Kistler's History of Superman - Intro

This essay is part of my Superman Files and covers Superman's early drafts and origins.

He has been nicknamed the Man of Steel, the Last Son of Krypton, the Metropolis Marvel, the Man of Tomorrow and even "Big Blue" to his pals.It doesn't matter if you've never touched a comic book or seen the cartoons or movies or TV shows. You know the name Clark Kent because he has become an American icon. Whether you see him as a silly hero in a circus outfit or as a metaphor for an angel who comes from the sky to save us all, you can't deny the impact and effect he's had on so many people.

This is the story of Superman, both within and behind the comics.

IN THE BEGINNING: FROM VILLAIN TO HERO

During the 1930s, the United States of America had this little thing we call “The Depression.” Times were extremely tough for folks all around during this period. This was a time when more than a quarter million teenagers became drifters, taking up odd jobs in other states to send back money to the same parents who couldn't afford to house them. Think about that.

It was in this era that two boys from Cleveland, Ohio named Jerome "Jerry" Siegel and Joe Shuster spent their teenage years. A time where corruption was all around and odds seemed to be against anyone trying to make a decent living wage.

As if the times weren't hard enough, the Siegel family also suffered a deep personal loss. On Thursay, June 2, 1932, Jerry's father Mitchell Siegel was minding his clothing shop when it was assaulted by robbers. The robbery attempt ended in Mitchell's death. Although a shot was fired, it was said that Mitchell Siegel died of a heart attack brought on by the event and not by a bullet.

With this event and the harsh state of the world at the time, is it any wonder then that Jerry and his best friend Joe would decide to create an escapist hero wrapped up in bright primary colors who was strong, bulletproof and invulnerable to ... well, eventually, just about everything?

Siegel and Shuster loved science fiction.Together, they published a fanzine called Science Fiction, with Joe as art director and Jerry as editor. The January 1933 issue of Science Fiction gave readers a story by the two friends called “The Reign of the Super-Man.” In it, the title character Bill Dunn was a bald homeless man who became evil after he was granted powers in an experiment by a mad scientist named Dr. Smalley.

Later that year, the hero Doc Savage (nicknamed "the Man of Bronze") was introduced in the pulp magazines that were popular at the time. Doc Savage's fan base was rivaled only by that of another pulp hero, the Shadow.After hearing about these heroes and reading a Detective Dan comic strip, Jerry Siegel said "it occurred to me that a Superman who was a hero might make a great comic book character." He and Shuster did a new Superman comic strip with this premise. They submitted it to the publisher of Detective Dan, who immediately rejected it. Depressed, Shuster destroyed all the original artwork he drew for the story,saving only the cover.

I'm not gonna lie. The fanboy in me wants to weep as I read over that last sentence above. But then I remember that I'm a guy and that, despite enlightened times, it's still kinda weird for a guy to cry over comics, so we'll move on.

The two kids were not to be defeated. Superman just needed some improvement, surely. And so, the boys went back to the drawing board. In the summer of 1934, it is said that a young Jerry Siegel spent a whole night writing up the basics behind what we now know as the classic Superman origin story.

The story depicted an alien scientist named Jor-L who discovered that his planet Krypton would soon explode, though no one would heed his warnings. Jor-L had sent his only son Kal-L to Earth in an experimental rocket so that he would survive the planet's destruction. Kal was found and raised by an elderly couple, the Kents. Because of his alien heritage, Kal-L could leap several city blocks at once, had bullet-proof skin and incredible strength. This ability was inspired by the hero Jon Carter of Mars, a popular science fiction adventurer. Said Siegel, "Carter was able to leap great distances because the planet Mars was smaller that the planet Earth; and he had great strength. I visualized the planet Krypton as a huge planet, much larger than Earth."

Taking the name Clark Kent, the adult Kal-L walked as a normal man among us, ready to help ordinary people when they needed it. When he wasn't charging into danger, he worked as a newspaper reporter at the Cleveland Newsand his co-worker was an aggressive woman named Lois Lane who he was strongly attracted to.

By the next morning, Siegel had written a few weeks worth of newspaper-style comic strips, which Shuster started drawing as soon as he looked them over. The two friends didn't realize they were building a saga that would outlive them both.

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Marvel Hero and Villain Teams

This is a list of those groups of heroes and villains that band together for a common goal. This list does not include cults such as HYDRA or government organizations such as S.H.I.E.L.D., although it will include some hero teams that may be funded and authorized by the government.

This list is still under construction and will be regularly updated.

Acolytes of Magneto - Also known simply as the "Acolytes", this was a group of mutant terrorists who believed Magneto was their messiah. While the Brotherhood of Mutants was usually dedicated to mutant domination, the Acolytes wished to wipe out humanity rather than rule it and were known to people at random in order to "genetically cleanse" all traces of normal humans or "flat-scans" as they called them (since they did not register any mutant qualities or an X-gene). The Acolytes were originally led by Fabian Cortez and later by the mutant called Exodus. The Acolytes saw themselves as a religious order and did not bother with unique costumes or colorful aliases.

Avengers - Often called "Earth's Mightiest Heroes." The group formed soon after the rise of the Modern Age of Heroes, when Thor, Iron Man, Wasp and the original Ant-Man all attempted to capture the Hulk, believing he had attacked innocent people. After realizing their mistake and defeating the true villain Loki, the five decided to form a club that would handle threats no single super-hero could defeat. Thus, the Avengers were formed. Tony Stark (Iron Man) set up their HQ in his old 5th Avenue mansion (which became Avengers Mansion) and also provided each member with a weekly stipend as compensation for their services.

In one of the team's first missions, they recovered Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, who had been locked in suspended animation since just before the end of World War II. Since he joined so early after the team's formation and became an invaluable asset, even coining their battle cry "Avengers Assemble," Cap is considered a founder as well and has been leader of the team on many occasions. In the opinion of many fans, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor represent the core of the team and are often called the "Big Three" of the Avengers.

Over the years, the Avengers roster has changed many times over. It has occasionally disbanded and reformed. For a time, there was also a West Coast branch. For most of the team's tenure, it had special security clearance with the U.S. government.

After the Super-Human Registration Act, a new official team of Avengers was formed as a strike-force for S.H.I.E.L.D. (see entry below), while a second team of unregistered heroes acted on their own, sometimes called "Secret Avengers" or "New Avengers."

Recently, Norman Osborn has been put in charge of the U.S.'s super-human operations. As such, he has created his own new team of official Avengers, made up mostly of former criminals who used to be part of the Thunderbolts team. These characters are featured in the series Dark Avengers. Meanwhile, there are two other splinter groups working on their own. One, led by Hank Pym (formerly the original Ant-Man), operates outside the U.S., beyond Osborn's jurisdiction, and is featured in the series Mighty Avengers. The other, led by the new Captain America, operates in the U.S., in defiance of the Registration Act, and is featured in New Avengers.

A group of teenage heroes with ties to the team have called themselves the Young Avengers. Due to the Registration Act, they do not work together frequently anymore, lest they attract the attention of authorities.

Avengers Initiative - The Initiative Program involved smaller units of super-heroes operating in each of the 50 states of the U.S. People who wished to operate in one of the Initiative teams must first be trained at Camp Hammond. The Avengers Initiative was disbanded when SHIELD was discontinued. The black ops division of the Initiative was known as the Shadow Initiative.

The Brotherhood of Mutants - Also known at times as the "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants", this was originally a group of mutant terrorists gathered and led by Magneto. The Brotherhood led attacks on government bases and attempted to spread mutant rule across the Earth. The team has been disbanded and re-organized several times, sometimes under the leadership of the shape-shifter Mystique, other times led by various others, including Magneto's former followers Exodus and Toad. Some of the Brotherhood teams have been as much about profit as they have been about mutant domination. Magneto, Mystique and Toad occasionally allowed the press to label the group as "the Brotherhood of EVIL Mutants" because it was both ironic and allowed them to point out to their followers how easily humans labeled mutants as evil.

When the mutant Xorn masqueraded as Magneto, he formed his own version of the Brotherhood of Mutants that consisted of former students of the X-Men. This Brotherhood led an attack on Manhattan that resulted in the deaths of hundreds, making them perhaps the most effective and notorious incarnation of the team.

Recently, a new group has shown up calling itself the Sisterhood of Mutants, led by Madelyne Pryor, the clone of the X-Man Jean Grey.

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Crisis on Infinite Earths - Death List

Many universes and countless innocent lives were lost during the First Crisis. What follows is a list of those super-villains and super-heroes who were killed during the affair.

- Earth-2 was erased from history, with only the Earth-2 Robin, Earth-2 Huntress, Earth-2 Green Arrow, Kal-L (Earth-2 Superman), his wife Lois Lane-Kent and his cousin Power Girl surviving the experience. Later, Earth-2 Robin, Earth-2 Green Arrow and Earth-2 Huntress were killed during the final shadow demon attack on Earth.

- All of Earth-3 was wiped out by anti-matter, with the exception of Alexander Luthor, Jr. This includes Alexander Luthor and his wife Lois Lane-Luthor, as well as this world's version of the Crime Syndicate: Ultrama, Owlman, Johnny Quick, Superwoman and Power Ring.

- Earth-4 was erased from history.

- All of Earth-6 was wiped out by anti-matter, with the exception of Lady Quark. This included her husband Lord Volt.

- All of Earth-D, including their super-heroes the Justice Alliance (as revealed during the lost chapter, published years later).

- Earth-S was erased from history.

- Earth-X was erased from history.

- The villainous Alexei Luthor of Earth-2 was murdered by Brainiac when he insisted on being put in charge of Earth's villains.

- The Anti-Monitor was finally destroyed by the combined efforts of Earth's heroes and a killing blow from Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-2.

- The original hero Aquagirl (Tula) was killed by the shadow demons during their final attack on Earth.

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Crisis on Infinite Earths in a Nutshell

This is part of my Crisis Files.

So what was the deal with the First Crisis, the big saga that was depicted in Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12? Well, that can get very complicated. But for this "In a Nutshell" essay, we're going to focus on the basics. Like all of my "In a Nutshell" pieces, this is focusing on what is considering continuity today. If you want the full messy details, look elsewhere in the Crisis Guide.

KRONA AND THE FORBIDDEN EXPERIMENT

Some time after the death of the "Old Gods" (the first sentient race in the universe), and long before the rise humanity on Earth, there was the alien race of Maltusians, blue-skinned near-immortals. The Maltusians eventually made their home on Oa, a world they believed to be located in the center of the universe.

One of the Maltusians, a scientist named Krona, attempted to peer back into the past so he could witness the very beginning of time and space itself. Krona's monitor screens displayed the image of a giant hand in a void, a hand grasping a swirling field of stars.

But then the equipment blew up, releasing cosmic forces. Entropy released caused the destruction of several star systems. What's more, the energies unleashed somehow caused space and time to rupture at the moment of the Big Bang. What should have been a single universe was now split into countless variations, a multiverse of possibilities co-existing, each on a different vibrational frequency.

There was also the anti-matter universe, which apparently already existed. Some accounts say that Krona's experiment cemented a connection between the anti-matter universe and the main DCU. In any event, the anti-matter reality was a twisted mirror version the mainstream DC Comics positive matter universe. Oa's counterpart in the anti-matter universe was the planet Qward.

The Maltusians decided they had to make up for Krona's crime and renamed themselves the Guardians of the Universe (though other factions broke off, calling themselves the Controllers and the Zamarons). The Guardians eventually created the inter-galactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps.

When Krona's machines blew up, two new beings emerged. One emerged on the moon of the planet Oa. The other, a dark twin, emerged in the anti-matter universe on the moon of Qward. In millennia to come, these two beings would be known as the Monitor and Anti-Monitor. Both wielded incredible cosmic forces.

Just as Oa housed the Guardians of the Universe, dedicated to order and peace, the Anti-Monitor now populated Qward with its own people, the Weaponers who engineered great machines and tools of war and the Thunderers who used those weapons to wage destruction upon anything they came across. The Qwardians literally worshiped violence and death, each wishing to die in battle. The deadliest of the Thunderers were transformed into the Anti-Monitor's elite guard, "shadow-demons" of great power.

Despite not existing in the same universe, the Monitor and Anti-Monitor became aware of each other and began to war, each determined to destroy his twin. Eventually, their conflict forced them both into a comatose state.

But this was not the last time they would fight ...

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Kistler's Martian Manhunter Files

OUR HERO IN A NUTSHELL

J'onn J'onzz (whose name means "light to the light") was born thousands of years ago on the planet Ma’lecaandra, a world that Earth people would later call "Mars." The Green Martians were one of the oldest races in the universe, enemies of the warrior race of White Martians who shared their planet. The Green Martians had much influence with the Guardians of the Universe (who formed the Green Lantern Corps) and with the celestial race known as the New Gods. They also created the clone race of red-skinned Saturnians.

J'onn was a family man, deeply dedicated to his wife M'yri'ah and his daughter Kh'ym. Like all his people, he held two roles in society, being both a philosopher and an agent of his planet's police force, the Manhunters of Mars. He lived faithfully by the Martian Manhunter code: "Once begun, to walk the path, to pursue the prey, to never turn aside, short of death, until justice is done."

After watching his entire civilization (including his wife and child) die from a telepathic plague, J'onn wandered the planet alone for centuries. In 1955, a human scientist named Erdel performed an experiment that accidentally transported the last Martian Manhunter to Earth.

Still a peace officer in his heart, J'onn couldn't help but do his best to protect his new home from evil forces. Thanks to his Martian heritage, he is gifted with incredible strength, speed, flight, telepathy, optic force blasts (called "Martian vision") and complete control over his body's physical state and density. His only weaknesses were fire, his own sense of compassion, and his deep-seated love for Oreo cookies (later referred to in the comics as Choco cookies for legal reasons).

With his shape-shifting abilities, J'onn assumed the role of detective John Jones and later established various other identities around the world in order to learn more about humanity. For a brief time, he acted in the guise of a human super-hero called the Bronze Wraith, working alongside a short-lived group called the Justice Experience.

Many years later, the debut and widespread acceptance of Superman convinced J'onn that Earth was ready to know about aliens and so he went public as the Martian Manhunter. Noticing that many super-heroes were based in the U.S. and Europe, J'onn made it a point to focus his efforts on the rest of the world. In Asia and Australia, he was considered as important and inspirational as Superman himself.

Along with his solo career, J'onn has been a cornerstone of the famous Justice League of America, since he not only helped found the team but has served as a member of nearly every incarnation of the group. Centuries old and a teacher at heart, this somber yet witty detective helped train and guide many younger heroes. Superman and Batman have often deferred to his experience and keen insight.

In recent years, J'onn realized he is not the last Martian. There is his psychotic twin Malefic, dedicated to the destruction and enslavement of all life. There is the heroic M'gann M'orzz, a White Martian who has forsaken the war-like ways of her people and has tried to be a hero on Earth as the green-skinned Miss Martian. And there are other Green and White Martians hiding on Earth, many of whom are villainous and corrupt.

Ready to learn more about this character, including his fate in the story Final Crisis? Then read on.

History of the Martian Manhunter

Martian Manhunter in Media (coming soon)