Gotham City is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, 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.
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in June 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and many others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.
Smallville is a fictional town in American comic books published by DC Comics. The childhood hometown of Superman, Smallville was first named in Superboy #2. The town, long in an unnamed US state that was first defined as Kansas in Superman: The Movie (1978), is the setting of many Superboy comics where Superboy defends Smallville from various threats. Since the 1978 appearance in Superman: The Movie, Smallville has been a setting in other non-comic book productions featuring Superboy / Superman.
Metropolis is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of Superman and his closest allies and some of his foes. First appearing by name in Action Comics #16, Metropolis is depicted as a prosperous and massive city in the Northeastern United States, in close proximity to Gotham City. In recent years, it has been stated to be located in New York.
Mutants & Masterminds is a superhero role-playing game written by Steve Kenson and published by Green Ronin Publishing based on a variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. The game system is designed to allow players to create virtually any type of hero or villain desired.
Ambush Bug is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. His real name is supposedly Irwin Schwab, but he has mental problems that prevent him from truly understanding reality around him, so even his true identity might be no more than a delusion on his part. His origin is disputed, although the most commonly accepted origin is that Brum-El of the planet Schwab sent his clothes from his supposedly doomed planet, hoping that his wardrobe would survive, only to have it intercepted by a giant radioactive space spider. In the resulting crash, only two articles of clothing survived: the Ambush Bug suit, which was subsequently found by Irwin Schwab; and "Argh!Yle!", an argyle sock with a Doctor Doom-like complex, complete with metal mask.
Edward Nelson Bridwell was a writer for Mad magazine and various comic books published by DC Comics. One of the writers for the Batman comic strip and Super Friends, he also wrote The Inferior Five, among other comics. He has been called "DC's self-appointed continuity cop."
Paul Kupperberg is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for DC Comics and executive editor of Weekly World News, as well as a writer of novels, comic books, and newspaper strips.
DC Heroes is an out-of-print superhero role-playing game set in the DC Universe and published by Mayfair Games. Other than sharing the same licensed setting, DC Heroes is unrelated to the West End Games DC Universe or the more recent Green Ronin Publishing DC Adventures game.
The Mayfair Exponential Game System or MEGS is a rules system developed for role-playing games. The name comes from what fans called the game system for DC Heroes, which was also later used for Underground (1993). It is noteworthy for its use of an exponential system for measuring nearly everything in the game. This system makes it possible to have both cosmically-powered characters and ordinary human characters meaningfully interact within the same universe. For example, in DC Heroes, the first game to use MEGS, Superman's strength is several orders of magnitude more than Batman's. With the MEGS system, however, this large difference in strength is scaled down. So, while Superman would still have a clear advantage in a brawl, Batman is at least able to hold out for a while, mirroring how superhero combat often operates in comic books.
DC Universe Online (DCUO) is a free-to-play action combat massively multiplayer online game set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game was initially released in January 2011 for Windows and PlayStation 3. It would later release in November 2013 for PlayStation 4, April 2016 for Xbox One and August 2019 for Nintendo Switch.
DC Adventures is a superhero role-playing game published by Green Ronin Publishing in 2010 that is set in the DC Comics superhero universe. It uses the same game system as Green Ronin's third edition of Mutants & Masterminds.
The Batman Role-Playing Game is a role-playing game published by Mayfair Games in 1989.
Batman Sourcebook is a supplement about Batman published by Mayfair Games in 1986 and again in 1989 for the superhero role-playing game DC Heroes.
Don't Ask! is an adventure published by Mayfair Games in 1986 for the superhero role-playing game DC Heroes that features Ambush Bug from DC Comics.
Who Watches the Watchmen? is an adventure published by Mayfair Games in 1986 for the superhero role-playing game DC Heroes that features the Watchmen.
In Hot Pursuit is a collection of four scenarios published by Mayfair Games in 1990 for the superhero role-playing game DC Heroes.
Justice League Sourcebook is a supplement published by Mayfair Games in 1990 for the superhero role-playing game DC Heroes, itself based on superheroes found in DC Comics.
Injustice is a series of superhero fighting video games developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, featuring characters from the DC Comics universe. The games were directed by Mortal Kombat creator and industry veteran Ed Boon, whose team had previously developed Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe for Midway Games, and written by Brian Chard, Dominic Cianciolo and John Vogel and Jon Greenberg. The series features the voice talents of Kevin Conroy, George Newbern, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Alan Tudyk, Grey Griffin, Fred Tatasciore, Tara Strong, Khary Payton and Richard Epcar, reprising their roles from various DC Comics media.
Kupperberg, Paul (1990) Atlas of the DC Universe. DC Comics/Mayfair Games
