Gotham City, also simply known as Gotham, is a fictional city in the Gotham town that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was best known as the home of the superhero, Batman, and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the city was first identified as Batman's place of residence in Batman #4 and has since been the primary setting for stories featuring the character. In most of its incarnations, Gotham is depicted as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world.
Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and The Boys with artist Darick Robertson. He has collaborated with artists such as Dillon and Glenn Fabry on Preacher, John McCrea on Hitman, Marc Silvestri on The Darkness, and Carlos Ezquerra on both Preacher and Hitman. His work has won him recognition in the comics industry, including nominations for the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
Steve Dillon was a British comic book artist, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.
Etrigan the Demon is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jack Kirby, Etrigan is a demon from Hell who, despite his violent tendencies, usually finds himself allied with the forces of good, mainly because of the alliance between the heroic characters of the DC Universe and Jason Blood, a human to whom Etrigan is bound. Etrigan is commonly depicted as a muscular humanoid creature with orange or yellow skin, horns, red eyes, and pointed, webbed ears, who frequently speaks in rhymes. The character was originally based in Gotham City, leading to numerous team-ups with Batman.
Alan Grant was a Scottish comic book writer known for writing Judge Dredd in 2000 AD as well as various Batman titles from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. He was the co-creator of the characters Anarky, Victor Zsasz, and the Ventriloquist.
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.
Hitman is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Garth Ennis and John McCrea and first appeared in The Demon Annual #2 before receiving his own series by Ennis and McCrea that ran for 61 issues.
John McCrea is a comic book artist best known for his collaborations with writer Garth Ennis.
"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.
Garry Leach was a British comics artist and publisher.
Campbell "Cam" Kennedy is a Scottish comics artist. He is best known for his work on 2000 AD, especially the flagship titles Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper.
Charles "Doiby" Dickles is a fictional character from DC Comics. He was the original sidekick for Alan Scott, appearing in comic book stories starring that hero from 1941 to 1949. He has a New York accent.
Douglas Mahnke is an American comic book artist, known for his work and penciling books including The Mask, JLA, Batman, Final Crisis, and Green Lantern.
Calendar Man is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, as an enemy of the superhero Batman, belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery. Calendar Man is known for committing crimes that correspond with holidays and significant dates. He often wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. His name is a reference to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. In his debut, the character was presented as a joke villain, but in later years, writers developed Calendar Man as a dark, disturbed criminal who toys with Batman.
The Boys is an adult superhero comic book series, written by Garth Ennis and co-created, designed, and illustrated by Darick Robertson. The first volume was published by WildStorm, which canceled it after six issues; the series was picked up by Dynamite Entertainment, which published the following eight volumes. Debuting in October 2006, the series concluded in November 2012 after 72 issues were published. In the fourth volume, the series is revealed to be set in the same fictional universe as Ennis' previous 1995–2000 DC Vertigo series, Preacher, with former vampire Proinsias Cassidy cameoing as a bartender. Three 6-issue spin-off limited series were also produced during the series' original run: Herogasm, Highland Laddie, and Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker, with an 8-issue epilogue series, Dear Becky, published from January–December 2020.
The Mask is an American comic book series created by Doug Mahnke and John Arcudi and published by Dark Horse Comics. Its artists include Mark Badger, Chris Warner and Keith Williams. The series tells the story of a supernatural mask that grants its wearers nearly limitless power, often at the cost of their sanity. The original trilogy of The Mask, The Mask Returns, and The Mask Strikes Back was published as a limited series, from 1991 to 1995, and has since expanded into various spin-offs and other media. The series is known for its dark tone and graphic violence.
Liquid Comics is an Indian comic book publishing company, founded in 2006 as Virgin Comics LLC, which produces stories for an international audience. The company was founded by Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group, author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan, Suresh Seetharaman, and Gotham Chopra. In August 2008, the company restructured and relocated from New York to Los Angeles. On September 24, 2008, it was announced that Virgin Comics was renamed Liquid Comics after a management buyout.
Flamingo is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of Batman.
Caliban is a creator-owned comic book series, blending the science fiction and horror genres. The series was created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Facundo Percio, and published by Avatar Press as a seven-issue limited series in 2014.
"For a Few Troubles More" is a British comic story. It was originally published in the adult-orientated anthology comic Crisis between 17 March and 9 June 1990. It was written by Garth Ennis and drawn by John McCrea as a sequel to their earlier story "Troubled Souls". The story is set during the then-ongoing Troubles in Northern Ireland, focusing on the antics of smart-mouthed Dougie Patterson and half-witted Ivor Thompson, both introduced as supporting characters in "Troubled Souls". Ennis would later revisit the characters once more in his creator-owned Dicks series for Caliber Comics and Avatar Press.
