60 Fun Facts About Hard Superhero

Which Batman co-creator did DC only begin to credit officially in 2015?

He suggested the cowl, cape and gloves that replaced Bob Kane's red tights and bat wings, yet went uncredited for over 75 years.

In which issue did the first Robin, Dick Grayson, make his debut?

Robin arrived about a year after Batman himself, in April 1940, because the writers felt Batman needed someone to talk to.

Besides creating Wonder Woman, William Moulton Marston is credited with inventing what?

His systolic blood pressure test became one component of the modern polygraph, and he later appeared in Gillette razor ads with a lie-detector theme.

Why did Martin Goodman insist on a team of artists to rush Captain America #1 to print?

The book was explicitly anti-Nazi before the United States entered the war, and its whole premise depended on its real-life villain still being around.

Black Panther made his first appearance in which 1966 issue?

T'Challa arrived as a guest star in Marvel's flagship team book, cover-dated July 1966, well before he got a title of his own.

Who scripted the 1963 Tales of Suspense #39 story that introduced Tony Stark's armored hero?

Stan Lee's younger brother handled the origin script while Don Heck and Jack Kirby split the design work on the armor.

Thor's original surgeon alter ego, later revealed as Odin's invention, had what name?

Thor #159 in 1968 rewrote the premise: the lame doctor had been a lesson in humility, not a real man who found a magic hammer.

Why did Stan Lee originally choose gray for the Hulk's skin in his 1962 debut?

The printer could not hold a consistent gray across the issue, which is how the Hulk ended up green in the retellings that followed.

Wolverine first appeared in which comic book?

He was created as a Canadian character at Marvel's request, drawn in his first published appearance by Herb Trimpe.

Deadpool was originally conceived as a parody of which DC Comics villain?

Even the civilian names rhyme: Slade Wilson versus Wade Wilson. Rob Liefeld's admiration for Spider-Man and Wolverine shaped the rest.

The original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, discovered his ring had a weakness to what?

He learned it the hard way, by being bludgeoned with a club; his ring stopped metal but not anything plant-based.

Barry Allen died saving the Multiverse in which 1985 crossover?

Issue #8 of that series killed him off, and he stayed dead for 23 years, an eternity by comic-book standards.

Which DC hero debuted in the very same 1941 issue of More Fun Comics as Aquaman?

Both were created by Mort Weisinger and landed in issue #73, cover-dated November 1941.

Where in Greenwich Village does Doctor Strange keep his Sanctum Sanctorum?

He settled there after a car accident wrecked his hands as a neurosurgeon and the Ancient One took him on; the Eye of Agamotto and Cloak of Levitation live there too.

Which Daredevil co-creator drew on his legally blind daughter's heightened hearing when shaping the hero's senses?

Stan Lee brought him in for the 1964 debut alongside input from Jack Kirby; his daughter Wendy's experience shaped the character's whole premise.

Namor's very first appearance in 1939 was in an uncirculated prototype giveaway comic called what?

The public did not meet the Sub-Mariner until Marvel Comics #1 later that year, but the earlier prototype from packager Funnies Inc. counts as his true debut.

Fawcett's Captain Marvel was the first comic superhero on film, in a 1941 serial from which studio?

Tom Tyler played the hero in Adventures of Captain Marvel, beating Superman and Batman to the screen.

Hank Pym debuted in a 1962 story titled 'The Man in the Ant Hill' in which anthology?

It was a seven-page science-fiction filler about a scientist testing shrinking tech on himself; the Ant-Man costume came in a later issue.

What special medication explains how Nick Fury stays active despite being nearly a century old?

He started out as a cigar-chomping World War II sergeant in 1963, so Marvel eventually needed a reason he was still running S.H.I.E.L.D. decades later.

On which planet was the Silver Surfer, born Norrin Radd, an astronomer before becoming Galactus's herald?

He volunteered to serve Galactus to save his homeworld, then betrayed him to save Earth and was exiled here for it.

Whose 'strange experiment' brought J'onn J'onzz to Earth in Martian Manhunter's 1955 debut story?

The story ran as a back-up feature in Detective Comics #225, written by Joseph Samachson and drawn by Joe Certa.

Hawkeye debuted in 1964 as an antagonist of which hero?

He appeared as a villain three times in Tales of Suspense before joining the Avengers in issue #16 with two other reformed baddies, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

Which scripter is credited with Stan Lee and Don Heck as a creator of Black Widow in 1964?

Natasha started as a Soviet spy sent against Tony Stark, and did not become a costumed heroine until later.

The Vision's synthetic body was built by Ultron from a copy of which Golden Age character?

That 1939 android, created by Phineas T. Horton, predates the Fantastic Four's flaming teenager by more than two decades.

Which writer co-created Kamala Khan with editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker?

Her solo series launched in February 2014 and became a New York Times bestseller; she was Marvel's first Muslim character to headline a book.

Miles Morales made his debut in which 2011 issue?

He arrived in the aftermath of the Ultimate universe's Peter Parker dying, created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli.

Static, the teenage hero later known from Static Shock, was created by the founders of which imprint?

Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan and their partners launched the independently owned imprint through DC in 1993; Static was folded into the DC Universe after Milestone closed.

Blade was introduced as a supporting character in which 1973 Marvel series?

He was originally a human immune to vampire bites; the half-vampire 'dhampir' idea was borrowed back from the animated series and Wesley Snipes films.

What was Luke Cage's birth name?

He gained his unbreakable skin as a prison experiment subject before setting up shop as a Hero for Hire in 1972.

Which villain killed Elektra at the end of her first Daredevil story arc in 1982?

Frank Miller created her in Daredevil #168 and killed her off within a year; she was resurrected later and eventually headlined three ongoing series.

Storm's mother was a tribal princess from which country?

Ororo was raised in Harlem and Cairo, and a childhood collapse that trapped her under rubble left her with lifelong claustrophobia.

Barbara Gordon made her first appearance as the information broker Oracle in which comic?

The 1989 debut came a year after The Killing Joke left her paraplegic; she went on to lead Birds of Prey.

In her 1959 debut, Supergirl adopted the identity of an orphan named Linda Lee and made her home where?

Otto Binder and Al Plastino introduced her in Action Comics #252, and Superman kept his cousin hidden as a 'secret weapon' for years.

Before the surname Pennyworth stuck, what was Batman's butler Alfred originally called?

He debuted in Batman #16 in 1943 as a portly comic-relief figure, a long way from the dignified confidant of later decades.

Jack Cole's Plastic Man debuted in Police Comics #1 in 1941 for which publisher?

DC picked him up along with the rest of the line when the publisher shut down in 1956.

Hellboy's 1993 first appearance was in a book tied to which event?

Mike Mignola's half-demon investigator debuted in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 before Dark Horse gave him miniseries of his own.

Lee Falk's The Phantom operates from which fictional African country?

The daily strip started in February 1936, two years before Superman, and both it and the Sunday strip are still running.

Watchmen grew out of Alan Moore's proposal to use superheroes DC had just acquired from which defunct publisher?

When DC decided it wanted to keep using those characters, Moore and Dave Gibbons invented Rorschach, Nite Owl and the rest as analogues.

Shang-Chi was originally introduced in 1973 as the previously unknown son of which licensed pulp villain?

Marvel had wanted to license the Kung Fu TV series and could not, so it spun the hero off Sax Rohmer's villain instead; the father was later renamed Zheng Zu after the license lapsed.

Moon Knight first appeared as a mercenary antagonist in which 1975 comic?

Doug Moench and Don Perlin created him to fight a werewolf; readers liked him enough that he was recast as a hero.

Stuntman Johnny Blaze became Ghost Rider after being bound to a Spirit of Vengeance named what?

His deal was with Mephisto, made to spare his surrogate father; the name Johnny Blaze itself came from Stan Lee.

Along with the Hulk TV show, which series' success prompted Marvel to create She-Hulk in 1979?

Both shows came from Universal Television, and Marvel worried the studio might launch a female Hulk on its own if the comic did not exist first.

Roughly how many copies did Superman #75, the 1992 death-of-Superman issue, sell?

That makes it the best-selling single comic book issue of all time, driven by a wave of mainstream news coverage.

Cyborg first appeared in an insert preview in which 1980 comic?

Marv Wolfman and George Perez used the preview to launch their New Teen Titans relaunch, which made Victor Stone a fixture of the team.

In 1994, which mutant villain was revealed to be Nightcrawler's mother?

For years afterward it was believed his father was Azazel; his devout Catholicism became a bigger part of the character in later stories.

Ultron first appeared in a 1968 Avengers cameo disguised as which figure?

The unnamed cameo came in The Avengers #54; he was fully introduced as Ultron-5, the Living Automaton, one issue later.

Which villain did Squirrel Girl defeat in her 1991 debut story?

She was co-created by Steve Ditko, of all people, and later writers turned that unlikely win into a running gag about her being 'unbeatable'.

Booster Gold, born Michael Jon Carter, grew up poor in the 25th century in which city?

He was a football star on scholarship before disgracing himself and stealing future tech to become a hero in the past; he was DC's first significant new character introduced after the 1985–86 continuity reboot.

Zatanna made her first appearance in 1964 in which hero's comic?

Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson introduced her in Hawkman #4, in a storyline that had her searching for her father, the stage magician Zatara, across several DC titles.

The original Swamp Thing debuted in 1971 in which anthology series?

Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson's short story was popular enough to spawn an ongoing series; Alan Moore's 1980s run later redefined the character.

The original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, was a military officer of which alien empire?

He was sent to spy on Earth in 1967, sided with humanity and was branded a traitor; Marvel has kept publishing Captain Marvel titles ever since partly to hold the trademark.

Wonder Woman first appeared in which 1941 comic?

Her first cover feature came in Sensation Comics #1 two months later, in January 1942.

In which issue did the Fantastic Four get their uniforms and the Baxter Building?

Reader feedback pushed Lee and Kirby to give the team a look; the blue uniforms became one of the most copied designs in comics.

Under what codename did Jean Grey operate during her early years with the X-Men?

She debuted in The X-Men #1 in 1963 as the team's only female member and did not become Phoenix until the 1970s.

Which science-fiction novelist, scripting the Alan Scott Green Lantern comic, introduced the Green Lantern Oath?

The author of The Stars My Destination wrote it into issue #9, and the rhyme was later revived for Hal Jordan.

Which hell-lord did Al Simmons make his deal with to return to Earth as Spawn?

He came back to see his wife Wanda again, and got a decayed body and a symbiotic costume for his trouble; Todd McFarlane designed the character at age 16.

Japan's Ōgon Bat (1931), an early superpowered costumed hero, first appeared in which medium?

Kamishibai combined painted pictures with live narration, years before Superman launched the Golden Age in 1938.

Fletcher Hanks's 1940 superheroine Fantomah was an ageless woman from which ancient civilization?

She could transform into a skull-faced creature and debuted in Fiction House's Jungle Comics #2.

Which Halloween costume maker first registered 'super hero' as a trademark in 1967?

After a dispute with toymaker Mego, the rights ended up jointly assigned to DC and Marvel in 1977.

Which 1936 comic-strip hero was the first to wear a skintight costume and a mask with no visible pupils?

Lee Falk's 'Ghost Who Walks' has no superpowers, relying on skill and the myth of his immortality.