177 Fun Facts About Superheroes

What is Superman's birth name?

Kal-El was rocketed to Earth as a baby by his father as their world died. Early strips spelled the name Kal-L; a 1942 Superman novel gave the family the name El, and the comics adopted it.

Whose death at a burglar's hands taught Peter Parker that great power brings great responsibility?

Uncle Ben was shot by a burglar Peter had earlier let run past him. The famous line about power and responsibility was not Ben's in 1962: it appeared only as a caption in the story's last panel.

What is Batman's real name?

Bruce Wayne got his name from two historical figures: the writer who named him took Bruce from the Scottish king Robert the Bruce and Wayne from the Revolutionary War general 'Mad' Anthony Wayne.

John Byrne's 1986 Superman origin reboot shares its title with which of the hero's nicknames?

Byrne's six-issue 1986 miniseries was titled The Man of Steel. It scaled Superman's powers down and recast Lex Luthor as a billionaire industrialist rather than a mad scientist.

Before printing problems forced a switch to green, the Hulk was which color in his 1962 debut issue?

Gray: Stan Lee wanted a skin color that suggested no particular ethnic group, but the colorist could not keep the gray consistent from page to page, so the Hulk turned green after his first issue.

In DC Comics, which hidden island nation of the Amazons was once known as Paradise Island?

Themyscira takes its name from Themiscyra, the Amazons' capital in Greek myth, which the ancient Greeks placed on the Black Sea coast; the comics called the island Paradise Island for decades before the change.

Thor's home realm in Marvel comics, joined to Earth by a rainbow bridge, is called what?

Asgard has a built-in weak spot: once a year its ruler Odin must sink into the deep Odinsleep to renew his strength, and for as long as he lies there the realm is open to attack by its enemies.

What is the name of Superman's secret hideaway in the Arctic?

The Fortress of Solitude was borrowed: the pulp hero Doc Savage had an Arctic retreat of the same name in the 1930s, well before Superman's comics gave him one.

Before the films made him an AI, Edwin Jarvis served Tony Stark and the Avengers as what?

Butler: in the comics Jarvis is the Stark family's loyal human servant, who also looks after the Avengers. The films recast him as a computer voice to avoid looking like a copy of Batman's Alfred.

What is the name of Thor's hammer?

Mjolnir has a famously short handle. In the Prose Edda's telling, a biting fly stung the dwarf working the bellows while the hammer was being forged, and that moment's pause left the handle too short.

Which superhero is also known as the 'Merc with a Mouth'?

Deadpool's real name, Wade Wilson, is an inside joke: his writer thought the new mercenary looked so much like DC's Deathstroke, Slade Wilson, that he gave the two near-matching names.

What newspaper does Clark Kent work for?

The Daily Planet began as the Daily Star, named by Superman's artist after the Toronto paper he sold as a boy; it was renamed when the Superman newspaper strip launched, to avoid clashing with real papers.

What is the name of the fictional African nation ruled by Black Panther?

Wakanda owes its wealth to a meteorite of vibranium that crashed there long ago; to protect the metal, its people hid the whole country from the outside world.

Which 1928 silent film gave Batman's creators the model for the Joker's fixed grin?

The Man Who Laughs starred Conrad Veidt as a man whose face was carved into a permanent grin. The Joker was meant to die in his 1940 debut, until an editor had a panel added showing he had survived.

What material is Wolverine's skeleton coated with?

Adamantium was bonded to Wolverine's bones by force in a secret experiment; in a 1993 story Magneto used his magnetic powers to rip the metal back out, and the trauma burned out his healing factor for a time.

Which Spider-Man archenemy is secretly the industrialist Norman Osborn?

Green Goblin: Osborn was impaled by his own glider in a 1973 story and stayed dead for over twenty years, until Marvel revealed in 1996 that he had survived and had been scheming out of sight ever since.

What is the real name of the Marvel hero known as Black Widow?

Natasha Romanoff debuted in 1964 as a villain: a Soviet spy with no costume or powers, sent to target Tony Stark. She later defected to the United States and joined the heroes she had fought.

Where in Manhattan did the Fantastic Four set up their headquarters in their third issue?

The Baxter Building's top five floors housed the team until Doctor Doom's adopted heir launched the whole tower into space and blew it up; Four Freedoms Plaza was then built on the same site.

Which Superman weakness was invented for his 1940s radio show and only later added to the comics?

Kryptonite debuted on radio in 1943 and reached the comics in 1949. A popular story says it was written in so the hero's voice actor could take a vacation, but a historian of the show disputes that.

Who co-created Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four at Marvel?

Stan Lee made Spider-Man with Steve Ditko and the X-Men and Fantastic Four with Jack Kirby, riding the Fantastic Four's 1962 success into a search for new heroes.

In the DC universe, which hero is the King of Atlantis?

Aquaman was no royal in his 1941 debut: he was the son of an undersea explorer who taught him to live in the deep. The half-Atlantean heritage arrived in a 1959 retelling of his origin.

Which DC hero recites an oath that begins 'In brightest day, in blackest night'?

Green Lantern first swore it in 1943, in a script credited to Alfred Bester, later a celebrated science-fiction novelist; its opening line gave DC's 2009 crossover Blackest Night its name.

What is the Punisher's real name?

Frank Castle, a Marine veteran, declared war on crime after mobsters killed his wife and children for witnessing a murder in Central Park; he debuted in 1974 as a villain set on killing Spider-Man.

Superman made his debut in the first issue of which comic book series?

Action Comics #1 gave Superman its cover and first 13 pages after his creators had failed for years to sell him as a newspaper strip; a copy of the issue has since sold for more than $3 million.

Which of these is one of the six main Infinity Gems in Marvel comics, alongside Mind, Power, Soul, Space and Time?

Reality completes the six. They were all called Soul Gems until Thanos renamed the set in 1990, a year before he used them to erase half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers.

Which Batman villain began as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum?

Harley Quinn began as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist seduced into crime by her patient the Joker; she was created for Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 before entering the comics.

Which Doctor Strange villain rules the Dark Dimension?

Dormammu's first clash with Doctor Strange also introduced Clea, a sorceress later revealed to be the tyrant's own niece, who became Strange's pupil and eventually his wife.

Which DC hero, partly inspired by Robin Hood, is an archer who fights crime in Star City and Seattle?

Green Arrow began in 1941 as a Batman imitator, complete with an Arrowcar and an Arrow-Cave; a 1969 makeover gave him his beard, took away his fortune and turned him into an outspoken left-wing crusader.

Which 1986 Frank Miller series pits a 55-year-old Batman against Superman?

The Dark Knight Returns brought Batman out of ten years of retirement, and its grim tone, together with Watchmen the same year, is credited with starting the 'Dark Age' of superhero comics.

What is the real name of the X-Men's leader, Professor X?

Charles Xavier founded the X-Men at his family mansion, which doubles as a school for young mutants; Stan Lee said he took the bald professor's look from the actor Yul Brynner.

Which Kree soldier, whose hero title Carol Danvers later took, traded places with teenager Rick Jones?

Mar-Vell came to Earth as a spy and turned against his own empire to protect it; in 1982 he died not in battle but of cancer, in the story that launched Marvel's line of graphic novels.

Where did the infant Superman's rocket land, to be found by Jonathan and Martha Kent?

Smallville, Kansas: for decades the comics never said which state the town was in. The 1978 film Superman was the first to put it in Kansas, and the comics later followed.

Which two men created Batman, who first appeared in 1939?

Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman, but only Kane was credited for decades; after an agreement with Finger's family, DC began crediting Finger as co-creator in 2015.

Which member of Marvel's 'First Family' can stretch their body into any shape?

Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards, got his powers in the team's 1961 origin, when cosmic rays hit the experimental spaceship he had rushed into flight to beat the Communists into space.

In the 'Death of Superman' storyline, which villain killed Superman?

Doomsday, a rampaging monster introduced in 1992, beat Superman to death in Superman #75; the issue sold millions of copies, and Superman returned in the 'Reign of the Supermen!' arc.

Which cosmic entity granted the Silver Surfer his share of the Power Cosmic?

Galactus spared the planet Zenn-La when the astronomer Norrin Radd offered to serve as his herald; the Surfer later turned on his master to save Earth and was exiled there as punishment.

Which DC team of jailed supervillains takes on deadly secret missions for Amanda Waller?

Suicide Squad members earn shorter prison sentences for missions the government can deny. The name is older than the villains: it first belonged to a different team in 1959, decades before the 1987 revival.

What is the civilian name of the Green Lantern who is a test pilot from Coast City?

Hal Jordan was chosen by a dying Green Lantern's ring for his fearlessness. In a 1994 shock, the destruction of his home city drove him to kill most of the Corps and become the villain Parallax.

In which 1988 storyline did readers vote by phone on whether Robin (Jason Todd) would live or die?

A Death in the Family ended with the Joker killing Jason Todd after callers voted 5,343 to 5,271 for his death; the editor later said hundreds of those votes may have come from a single caller.

Which Marvel hero is a lawyer from Hell's Kitchen who was blinded in childhood by a chemical accident?

Daredevil, lawyer Matt Murdock, lost his sight pushing a man out of the path of a truck; the radioactive cargo that splashed his eyes sharpened his other senses into a kind of radar.

What was the first major superhero crossover event between Marvel and DC Comics, published in 1976?

Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man has the heroes fight before they team up, and Spider-Man lands real blows only because a hidden Lex Luthor has zapped him with red-sun radiation, which weakens Superman.

Which telepathic ape from a hidden African city of his own kind is a longtime Flash villain?

Gorilla Grodd arrived in 1959 on the back of a craze: after an ape on a 1951 cover sent sales up, DC put gorillas on cover after cover, and this one stayed to menace generations of Flashes.

Which DC villain did Jack Kirby create after leaving Marvel in 1970?

Darkseid cast a long shadow: when Marvel's Thanos was being designed, an editor told the artist to beef him up and, if he was going to copy one of Kirby's New Gods, to copy the really good one.

Which 1991 Barry Windsor-Smith story arc depicted the program that experimented on Wolverine?

Weapon X hides a number in its name: a later story revealed the X is a Roman numeral, making the program that rebuilt Wolverine the tenth in a line that began with the one that created Captain America.

In 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' (1985), which hero died saving the multiverse from the Anti-Monitor?

Supergirl died holding off the Anti-Monitor so her unconscious cousin could be carried to safety; DC had decided the reboot should leave Superman as his world's only survivor, so she had to go.

Which 1970s Marvel hero, martial artist Danny Rand, trained in the mystical city K'un-Lun?

Iron Fist won his power by killing the dragon Shou-Lao and plunging his fists into the brazier that held its molten heart; Marvel created him in 1974 after his writer saw his first kung fu movie.

In which Marvel storyline did the Scarlet Witch say 'No more mutants', stripping most mutants of their powers?

House of M: the Scarlet Witch had remade the world so that mutants ruled it under her father Magneto; when he killed her brother, she revived him and wished mutantkind away in three words.

In Wonder Woman's original origin story, Queen Hippolyta sculpted her baby daughter from what material?

Clay: the gods answered Hippolyta's wish and brought the little statue to life. In 2011 DC swapped that origin for an affair between her mother and Zeus, recasting the clay tale as a lie told to shield her from Hera.

Which two teenagers created Superman after meeting at Glenville High School in Cleveland?

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster sold all rights to Superman for $130 and spent decades in court trying to win them back; only in 1975, with a film on the way, did they get a yearly pension.

Who directed the 1978 film Superman starring Christopher Reeve?

Richard Donner shot most of Superman II alongside the first film and was then fired by the producers; Richard Lester finished it for 1980, and Donner's own cut finally appeared in 2006.

Which actor starred as Clark Kent in the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman?

George Reeves nearly turned the part down, thinking television unimportant and that few people would see his work; the show then ran for six seasons and 104 episodes.

Which pulp and detective characters inspired Batman's creators?

Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow were named by Batman's first writer as models: the hero was conceived as a detective, and his 1939 debut story reworked a Shadow pulp novel called Partners of Peril.

Which actor's campy 1960s TV Batman influenced the comics' tone until 1968?

Adam West starred as Batman in the ABC series that ran from January 1966 to March 1968; its camp humor carried into the comics until Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams led a darker revamp.

Which anthology issue introduced Spider-Man in August 1962?

Amazing Fantasy #15 was, by Stan Lee's account, about to be cancelled, so his publisher let him try out a teenage hero in it with nothing to lose; Spider-Man had his own series within a year.

Which 1973 story is often credited with ending the Silver Age and starting the darker Bronze Age?

The Night Gwen Stacy Died turned on one small sound effect: a 'snap' beside her head as Spider-Man's web caught her fall, which a Marvel letters page said meant the sudden stop itself had killed her.

Which actor played Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's trilogy?

Tobey Maguire came back to the role 14 years after the trilogy ended, swinging alongside his successors Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

Wonder Woman's creator William Moulton Marston is also credited with an early version of which invention?

Marston was known for the polygraph: he devised the systolic blood-pressure lie-detection test that underpins it. His wife Elizabeth suggested that his new hero should be a woman.

Which feminist icon is credited with helping to get Wonder Woman's original powers restored in 1973?

Gloria Steinem put the classic Wonder Woman on the cover of Ms. in 1972 under the line 'Wonder Woman for President'; DC had turned Diana into a powerless boutique owner and gave her powers back the next year.

Stan Lee modeled Tony Stark's look and playboy image on which businessman?

Stan Lee modeled Tony Stark on Howard Hughes, whom he called an inventor, adventurer, multi-billionaire and ladies' man; Lee set out to make readers like a Cold War weapons-making capitalist.

In a famous 1979 Iron Man storyline, Tony Stark nearly loses everything to which personal problem?

Alcoholism: in Demon in a Bottle, a rival hijacks Stark's armor and makes it kill an ambassador, and Stark's drinking spirals; the nine-issue arc ends with him getting sober to save his company.

Which anthology comic introduced Iron Man in its 39th issue?

Tales of Suspense #39, cover-dated March 1963, introduced Iron Man; Black Widow and Hawkeye both made their debuts in the same anthology soon after, each as a villain sent against him.

Captain America's first cover, on sale a year before Pearl Harbor, showed him punching which real-life leader?

Adolf Hitler was Joe Simon's pick because he was 'the best villain of them all', hated by everyone in the free world. The issue sold nearly a million copies and drew threats that needed police protection.

Bucky Barnes returned as which brainwashed cybernetic assassin?

The Winter Soldier arrived in 2005, undoing a death the comics had established back in 1964: Soviet agents had recovered Bucky, given him a bionic arm and kept him on ice between assassinations.

Which Hulk foe is the gamma-mutated spy Emil Blonsky?

The Abomination is KGB agent Emil Blonsky, who deliberately dosed himself with gamma rays; he came out even stronger than the Hulk but, unlike Banner, can never change back into a man.

Which two literary works inspired Stan Lee's creation of the Hulk?

Stan Lee cited Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: the Hulk combined the misunderstood monster of the first with the second's transformation of a mild scientist into a brute.

Which two actors shared the Hulk role in the 1978 television series?

Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno split the part on CBS from 1978 to 1982: Bixby played Dr. David Banner, and bodybuilder Ferrigno took over as his raging alter ego after the towering Richard Kiel was dropped for lacking the muscle.

Thor was first introduced in 1962 as the alter ego of which doctor?

Donald Blake, a doctor with a limp, struck a stick he found in a Norwegian cave and became Thor in Journey into Mystery #83; Odin was later revealed to have invented Blake to teach his son humility.

To avoid links with the political party, Marvel briefly gave Black Panther which new name in 1972?

Black Leopard: in Fantastic Four #119 T'Challa says he neither condemns nor condones the Black Panther Party and points out that a leopard is a panther; the hero had debuted months before the party was founded in 1966.

Which X-Man did T'Challa, the Black Panther, marry in a major 2006 Marvel event?

Storm wed T'Challa in Black Panther #18 (2006), written by Reginald Hudlin, but the match did not last: he had the marriage annulled in 2012, when the X-Men and the Avengers went to war.

Wolverine made his first appearance in issue #180 of which comic in 1974?

The Incredible Hulk #180 (1974) showed Wolverine in a last-panel cameo before his full debut in #181, where he arrives as a government agent sent to bring the monster down.

Wolverine was created in 1974 because Marvel's editor wanted a hero from which country?

Canada: editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, noting Marvel's healthy sales there, asked writer Len Wein for a Canadian hero and picked the name of an animal he knew lived there; John Romita Sr. designed the costume.

Which 1961 story introduced DC's Multiverse by having two Flashes meet?

'Flash of Two Worlds' (The Flash #123, September 1961) had Barry Allen vibrate into Earth-Two and meet Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick, establishing DC's Multiverse.

What is the day job of Silver Age Flash Barry Allen?

Barry Allen works as a forensic scientist for the Central City police; a lightning strike on a rack of chemicals in his lab gave him super-speed in Showcase #4 (1956).

Which actor starred as Barry Allen in the 2014 CW series The Flash?

Grant Gustin starred as Barry Allen on The CW's The Flash from 2014 to 2023; John Wesley Shipp, who wore the suit in the 1990 CBS series, came back as Barry's father, Henry.

Which dying alien passed his power ring to Hal Jordan?

Abin Sur, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, crashed his ship on Earth and, dying, sent his ring to find a worthy successor, who first wore it in Showcase #22 (1959).

Which teen sidekick debuted beside Green Arrow in 1941, in the same comic that introduced Aquaman?

Speedy, Roy Harper, arrived with his mentor in More Fun Comics #73, an issue that launched three lasting heroes at once; a landmark 1971 story later revealed the clean-cut sidekick as a heroin addict.

What was the job of Aquaman's human father, Tom Curry?

Lighthouse keeper: in the 1959 origin Tom Curry married Atlanna, a water-breathing outcast from a lost undersea city, and their son Arthur inherited her power to live beneath the waves.

Which 1940s superhero outsold even Superman?

Captain Marvel, Fawcett's hero, outsold Superman at his 1940s peak and in 1941 became the first comic-book superhero filmed; a copyright suit from Superman's publisher helped end his run in 1953.

Which Trojan War hero supplies the second A in SHAZAM?

Achilles lends his courage; the magic word also stacks Solomon's wisdom, Hercules' strength, Atlas' stamina, Zeus' power and Mercury's speed, and saying it turns young Billy Batson into a grown hero.

Why has DC marketed Billy Batson's hero as 'Shazam!' since 1972?

Trademark conflicts with Marvel: Marvel registered the Captain Marvel trademark in 1967, so when DC licensed the Fawcett hero in 1972 its comic had to be titled Shazam!, and DC renamed the character in 2011.

Doctor Strange was a neurosurgeon until what ruined his hands?

A car accident ended Stephen Strange's surgical career by damaging the nerves in his hands; in his 1963 origin, after medicine failed to heal them, he sought the Ancient One and became a sorcerer.

Which size-changing Marvel hero's name has passed from Hank Pym to Scott Lang and Eric O'Grady?

Ant-Man began as scientist Hank Pym; Scott Lang, a reformed burglar, took the suit from Pym's home to rescue the surgeon who could save his sick daughter Cassie.

Which superhero did Hawkeye marry, later leading the West Coast Avengers with her?

Mockingbird, Bobbi Morse, married Hawkeye at the end of his 1983 miniseries, in which he beat the villain Crossfire by using a sonic arrow at close range and lost much of his hearing.

Which Marvel hero, Sam Wilson, became Captain America's partner in 1969?

The Falcon, Sam Wilson, debuted in Captain America #117 (1969) and became Cap's regular partner; the comic was retitled Captain America and the Falcon from 1971 to 1978.

In what Soviet training facility was Black Widow augmented?

The Red Room trained girls as Black Widow spies and altered them biochemically, which is why she ages so slowly; Yelena Belova later emerged from the same program as a rival Black Widow.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver debuted as members of which villainous group?

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver debuted in X-Men #4 (1964) as reluctant members of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants; both joined the Avengers in 1965.

Which actor first played Nick Fury in live action, in a 1998 TV movie?

David Hasselhoff played Nick Fury in the 1998 Fox TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.; the Ultimate Marvel comics later modeled Fury on Samuel L. Jackson, who took the film role in 2008.

Adding Robin in 1940 had what effect on the Batman titles?

Nearly doubled their sales: the boy was added to pull in young readers and to give Batman someone to talk to, and he worked so well that kid sidekicks spread across comics.

Which name did Dick Grayson adopt after setting aside the Robin identity?

Nightwing debuted in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (1984): leaving Batman's side, Dick Grayson took the name of a vigilante from the lore of Superman's home world; Jason Todd, the second Robin, later became the Red Hood.

After the Joker's bullet left her paralyzed, Barbara Gordon took on which new identity?

Barbara Gordon, shot and paralyzed by the Joker in Alan Moore's The Killing Joke (1988), reinvented herself as Oracle, a wheelchair-using hacker and information broker for Batman and the Birds of Prey.

Supergirl Kara Zor-El grew up on which domed fragment of her home planet, adrift in space after it exploded?

Argo City rode out Krypton's end under a dome on a chunk of the planet; when the ground turned to kryptonite and meteors pierced its lead shield, Kara's parents rocketed her to Earth, where she debuted in 1959.

Who first played Supergirl in live action, in the 1984 film Supergirl?

Helen Slater starred as Kara in Supergirl (1984), the first live-action Supergirl; she later played Kara's adoptive mother Eliza Danvers on the 2015 TV series that starred Melissa Benoist.

Under what name did Catwoman debut in Batman #1 in 1940?

The Cat was her only name when the jewel thief debuted in Batman #1 (1940), disguised as an old woman; she then vanished from the comics from 1954, the year the Comics Code arrived, until 1966.

Buried in rubble as a child when a plane hit her Cairo home, Storm was left with a lifelong fear of what?

Tight spaces: Storm's claustrophobia dates from the crash that killed her parents, an American photographer and a Kenyan princess; the orphan then survived as a child pickpocket on Cairo's streets.

Storm debuted in which 1975 issue alongside Colossus and Nightcrawler?

Giant-Size X-Men #1, by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, revived a title that had run only reprints since 1970, with an international cast that Marvel's owners hoped would sell abroad.

What codename did Jean Grey use during her early years with the X-Men?

Marvel Girl was Jean Grey's codename from The X-Men #1 (1963), when she was the team's only woman; in 1976 she flew a damaged shuttle through lethal radiation to save her teammates and emerged as Phoenix.

Stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze sold his soul to which demon to become Ghost Rider?

Johnny Blaze bargained with Mephisto (called simply 'Satan' in Marvel Spotlight #5, 1972) to cure his foster father Crash Simpson's cancer; Crash then died in a stunt, and the demon bonded Blaze to the spirit Zarathos.

Which actor starred in Ghost Rider (2007) and its 2012 sequel, Spirit of Vengeance?

Nicolas Cage played Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider (2007) and Spirit of Vengeance (2012); a comics fan born Nicolas Coppola, he had taken his stage name partly from Marvel's Luke Cage.

Which fictional European country does the Fantastic Four's archenemy Doctor Doom rule?

Latveria is where Victor von Doom was born poor; after his debut in Fantastic Four #5 (1962), his origin showed him returning in armor, overthrowing its monarch and renaming the capital Doomstadt.

Which production style rose to prominence through the Fantastic Four title?

The Marvel method has the writer hand the artist only a plot; the artist works out the whole story page by page, and the dialogue is written last, to fit the finished drawings.

Which writer's direction after the 1975 revival made the X-Men a hit franchise?

Chris Claremont took over X-Men with issue #94 in 1975 and wrote it until 1991, crafting the Dark Phoenix Saga and turning a book cancelled in 1970 into Marvel's best-seller.

The Justice League of America's first foe in 1960, later the villain of a 2021 DC film, was a giant alien what?

Starfish: Starro the Conqueror, a mind-controlling alien with one central eye, took on the team in its debut, The Brave and the Bold #28, and the heroes did well enough there to win their own series.

Which founding Avenger named the group 'Avengers'?

The Wasp (Janet van Dyne) proposed the name at the end of Avengers #1 (1963), after the founders defeated Loki, calling for something 'colorful and dramatic'.

Which teammate betrays the Teen Titans in 'The Judas Contract'?

Terra (Tara Markov), a mole planted by Deathstroke, betrays the team in The Judas Contract (1984), by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, after feeding him the Titans' secret identities.

Which trio formed the original Teen Titans in a 1964 team-up issue?

Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad first teamed in The Brave and the Bold #54 (1964); Wonder Girl joined and the group took the Teen Titans name in issue #60.

Which Watchmen character did Alan Moore base on the Question, a Charlton Comics hero DC had just bought?

Rorschach began as the Question: Moore pitched the story with the Charlton heroes themselves, but editor Dick Giordano, seeing they would end up dead or unusable, had him invent look-alikes.

Which recurring symbol runs through Watchmen's nine-panel grid pages?

The blood-stained smiley face is the Comedian's badge, splashed at the murder that opens the story; it recurs as far away as a crater on Mars, and artist Dave Gibbons likened the streak to a clock hand nearing midnight.

Which publisher launched Mike Mignola's Hellboy miniseries Seed of Destruction in 1994?

Dark Horse published Hellboy: Seed of Destruction in 1994; Mike Mignola conceived and drew it but, never having written a comic story before, had veteran John Byrne script it.

Which agency did Professor Bruttenholm found to employ Hellboy?

B.P.R.D., the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, grew out of the wartime fight against Nazi occultism: Bruttenholm, its first director, saw the infant demon appear in 1944 and raised him as a normal boy.

Which parody superhero began in 1986 as the mascot of a Boston-area comic shop's newsletter?

The Tick was drawn by teenager Ben Edlund for the New England Comics newsletter; the store then paid for his comic book, and the big blue hero went on to three TV series.

Which power does Miles Morales have that the original Spider-Man lacks?

Invisibility: Miles can blend into his surroundings and stun foes with a bio-electric touch; he took up the mask in 2011's Ultimate Fallout #4, after the hero who wore it first in his universe was killed.

Which actor voices Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films?

Shameik Moore voices Miles Morales in Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Across the Spider-Verse (2023); when the first won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, Sony sent it back out to 1,661 more theaters.

Which science-fiction prize did the collection Ms. Marvel: No Normal win in 2015?

The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story went to Ms. Marvel: No Normal ahead of Saga; its hero Kamala Khan, a Jersey City teen, took the Ms. Marvel name in tribute to her idol Carol Danvers, who had dropped it.

Which 2019 film concluded Phase Three of the MCU?

Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019) was confirmed by Kevin Feige as the final film of Phase Three, closing the Infinity Saga after Avengers: Endgame.

Which 1954 book by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham attacked comic books and helped bring about the Comics Code?

Seduction of the Innocent blamed comics for juvenile delinquency and read Batman and Robin as a gay couple; Senate hearings followed that spring, and publishers adopted the Comics Code to censor themselves.

Which two publishers were the last to abandon the Comics Code in January 2011?

DC and Archie were the last publishers printing the code's seal: DC dropped it in January 2011, Archie followed within days, and the censorship regime of 1954 was dead; Marvel had walked away in 2001.

Invincible's Mark Grayson is the son of which superhero?

Mark Grayson is the son of Omni-Man, Nolan Grayson, a Viltrumite posing as Earth's greatest hero; Robert Kirkman's Invincible ran 144 issues at Image Comics from 2003 to 2018.

Which director pitched The Incredibles to Pixar after his first feature, The Iron Giant, flopped?

Brad Bird had carried his superhero-family story since the early 1990s; when The Iron Giant bombed at the box office he took it to Pixar in 2000, and it won Oscars for Animated Feature and Sound Editing.

What is the day job Bob Parr resents in The Incredibles?

Bob Parr works as a claims adjuster at Insuricare, where his boss Gilbert Huph punishes him for helping clients; he moonlights as a vigilante with his friend Frozone.

The Martian Manhunter's beloved 'Chocos' were, in his 1980s Justice League comics, which real cookie brand?

Oreos: his craving for them began as a running gag in the Justice League comics of 1987, and later stories swapped in the invented brand Chocos, probably to steer clear of the real one's trademark.

Which masked hero debuted in a 1936 newspaper comic strip, two years before Superman?

The Phantom, Lee Falk's 'Ghost Who Walks', began as a daily strip in February 1936; Falk said Robin Hood's tights inspired the skintight costume and Greek busts the mask's blank eyes.

Which pioneering 1940 superheroine could turn into a skull-faced creature?

Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle, debuted in Jungle Comics #2 (February 1940), ahead of Wonder Woman; creator Fletcher Hanks had her sentence the jungle's plunderers to bizarre punishments.

Whose turn in Spider-Man pajamas helped shape Miles Morales?

Donald Glover wore Spider-Man pajamas in the Community season-two premiere (2010), after a fan campaign to cast him as Spider-Man; Brian Michael Bendis said seeing him helped shape Miles Morales.

Which villain built the android Vision in 1968 to destroy the Avengers?

Ultron built the Vision in The Avengers #57 as a 'son' to wipe out the team, but the android turned on his maker and joined them; writer Roy Thomas modeled him on Adam Link, an early sympathetic robot of the pulps.

Nick Fury debuted in 1963 as a cigar-chomping sergeant leading which World War II Army Ranger unit?

The Howling Commandos were a racially integrated squad, a point the first issue of 1963 fumbled when Black soldier Gabe Jones was wrongly colored white; Fury returned months later as a modern spy.

Which New Teen Titan, introduced in 1980, was made a founding member of the Justice League in DC's 2011 relaunch?

Cyborg, Victor Stone, first appeared in a preview insert in DC Comics Presents #26; three decades on, the New 52 rewrote DC's history so that the half-machine Titan helped found its top team.

The 1939 Fox Comics Blue Beetle, Dan Garret, got his powers from what source?

A special vitamin, Vitamin 2X, gave the 1939 Dan Garret his strength, one pill at a time from a friendly pharmacist; a 1964 reboot swapped it for a mystical Egyptian scarab, which later powers Jaime Reyes.

Batman's murdered mother and Superman's adoptive Earth mother share which first name?

Martha is the name both mothers share, and the 2016 film Batman v Superman uses the coincidence to stop the two heroes' fight.

Green Lantern Corps power rings were originally useless against objects of which colour?

Yellow was the one colour the rings could not affect, which is why the villain Sinestro armed himself with a yellow ring of his own in 1961.

Which Guardians of the Galaxy hero debuted in 1960 as an alien invader out to capture humans?

Groot is a sentient, tree-like creature co-created by Jack Kirby, and he resurfaced in 1976 beside five other old Marvel monsters.

Which Superman archenemy had a full head of red hair until an artist's mistake left him bald?

Lex Luthor lost his hair within a year of his debut, when an artist apparently mistook him for a stocky, bald henchman from an earlier issue.

Which Marvel character was born the son of Laufey, king of the Frost Giants?

Loki was found as a baby by Odin, who had just killed the child's father in single combat and took the boy home to Asgard.

Which Batman ally was drawn overweight and clean-shaven until a 1943 film serial cast a slim actor?

Alfred Pennyworth was sent to a health resort in a 1944 issue so the comic-book butler could slim down and grow a moustache like his screen double.

Which reporter has been Superman's love interest since sharing his debut issue in 1938?

Lois Lane appeared in the very first Superman story in June 1938, and she remains among the best-known female characters in comics.

Which Daily Bugle publisher runs a long smear campaign branding Spider-Man a menace?

J. Jonah Jameson is known for his flattop haircut, moustache and ever-present cigar, and he has hounded the web-slinger since 1963.

Which villain, conceived in Jim Starlin's psychology class, kills half the universe to court Death?

Thanos takes his name from Thanatos, Freud's idea of a human death drive, and he gathers six gems to impress Mistress Death.

Which X-Men archenemy is a Holocaust survivor who was once a friend of Professor X?

Magneto debuted in 1963 as a plain villain, and only later stories gave him the wartime past and the broken friendship that drive him.

Which villain, born in a Caribbean island prison, broke Batman's back in the Knightfall storyline?

Bane grew up in the Peña Duro prison on Santa Prisca, serving a life sentence for his father's revolutionary activities before he escaped.

Which publisher was founded in 1992 by star artists who wanted to own the characters they created?

Image Comics released its first title, Rob Liefeld's Youngblood #1, in April 1992 and let its creators keep their copyrights.

Which hero with unbreakable skin became Marvel's first African-American series lead in 1972?

Luke Cage gained his strength as Carl Lucas, the subject of a prison experiment, and debuted in a comic titled Hero for Hire.

Which vampire hunter debuted as a supporting character in The Tomb of Dracula #10 in 1973?

Blade was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan, and he began as a bit player before winning solo stories of his own.

Which device, introduced in The X-Men #7 in 1964, does Professor X use to locate mutants?

Cerebro is also the Spanish word for brain, from the Latin cerebrum, and the device can detect ordinary humans as well as mutants.

Superman's Fortress of Solitude borrowed its name and Arctic setting from which 1930s pulp hero?

Doc Savage had an Arctic retreat of that name in the pulps, while the earliest Superman stories gave him only a mountain sanctuary near Metropolis.

Which alien symbiote lived as Spider-Man's black costume before bonding with Eddie Brock?

Venom first appeared in full in 1988, four years after the black costume, and its later hosts include the villain Mac Gargan.

Which artist drew the first 38 issues of The Amazing Spider-Man before leaving Marvel in 1966?

Steve Ditko also co-created Doctor Strange, and before either hero he had helped invent Captain Atom for a rival publisher in 1960.

Which Golden Age android, built by Professor Phineas Horton, debuted in Marvel Comics #1 in 1939?

The Human Torch burst into flames when exposed to oxygen at a press unveiling in his creator's Brooklyn laboratory.

The Hulk's alter ego is which physicist, renamed Robert after his writer once called him Bob?

Bruce Banner got an alliterative name because his writer found such names easier to remember, and the writer still got it wrong in later stories.

Captain America is the alter ego of which frail man, rejected by the Army as physically unfit?

Steve Rogers was rebuilt by an experimental super-soldier serum, an origin his co-creator Joe Simon called the weakest part of the character.

Wonder Woman took which civilian identity from a lookalike Army nurse in exchange for money?

Diana Prince was a real nurse in the 1940s stories: the heroine paid her fare to rejoin a fiancé and took over her credentials and hospital job.

Catwoman, a burglar who uses a bullwhip for a weapon, is the alter ego of which woman?

Selina Kyle debuted in 1940 as an adversary of Batman, and since the 1990s her own series has cast her as an antiheroine instead.

Wolverine, long known only as Logan, was given which birth name in the miniseries Origin?

James Howlett was born in Alberta in the late 19th century to rich farm owners, a childhood Marvel had kept hidden for decades.

Which former nurse, long the love interest of Thor, lifted his hammer and took his name in 2014?

Jane Foster had been in the comics since 1962, and after her spell as the thunder god she went on to become a Valkyrie in 2019.

Which teenager from Jersey City took over the Ms. Marvel name in 2014?

Kamala Khan made headlines before her first issue, because Marvel's news that a Muslim character would lead a comic drew widespread attention.

Which military pilot, a friend and employee of Tony Stark, wears the War Machine armour?

James Rhodes first filled in as Iron Man himself in 1983, and he began using the heavily armed War Machine suit when he replaced Stark again in 1992.

Hawkeye is the alias of which orphan, who learned archery with a travelling carnival?

Clint Barton ran away from an orphanage with his brother Barney, became a star carnival marksman and turned hero after seeing Iron Man in action.

Which Marvel Comics lawyer became She-Hulk after an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin?

Jennifer Walters needed the blood after an assassination attempt, and it left her with a milder form of her relative's condition.

Which former test pilot from Yancy Street became the rocky Fantastic Four hero the Thing?

Ben Grimm grew up poor on New York's Lower East Side and won a football scholarship to the university where he met his future team leader.

Which scientist, a stocky Spider-Man foe with four mechanical arms, later starred as the Superior Spider-Man?

Otto Octavius, better known as Doctor Octopus, first fought the web-slinger in 1963, and decades later he headlined a series of his own as the Superior Spider-Man.

Two-Face is the alter ego of which former district attorney, scarred when a mob boss threw acid?

Harvey Dent was named Harvey Kent in his 1942 debut, and the scarred villain is obsessed with duality and the number two.

The Martian Manhunter hides on Earth as a police detective under which human name?

John Jones works as a detective in the fictional Middletown, an identity the stranded alien adopts after shapeshifting into human form.

Which boy became the third Robin after deducing who Batman and the first Robin really were?

Tim Drake had been in the circus audience as a small boy on the night the first Boy Wonder's parents were murdered.

Carter Hall, an archaeologist who recalls past lives after rediscovering Nth metal, is which DC hero?

Hawkman has a second origin too: in other tellings he is Katar Hol, a decorated police officer from the planet Thanagar.

Scott Summers, older brother of the mutant Havok, is which founding member of the X-Men?

Cyclops fires powerful beams of energy from his eyes and can control them only with special eyewear, which he must always wear.

Marc Spector, Steven Grant and Jake Lockley are all alter egos of which hero from Werewolf by Night?

Moon Knight first appeared in August 1975 in an issue of that horror comic, and his lunar empowerment enhances his abilities at night.

Peter Quill, son of a human mother and the alien J'son, assumes which interplanetary policeman's mantle?

Star-Lord debuted in 1976 but became leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy only when the team's comic was relaunched in 2008.

Remy LeBeau, a New Orleans mutant who charges playing cards with explosive energy, uses which codename?

Gambit pours kinetic energy into cards and other everyday objects to turn them into explosive projectiles, and he joined the X-Men comics in 1990.

Which artist pencilled X-Men #1 in 1991, named by Guinness World Records as the best-selling comic ever?

Jim Lee also co-wrote the issue, and its sales of over 8.1 million copies brought in nearly $7 million.

Which artist's Spider-Man #1 sold 2.5 million copies in 1990, two years before he launched Spawn?

Todd McFarlane's total was swollen by variant covers, which Marvel printed to tempt collectors into buying more than one edition.

Which artist, later the creator of Sin City, pencilled Wolverine's first solo miniseries in 1982?

Frank Miller's four issues were only the second limited series Marvel had ever published, and they recast the hero as a failed samurai in Japan.

Which Superman supporting character starred in his own comic for 163 issues between 1954 and 1974?

Jimmy Olsen's title began with stories about his job as a reporter, but by the late 1950s it had him undergoing bizarre supernatural transformations.

After his own comic was cancelled at issue six in 1963, the Hulk returned in which anthology title?

Tales to Astonish gave him one of its two features from 1964, and that run introduced his brainy nemesis, the Leader.

Thor debuted in 1962 in which anthology comic, later renamed after its hammer-wielding star?

Journey into Mystery took its star's name with issue #126 in 1966, and Marvel brought the old title back in the 1970s as a horror anthology.

Which series, launched in 1972, starred Spider-Man beside a guest hero in all but ten of its 150 issues?

Marvel Team-Up was the web-slinger's first major ongoing spin-off, and one of the rare issues without him starred his Aunt May instead.

Which DC series, published from 1941 to 1986, featured both Superman and Batman in virtually every issue?

World's Finest Comics was called World's Best Comics for its first issue only, and at first it ran the two heroes in separate stories.

Marvel, home of Spider-Man and the Hulk, was founded by Martin Goodman in 1939 under which name?

Timely Comics was the company's first name; it was generally known as Atlas by 1951 and took the Marvel name in 1961.

Which 1984 Marvel series, starring Spider-Man, the Hulk and the X-Men, was tied to a Mattel toy line?

Secret Wars got its title from Mattel's focus groups, which found that children responded well to the words "wars" and "secret".

Doctor Manhattan, the Watchmen being who manipulates subatomic matter, was once which atomic physicist?

Jon Osterman was created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, and a laboratory accident gave him his godlike abilities.