The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and many Marvel superheroes live in this universe, including characters such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Wolverine, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, and Captain Marvel, Blade, Black Widow, Hawkeye, among numerous others. It also contains well-known supervillains such as Doctor Doom, Magneto, Ultron, Thanos, Loki, The Green Goblin, Kang the Conqueror, Red Skull, The Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Carnage, Apocalypse, Dormammu, Mysterio, Electro, and the Vulture. It also contains antiheroes such as Venom, Namor, Deadpool, Silver Sable, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, and Black Cat.
Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, and the electromagnetic spectrum of emotional willpower. The characters are typically depicted as members of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic law enforcement agency.
Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics. Fox was also a science fiction author and wrote many novels and short stories.
Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her first appearance in Action Comics #252 and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.
The Justice Society of America (JSA), is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in All Star Comics #3, making it the first team of superheroes in comic books. Its original members were Doctor Fate, Hourman, the Spectre, Sandman, Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman.
Starman is a name used by several different DC Comics superheroes, most prominently Ted Knight and his sons David and Jack.
Julius "Julie" Schwartz was an American comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various times he was primary editor over the company's flagship superheroes, Superman and Batman.
Icon is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, one of the headline characters introduced by Milestone Media in the 1990s. A being from another planet, he has taken on the form of an African American man, and has abilities such as flight, super-strength, and invulnerability. He uses these in partnership with Rocket, a human teenager using his alien technology, to protect the people of the fictional city of Dakota.
Imperiex is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He was initially introduced as an adversary to the superhero Superman, before becoming a main antagonist for the crossover "Our Worlds at War".
Harold "Hal" Jordan, one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created in 1959 by writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane, and first appeared in Showcase #22. Hal Jordan is a reinvention of the previous Green Lantern who appeared in 1940s comic books as the character Alan Scott.
Big Barda is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Mister Miracle #4, and was created by Jack Kirby. Jack Kirby based Barda's physical appearance on Lainie Kazan, who had recently appeared topless in Playboy. Mark Evanier, Kirby's assistant on the Fourth World comics, has explained the genesis of the character: "Jack based some of his characters on people in his life or in the news... the characterization between Scott 'Mister Miracle' Free and Barda was based largely—though with tongue in cheek—on the interplay between Kirby and his wife Roz". In 2011, Big Barda was ranked 75th in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
Annihilus is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, primarily as an adversary to the Fantastic Four. The character debuted in Fantastic Four Annual #6, which was published in November 1968. Annihilus was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and was notably featured in the "Annihilation" event.
Karolina Dean, also known as Lucy in the Sky, L.S.D., or Princess Justice, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in the series Runaways.
Big Bang Comics is an American comic book anthology series, designed to be an homage to Golden Age and Silver Age comics. Most stories in Big Bang Comics take place either on "Earth-A" during the 1960s, or on "Earth-B" during the 1940s, featuring characters such as Ultiman, Thunder Girl, and Dr. Weird.
Alan Scott is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, and the first character to bear the name Green Lantern. He fights evil with the aid from his own mystical ring, which grants him a variety of powers. He was created by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger, first appearing in the comic book All-American Comics #16, published in 1940.
Ultiman is a fictional character published by Big Bang Comics. First appearing in Big Bang Comics #1, he was created by Gary Carlson and drawn by his partner Chris Ecker, among others. There are two existing versions of Ultiman. Metafictionally, the first is from the Golden Age of comics on Earth-B, and the second from the Silver Age of comics on Earth-A. Ultiman has proven to be the most popular of all Big Bang Comics heroes.
Blue Diamond is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, debuting under the company's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics. The character was created in 1941 by Ben Thompson, who also drew the first comic book adventures of Ka-Zar the Great and Citizen V for Timely, as well as the Masked Marvel for Centaur Publications and Dr. Frost for Prize Comics.
Space Museum was a science fiction comics series published by National Comics in their flagship science fiction title Strange Adventures between 1959 and 1964. The series was written by Gardner Fox and was drawn by Carmine Infantino for almost the whole series.
Wotan is a fictional supervillain featured in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman, made their first appearance in More Fun Comics #55 in 1940. Wotan is frequently portrayed as the primary antagonist of Doctor Fate. Originally a female who obtained her powers through sorcery, Wotan later underwent reincarnation in a male form. Adopting the name "Wotan" from Germanic and Norse legends, the character developed a strong desire for power, leading to conflicts with Doctor Fate. Following the New 52 reboot, a new version of the character named Karel Wotan was introduced in the Earth 2 universe. Karel shares a similar background and possesses green skin as a result of a scar inflicted by Nabu. Seeking vengeance for this injury, Karel assumes the identity of Wotan. The original incarnation of Wotan briefly reappeared in the DC Rebirth storyline.
