Trivia: Super Heroes

Some interesting items in last night’s weekly trivia comp, not including our team name for the night, Ben Dover.

Here is one of those items, courtesy of Master of Ceremonies and questions deviser, Graham E, aka Mr Trivia.

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Q: Who was the first superhero to wear a skintight outfit?

A: We took a punt on The Batman, see below who it was.

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Superman:

• Superman appears in comics published by DC Comics. 

• The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, high school students living in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1933. 

• The look of Superman was influenced by action film hero Douglas Fairbanks, including his stance:

• The look of Clark Kent was influenced by actor Harold Lloyd:

• Siegel and Shuster sold Superman to Detective Comics, the future DC Comics, in 1938.

• The character debuted in Action Comics #1 (cover-dated June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, newspaper strips, television programs, films, and video games. 

The first comic appearance of Superman, June 1938

• Superman helped to create the superhero archetype.

• Nicolas Cage’s nearly-pristine copy of Action Comics No. 1 featuring the first appearance of Superman, sold for a record $2,161,000 in an online auction in 2011. It is the first comic to sell for more than $2 million at auction. Cage's comic was stolen from his home in 2000 and only recovered in April when an unidentified man bought the contents of an abandoned Southern California storage locker.

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Batman:

• Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. 

• The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). 

The first Batman comic

• Originally named the "Bat-Man", the character is also referred to by such epithets as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and the World's Greatest Detective.

• Unlike most superheroes, Batman does not possess any superpowers; rather, he relies on his genius intellect, physical prowess, martial arts abilities, detective skills, science and technology, vast wealth, intimidation, and indomitable will. 

• Batman became popular soon after his introduction in 1939 and gained his own comic book title, Batman, the following year. As the decades went on, differing interpretations of the character emerged.

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The Phantom:

• The Phantom is a long-running American adventure comic strip, first published by Mandrake the Magician creator Lee Falk in February 1936 and now primarily published internationally by Frew Publications.

The first Phantom comic, February 17th, 1936 

• The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. 

• The series began with a daily newspaper strip on February 17, 1936, followed by a color Sunday strip on May 28, 1939; both are still running as at 2016.

• Falk worked on The Phantom until his death in 1999.

• In the strip, the Phantom was 21st in a line of crime-fighters which began in 1536, when the father of British sailor Christopher Walker was killed during a pirate attack. Swearing an oath on the skull of his father's murderer to fight evil, Christopher began a legacy of the Phantom which would pass from father to son. Nicknames for the Phantom include "The Ghost Who Walks", "Guardian of the Eastern Dark" and "The Man Who Cannot Die"

• The Phantom wears two rings that can permanently mark whomever they touch. The ring on his left hand features four overlapping sabres forming a cross known as "The Good Mark". Those touched by it are under The Phantom's protection and the mark itself is said to give the wearer amazing luck. (I have always thought it looks very much like a swastika). The right hand ring bears a Skull, and those that receive its mark (usually via a strong right hook) retain the mark of a skull for life.

And if you have not yet worked it out, the Phantom was the first costumed hero.