Crimson Bolt

After his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer, an everyday guy transforms himself into Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills.

First off, the Crimson Bolt's weapon of choice is a pipe wrench. It seems goofy and kind of silly at first, but then he's actually bashing people over the head with a pipe wrench until they're bleeding and/or unconscious. Eventually, sweet lovable frank becomes a morally ambiguous hero, especially after he decides to teach the guy who butted in line at the movie theater a thing or two. This certainly makes "Super" a more complicated film, but it also creates a definite discomfort. Enter Ellen Page as the over-zealous comic book shop girl who inserts herself into the equation as Frank's kid sidekick Boltie. She not only attempts to seduce Frank, but she has an even more unrealistic notion of the violence she seeks to create. Together, they serve as a catalyst for the black comedy elements and the campy gore.

Captain America

Captain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Joe Johnston, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and stars Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, and Stanley Tucci. The film tells the story of Steve Rogers, a sickly man from Brooklyn who is transformed into super soldier Captain America to help the war effort. Captain America must also stop Red Skull, Adolf Hitler's ruthless head of weaponry and leader of a terrorist organization, who intends to use a mysterious tesseract energy-source for world domination.

In the present day, scientists in the Arctic uncover a circular object with a red, white and blue motif. In March 1942, Nazi officer Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) and his men invade Tønsberg, Norway, to steal a mysterious tesseract possessing untold powers. In New York City, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is rejected for World War II military duty due to various health and physical issues. While attending an exhibition of future technologies with his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Rogers again attempts to enlist. Having overheard Rogers' conversation with Barnes about wanting to help in the war, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) allows Rogers to enlist. Rogers is recruited as part of a "super-soldier" experiment under Erskine, Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Phillips is unconvinced of Erskine's claims that Rogers is the right person for the procedure but relents after seeing Rogers commit an act of self-sacrificing bravery. The night before the treatment, Erskine reveals to Rogers that Schmidt underwent an imperfect version of the treatment, and suffered side-effects.

In Europe, Schmidt and Dr. Arnim Zola (Toby Jones) successfully harness the energies of the tesseract, intending to use the power to fuel Zola's inventions. Schmidt, having discovered Erskine's location, dispatches an assassin to kill him. In America, Erskine subjects Rogers to the super-soldier treatment, injecting him with a special serum and dosing him with "vita-rays". After Rogers emerges from the experiment taller and muscular, one of the attendees kills Erskine, revealing himself as Schmidt's assassin Heinz Kruger (Richard Armitage). Rogers pursues and captures Kruger but the assassin commits suicide via cyanide capsule before he can be interrogated.

With Erskine's death the super-soldier formula is lost. U.S. Senator Brandt (Michael Brandon) has Rogers tour the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America" to promote war bonds rather than be confined to a lab while scientists attempt to rediscover Erskine's formula. In Italy 1943, while touring to active servicemen, Rogers learns that Barnes' unit was lost in battle against Schmidt's forces. Refusing to believe Barnes is dead, Rogers mounts a solo rescue attempt with Carter and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) flying him behind enemy lines. Rogers infiltrates the fortress belonging to Schmidt's HYDRA organization, freeing Barnes and the other captured soldiers. Rogers confronts Schmidt who reveals his face to be a mask, removing it to display the red-colored, skull-like face that earned him the sobriquet the Red Skull. Schmidt escapes and Rogers returns to base with the freed soldiers.

Rogers recruits Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough), Gabe Jones (Derek Luke), Jim Morita (Kenneth Choi), James Montgomery Falsworth (J. J. Feild), and Jacques Dernier (Bruno Ricci) to attack the other known bases belonging to Hydra. Stark provides Rogers with a new outfit and a new, circular shield made of vibranium, which negates large amounts of damage by absorbing vibrations. Rogers and his team attack and destroy all of the known bases. The team later attacks a train carrying Zola. During the assault Zola is captured but Barnes falls from the train and is lost. Using information gathered from Zola, Rogers leads an attack on Schmidt's final base to stop him from using WMDs against American cities. Rogers clambers aboard Schmidt's jet before it takes off, and during the fight with Schmidt, Rogers damages the tesseract's container. Schmidt physically handles the tesseract, causing him to dissolve in a bright light. The tesseract falls to the floor of the plane, melting through the surface and falling to Earth.

Seeing no way to safely land the plane without risking its weapons detonating, Rogers crashes it in the Arctic. Stark later recovers the tesseract from the floor of the ocean but the aircraft and Rogers remain undiscovered. Rogers awakens in a hospital room. Deducing that something is wrong, he flees outside into what is revealed to be present-day Times Square. There Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) informs him he has been "asleep" for nearly 70 years.

New Warriors

The Warriors were founded by wealthy young adventurer Dwayne Taylor, who devoted his life to fighting crime after the murder of his parents. Mentored by his legal guardians-retired mercenary Andrew Chord and enigmatic housekeeper Tai. Dwayne fought crime as Night Thrasher, forging a vigilante partnership with the superhuman brother-and-sister duo Midnight's Fire and Silhouette, and romancing the latter; however, their alliance ended badly when Silhouette was shot by a gangster. Blaming Thrasher for the tragedy, Fire disappeared with his fallen sister, swearing vengeance.

Current Members:
Gauntlet, Justice (Vance Astrovik), Komodo (Melati) Night Thrasher (Donyell Taylor), Rage, Scarlet Spider (Patrick), Slapstick, Tigra, Ultragirl

Former Members
Aegis (Trey Rollins), Blackwing (Barnell Bohusk), Bolt (Chris Bradley), Dagger, Darkhawk, Debrii, Decibel (Jono Starsmore), Firestar, Helix, Hindsight, Longstrike, Microbe, Namorita, Night Thrasher (Dwayne Taylor), Nova (Richard Rider), Phaser, Powerhouse/Powerpax, Renascence, Ripcord, Scarlet Spider, Scarlet Spider (Michael), Silhouette, Skybolt, Speedball (Robert Baldwin), Speedball (Darrion Grobe), Tempest (Angel Salvadore), Timeslip, Turbo (Michiko Musashi), Turbo (Mike Jeffries), Wondra

Other Members (Honorary, Reserve, etc.)
Andrew Chord

Secret Warriors

While in hiding after the Secret War, Nick Fury uncovers evidence of the Secret Invasion. Because the active heroes he knows may be compromised, he gathers a new team of "caterpillars", young, untested superhumans, whose existence is known to Fury alone. One of these young superhumans sought after was Layla Miller, but she refused politely, stating that they would only succeed without her. When the Skrulls invade New York, Nick Fury and his team of Secret Warriors arrive and rescue the defeated Young Avengers and Initiative members before withdrawing from the battle.[8] The Warriors help the other heroes defeat the Skrulls, before teleporting to an unknown location.[9]

After the invasion, Fury infiltrates a covert Chicago base and downloads information about the previous and current command structures of S.H.I.E.L.D. A few weeks later, he confronts the new U.S. president about the deactivation of S.H.I.E.L.D., and gives him the location of two of the organization's covert bases. Fury's team tries to shut down a covert base in Texas, but HYDRA appears and attacks the team. As the team attempts to evacuate, H.A.M.M.E.R. agents surround the area (accompanied by the Sentry), but the Warriors escape. Fury confronts the team on their failures, but reveals to Daisy that HYDRA was on a recovery mission at the Texas base, and that S.H.I.E.L.D. is a branch of HYDRA, while various agencies of the United States Government, including the NSA, Department of Treasury, and FBI Science and Technology Branch, as well as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate and Foreign Intelligence Service are all under HYDRA control.[10]

On a solo mission soon after, Fury teams with Norman Osborn to interrogate a lower-level HAMMER agent. The conversation (and materials obtained afterwards) reveal there may be an organization much like HYDRA, installed in the upper levels of world governments, called "Leviathan." This organization appears to have been founded by the Soviet government for reasons as yet unclear.

The Secret Warriors also assist the New Avengers when the Hood's gang was assaulting them

Roster

Nick Fury
Founder and leader of the Secret Warriors
Quake
Daisy Johnson, the daughter of Mister Hyde. She possesses the power to create earthquake-like vibrations.
Phobos
Son of Ares. He possesses the power to instill fear in others as well as limited pre-cognition. Being a member of the Olympian race, but born of a mortal woman also gives him the potential for far greater "god-like" powers not unlike his uncle Hercules, but require his "mortal" body die first.
The Druid
Sebastian Druid, the son of Doctor Druid who has inherited some of his father's skill with magic. However, he is soon seen as a liability and Fury cuts him loose.[12]
Slingshot
Yo-yo Rodriguez, the daughter of the Griffin. She can run at superhuman speed and bounces back to the point where she began running. She was recently injured severely, with both of her arms severed by the Gorgon, and was temporarily unable to remain active with the team. However, both arms have now been replaced with prosthetics and she has returned to active duty.
Hellfire
J.T. James, the grandson of the Phantom Rider, is able to charge items (notably a chain) with fire and unleash a devastating attack. During New Avengers, J.T. is shown as one of the possible replacements for the title of Sorcerer Supreme, showing great magical potential. In issue 16, Hellfire is discovered to be a double agent with Hydra, directly with Baron von Strucker.
Stonewall
Jerry Sledge, who has been bailed out of jail by Daisy Johnson, where he was being held for hitting a police officer. He possesses superhuman strength and an ability to increase his size, while his skin appears to take an appearance resembling stone. In issue 9, he demonstrated the ability to change the composition of his skin, by turning it into metal after getting Ares' axe swung into his chest. Very little has so far been revealed about the character, but Bendis has revealed that his father is a "major Marvel icon". In issue 12, it is revealed upon his visit to a prison that his father is Carl "Crusher" Creel, The Absorbing Man.[13] He tries to tell Reed Richards his real name at one point, but is cut off after saying "Henry".[14]
Eden Fesi
A reality warping young man previously under the care and training of the mutant Gateway.[15] Nick Fury initially attempted to recruit him to another unknown team, but Gateway refused.

Squadron Supreme

The following history applies only to the Squadron Supreme of the mainstream Marvel Universe. The team from the Supreme Power series exists in the Marvel "Ultimate" universe.
The Original Squadron Supreme

Years ago, Marvel shamelessly unveiled their very own JLofA rip-off group: the Squadron Sinister. These four villains were foes of the Avengers. Later, they took it one step further and created the Earth-S of the Marvel Universe, where lived the good Squadron Supreme. The group grew in number over the years, appearing in various issues of Avengers and Defenders before finally getting their own groundbreaking 12-issue mini-series in the 1980s (now available in trade paperback). Eleven new members joined during the mini-series. Unlike the core Squadron, these were original characters.

Recently, the JLA's popularity sparked a "reboot" of the Squadron Supreme. The book, called Supreme Power, starred Hyperion and was published under Marvel's "Max" imprint. These new stories definitely do not take place in the main Marvel Universe, nor do they have any connection to the former Squadron Supreme. Many of the original characters have been revamped and reintroduced. The book then spun into three mini-series, Doctor Spectrum, Hyperion and Nighthawk. In this universe, these characters are often at odds with each other. Nighthawk, Power Princess and Amphibian have "bad sides" to them, and others like Arcana and Nuke have been teamed against Hyperion. No team was actually formed until Hyperion #2.

During the SS limited series, they took on eleven new recruits. Six of them were forcibly reformed criminals brainwashed into working with the SS: Ape-X, Dr. Decibel, Foxfire, Lamprey, Quagmire and Shape (Ape-X was rendered brain-dead while Decibel and Quagmire seemingly died in action; Quagmire actually survived and is active as a villain on mainstream Marvel Earth). The brainwashing was undone and Lamprey betrayed the SS, dying in battle with Dr. Spectrum. Shape and Foxfire remained loyal to the SS, and Foxfire died in action alongside them. The SS's other new recruits were novice super-heroes: Haywire, Inertia, Moonglow, Redstone and Thermite. All five joined the SS as infiltrators on behalf of the subversive Redeemers, but when the Redeemers successfully coerced the SS into abandoning their positions as world rulers, the surviving rookies remained with the SS. One of the five, Thermite, was accidentally killed during the Redeemers' battle with the SS.

So, following Squadron Supreme #12, the roster stood as follows: Hyperion, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, Whizzer II, Arcanna, Shape, Haywire, Inertia, Moonglow and Redstone. Skrull had long since resigned. Amphibian and Nighthawk resigned in protest of the SS's becoming world rulers to steer the Earth back to stability after its temporary conquest by the Overmind, and Nighthawk led his Redeemers group in persuading the Squadron to abdicate. Nighthawk died in that battle, as did fellow ex-SS member Black Archer, who joined the Redeemers after the SS expelled him for abusing their mind-control technology by forcing Lady Lark to love him. Lady Lark resigned in protest of his expulsion, still brainwashed into blindly adoring him, but she didn't join the Redeemers (nor did Amphibian). Nuke went mad after realizing he had given his parents cancer, and died battling Dr. Spectrum. Tom Thumb died of cancer himself while trying to find a cure for it. Ape-X was incapacitated, Doctor Decibel died while suffocating when Quagmire's power engulfed the hospital. Quagmire was lost and presumed dead, and Blue Eagle, Lamprey, Foxfire and Thermite died during the SS/Redeemers battle.

Most of those killed in SS #12 were placed in Hybernaculum chambers. These chambers were invented by Tom Thumb, and basically served the same purpose as cryogenic preservation. There were 7 chambers: Tom Thumb, Pinball, Thermite, Foxfire, Blue Eagle and Golden Archer were shown. The other one may have contained Nighthawk, since Lamprey's body was mostly unrecoverable.

The Authority

The Authority is, at its fundamental core, a treatment of the Justice League of America taken to its logical conclusion. Seven of the most powerful superhumans in the Wildstorm Universe take it upon themselves to protect Earth from all threats, internal or external. These threats are usually gargantuan in nature and the eradication of these threats equally Herculean. This is widescreen, cinema-scope super-heroic fiction at its finest. Consisting of Jenny Sparks, Swift, the Engineer, the Doctor, Jack Hawksmoor, Apollo & the Midnighter (a gay version of the World's Finest duo i.e. Superman and Batman), The Authority was a spin-off from the late Stormwatch series, which took as its premise a UN-sanctioned super group. The creators responsible for these epic wonders were Warren Ellis (writer), Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary (artists) and together they delivered 12 pulsating issues that illuminated the jaded super-hero comic book industry.

The founding members of the Authority are

* Jenny Sparks, the Spirit of the Twentieth Century, the group's founder and original leader
* Apollo, "the Sun God"
* Midnighter, "Night's Bringer of War"
* Jeroen Thorndike, the Doctor (initially thought to be the second Doctor, he was subsequently shown to be the latest in a long line)
* Angela Spica, the second Engineer
* Jack Hawksmoor, "King of Cities", leader of the Authority 2000-2005, and
* Shen Li-Min, a.k.a. Swift.

Following the "Outer Dark" story arc (see below), Jenny Sparks is replaced with

* Jenny Quantum, the Spirit of the Twenty-First Century, Authority leader 2005 to present.

After "The Eternal Return" (again, see below), new members of the Authority are

* Rose Tattoo and
* Habib ben Hassan, Thorndike's successor as Doctor.

Beginning with #18 of volume five the team roster undergoes a major change. Jack Hawksmoor, Swift and Engineer remain on the team, where they are joined by new members:

* Christine Trelane, former co-leader of Stormwatch,
* Deathblow,
* Flint, previously of Stormwatch,
* Freefall, previously of Gen 13,
* Grifter, previously of the Wildcats,
* The High, the now depowered former Authority foe and
* Rainmaker, previously of Gen 13.

The Authority's base of operations is the Carrier, a gigantic interdimensional "shiftship" existing everywhere on Earth at the same time and capable of moving through every imaginable plane of existence. Usually referred to as a female, the Carrier is in fact sentient and could be considered an additional member of the team

Wonder Girl

Wonder Girl and the other Teen Titans were next featured in Showcase #59 (December 1965) before being spun off into their own series with Teen Titans #1, cover-dated February 1966. With the character called only Wonder Girl or "Wonder Chick" by her teammates, her status as either the younger Wonder Woman displaced in the timeline or another character altogether is not explained until Teen Titans (vol. 1) #22 (August 1969).[1] In a story by Marv Wolfman and Gil Kane it is established that Wonder Girl is a non-Amazon orphan, rescued by Wonder Woman from an apartment building fire. Unable to find any parents or family, Wonder Woman brings the child to Paradise Island, where she is eventually given Amazon powers by Paula von Gunther's Purple Ray. The story ends with Wonder Girl wearing a new costume and hairstyle, adopting the secret identity "Donna Troy."

1980s

Donna's origin is expanded in "Who is Donna Troy?" (January 1984), issue #38 of the 1980s relaunch of the team, The New Teen Titans. Robin investigates the events surrounding the fire from which his old friend had been rescued as a toddler, discovering that her birth mother had been a dying unwed teen who had given her up for adoption. The subsequent Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries (1985-1986) rewrote the history of many DC Comics characters; Wonder Woman's own pre-Crisis history was written out of existence, and the character was reintroduced in Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #1 (February 1987) as a new arrival from Themyscira (the former Paradise Island).

With the character of Donna tied predominantly to the Titans, her origin was retconned to fit into the new continuity created by Wonder Woman's relaunch, one severing her direct ties to the Amazons. In the storyline "Who Is Wonder Girl?" featured in The New Titans #50-54 (December 1988-March 1989), the Titans of Myth enlist Donna's aid against the murderous Sparta of Synriannaq. It is revealed that the Titan Rhea had rescued a young Donna from a fire; Donna and Sparta had then been part of a group of 12 orphans from around the universe who had been raised on New Cronus by these Titans as "Titan Seeds," their eventual saviors. The Seeds had been given superhuman powers, and named after ancient Greek cities. Called "Troy," Donna (like the others) had eventually been stripped of her memories of her time with the Titans of Myth, and reintroduced into humankind to await her destiny; Sparta had retained her memories, and the knowledge had eventually driven her mad. Killing her fellows Seeds to "collect" their powers and destroy the Titans of Myth, Sparta is ultimately defeated by Donna and the only other Seed left alive, Athyns of Karakkan. In The New Titans #55 (June 1989), Donna changes her pseudonym from "Wonder Girl" to "Troia" and adopts a new costume incorporating mystical gifts from the Titans of Myth.

Post-Wonder Girl

Donna's origin was rewritten again in the 1990s, reattaching to the Wonder Woman mythos. It is revealed that the Amazon sorceress Magala had animated a mirror image of young Princess Diana to create for her a mystical, "identical twin" playmate. This twin is soon mistaken for Diana and kidnapped by Dark Angel. Dark Angel disperses the girl's spirit across the multiverse, condemning her to live multiple lives, each one cut short by the Dark Angel at a moment of tragedy.[volume & issue needed]

In at least one of these variant lives, Donna would become a superhero and encounter her grown sister, now Wonder Woman, and their mother Queen Hippolyta, without realizing who she really was or how she was related to them. After that timeline ends with the death of Donna's son, Diana and Hippolyta intervene to find what happened to Donna. Donna finally defeats Dark Angel, destroying the evil entity and regaining her original Amazon powers; she returns to reality to continue her life from that point.[volume & issue needed]

The 2005 miniseries The Return of Donna Troy reveals that Donna is actually an amalgam of every Donna Troy, who remembers all of her other incarnations. After the events of Infinite Crisis (2005-2006), Diana briefly passes the mantle of Wonder Woman to Donna. However, Diana continued to be the star of the book, and reclaimed the title of Wonder Woman in the first story arc of Wonder Woman vol. 3. Wonder Woman Annual (vol. 3) #1 gives Donna a new origin that combining elements of her three variant origins:

Donna was born as Princess Diana's mystic twin through the help of Amazon sorceress Magala. Months later, an old enemy of Queen Hippolyta called Dark Angel kidnapped Donna thinking she was Diana. Donna was placed in suspended animation by Dark Angel for years and was eventually left to die in a burning building. But fate intervened and the now grown-up Diana came onto the scene as Wonder Woman and rescued Donna. She was brought back to Themyscira where she received training from both the Amazons and The Titans of Myth and years after followed Diana into the outside world as Wonder Girl and helped form the Teen Titans.

Songbird

Melissa Gold was a troubled runaway from an alcoholic father and incarcerated mother[citation needed]. In order to survive on the streets, Melissa developed a hard edge to her personality, referring to herself as "Mimi."[citation needed] She was eventually imprisoned, where she met Poundcakes, a female wrestler who invited her to join the Grapplers under the name Screaming Mimi, alongside Titania and Letha[citation needed]. The Grapplers became renowned for their colorful personalities and ringside antics, but the wrestling federation denied them the opportunity to make the amount of money their male counterparts made. Instead, the group agreed to earn supplementary income by performing a covert operation for the Roxxon Oil Company. The Grapplers were given special paraphernalia to assist them in their mission; Mimi received an apparatus that converted her voice to high-frequency sonics for various effects. The Grapplers tested these powers by fighting Thundra in a wrestling ring.[1] On their mission, Thundra led them into Project Pegasus to smuggle in the Nth Projector for Roxxon. The mission failed when they were defeated by the heroes Quasar and Giant-Man.[2] The Grapplers were tried and jailed for their misdeeds. Alongside the Grapplers, she victimized Dazzler while she was in Ryker's Island prison with them.[3] When the Grapplers were finally paroled, they discovered that the women's wrestling movement had lost its momentum without them, so they continued to perform crimes to support themselves and working as professional criminals. Alongside the Grapplers, Mimi attempted to attack the Thing while he was in the hospital, and battled Captain America.[4] Later, the Grapplers set their sights on a women's division of the superpowered Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. Their manager, Auntie Freeze, arranged for the women to augment their natural abilities with artificial powers created by the agency Power Broker, Inc. While the other Grapplers received superhuman strength, Mimi instead had her vocal enhancements internalized as a throat implant; it was once believed that Mimi had also gained superhuman strength, but it was established after the fact in the Thunderbolts series (see below) that this was not the case.[volume & issue needed] The all-new Grapplers made a legitimate professional comeback that proved short-lived. When Titania was murdered by the vigilante Scourge, Mimi was among the female wrestlers of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation who participated in a mass attack upon the Thing, blaming him for Titania's death.[5] After Letha was later also killed by Scourge,[6] the Grapplers broke

arrowette

Arrowette is one of few superheroes to retire and have it stick. After serving valiantly alongside Young Justice, she now lives the life of a normal girl... who happens to be an Olympic Gold Medalist.
Origin

Arrowette's childhood was spent preparing her for her life's mission: to be a super hero. This mission was assigned to her by her mother, the original Arrowette. Cissie began her career as an adventurer in a battle against the Spazz in Manchester, Alabama. Arrowette also appeared in Impulse #59 as Impulse's date in the Valentine's dance. Impulse and Max Mercury were on hand to help, but Mercury later pressed child endangerment charges against Bonnie. The charges stuck, and Cissie was remanded to the custody of the Elias School and Dr. Marcy Money. It looked as if Cissie's super hero career was over. Dr. Money inadvertently gave Cissie the idea that she could be a better hero than her mother. This thought seemed to inspire Cissie to resume her career as Arrowette.
Young Justice

Arrowette joined Young Justice during the team's first conflict with Harm. In that battle, Harm caught one of Cissie's arrows and threw it right back at her, seriously wounding her shoulder. The Super-Cycle rescued her and brought her back to Happy Harbor. The team's care for her prompted her to become a member.

Shortly after, the murder of Dr. Marcy Money tumed Arrowette's world inside out. Blinded by rage, she hunted the doctor's murderer, following him and his accomplice into the Pennsylvania woods. After subduing the accomplice, she proceeded to re-enact Dr. Money's murder. But this time, the killer was on the receiving end. He begged for mercy and threw away his weapon. Cissie could have captured him, but instead she fired an arrow directly at his heart. The blow surely would have killed him if Superboy hadn't arrived in the knick of time, snatching the arrow out of the air.
A Normal Girl again

Soon thereafter, Cissie quit Young Justice and has abandoned her Arrowette persona. Cissie now has to do what her mother never allowed her to do: decide for herself what she is going to be.

After leaving Young Justice she went on to win a gold medal for America in the Olympics for Archery. Although not a member of the team she continued to have close relationships with them, especially her best friend, Wonder Girl. She was with Young Justice as the team's medic during the "Our Worlds At War" Galactic Crisis, and acted as the team's pitcher in an intergalactic baseball game with worlds in the balance.

Cissie now attends St. Elias' School for Girls - along with Greta Hayes (Secret) and Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl). Cissie appeared in Teen Titans #7 (vol.3) negotiating with the principal of St.Elias' school about allowing Wonder Girl to enroll in the school along with Secret.

Powers and Abilities
Arrowette is an Olympic-level archer and athlete. She was trained from an early age to become one of the world's greatest archers. She has a variety of trick arrows that she uses such as classic arrows, boxing glove arrows, oil slick arrows, freeze arrows, and even a few sillier ones such as perfume arrows that her mother made her use. Arrowette is also skilled in kick boxing and other hand to hand combat although her skills are best put to use when she's arching from a distance.

Secret Warriors

While in hiding after the Secret War, Nick Fury uncovers evidence of the Secret Invasion. Because the active heroes he knows may be compromised, he gathers a new team of "caterpillars", young, untested superhumans, whose existence is known to Fury alone. When the Skrulls invade New York, Nick Fury and his team of Secret Warriors arrive and rescue the defeated Young Avengers and Initiative members before withdrawing from the battle.[8] The Warriors help the other heroes defeat the Skrulls, before teleporting to an unknown location.[9]

After the invasion, Fury infiltrates a covert Chicago base and downloads information about the previous and current command structures of S.H.I.E.L.D. A few weeks later, he confronts the new U.S. president about the deactivation of S.H.I.E.L.D., and gives him the location of two of the organization's covert bases. Fury's team tries to shut down a covert base in Texas, but HYDRA appears and attacks the team. As the team attempts to evacuate, H.A.M.M.E.R. agents surround the area, but the Warriors escape. Fury confronts the team on their failures, but reveals to Daisy that HYDRA was on a recovery mission at the Texas base, and that S.H.I.E.L.D. is a branch of HYDRA, while various agencies of the United States Government, including the NSA, Department of Treasury, and FBI Science and Technology Branch, as well as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate and Foreign Intelligence Service are all under HYDRA control.[10]

On a solo mission soon after, Fury teams with Norman Osborn to interrogate a lower-level HAMMER agent. The conversation (and materials obtained afterwards) reveal there may be an organization much like HYDRA, installed in the upper levels of world governments, called "Leviathan." This organization appears to have been founded by the Soviet government for reasons as yet unclear.

The Secret Warriors also assist the New Avengers when the Hood's gang was assaulting them

Roster

Nick Fury
Founder, and leader, of the Secret Warriors

Quake
Daisy Johnson, the daughter of Mister Hyde. She possesses the power to create earthquake-like vibrations.

Phobos
Son of Ares. He possesses the power to instill fear in others as well as limited pre-cognition. Being a member of the Olympian race, but born of a mortal woman also gives him the potential for far greater "god-like" powers not unlike his uncle Hercules, but require his "mortal" body die first.

The Druid
Sebastian Druid, the son of Doctor Druid who has inherited some of his father's skill with magic. However, he is soon seen as a liability and Fury cuts him loose.

Slingshot
Yo-yo Rodriguez, the daughter of the Griffin. She can run at superhuman speed and bounces back to the point where she began running. She was recently injured severely, with both of her arms severed by the Gorgon, and was temporarily unable to remain active with the team. However, both arms have now been replaced with prosthetics and she has returned to active duty.

Hellfire
J.T. Slade, the grandson of the Phantom Rider, is able to charge items (notably a chain) with fire and unleash a devastating attack. During New Avengers, J.T. is shown as one of the possible replacements for the title of Sorcerer Supreme, showing great magical potential.

Stonewall
Jerry Sledge, who has been bailed out of jail by Daisy Johnson, where he was being held for hitting a police officer. He possesses superhuman strength and an ability to increase his size, while his skin appears to take an appearance resembling stone. In issue 9, he demonstrated the ability to change the composition of his skin, by turning it into metal after getting Ares' axe swung into his chest. Very little has so far been revealed about the character, but Bendis has revealed that his father is a "major Marvel icon". In issue 12, it is revealed upon his visit to a prison that his father is Carl "Crusher" Creel, The Absorbing Man. He tries to tell Reed Richards his real name at one point, but is cut off after saying "Henry".

Eden Fesi
A reality warping young man previously under the care and training of the mutant Gateway. Nick Fury initially attempted to recruit him to another unknown team, but Gateway refused.

Silk Spectre II

Laurie Jupiter, the second Silk Spectre, is the daughter of Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre. Laurie's mother apparently wanted her to follow in her footsteps and so she fought crime for ten years before the Keene Act banned vigilantes. Unlike the other protagonists, Silk Spectre was not based on a particular Charlton character, although her relationship with Dr. Manhattan is similar to that between Captain Atom and the heroine Nightshade. Moore felt he needed a female hero in the cast and drew inspiration from comic book heroines such as Black Canary and Phantom Lady.[2]

Laurie is kept on retainer by the government because of her relationship with Doctor Manhattan and lives on a government base at the beginning of the comic. When Doctor Manhattan leaves Earth, the government has her removed from the base and suspends her expense account, forcing her to move in with Dan, with whom she starts a romantic relationship. At the end of the eighth issue, Doctor Manhattan appears and takes her to Mars because he knows she wants to convince him to save the world. On Mars, she realizes that The Comedian was her biological father. After the final encounter with Veidt at the end of the series, she assumes the identity of Sandra Hollis and continues her relationship with Dan.

In the Watchmen film she is played by Malin Akerman. In a 2003 draft script by David Hayter, which was reviewed by IGN, Laurie has the family name Jupiter and the alter ego name "Slingshot"

Watchmen

The story takes place in an alternate timeline in which masked, costumed vigilantes fight crime in America, originally in response to a rise in masked and costumed gangs and criminals. In the 1930s and '40s, the vigilantes formed a group called the Minutemen to "finish what the law couldn't." Of the eight Minutemen, three died violently, one disappeared, and one was committed to an asylum. Decades later, a second generation of "superheroes" attempts to form a similar team called the Watchmen. Various historical events are shown to have been altered by the existence of superheroes, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War. The American victory in Vietnam, due to the intervention of the godlike being Doctor Manhattan, leads to Richard Nixon's third term as President following the repeal of term limits in the United States. By the 1980s, however, the Watchmen have been outlawed by Congress after an outpouring of anti-vigilante sentiment in the country, and tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union have escalated the Cold War with threats of nuclear attack.

By 1985, only three Watchmen remain active: the Comedian and Doctor Manhattan, both of whom act with government sanction, and the masked vigilante Rorschach, who refuses to retire and remains active illegally. Investigating the murder of government agent Edward Blake, Rorschach discovers that Blake was the Comedian, and concludes that someone may be trying to eliminate the Watchmen. He attempts to warn his retired comrades—his former partner Daniel Dreiberg (Nite Owl), the emotionally detached Dr. Jonathan Osterman (Doctor Manhattan), and Dr. Manhattan's lover Laurie Jupiter (the Silk Spectre). Dreiberg is skeptical, but nonetheless relates the hypothesis to billionaire Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias), who dismisses it.

After Blake's funeral, Dr. Manhattan is accused of causing the cancers afflicting his former girlfriend and others who spent time with him after the scientific accident that gave him superpowers. Dr. Manhattan exiles himself to Mars, giving the Soviet Union the confidence to invade Afghanistan in his absence. Later, Rorschach's conspiracy theory appears to be justified when Veidt, who had long since made his identity as Ozymandias public before retiring, narrowly avoids an assassination attempt, and Rorschach finds himself framed for murder.

Meanwhile Jupiter, after breaking up with Manhattan, goes to stay with Dreiberg, and the two former superheroes come out of retirement as they grow closer. After they break Rorschach out of prison, Silk Spectre is confronted by Dr. Manhattan. He takes her to Mars and, after she asks him to save the world, explains he is no longer interested in humanity. As he probes her memories, it is discovered that the Comedian was her father. His interest in humanity renewed by this improbable sequence of events, Manhattan returns to Earth with the Silk Spectre.

Investigating the conspiracy, Rorschach and Nite Owl discover that Veidt is behind everything. Rorschach records his suspicions in his journal, which he drops off at a newspaper office. Rorschach and Nite Owl confront Veidt, dressed once more in his Ozymandias costume, at his Antarctic retreat. Ozymandias confirms he is the mastermind behind the Comedian's murder, Manhattan's exile, and the framing of Rorschach; he also staged his own assassination attempt to place himself above suspicion. He explains that his plan is to unify the United States and the Soviet Union and to prevent nuclear war by destroying the world's main cities with exploding energy reactors he helped Doctor Manhattan create under the pretense of providing free energy for the world. Rorschach and Nite Owl attempt to stop him, but Ozymandias easily beats them. Ozymandias then reveals that his plan has already been set into motion: the reactors have been detonated, and the energy signatures are recognized as Manhattan's.

The Silk Spectre and Doctor Manhattan arrive at the ruins of New York City and determine that it must be Veidt's work. They teleport to the Antarctic retreat to confront him, but Ozymandias turns on a news report in which President Nixon states that the US and Soviets have allied against their "common enemy," Manhattan. The heroes are completely helpless to stop it and realize that revealing the conspiracy would only disrupt this peace. Only Rorschach is unwilling to remain silent and, at his own urging, is vaporized by a reluctant Manhattan. Manhattan shares a final kiss with Jupiter and departs for another galaxy.

With the end of the Cold War and the uniting of humanity, Jupiter and Dreiberg return to New York City as it's being rebuilt to begin a new life together. The film closes with a newspaper editor in New York complaining of having nothing worthwhile to print because of the worldwide peace. He tells a young employee that he may print whatever he likes from a collection of crank mailings, among which lies Rorschach's journal.

Superhero anonymously

Superheroes Anonymous is a collective of Real Life Superheroes who aim to do good in the world and inspire others. Originally founded in 2007 by Ben Goldman and Chaim Lazaros as an annual conference for superheroes, Superheroes Anonymous has since become the legitimate face of the Real Life Superhero movement - bringing superheroes together in the real world to affect positive change.

The first meeting of Superheroes Anonymous was held in October 2007 in Times Square, New York where superheroes met for the first time and helped the homeless, cleaned up the streets and patrolled the area doing random acts of kindness. It was the first such meeting of its kind and attracted widespread media attention, most notably from The New York Times.

The second annual conference took place in New Orleans, LA in collaboration with The Black Ghost. For this event, the Superheroes Anonymous team drove 10 superheroes cross country in an RV, stopping in various destinations along the way to do good. Upon arriving in New Orleans, we rebuilt homes with Habitat for Humanity, cleaned up a school with All Congregations Together, helped the local homeless and marched against youth violence with Silence is Violence. We then gathered on the steps of City Hall as city officials declared it The Day of the Superheroes. The third annual conference is now being planned to take place in New Bedford, MA aka "The Secret City." The conference is being spearheaded by New Bedford-based superhero Civitron.

Superheroes Anonymous is also in the middle of planning several new programs, including a monthly meeting of Superheroes Anonymous that will bring established Real Life Superheroes together with aspiring superheroes in order to help bring out one's inner superhero. We will also be organizing large-scale patrols.

Liberty Belle

The first Liberty Belle is Libby Lawrence-Chambers. Her powers of enhanced speed, strength, and stamina are linked to the ringing of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Early in her mystery-woman career she has an assistant in that city who would, when signaled, ring the bell for her. In her later years, after decades of super-strength and retarded aging, many begin to theorize about the nature of her powers - some believed the sonic vibrations of the bell triggers a meta-human gene, some believe that it is mystical, that Libby is connected to the power of the Spirit of America, like the hero Uncle Sam. Most of Liberty Belle's heroic exploits take place during the Second World War, and she is one of the founding members (and later chairwoman) of the All-Star Squadron. In her public identity, she is the famous radio columnist Libby Lawrence, and is therefore well-known both in and out of costume. During the war she marries speedster Johnny Quick. After the War they have a daughter, Jesse, who shared both their powers and took the codename Jesse Quick. Libby Lawrence is a descendant of Bess Lynn, alias Miss Liberty.

The Huntress

he Bronze Age Huntress was Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Batman and Catwoman of Earth-Two, an alternate universe established in the early 1960s as the world where the Golden Age stories took place. Earth-Two was also the home of the Golden Age versions of various DC characters.
Helena Wayne as the Huntress.

Created by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton and Bob Layton, her first appearance was in All Star Comics #69 (December 1977) and DC Super-Stars #17, which came out the same month and revealed her origin. The bulk of her solo stories appeared as backup features in issues of Wonder Woman which were published in the early 1980s.

Helena was trained by her parents to become a superb athlete. After finishing school, she joined the law firm of Cranston and Grayson, one of whose partners was Dick Grayson, alias Robin.

Helena began her super-hero career when a criminal blackmailed her mother into resuming action once again as Catwoman -- an act which eventually led to her death. Helena, deciding to bring the criminal responsible to justice, created a costume for herself, fashioned some weapons from her parents' equipment (including her eventual trademark, a crossbow), and set out to bring in the criminal. After accomplishing this, Helena decided to continue to fight crime, under the code name, the "Huntress."

In All Star Comics #72, Helena formally joined the Justice Society of America where she struck up a friendship with fellow new superheroine Power Girl. As a JSA member, she participated in several of the annual JLA/JSA meetings, most of which took place on Earth-One. Helena was also briefly associated with the superhero group Infinity, Inc..

During the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, Helena was killed while attempting to save the lives of several children. After Crisis ended, Helena Wayne's existence, like that of her parents and Earth-Two's Dick Grayson, was retroactively erased from the remaining Earth and the world no longer remembered her.

Halo

History

Billions of years ago, at the beginning of creation, a race of beings called the Aurakles emerged from the Source. The Aurakles become observers and rarely interefered with sentient affairs. In time, however, one Aurakle grew increasingly fascinated by the lives of organic beings. While observing events on Earth, this sentimental entity was drawn to a young girl named Violet Harper. BATO 22

Harper was a teenaged runaway. She and her boyfriend, and Mark Denninger, had stolen a formula from the mob boss, Tobias Whale. They attempted to blackmail Whale for it and fled to the tiny European nation of Markovia. Harper turned on Mark as well and killed him with a drug overdose. Whale sent an assassin called Syonide to find them and Violet's luck finally ran out. Syonide left the girl for dead. BATO 20 The Aurakle witnessed this violence. It unwittingly reached out to her and was forever trapped inside her body! Violet's personality was deeply submerged and the Aurakle assumed control of her body. In the process, it became amnesiac; it was ingorant of either its own or Violet's memories. BATO 22

Soon afterwards, the Batman stumbled upon her body in the Markovian woods. He nicknamed the young girl "Halo" because of the glow that surrounded her. Halo aided Batman in rescuing his associate, Lucius Fox from Baron Bedlam. Batman requested further aid from the Justice League to save him, but the JLA refused. Batman then resigned and formed the Outsiders to deal with the problem. This band also included Katana, Black Lightning, Metamorpho and Geo-Force. BATO #1

After Markovia was freed of Bedlam's tyranny, Halo accompanied the new team to Gotham City. There she began a new life for herself under the guardianship of Katana. She also chose a name for herself: Gabrielle Doe. Tatsu and Gabrielle set up residence in Bruce Wayne's former penthouse — in the same building which housed the Outsiders' headquarters. Halo briefly flirted with Geo-Force but they soon realized that they were not interested in pursuing a serious relationship. #3, 6

Batman wasted no time in searching for Halo's origins. He sent his associate, Jason Bard, to the midwest to investigate her past. Harper's school yearbook led Bard to her real name and her parents in Arlington, Missouri. When Batman learned of her name (Violet) he noticed another mystery: Halo never used her violet aura. Gabrielle and Tatsu quickly gew very close, so it was heartbraking when Batman returned Halo to the care of her biological parents, Sam and Margaret. #16

Halo soon began to discover disturbing things about her past. At the same time, Tobias Whale and Syonide also discover Violet Harper's reemergence and set about reclaiming their stolen formula. Apparently, Violet Harper had a photographic memory, and Whale enlisted Dr. Moon to uncover the forumla. Instead, Moon noticed an anomaly in Halo's brainwave pattern. When the Outsiders entered the fray, Syonide killed the Mr. and Mrs. Harper. #18-20

The Outsiders removed Halo to the JLA satellite to analyze Halo themselves. Black Lightning provided the power and their associate, Dr. Jace, jogged Halo's memory of life as an Aurakle. This jolt summoned the other Aurakles, who kidnapped Gabrielle. Katana slayed one of the beings with her Soultaker sword and commanded it to take them to Halo. The team managed to cripple the Aurakles, who surrendered Halo. After all of this trauma, Halo departed from the team in anguish. #22-23

She then met a man named David, who took her to a commune called Eden. (This commune was actually a front for the villain Kobra.) David proposed to Halo just before they were captured by Kobra and her identity as Halo was exposed. Under duress, she revealed the Batman's identity, too. The Outsiders rescued Halo, but she and David went their separate ways. #24-27

After the Outsiders split from Batman, they were awarded medals by King Gregor of Markovia. They also accepted his offer to become "unofficial agents" of that state and voted to move to Los Angeles. There they would operate officially from the Markovian embassy, and unofficially from their new headquarters, just off-shore. #36

Geo-Force disbanded the Outsiders after a tragic series events. Gabrielle was left comatose by a blast from a Manhunter. Tatsu remained by by her side. Outsiders v.1 #28

Tatsu traveled with Gaby's body to Markovia, where she was mysteriously awakened. A new team of Outsiders was formed but they immediately found themselves framed for murder. Halo, Katana and Geo-Force fled the country along with new members Technocrat, Faust and Wylde. Outsiders v.2 #1-alpha

After the team was cleared of all charges, Halo began using her violet aura. The secret of the violet aura was known only to a few: it indicated that Violet Harper's personality was again in control. In this state, Harper could control all Halo's auras at once (Gaby could use only one at a time). Violet defected from the team and sought an alliance with Marissa Baron (Technocrat's ex-wife). Instead, Baron commanded the assassin Sanction to kill her. In the fracas, Sanction's blasts hit both women. This trauma forced the Aurakle to jump to a new host: Marissa Baron. Violet Harper's body was again left for dead. This time, Halo retained the memories of both Gabrielle and Marissa. (#7, 9)

The Aurakles attacked Halo again and possess her teammates. They had sought to reclaim her but were driven off by a high dose of electricity. (#13) These events added to tension to Gaby's relationship with Tatsu and may have added to her newfound attraction to Faust. When the team fractured, Halo sided with Looker and Faust and followed the Eradicator. #0 Unbeknownst to the Outsiders, Kobra rescued Violet Harper's dead body. His science was able to preserve Harper's essence and Halo's powers. She took the code name Spectra and joined Kobra's new Strike Force. Spectra posed as Halo and also recruited the former Outsider called Windfall. #16

The two Outsiders teams soon rejoined, but their time was short-lived. Since then, Halo, Katana and Geo-Force have kept the group alive, but its capacity is unknown. They have been spotted among other super-heroes in times of great crisis. DAY OF JUDGMENT 3-4, JLA: OUR WORLDS AT WAR 1

Notes: Violet Harper's birthdate is July 10; Halo turned 17 in SECRET ORIGINS #6.
+ Powers

....In addition to the power of flight, Halo possesses seven auras with different abilities:

* red = heat
* orange = repulsion
* yellow = sunlight
* green = stasis
* blue = distortion
* indigo = tractor beam
* violet = indicates the presence of the evil Violet Harper's personality, who can control all auras at once.

Black Canary

Black Canary is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash Comics #86 (August 1947).

Black Canary is noted for her martial-arts skills and her "Canary Cry" – a high powered, sonic scream with the ability to shatter objects and incapacitate villains. Among the first generation of superheroes, she was a member of the Justice Society of America, the first superhero team to appear in comic books.

In the 1980s, the character's history was rewritten to make her two entities: Dinah Drake, who took part in Golden Age adventures and married Gotham City detective Larry Lance, and their daughter Dinah Laurel Lance, who has appeared in modern stories.

The combination of the Black Canary's courage, fighting prowess, and her sex appeal (accentuated by her costume's characteristic fishnet stockings) has resulted in her being referred to as "The Blonde Bombshell."

Fictional character biography

Golden Age history

Cover to Flash Comics #92. Art by Carmine Infantino.

Black Canary first appeared in Flash Comics #86 in 1947, as a supporting character in the Johnny Thunder feature of the Flash Comics anthology. Initially, she seemed to be a villainess; Johnny Thunder was instantly infatuated with her and was reproached for this by his Thunderbolt. However, she was in fact infiltrating a criminal gang, a modus operandi she would follow throughout her career.

Black Canary proved to be popular enough that in Flash Comics #92, she was given her own anthology feature, Black Canary, replacing the Johnny Thunder feature. The new series fleshed out Black Canary's backstory; in her real identity, Dinah Drake was a black-haired florist whose romantic interest was Larry Lance, a detective on the Gotham City Police Department.

Her costume consisted of a blond wig, fishnet stockings, pirate boots, bustier, and an unbuttoned jacket. Initially, she also wore a domino mask, though this was soon jettisoned. Black Canary soon joined the Justice Society of America, but ceased being published along with the rest of the team by the early 1950

Silver Age history

Dinah just prior to leaving Earth-2 to begin a new life with the Justice League on Earth-1. Art by Dick Dillin.

Black Canary was revived along with the other Golden Age characters during the 1960s, and was shown as existing on the parallel world of Earth-Two (home of DC's Golden Age versions of its characters).

It is also revealed Dinah has married Larry Lance during the 1950s. Dinah also takes part in various annual team-ups between the Justice Society and Earth-One's Justice League of America.

In a 1969 JLA-JSA team-up against the rogue living star-creature Aquarius, Larry Lance is killed trying to save Dinah's life from an attack. Out of grief, Canary decides to move to Earth-One to create a fresh start, where she joins the Justice League. Sometime afterwards, she begins dating her JLA colleague Green Arrow, and discovers she has somehow (possibly due to exposure to radiation) gained the ultrasonic scream later dubbed the Canary Cry.

In Justice League of America #219 and #220, it is revealed this Black Canary is actually the daughter of the original Black Canary and her husband. Born in the 1950s, the infant is cursed by the Justice Society foe the Wizard with the "gift" of a devastating, yet uncontrollable, Canary Cry. Dinah asked her old friend Johnny Thunder to summon his Thunderbolt in hopes of a cure, but it was to no avail.

Instead, the Thunderbolt keeps the child in suspended animation (aging all the while) in his native Thunderbolt dimension, until, the Lances hope, a way to cure or control her power can be found. Seeing his friends in pain, the Thunderbolt decides to erase all memory of the child, letting everyone think she has died.

After the battle with Aquarius, Dinah realizes she is dying from the radiation she was exposed to. She discusses possible solutions with the Thunderbolt and Superman of Earth-1.

The three arrange to transfer Dinah's memories into the body of her now-adult daughter, still held in suspended animation, while not letting Dinah believe anything unusual has happened to her (this retcon was established to deal with the fact The Black Canary had been active since the late 1940s and would therefore have had to been nearly 60 years old by that time. Previous comic writers had apparently overlooked this fact, portraying her as still-youthful.).

Modern Age history

Following the retroactive continuity change in 1983, Black Canary became two distinct characters, mother and daughter, named Dinah Drake Lance and Dinah Laurel Lance. Dinah Lance would become the current Black Canary. Some references, notably those in James Robinson's Starman series, would attempt to distinguish the two Canaries further by referring to the first as 'Diana', but more recent accounts have confirmed 'Dinah' as the elder Canary's given name.

In post-Crisis continuity, Secret Origins #50 revealed the first Dinah had been trained by her father, Detective Richard Drake, and intended to follow in his footsteps on the Gotham City police. She was turned down by the force, however, and her disillusioned father (unable to use his connections to change the decision) died of heart failure shortly thereafter. Dinah was determined to honor his memory and fight crime and corruption by whatever method possible. This led to her debut as a costumed vigilante; she would use her inheritance to open a florist shop as her day job.^[1]

The elder Dinah married her beau, private eye Larry Lance (still maintaining her florist business). In a Times Past-style story in Birds of Prey, Lance was an acquaintance of Jim Gordon, father to Barbara Gordon. A few years later, their daughter, named Dinah Laurel Lance, was born. In Birds of Prey #66, which is a flashback to a cold case investigated – but never solved – by the elder Dinah, Laurel was the name of a librarian that Dinah consulted during the case and later befriended.

Growing up, Dinah Lance was surrounded by her mother's friends in the disbanded JSA and looked to them as uncles and aunts. Dinah wished to become a costumed heroine like her mother before her. However, instead of encouraging the younger Dinah, her mother forbade it, thinking the world had grown into a darker, more dangerous place than when she herself fought crime, too dangerous for the younger Dinah to succeed.

However, the younger Dinah had her own "Canary Cry" – in this version, the result of a metagene not present in either parent – which (unlike the Silver Age Black Canary) she is fully able to control.^[1]

With this weapon, the younger Dinah next sought out numerous fighters to help her hone her skills, including former JSA member Wildcat. Years of training and intense dedication paid off, and Dinah took on her mother's mantle, even though it was against the elder Dinah's wishes at first. She took an active role in the 'Silver Age' of heroes, operating, like her mother before her, out of Gotham, while maintaining a day job in the family florist business.

In an early issue of Birds of Prey, writer Chuck Dixon established that Dinah had married at a very young age briefly before divorcing. Her ex-husband showed up in a storyli

ne needing her help (Birds of Prey: Wolves), but actually wanted her to rejoin him after he had stolen funds from the mob. This early marriage and ex-husband were not referred to again until the 2007 Black Canary miniseries.

Shortly into the League's history, she met Green Arrow (Oliver Queen). While Dinah couldn't stand him at first, they later became romantically involved despite the difference in their ages (in the Modern Age Oliver is substantially older than Dinah, the reverse of the earlier depiction, although he was de-aged by an unspecified amount when he was resurrected). Dinah remained a member of the League for roughly six years, including a brief stint with Justice League International (JLI), of which she was a founding member. It was during that time her mother died due to radiation poisoning she experienced during a battle with the villain Aquarius. Her mother's death affected Dinah deeply, and led her to accept her time in the JLA was over.

She moved to Seattle with Green Arrow after the breakup of the Justice League, and would open her own florist shop, named "Sherwood Florist" (the name is a play on Sherwood Forest, the domain of Robin Hood, who Green Arrow (in costume) somewhat resembles).

For a brief period in the 1980s coinciding with her membership in the JLI, rather than her traditional skintight black outfit with fishnet stockings she wore a blue and black costume with a bird motif notably looser and less revealing than traditional superheroine garb. Th

is change proved short-lived, and later artists restored her original look.

The Despondent Canary

The move to Seattle with Green Arrow would result in a string of bad luck for the Black Canary.

During this period, she took part in a failed operation to bust a drug ring. Kidnapped, Black Canary was tortured (despite popular belief, she was not raped according to series writer Mike Grell^[2]), before being rescued by Green Arrow. The physical and mental effects of this experience were severe: Dinah's vocal cords were mutilated, resulting in the loss of her Canary Cry. She required extensive counseling afterward, as did Oliver Queen.

Simultaneously, she and Green Arrow would have major conflicts in their relationship. Among other things, she would learn Green Arrow fathered a son, Robert, with Shado (albeit unwillingly), as well a

s taking money from the business (Black Canary #1). The relationship would end when Dinah walked in on Green Arrow kissing her florist shop assistant, Marianne.

Even more bad luck would hit when Sherwood Florist was destroyed, leaving Dinah with no means of paying the debt collectors now calling.

The worst blows of all would come when she learned from Connor Hawke that Oliver was killed (Green Arrow #101), and Connor was yet another of his offspring. Although Dinah and Connor later develop a close friendship, the knowledge that Oliver had kept his existence from her was painful.

Though Black Canary would continue to fight crime off and on (at some point Black Canary became a pen pal of the youthful hero known as The Ray, who had a crush on her, and she participated in some of his adventures, and even had a brief romance)^{[issue # needed]}, the effects of her misfortunes were taking their toll.

The Wedding

During the events of Countdown, several books include tie ins and runups to the wedding between Dinah and Ollie. The Black Canary Wedding Planner offers details about the preparations; Birds of Prey #109 depicts Dinah and Barbara discussing the event and Ollie in detail. Countdown, Justice League Wedding Special, and Justice League #13 deal with aspects of the wedding, particularly the bachelor and bachelorette parties. A major plot thread throughout these books, which ties in to the Piper and Trickster arc of Countdown, is that the Injustice League plans to attack the wedding.

The Wedding Special covers a number of events, including the reactions of the friends who receive wedding invitations, the wedding itself, the attack, and the honeymoon. While the attack on the wedding is a failure, Deathstroke remarks it worked a little, despite no one being hurt. During the honeymoon, a blank look suddenly comes over Green Arrow's face, and he goes berserk, trying to kill Dinah. She stabs him in the neck with an arrow, killing him.

In the first arc of the Green Arrow/Black Canary series, condolences are offered to Dinah, but she refuses to believe it was Oliver she has killed. Batman agrees with her. Following an extensive autopsy by Batman and Dr. Mid-Nite, the two discover the dead man is actually Everyman, the shape-shifter.

Ollie is alive and being held captive on Themyscira by the Amazons. While Dinah does not know his whereabouts, she is greatly relieved, and sheds tears of joy. She enlists the aid of Connor Hawke and Mia Dearden to save him, but, just when they seem to be home free, Connor is shot by an unknown assailant. Once they reach the hospital, the group learn the bullet contained a poison which has turned Connor into a mental vegetable. Soon after, Dinah marries Ollie again, as the first time around she married an impostor. On their return home, they find Connor kidnapped. Following the trail to Britain, Ollie and Dinah are attacked by an armored helicopter. When they it bring it down, they discover the military disguised as aliens within. This is revealed to be a ruse however, and the group later learn that the League of Assassins, under orders by Shado, were the ones who shot Connor.^[1]

Recently in Birds of Prey #119/120 Black Canary has fought against the Manhunter (Kate Spencer). During their short skirmish, Manhunter states that she has Black Canary outgunned and outmatched. In response Dinah says that "she is trying real hard not to put Kate in the hospital". As later seen, Dinah drags a beaten Manhunter to Oracle's hideout. Kate comments her skills, saying "your kung-fu's the best". Seemingly Black Canary has defeated Manhunter with relatively little effort and without usage of the Canary Cry. The reason for Manhunter's fight with Dinah is revealed to be due to Oracle. Apparently Oracle was looking to get Speedy involved in a mission, while also wishing to check on Dinah's new family life after the loss of Sin, who Oracle realizes may not in fact be dead. Dinah, hurt and furious at her best friend's actions, stalks out leaving the pair with a possibly damaged relationship.

Paul Dini announced at Comic-Con 06 he is writing a hardcover graphic novel starring Black Canary and Zatanna. On his blog, Dini revealed that Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti will handle the art.

Powers and abilities

Dinah sparring with Rabbit of the Twelve Brothers in Silk. Birds of Prey #82. Art by Joe Bennett.

Black Canary possesses a "Canary Cry" – a high-pitched, sonic scream which she can deploy to shatter objects and incapacitate her opponents.^[3] Analyzing her capabilities, Doctor Mid-Nite found that she can reach ultrasonic frequencies outside the audible spectrum which render human beings unconscious. However, the cry has been shown to be completely useless when Dinah's mouth is covered with a gag, piece of tape, or any other means of forcing her mouth closed.

Dinah states that her Canary Cry is able to inflict serious damage to beings even as durable as Wonder Woman (she has used this ability to overpower Giganta or to blow Amazo's head off). Moreover, in JLA/JSA: Vice and Virtue it is shown that Dinah is capable of not only creating sonic blasts, but also could generate ultrasonic attack, which renders everyone within an ear range unconscious, this specific use of Canary Cry requires using full capacity of Dinah's lungs. Black Canary rarely utilizes her metahuman abilities during fight, she prefers engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Lately Dinah uses Canary Cry only against considerably more powerful metahuman opponents. Selective usage of supernatural talents makes Black Canary one of very few characters who choose not to take advantage of their superpowers, placing skills over inborn abilities.

Black Canary lost the Cry during the Green Arrow series. Although she fought crime without it for several years, she regained it after being immersed in a Lazarus Pit during her time with the Birds of Prey. Black Canary is extremely proficient in the various styles of martial arts, and is among the world's best fighters (in Birds of Prey #125 Oracle suggests that Dinah could outfight even Batman). She is also an expert motorcycle rider.

Despite her often heated arguments with Oracle, Dinah served as a peacemaker between the team's sometimes argumentative members. She has worked to instill a sense of humanity within her colleagues, most notably Huntress, who is prone to the use of excessive force.

Dinah is a strong leader and strategic thinker — qualities recognized by the other superheroes, who have selected her as the Chairwoman of the JLA. Having fought crime for many years, she also possesses great detective skills, though not on a par with Batman, The Question or the Elongated Man.

A running gag in the Birds of Prey series is Black Canary's lack of proficiency with computers (and very little interest in them). She is the polar opposite of team leader Oracle (who is a computer genius). The first page of Birds of Prey #1 features Dinah's desire to have a distasteful item removed from her presence – the next page shows the object of her dislike to be a desktop computer.

Black Cat

Name: Felicia Hardy

ID: Known

Relatives: Walter (Father - Deceased), Lydia (Mother - Deceased).

Affiliates: Spider-Man.

Major Enemies: Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Sabretooth, Cardiac, Faze, First Strikers, Scar, Hydro-Man.

Powers: The Black Cat is in peak condition for a woman her age in many ways: strength, endurance & agility...She also has a great understanding of the martial arts & uses them well...She became an excellent burglar having great criminal skills. She "Rigged" her own "Bad Luck" atmosphere onto others she came across by a number of ways...She also carries a cable with her she uses to swing or walk on as a tightrope.

Origin: Felicia Hardy was a former Cat Burglar...Her Father was a very well known Cat Burglar...She later learned that all along, the "bad Luck" factor was in her genes to begin with.

Fictional character biography

The Black Cat's first appearance, on Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #194. Cover art by Keith Pollard.

Felicia Hardy was born in Queens, New York. Her father Walter was a world-renowned cat burglar who, before his arrest, encouraged her to never settle for second best. If she loved basketball, she should work to become a basketball player and not just a cheerleader.

During her freshman year in college, Felicia was date raped by her boyfriend Ryan. Hating the idea of being a victim, she decided that despite the consequences she would murder her rapist. She put aside her studies and began training in various fighting styles and acrobatics. Finally, after months of preparing, she set out for revenge, but before she could find him, Ryan was killed in a drunk-driving accident.

Furious that she was denied the chance to steal the life of the man who had stolen hers, and feeling reckless, Hardy decided to utilize her new skills to follow in the footsteps of her father. After amassing a fortune in stolen items, Felicia adopted her costumed identity.

She first donned the Black Cat costume in order to break her father out of prison. On the same night, she met Spider-Man. Unfortunately for Felicia, her father died, and she then faked her own death.^[3] Despite her antipathy towards men, Felicia

felt a kinship with this lone hero; Spider-Man was the first man she felt she could trust and she grew to believe herself in love with him.^[4] Felicia looked for a way to earn his trust and continued with the Black Cat persona as a misguided attempt to attract his affection. Seeing the good in Felicia, Spider-Man made every attempt to have her criminal record expunged.

Felicia had been placed in a mental institution, but escaped. She joined forces with Spider-Man against the Maggia. She was granted conditional amnesty, and again convinced Spider-Man that she had died.^[5]

The Black Cat finally found the opportunity to prove herself after learning the Kingpin controlled an incredibly powerful detonator. The Owl planned to use the weapon to hold New York City hostage. Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus planned to use the weapon to destroy the city altogether. However, the Black Cat was able to use her abilities to steal the item first and protect it from all parties. She gave the detonator to Spider-Man and became the target of Doctor Octopus's revenge. Although Spider-Man was able to tear off his mechanical appendages, Octopus was still able to mentally control them and hold the Black Cat still while his men opened fire. Spider-Man barely got her to the hospital in time and as they operated on the dozens of bullet and knife wounds, Peter realized just how much he cared for Felicia.^[6]

After she recovered, they began a relationship and soon Peter revealed his identity to her. Felicia had great difficulty accepting the fact that Peter was just a man beneath the mask and couldn't understand his need for a civilian life. Peter was hurt, but continued the relationship since it was the first time he didn't need to hide his life as Spider-Man from someone.

Initially, the "accidents" which seemed to

befall those who crossed the Black Cat's path were merely well-planned stunts and traps. After her near-death experience^[7], Felicia feared her lack of superpowers made her a liability to Spider-Man. She was terrified that his overwhelming need to protect her would eventually get him killed. So, Felicia sought a way to make herself Spider-Man's equal. After learning Tony Stark was missing, Henry Pym wouldn't return her calls, and being rejected by the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, Felicia was offered an opportunity to undergo the same process that was used to create the Scorpion and the Fly.^[8] The Kingpin chose to use it on the Black Cat as payback for a theft she committed. Scared and ashamed of being empowered by the Kingpin of crime, she decided to keep her new abilities a secret from Peter. While Spider-Man was gone during the "Secret Wars", Felicia searched for him at Avengers Mansion; Vision offered her the chance to join the Avengers, which she declined, being interested solely in Spider-Man. Upon his return, her 'bad luck' power turned out to be infectious, and began to jinx Spider-Man, which was exactly the Kingpin's intent. Feeling a wall of secrets growing between them, Spider-Man broke up with Felicia.^[9] Felicia then began a "Robin Hood crusade," stealing from the rich to give to the poor.^[10]

Peter soon realized something was amiss with his own luck and enlisted the aid of Doctor Strange to remove the "hex" on him. By doing so, he altered the hex's source and changed the Black Cat's powers in the process. She soon found she had heightened strength, agility, balance, vision, and retractable claws. While burglarizing the mercenary known as the Foreigner, Black Cat was attacked by Sabretooth, the Foreigner's hit man; Spider-Man saved her life.

The Black Cat updated her look and her attitude and rekindled her relationship with Spider-Man. She made peace with his need for a normal life as Peter Parker and stood by him while he was being accused of murder as Spider-Man. Together, they tracked down the source of the elaborate scheme to frame him and fought the Foreigner. Eventually, just as his life seemed to be falling apart, Spider-Man came home to discover Black Cat discussing her plans to ruin his life. He followed her to find she had never forgiven him for breaking up with her and in revenge became the Foreigner's lover.^[11] She then battled and defeated Sabretooth.^[12] Her apartment was fire-bombed by the Foreigner's hit man Blaze, and she began living with Peter Parker.^[13] During her ruse against Peter and despite her anger, Felicia began to fall back onto her desire to love him. She soon donned another new costume. Spider-Man then discovered her association with the Foreigner. She cleared Spider-Man of a murder charge. In the end, the Black Cat double crossed the Foreigner and left for Paris to find a new life,^[14] which unexpectedly pushed Peter to find support and a new relationship with Mary Jane Watson.

Years later, the Black Cat returned to America, and went "shopping" with Dagger.^[15] She returned to her original costume, went to seek out Peter Parker, and fought Venom who smashed her face against a wall. Adding insult to injury, Venom informed her that Peter had married Mary Jane Watson.^[16] Angry and jealous, Felicia began harassing the couple, taunting Peter as she dated his friend Flash Thompson.^[17] She began physically threatening Mary Jane, confronting her and swearing to ruin their marriage.^[18] She saved a powerless Spider-Man from the Scorpion, but then all her powers were rendered inert by one of the Chameleon's devices. She began to believe that she sincerely cared for Thompson,^[19] but he broke up with her when he found out her secret. The Black Cat eventually moved past her feelings of anger and jealousy, and became friends with both Spider-Man and Mary Jane. She was one of the few to stand with Spider-Man and Venom against Carnage and his "brood" in the Maximum Carnage arc. Originally she sided with Venom's belief that the only way to defeat Carnage was to kill him, but at the end, she fought alongside Spider-Man in his effort to battle the chaos with compassion. After Spider-Man used a device to remove his superhuman abilities, the Black Cat aided him in finding the device again in order to restore them. In the process, the Black Cat's cat-like abilities were completely erased. She subsequently purchased equipment from the Tinkerer to incorporate into her costume in order to compensate for her lost abilities, and occasionally teamed up with Spider-Man.

After Spider-Man unmasked himself, the Black Cat was disappointed, because she had felt that they shared a bond over knowing his identity, which she described as "sexy". Though she is currently dating Thomas Fireheart (a.k.a. Puma), her new sexual interest notes that Felicia may still have some romantic inclinations toward Peter. After the events of One More Day in the Spider-Man comic books, she (as with the rest of the Marvel Universe) is no longer aware of Spider-Man's secret identity.