Legion Of Super Hero (part 1)

Although these pages have Superman as the main character, it would not be just not to mention The Legion of Super-Heroes collection, as its fame, its editorial success and the most important, the great number of followers that this collection has, made indispensable to speak about it. That is why we will explain here its editorial origin, the different ages that has have, its writers, artists, the influence of its fans and zines, in the permanence of this serie, its influence on the two collections dedicated to them, SUPERBOY and ADVENTURE COMICS, and so on. What we are not going to do is to give explanations about every legionnaire as it is something that is explained in numerous issues.

Speaking about THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES is speaking about ADVENTURE COMICS if we consider this collection since 1958, as it was born in 1935 with the name NEW COMICS changing to NEW ADVENTURE COMICS in 1937 in issue number 12, and to ADVENTURE COMICS in 1938, issue number 31. Nevertheless, it would not be until 1945, number 103 when Superboy appeared in this magazine. You can see it here: A DATE WITH DC.

We are speaking about Superboy because THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES was born into the Superman family issues, called The Adventures of Superman when he was a boy.

Although Superman was born in 1938, it went by some years until the adventures of his youth were told. It was in 1944 when the first story about an adolescent Superman appeared in MORE FUN COMICS NO. 101 dated on the cover January-February 1945 and he appeared on the cover for the first time in MORE FUN COMICS NO.104, July-August 1945 as you can see on the left.

The Superman adventures when he was a boy due its existance to Murray Boltinoff and Mort Weissinger as editors, but was Murray who put the rules in order that Superboy had its own magazine.

In the first Superboy stories, he appeared as a child. It Was Murray who made Superboy grow little by little and gaining powers, although the Superboy career will end in his meeting with the Legion of Super-Heroes.

The first Superboy story in MORE FUN COMICS NO.101 was drawn by Joe Shuster and it had the cartoon style with only 5 pages of adventure.

Afterwards, in NO.107, Superboy changed to AVENTURE COMICS NO.103 in May 1946. Later, in May-April 1949 Superboy got his own magazine. SUPERBOY NO.1 cover was drawn by Wayne Boring appearing an adult Superman and inside, in the first story entitled "The Man Who could See Tomorrow", to show that they are adventures of Superman when he was a boy, the story begins with an adult Man of Steel remembering the Smallville years. All the inside adventures were drawn by John Sikela, a friend and collaborator of Joe Shuster.

The Superboy adventures ran parallel in ADVENTURE COMICS and SUPERBOY since 1949, appearing one Superboy adventure in every ADVENTURE COMICS issue and three in the SUPERBOY magazines.

But in april 1958, Mort Weisinger, who was editor of the DC Comics tittles (then National Periodical Publications), with writer Otto Binder, created a group of Super-Heroes from the future who denominated LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, introducting them in the Superboy story of ADVENTURE COMICS NO.247 in April 1958. With that simple fact of creating a group for a Superboy script, they did not imagine then that that was going to implicate the creation of one of the most successfull collection with the most cuantity of followers in Comics History.

The LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES has been made with the collaboration of many writers, artists and editors with the pass of the years, so we can divide the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES history in several parts, countig the years and the magazines that published their adventures and we can see that this obey to different internal changes in the own Editorial and also with the influence of the readers who wrote to them and even with zines from most of the fans.

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1. THE BEGINING (1958-1962)

The Superboy adventure in ADVENTURE COMICS NO.247 (April 1958), entitled "The Legion of Super-Heroes", introducted three founding members: Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl y Lightning Lad (Lightning Boy in that first story) that, from the Earth of the XXX Century, visit Superboy in order to join with them. In his travel to the future, Superboy see his native city as a futurist town, but his parent's house is conserved as a relic from the past. When Superboy pass the texts put by the Legionnaires he is acepted as a Member. This first Legion story was drawn by artist Al Plastino.

As nobody hoped the success of this story it was not until 1968 in SUPERBOY NO.147, from the collection 80 PG GIANT, when it was explained the origin of the Legion in the first story of the issue entitled "The Origin of the Legion" drawn by Pete Constanza, where the three founder members save the life of R.J. Brande one of the richest men in the Universe who has the idea of their union to fight Evil.

The nowadys price of an ADVENTURE COMICS NO.247 (April 1958 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye) in NM condition is $6,300.00 in contrast with numbers 246 or 248 that is around &250,00. This issue enter Spain and other Latinamerican countries through the Mexican "Editorial Novaro" in its SUPERMAN NO.197 in July 1959 and the names of the legionnaires was "Cósmico", "Saturnia" and "Ray".

The Second appearance of the Legion was in ADVENTURE COMICS NO.267 (December 1959 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye) in a story writen by Jerry Siegel, who wrote most of the twenty first Legion adventures, with their covers always drawn by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye at the begining, George Klein afterwards and Sheldom Moldoff sometimes. The story is entitled "Prisoner of the Superheroes" drwan by George Papp who is in that age the regular artist for Superboy in the two mentioned magazines. In the adventure, Superboy is seen from the Legionnaires on a giant telescopic screen, making mistakes, so the Legion travel to the past to inprison Superboy and avoid its evil facts. But at the end they discover that they had misunderstood what they had seen on the screen. The main Legionnaires are the same as in the first adventure.

The Third appearance is in ACTION COMICS NO.267 (December 1959 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye), on the second story of the issue entitled "The Three Super-Heroes" by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Jim Mooney, the regular artist for Supergirl. In it, the Legionnaires came to see if Supergirl can become a legionnaire too, but she fails the texts and has to wait for another oportunity. In this issue appear for the first time Chamaleon boy, Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy.

The Fourth appearance is SUPERBOY NO.86, (January 1961 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye), (NOVARO 312). "The Army of Living Kryptonite Men" by Jerry Siegel & George Papp. The Legion appears on the third story of the issue whose main character is Lex Luthor when he was a boy, who invents a device to destroy Superboy but he is saved at the end by the Legion who see trhough a screen what is happening and they send Lightning Lad to save him. The name of the legionnaire is Garth Ranzz, that NOVARO translated as Luis Landa, following the tradition of the double 'L' in the names of the persons related with Superman. In the last picture Luthor says": 'If there are Super-Herores in the future, there will also be Super-Villains' meaning in that way the seventh appearance of the Legion as adult members. The guest star legionnaires are the three founder members.

The Fifth appearance is in ADVENTURE COMICS NO.282, (May 1961 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye), (NOVARO 336). In the story entitled "Lana Lang and the Legión of Super-Heroes" writen by Otto Binder and drawn by George Papp, the main character is Star Boy, translated in NOVARO as 'El Joven Estrella' that is used by Lana Lang (Lina Luna in Novaro) to make jealous Superboy but at the end is Superboy with Star Boy's girl-friend who make jealous Lana.

The Sixth appearance is in another Supergirl story in the second adventure of ACTION COMICS NO.276, (May 1961 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye), "Supergirl's three Super Girl-Friends" by Jerry Siegel & Jim Mooney. This time, Supergirl is texted again to join the Legion of Super-Heroes and is accepted with a new legionnaire named Brainiac 5 who appears in this issue as well as Triplicate Girl (afterwards Duo Damsel), Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy as candidate, Bouncing Boy and Phantom Girl.

There is a comic, SUPERBOY NO.89 (June 1961) in which appeared Mon-El. In this moment he is not a Legionnaire, but he will be one of them in the future and that is why we include him here. The story is entitled "Superman's Big Brother" (First Part) and "The Secret of Mon-El" (Second Part) by Robert Bernstein (writer) and George Papp (artist). At the begining Superboy thinks that Mon-El is his big brother from Krypton but afterwards, when Mon-El recovers his memory, Superboy knows that Mon-El is from the planet Daxam and having been exposed to lead, the letal substance to Daxamites, he send it to the Phantom Zone in the XXX Century where Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 will cure of his lead poisoning.

The Seventh appearance is in SUPERMAN NO.147, (August 1961 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye), in the third story of the issue entitled "The Legion of Super-Villains" writen by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Curt Swan & Sheldom Moldoff. In it, we see Lex Luthor travelling to the future looking for the Legion help in order to destroy Superman. At the end all go to the prison, Luthor as well as the Super-Villains who fight to the Adult Legion of Super-Heroes named Cosmic Man, Saturn Woman and Lightning Man. The Legion of Super-Villains will appear again in more issues as ACTION COMICS 282, 286 and so on.

The Eighth appearance of the Legion is in ADVENTURE COMICS NO.290, (November 1961 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye), "The Secret of the Seventh Super-Heroe" by George Papp in wich appear an impostor of Sun Boy. In this adventure, the real Sun Boy joins the Legion and appear the three founder members as well as Phantom Girl, Brainiac 5 and Chamaleon Boy.

The Ninth appearance is in SUPERMAN NO.149, (November 1961 cover by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye), (NOVARO 369). "The Death of Superman" by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye in a three part imaginary story in wich Luthor makes believe Superman that is changed becoming a good man, he is aclaming as a hero but at the end gets the death of Superman. The death body is visited and cryed by all of his friends in the Universe as well as the three founder members of the Legion of Super-Heroes who only appear in one picture in the third part of the adventure.

The issue cataloged as the Tenth appearance of the Legion is SUPERBOY NO.93, (December 1961 cover by George Papp). "Lana Lang's Superboy Identity Detection Kit" by Curt Swan & George Klein in which, as usually, Lana Lang suspects Clark Kent to be Superboy but she does not discover his identity because Chamaleon Boy impersonates Clark Kent confusing Lana Lang.

The Eleventh appearance is in GIANT SUPERMAN ANNUAL NO.4. In this issue the named of the Legionnaires is revealed. Cosmic Boy is named Rokk Krinn; Saturn Girl is named Imra Ardeen, Lightning Lad is Garth Ranzz, Triplicate Gril is Luornu Durgo, Phantom Girl is Tinya Wazzo, Invisible Kid is Lyle Norg, Colossal Boy is Gim Allon, Brainiac 5 is Querl Dox and Shrinking Violet is named Salu Digby.

The comic book considered as the Twelfth appearance of the Legion is ACTION COMICS 285, (February 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), "The World's Greates Heroine" Part I and "The Infinite Monster" Part II by Curt Swan & George Klein. Brainiac 5 is the legionnaire who appears but this issue is more valued than others not by the appearance of the Legion but for be when Superman reveals to the world the existance of his cousin Supergirl.

The 13th appearance is in ADVENTURE COMICS NO.293, (February 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), "The Legion of Super-Traitors" writen by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Curt Swan & George Klein. In this adventure appears for the first time the Legion of Super-Pets. Some aliens want to bring the Earth to their own solar system and for that they try to reduce mentally Superboy, but as they cannot with him, they do it with the Super-Heroes. But what they cannot do is to give mental orders to the animals and that is why appears the Legion of Super-Pets: Krypto, Streaky, Beppo and Comet who spoil the Alien's plans. The guest star legionnaires are the founder members.

ACTION COMICS NO.287, (April 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), is considered the 14th appearance of the Legion in the second story of the issue entitled "Supergirl's Greatest Challenge" by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. In it, appear the three founder members as well as Triplicate Girl, Chamaleon Boy, Brainiac 5, Sun Boy and Bouncing Boy that are substituted by chamaleon beings who imitate them since Supergirl discovers the facts and save them.

SUPERMAN NO.152, (April 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), is the issue in which the Legion appears for the 15th time. The story has the same tittle as the one from the cover "The Robot Master" by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan & George Klein. Superman discovers that his friends are robots and, with the help of Supergirl, they bring them to his Fortress of Solitude in order tu study them. They discover there that all is a joke from the Legion of Super-Heroes to celebrate the anniversary of Supergirl arriving to Earth. There is a surprise inside every robot. The guest star legionnaires are the three founder members as well as Chamaleon boy, Brainiac 5 and Sun Boy.

The 16th appearance is in ACTION COMICS NO.289, (June 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), "Superman's Super Courtship" by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. The plot is the trying of Supergirl to encounter a woman who married Superman. After trying with the adult legionnaire women, she find them all yet married. But then she encounters a woman with super-powers in a distant planet that is almost like her when adult. Her name is Luma Lynai and both Superman and Luma fall in love together, but Luma cannot live on Earth because of its atmosphere so they must separate and Supergirl learns not to interfere in his cousin's life.

ACTION COMICS NO.290, (July 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), is the 17th appearance of the Legion in the person of Phantom Girl who gives Linda Lee a Supergirl statue that without knowing it gets Red Kryptonite inside. After passing the effects on Supergirl, she covers the statue with lead powder in order to keep it as a gift and this way it cannot affect Superman or Krypto. The story is entitled "Supergirl's Super Boy-Friends" by Jim Mooney.

SUEPRMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN NO.62, (July 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), is cataloged as th 18th appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes. In the first story of the issue entitled "Superman's Phantom Pal" it only appears Jimmy Olsen as Elastic Lad finding Mon-El into the Phantom Zone, so he has not joined the Legion yet. In this adventure by Curt Swan & George Klein, Jimmy has the opotunity of discovering Superman's secret identity from the Phantom Zone but at the last moment he close his eyes respecting the confidence Superman has put on him.

The 19th appearance in in SUPERBOY NO.98, (July 1962 cover by Curt Swan & George Klein), (NOVARO 387). "The Boy with Ultra-Powers" by Jerry Siegel and Curt Swan & George Klein is the second story of the issue and tell us the entering of Ultra Boy in the Legion. The text is discover Superboy's secret identity. In this adventure Pete Ross (Pedro Ruiz en NOVARO) gets his honorary member title.

And the 20th appearance is in SUPERMAN NO.155, (August 1962 cover by Curt Swan & Sheldom Moldoff), "The Downfull of Superman" by Curt Swan & George Klein and where appear Cosmic Man and Lightning Man disguised as Hercules and Sanson respectively.

We have been speaking about the begining until here, the birth of the magazines that published the adventures of Superman where he was a boy following with the birth of the Legion of Super-Heroes, their begenings and how they were entering in all Superboy publications, increasing litle by litle the number of Legionnaires.

X-Men

Between 1977 and 1981 writer Chris Claremont and writer/artist John Byrne transformed The X-Men from a second-tier title to the top-selling comic book on the market. As the lineup of the X-Men continued to evolve, the story lines became increasingly intricate and absorbing. There was something about the series for most fans to enjoy. The interplay among the distinctive characters was exceptionally well-developed and believable by comic-book standards. Wolverine's ethos of righteous morality backed up by violence made him one of the most popular superheroes of the Reagan/Rambo era. Strong and complex female characters like Storm, Phoenix, and Rogue helped to make the X-Men one of the few superhero titles to win a significant following among teenage girls.

The X-Men's fantastic commercial success predictably spawned a host of comic-book crossovers, spin-offs, and rip-offs. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, they multiplied. There were titles devoted to adult mutants (Excalibur, X-Factor), adolescent mutants (The New Mutants, Generation-X), and even pre-pubescent mutants (Power Pack). The concept of the 1980s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originated in part as a satire of the X-Men's overexposure (before graduating itself to overexposure). The first issue of a new X-Men title launched in 1991 set an industry record by selling more than eight million copies. An array of licensed products highlighted by the Fox network's successful X-Men animated series broadened the X-Men's market even further. The consequences of this "X-treme" mutant proliferation became a matter of some controversy among comic-book fans. While many fans welcomed the varieties of X-Men spinoffs and crossovers, others criticized them for being poorly conceived and confusing, and some fan critics charged Marvel with exploiting brand loyalty at the expense of good storytelling. To a large extent, the overexposure of the X-Men epitomized the problem of a saturated and shrinking market that plagued the comic-book industry as a whole in the mid-1990s.

Still, the X-Men remain at or near the top of the best-selling comic-book titles. Among the more fully realized comic-book expressions of modern adolescent fantasies, Marvel's team of misunderstood mutants fully deserve their status as the preferred superheroes of Generation X.

Green Lantern

Green Lantern is the name of several fictional superheroes in the DC Comics universe. The first (Alan Scott) was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940). The best-known is Hal Jordan, created by John Broome and Gil Kane in Showcase #22 (Oct. 1959).

Each Green Lantern possesses a "power ring" that gives the user great control over the physical world as long as the wielder has sufficient willpower.

While the ring of the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott) was magically powered, the rings worn by all subsequent Lanterns were technological creations of the Guardians of the Universe, who granted such rings to worthy candidates. These individuals made up the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps.

After World War II, when sales of superhero comic books generally declined, DC ceased publishing new adventures of the Alan Scott Green Lantern. At the beginning of the Silver Age of Comic Books, DC editor Julius Schwartz had writer Broome and artist Kane revive Green Lantern as a new character, test pilot Hal Jordan, who became a founding member of the Justice League of America. In the early 1970s, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams teamed Green Lantern with archer Green Arrow in groundbreaking, socially conscious, and award-winning stories that pitted the sensibilities of the law-and-order-oriented Lantern with the populist Green Arrow. Several cosmically themed series followed, as did occasional different individuals in the role of Earth's Green Lantern. Most prominent of these are John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner.

Each Green Lantern was a member of the Justice Society of America or the Justice League, and John Stewart was featured as one of the main characters in both the Justice League and the Justice League Unlimited animated series. The Green Lanterns are often depicted as being close friends of the various men who have been the Flash, the most notable friendships having been between Alan Scott and Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Green Lantern/Flash), Hal Jordan and Barry Allen (the Silver Age Green Lantern and Flash), and Kyle Rayner and Wally West (the modern age Green Lantern and Flash), as well as Jordan being friends with West.

The next Green Lantern to see publication was Harold "Hal" Jordan, a second-generation test pilot, having followed in the footsteps of his father, Martin Jordan. He was given the power ring and battery (lantern) by a dying alien named Abin Sur, whose spaceship crashed on Earth. Abin Sur used his ring to seek out an individual who was "utterly honest and born without fear" to take his place as Green Lantern. Jordan became a founding member of the Justice League of America and as of the mid-2000s is, along with John Stewart, one of the two active-duty Lanterns in Earth's sector of space.

Jordan was also a member of the Green Lantern Corps, which was modeled after the "Lensmen" from the science fiction novel series written by E.E. Smith. The early 1980s miniseries "Green Lantern Corps" honors this with two characters in the corps: Eddore of Tront and Arisia. A different interpretation of Jordan and the Corps appears in Superman: Red Son.

Following the rebirth of Superman and the destruction of his hometown of Coast City in the early 90s, Hal Jordan seemingly went insane and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps and the Central Power Battery. Now calling himself Parallax, Hal Jordan would devastate the DC Universe off and on for the next several years. However, after Earth's sun was threatened by a Sun-Eater, Jordan sacrificed his life expending the last of his vast power to reignite the dying star. Jordan subsequently returned from beyond the grave as the Spectre, the divine Spirit of God's Vengeance, whom Jordan attempted to transform into a Spirit of Redemption, which ended in failure.

In Green Lantern: Rebirth it is revealed that Jordan was under the influence of a creature known as Parallax when he turned renegade. Parallax was a creature of pure fear that had been imprisoned in the central power battery by the Guardians of the Universe in the distant past. Imprisonment had rendered the creature dormant and it was eventually forgotten, becoming known merely as the "yellow impurity" in the power rings. Sinestro was able to wake Parallax and encourage it to seek out Hal Jordan as a host. Although Parallax had been trying to corrupt Jordan (via his ring) for some time, it was not until after the destruction of Coast City that it was able to succeed. It took advantage of Jordan's weakened emotional state to lure him to Oa and cause him to attack anyone who stood in his way. When Jordan finally entered the central battery and absorbed all the power, he unwittingly freed the Parallax entity and allowed it to graft onto his soul.

The Spectre bonded with Jordan in the hopes of freeing the former Green Lantern's soul from Parallax's taint but was not strong enough to do so. In "Green Lantern Rebirth" Parallax began to assert control of the Parallax-Spectre-Jordan composite. Thanks to a supreme effort of will Jordan was able to free himself from Parallax, rejoin his soul to his body and reclaim his power ring. The newly revived (and youthened) Jordan awoke just in time to save Kyle Rayner and Green Arrow from Sinestro. After the Korugarian's defeat Jordan was able to successfully lead his fellow Green lanterns in battle against parallax and imprison it in the central battery once more.

Hal Jordan is once again a member of the Green Lantern Corps, and along with John Stewart is one of the two Corps members assigned to Sector 2814.

Spiderman

n his first appearance, Peter Parker is introduced as a science whiz kid teenager from the Forest Hills section of New York City who gets bitten by a radioactive spider during a science demonstration. He gains powers and at first attempts to become a TV star. He fails to stop a thief, and weeks later the same criminal kills his Uncle Ben. Learning that with great power comes great responsibility, Spider-Man becomes a vigilante.^[23] After his uncle's death, he and his aunt become desperate for money, so he gets a job as a photographer at the Daily Bugle selling photos to J. Jonah Jameson, who vilifies his alter ego in the paper.^[24] As he battles his enemies for the first time, Parker finds juggling his personal life and costumed adventures difficult, even attempting to give up.^[25][26] Enemies constantly endanger his loved ones,^[27] with the Green Goblin managing to kill his girlfriend Gwen Stacy.^[28] Though haunted by her death, he eventually marries Mary Jane Watson, and much later reveals his civilian identity to the world,^[29] furthering his already numerous problems.

Powers and equipment

Main article: Spider-Man's powers and equipment

Three Spider-Man costumes of "Civil War" story arc. Promotional art by Leinil Francis Yu.

A bite from an irradiated spider causes a variety of changes in Peter Parker's body, giving him superpowers. In the original Lee-Ditko stories, Spider-Man has the ability to cling to walls, superhuman strength, a sixth sense ("spider-sense") that alerts him to danger, perfect balance and equilibrium, as well as superhuman speed and agility. In story-lines published in 2005 and 2006 (such as The Other), he develops additional spider-like abilities including biological web-shooters, toxic stingers that extend from his forearms, the ability to stick individuals to his back, better control over Spider-sense for detection, and night vision. Spider-Man's strength and speed have also increased beyond his original limits.

Spider-Man's overall metabolic efficiency has been greatly increased, and the composition of his skeleton, inter-connected tissues, and nervous system have all been enhanced. Spider-Man's musculature has been augmented so that he is superhumanly strong and flexible. He has developed a unique fighting style that makes full use of his agility, strength, and equilibrium.

Peter Parker is intellectually gifted, excelling in applied science, chemistry and physics. He uses his wits in addition to his powers. Besides outsmarting his foes, he constructs many devices that complement his powers, most notably mechanical web-shooters (ejecting an advanced adhesive compound which dissolves after two hours^[30]), which he developed in his teenage years. They are capable of releasing web-fluid in a variety of configurations, including a single strand to swing from, a net, and a simple glob to foul machinery or blind an opponent. He can also weave the web material into simple forms like a shield, a spherical protection or hemi-spherical barrier, a club, or a hang-glider wing. Other equipment includes spider-tracers (spider-shaped adhesive homing beacons keyed to his own spider-sense), a light beacon which can either be used as a flashlight or project a "Spider-Signal" design, a specially modified camera that can take pictures automatically. He has also used an invention of Ben Reilly's (a clone of Peter Parker), called "impact webbing": a pellet that explodes on impact into a wrap-around net of webbing.

Though lacking in directed training, Spider-Man is one of the most experienced superheroes in the Marvel Universe. He has worked with virtually everyone in the superhero community at one time or another. Due to this experience, he has beaten foes with far greater powers and abilities. His fighting style is purely freestyle, which incorporates his speed, agility, strength and spider-sense. A very large part of his combat ability is improvisation and using his wits to out-think his opponents. One constant is his habit of using jokes, puns and insults. This not only causes his adversaries to become angry and distracted, but it also helps Spider-Man deal with any fears or doubts that he might have during a battle.

Spider-Man has had a few costume changes over his history, with three notable costumes -- his traditional red-and-blue costume, the black-and-white alien symbiote (later developed into a regular costume for stealth) and the technologically advanced Stark Armor costume designed by Tony Stark. In early comics and sporadically throughout his run depending on a given artist's interpretation, Spider-Man's costume included webbing that extended from his underarms to his torso. Although the eyes of the costume are made of fabric, in some continuities the eyes will change depending on Peter's facial expression.

Justice League of America

The Justice League, sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short, is a fictional DC Universe superhero team. In most incarnations, its roster includes DC's most popular characters. The original line-up is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter. The team has also included Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Plastic Man and dozens of others.

The team first appears in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960). Although series featuring the League occasionally have garnered low sales, the team has been fairly popular with comic book fans since inception. The Justice League concept was loosely adapted into the Super Friends animated series (1972-1985) and more directly into the series Justice League (2001-2004) and Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006).

Throughout the years, the team, or segments of it, are called Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Task Force, and Justice League Elite.

Having successfully re-introduced a number of their Golden Age superhero characters (Flash, Green Lantern, etc.) during the late 1950s, DC Comics asked writer Gardner Fox to re-introduce the Justice Society of America. Fox, influenced by the popularity of the National Football League and Major League Baseball, decided to change the name of the team from Justice Society to Justice League.^[1] The Justice League of America debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), and quickly became one of the company's best-selling titles. Fox wrote virtually all of the League's adventures during the 1960s, and artist Mike Sekowsky pencilled the first five years.

As with the Justice Society, the concept of the Justice League was simple: to include all of DC's most popular characters in one book (hence the original lineup included Superman, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman). JLA's early success was indirectly responsible for the creation of the Fantastic Four, and by extension the entire Marvel universe. In his autobiography Stan Lee relates how, during a round of golf, DC publisher Jack Liebowitz mentioned to Marvel-Timely owner Martin Goodman how well DC's new book (Justice League) was selling. Later that day Goodman told Lee to come up with a team of superheroes for Marvel; Lee and Jack Kirby produced the Fantastic Four.^[2]

The Justice League operated from a secret cave outside of the small town of Happy Harbor. Teenager Snapper Carr tagged along on missions, and was both the team's mascot and an official member. Snapper, noted for speaking in beatnik dialect and snapping his fingers, helped the League to defeat giant space starfish Starro the Conqueror in the team's first appearance. In Justice League of America #77 (December 1969), Snapper was tricked into betraying the cave headquarters' secret location to the Joker, resulting in his resignation from the team.

[edit] Satellite years

Main article: Justice League Satellite

In need of a new secure headquarters, the Justice League moved into an orbiting "satellite" headquarters in Justice League of America #78 (February 1970). Through this period, the membership was limited to the seven founders along with Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Phantom Stranger, Elongated Man, and Red Tornado. The League's twelve-member limit (sometimes explained as a "no duplication of powers" policy) was conceded (in Justice League of America #161) to have been simply a charter provision about numbers, once the League had formally removed the limitation and admitted Hawkwoman and hoped to admit more members. (Indeed, through this period, several League members challenged and joked about the notion that they shared skills and talents, for example, with speed races between Superman and Flash, and Hawkman's use of archery in combat.) The policy change allowed Zatanna and Firestorm to be admitted as well.

Those involved in producing the Justice League of America comic during the 1970s include writers Gerry Conway, Cary Bates, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Steve Englehart, while Dick Dillin primarily handled the art chores. Justice League of America had a brief spike in popularity in 1982 when artist George Pérez stepped in following Dillin's death, but the commercial success was short-lived.

[edit] Detroit

The Detroit based team. Cover to Justice League of America #238 by Paris Cullins.

In 1984, in an attempt to emulate the success of DC's most successful comic at that time, The New Teen Titans, DC editorial had most of the regular members replaced by newer, younger characters. DC also moved the team from its satellite headquarters into a base in Detroit, Michigan. This move was highly unpopular with readers, who dubbed this period of time the "Justice League Detroit" era. The major criticism was that this Justice League was filled with second-rate heroes. Created by Conway and artist Chuck Patton, the team is initially led by Aquaman and features Justice League veterans Zatanna, the Martian Manhunter and the Elongated Man, but the majority of the stories focus on newly recruited heroes Vixen, Gypsy, Steel and Vibe. Zatanna, Aquaman and the Elongated Man soon left the series, leaving behind minor characters. Even the return of Batman to the team in Justice League of America # 250 couldn't halt the decline of the series.^[3] The final issue of the original Justice League of America series, issue #261 by Writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Luke McDonnell, culminated with long-time Justice League enemy Professor Ivo's murders of Vibe and Steel at the onset of DC's Legends miniseries.

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a fictional DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. Two strong women, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne, a mutual lover^[1], served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced her creation.^[2] Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941). She is among the first — and most famous — comic book superheroines, and is a founding member of the Justice League.

In addition to comic books, the character was featured in the popular 1975 to 1979 television adaptation starring Lynda Carter, as well as the Super Friends and Justice League animated series. A 2009 motion picture adaptation has been announced.

Princess Diana is an Amazon from Greek mythology. Her name, "Diana" is reflective of the mythological character, "Diana" or Artemis. Her mother is Queen Hippolyta, or Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons. When Diana leaves the Amazons to travel to the world outside, she is known as both "Wonder Woman," and as "Diana Prince." As Wonder Woman, she was awarded several gifts by the Olympian gods, including the Lasso of Truth (created from the Golden Girdle of Gaea) and indestructible bracelets/gauntlets (formed from the shield Aegis). For several years she was described in the splash page of each story, as "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Mercury, and stronger than Hercules."

Superman

Superman is a fictional character and regarded as the most influential and popular superhero of DC Comics. Created by Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster and American writer Jerry Siegel in 1932 and sold to Detective Comics, Inc. in 1938, Superman first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, newspaper strips, and video games. With a premise that taps into adolescent fantasy, Superman is born Kal-El on the alien planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father moments before the planet's destruction. Adopted and raised by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent, and imbued with a strong moral compass. Upon reaching maturity the character develops superhuman abilities, resolving to use these for the benefit of humanity. With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book.^[1] Superman is widely considered to be both one of the most famous and popular comic book superheroes of all time,^[2] and an American cultural icon.^[1][3][4][5]

While referred to less flatteringly as "the big blue Boy Scout" by some of his fellow superheroes,^[6] Superman is hailed as "The Man of Steel," "The Man of Tomorrow," and "The Last Son of Krypton," by the general public within the comics. As Clark Kent, Superman lives among humans as a "mild-mannered reporter" for the Metropolis newspaper The Daily Planet (the Daily Star in original stories). Here he works alongside reporter Lois Lane, with whom he is romantically linked. This relationship has been consummated by marriage on numerous occasions across varying media, and the union is now firmly established within the current mainstream comics continuity.

The character's cast, powers, and trappings have slowly expanded throughout the years. Superman's backstory was altered to allow for adventures as Superboy, and other survivors of Krypton were discovered, including Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. In addition, Superman has been licensed and adapted into a variety of media, from radio to television and film. The motion picture Superman Returns was released in 2006, with a performance at the international box office which exceeded expectations.^[7] The character has been revamped and updated, most recently in 1986. John Byrne recreated the character, reducing Superman's powers and erasing several characters from the canon in a move which attracted media attention. Press coverage was again garnered in the 1990s with The Death of Superman, a storyline which saw the character briefly killed.

Superman has also held fascination for scholars, with cultural theorists, commentators, and critics alike exploring the character's impact and role in America and the wider world. Umberto Eco discussed the mythic qualities of the character in the early 1960s, and Larry Niven has pondered the implications of a sexual relationship the character might enjoy with Lois Lane.^[8] The character's ownership has often been the subject of dispute, with Siegel and Shuster twice suing for the return of legal ownership. The copyright is again currently in dispute, with changes in copyright law allowing Siegel's wife and daughter to claim a share of the copyright, a move DC parent company Warner Bros. disputes.