Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book Detective Comics on March 30, 1939. In the DC Universe continuity, Batman is the alias of Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and industrialist who resides in Gotham City. Batman's origin story features him swearing vengeance against criminals after witnessing the murder of his parents Thomas and Martha as a child, a vendetta tempered with the ideal of justice. He trains himself physically and intellectually, crafts a bat-inspired persona, and monitors the Gotham streets at night. Kane, Finger, and other creators accompanied Batman with supporting characters, including his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl; allies Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, and Catwoman; and foes such as the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, and his archenemy, the Joker.
Robin is the alias of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson, to serve as a junior counterpart and the sidekick to the superhero Batman. As a team, Batman and Robin have commonly been referred to as the Caped Crusaders and the Dynamic Duo. The character's first incarnation, Dick Grayson, debuted in Detective Comics #38. Conceived as a way to attract young readership, Robin garnered overwhelmingly positive critical reception, doubling the sales of the Batman titles. Robin's early adventures included Star Spangled Comics #65–130 (1947–1952), the character's first solo feature. He made regular appearances in Batman-related comic books and other DC Comics publications from 1940 through the early 1980s, until the character set aside the Robin identity and became the independent superhero Nightwing.
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.
Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in Batman #1, she is one of the Dark Knight's most notable enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues' gallery. However, the character has also been depicted as an antiheroine and become Batman's best known and most enduring love interest, with many stories depicting their complex love–hate relationship. Since 1993, Catwoman has had her own ongoing series, Catwoman.
Red Tornado is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As the second character to assume the identity of Red Tornado, he is the result of an android being merged with a sentient tornado by T.O. Morrow.
Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-L, and Karen Starr, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books by DC Comics, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58. Power Girl is the cousin of the superhero Superman, but from an alternate universe in the fictional multiverse in which DC Comics stories are set. Originally hailing from the world of Earth-Two, first envisioned as the home of DC's wartime heroes as published in 1940s comic books, Power Girl becomes stranded in the main universe where DC stories are set, and becomes acquainted with that world's Superman and her own counterpart, Supergirl.
The Birds of Prey is a superhero team featured in several American comic book series, miniseries, and special editions published by DC Comics since 1996. The book's premise originated as a partnership between Black Canary and Barbara Gordon, who had adopted the codename Oracle at the time, but has expanded to include additional superheroines. The team name "Birds of Prey" was attributed to DC assistant editor Frank Pittarese in the text page of the first issue. The group is initially based in Gotham City and later operates in Metropolis and then relocates once more to "Platinum Flats", California, a new locale introduced in Birds of Prey in 2008.
The Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics: Dinah Drake and her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance. One of DC's earliest superheroines, the title Black Canary has appeared in many of the company's flagship team-up titles, including Justice Society of America and Justice League of America. Since the late 1960s, the character has been paired with archer superhero the Green Arrow, both professionally and romantically. As well as featuring in many Green Arrow stories, she is closely associated with the Batman family of characters, and specifically Barbara Gordon, her best friend, with whom she leads the superhero team Birds of Prey. The original version was created by the writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, the character debuted in Flash Comics #86 on July 31, 1947.
The Crime Syndicate are teams of supervillains from one of DC Comics' parallel universes where they are the evil counterparts of the Justice League. The original team was specifically known as the Crime Syndicate of America and is sometimes abbreviated as CSA. This first superpowered Crime Syndicate team appeared in Justice League of America #29 in August 1964. The primary successive incarnation, known as the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, first appeared in the 2000 JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel.
Earth-Two is a setting for stories appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in The Flash #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between the original Golden Age and then-current Silver Age versions of characters such as the Flash, and how the current (Earth-One) versions could appear in stories alongside earlier versions of the same character concepts. Earth-Two includes DC Golden Age heroes, including the Justice Society of America, whose careers began at the dawn of World War II, concurrently with their first appearances in comics. Earth-Two, along with the four other surviving Earths of the DC Multiverse, were merged into one in the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, following the events of Infinite Crisis, the Multiverse was reborn, although the subsequent Earth-Two was not the same as its pre-Crisis equivalent.
Per Degaton is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a known time-traveling villain who is a recurring enemy of the Justice Society of America.
Paula Brooks is a fictional comic book character published by DC Comics. She is one of many characters to use the names Tigress and Huntress. Paula Brooks is the wife of Sportsmaster and the mother of Artemis Crock.
The Huntress is an antiheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the third DC character to bear the name Huntress. Originally introduced as a new interpretation of Helena Wayne, no longer depicted as the future daughter of Batman and Catwoman as part of DC's post-Crisis on Infinite Earths relaunch, she was later established to be the modern-day equivalent, namesake and predecessor of Helena Wayne.
The Huntress, also known as Helena Wayne, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is the daughter of the Batman and Catwoman of an alternate universe established in the early 1960s and referred to as "Earth-Two", where the Golden Age stories took place. A modern-day predecessor of Helena Wayne as Huntress with no blood-relation to Batman or Catwoman, Helena Bertinelli, was additionally co-created by the character's co-creator Joe Staton in 1989, originally intended as a reinvention of the character following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, before being retconned as different characters.
Theodore "Ted" Grant is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero, known as the original Wildcat and a long-time member of the Justice Society of America (JSA). A world-class heavyweight boxer, Grant became inadvertently entangled in the criminal underworld and developed a costumed identity to clear his name.
The Batman of Earth-Two is an alternate version of the superhero Batman, who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was introduced after DC Comics created Earth-Two, a parallel world that was retroactively established as the home of characters whose adventures had been published in the Golden Age of comic books. This provided justification within the fictional world of Batman stories for DC Comics publishing Batman comic books that disregarded the character's Golden Age stories, as Batman had been presented as a single ongoing incarnation of the character since his earliest stories were published.
Robin of Earth-Two is an alternate version of the superhero Robin, who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was introduced after DC Comics created Earth-Two, a parallel world that was retroactively established as the home of characters which had been published in the Golden Age of comic books. This allowed creators to publish comic books taking place in current continuity while being able to disregard Golden Age stories featuring Robin, solving an incongruity, as Robin had been published as a single ongoing incarnation since inception. Unlike his main counterpart, Robin is the only alter ego of Dick Grayson, who uses the title into adulthood, rather than taking on later codenames such as Nightwing or Batman. In addition, the name "Robin" is not taken on by later characters.
Worlds' Finest is a comic book published by DC Comics, a reimagining of the classic World's Finest Comics, with a similar name but a differently-placed apostrophe. It was launched in May 2012 with a July 2012 cover date. The series was part of a second wave of The New 52 reboot and was one of six titles replacing previously cancelled titles.
Black Canary is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Lance is one of two women under the alias Black Canary within the DC Universe; she is Dinah Drake's daughter and successor of the superhero mantle in the post-Crisis narratives. She is commonly affiliated with the Justice League of America and the archer superhero Green Arrow, professionally and romantically. She is also a founding member of the Birds of Prey.
