PAST DID YOU KNOW?

1. Did you know that children from Power Pack could actually exchange and steal each other's powers?
2. When Peter Parker graduates from high school in Amazing Spider-Man #28, the guest speaker at his graduation ceremony is none other than Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson."""
3. Betty Brant first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #4, working for the Daily Bugle as J. Jonah Jameson's secretary."""
4. Spider-Man brought a new black costume back from the first """"Secret Wars"""". Unfortunately, it turned out that his nifty new threads were actually an alien symbiote trying to bond to him permanently. With Mr. Fantastic's help, Spider-Man was able to separate himself from the costume. Apparently feeling a little rejected, the symbiote would eventually bond with Eddie Brock and become the dangerous super-villain known as Venom."""
5. In Amazing Spider-Man #121, the Green Goblin kidnaps Peter Parker's then-girlfriend Gwen Stacy and ultimately causes her death."""
6. In Amazing Spider-Man #3, Spidey is badly beaten in his first-ever encounter with Doctor Octupus. Mentally defeated, Peter questions his ability to go on as Spider-Man until he attends a school assembly where the Human Torch is giving a speech. The Torch encourages the students to """"never give up"""" even when things seem tough. Peter takes this message to heart, and in a rematch, defeats Doctor Octopus handily."""
7. In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3, Spider-Man is offered membership in The Avengers if he can capture the Hulk and return him to Avengers headquarters. Although he does manage to capture the Hulk, Spider-Man is suspicious of what the Avengers want with the green-skinned monster. Feeling pity for the creature, Spider-Man decides to release him instead of turning him over to the Avengers, thus failing the test."""
8. J. Jonah Jameson's son, John Jameson, was an astronaut selected for a secret mission to the moon. While collecting lunar rock samples, he came across a glittering red gemstone which, after his return to Earth, would later graft itself to his skin, causing him to transform into a wolf like humanoid creature known as Man-Wolf when exposed to the light of a full moon."""
9. In Amazing Fantasy #18, Spider-Man battles Supercharger -- the first super-powered villain he ever encountered. Previously, he had battled mostly small-time crooks."""
10. Mysterio (Quentin Beck) started his career as a Hollywood stuntman. He later branched into special effects but quickly grew tried of his constant backstage role, and when a friend jokingly suggested that, if he really wanted to become famous, he should take out one of the new costumed crime-fighters, Beck decided to kill Spider-Man, thus launching his criminal career."""
11. Ace the Bat-Hound made his first appearance in """"Batman #92"""" (June, 1955)."""
12. Although Alfred's family name has since been changed to the more dignified-sounding """"Pennyworth"""", when he made his first appearance in """"Batman #16"""" (April/May, 1943), his name was Alfred Beagle."""
13. Catwoman made her first appearance in Batman #1 (Spring, 1940). The Penguin (1941), The Riddler (1948), and Mr. Freeze (1959) were all introduced later."""
14. The original Batgirl (first introduced in Batman #139) was Betty Kane, the niece of Batwoman (Kathy Kane). A later version of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) was the daughter of police Commissioner James Gordon."""
15. Bat-Mite, a magical Kobold from another dimension, made his first appearance in Detective Comics #267 when he makes a chaotic attempt to aid Batman in his fight against crime."""
16. Bob Kane introduced Batman's young sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder, in 1940 to give Batman someone to talk to. Robin made his first appearance in """"Detective Comics #38"""" (April, 1940)."""
17. Scientist Kirk Langstrom was employed as a Zoologist at the Gotham City Zoo where he experimented with bat mutigene to create a serum to replicate the creatures' long life. After testing the serum on himself, Langstrom was transformed into the vicious ManBat."""
18. Although he worked with Bill Finger on the original comics, Bob Kane is generally credited with creating the character of Batman. He was a twenty-two year old comic book artist when he was charged with the task of creating another superhero in the mold of the DC phenomenon, Superman. According to Kane, the original concept for Batman came from three sources: a Leonardo da Vinci sketch of a man trying to fly with bat-like wings, a 1930s movie titled """"The Bat whisperer"""", and the masked heroes Zorro and The Shadow. Batman made his first appearance in """"Detective Comics #27"""" (May, 1939)."""
19. As a child, Bruce Wayne witnessed the gruesome murder of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne."""
20. After deducing Batman's secret identity and invading the sanctity of Wayne Manor and the Batcave, Bane not only defeated Batman, but broke his back, leaving him crippled and wheelchair-bound. Helpless, Bruce Wayne left his costume and crime-fighting duties to Jean Paul Valley and set out on an arduous quest to regain his strength and will to fight. Eventually, after much rehabilitation and training with the beautiful but deadly Lady Shiva, Wayne returned to Gotham to reclaim the mantle of the Dark Knight."""
21. Coming from a long, proud line of warrior kings, T'Challa, king of Wakanda, champions the cause of his people both as their ruler and as the sleek superhero known as the Black Panther."""
22. When billionaire Simon Stagg sent adventurer Rex Mason to Egypt to retrieve the priceless Orb of Ra from a pyramid, he never expected him to return. Stagg's henchman, Java, attacked Mason, leaving him for dead. But Rex fell into a hidden chamber and was exposed to the Orb, whose radiation changed Mason into the freakish shape-shifting element man Metamorpho."""
23. The Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) and her twin brother Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), the children of Magneto, were born without their father's knowledge in the mountains of Eastern Europe. Once manipulated by Magneto into serving the cause of terrorism, they now dedicate their lives to fighting crime."""
24. One of the many incarnations of DC's Hawkgirl, Kendra Saunders' body was inhabited by the soul of an ancient Egyptian princess after a traumatic event caused her to attempt suicide."""
25. When Tony Stark (Iron Man) first joined The Avengers, he offered his family mansion as the team's headquarters. Since that day, Jarvis, the Stark family butler, has maintained his residence in the mansion and has served as butler to Earth's Mightiest Heroes."""
26. Starfire grew up on Tamaran, the youngest daughter of the planet's rulers. In order to ward off an alien invasion that threatened to destroy the entire planet, her family gave her up as a """"peace offering"""" to the powerful invaders who took her away and enslaved her. Eventually, Starfire escaped her captors and fled to Earth where she joined the Teen Titans."""
27. Chester Gould's immortal Dick Tracy made his first appearance in the Detroit Free Press on October 4, 1931. Modeled after the innovative Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy introduced the world to new crime-fighting technologies such as the two-way wrist TV and the engineless car that took the detective to the moon."""
28. A spy attempting to steal the research of Dr. Bruce Banner, Emil Blonsky accidentally exposed himself to a concentrated burst of gamma rays that transformed him into a green-skinned monster known as the Abomination. Unlike the Hulk, he retained his intelligence and personality, but he could not revert to human form."""
29. Born of royal Atlantean blood, Aquaman (the infant Prince Orin) was abandoned for having blond hair, which according to Atlantean myth signifies the Curse of Kordax. The child, left for dead, was rescued and raised by a lighthouse keeper before eventually discovering his royal heritage and reclaiming his birthright as King of Atlantis."""
30. In 1933, publishers at Eastern Color Press, looking for a way to make better use of their printing equipment which frequently sat idle between jobs, came up with the idea of printing an 8-page comic section that could be folded down from the large broadsheet to a smaller 9 inch by 12 inch format. The result was the first modern comic book. Containing reprints of newspaper comic strips, this experimental comic book titled """"Funnies on Parade"""" was given away for free. It proved so popular, however, that the following year Eastern published """"Famous Funnies"""" and took the bold step of selling the comic for ten cents through chain stores. The enterprise was a smashing success and Eastern began churning out numerous reprints on a monthly basis. Other publishers, eager to get in on the profits, soon jumped on the bandwagon, and the comic book industry was born!"""""""
31. The Alien symbiote that would join with Spider-Man and later became Venom was originally inspired Julie Carpenter's Spider-Woman costume during the Secret Wars.
32. According to the Star Wars novels, Han Solo and Princess Leia had twins named Jaina and Jacen."""
33. Wolverine's real name is James Howlett.
34. Sister Grimm, from the Marvel book Runaways is a somewhat rebellious goth. Her real name is Nico Minoru and she is 16 years old. She inherited her parents' abilities to manipulate magical energies, and uses the mystical Staff of One in combat. Unfortunately, Nico's blood must be shed before she can wield her magic, and she cannot cast the same spell twice. Her codename is actually her AIM screen name."""
35. Comic book writing-veteran Chris Claremont had originally intended for Mystique and Destiny to have been Nightcrawler's biological parents (Mystique, being a shapeshifter, would have taken the form of a man and impregnated Destiny.) Marvel, however, felt the idea to be too controversial and it was nixed.
    """""""
36. At a young age, Jessica Drew was lethally poisoned by radiation. In an attempt to save her life Jessica was injected with an experimental serum based on spiders blood, which had also been irradiated. Because the serum did not have any apparent effect on her, the man who would come to be known as the High Evolutionary placed her in a genetic accelerator. While in suspension she aged at a decelerated rate and when finally released decades later, Drew was only fourteen years old. Her first few years were confusing as she adjusted to life among other humans. Eventually HYDRA found and recruited her. Through brain washing and manipulation she was convinced she was not human but actually an evolved spider. During this time she went by the alias of Arachne. Finally, on a mission against S.H.I.E.L.D. Jessica learned HYDRA's true nature and turned on them.
    
    Now going by the name Spider-Woman, Jessica started her career as both a costumed crime fighter and a private detective. Jessica Drew's life settled down until a villain going by the name of Spider-Woman stole her power, which was later gained by Mattie Franklin. Jessica herself returned to her life as a private investigator, and as a teacher and mentor to Mattie (who had assumed the Spider-Woman identity.)
    
    Jessica Drew has recently regained her powers and is now currently the only active Spider-Woman and has recently joined the New Avengers.
    """""""
37. Hawkman:
    Thousands of years ago, Prince Khufu encountered Nth metal, an element originating from the planet Thanagar. Exposure to the metal imbued him and his lover, Chay-Ara, with the knowledge of Thanagarian civilization. It also provided Khufu with the working knowledge to harness the metal into wings, which allowed him to fly, and become a living embodiment of Horus, the fabled hawkgod of Egypt."""
38. Scarlet Witch:
    The Scarlet Witch's twin sons, Thomas and William, were actually demon soul fragments. The Scarlet Witch used her magic hex powers to become pregnant in the first place and Pandemonium's claim not only caused her the loss of her """"children"""" but the loss of her mind. Pandemonium seemingly died in that final encounter, but his legacy caused untold misery and pain for the Avengers. After the ordeal, the memory of her twins was wiped from The Scarlet Witch's mind, but years later the thoughts resurfaced and she lost it again. Scarlet Witch's wrath was focused upon her teammates and in the Avengers: Disassembled storyline, her actions left three Avengers dead: Hawkeye, Ant-Man and her ex-husband and father of lost children, the android Vision. """""""
39. Shanna The She-Devil
    History: The daughter of a big-game hunter, the African-born Shanna devoted her time to protecting animals. She shared many adventures with her two pet big cats, facing off against the likes of the Mandrill, the Owl, and even the Hulk. After her pets were killed, a grief-stricken Shanna fled to the Savage Land and her friend Lord Kevin Plunder, AKA Ka-Zar, whom she eventually married. The two have had to deal with the over-exploitation of the Savage Land's natural resources by unscrupulous outsiders, further making Shanna wary of the modern world. Shanna has increasingly rejected technology in all of its forms, leading to a number of arguments with her husband over how much technology they should allow near their son, Matthew."""
40. The first winner in the Best Writer catagory for an Harvey Award was: Alan Moore for Watchmen in 1988.
41. Literally translated, manga means """"random (or whimsical) pictures. The word first came into common usage after the publication of the Quick Facts about: 19th century Hokusai Manga, containing assorted drawings from the sketchbook of the famous ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. However, gi-ga (lit. """"funny pictures"""") drawn in the 12th century by various artists contain many manga-like qualities such as emphasis on story and simple, artistic lines."""
42. The 1895 """"Yellow Kid"""" created by Richard Outcault has often been cited as being the first comic strip. The reason being is that Richard Outcault was the first artist to use the balloon, an outlined space on the page where what the characters spoke was written. However, comic strips and comic books were published before Yellow Kid debuted in the New York City newspaper The World."""
43. All Star Superman, launched in 2005, is an ongoing series under DC's All Star imprint, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. DC claims that this series will """"strip down the Man of Steel to his timeless, essential elements"""". The All Star imprint attempts to retell some of the history of DC's iconic characters, but outside of the strict DC universe continuity."""
44. In addition to comic books, Superman has made the transition to radio, television, movies, and video games each on multiple occasions. Among the actors who have played the role are Kirk Alyn, Tim Daly, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Dean Cain, Tom Welling, and Brandon Routh. There have also been numerous animated cartoon series starring the Man of Steel.
    
    Superman has also long been a popular subject for music, inspiring songs by artists ranging from The Kinks and Barbra Streisand to R.E.M., Spin Doctors, Crash Test Dummies, Five For Fighting, The Flaming Lips, and Sufjan Stevens.
    
    As an iconic character, Superman has often been parodied. He has also had characters modeled after him, in a form of homage."
45. Superman also has a rogues gallery of supervillain enemies, including his most well-known enemy, Lex Luthor, who has been envisioned over the years in various forms as either a rogue scientific genius with a personal vendetta against Superman, or a powerful but corrupt CEO of a conglomerate called LexCorp.
    
    The alien android (in most incarnations) known as Brainiac is considered by some as the second worst nemesis of Superman. In one way, the enemy that accomplished the most, by actually killing Superman, is the raging monster Doomsday. Darkseid, one of the most powerful beings in the DC universe, has also proven a formidable nemesis in the past.
    
    Other enemies of note include the fifth-dimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk, the imperfect Superman clone Bizarro, criminal cyborg Metallo, Kryptonian criminal General Zod (and other Kryptonians imprisoned in the Phantom Zone),the Parasite, the Prankster, Terra-Man, the Toyman, Gog, and the Metropolis gang known as Intergang (which includes mad scientists such as Dabney Donovan and Dr. Killgrave)."
46. Lois Lane is perhaps the character most commonly associated with Superman, as his colleague, love interest, and later confidante of his dual identities, and now wife to Clark Kent.
    
    Main supporting characters include Daily Planet coworkers Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent's boss Perry White; Clark Kent's adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent; childhood sweetheart Lana Lang and best friend Pete Ross; and former college love interest Lori Lemaris, a mermaid. Incarnations of Supergirl, Krypto the Superdog, and Superboy have also been major characters in the mythos, as well as Batman and Superman's fellow members of the Justice League of America (of which Superman is usually a member).
    
    Minor supporting characters over the years have included Superman's technologial aid and eccentric inventors Professor Emil Hamilton and Professor Phineas Potter, Metropolis police officers Inspector William Henderson, Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin, and former sailor-turned-bartender Bibbo Bibbowski."
47. Some people believe that Superman is partly based on philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's +£bermensch, which literally translates to ""overman"" but could also mean ""superman"". It is also believed that Superman may in fact have been partly inspired by the Jewish legends of the Golem, a mythical being created to protect and serve the persecuted Jews of ancient Warsaw and later revived in popular culture in reference to their suffering at the hands of Nazis during WWII."
48. Superman, both the character and his various comic series, have received various awards over the years.
    
    The Reign of the Supermen storyline received the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic Book Story in 1993."
49. All Star Superman, launched in 2005, is an ongoing series under DC's All Star imprint, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. DC claims that this series will ""strip down the Man of Steel to his timeless, essential elements"". The All Star imprint attempts to retell some of the history of DC's iconic characters, but outside of the strict DC universe continuity."
50. All Star Superman, launched in 2005, is an ongoing series under DC's All Star imprint, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. DC claims that this series will ""strip down the Man of Steel to his timeless, essential elements"". The All Star imprint attempts to retell some of the history of DC's iconic characters, but outside of the strict DC universe continuity."
51. During a multimedia career spanning over sixty years, Superman has starred in nearly every imaginable situation, and his powers have increased to the point that he is nearly omnipotent. This poses a challenge for writers: ""How does one write about a character who is nearly as powerful as God?"" (Superman's Kryptonian name, ""Kal-El,"" resembles the Hebrew words for ""voice of God"") This problem contributed to a decline in Superman's popularity during the latter half of the 1960s and the 1970s, a period during which Marvel Comics brought a new level of character development to mainstream comic books. By the early 1980s, DC Comics had decided that a major change was needed to make Superman more appealing to current audiences. Writer-artist John Byrne was asked to revamp and revise Superman's continuity with his The Man of Steel retelling of his origin. This 1986 reboot brought substantial changes to the character and met huge success at the time, becoming one of the top-selling books. The relaunch of Superman comic books returned the character to the mainstream, again in the forefront of DC's titles, though Superman's sales soon declined again after Byrne left the Superman titles after almost two years, with only sporadic sales spikes since then (such as during the ""Death of Superman"" storyline)."
52. The first Superman character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster was not a hero, but a villain. Their short story ""The Reign of the Superman"" concerned a bald-headed villain bent on dominating the world. The story did not sell, forcing the two to reposition their character on the right side of the law. In 1935, their Superman story was again rejected by newspaper syndicates wanting to avoid lawsuits, who recognized the character as being similar to a lead character from Philip Wylie's 1930 novel. DC decided to take a chance with Superman, figuring if any lawsuits were filed, they would just drop the feature.
    
    The revised Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1, June 1938. Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the company for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material. The Saturday Evening Post reported in 1941 that the pair was being paid still a fraction of DC's Superman profits. In 1946, when Siegel and Shuster sued for more money, DC fired them, prompting a legal battle that ended in 1948, when they signed away any further claim to Superman or any character created from him. DC soon took their names off the byline. Following the huge financial success of Superman: The Movie in 1978 and news reports of their pauper-like existences, Warner Communications gave Siegel and Shuster lifetime pensions of $35,000 per year and health care benefits. In addition, any media production which includes the Superman character must include the credit, ""Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster""."
53. Superman possesses extraordinary powers which render him, as stated in the lead-in to the 1950s television series, ""faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound"". Superman's famous arsenal of powers include flight, super strength and invulnerability, super speed, vision powers (including x-ray, heat, telescopic, infra-red, and microscopic vision), super photographic memory, and super hearing. There are no known limits to Superman's strength, though his sense of modesty and fairness may serve as a mental block to ever knowing the true limits of his abilities. His powers were relatively limited in the early stories, but grew to become godlike by the 1980s. After Byrne's 1986 rewrite, Superman's powers were diminished, though have grown again since then, possessing enough strength to hurl mountains and stop entire planets in their orbits. One thing that has remained largely unchanged, however, is that Superman's powers come from exposure to the earth's yellow sun. It should also be noted that in some early stories, it was stated that Superman's powers are things that all Kryptonians can do."
54. Originally, Superman's personality could be rough and destructive. Although nowhere near as cold-blooded as the early Batman, the early Superman did not have a ""no-kill"" policy and evildoers would occasionally meet fatal ends when dealing with the hero.
    
    By the end of the 1940s, the writers had moved toward Superman's better known ""Boy Scout"" persona. In fact, so far did the writers move from the grim and gritty original version, that he tended to be naive, even about his deadliest enemies. Even so, Superman's capacity for anger is a key element to many of the most dramatic moments in his appearances. That allows readers to see that Superman's goodness is inherent to his being, as he was imbued from a young age with a strong sense of purpose, morality, selflessness, incorruptability, modesty, fairness, compassion, and hope by his adopted parents the Kents. Superman was rasied to believe that his abilities are gifts, and are not to be abused. In many ways, he is the perfect American hero, as he embodies all the best traits that people would believe to see in themselves.
    
    Recent writers have attempted to deepen Superman's persona and provide a rationale for his goodness. Far from a perfect individual, Superman is often pictured with a sense of unbounded idealism mixed with restraint provided by his sense of fairness and compassion for others. He is also a man with an incredible depth of feeling, often struggling with the differences between the right answer and the practical one. In many ways, Superman is truly one of the most ""human"" heroes conceived, since he responds to emotional grief in stark contrast to the way he shrugs off bullets, bombs, and death-rays. On several recent occasions, Batman has faced Superman, serving as a foil to Superman's goodness; Batman, in his more recent incarnations, won't hesitate to use guile or underhanded tactics to gain an advantage, while Superman will be hesitant to use his natural gifts as an unfair edge. The tension between the modern Batman (morally hazy, paranoid loner, always pushing the limits) and the modern Superman (sometimes naively optimisitic, respectful of the law and wary of abusing his power) has become one of the defining relationships of the current DC Universe."