148 Fun Facts About DC Comics

What fictional city serves as the primary base of operations for Batman?

Gotham City is Batman's home and base of operations; the name first appeared in Batman #4 (1940), and the city is written as a darker, crime-ridden version of New York.

Which colour of kryptonite is the classic form that weakens and can even kill Superman?

Green kryptonite, radioactive debris from Superman's exploded home world, is the classic kind; the mineral first appeared on his radio serial in 1943, six years before it reached the comics.

From what mythical island does Wonder Woman originate?

Themyscira went by Paradise Island before Wonder Woman's 1987 relaunch gave it the name of the Amazons' former home in ancient Greece, the city they lost when Hercules enslaved them.

Wally West began his crime-fighting career as which teenage sidekick?

Kid Flash was Wally West, nephew of the Flash's future wife Iris and a founding Teen Titan; when his mentor died saving the universe in 1985, Wally took over as the Flash himself.

Members of the Green Lantern Corps derive their abilities from rings powered by what emotion?

Willpower drives a Green Lantern's ring, which shapes anything its wearer can imagine; when the dying alien Abin Sur crashed on Earth, he sent his ring to find a worthy successor and it chose Hal Jordan.

In Tim Burton's 1989 film 'Batman', what was the Joker's name before his transformation?

Jack Napier, a crime boss's right-hand man played by Jack Nicholson, falls into a vat of chemicals in a clash with Batman; the film also made him the gunman who killed Bruce Wayne's parents, a crime the comics pin on Joe Chill.

Which villain is Aquaman's own half-brother, forever scheming to take his throne?

Ocean Master is Orm, Aquaman's half-brother; in his first version he was fully human, and envy of his sibling's powers and fame turned him to piracy and then to plots against the throne.

Which Justice League hero is Victor Stone, a star high school athlete before a near-fatal accident?

Cyborg is Victor Stone, rebuilt with cybernetic parts by his estranged scientist father Silas; he first joined the Teen Titans, and DC's 2011 relaunch recast him as a founder of the League.

By uttering a single magic word, Billy Batson transforms into which powerful DC Comics hero?

Shazam is an acronym of the six figures who empower him: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury. Long the name of the wizard who chose Billy, it became the hero's own in DC's 2011 relaunch.

Which Metropolis conglomerate is owned and run by Superman's billionaire arch-enemy?

LexCorp is the villain's international conglomerate, with a hand in most Metropolis business; in the comics it even bought up the long-running fast-food chain Big Belly Burger.

Which superhero identity did Dick Grayson adopt after retiring as Robin?

Nightwing is a name out of Superman's Kryptonian lore, borne by a vigilante there; Dick Grayson borrowed it on leaving Batman's side in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (1984).

Which DC Comics heroine is famously known for wielding the Lasso of Truth?

Wonder Woman's golden lasso makes anyone it binds tell the truth; in her earliest stories its power was broader still, forcing captives to obey whoever held it.

Which acclaimed writer created DC's dark-fantasy comic series 'The Sandman'?

Neil Gaiman had pitched a revival of a forgotten 1970s DC hero called the Sandman; asked to keep only the name, he invented Dream of the Endless and wrote all 75 issues from 1989 to 1996.

Which 1985 DC Comics event collapsed the multiverse into a single universe?

Crisis on Infinite Earths, by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, was meant to simplify decades of tangled continuity for new readers; it killed off Supergirl and the Flash along the way.

Which longtime Gotham City police commissioner is Batman's closest ally on the force?

Jim Gordon appears in the very first panel of Batman's 1939 debut story, making him the hero's oldest supporting character; he summons his ally by lighting the rooftop Bat-Signal.

Which founding Justice League member is a telepath and shapeshifter whose great weakness is fire?

Martian Manhunter is J'onn J'onzz, pulled to Earth by a scientist's experimental beam and unable to get home; he built a second life as a human police detective called John Jones.

In DC's pre-Crisis multiverse, which parallel world was home to the Golden Age Justice Society of America?

Earth-2 was home to the 1940s heroes, while the modern Justice League lived on Earth-One; from 1963 to 1985 the two teams crossed between worlds for a team-up every year.

What is the real name of Green Arrow, the billionaire archer modelled partly on Robin Hood?

Oliver Queen is Green Arrow, created in 1941 by Mort Weisinger and George Papp; in his best-known origin the spoiled playboy is stranded on a remote island and masters the bow to stay alive.

Which Gotham City institution houses Batman's criminally insane foes?

Arkham Asylum borrows its name from the fictional Massachusetts town in H. P. Lovecraft's horror stories; villains judged sane are sent to Blackgate Penitentiary instead.

Who does Darkseid go to war with in the 'Darkseid War' storyline?

Anti-Monitor, revealed here to be a being named Mobius, goes to war with Darkseid across Justice League #40–50 (2015–16); the fallout briefly turns several League members into New Gods.

Which masked thief, real name Selina Kyle, is both Batman's foe and his on-and-off love interest?

Catwoman debuted as 'the Cat' in Batman #1 in 1940, the same issue that introduced the Joker; her creators wanted a foe who was also a love interest, one the hero keeps trying to reform.

Which DC hero is a Central City forensic chemist who gained powers when lightning struck his lab?

Barry Allen had a reputation for being slow and always late before the accident; he named his new identity after Jay Garrick's Flash, a hero he knew only from the comic books he read as a boy.

What is the name of Zatanna Zatara's ancestral manor, which relocates periodically and is invisible to most?

Shadowcrest is the Zatara family mansion Zatanna inherited from her father, the stage magician Giovanni 'John' Zatara; it houses his library of spellbooks and magical artifacts and hides itself from outsiders.

Which 2011 DC Comics crossover rewrote the universe, leading directly into the New 52 relaunch?

Flashpoint strands the Flash in a warped timeline of his own making, created when he ran back in time to save his murdered mother; undoing the damage reset DC's continuity as the New 52.

Which three-eyed alien tyrant of the planet Kalanor debuted in Justice League of America #1?

Despero began as a frail mind-controller who played a chess-like game with his enemies' fates as the stakes; later stories remade him as a hulking powerhouse fuelled by the Flame of Py'tar.

Vixen, who draws her powers from the Tantu Totem, comes from which fictional African nation?

Zambesi is the homeland of Mari McCabe, who was set to headline her own series in 1978, a first for a Black DC heroine, until it was cancelled before issue #1; she finally debuted three years later.

Which Doom Patrol member was a daredevil racing driver before the crash that changed his life?

Robotman is Cliff Steele, whose body was destroyed in a racing crash; Niles Caulder saved only his brain and housed it in a robot body, leaving the daredevil trapped inside a machine.

Which word ends the Green Lantern oath's line 'No evil shall escape my…'?

Sight ends the couplet 'In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight'; Green Lanterns recite the oath while their rings recharge, though the words are a tradition, not a requirement.

Which bandaged Batman villain, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, surgically altered his face to resemble Bruce's?

Hush is surgeon Thomas Elliot, who as a boy cut his parents' brake line and blamed Thomas Wayne for saving his mother; he debuted in the 2002–03 Batman storyline Hush, written by Jeph Loeb.

In Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight films, the tank-like Batmobile goes by what name?

The Tumbler is introduced in Batman Begins as a prototype military bridging vehicle from Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences Division, which Bruce Wayne repurposes as his car.

Which government official recruits jailed supervillains into the Suicide Squad and runs it from behind a desk?

Amanda Waller, nicknamed 'the Wall', debuted in 1986 as the bureaucrat behind Task Force X; her recruits earn time off their sentences, and explosives planted on them make sure they come back.

Which DC character, an ancient Egyptian champion of the wizard, was renamed after corrupting his gift?

Black Adam was the wizard's first champion; in the original 1945 story the wizard renames his corrupted pupil and banishes him to the farthest star, a trip home that takes 5,000 years.

In DC Comics, which planet, home of the Guardians of the Universe, hosts the Green Lantern Corps' headquarters and Central Power Battery?

Oa lies at the centre of the universe; from there the Guardians divided all of space into 3,600 sectors and assigned Green Lanterns to patrol each one.

Who is the butler of Wayne Manor and Bruce Wayne's confidant and surrogate father figure?

Alfred Pennyworth began in 1943 as a portly, clean-shaven comic-relief butler; within a year the comics slimmed him down and gave him a moustache to match the actor who played him in that year's Batman film serial.

What is the name of the fictional newspaper where Clark Kent works as a mild-mannered reporter?

The Daily Planet began as the Daily Star, which Superman's artist named after the Toronto paper he had worked for as a newsboy; it soon took its lasting name.

What is the real name of the Scarecrow, the Batman villain who weaponises fear toxin?

Jonathan Crane was a gangly boy mocked as Ichabod Crane who grew up to study fear as a psychology professor; sacked for firing a gun in a classroom, he turned his research on the people who laughed at him.

Which landmark 1961 Gardner Fox story established the parallel Earths of DC's multiverse?

Flash of Two Worlds, drawn by Carmine Infantino, sends the Silver Age Flash vibrating onto a parallel Earth, where he meets Jay Garrick, a hero he had only known as a comic-book character.

Which vigilante identity did the resurrected second Robin, Jason Todd, adopt in a 2005 storyline?

Red Hood was the Joker's own alias before his chemical bath; Jason Todd took it up in 2005's Under the Hood, back from the dead and furious that Batman had never avenged his murder.

Which magic-focused DC team debuted in September 2011 as part of the New 52?

Justice League Dark formed because the regular League was helpless against the Enchantress's runaway magic; its first roster included John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman and Madame Xanadu.

Which magnetism-wielding founder of the Legion of Super-Heroes was the futuristic team's first leader?

Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krinn of Braal, founded the Legion with Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad after the three teenagers foiled an attempt to kill tycoon R. J. Brande, who then bankrolled the team.

Which DC supervillain won the 2000 US presidential election in the comics?

Lex Luthor won the 2000 US presidential election in the comics (the President Lex storyline) and held office until 2004's Superman/Batman: Public Enemies exposed him and ended his term.

Which Batman villain is Arnold Wesker, a meek man who takes orders from the gangster Scarface?

The Ventriloquist's boss Scarface is his own dummy; because a B is hard to sound without moving the lips, the dummy calls Batman 'Gatman'.

Which Frank Miller series pits a 55-year-old Batman against Superman in a grim future Gotham?

The Dark Knight Returns ends with Batman staging his own death during a brutal fight with Superman, then going underground to train an army of followers with his new Robin, 13-year-old Carrie Kelley.

According to Superman: Birthright, the emblem on Superman's chest is the Kryptonian symbol for what?

Mark Waid's Superman: Birthright (2003–04) established the S-shield as the Kryptonian symbol for hope, an idea the 2013 film Man of Steel repeated.

Which Flash villain is a super-intelligent ape with mind-control powers?

Gorilla Grodd comes from a hidden African city of super-intelligent apes; he keeps trying to overthrow its wise king, Solovar, who shares his mental powers.

Which DC character is the avatar of the Green, guided by the ancient Parliament of Trees?

Swamp Thing believed he was scientist Alec Holland, mutated by a lab explosion, until Alan Moore's 1984 story revealed the truth: he was a mass of plants that had absorbed the dead man's memories.

Which DC heroine, a master martial artist and Green Arrow's longtime partner, can shatter objects with a high-powered sonic scream?

Black Canary is a legacy name: the original crime-fighter debuted in 1947, and DC later made the heroine with the shattering 'canary cry' her daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance.

Which Teen Titans member goes by the human alias Megan Morse?

Miss Martian, M'gann M'orzz, is a White Martian who poses as a Green Martian; Geoff Johns and Tony Daniel introduced her in Teen Titans #37 (2006), and she starred in the Young Justice cartoon.

Which Batman villain, a former district attorney, decides his victims' fate with a scarred coin?

Two-Face is Harvey Dent, a crusading prosecutor until mob boss Sal Maroni hurled acid in his face; ever since, he has let a two-headed coin, one face scarred like his own, make his choices.

Which heroine was introduced in 1942 as the long-lost twin sister of Billy Batson?

Mary Marvel grew up as wealthy Mary Bromfield after a nurse secretly swapped her for a baby who had died; half of a broken locket led Billy to her, and his magic word turned out to work for her too.

Superman debuted in the first issue of which series?

Action Comics #1 put Superman on its cover hoisting a car in 1938; his two young creators were paid $130 for the thirteen-page story, a sale that signed away their rights to the character.

Which writer-artist duo created Superman?

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster met as teenagers at Glenville High School in Cleveland; newspaper syndicates turned their hero down for years before a comic-book publisher finally bought him.

Who was officially added to Batman's 'created by' credit line in 2015?

Bill Finger, who wrote Batman's first stories and shaped his look, was officially added to the credit in 2015, after 76 years in which every story said only 'Batman created by Bob Kane'.

Wonder Woman's creator William Moulton Marston helped invent an early form of which device?

The polygraph drew on Marston's work as a psychologist: he devised a test that looked for lies in rises of systolic blood pressure, which became one component of the later lie detector.

The initials 'DC' in the publisher's name stand for which comic book series?

Detective Comics, the anthology that launched in 1937 and later introduced Batman, gave the publisher its nickname and eventually its official name, which makes 'DC Comics' stand for 'Detective Comics Comics'.

In 1969, DC came under the same roof as which film studio?

Warner Bros. and DC were both bought by Kinney National, a firm that ran car parks and cleaning services; it took DC's parent in 1967 and the studio in 1969, then renamed itself Warner Communications.

Who illustrated Watchmen, written by Alan Moore?

Dave Gibbons drew all twelve issues on a strict nine-panel grid; the story was first written for old Charlton heroes DC had just bought, until editors asked him and Alan Moore to invent their own.

After being paralysed by the Joker, Barbara Gordon adopted which new heroic identity?

Barbara Gordon became Oracle, a wheelchair-using computer expert and information broker, in Suicide Squad #23 (1989), after her paralysis in The Killing Joke (1988); she later led Birds of Prey.

Which hulking monster beat Superman to death in Metropolis in DC's 1992 'Death of Superman' storyline?

Doomsday exists because a wedding story fell through: it was postponed to match a Superman TV series, so the writers chose to kill their hero instead, and both fighters fall in the streets of Metropolis.

Who replaced the injured Bruce Wayne as Batman during Knightfall?

Jean-Paul Valley, the assassin Azrael, took over as an armoured and increasingly brutal Batman after Bane broke Bruce Wayne's back in 1993's Knightfall; a recovered Bruce later deposed him.

Which stretchy detective of the Justice League loses his wife, Sue, at the start of Identity Crisis (2004)?

Sue Dibny was the wife of Elongated Man, Ralph Dibny; her murder in Identity Crisis (2004, Brad Meltzer) reopens the secret that the League had mind-wiped villains who learned their identities.

What colour are the power rings handed out by the Sinestro Corps?

Sinestro Corps rings are yellow, the colour of fear on the emotional spectrum; the Corps recruits anyone with 'the ability to instill great fear', as Sinestro did after his expulsion from the Green Lanterns.

Larfleeze, sole keeper of the orange light, draws power from which emotion?

Larfleeze's orange light is powered by avarice, or greed; he found the orange power battery on Okaara in the Vega system and refuses to share it, making him a one-being Corps.

Hal Jordan works as a test pilot for which company?

Ferris Aircraft is run by Carol Ferris, Hal's boss and on-off love interest, who in time becomes his enemy as the gem-powered Star Sapphire.

What is Green Lantern John Stewart's civilian profession?

Architect is John Stewart's trade: introduced in 1971 as Hal Jordan's backup Green Lantern, the Detroit native broke with superhero custom by refusing to wear a mask.

Which Reverse-Flash from the future murdered the Flash's mother?

Eobard Thawne was a 25th-century scientist who idolised the Flash and copied his powers, then snapped on learning he was destined to become his hero's greatest enemy.

What is the real name of the Flash's cold-gun-wielding foe Captain Cold?

Captain Cold is Leonard Snart, who as a boy fled an abusive father for the chill of his grandfather's truck, one of the few places he felt safe; he debuted in Showcase #8 (1957).

Aquaman's queen, Mera, is a royal native of which oceanic realm?

Xebel was simply Dimension Aqua when Mera debuted in 1963; the Brightest Day storyline recast it as a penal colony hidden in the Bermuda Triangle, home to Atlanteans exiled after a civil war.

Brainiac shrank and bottled which Kryptonian city?

Kandor's shrunken citizens lived for years in a bottle in Superman's Fortress of Solitude while he hunted for a way to restore them; they finally regained full size on a new planet they named Rokyn.

Krypton exiled General Zod and its other worst criminals to which prison dimension?

The Phantom Zone was discovered by Superman's father Jor-El and adopted as a humane alternative to freezing convicts in suspended animation; the irony is that its ghostly inmates outlived Krypton itself.

Bizarro's duplicates live on a cube-shaped planet with which name?

Htrae is 'Earth' in reverse, and life there runs the same way: its Bizarro Code makes it a crime to make anything perfect, so Superman obligingly reshaped the round planet into a cube.

Where is Superman's Fortress of Solitude traditionally located?

The Arctic is the classic site, and the name was not new: pulp hero Doc Savage already had an Arctic Fortress of Solitude in the 1930s. Later comics moved Superman's to the Antarctic and even the Amazon rainforest.

Harley Quinn made her 1992 debut in which show?

Batman: The Animated Series created Harley Quinn for a single 1992 episode, 'Joker's Favor'; writer Paul Dini modelled her on his friend Arleen Sorkin, who voiced her, and the walk-on henchwoman became a regular.

Ra's al Ghul extends his life using which restorative pools?

The Lazarus Pits restore Ra's al Ghul's youth and have kept him alive for centuries, at the cost of a brief bout of madness on emergence; Ra's himself debuted in Batman #232 (1971).

Who is Damian Wayne's mother?

Talia al Ghul hid the boy from his father: a 1987 story had her fake a miscarriage, and Grant Morrison's 2006 revival revealed a son she had raised among the League of Assassins.

How did readers decide Robin Jason Todd's fate in 1988?

By phone: DC printed two 900 numbers, one for each fate, and of more than 10,000 calls the verdict for Jason Todd's death won by fewer than a hundred.

The Court of Owls carries out assassinations using agents known as what?

The Talons are the Court's assassins, drawn from the performers of Haly's Circus and trained as killers; the young Dick Grayson was picked to become one before Batman took him in.

In The Long Halloween, the mystery killer strikes on special dates under which alias?

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's story runs a full year of holidays and charts district attorney Harvey Dent's fall from grace.

Teen Titan Raven is the daughter of which demon lord?

Raven's father is the demon Trigon; her human mother Arella raised her in the pacifist dimension of Azarath, and Trigon's threat to Earth drove Raven to assemble the New Teen Titans in 1980.

Princess Koriand'r, better known as Starfire, comes from which planet?

Tamaran was betrayed to the invading Citadel by Starfire's own sister, Komand'r; the princess was surrendered as a slave to buy peace and endured six years of captivity before escaping to Earth.

Which Titan is revealed as Deathstroke's spy in 'The Judas Contract'?

Terra, Tara Markov, was Deathstroke's mole inside the Titans in The Judas Contract (1984); she had won over Beast Boy while feeding the mercenary the team's secret identities.

The Justice League debuted in 1960 in issue #28 of which anthology title?

The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960) introduced the Justice League of America; after two more tryouts there (#29–30) the team got its own series, Justice League of America #1, later in 1960.

Doctor Fate's helmet is tied to which Lord of Order?

Nabu, a Lord of Order, lives on inside Doctor Fate's helmet; he took in young Kent Nelson after the boy's archaeologist father was killed by poison gas on a dig, and whoever wears the helmet is rarely fully in control.

Ronnie Raymond fuses with which professor to form Firestorm?

Professor Martin Stein, a nuclear physicist, and student Ronnie Raymond first merged in Firestorm, the Nuclear Man #1 (1978), created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom; Stein at first had no memory of the fusions.

In the comics, Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes is a teenager from which Texas city?

El Paso is Jaime Reyes's home in the comics, where an alien scarab fused to his spine and, unusually for a hero, his family knows his secret; the 2023 film moved him to the invented Palmera City.

Occult con man John Constantine hails from which English city?

Liverpool is John Constantine's birthplace; his look came first, when artists Stephen Bissette and John Totleben asked Alan Moore for a character who resembled the musician Sting, and he debuted in 1985.

Darkseid is the tyrannical ruler of which planet?

Darkseid rules Apokolips, the fire-pit planet opposite New Genesis in Jack Kirby's Fourth World; born Prince Uxas, he hunts the Anti-Life Equation to strip free will from every sentient being.

Which DC imprint, launched in 1993 for mature readers, published The Sandman, Hellblazer and Preacher?

Vertigo grew out of the horror and fantasy titles editor Karen Berger had built up through the 1980s; founded under her in 1993, it gave adult readers a line of their own, including creator-owned hits like Preacher.

In Superman: Red Son, Kal-El's rocket lands on a collective farm in which Soviet republic?

Ukraine gets the rocket instead of the American heartland in Mark Millar's 2003 what-if, so the baby grows up to be a state-sponsored Soviet champion whose identity is a state secret.

Which murdered cop became the human host of the Spectre?

Jim Corrigan was a hard-boiled detective whom gangsters sealed in a barrel of cement and dumped in the river; a mysterious Voice turned his soul back from the afterlife to punish the guilty as the Spectre.

Which stretchy hero, created by Jack Cole in 1941, did DC acquire from Quality Comics?

Plastic Man began as Eel O'Brian, a crook shot and splashed with acid during a robbery; in Cole's original story a monk nursed him and hid him from the police, and he resolved to go straight.

Which artist founded WildStorm, which became a DC imprint in 1998?

Jim Lee founded WildStorm Productions in 1992 as one of Image Comics' founding studios, sold it to DC in 1998, and went on to become DC's co-publisher in 2010 and later its publisher and chief creative officer.

Since John Byrne's 1986 reboot, Smallville has been located in which US state?

Kansas became Smallville's home in the comics with John Byrne's 1986 The Man of Steel, following the lead of the 1978 Christopher Reeve film; for decades before that the town's state had gone unnamed.

What is Poison Ivy's real first name?

Pamela Isley was a shy botany student whose professor, Jason Woodrue, injected her with plant poisons and toxins as an experiment; she survived transformed, and has been turning nature on humanity ever since.

Solomon Grundy rose from Slaughter Swamp as the undead form of which merchant?

Cyrus Gold was a wealthy merchant murdered in the late 19th century and dumped in Slaughter Swamp; the creature that rose fifty years later knew only that it was 'born on a Monday', so tramps named it after the nursery rhyme.

David Mazzucchelli drew which 1987 Frank Miller Batman story?

Year One ran as four issues of the regular Batman comic in 1987, retelling the hero's first year for DC's rebooted continuity; Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins drew on it eighteen years later.

Which series gives a dying Superman twelve labours?

All-Star Superman starts the clock when an enemy's trap overdoses its hero on solar radiation; knowing he is dying, he sets about his last great feats, and the series won three Eisner Awards.

Which actor played the Caped Crusader in the 1966 Batman television series?

Adam West starred in all 120 episodes from 1966 to 1968; for its first two seasons the show aired twice a week, the first night ending on a cliffhanger that was resolved the following evening.

Which now-signature power did Superman lack in his first comic, first showing it on radio in 1940?

True flight came from radio: the early comic-book Superman could only run and leap, and he first took to the air in a 1940 episode of his radio serial.

Which pop star wrote the songs for the 1989 film Batman, topping the US chart with 'Batdance'?

Prince wrote and sang the songs after producers first pictured him scoring only the villain's scenes, with Michael Jackson handling the romance. 'Batdance' became his first US number one since 'Kiss'.

What sum were Superman's two creators paid for the very first story he appeared in?

$130 bought only the story, at $10 a page. Contrary to the popular tale, the copyright to the character was not part of the price: the pair signed that away for nothing.

Which first name do Clark Kent's adoptive mother and Bruce Wayne's murdered mother share?

Martha is the name that ends the fight in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: the Dark Knight spares his rival on hearing him plead to 'save Martha'.

Which heavyweight boxing champion fought Superman in an oversize DC comic book published in 1978?

Muhammad Ali meets a Superman stripped of his powers for the bout. By the time the delayed comic came out, Ali had lost his real world title to Leon Spinks.

Which actor won a posthumous Academy Award for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight?

Heath Ledger died before the film was released, and his family accepted the Best Supporting Actor award on his behalf.

In a 1946 story arc, which real-life organization did Superman battle on his hit radio show?

The Ku Klux Klan became the villain after activist Stetson Kennedy proposed the story to the show's producers, who were looking for new foes. DC retold it in a 2019 comic, Superman Smashes the Klan.

Which Star Wars actor became the animated voice of the Joker, starting with a 1992 TV series?

Mark Hamill turned the cackling villain into his best-known voice role and carried it from television into video games, where it won him a BAFTA Games Award.

Which Marvel hero met Superman in 1976 in the first modern superhero crossover between publishers?

Spider-Man got the meeting after a literary agent urged Stan Lee and DC's Carmine Infantino to pair the two heroes in a feature film. The idea reached readers as an oversize comic instead.

Which actor's casting as Bruce Wayne in the 1989 film Batman drew 50,000 protest letters from fans?

Michael Keaton had been typecast as a comic actor by 1988, and many observers doubted he could carry a serious role. The letters went to Warner Bros., which kept him anyway.

Which journalist debuted in the very first Superman story and married Clark Kent in a 1996 comic?

Lois Lane said yes after Clark proposed and revealed that he was Superman. The ceremony filled a special issue called The Wedding Album.

Which scientist launched his infant son, the future Superman, into space from a dying planet?

Jor-El was played on film by Marlon Brando, and unused footage of the late actor let him reprise the role in 2006's Superman Returns.

Kara Zor-El, a survivor of the doomed Argo City who was sent to Earth, adopts which heroic name?

Supergirl grew up in Argo City, a fragment of her home planet that survived its destruction and drifted through space until a meteor shower doomed it too.

Which villain, fuelled by the super-steroid Venom, broke Bruce Wayne's back during Knightfall?

Bane was created for that storyline by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench and Graham Nolan, who made him a prison-born test subject for a drug that had killed everyone else given it.

Oswald Cobblepot, who hides weapons in his umbrellas, is better known as which top-hatted villain?

The Penguin was inspired, creator Bob Kane said, by the advertising mascot of Kool cigarettes: a bird with a top hat and cane.

Which former Miss World USA played the Amazon princess Diana in a TV series from 1975 to 1979?

Lynda Carter won the pageant title in 1972, three years before the series began. She returned to the franchise in 2020 with a film cameo as Asteria, the Golden Warrior of the Amazons.

Which cub reporter and pal of Superman was first introduced by name on a 1940 radio show?

Jimmy Olsen was named by radio producer Bob Maxwell. His own comic later gave him a signal watch whose supersonic tone summoned Superman in emergencies.

Which publisher did DC sue for years, claiming its hit hero Captain Marvel copied Superman?

Fawcett Comics settled the case in 1953 and stopped publishing superheroes as the market declined. DC licensed its old rival's hero in 1972 and later bought him outright.

In Watchmen, which blue-skinned character is the only crimefighter with any superhuman abilities?

Doctor Manhattan began as atomic physicist Jon Osterman, remade by a laboratory accident so that he could observe and manipulate matter at the subatomic level.

Which actor refused to shave his moustache to play the Joker in the 1960s Batman TV series?

Cesar Romero kept the moustache, so the villain's white face makeup was simply smeared over it for the whole series and the 1966 film.

Which Teen Titan was left with green skin by an experimental cure for the rare disease Sakutia?

Beast Boy caught an illness lethal to every species except the green monkey, so his father briefly turned him into one. He can now become any animal he chooses.

Which American airman crashed on the Amazons' hidden island and became Diana's love interest?

Steve Trevor was nursed back to health by Diana, who fell in love with him and left her homeland to accompany him back to the outside world.

Which director left 2017's Justice League mid-production, then released his own cut in 2021?

Zack Snyder stepped down after the death of his daughter, and Joss Whedon finished the film with a brighter tone. Fans then pushed for the original version under the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut.

Which Oscar winner collected a Worst Actress Razzie in person for the 2004 DC film Catwoman?

Halle Berry took the stage holding her Academy Award in one hand and the Razzie in the other, saying she had never thought she would be up there winning one.

Which Wayne Enterprises executive, played by Morgan Freeman on film, supplies Bruce Wayne's gear?

Lucius Fox was called in to a failing Wayne Enterprises and brought balance to both the company's books and Bruce Wayne's private finances. His son Luke became the armoured hero Batwing.

In a 1989 DC one-shot set in the 19th century, Bruce Wayne hunts which real-life killer?

Jack the Ripper arrives just as a Victorian Bruce Wayne first puts on the cowl. The tale is now counted as the first of DC's Elseworlds, stories set outside the main continuity.

In which 1988 graphic novel by Alan Moore is Barbara Gordon shot and left paralysed?

The Killing Joke grew out of artist Brian Bolland's viewing of the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs, whose star's fixed grin had inspired the look of the story's villain decades earlier.

Which artist, a co-creator of Captain America, launched the New Gods for DC in 1971?

Jack Kirby left Marvel for its rival in 1970, feeling unfairly treated over credit and creators' rights. At DC he wrote and drew New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle at the same time.

Which Amazon queen, borrowed from Greek myth, is the mother of Princess Diana in DC's comics?

Hippolyta has been a mother more than once: a 1973 story revealed she had crafted a second daughter from clay, Nubia, who was spirited away by the god Mars.

Which graphic novel, completed in colour by DC in 1988–89, stars an anarchist in a Guy Fawkes mask?

V for Vendetta began in black and white in the British anthology Warrior, which was cancelled in 1985 with the story unfinished. Artist David Lloyd came up with the idea of the mask.

Superman was dreamed up in the 1930s by two high-school friends living in which Ohio city?

Cleveland's Glenville High School is where the pair met in 1932 and bonded over their admiration of fiction, years before any publisher took their hero.

Which US state has a real town named Metropolis with a 15-foot bronze statue of Superman?

Illinois lawmakers passed a resolution in 1972 commending the town for its 'Project Superman', and fans gather there every June for an annual Superman Celebration.

Which humor magazine, home of mascot Alfred E. Neuman, was bought by DC's publisher around 1964?

Mad had been sold by its own publisher in 1961 to a maker of venetian blinds, which passed it on about three years later to a division of the company behind DC.

Which sledgehammer-wielding DC hero in armour was played by Shaquille O'Neal in a 1997 film?

Steel is engineer John Henry Irons, whose hammer and name both nod to the railroad worker of American folklore. He built his suit to mirror Superman's powers.

Which boy deduced the secret identities of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson and became the third Robin?

Tim Drake had been in the circus audience the night Dick Grayson's parents were murdered. After the second Robin died, he argued that the Dark Knight needed a partner again.

In The Sandman, which member of the Endless appears as a perky goth girl wearing a silver ankh?

Death is pleasant, kind and down-to-earth in the series, dressed in a casual black top and jeans, and acts as a nurturing figure for her brother Dream.

How does the stage magician Zatanna cast her real spells in DC's comics?

Saying them backwards is her preferred way of working real magic, in between shifts as a stage performer. She first appeared in a 1964 issue of Hawkman.

Which imp from the fifth dimension torments Superman until tricked into going home for 90 days?

Mr. Mxyzptlk can be stopped only by tricking him into saying or spelling his own name in reverse. He also cannot stand being ridiculed.

Which organization, founded by the immortal Ra's al Ghul, is sometimes called the Demon's Fang?

League of Assassins fighters and mercenaries sell their services, which wins their founder political power, funding and loyal recruits.

Which Super Friends duo, Zan and Jayna, fought crime alongside their pet monkey Gleek?

The Wonder Twins split their powers: Jayna can transform into any animal, while Zan can become water in any state, whether solid, liquid or gas.

In most tellings of Bruce Wayne's origin, which mugger kills his parents for money and jewellery?

Joe Chill went unnamed for years: the origin was first drawn in 1939, but the gunman was not given a name until a 1948 issue.

Which alien, the first villain ever to face the Justice League, appears in The Suicide Squad (2021)?

Starro is a starfish-like creature with a single central eye. Its 1960 debut story was also the very first appearance of the team it fought.

Which Super Friends headquarters was inspired by the art deco Union Terminal station in Cincinnati?

The Hall of Justice was designed by background artist Al Gmuer at Hanna-Barbera, whose parent company at the time was based in the same Ohio city as the station.

Which teenage sidekick of Oliver Queen was revealed as a heroin addict in a 1971 DC story?

Speedy was found among a group of addicts who had mugged his own guardian for drug money. The cover showed him about to shoot up in front of two shocked heroes.

Which designer of the 'I Love New York' logo also created the 'DC bullet' logo that debuted in 1977?

Milton Glaser was commissioned by Jenette Kahn soon after she became DC's publisher in late 1976. His emblem ran until 2005, and an updated version was unveiled in 2024.

Which college student became the original Flash after inhaling hard water vapour in a lab?

Jay Garrick wears a winged helmet based on images of the Roman god Mercury. In the comics it belonged to his father, who fought in World War I.

Which rhyming demon did Merlin bind to Jason Blood, a knight of King Arthur's Camelot?

Etrigan is Merlin's own half-brother, a son of the demon Belial. Despite his violent streak he usually sides with the forces of good, because of the man he is bound to.

Which fictional substance negates gravity and lets the reincarnated warrior Hawkman fly?

Nth metal was originally called 'ninth metal' when archaeologist Carter Hall discovered it. He worked it into a gravity-defying belt to go with his winged costume.

Darkseid invades Earth seeking which prize, a means of total control over all sentient minds?

The Anti-Life Equation is thought by Darkseid to lie partly hidden in the subconscious of humanity, which is why he sends his forces to Earth.

To which California city did DC move its headquarters in 2015 after decades in Manhattan?

Burbank is home to the Warner Bros. studio lot, and the move there ended the publisher's long run at 1700 Broadway in Midtown.