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.

Rogue

Real name: Unrevealed
Other aliases: (current) None, (former) Dr. Kellogg; (when her "Danvers" personality was dominant) Carol Danvers, Ace
Identity: Secret
Occupation: (current) Adventurer, (former) Terrorist
Legal status: Citizen of the United States with no criminal record
Place of birth: Caldecott County, Mississippi
Marital status: Single
Known relatives: Mystique (unofficial foster mother), Nightcrawler (foster mother's son)
Base of operations: (current) Xavier Institute, Salem Center, Westchester County, New York State, (former) X-Men headquarters, Australian outback; the Savage Land
Group affiliation: (current) X-Men, (former) Brotherhood of Evil Mutants III
First appearance: AVENGERS ANNUAL #10

History: Rogue's real name and the identities of her parents still remain unknown. She grew up in Caldecott County, Mississippi near the banks of the Mississippi River. Early in her teens Rogue discovered her mutant powers when she kissed a boy named Cody Robbins. He fell unconscious and her mind was suddenly filled with his memories. She soon learned that she had the power to absorb the memories and abilities of other people by touching them, but she could not control this power.

The distraught Rogue found refuge with the mutant Mystique, who was like a second mother to her. When Rogue grew older she joined Mystique's terrorist organization, the third Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In battle with Carol Danvers, the original Ms. Marvel, Rogue absorbed her memories and superhuman powers. But, for unknown reasons, Rogue unintentionally absorbed them permanently rather than, as usual, temporarily. Thus Rogue gained Ms. Marvel's superhuman strength and ability to fly. She also now possessed a buried alternate personality that duplicated Danvers and that, in future years, would sometimes supplant her own.

As a member of Mystique's Brotherhood, Rogue battled the X-Men, the Avengers, the original Spider-Woman, the Dazzler, and Rom. But Rogue grew increasingly upset over her inability to control her absorption power and her fears that Danvers' psyche would overwhelm her own. Unable to find help from the Brotherhood, Rogue turned to her enemies, the X-Men, instead. Convinced of her sincerity, Professor Xavier admitted her to the team, and she quickly proved herself a loyal member.

Except for some temporary absences, Rogue has remained a member of the X-Men ever since. She has never gained conscious control of her absorption power, but her passage through the mystic "Siege Perilous" rid her of Danvers' personality.

During a period she spent in the prehistoric Savage Land while the X-Men were temporarily disbanded, Rogue grew close to the X-Men's then reformed foe Magneto. They broke up when Magneto returned to his life of terrorism. After returning to the X-Men Rogue fell in love with their new member, Gambit. Recently, however, they have grown apart, and it remains to be seen if they will renew their relationship.

Height: 5 ft. 8 in.
Weight: 120 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown with white streak
Strength level: Superhuman Class 50
Flight speed: Subsonic

Known superhuman powers: Rogue possesses the superhuman ability to absorb the memories, knowledge, talents, personality, and physical abilities (whether superhuman or not) of another human being (or members of some sentient alien races) through physical contact of her skin with the skin of the other person. (Sometimes she also duplicates in herself outward physical characteristics of her victim.) The victim's abilities and memories are absorbed for a time sixty times longer than the amount of time Rogue was in physical contact with that person. The victim loses his or her abilities and memories for exactly the length of time that Rogue possesses them. Due to unknown factors Rogue has permanently absorbed certain superhuman powers from Ms. Marvel I.

When Rogue possessed a duplicate of Carol Danvers' psyche, her "double" consciousness gave her high resistance to telepathic probes; it is not known if she still possesses this resistance.

Special limitations: Rogue cannot touch another human being without temporarily absorbing that person's memories, abilities, and superhuman powers (if any) and rendering him or her unconscious. Remnants of the personalities of victims whose memories she has absorbed remain buried in her subconscious indefinitely. Certain powerful beings have proven resistant to Rogue's power.

Ben 10

Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and their grandfather Max, during the start of their summer camping trip, Ben goes stomping off into the woods after another fight with Gwen, whom he is not happy to have along on the trip, and finds an alien pod on the ground. When he examines it, he finds a mysterious, watch-like device, called the Omnitrix, stored inside. The device attaches permanently to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms, each with their own unique powers, quite similar to DC's Dial H for Hero comic. Although Ben realizes that he has a responsibility to help others with these new abilities at his disposal, he is not above a little superpowered mischief now and then. Along with Gwen and Max, Ben fights evil, both extraterrestrial and criminal.

In the first season, the plot mainly focuses on the villain Vilgax, an evil alien warlord who wants to use the Omnitrix to conquer the galaxy. Injured at the start of the season, he sends various drones to get the Omnitrix until he is healed. After he is fully healed, he attempts to retrieve it himself, only to be stopped by Ben, Gwen and Max. Furthermore, it is hinted throughout the season that Max knows more about aliens than he lets on, culminating in the revelation that he and Vilgax had fought previously. A more subtle plotline involves Ben being forced to "grow up" and learning to use the Omnitrix responsibly, with particular emphasis on that point in the episode "Kevin 11".

The second season mostly follows a "villain of the week" format. The few plot-centric episodes focus on Kevin, a super-powered 11 year old with the power to absorb different types of energies, who meets Ben in the first season. Having inadvertently allowed Kevin to absorb the Omnitrix's ability during their first meeting, Kevin serves as an antithesis to Ben. A sociopath, Kevin eventually morphs into a hideous amalgam of Ben's original ten forms and blames Ben for it. Vilgax also returns in the finale, teaming up with Kevin in the hopes of succeeding where he failed originally. Again, he fails, and both he and Kevin are trapped in an alternate dimension, the Null Void. Another important event during this season is the destruction of Ghostfreak, one of Ben's original ten forms. Having escaped from the Omnitrix, he plans to possess Ben and use the power of the Omnitrix to begin his own legacy of conquest. However, he is defeated and destroyed by Ben.

The third season has a similar yet darker plot layout. Its few plot-centric episodes focus around aliens styled on traditional horror monsters that Ben acquires as new forms through their contact with the Omnitrix. Purple-colored lightning, caused by a teleportation device created by the Frankenstein-esque alien Doctor Vicktor, heralds their appearance. Vicktor, in turn, is loyal to Ghostfreak, who is resurrected later in the third season. He plots to shroud the earth in darkness with the use of a corrodium beam projected from a space station and expanded across the earth using a transmitter in New Mexico, thus allowing him to be at full power and rule over the planet. His attempt, however, is thwarted by Ben; he dies once more from direct exposure to the sun, but not before his DNA is re-added to the Omnitrix.

The fourth season revolves around Ben's last adventures as summer vacation ends. The few plot-centric episodes revolve around the leader of the Forever Knights organization, Forever King, and his plans to deal with the Tennysons himself. He gathers many of Ben's enemies to serve as members of his group, the "Negative 10" to both battle the Tennysons and steal a powerful energy from the Plumber base at Mount Rushmore. Ben eventually defeats the Forever King, destroying the Mount Rushmore faces in the process, though it is implied that a hologram is used to recreate the faces. Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix is set shortly after this point.

The series' final episode shows a possible take on Ben's return to normal life following the end of his summer vacation, and ends with the reveal of his secret powers to his father and the general public, after a final climactic battle with Vilgax. The film Ben 10: Race Against Time portrays a similar situation, the difference being that Ben fights an original character created for the film and his secret remains safe.

Robin

Character history

Cover to Detective Comics #38 (1940), art by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson.

About a year after Batman's debut, Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger introduced Robin the Boy Wonder in Detective Comics #38 (1940). The name "Robin the Boy Wonder" and the medieval look of the original costume were inspired by The Adventures of Robin Hood. Robinson noted he "came up with Robin because The Adventures of Robin Hood were boyhood favorites of mine. I had been given a Robin Hood book illustrated by N. C. Wyeth... and that's what I quickly sketched out when I suggested the name Robin, which they seemed to like, and then showed them the costume. And if you look at it, it's Wyeth's costume, from my memory, because I didn't have the book to look at."^[2] (Later re-tellings of Robin's origin have instead often said the name comes from the American robin bird, not Robin Hood,^[3] Frank Miller's All Star Batman and Robin being a notable exception.) Although Robin is best known as Batman's sidekick, three Robins have also been members of the superhero group the Teen Titans and Outsiders with the original Robin, Dick Grayson, being a founding member and the group's leader and with Tim Drake being the current team leader.

In Batman stories the character of Robin was intended to be the Batman's Watson as, Jerry Robinson, writer for many early Batman adventures, once wrote: “Robin was an outgrowth of a conversation I had with Bob. As I said, Batman was a combination of Douglas and Sherlock Holmes. Holmes had his Watson. The thing that bothered me was that Batman didn't have anyone to talk to, and it got a little tiresome always having him thinking. I found that as I went along Batman needed a Watson to talk to. That's how Robin came to be. Bob called me over and said he was going to put a boy in the strip to identify with Batman. I thought it was a great idea.” However, in later stories, the character Alfred Pennyworth fills the role better, being the Dark Knight's doctor, friend and confidant. He also has a British military background where he practiced medicine on the battlefield.

The following fictional characters have donned the Robin costume at various times in the main DC Comics universe continuity:

Dick Grayson

Main article: Dick Grayson

Dick Grayson was an 8-year-old acrobat, the youngest of a family act called the "Flying Graysons". A gangster named Boss Zucco (loosely based on actor Edward G. Robinson's Little Caesar character) had been extorting money from the circus and killed Grayson's parents, John and Mary, by sabotaging their trapeze equipment as a warning against defiance. Batman investigated the crime and, as his alter ego millionaire Bruce Wayne, had Dick put under his custody as a legal ward. Batman rigorously trained the boy, teaching him physical fighting and detective skills, During this time he came to love Batman as a second father. Together they investigated Zucco and collected the evidence needed to bring him to justice. From his debut appearance in 1940 through 1969, Robin was known as the Boy Wonder. However, as he grew up, graduated from high school and enrolled in Hudson University, Robin continued his career as the Teen Wonder, from 1970 into the early 1980s. The character was re-discovered by a new generation of fans during the 1980s because of the success of The New Teen Titans, in which he left Batman's shadow entirely to assume the identity of Nightwing.

[edit] Jason Todd

Cover to Batman #424 (October 1988), pencils by Mark Bright.

Main article: Jason Todd

DC was initially hesitant^{[citation needed]} to turn Grayson into Nightwing and to replace him with a new Robin. To minimize the change, they made the new Robin, Jason Peter Todd, who first appeared in Batman #357 (1983), similar to a young Grayson. Like Dick Grayson, Jason Todd was the son of circus acrobats murdered by a criminal (this time the Batman adversary Killer Croc), and then adopted by Bruce Wayne. In this incarnation, he was red-haired and unfailingly cheerful, and wore his circus costume to fight crime until Dick Grayson presented him with a Robin suit of his own. At that point, he dyed his hair black. After the mini-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, much of DC Comics continuity was redone. Dick Grayson's origin, years with Batman and growth into Nightwing remained mostly unchanged, but Todd's character was completely revised. He was now a black-haired street orphan who first encountered Batman when he attempted to steal tires from the Batmobile. Batman saw to it that he was placed in a school for troubled youths. Weeks later, after Dick Grayson became Nightwing and Todd proved his crime-fighting worth by helping Batman catch a gang of robbers, Batman offered Todd the position as Robin. Readers never truly bonded with Todd and, in 1988, DC made the controversial decision to poll readers using a 1-900 number as to whether or not Todd should be killed. The event received more attention in the mainstream media than any other comic book event before it. Some outside the comic book community mistakenly thought that DC was considering killing Dick Grayson, not realizing he had been replaced. Readers voted "yes" by a very small margin (5,343 to 5,271) and Todd was subsequently murdered by the Joker in the A Death in the Family storyline, in which the psychopath beat the youngster severely with a crowbar, and left him in a warehouse rigged with a bomb. Jason Todd later returned as the new Red Hood (the original alias of the Joker) when he was brought back to life due to reality being altered. A year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Todd appeared posing as Nightwing, but subsequently returned to his Red Hood persona. On the Countdown to Final Crisis series, he briefly returned to his Robin persona as the Red Robin after meeting an Earth 51 version of Batman during his journey throughout the multiverse with Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, and a Monitor. After returning to his own dimension, he abandoned the Red Robin mantle and returned to his role as a ruthless vigilante.

Tim Drake

Artwork for the cover of Robin vol. 2, #150 (Jul, 2006). Art by Patrick Gleason and Prentis Rollins.

Main article: Tim Drake

DC Comics was left uncertain about readers' decision to kill Todd, wondering if they felt Batman should be a lone vigilante, disliked Todd specifically, or just wanted to see if DC would actually kill the character. In addition, the 1989 Batman film did not feature Robin, giving DC a reason to keep him out of the comic book series for marketing purposes. Regardless, Batman editor Denny O'Neil introduced a new Robin. The third Robin, Timothy Drake, first appeared in a flashback in Batman #436 (1989). Drake was a young boy who had followed the adventures of Batman and Robin ever since witnessing the murder of the Flying Graysons. This served to connect Drake to Grayson, establishing a link that DC hoped would help readers accept this new Robin. Drake surmised their secret identities with his amateur but instinctive detective skills and followed their careers closely. Tim has stated on numerous occasions that he wishes to become "The World's Greatest Detective," a title currently belonging to the Dark Knight. Batman himself has stated that one day Drake will surpass him as a detective. Despite his combat skills not being the match of Grayson's (although there are some similarity in that they are far superior to Todd's when he was Robin), his detective skills more than make up for this. In addition, Batman supplied him with a new armored costume which included full leggings to give Drake improved protection. Tim was introduced as a happy medium between the first two Robins in that, from the readers' point of view, he is neither overly well behaved like Dick Grayson nor overly impudent like Jason Todd. Apparently, the compromise was successful with readers, as Drake is the first Robin to have his own comic book series, where he fought crime on his own. Tim Drake, as Robin, co-founded the superhero team Young Justice in the absence of the Teen Titans of Dick Grayson's generation, but would then later re-form the Teen Titans after Young Justice disbanded following a massive sidekick crossover during which Donna Troy was killed. This version of the Teen Titans still exists with Tim as the leader. Following the events of Infinite Crisis and 52 Tim altered the colors of his Robin coustume to simply red and black in tribute to his best friend, Superboy (Kon-El), who died fighting Earth-Prime Superboy