The Spectre is the name of several antiheroes who appear in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original version first appeared in More Fun Comics #52. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily although some sources attribute creator credit solely to Siegel, limiting Baily to being merely the artist assigned to the feature.
The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC continuity. It contains such well-known superheroes as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, and Cyborg; as well as teams such as the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Suicide Squad, Doom Patrol, and the Teen Titans. It also contains well-known supervillains, including the Joker, Lex Luthor, the Cheetah, the Reverse-Flash, Sinestro, Black Manta, Deathstroke, Black Adam, Brainiac, and Darkseid.
Darkseid is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, and debuted in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134.
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books, television and novels.
Keith Ian Giffen was an American comics artist and writer. He was known for his work for DC Comics on their Legion of Super-Heroes and Justice League titles as well as for being the co-creator of Lobo, Rocket Raccoon, and Jaime Reyes.
Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, Jon Kent, and Booster Gold. Jurgens had a lengthy run on the Superman comic books including The Adventures of Superman, Superman vol. 2 and Action Comics. At Marvel, Jurgens worked on series such as Captain America, The Sensational Spider-Man and was the writer on Thor for six years. He also had a brief run as writer and artist on Solar for Valiant Comics in 1995.
Klaus Janson is a German-born American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penciller and colorist.
Lobo is a character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen, and first appeared in Omega Men #3. He is an alien from the utopian planet of Czarnia, and works as an interstellar mercenary and bounty hunter.
DC Comics Presents is a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 which ran for 97 issues and four Annuals. It featured team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters in the DC Universe. A recurring back-up feature "Whatever Happened to...?" had stories revealing the status of various minor and little-used characters.
Vril Dox, also known as Brainiac 2, is a fictional character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Superman #167, and was created by Edmond Hamilton, Cary Bates, and Curt Swan.
Blaze and Satanus are twin fictional demonic siblings appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Blaze first debuted in Action Comics #655, created by Roger Stern and Brett Breeding and first pencilled by Bob McLeod. Later, Satanus was created by Brett Breeding and debuted in The Adventures of Superman #493 by Jerry Ordway and Tom Grummett. The twin duo originally starred as Superman villains associated with the supernatural but were later revealed to be the children of the Wizard Shazam, Blaze respectively depicted as a powerful enemy of the Marvel Family.
The Creeper is a superhero created by Steve Ditko and Don Segall for DC Comics. He is portrayed as a journalist and talk show host, usually living in Gotham City, who gains the ability to transform into the superhuman the Creeper thanks to experimental science developed by Dr. Yatz. First appearing in Showcase #73, his origin was revised in Secret Origins #18 in 1987, then partially revised again in The Creeper #1–4 in 1997, then completely reimagined in the six-issue miniseries The Creeper, published in 2006–2007.
Eclipso is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Haney and Lee Elias, the character would first appear in House of Secrets #61. The character bears notable similarities to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
"Bloodlines" is a 1993 comic book story arc published by DC Comics. It was an intracompany crossover that ran through DC's superhero annuals and concluded with a two-issue Bloodbath miniseries written by Dan Raspler. The antagonists were a race of monstrous dragon-like aliens who killed humans for their spinal fluid. A small fraction of the parasite's victims survived and become super-heroes via their ordeal. This plot device introduced a wave of "New Blood" superheroes into the DC Universe. Seven DC Comics series were spun out of the event: Blood Pack, Razorsharp and the Psyba-Rats, Hitman, Anima, Loose Cannon, Argus and Gunfire.
"Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books. The main miniseries debuted in October 2005, and each issue was released with two variant covers: one by Pérez and one by Jim Lee and Sandra Hope.
"Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in 1994, consisting of an eponymous five-issue limited series written and drawn by Dan Jurgens and a number of tie-in books.
Kevin Maguire is an American comics artist, known for his work on series such as Justice League, Batman Confidential, Captain America, and X-Men.
DC Comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different series of comics. Some of these are set in the fictional DC Universe, or any number of settings within the DC Multiverse.
Robert Loren Fleming is an American comic book writer. He is best known as the co-creator of Thriller with Trevor Von Eeden and for his collaborations with Keith Giffen.
