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121-596: Dan the Dyna-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . Danny Dunbar was the star pupil of Thomas N. Thomas, a high school chemistry and physical education teacher. The two are imbued with energy following an experiment gone awry, become superheroes, and participate in World War II . Following TNT's death, Dan learns to use his powers by himself. In Dark Nights: Death Metal , Dan

242-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with

363-488: A script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have the final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors ,

484-493: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought

605-455: A 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in the red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch

726-652: A Lord of Chaos that possesses Burt and turns him into the sorcerer Doctor Chaos, whose costume is identical to Doctor Fate's except for a reversed color scheme. Superboy confronts Doctor Chaos and removes the helmet from Burt, jettisoning it into space. A new version of Doctor Chaos appears in Justice League of America (2018) as an ally of the Lords of Chaos. Doctor Leviticus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. An unknown woman used

847-491: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,

968-501: A Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Martin Stein, no longer part of the composite at all, continued to play a role, but the focus was on this radically different character. New artist Tom Mandrake would create a new look to match. During this time, Firestorm meets Sango and the Orishas, the elemental gods of Nigeria . By the series' 100th issue, Stein learns that he

1089-498: A civilian after spending his youth as a super-hero. He is recruited by Tex Thompson, the Americomando, for a secret project to gain atomic powers and become "Dynaman"; a government sponsored super-hero. However, Dan is killed and Ultra-Humanite transplants Adolf Hitler 's brain into his body before Liberty Belle kills him. Damien Darhk is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Damien Darhk

1210-498: A guy who wasn't the brightest guy in the room, the not-terribly-smart guy who became a superpowered character. The way I'd make that work: I'd bring him into contact with the smarter person, who would also share the powers. This led to… the multiple-people-in-one, Professor Stein/ Ronnie Raymond dynamic." Jack Kirby 's design for Lightray 's costume influenced the look of artist Al Milgrom 's creation of Firestorm. In an interview from 2019, Milgrom admitted: "The facemask on Firestorm,

1331-589: A local pub. Although Dodger proved to be an able-bodied physical combatant, "Team Arrow" subdued him and he told them about the League of Assassins. When pressed for more information, Dodger was unwilling to cooperate, so the Green Arrow and the Black Canary dropped him from the belly of a cargo plane suspended by a bungee cord until he agreed to give them better intelligence. He took them to his secret lair and triangulated

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1452-512: A member of the senior staff at LexCorp . The Firestorm team of Jason and Firehawk made several appearances across the DC Comics Universe before the search for Martin Stein ended. This included dealing with the latest OMAC and teaming up with Superman in the "Back in Action" story arc in Action Comics . Firehawk later introduced Jason to Pozhar , a Russian superhero who was once a part of

1573-582: A merger of Ronnie Raymond and Nathaniel Adam of Earth-37 called Quantum-Storm who was summoned by Monarch in the miniseries Countdown: Arena . An evil version of Firestorm called Deathstorm was created by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi during the Blackest Night event. He was originally Ronnie Raymond's corpse reanimated as a Black Lantern . He attacks Jason Rusch and kills Gehenna before eventually being destroyed and Raymond fully restored to life. Later, Black Lantern energy combines with

1694-596: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as

1815-476: A native of Earth-Eight in the old multiverse. As the storyline jumped ahead one year (and the series itself was now re-titled as Firestorm the Nuclear Man from issue #23 on), Professor Stein has mysteriously vanished, and Jason Rusch has been merging with Firehawk to become Firestorm, allowing him to use her powers as well. The two decided to look for Stein together. Stein had been kidnapped and tortured by

1936-459: A new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as

2057-428: A number of DC titles, though lacking the guidance and knowledge necessary to use his skills wisely. Firestorm was drafted by Batman into a "replacement" Justice League that was commissioned in case something befell the original team (in this case, being stranded in the distant past in " The Obsidian Age " storyline). After the original team returned, Firestorm stayed on as a reserve member and participated in events such as

2178-495: A part of the Matrix. This power is too complex to properly control; thus, it has been highly unreliable as an ability. The driver can fly at supersonic speeds in an atmosphere and reach escape velocities. The driver can also adjust the driver's body's size or pull and enlarge others from the subatomic universe at will, Rusch having once dragged Ray Palmer from his microscopic size to the natural world while on Apokolips. Manipulation of

2299-493: A primary and secondary pilot, to comprehend and master it. Martin instructed Jason on how to study current and potential powers available to them within the Matrix and to manually adjust them on the fly at a later date. Its main source of energy stemmed from the ambient stellar energies of native stars and suns but could also use its co-pilot as a power source, though they will burn out over time and genetically disintegrate if not properly adjusted to its power. The merging aspect of

2420-449: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did

2541-419: A separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books, the art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with

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2662-530: A series of eight-page stories in the back of The Flash (issues 289–304; with art by George Pérez , Jim Starlin and others), and a revival of a monthly Firestorm comic in 1982. The Fury of Firestorm (later called Firestorm the Nuclear Man ) lasted from 1982 until 1990. Firestorm (vol. 3) ran from 2004 to 2007, and introduced the second Firestorm, Jason Rusch, following Ronnie Raymond's death in Identity Crisis . The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men ,

2783-421: A series starring Raymond and Rusch, ran from 2012 to 2013 as part of The New 52 continuity reboot. It was initially written by Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver and drawn by Yıldıray Çınar . Joe Harris replaced Simone starting in issue #7, while Van Sciver also provided the art for issues #7 and 8 before Çınar returned. Veteran writer/artist Dan Jurgens took over the series with issue #13 in 2012, until

2904-441: A success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of

3025-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring

3146-412: A team of metahumans who claimed to represent the League of Assassins. Dodger contributed very little to the battle; however, he did manage to distract one of them long enough for Batman to subdue him. Dodger continued adventuring with the group, battled foes and completed the adventure along with the team. After settling their business with the League of Assassins, Dodger accompanied "Team Arrow" back to

3267-785: A team-up with the Justice Society of America (in JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice ) and the intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers . He was also briefly a member of the Power Company . Jason Rusch is the second Firestorm, introduced following Ronnie Raymond's death in Identity Crisis . He was created by writer Dan Jolley and artist ChrisCross . Jason was a 17-year-old living in Detroit who wanted nothing more than to escape his home city. He lived with his father, who had turned abusive after he lost his hand in an industrial accident. His mother left

3388-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were

3509-417: A universe-destroying quasar back onto itself and absorb the fallout from a massive nuclear detonation). ) He can generate destructive or concussive blasts of nuclear energy, through which he can also channel his transmogrification powers. While the Matrix grants the fusers unique powers, it can also accidentally bestow them on individuals caught in the Matrix by mistake. One example is Nanette Phaedon, wife of

3630-532: Is a superhero in the DC Universe . The character was created by Peter David and Jim Calafiore , and first appeared in Aquaman (vol. 3) #23 (August 1996). Within the context of the stories, Debbie Perkins is the daughter of Tsunami and grew up believing Neptune Perkins to be her father, while Rhombus believed her to be his daughter. As Deep Blue, she is among the heroes who respond to Aquaman 's call to unite

3751-791: Is a member of the Legion of Doom . Doctor Tyme ( Percival Sutter ) is a supervillain in the DC Universe and enemy of the Doom Patrol . He wields a ray that enables him to manipulate and freeze time. Created by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani , he first appeared in Doom Patrol #92 (December 1964). Debuting in Green Arrow and Black Canary #7 (June 2008), Dodger is a thief who deals in high-end merchandise. Operating from London, England, Dodger will steal or sell anything from information to advanced technology. At one point he came into possession of what appeared to be an alien spacecraft. Recognizing that

List of DC Comics characters: D - Misplaced Pages Continue

3872-599: Is a mutated red gorilla who lives in a cave at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro . Mike Maxwell later encounters Djuba after his plane crashes on the mountain. After he defeats Djuba in battle, he gives him a mystic helmet. In the Earth-1 universe, Professor Lewis Lang and his assistant Burt Belker discover a helmet in the Valley of Ur in Mesopotamia that is identical to the helmet on Earth-2 except for its blue color. This helmet contains

3993-478: Is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized,

4114-758: Is an elusive and dangerous criminal mastermind and enemy of the Teen Titans . He makes his first appearance in Titans #1 (March 1999). Claiming to be a major player in the American underworld and implying he has an army at his disposal, Darhk is shown to be well-established and well-connected and has remained untouchable by the FBI and the CIA . He appears to have some connection to the crime syndicate H.I.V.E. and has access to unique high-tech equipment unknown to any organization. Darhk uses trickery and forgotten science to make his followers and

4235-651: Is from another reality within Hypertime who was unable to save his loved ones from death at Kobra 's hands. After his presence in the main DC Universe starts to cause other realities in Hypertime to bleed over into the main one, the Dark Flash is forced by Superman and Wonder Woman to transverse Hypertime and return home. The Dark Flash leaves the main DC Universe, but seems to go from reality to reality with no success. However,

4356-528: Is killed, Dexter's rage attracts a Red Lantern ring and inducts him into the Corps. He was described by Geoff Johns in an interview with Wizard as "the most sadistic and malicious" of the Red Lanterns. Originally intended as a joke by Shane Davis , he began being featured more prominently due to positive reception. Djuba is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Djuba

4477-603: Is part of the World Army while known as Connor Hawke . The Dark Flash is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . He is a counterpart of the Flash . Walter West was created by Mark Waid  and  Paul Pelletier , and first appeared in The Flash (vol. 2) #150 (July 1999). Appearing in the main DC universe in recognition of his other self's sacrifice, he

4598-431: Is revealed to have died some time prior before Batman resurrects him with a Black Lantern ring. In The New Golden Age , he is among the lost sidekicks who are brought to the present day. In the 1993 Elseworlds series The Golden Age , Dan Dunbar retires and goes to Princeton for college. However, he flunks due to poor grades, continued feelings of guilt over his mentor's death, and being unable to adapt to life as

4719-460: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined

4840-472: The Assassination Bureau , Enforcer , Mindboggler , Breathtaker , Pozhar , Sand Demon , Shadowstorm , Shango , Slipknot , Stalnoivolk , Tokamak , Weasel , and Zuggernaut . Other enemies introduced later in publication included Bolt ( Blue Devil #6), Brimstone ( Legends #1), Naiad ( Firestorm, the Nuclear Man #90), and Deathstorm ( Brightest Day #10). The original Firestorm

4961-602: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),

List of DC Comics characters: D - Misplaced Pages Continue

5082-601: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for

5203-551: The League of Assassins and various other villains before Manhunter kills him. Doctor No-Face is a supervillain in the DC Universe . The character, created by Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff , only appeared in Detective Comics #319 (September 1963). Within the context of the stories, Bart Magan attempts to remove a facial scar using an experimental device. When the device erases all of his facial features instead, he takes

5324-614: The Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of

5445-703: The McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved

5566-656: The New Gods or surviving the rigors of outer space and sitting near the inner corona above the Sun's photosphere without discomfort. Stein has stated Firestorm's power to be theoretically infinite, harnessing the spark of creation, the Big Bang itself. However, infinite power runs the risk of burning out its host. While the Firestorm Matrix can be utilized by a single host, it is not recommended. The Matrix functions best with two people,

5687-733: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on

5808-451: The Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as a way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from

5929-409: The "driver" of the Firestorm Matrix, through he can make more complex sentient constructs out of the Matrix's energies. Unlike Green Lantern's creations, Firestorm's alterations are permanent unless he reverses them. Initially, he could not affect organic matter without painful, even lethal, feedback (i.e., fatal biophysical disruption or even localized particle motion phenomena like extreme changes in

6050-520: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following

6171-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had

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6292-574: The 2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis , it was revealed that Martin Stein, alive in space as the "Elemental Firestorm", had sensed the presence of Jason Rusch within the Firestorm Matrix, but was unaware of Ronnie Raymond's death. When Jason, as Firestorm, was gravely wounded in the line of duty, Stein linked with him in a variation of the merge, promising Jason a new Firestorm body to let him return into battle (although Martin had been unable to save his friend Mick Wong) and asking him about Ronnie's fate. Accepting Martin's proposal, Jason asked Stein to become

6413-419: The 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect the comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of

6534-675: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In

6655-452: The Dark Flash was among the speedsters that help to fight Professor Zoom and the Legion of Zoom . The Negative Flash , created by Joshua Williamson, Paul Pelletier and Howard Porter , and debuted in The Flash (vol. 5) #26 (September 2017), is Barry Allen while corrupted thanks to Eobard Thawne and later dealt with Bloodwork . Deathstorm is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character

6776-410: The Firestorm Matrix can access a type of ancestral memory from the continuum of past Matrix users, allowing them to access the latest knowledge of the atoms comprising it. This also translates into a form of time-space sight in which the Matrix user can glimpse the past, present, future, and alternate lives of every other Firestorm throughout reality using a collective of subatomic wormholes which exist as

6897-526: The Firestorm Matrix to create a new Deathstorm separate from Raymond. He attempts to manipulate Raymond and Rusch into destabilizing the Matrix and destroying the universe before the Life Entity kills him. Earth-Three 's equivalent of Deathstorm is Martin Stein, who transformed after experimenting on himself. In Forever Evil , Deathstorm joins the Crime Syndicate before Mazahs kills him. Deep Blue

7018-403: The Firestorm Matrix to create a new version separate from Raymond. He attempts to manipulate Raymond and Rusch into fighting, which would destabilize the Firestorm Matrix and destroy the universe, before being killed by the Life Entity . Earth-Three 's equivalent of Deathstorm is Martin Stein, who transformed after experimenting on himself. In Trinity War , Deathstorm appears as a member of

7139-400: The Firestorm Matrix; together, the trio takes on a newly reborn Tokamak . This series ended with Firestorm the Nuclear Man #35 (April 2007). In Blackest Night , Ronnie Raymond is resurrected as a Black Lantern dubbed Deathstorm . In Brightest Day , Deathstorm becomes a separate entity. Ronnie is fully resurrected by the Life Entity and works with Jason to stop him from destroying

7260-558: The Firestorm matrix is corrupted by exposure to Lazarus Pit resin and causes Stein to age rapidly. Firestorm has the ability to rearrange molecular or particle structures of any substance into most anything else, creating different atomic structures of equal mass. He can transmute the basic composition of an object (e.g., transmuting lead into gold) and can also change its shape or form at will. Much like Green Lantern's limitations, Firestorm can only create items whose workings are understood by

7381-691: The Firestorm stories. His first major story arc pitted Firestorm against the world as the hero, acting on a suggestion from a terminally ill Professor Stein, demanded that the United States and the Soviet Union destroy all of their nuclear weapons . After confrontations with the Justice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faced the Russian nuclear superhero Pozhar in the Nevada desert, where an atomic bomb

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7502-448: The Matrix can enable outside fusions which assimilate any inherent abilities these others might possess. However, this can diminish its effectiveness and stability. Rusch has shown he can spontaneously warp himself and others he had previously merged with to his specific location, triggering the neural pathway connection and allowing the gestalt to access each other's knowledge and memories to better utilize Firestorm's capabilities. Users of

7623-541: The Matrix in tandem created a nuclear being called "the Fury". It was also shown that The Matrix shares a kinship to the Quantum Field in some way, enabling Firestorm users to derive its power for subatomic transmutation and manipulation. Some believe it is key to the fabled God particle theory. Its merging properties can place a large burden on the user; Firestorm runs the risk of reaching critical mass and detonating. At worst,

7744-587: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in

7865-530: The Pupil, a former teaching assistant of Stein's. Flanked by the D.O.L.L.I.s, a group of cyborg soldiers of limited cognitive ability, the Pupil (formerly known as Adrian Burroughs) questioned the nearly dead Stein about the secrets of the universe. Jason and Lorraine, along with the mysterious teleporter Gehenna, freed the captured Stein and restored him to full health. Jason is a college freshman at New York City's Columbus University and seems to have ties with Dani Sharpe,

7986-508: The United States, where he struck up a romantic relationship with Mia Dearden. Mia has now left the States and traveled to London to continue this relationship. Dominus is a fictional character and a DC Comics supervillain who first appeared in Action Comics #747. He appears primarily as an opponent of Superman . Originally, Dominus was an alien priest named Tuoni , who served as one of

8107-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This

8228-473: The back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted a year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by

8349-471: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated

8470-414: The comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into

8591-529: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled

8712-477: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote

8833-459: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,

8954-519: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of

9075-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In

9196-422: The family sometime after the accident. With the loss of a job he needed for college tuition, Jason turned to a local thug for money, accepting a job as a courier. It was on that job that he encountered the Firestorm Matrix, searching for a new host after Ronnie Raymond's death. In the aftermath, Jason struggled to cope with his new identity and powers—a struggle that led to the death of the man who had hired him. In

9317-414: The faults of a Firestorm fusion is that the stronger psyche will have dominance of the Matrix's power, such as when Jason fused with Luis Salvador who overpowered him from the passenger seat of the Matrix. During The New 52 , the Firestorm Matrix could be shared through multiple users at a time. Users could fuse and become stronger, but more unstable. The entity formed between Ronnie and Jason when using

9438-734: The first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring the Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on

9559-432: The five custodians of his world's faith. During this time, he fell in love with his peer, Ahti. However, he was driven mad by jealousy when Ahti ascended past him and assumed the mantle of Kismet, Illuminator of All Realities. Studying infernal forbidden magic in an attempt to gain the power to challenge his former lover and rob her of the power of Kismet, Tuoni's assault was reflected by Kismet's divine energies and his body

9680-628: The fusion of too many users in the Matrix could trigger a second Big Bang. Firestorm has appeared in various alternate realities within the DC Multiverse : a gender-reversed version appears in Countdown: The Search for Ray Palmer as an inhabitant of Earth-11 ; a version of Ronnie Raymond appeared in JLA: The Nail , as a captive of Cadmus Labs ; a Firestork of the Just'a Lotta Animals ; and

9801-478: The idea of a teenage superhero for DC, who could sort of fill the hole that had been left in my heart by leaving Spider-Man behind. I'd been thinking about the tropes — one of which was the meek, mild alter ego, the brainy kid who, in wish fulfillment, gets superpowers, is extremely powerful… able to do things that he hadn't been able to do before. That was, I think, the major motivating force—I wanted to play on that trope. To do that, I wanted to flip it around: create

9922-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there

10043-486: The largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of the process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in

10164-461: The last location of the stealth ship he had leased. The Green Arrow and the Black Canary then persuaded him to accompany them on the search, which brought them to a castle in Leichestershire, England. They evaded several traps and finally discovered a cryogenics tube containing the compressed form of former Justice Leaguer Plastic Man . Dodger continued to work alongside "Team Arrow" and fought

10285-623: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across

10406-405: The late Allen Phaedon, who gained the ability to change her quantum state for size-shifting and flight by her own will. Following Raymond's resurrection during Brightest Day , Firestorm gained the ability to switch "drivers" between Ronnie and Jason at will; before that, only the active driver was in control, with the dormant consciousness only able to advise the other on what action to take. One of

10527-451: The limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in the 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than

10648-644: The main characters from the series vanished from the comics for some time after the cancellation of the Firestorm comic in 1990. Raymond eventually returned in the pages of Extreme Justice . Raymond, at the time undergoing treatment for leukemia, regained his original powers after a chemotherapy session. It took the combined might of the Justice League led by Captain Atom , and the returned elemental Firestorm, to restore Ronnie's health. Firestorm began to appear regularly in

10769-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed

10890-451: The mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in the tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from

11011-569: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934),

11132-716: The name "Doctor No-Face" and starts a short-lived crime spree in Gotham City . Doctor No-Face appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "A Bat Divided!". Dr. Terrance Thirteen (sometimes Terrence ) is a fictional character in comic books set in the DC Universe . The character's first published appearance is in Star Spangled Comics #122 (November 1951). This continued from issue #122–130 (Nov. 1951 – July 1952). The feature then moved to House of Mystery and

11253-666: The name of Doctor Leviticus to experiment on electrum which would later be used in the Talon experiments of her group the Court of Owls . A variation of Doctor Leviticus appears in Gotham Knights , portrayed by Lauren Stamile . This version, originally named Rebekah Leviticus and also known as Rebecca March , is Lincoln March 's wife, mother of Brody March, and the leader of the Court of Owls. She additionally killed Lincoln for standing in her way and

11374-531: The page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of the American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be

11495-488: The permanent second member of the Firestorm Matrix. Sensing his "errors" (including Mick's death) were the result of his youth and lack of experience, he sought the experience and maturity of Stein. Stein refused at first, but later accepted Jason's request, thus ensuring both a new Firestorm body and the reconstruction of human bodies for both Rusch and Stein. It was revealed in Infinite Crisis that Jason would have been

11616-478: The public believe he has mystical or magical powers, but is later proven to be a fraud. Dark Arrow is an alias used by characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics as a counterpart of Green Arrow and Red Arrow . A different version, Roy McQueen , was created by James Robinson and Nicola Scott , and first appeared in Earth 2 #14 (September 2013). He is an archer with partial enhancement who

11737-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in

11858-620: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash

11979-553: The self at the subatomic level allows the driver to become intangible and pass through solid objects. This allowed Rusch to communicate with John Stewart and sift through his mind telepathically after he had been taken over by the void beast. Firestorm is also adept at absorbing and redistributing radiation or energy both harmlessly and productively (such as in Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #7, having both absorbed Zeta Radiation from Adam Strange 's body and repurposed it to turn

12100-592: The series' end with issue #20 in 2013. In 2016, Firestorm was one of the features in the Legends of Tomorrow television series, which united Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson as Firestorm. Firestorm has faced off with many enemies in his publication history. Thinker and Danton Black/Multiplex was introduced in issue 1, and Killer Frost was introduced in issue 3. Introduced in Firestorm Volume 2, this included Black Bison , Plastique , 2000 Committee , Hyena ,

12221-460: The small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck , a collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published

12342-617: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half

12463-579: The three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically, the size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that

12584-415: The two was a hallmark of their adventures. Stein was initially completely unaware of their dual identity, leaving him concerned about his unusual disappearances and blackouts, but Ronnie was eventually able to convince him of the truth, allowing them to bond as separate individuals rather than as parts of a whole. When Conway left the series in 1986, John Ostrander (with artist Joe Brozowski) began writing

12705-549: The undersea kingdoms. Over time, she begins to insist on being called Indigo and learns that Atlan claims to be her true father. Devil Ray is a fictional character who was originally created for the TV series Justice League Unlimited , voiced by Michael Beach , before appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appears in Black Manta #1 (November 2021). The Justice League Unlimited incarnation of Devil Ray

12826-436: The universe. In The New 52 continuity reboot, Ronnie and Jason are classmates who gain powers after obtaining Martin Stein's "God Particle". They are able to operate as separate Firestorms or merge into a creature dubbed Fury . In Doomsday Clock , Doctor Manhattan informs Ronnie that Stein deliberately transformed the two into Firestorm to study metahumans . Despite this, the two continue to work together until

12947-461: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . Firestorm (character) Firestorm

13068-429: The vehicle's stealth capabilities made it a lucrative commodity, he began leasing the vessel to various underworld figures, including the League of Assassins . When the vessel in question was linked to an assassination attempt against Connor Hawke , Green Arrow , and Black Canary began investigating its activity. The trail led them to London where they (along with Mia "Speedy" Dearden ) engaged in combat with Dodger at

13189-511: The way it comes around the chin, was probably inspired by Lightray more than anything... I liked the [Lightray] head-covering thing; I said, "I'm stealin' it!". The first Firestorm series was short-lived, canceled after issue 5, a victim of the company-wide " DC Implosion ". The sixth issue was included in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade . Writer Gerry Conway added Firestorm to the roster of Justice League of America . This led to

13310-654: The weather). It was later revealed that Firestorm could always change organic matter, but opted not to. As Jason Rusch became Firestorm, however, this weakness appeared to have dissipated. With old and new variations, the organic limitation does not extend to his own person, as its users can molecularly change their driver self at will, allowing them to regenerate lost or damaged bodily tissue, boost immune systems, shape-shift, increase physical capabilities and survive indefinitely without food, sleep, water or air. Capacities as such produce superhuman levels of strength, durability, stamina and resistance to injury great enough to challenge

13431-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in

13552-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of

13673-666: Was canceled after issue #7. The character was created by an unknown writer with artist Leonard Starr . Doctor Trap ( Lawrence Trapp ) is a supervillain with a mechanical jaw and enemy of the Justice Experience, the Martian Manhunter , and Cameron Chase . Created by Dan Curtis Johnson and J. H. Williams III , he first appeared in Chase #3 (April 1998). Doctor Trap appears in Harley Quinn , voiced by Alan Tudyk . This version

13794-477: Was created because Black Manta and other Aquaman characters were unavailable. He appears as a member of Gorilla Grodd 's Secret Society until he is killed by Deadman . The comic book incarnation of Devil Ray is a human with Atlantean heritage and a former henchman of Black Manta. Dex-Starr is an abandoned stray blue domestic cat from Earth, adopted by a woman in Brooklyn who names him Dexter. After his owner

13915-514: Was created by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi . He is a counterpart of Firestorm and enemy of Ronnie Raymond , Jason Rusch , and Martin Stein . The first incarnation, introduced in Blackest Night , is Raymond's corpse reanimated as a Black Lantern . He attacks Rusch and kills Gehenna before being fully resurrected, erasing the Deathstorm persona. Later, Black Lantern energy combines with

14036-513: Was distinguished by his integrated dual identity. High school student Ronnie Raymond and Nobel Prize -winning physicist Martin Stein were caught in an accident that allowed them to fuse into Firestorm the Nuclear Man . Due to Stein being unconscious during the accident, Raymond was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind, able to offer Raymond advice on how to use their powers without actually having any control over their dual form. Banter between

14157-592: Was dropped on them. A new Firestorm resulted, a fusion of the two heroes: this new Firestorm was composed of Ronnie Raymond and the Russian Mikhail Arkadin but controlled by Stein's disembodied amnesiac mind. The Firestorm with Arkadin proved to be a transitional phase, as in 1989 Ostrander fundamentally changed the character of Firestorm by revealing that Firestorm was a "Fire Elemental". Firestorm now became something of an environmental crusader, formed from Ronnie Raymond, Mikhail Arkadin, and Svarozhich ,

14278-583: Was featured in The CW 's Arrowverse , portrayed by Robbie Amell , Victor Garber , and Franz Drameh (as Jefferson Jackson ) mainly in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow . In an interview Conway discussed his reasoning and influences while creating the character "I always loved the idea of the hair on fire, I think it goes back to Johnny Storm, the Human Torch , an entire flaming character, of course." Conway further elaborated, "I'd been playing around with

14399-601: Was incinerated. Despite Tuoni's deceit, the omnibenevolent Kismet showed him mercy and shunted his shattered, still-living body into the Phantom Zone . Within the Phantom Zone, Tuoni encountered a holographic projection of Superman's long-dead Kryptonian ancestor, Kem-L, who was able to use his own ancient variety of arcane Kryptonian science to rebuild the former holy man as a psionic cosmic phantasm known as "Dominus". American comic book An American comic book

14520-465: Was intended to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been being it not for Raymond also being there by circumstance. Raymond and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm is exiled to deep space in the process of saving the Earth. Subsequently, he spends many years traveling through space as a wanderer, rarely returning to Earth. After the transition to the elemental Firestorm, all of

14641-600: Was responsible for scarring Harvey Dent . Ultimately, she is killed in an explosion during a battle with the Gotham Knights. Doctor Moon is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Dennis O'Neil and Irv Novick and first appearing in Batman #240 (March 1972). Moon is a criminal neurosurgeon who sells his services to other villains that require his unethical skills of body modifications, psychological conditions, and torture. Throughout his appearances, he allies with

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