, and joined the Olympian pantheon, while others were mortals such as Helen of Troy and the hero Hercules who eventually became a god. After the Hyborian Age, the ancient Greek civilization began to rise, Zeus discovered the principal nexus between the Olympian dimension and Greece was at the top of Greeces Mount Olympus, near Olympia, the principal city of Earths Eternals. Zeus and his daughter Athena met with Zuras, the leader of the Eternals, given the physical resemblance between the Eternals and Olympians, both parties formed an alliance, with the Eternals acting representing the gods on Earth. Zuras soon decreed that Azura become Thena, during the war of Troy Zeus battled Thor who had accidentally been transported there. Hades deplored Zeus decree, and challenged Zeus supremacy many times, Zeus met secretly with the Asgardian ruler Odin, and the two elder gods put an end to the war and formed an alliance to defend Earth from the Celestials. Zeus first depiction in modern comics shows his first meeting with Thor and he breaks up a fight between Hercules and Thor with his thunderbolt, and makes them clasp hands in friendship. Zeus was later unable to break Hercules Olympian contract with Pluto and he was rescued by Hercules, and revoked Hercules exile and sent Typhon to Tarterus. Zeus then thwarted Plutos attempt to conquer Earth, Zeus was later overthrown by an alliance of Ares and the Asgardian Enchantress, and was restored to power by the Avengers. Zeus resisted an attempt by Ares and Pluto to foment war between Olympus and Asgard. Zeus also thwarted a conspiracy by Pluto, Ares, and Hyppolyta to overthrow him, Zeus later revealed a pact made a millennia ago to end war between Asgard and Olympus
19.
Thor (Marvel Comics)
–
Thor is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He has starred in several ongoing series and limited series, and is a member of the superhero team the Avengers. The character has appeared in associated Marvel merchandise including animated television series, clothing, toys, trading cards, video games. The character was first portrayed in action by Eric Allan Kramer in the 1988 television movie The Incredible Hulk Returns. Thor placed 14th on IGNs list of Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time in 2011, a different version of the mythological Thor had appeared previously in Venus #12-13. Lee in 2002 described Thors genesis early in the Marvel pantheon, following the creation of the Hulk and it finally came to me, Dont make him human — make him a god. I decided readers were already pretty familiar with the Greek and Roman gods and it might be fun to delve into the old Norse legends. In a 1984 interview Kirby said I did a version of Thor for D. C. in the fifties before I did him for Marvel. I created Thor at Marvel because I was forever enamored of legends, which is why I knew about Balder, Heimdall, I tried to update Thor and put him into a superhero costume, but he was still Thor. And in a 1992 interview, Kirby said knew the Thor legends very well, I felt that might be a new thing for comics, taking the old legends and modernizing them. Subsequent stories of the 13-page feature The Mighty Thor continued to be plotted by Lee, various artists penciled the feature, including Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Don Heck, and Al Hartley. With Journey into Mystery #101, the series began a long and definitive run by writer and co-plotter Lee, Lee and Kirby included Thor in The Avengers #1 as a founding member of the superhero team. The character has appeared in every subsequent volume of the series. The five-page featurette Tales of Asgard was added in Journey into Mystery #97, the feature itself expanded to 18 pages in #105, which eliminated the remaining anthological story from each issue, it was reduced to 16 pages five issues later. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that the adventures of Thor were gradually transformed from stories about a superhero into a spectacular saga. Artist Chic Stone, who inked several early Thor stories, observed that Kirby could just lead you through all these different worlds, the readers would follow him anywhere. Journey into Mystery was retitled Thor with issue #126, Tales of Asgard was replaced by a five-page featurette starring the Inhumans from #146–152, after which featurettes were dropped and the Thor stories expanded to Marvels then-standard 20-page length. Marvel filed for a trademark for The Mighty Thor in 1967, after Kirby left the title, Neal Adams penciled issues #180-181
20.
Loki (comics)
–
Loki is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the brother and often the enemy of Thor. He is based on the being of the name from Norse mythology. The character first appeared historically in Venus No.6 and in modern-day in Journey into Mystery No.85, the character was created by writer Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller Jack Kirby. Though normally portrayed as a supervillain, he is depicted as an antihero. Loki has appeared in several ongoing series, limited series and alternate reality series and he appeared in the new issues of Young Avengers in 2013. He began appearing in his solo series Loki, Agent of Asgard in 2014, the character has also appeared in associated Marvel merchandise including animated television series, clothing, toys, video games, and movies. In 2009, Loki was ranked as IGNs 8th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time, Loki made his first Marvel Comics appearance in Timely Comics publication Venus No. 6, where Loki was depicted as a member of the Olympian gods exiled to the Underworld and he convinced Jupiter to let him into Earth as Venus was allowed onto it, planning to spread hate. Venus pledged herself to him to stop his plans, but Jupiter saw her act and freed her from the pledge. He made his first official Marvel appearance in Journey into Mystery No,85, where Loki was reintroduced as Thors sworn enemy. The modern age Loki was introduced by brothers and co-writers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, as one of Thors arch-nemeses, Loki has frequently made appearances in Thor-related titles like Journey into Mystery and Thor, as well as other Marvel Universe titles such as The Avengers and X-Men. As well as appearances in the Spider-Man and Defenders comic series. He was the character in two four-issue miniseries Loki in 2004 and 2010. Loki played a key role in the 2010s company-wide Siege storyline, starting with issue No.622 the ongoing series Thor reverted to the original title Journey into Mystery and shifted focus to Loki. Under the pen of Kieron Gillen, Loki is resurrected but exists in a childs body and he remained the main character from 2011-2012, his final issue as lead being No.645. Gillen, joined by penciller Jamie McKelvie, continued his Loki storyline by introducing Loki, still as Kid Loki, as a character in the second Young Avengers. 11, he manipulated Wiccan into restoring him to a teenaged form, a Loki solo series called Loki, Agent of Asgard was announced for 2014
21.
Ares (Marvel Comics)
–
Ares is a fictional character, a deity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is based on the Greek god of the same name and he first appeared in Thor #129 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Ares has commonly appeared as an enemy of Thor and Hercules, in 2012, Ares was ranked 39th in IGNs list of The Top 50 Avengers. Ares, the Greek God of War, was depicted as a villain in the Marvel Universe, opposing Thor, Hercules. Early on his influence on Earth was less direct as he created an organization known as the Warhawks, in 2006 the character was recast to not be a villain but instead more of an antihero who simply lived for battle, any battle. He was added to the Avengers roster as one of their heavy hitters and showed himself to have his own Warriors Honor codex and he would later join Norman Osborns Dark Avengers, believing that he could put his powers to good use. During the Siege storyline Ares is killed by Sentry as he is torn apart. Ares first appeared in Thor #129,1966, written by Stan Lee and he would often appear as a villain in both Thor and The Avengers over the next 30 years. A 5-issue limited series, Ares, written by Michael Avon Oeming and drawn by Travel Foreman, was published in 2006, since the release of the Ares miniseries he has been portrayed as an antihero. Following the superhero Civil War, Ares was invited to join the official, S. H. I. E. L. D. -sponsored Mighty Avengers, led by Tony Stark, and appeared in that title. He was one of two members to remain on the team after Norman Osborn took Starks position, as part of the Dark Reign storyline. Ares subsequently starred in a three-issue Dark Avengers, Ares miniseries written by Kieron Gillen and he appeared as a regular character in the Dark Avengers series from issue #1 until the time of his death in the Siege limited series. During the Chaos War storyline, Ares appeared in a one-shot comic titles Chaos War, Ares is the son of Zeus and is the Olympian God of War. Ares reveled in war and combat in all its forms, not caring about sides or victims, supporting Troy in the Trojan war. Further adding to his hatred, is that in times, war is shunned and disliked, whereas Hercules is still beloved by the masses, despite his own history of death. As the Romans took on worship of Greek gods and renamed them, after Zeus allowed the worship of the Greek/Roman gods to cease, the dissatisfied Ares held a deep grudge and would try to overthrow Olympus more than once. He refused to battle against Pluto on behalf of Hercules, Hercules teamed up with the Asgardian god Thor in order to defeat Ares, leading to Ares retreat. Ares organized the Warhawks, which included Satyrs whose pipes caused violence in humans and he dispatched Kratos and Bia to capture Hercules
22.
Activism
–
Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society. One can also express activism through different forms of art, daily acts of protest such as not buying clothes from a certain clothing company because they exploit workers is another form of activism. One view holds that acknowledging privileges and oppressions on a daily basis ranks as a form of activism, research has begun to explore how activist groups use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action. The Online Etymology Dictionary records the English words activism and activist from 1920, Activists can function in roles as public officials, as in judicial activism. Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. introduced the term judicial activism in a January 1946 Fortune magazine article titled The Supreme Court,1947, some activists try to persuade people to change their behavior directly, rather than to persuade governments to change or not to change laws. Other activists try to persuade people to remain the same, in an effort to counter change, the cooperative movement seeks to build new institutions which conform to cooperative principles, and generally does not lobby or protest politically. Activism is not always an action by Activists, every year more than 100 environmental activists are killed, in 2014116 environmental activists were assassinated, in 2015185 activists were killed around this planet. Since the 1990s, the Internet has been a tool used by activists for mobilization and communication of causes, specific platforms like MoveOn. org, founded in 1998, allow individuals to establish petitions and movements for social change. Protesters in Seattle in 1999 used email to organize protests against the WTO Ministerial Conference, throughout the 2000s, protesters continued to use social media platforms to generate interest. The power of Internet Activism came into a lens with the Arab Spring protests. They use different means to political persecution, such as Tor Browser. The activism industry consists of organizations and individuals engaged in activism, Activism is often done full-time, as part of an organizations core business. Many organizations in the industry are either non profit organizations or non-governmental organizations. Most activist organizations do not manufacture goods, the term activism industry has often been used to refer to outsourced fundraising operations. However, activist organizations engage in activities as well. Lobbying, or the influencing of decisions made by government, is another activist tactic, many groups, including law firms, have designated staff assigned specifically for lobbying purposes. In the United States, lobbying is regulated by the federal government, many government systems encourage public support of non-profit organizations by granting various forms of tax relief for donations to charitable organizations. Governments may attempt to deny these benefits to activists by restricting the political activity of tax-exempt organizations, randy Shaw, The Activists Handbook, A Primer for the 1990s and Beyond
23.
Swimsuit
–
Swimwear is clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Different types may be worn by men, women, and children, a swimsuit can be worn as an undergarment in sports that require a wetsuit such as water skiing, scuba diving, surfing, and wakeboarding. There is a wide range of styles of modern swimsuits available. The choice of style may depend on community standards of modesty, as well as current fashions, the choice will also consider the occasion, for example whether it is to be worn for a passive occasion such as sunbathing or for an activity such as surfing or competition. Swimwear for men usually exposes the chest, while suits for women usually cover at least the breasts, rayon was used in the 1920s in the manufacture of tight-fitting swimsuits, but its durability, especially when wet, proved problematic, with jersey and silk also sometimes being used. In the 1930s, new materials were being developed and use in swimwear, particularly latex and nylon, while they go through many trends in pattern, length and cut there is not much modification to the original variety of suit. A recent innovation is the burqini, favored by some Muslim women and these are an updated version of full-body swimwear, which has been available for centuries, but conforms with Islams traditional emphasis on modest dress. In Egypt, the term Sharia swimsuit is used to describe full-body swimwear, swimsuits can be skin-tight or loose-fitting. They are often lined with another layer of fabric if the fabric becomes transparent when wet. Swimsuits range from designs that almost completely cover the body to designs that expose almost all of the body, the choice of swimsuit will depend on personal and community standards of modesty and on considerations such as how much or how little sun protection is desired, and prevailing fashions. Almost all swimsuits cover the genitals and pubic hair, while most except thongs or G-string cover much or all of the buttocks, most swimsuits in western culture leave at least the head, shoulders, arms, and lower part of the leg exposed. Womens swimsuits generally cover at least the aereola and bottom half of the breasts, in many countries, young girls and sometimes women choose not to wear a swimsuit top, and this can vary with the occasion, location, age, etc. Both men and women may sometimes wear swimsuits covering more of the body when swimming in cold water, in colder temperatures, the swimwear is needed to conserve body heat and protect the body core from hypothermia. Competitive swimwear generally refers to the swimsuit, clothing, equipment and accessories used in the sports of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, triathlon. Some swimsuits are designed specifically for swimming competitions where they may be constructed of a low resistance fabric that reduces skin drag. For some kinds of swimming and diving, special bodysuits called diveskins are worn and these suits are made from spandex and provide little thermal protection, but they do protect the skin from stings and abrasion. Most competitive swimmers also wear special swimsuits including partial bodysuits, racerback styles, jammers, unlike regular swimsuits, which are designed mainly for the aesthetic appearances, swimsuits designed to be worn during competitions are manufactured to assist the athlete in swim competitions. They reduce friction and drag in the water, increasing the efficiency of the forward motion
24.
Toga
–
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between 12 and 20 feet in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tradition, it is said to have been the favoured dress of Romulus, Romes founder, as Roman women gradually adopted the stola, the toga was recognised as formal wear for Roman citizen men. Women engaged in prostitution might have provided the main exception to this rule, the type of toga worn reflected a citizens rank in the civil hierarchy. Various laws and customs restricted its use to citizens, who were required to wear it for public festivals, from its probable beginnings as a simple, practical work-garment, the toga became more voluminous, complex and costly, increasingly unsuited to anything but formal and ceremonial use. When circumstances allowed, those otherwise entitled or obliged to wear it opted for more comfortable and it gradually fell out of use, firstly among citizens of the lower class, then those of the middle class. Eventually, it was only by the highest classes for ceremonial occasions. The toga was an approximately semi-circular woolen cloth, usually white, worn draped over the shoulders and around the body and it was considered formal wear, and was generally reserved for citizens. Toga virilis also known as toga alba or toga pura, A plain white toga, worn on occasions by adult male commoners. It represented adult male citizenship and its attendant rights, freedoms, toga praetexta, a white toga with a broad purple stripe on its border, worn over a tunic with two broad, vertical purple stripes. It was formal costume for, Curule magistrates in their functions, and traditionally. Freeborn boys, and some girls, before they came of age. It marked their protection by law from sexual predation and immoral or immodest influence, a praetexta was thought effective against malignant magic, as were a boys bulla, and a girls lunula. Some priesthoods, including the Pontifices, Tresviri Epulones, the augurs, toga candida, Bright toga, a toga rubbed with chalk to a dazzling white, worn by candidates for public office. Thus Persius speaks of a cretata ambitio, chalked ambition, toga candida is the etymological source of the word candidate. It was worn mainly by mourners, but could also be worn in times of danger or public anxiety. It was sometimes used as a protest of sorts—when Cicero was exiled, mourners with a toga praetexta could turn it inside out, to conceal the stripe, or wear a toga pura. Toga picta, Dyed solid purple, embroidered with gold, and worn over a similarly decorated tunica palmata, during the Empire, it was worn by consuls and emperors
25.
Namor
–
Namor the Sub-Mariner is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. During that period, known to historians and fans as the Golden Age of Comic Books, Everett said the characters name was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridges poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Everett came up with Namor by writing down noble sounding names backwards, the first known comic book antihero, the Sub-Mariner has remained a historically important and relatively popular Marvel character. He has served directly with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Invaders, the Defenders, the X-Men, and the Illuminati as well as serving as a foil to them on occasion. Namor the Sub-Mariner first appeared in April 1939 in the prototype for a planned giveaway comic titled Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, the only eight known samples among those created to send to theater owners were discovered in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. When the giveaway idea fell through, creator Bill Everett used the character for Marvel Comics #1, the final panel of the earlier, unpublished eight-page Sub-Mariner story had included a Continued Next Week box that reappeared, sans lettering, in an expanded 12-page story. The series Marvel Comics was retitled Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2, in his first appearances Namor was an enemy of the United States. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that Namor was a freak in the service of chaos, although the Sub-Mariner acted like a villain, his cause had some justice, and readers reveled in his assaults on civilization. His enthusiastic fans werent offended by the carnage he created as he wrecked everything from ships to skyscrapers, everetts antihero would eventually battle Carl Burgos android superhero, the Human Torch, when in 1940 Namor threatened to sink the island of Manhattan underneath a tidal wave. When the U. S. entered World War II, Namor would aid the Allies of World War II against Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers. Supporting characters included Betty Dean, a New York City policewoman introduced in Marvel Mystery Comics #3, who was a steady companion, Namor starred in the Golden Age comic book Sub-Mariner Comics, published quarterly, then thrice-yearly, and finally bimonthly, from issues #1–32. A backup feature each issue starred the detective-superhero the Angel, along with many other Timely characters, Namor disappeared a few years after the end of World War II and the decline in popularity of superhero comics. Both these super-groups were built around the core of Namor, Captain America, the Sub-Mariner experienced a brief revival in the mid-1950s at Atlas Comics, the 1950s iteration of Marvel. Along with Captain America and the original Human Torch, he was revived in Young Men #24, soon afterward, Sub-Mariner Comics was revived with issues #33–42. During this time, Namora had her own spin-off series, a planned live-action television program starring Namor did not appear and the revival of the comic book series was cancelled a second time. Storm helps him recover his memory, and Namor immediately returns to his undersea kingdom – identified, for the first time in the Marvel canon, finding it destroyed from nuclear testing, Namor assumes his people are scattered and that he will never find them. He again becomes an antihero during this period, as two elements – a thirst for vengeance and a quest for identity – would dominate the Sub-Mariner stories of the 1960s. He was both a villain and a hero – striking against the race who destroyed his home
26.
Pluto (Marvel Comics)
–
Pluto is a fictional deity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is based on the Greco-Roman god of the same name, Pluto first appeared in the pages of Thor #127 in 1966 where he was adapted by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby. Pluto is the Olympian god of the Underworld, death, and the dead, much of the characters story parallels that of traditional Greek Myth. To wit, after defeating their father Cronus, Pluto and his brothers Zeus and Neptune as well as his sisters Hera, Hestia, Pluto gained control of the Underworld as the judge of the dead. However, in the Marvel Universe, Pluto is a god that plans to overthrow Zeus. His most infamous act is when he takes Zeus and Demeters daughter and this event goes on to cause him some dismal failures in the future, for instance the Avengers once defeat him when Persephone issues an edict against him. He also became an enemy of Hercules, when the young Hercules captures Plutos dog Cerberus as one of his Twelve Labours. When worship of the Greek Gods dies out, Zeus forbids Pluto to take anymore souls into his underworld and he became bitter and begins a long history of plotting against his more powerful brother. After numerous failures, Zeus decrees that Pluto can only leave the Underworld if he finds someone willing to rule in his place, Pluto travels to Earth and disguises himself as Mr. Hellman, a movie producer, and invites Hercules to make a movie about himself. Thor learns of Plutos deception and challenges him on Hercules behalf, Pluto sends Thor into the Olympian Underworld where his goal is to defeat Plutos minions. After witnessing Thors remarkable progress which destroys much of the Underworld which Pluto has spent centuries building, Pluto becomes disgusted and destroys the contract, Pluto next invaded Earth with mutates from an alternate future. He clashed with Thor, and was thwarted by Zeus, Pluto attempts to invade both Olympus, home of the Greek Gods and Asgard, home of Thor and his fellow Asgardians on numerous occasions, each without success. Pluto forms an alliance with Ares, his nephew and Olympian God of War, Pluto eventually makes an alliance with other death gods and demons. He allies himself with Queen Hippolyte, Queen of the Amazons, and Ares, however Hippolyte only wants Hercules to be hers and has no interest in Plutos desire to be worshipped by humanity again. Pluto attempts to sponsor the divorce of Hercules and Hebe to marry Hercules to Hippolyte as well as Ares to marry Venus, according to Olympian law, Hercules and Venus are not allowed to fight their partners when Hippolyte and Ares assist Pluto in conquering Olympus. However, this plan was exposed by Ghost Rider, and ultimately fails as Zeus, after some hesitation at first, Pluto later allied with Ulik and Loki against Thor. Pluto sought to create a nether-hole that would destroy the universe and he fought and defeated the Stranger, but was defeated by the Thing and the Hulk, whom the Stranger had brought with him. Pluto allied in a scheme with other gods and demons
27.
Champions (1975 team)
–
The Champions are a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appears in The Champions #1 and was created by writer Tony Isabella, writer Tony Isabella developed the concept of a new team of superheroes and originally wanted the roster to consist of former X-Men Angel and Iceman, and the newly created Black Goliath. Black Goliath became unavailable when the character debuted in his own title, editor Len Wein insisted on at least five members, and Isabella added three established heroes, Russian spy Black Widow, the Greek god Hercules, and the supernatural avenger Ghost Rider. Captain Marvel, Power Man, and the Son of Satan were all considered for the place on the roster before selecting Ghost Rider. Writer and publisher David Anthony Kraft is credited with naming the team, production difficulties, which caused a three-month delay between the first and second issues, prevented this. The title was published as The Champions, and ran for seventeen issues from October 1975 to January 1978. In addition to Don Heck, artists who drew the series include George Tuska, Bob Hall, and John Byrne. The team battled established Marvel villains such as Pluto, the Griffin, the Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo, Warlord Kaa, the Stranger, Kamo Tharnn, Russian heroine Darkstar joins the team, and Black Goliath eventually guest stars in the title. The second-to-last issue continued a story involving a struggle between villains Doctor Doom and Magneto from the title Super-Villain Team-Up. The last issues storyline involving an attack by the Sentinels is referenced in the title Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, the Champions guest-starred in several other Marvel titles, including Ghost Rider #18, Iron Man Annual #4, The Avengers #163, and Godzilla #3. The group briefly reunite in a X-Force/Champions Annual, an issue of The Incredible Hulk features a flashback to a period when the Champions were still together. The team mistakenly attack the Hulk, with the delay almost killing a gravely ill Jennifer Walters, a new team also called the Champions debuted in October 2016. This team consists of Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, Teen Cyclops, Viv Vision, in 1987, Heroic Publishing began using the name The Champions for a role-playing game series which has been adapted into comic books. This has since been resolved with Marvel announcing a new Champions series set to debut following their Civil War II event, Champions Classic vol.1 collects The Champions #1–11,208 pages, July 2006, ISBN 978-0785120971 Champions Classic vol. com
28.
Hippolyta (Marvel Comics)
–
Hippolyta is a fictional Amazon character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Based on the Hippolyta of Greek mythology, the character first appeared in Thor vol.1 #127 and was created by Stan Lee, Hippolyta is the daughter of the Greek god of war Ares and Otrera, and she is the step-sister to Phobos. She and her sister Amazons would help create war, stealing the female children in the process in order to make their armies grow, the group protected the cow-goddess Io as a favor to her grandfather Zeus. After many years of ruling the Amazons, Hippolyta eventually met Hercules when he, Jason, there they attempted to steal Hippolytas enchanted girdle and any slaves they could along the way. Fearful for her sisters life, Hippolytas sister Antiope willingly disguised herself as Hippolyta, Jason, thinking her to be the Amazon queen, kidnapped Antiope and made her his bride. She eventually bore a son to him, Hippolytus, whom Antiope named after her much loved sister, initially resenting Hercules for the initial invasion, Hippolyta eventually fell in love with him. Over the centuries, she tried various attempts to win his affection, thus a love/hate relationship was formed between the two. As shown in a Howard the Duck story, Hippolyta has historically been one of the bearers of the Amulet of Pazuzu. As the Howard the Duck comic involves storylines that are both in and out of continuity, it is if the Amulet of Pazuzu truly exists in the Marvel Universe. When Hercules was given the contract she told him that in the film he conquered the Netherworld by defeating Pluto and she remained by his all the time. She then revealed who she really was to Hercules, but Thor came to his aid, and the heroes caused so much damage to Hades that Pluto himself broke the contract just to be rid of them. Hippolyta also formed a new generation of Amazons from female runaways in New York City called the Bacchae, the group has clashed with such heroes as the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Much later, Hippolyta reappeared in the pages of Incredible Hercules, Ares rebuffs her, however, and when Hippolyta returns, she is murdered by her daughter Artume, who is tired of her mothers obsession with Hercules. During the Dark Reign storyline, Hippolyta is among the people in Erebus when Hercules travels to the Underworld. Hela later brings Hippolyta from the Underworld to help the Valkyrior defeat the Doommaidens, Hippolyta then joins Valkyries Fearless Defenders as a full-time member of this group. During the Monsters Unleashed storyline, Valkyrie and Hippolyta are seen fighting the Leviathon Tide monsters in Edinburgh, Hippolyta has superhuman strength, speed and durability and is immortal, which makes her ageless. She is also a skilled hand to hand combatant and possesses the Gauntlet of Ares. Indirect reference was made to this version of Hippolyta in the JLA/Avengers crossover series and her rage grew greater still when Hercules clumsily joked that his relations with the Marvel Universe Hippolyta had been much different
29.
Avengers (comics)
–
The Avengers are a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, labeled Earths Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers originally consisted of Hank Pym, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and the Wasp. The original Captain America was discovered, trapped in ice, a rotating roster became a hallmark, although one theme remained consistent, the Avengers fight the foes no single superhero can withstand. The team, famous for its battle cry of Avengers Assemble. has featured humans, mutants, inhumans, robots, aliens, supernatural beings, and even former villains. The team has appeared in a variety of media outside of comic books including a number of different animated television series. A second Avengers film titled Avengers, Age of Ultron was released on May 1,2015, the team debuted in The Avengers #1. Much like the Justice League, the Avengers were an assemblage of pre-existing superhero characters created by Lee, between 1996 and 2004, Marvel relaunched the primary Avengers title three times. In 1996, the Heroes Reborn line took place in an alternate universe, the Avengers vol.3 relaunched and ran for 84 issues from February 1998 to August 2004. In January 2005, a new version of the team appeared in the ongoing title The New Avengers, followed by The Mighty Avengers, Avengers, The Initiative, Avengers vol.4 debuted in July 2010 and ran until January 2013. Vol.5 was launched in February 2013, after Secret Wars, a new Avengers team debuted, dubbed the All-New, All-Different Avengers, starting with a Free Comic Book Day preview. After the group vanquished Loki, Ant-Man stated that the five worked well together and suggested they form a team, Captain America soon joined the team in issue #4, and he was given founding member status in the Hulks place. The Avengers went on to fight such as Baron Zemo, who formed the Masters of Evil, Kang the Conqueror, Wonder Man. The next milestone came when every member but Captain America resigned, Giant-Man, now calling himself Goliath, and the Wasp rejoined. Hercules became part of the team, while the Black Knight, Spider-Man was offered membership but did not join the group. The Black Panther joined after rescuing the team from the Grim Reaper, the X-Men #45 featured a crossover with The Avengers #53. This was followed by the introduction of the android the Vision, Pym assumed the new identity of Yellowjacket in issue #59, and married the Wasp the following month. The Avengers headquarters was in a New York City building called Avengers Mansion, the team encountered new characters such as Arkon in issue #75, and Red Wolf in #80. The Avengers briefly disband when Skrulls impersonating Captain America, Thor, the true founding Avengers, minus the Wasp, reformed the team in response after complaints from Jarvis
30.
Marvel: The Lost Generation
–
Marvel, The Lost Generation is a twelve-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in 2000 and 2001. The series was scripted by Roger Stern and drawn by John Byrne with both as co-plotters, numbered in reverse order, it began with issue #12 and finished with issue #1. Although the Fantastic Four first appeared in comics in 1961, Marvel Comics utilizes a sliding timescale, the Lost Generation explored events in the gap between the retirement/disappearance of superheroes active during World War II and the emergence of the modern generation of heroes. The series employed the unusual device of having the issues numbered in reverse. The Lost Generation starred the First Line, a confederation of superheroes. Members of the First Line encountered a number of established Marvel characters, including the Skrulls, Doctor Strange, Diablo, Namor, Thor, the Monster Hunters of Ulysses Bloodstone, and Nick Fury. Marvel had earlier explored a concept of superheroes banding together after World War II in What If #9 What If the Avengers Had Fought Evil During the 1950s. In that comic, the heroes had been Marvel Boy, 3-D Man, Venus, Jann of the Jungle and this would form the basis for the Agents of Atlas. The Monster Hunters, also featured in series, had been created in a similar way in the pages of Marvel Universe. It featured Ulysses Bloodstone and Makkari was retconned as the character Hurricane
31.
Jimmy Woo
–
James Jimmy Woo is a fictional, Chinese-American secret agent appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by EC Comics writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Maneely, the character first appeared in Yellow Claw #1 from Atlas Comics, Jimmy Woo was the hero of an espionage series Yellow Claw, named for his antagonist, a yellow peril Communist mandarin. While the short-lived series named after that ran only four issues, it featured art by Maneely, Jack Kirby. Kirby took over as writer-artist with issue #2 — inking his own pencil art there and in the following issue, on the final issue, the inking was done by Western- and war-comics veteran Severin. Also, other artists drew the covers, Severin on #2 and #4, well regarded for its relatively mature storyline and in particular for Maneelys exquisitely atmospheric art, the book nevertheless failed to find an audience. Its influence rippled as the Yellow Claw, Woo and other characters from it were brought into the Marvel universe a decade later, Woo joins that espionage agency in Nick Fury, Agent of S. H. I. E. L. D. Woo went on to be featured in the 1977-1979 Marvel series Godzilla, Woo starred as the leader of a team of S. H. I. E. L. D. Operatives code-named Agents of Atlas, in the 2006-2007 series of that name, James Woo is an Asian-American FBI agent assigned primarily to investigate and apprehend the Chinese-national mandarin known as the Yellow Claw, a Fu Manchu manqué. The Yellow Claw, who attempts world domination, claimed in 2000s comics that his American rubric is a mistransliteration of the Chinese characters for Golden Claw, complicating matters, the Claws grandniece, Suwan, was in love with Woo in the 1950s series. In retcon stories, Woo is the FBI agent assigned in 1958 to oversee the 1950s superhero team the Avengers, Agent, Woo went on to join its Godzilla Squad to hunt down the giant monster Godzilla. This unit, led by Dum Dum Dugan, employed such weapons as a giant robot called Red Ronin, in 2006-2007 stories, Woo attempted a secret raid of a group identified as The Atlas Foundation. Going AWOL and taking several other willing agents with him, he infiltrated an Atlas Foundation location, Woo was critically burned and lost higher brain function. The former 1950s Avenger Gorilla-Man, by now also a S. H. I. E. L. D, Agent, gave the organization a classified record of the 1950s team, of which S. H. I. E. L. D. Gorilla-Man rescues Woo with the aid of fellow 1950s teammates M-11 and Marvel Boy, as Woo passed it flawlessly, he commits suicide, ending his long life and granting to Jimmy Woo his role as Head of the Atlas Foundation, and Suwans hand. Woo later surfaces in New York, where he and Spider-Man shut down a cell of the Atlas Foundation. During the Infinity storyline, it is shown that Jimmy is now the head of the Pan-Asian School For The Unusually Gifted, Jimmy Woo runs the school with Sanjar Javeed as a fellow teacher. Jeff Yang, curator of the Marvels & Monsters, Unmasking Asian Images in U. S, in the Ultimate Marvel universe, Jimmy Woo is an agent of S. H. I. E. L. D. He was introduced in Ultimate Spider-Man #16, in which he, Jimmy Woo appears in The Avengers, Earths Mightiest Heroes episode Iron Man is Born, voiced by Nolan North
32.
Spider-Man
–
Spider-Man is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, when Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the role of sidekick to the protagonist. Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several book series, the first. In the 2010s, he joins the Avengers, Marvels flagship superhero team, Spider-Mans nemesis Doctor Octopus also took on the identity for a story arc spanning 2012–2014, following a body swap plot in which Peter appears to die. Spider-Man is one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes, the character was first portrayed in live action by Nicholas Hammond in the 1977 television movie Spider-Man. Reeve Carney starred as Spider-Man in the 2010 Broadway musical Spider-Man, in 1962, with the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee was casting about for a new superhero idea. He said the idea for Spider-Man arose from a surge in demand for comic books. At that time Lee had to get only the consent of Marvel publisher Martin Goodman for the characters approval, in a 1986 interview, Lee described in detail his arguments to overcome Goodmans objections. In particular, Lee stated that the fact that it had already decided that Amazing Fantasy would be cancelled after issue #15 was the only reason Goodman allowed him to use Spider-Man. While this was indeed the issue, its editorial page anticipated the comic continuing. Will appear every month in Amazing, regardless, Lee received Goodmans approval for the name Spider-Man and the ordinary teen concept, and approached artist Jack Kirby. Lee and Kirby immediately sat down for a conference, Theakston writes. Steve Ditko would be the inker, when Kirby showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, I hated the way he was doing it. Not that he did it badly—it just wasnt the character I wanted, Lee turned to Ditko, who developed a visual style Lee found satisfactory. Ditko recalled, One of the first things I did was to work up a costume, a vital, visual part of the character. I had to know how he looked, for example, A clinging power so he wouldnt have hard shoes or boots, a hidden wrist-shooter versus a web gun and holster, etc. I wasnt sure Stan would like the idea of covering the characters face and it would also add mystery to the character. Although the interior artwork was by Ditko alone, Lee rejected Ditkos cover art, as Lee explained in 2010, I think I had Jack sketch out a cover for it because I always had a lot of confidence in Jacks covers
33.
Troy
–
The present-day location is known as Hisarlik. It was the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle, in particular in the Iliad, a new capital called Ilium was founded on the site in the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople and declined gradually in the Byzantine era and these excavations revealed several cities built in succession. Troy VII has been identified with the city that the Hittites called Wilusa, the origin of the Greek Ἴλιον. Today, the hill at Hisarlık has given its name to a village near the ruins. It lies within the province of Çanakkale, some 30 km south-west of the provincial capital, the map here shows the adapted Scamander estuary with Ilium a little way inland across the Homeric plain. Troy was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998, Ancient Greek historians variously placed the Trojan War in the 12th, 13th, or 14th centuries BC, Eratosthenes to 1184 BC, Herodotus to 1250 BC, Duris of Samos to 1334 BC. Modern archaeologists associate Homeric Troy with archaeological Troy VII, in the Iliad, the Achaeans set up their camp near the mouth of the River Scamander, where they had beached their ships. The city of Troy itself stood on a hill, across the plain of Scamander, recent geological findings have permitted the identification of the ancient Trojan coastline, and the results largely confirm the accuracy of the Homeric geography of Troy. In November 2001, the geologist John C, kraft from the University of Delaware and the classicist John V. Luce from Trinity College, Dublin, presented the results of investigations, begun in 1977, into the geology of the region. Besides the Iliad, there are references to Troy in the major work attributed to Homer. The Homeric legend of Troy was elaborated by the Roman poet Virgil in his Aeneid, the Greeks and Romans took for a fact the historicity of the Trojan War and the identity of Homeric Troy with the site in Anatolia. Alexander the Great, for example, visited the site in 334 BC and there made sacrifices at tombs associated with the Homeric heroes Achilles and Patroclus. After the 1995 find of a Luwian biconvex seal at Troy VII, with the rise of critical history, Troy and the Trojan War were, for a long time, consigned to the realms of legend. However, the location of ancient Troy had from classical times remained the subject of interest. The Troad peninsula was anticipated to be the location, leChavaliers location, published in his Voyage de la Troade, was the most commonly accepted theory for almost a century. In 1822, the Scottish journalist Charles Maclaren was the first to identify with confidence the position of the city as it is now known, the hill, near the city of Çanakkale, was known as Hisarlık. In 1868, Heinrich Schliemann visited Calvert and secured permission to excavate Hisarlık, in 1871–73 and 1878–79, he excavated the hill and discovered the ruins of a series of ancient cities dating from the Bronze Age to the Roman period
34.
Sentry (Robert Reynolds)
–
The Sentry is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in The Sentry #1 and was created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, Jenkins conceived of the character a guardian type, with a watchtower, and came up with the name Sentry. Veitch also suggested that due to some event, all recollection of the Sentry would have been removed from everyones memory. Jenkins pitched the concept to Marvel Knights editor Joe Quesada, Quesada decided to commission a miniseries written by Jenkins with art by Jae Lee, with whom Jenkins had previously worked on an Inhumans miniseries. The Sentry was first introduced in his eponymous Marvel Knights 2000 miniseries written by Paul Jenkins with art by Jae Lee. The miniseries ran for five issues and then segued directly into a series of flashback one-shots in which the Sentry teamed up with the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Angel of the X-Men, and the Hulk. These one-shots led up to The Sentry vs. the Void, in 2005, writer Brian Michael Bendis reused the Sentry by making him a member of the New Avengers. The Sentry played a role in the first arc, Breakout. Also in 2005, the Sentry received another miniseries, written by Paul Jenkins and drawn by John Romita, Jr. which ran for eight issues. The Sentry appeared in The Mighty Avengers as a member of team, and later in Dark Avengers in a similar capacity. He appeared as a character in the Dark Avengers series from issue #1 until the time of his death in the Siege limited series. Middle aged, overweight Bob Reynolds remembers that he is the Sentry, realizing that his archenemy the Void is returning, Reynolds seeks out several prominent Marvel characters to warn them and to discover why no one remembers the Sentry. The characters memories of the Sentry and the Void resurface when Reynolds talks with them, the Sentry had taught Angel how to conquer his fear of falling. Peter Parkers photograph of the Sentry earned him a Pulitzer Prize, the Hulk had never forgotten the Sentry, whom he called Golden Man. Under the Sentrys influence, the Hulk had been a force for good which had redeemed his violent actions, Reed Richards remembered the Sentry was his best friend and that the Fantastic Four had teamed up with him on many adventures. Meanwhile, the public gradually came to remember the Sentry, as did Reynolds old sidekick, Billy Turner. However, in the panels of the final one shot, its left ambiguous as to whether or not Reynolds actually remembers who he is despite Richards. Reynolds reappears inside the prison the Raft, voluntarily imprisoned for murdering his wife
35.
Green Goblin
–
The Green Goblin is the alias of several fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best known incarnation is Norman Osborn, created by Stan Lee, the Green Goblin is a Halloween-themed supervillain whose weapons resemble bats, ghosts and jack-o-lanterns. The Green Goblin has appeared in films including 2002s Spider-Man as Norman Osborn. According to Steve Ditko, Stans synopsis for the Green Goblin had a crew, on location. Inside was an ancient, mythological demon, the Green Goblin, on my own, I changed Stans mythological demon into a human villain. The Green Goblin debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #14, at this time his identity was unknown, but he proved popular and reappeared in later issues, which made a point of his secret identity. Lee elaborated, At some point we had to tell the reader who The Green Goblin really was, and Steve wanted him to turn out to be just some character that we had never seen before. Because, he said, in life, very often a villain turns out to be somebody that you never knew. And I felt that that would be wrong, I felt, in a sense, it would be like cheating the reader. If its somebody you didnt know and had never seen, then what was the point of following all the clues, I think that frustrates the reader. So that was a big argument we had, however, Ditkos account contradicts Lees, So I had to have some definite ideas, who he was, his profession and how he fit into the Spider-Man story world. I was even going to use an earlier, planted character associated with J. Jonah Jameson and it was like a subplot working its way until it was ready to play an active role. John Romita, Sr. who replaced Ditko as the titles artist, recalled, Stan wouldnt have been able to stand it if Ditko did the story, I didnt know there was any doubt about Osborn being the Goblin. I didnt know that Ditko had just been setting Osborn up as a straw dog, I just accepted the fact that it was going to be Norman Osborn when we plotted it. I had been following the last couple of issues and didnt think there was much mystery about it. Looking back, I doubt the Goblins identity would have revealed in Amazing #39 if Ditko had stayed on. In 2009, Ditko made a statement in his essay, The Ever Unwilling he wrote for the March issue of The Comics, Now digest this, I knew from Day One, from the first GG story, who the GG would be. I absolutely knew because I planted him in J. Jonah Jameson’s businessmans club, it was where JJJ and the GG could be seen together
36.
Dark Reign (comics)
–
Dark Reign is a 2008–2009 comic book branding used by Marvel Comics. It deals with the aftermath of the Secret Invasion storyline, which led to a shift of power in the Marvel Universe toward Norman Osborn, the title Dark Reign refers to Osborns rise to national power and the ramifications thereof. Joe Quesada, then-editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, stated that Dark Reign is not really an event and he believes that Dark Reign leads to an interesting place in the Marvel Universe. I think youll see a pulling back at the end of Dark Reign, the Dark Reign story-line began with the release of the Secret Invasion, Dark Reign one-shot, written by Brian Michael Bendis and with art by Alex Maleev, in December 2008. It then continued in a number of standalone mini-series and some issues of ongoing Marvel Comics titles throughout 2009. Selected ongoing Marvel titles were renamed to highlight their involvement in the event. There is no core limited series as there was in the preceding Secret Invasion event. Instead, the story-line is made up of one-shots that help fill in the gaps, limited series exploring the effect of the event on teams and individuals, the main story-line led into the 2010 Siege crossover event, although some plot elements are ongoing. Following the Skrull invasion of Earth during Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn leveraged his success in defeating the Skrulls to replace Tony Stark as director of S. H. I. E. L. D. Deadpool played a part in this, as he was supposed to send the information on how to kill the Skrull Queen to Nick Fury. An error occurred during the process and the information went to Osborn, Osborn killed the queen and became the director of S. H. I. E. L. D. Osborn simultaneously formed an alliance called the Cabal with Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki, and he used H. A. M. M. E. R. to carry out his own agenda and, at times, the Cabals. However, Osborns actions and his reputation influenced a number of heroes and villains to attempt to resist Osborns rule and remove him from power, Norman Osborn is the former Green Goblin and central focus of Dark Reign. He is featured in most of the series and mini-series linked to the Dark Reign story-line. Brian Bendis notes that people know hes a bastard, but ignore it as long he gives them safety, the character is shown as willing to destroy anything that would threaten his new status as public hero. Writer Matt Fraction has commented that as the Iron Patriot, he is a showman in armor, Osborn keeps the more volatile members of the Cabal in line with a secret weapon which is revealed to be the Void. Across multiple titles, the character is shown to have retained his mental instability from his days as the Goblin, the Hood is featured heavily during the Dark Reign story-line in both New Avengers and Punisher. In the first, writer Brian Bendis explored the relationship with Dormammu
37.
What If (comics)
–
What If, sometimes rendered as What If. What If comics have been published in eleven series, the stories of the inaugural series feature the alien Uatu the Watcher as a narrator. From his base on the moon, Uatu observes both the Earth and alternate realities, Uatu was used similarly in the second series until a point where, in the Fantastic Four comic book, Uatu was punished for destroying another Watcher. This made the use of Uatu improbable so the character was phased out to its last appearance in issue #76, without a framing device, the stories themselves became the focus. In later series, some chose to introduce alternative narrators. For example, in Volume 3, in What If Karen Page Had Lived, what If Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers. and in Daredevil, Brian Michael Bendis, the writer himself, makes a cameo as narrator. In the early 2006 series, a hacker, whose alias is The Watcher. Some points of divergence in plot occur when a characters action differs from the corresponding mainstream Marvel event, for example, in a 1980 Captain America storyline, the hero declines an invitation to run for President of the United States as a third-party candidate. In the What If Captain America Became President, storyline, he accepts the nomination and wins the 1980 Presidential Election. In some What if story lines, when the Marvel character receives his or her special powers, the superhero persona is abandoned for a life of crime. For example, in the Marvel mainstream story, The Dark Phoenix Saga from the X-Men series, Jean Grey, instead of committing suicide, in the What If version, Jean Grey regains her powers and kills the X-Men, including Scott Summers. The shock of this causes Dark Phoenix to create a galactic cataclysm, another example occurs in the Korvac saga. In the mainstream, Korvac has a friend, Corina, who does not fully support him, in the What if story line, Corina gives unqualified support to Korvac which leads him to kill the Avengers. Korvac revives some of the Avengers for his own corps, Korvac goes on to annihilate the universe, depicted as the cosmic entity, Eternity. Major characters could be killed off in the alternate realities, Not all What if stories were serious. For example, in issue #11, members of the original Marvel Bullpen—Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Flo Steinberg, later issues contained one-page or one-panel throwaway gags. For example, the letter page could be entitled with the question. The words are spoke in exasperation by Uatu and he is depicted being overwhelmed with letters whilst in the process of receiving yet another bag of mail
38.
Yellow Claw
–
The Yellow Claw is a fictional comic book supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Maneely, the character first appeared in Yellow Claw #1, published by Atlas Comics, the 1950s predecessor of Marvel. Kirby took over as writer-artist with issue #2 – inking his own pencil art there and in the following issue, representing two of the very rare occasions on which he did so. Unusually for a Kirby series, other artists drew the covers, Severin on #2 &4, feature in Strange Tales #160, which introduced a robot version of the character, the actual Yellow Claw resurfaced later. Woo was reintroduced that same issue, eventually joining the espionage agency S. H. I. E. L. D. in Nick Fury, Agent of S. H. I. E. L. D. The series chronicled the adventures of a Chinese-American FBI agent, Jimmy Woo, the title character was a Fu Manchu manqué whose grandniece, Suwan, was in love with Woo. The Yellow Claw was born over 150 years ago in mainland China and he is both a genius in biochemistry and a brilliant scientist and inventor in many fields, in addition to being an expert in mysticism, alchemy, and the martial arts. The Yellow Claw has formulated elixirs that have prolonged his life span, following his Nick Fury appearances, artists have depicted him with an unusual, jaundiced-looking, yellowish skin tone, possibly as a result of his life-extension chemical. The Yellow Claw has dedicated himself to achieving world domination and supplanting Western civilization and he controls a worldwide criminal organization, along with a staff of research scientists and engineers. In 1942, the Yellow Claw encountered Lady Lotus in New Yorks Chinatown, in fact, this was a ruse and he intended to conquer the world for himself. However, the Claw was continually foiled by FBI agent Jimmy Woo and betrayed by his sole living relative, his grandniece Suwan, eventually, the Yellow Claw left the United States, placing the meddlesome Suwan in suspended animation. After severing ties with the Peoples Republic of China, the Claw fused Suwans spirit with that of the conquest-minded ancient Egyptian princess Fan-le-tamen. After the Claw was later betrayed by the vengeful Suwan, he transferred the spirit of Fan-le-tamen to himself, which caused Suwan to crumble into dust, the Yellow Claw later took part in the Black Lamas contest of supervillains, battling the superhero Iron Man. He then attempted to destroy New York City using a tidal wave, a later plan to father sons by various genetically superior women, then sterilize mankind and rule the world, was foiled by the superhero team the Avengers. The Yellow Claw again attempted unsuccessfully to destroy New York City and he later recruited the second Madame Hydra as his new heir. Sometime after the 1950s event, an entity believed to be Yellow Claw sent troops to invade Liberty Island and activate a powerful device there, but Nick Fury and Captain America foiled his plans. However, this was a created by Doctor Doom as part of an elaborate. The Suwan and Voltzmann accompanying this Yellow Claw were also robot impostors, in a later Strange Tales story, it is unclear if this Yellow Claw is a robot
.jpg)