Despero ( / ˈ d ɛ s p ər oʊ / ) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics . The character first appeared in Justice League of America #1 (October 1960), and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky .
174-576: Debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books , the character is a pink-skinned humanoid extraterrestrial with three eyes and psychic powers. Despero has appeared in both comic books and other DC Comics-related products such as animated television series and feature films , trading cards , and video games . He is an enemy of the Martian Manhunter , Booster Gold , the Green Lantern Corps , and
348-610: A lake in New York City's Central Park . Anticipating their arrival, Doctor Light trapped the heroes with a device that phased them out of our dimension. In a surprising turn of events, the Star-Tsar helped the Justice League escape before fleeing himself. Trapped in his own hideout by the JLA, Doctor Light blew a hole in the wall and escaped again. Leaving the villain's lair, the JLA discovered
522-487: A "transistorized brain". Somehow, it all went wrong, and while he slept his unconscious mind seized control of the robot (Supergirl briefly battled the robot before Paul woke). The Snapper Carr character also played a role in the resignation of Green Arrow from the JLA. The story, which is told in flashback , depicted Black Canary and Green Arrow investigating an explosion at the Star City Museum. They were attacked by
696-610: A New God after his 1974 battle with the Justice League and somehow escaped the death of the New Gods, seizes control of a large number of nations and organizations on Earth on behalf of Darkseid. Darkseid obtains a new body, and releases the Anti-Life Equation (a metaphysical virus which allows Darkseid to control the mind of anyone it infects). After a month, nearly all the people of Earth are under Darkseid's control. So are most superheroes and supervillains, whom Darkseid organizes into
870-618: A Silver Age pastiche in his Kapten Stofil comic book series (1998–2009) about the powers of nostalgia in a grumpy, old comic book named Captain Geezer who longs to return to the Silver Age. Lindengren also borrows many elements from Silver Age comics in United States of Banana , a comic book he created with Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi . Arlen Schumer, author of The Silver Age of Comic Book Art , singles out Carmine Infantino 's Flash as
1044-479: A brother nicknamed "Spitter" Carr (for his habit of spitting). It is unclear if Spitter and Jimmy are the same person, or if Snapper was merely being sarcastic. In The Brave and the Bold #28, the Justice League of America faces the threat of Starro , a giant alien starfish with mind-control powers. Snapper Carr, who is spreading lime on his family's lawn, is unaffected by Starro when the alien takes mental control of
1218-510: A cinematic approach at times that occasionally altered the more conventional panel-based format that had been commonplace for decades. Adams' breakthrough was based on layout and rendering. Best known for returning Batman to his somber roots after the campy success of the Batman television show, his naturalistic depictions of anatomy, faces, and gestures changed comics' style in a way that Strausbaugh sees reflected in modern graphic novels. One of
1392-506: A copy in the best condition known of Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), the debut of Spider-Man , selling for $ 1.1 million in 2011. In 2022, a copy of Fantastic Four #1 sold for $ 1.5 million. Comics historian and movie producer Michael Uslan traces the origin of the "Silver Age" term to the letters column of Justice League of America #42 (February 1966), which went on sale December 9, 1965. Letter-writer Scott Taylor of Westport, Connecticut, wrote: "If you guys keep bringing back
1566-516: A corporeal state, attacking a circus and luring out teen heroes Young Justice . Currently jumping between bodies but able to create a psychic illusion of his true form, Despero initially sets his sights on possessing Superboy , but ultimately manages to take possession of the Martian Manhunter. However, Young Justice are able to use the Manhunter's fear of fire against him to draw J'onn's psyche to
1740-547: A critical role in issue #9 in alerting the League to the Appellaxian attack on Earth. In issue #10, he deduced that his uncle had been possessed by the Appellaxian leader, and had the League defeat Simon and then free him from alien control. Another Snapper Carr story appeared in 2001, but in the fictional character chronology, the story occurred some time during his honorary membership in the Justice League. This time, Snapper assists
1914-665: A cure for the Dominators' "gene bomb" (a device which accelerates metagene activity and destabilizes superpowers, ending with the death of the person with the metagene). Snapper and his group, now called the Blasters , return to Earth while Churljenkins joins the Omega Men and flies off into space. The Snapper Carr character next appeared in a one-shot comic , Blasters . The story in this comic book begins with Snapper Carr in an alien insane asylum. Snapper had decided to keep his eyes open during
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#17328849907062088-486: A disappointment—first to the Justice League, then to the Blasters. The Khunds torture Snapper, then cut off his hands—depriving him of the ability to teleport (Snapper Carr later tells Hourman that this is the worst moment in his life). At some point soon thereafter, Snapper Carr is reunited with Brainiac 2 on the planet Cairn, where Brainiac gives him new hands, but Snapper still cannot teleport. The character of Snapper Carr
2262-507: A few barricade themselves inside the compound, which is protected by force fields. Snapper, whose teleportation abilities have now remanifested (how is not explained in the story), spends the first few days after the release of Anti-Life teleporting around the globe disrupting Darkseid's hold on various scientific organizations. But supplies are almost nonexistent at the Checkmate base. After several days, Snapper teleports to France to seek food for
2436-532: A gauntlet of traps and experiments known as "the Blaster". Six humans, including Snapper Carr, survive the Blaster, an indication that they have the metagene. Indeed, the Blaster itself forces the metagene in each person to manifest, and Snapper gains the ability to teleport whenever he snaps his fingers. In the third issue, these six new heroes are transferred to Starlag, the Dominator prison-world. There, they meet up with
2610-461: A lab and in revenge ages half of the Justice League and banishes the remainder to three other worlds, where he has caused reptile, insect, and marine life to become intelligent, planning to conquer the worlds later. When Despero attempts to deceive Wonder Woman by disguising himself as an aged Superman, she overpowers the villain with her Lasso of Truth , realizing the energy should not have affected Superman, and forces him to undo his actions. Despero
2784-480: A lifelong science-fiction fan, was the inspiration for the re-imagined Green Lantern —the Golden Age character, railroad engineer Alan Scott , possessed a ring powered by a magical lantern, but his Silver Age replacement, test pilot Hal Jordan , had a ring powered by an alien battery and created by an intergalactic police force. In the mid-1960s, DC established that characters appearing in comics published prior to
2958-491: A lot less happy." Strausbaugh writes that the Silver Age "went out with that whimper". Comics scholar Arnold T. Blumberg places the end of the Silver Age in June 1973, when Gwen Stacy , girlfriend of Peter Parker (Spider-Man), was killed in a story arc later dubbed " The Night Gwen Stacy Died ", saying the era of "innocence" was ended by "the 'snap' heard round the comic book world—the startling, sickening snap of bone that heralded
3132-520: A mentally ill man calling himself Anakronus. Anakronus claims to be a supervillain who has attacked the Justice League numerous times, but Snapper knows that the man has never tangled with the League before. Snapper succeeds in having Anakronus tell his (rather lengthy) stories about how he destroyed the League. This prevents the man from killing the Carr family for several hours. Members of the JLA show up and easily apprehend Anakronus. The Snapper Carr character
3306-431: A message of acceptance of those who are different". Although its characters have inspired a number of nostalgic films and ranges of merchandise, Harvey comics of the period are not nearly as sought after in the collectors' market in contrast to DC and Marvel titles. The publishers Gilberton , Dell Comics , and Gold Key Comics used their reputations as publishers of wholesome comic books to avoid becoming signatories to
3480-521: A new guise as the heroic Privateer, tried to stop him but was defeated. The JLA arrived and Light fled, only to run into a new villain—the Star-Tsar. When the JLA caught up to the two villains, the Star-Tsar fled to the city of Washington, D.C. , and attacked an embassy there. The JLA rushed to the nation's capital and apprehended the Star-Tsar's henchmen, but they could not locate the villain himself. They did, however, find Snapper Carr lurking nearby. The JLA then rushed off to Doctor Light's underwater lair in
3654-521: A quarter million OMACs against the world's heroes. Brother Eye is eventually defeated, although hundreds of thousands of people still have OMAC technology within their bodies. It is later revealed the Snapper Carr joined Checkmate during the OMAC crisis. The Infinite Crisis crossover event that concluded in 2006 was immediately followed by a major DC Comics event known as One Year Later . One Year Later
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#17328849907063828-477: A race that destroys species unworthy of survival, Despero attempts to convince them to destroy Earth by using an alien substance known as the 'Blackrock' to influence Earth's alien superhumans— Martian Manhunter , Supergirl , Starfire , etc.—to turn against humanity by playing on their occasional feelings of isolation. His efforts are foiled when Batman exposes himself to the Blackrock while under attack by Superman,
4002-577: A ransom. In the Key's hideout, Snapper found himself imprisoned alongside the other JLAers. He told them how the Key found him, destitute and depressed, and offered to supply him with weapons and money if he attacked the JLA. Desperate to feel good about himself, Snapper agreed to participate in the Key's plan. Snapper said the Key, disguised as the Star-Tsar, must have attacked the embassy in Washington. Feeling remorse for attacking his friends, Snapper decided to expose
4176-455: A rise in juvenile crime statistics, although this rise was shown to be in direct proportion to population growth. When juvenile offenders admitted to reading comics, it was seized on as a common denominator; one notable critic was Fredric Wertham , author of the book Seduction of the Innocent (1954), who attempted to shift the blame for juvenile delinquency from the parents of the children to
4350-677: A satellite called Brother MK I , nicknamed "Brother Eye". The purpose of Brother Eye is to keep track of superhero activities in case Batman's memories are wiped again. The hero-turned-villain Alexander Luthor, Jr. gives the satellite sentience and Maxwell Lord , leader of the government agency Checkmate, takes control of it. Lord secretly alters millions of people around the globe with Checkmate technology, turning them into "Observational Metahuman Activity Constructs" ( OMACs )—superpowered creatures which will do Lord's bidding. Brother Eye frames Wonder Woman for Lord's death and then unleashes
4524-527: A second invasion of Earth. Snapper Carr waits with superhero Firestorm aboard the JLA Satellite, while the other heroes successfully battle the aliens. The Snapper Carr character appeared again in 1999 in the comic book Legends of the DC Universe . In the fictional character chronology, this story occurs some time after Green Arrow 's 1980 resignation from the Justice League, but before Green Arrow rejoins
4698-496: A superhero team book, resulting in The Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961). Under the guidance of writer-editor Stan Lee and artists/co-plotters such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko , Marvel began its own rise to prominence. With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, The Fantastic Four #1 initiated a naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons, who squabbled and worried about
4872-478: A superhero, joins L.E.G.I.O.N., and meets Superman—who gives him the name Valor. Snapper Carr's involvement in the Valor story begins after Valor is accidentally imprisoned on Starlag II, a Dominator prison-world with a red sun. Valor signals for help, and his artificial intelligence unit sends for the Blasters. By this time, the Blasters had a number of adventures (none of them depicted in the comic book, just mentioned by
5046-549: A team consisting of the company's most popular superhero characters. Martin Goodman , a publishing trend-follower with his 1950s Atlas Comics line, by this time called Marvel Comics , "mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book called The [sic] Justice League of America and it was composed of a team of superheroes", Marvel editor Stan Lee recalled in 1974. Goodman directed Lee to likewise produce
5220-413: A teleport, to see what occurs. On his dismay, he witnessed an eternity of time passing, and was driven temporarily insane. The reader also learns that each of the Blasters has had trouble adjusting to their new superpowers, and are also incarcerated in the asylum. Snapper escapes by teleporting directly to Churljenkins' ship, which had broken down on an alien world. Churljenkins restores Snapper's sanity, and
5394-410: A term paper. Members of the JLA realize that the missing animals were all long-lived. This enables them to deduce the plans of Professor Ivo (who is trying to create an immortality serum) and defeat his android, Amazo . Usually, Snapper was depicted on "monitor duty", using the JLA computers and satellites to monitor national and world events for trouble to which the heroes could respond. Later, he
Despero - Misplaced Pages Continue
5568-646: A terrorist unit called "Justifiers". Darkseid is eventually defeated, and the universe rebooted by Superman (using a Miracle Machine from the 31st century). The one-off publication Final Crisis: Resist features Snapper Carr. It begins the same day the Anti-Life Equation is released, and the events in the story take place over the next few days. In the book's opening pages, Snapper is shown to be at Checkmate's headquarters in Antarctica . While nearly all Checkmate staff, heroes, and villains are infected with Anti-Life,
5742-506: A third eye on his forehead capable of mind control, illusions, telekinesis, and telepathy. Despero is also empowered by the Flame of Py'tar, a mystical source of power that grants him immense physical abilities and the ability to alter his size. Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books , predominantly those featuring
5916-466: A three-issue limited series titled Invasion! The Dominators , an alien race usually seen in the Legion of Super-Heroes comics, decide to invade Earth to learn the secret of the metagene —a gene that can give certain human beings superpowers . In the first issue of Invasion! , it is revealed that thousands of Earthlings have been kidnapped and taken to the Dominator homeworld, where they are forced to run
6090-479: Is a hero in his own right. He is confronted by John Dough , "the most average man in America", who wants to rid the world of superheroes. Snapper helps Dough kidnap Batman, and addresses a public rally condemning superheroes. The crowd riots, and the Justice League members (except for new member Black Canary ) lose control of their powers. After a fake Batman attacks people attending a congressional hearing into causes of
6264-472: Is a main character in the Hourman comic book, which was published from April 1999 to April 2001. Throughout the comic book's run, a running gag depicts Snapper wearing a series of T-shirts, each emblazoned with a different superhero's logo or uniform colors. In this comic book, Hourman III is an android from the 853rd century. He was built by Tyler ChemoRobotics, a company founded by Hourman II (Rick Tyler) in
6438-399: Is about to kill her when the Martian Manhunter intervenes. The villain quickly defeats the Manhunter, although fellow Justice League member Guy Gardner arrives and hurls Despero away. Despero attacks the League at their headquarters, and kills the comatose Steel (on life support for injuries sustained during a battle against the androids of Professor Ivo ). When Despero is about to murder
6612-471: Is angered by this defeat and escapes from Manga Khan, returning to Earth to battle the Justice League. Unknown to Despero, Khan hires the bounty hunter Lobo to recapture him. Despero engages the Justice League, Justice League Europe , and Lobo in Times Square , New York City , and keeps them all at bay. A desperate Green Lantern Kilowog and L-Ron use Despero's collar to switch his mind with L-Ron's, with
6786-407: Is driven from Luthor when exposed to Sorrow's lethal stare. The villain returns as the guiding force behind a new Secret Society of Super Villains , and allows them to remember they once learned the Justice League's identities. Although Despero takes mental control of several members of the League, he is eventually stopped by Green Lantern and imprisoned on the planet Oa . Having allied himself with
6960-606: Is finally stopped by Captain Marvel . The Four Horsemen are not dead, however. They return almost immediately in a new limited series comic book, 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen , which began publication in November 2007 (six months after the events of 52 and World War III ). In this story, the spirits of the bioengineered beings survived their destruction by Black Adam and fled to the former nation of Bialya, where millions of bodies lay unburied. Veronica Cale (hoping to regain control of
7134-510: Is impressed by his physical endowment and love-making skills. Their post-coital interlude is interrupted by the Justifier Gorilla Grodd . Snapper teleports himself and Cheetah to Checkmate headquarters, but the strain of teleporting another person (which he is doing for the first time) burns out his teleportation power. The one-off comic book ends with Mister Terrific activating OMACs worldwide to help defeat Darkseid. The final panels of
Despero - Misplaced Pages Continue
7308-630: Is imprisoned on Oa once again. At the request of human computer Vril Dox , Despero joins in the fight against the original Starro (a humanoid), that controls all other versions and is conquering the galaxy. Despero engages Starro in combat and, although easily destroyed, begins to regenerate into a superior form, which was always the villain's intent. Vril Dox uses Despero's head as a weapon against Starro and its forces. In September 2011, DC Comics cancelled all of its monthly books and rebooted its continuity in an initiative called The New 52 . In this new timeline, Despero first appears when he arrives in
7482-443: Is infected by Zorrm, and Batman voices concern for him. Snapper Carr blithely tells him that " Clark can take care of himself", and Batman slaps him for pretending an over-friendly familiarity with a hero he barely knows. In the fourth issue of the limited series, Mister Terrific , one of the four heads of Checkmate, arrives on Oolong Island. He teleports Snapper, Superman, and Batman out of Bialya and to Oolong Island, where he tells
7656-504: Is interrupted by the appearance of the supervillain known as Time Commander (who had recently battled Hourman II). Time Commander claims that his grandmother is about to be born today, and that the supervillain Epoch (formerly known as the Lord of Time, and an old JLA enemy) wants to kill the infant so that Time Commander will never be born. Epoch, he says, is already in the hospital and searching for
7830-432: Is not dead but back in time, caught in a loop where he is forced to relive the loss of his hands over and over. Hourman merges his body with Amazo's, and is able to retrieve Snapper from the time-loop. Realizing he's learned as much about being human as he can, Hourman decides to return to the 853rd century. He takes Snapper and his other friends aboard the timeship for some travel and fun, but Hourman suddenly vanishes from
8004-530: Is not depicted in any comic). In stories first published in 2000, but occurring in the character's chronology at a point after the adventure with Valor, Snapper finds himself being pursued by the Khunds , an aggressive alien race from the Legion of Super-Heroes comic books. Snapper is captured, and his fingers are locked together to prevent him from teleporting. Snapper mulls over his past, and concludes that he has always been
8178-404: Is thwarted again when the Justice League intervene in his intergalactic plans of conquest, save member the Martian Manhunter who is being forced to play in a life and death chess match. Despero eventually returns with even greater abilities, and a new body (now physically enhanced by the "Flame of Py'tar", a remnant of the nuclear energy responsible for creating his race), and completely destroys
8352-537: The Atom in building equipment and running software programs to fight the villain Chronos . Gardner Fox left Justice League of America with issue #65, and Dennis O'Neil took over scripting duties. By this time, the Snapper Carr character was immensely unpopular. O'Neil felt Snapper was outdated and no longer fit with the Justice League. He considered two options: Letting the character disappear without explanation, or writing
8526-488: The Blue Beetle , the Martian Manhunter bestows upon him the gift of "Mayavanna": a sacred Martian rite that provides the subject with a reality in which they obtain their desires. Despero sees himself killing the entire League and destroying the world, and is immediately at peace. The villain then reverts into a fetus , and is eventually given to trader Manga Khan in exchange for his servant robot, L-Ron . A re-aged Despero
8700-641: The Comet and Flygirl . Their stories blended typical superhero fare with the 1960s camp. Among straightforward Silver Age superheroes from publishers other than Marvel or DC, Charlton Comics offered a short-lived superhero line with characters that included Captain Atom , Judomaster , the Question , and Thunderbolt ; Tower Comics had Dynamo, Mercury Man, NoMan and other members of the superhero espionage group T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents ; and even Gold Key had Doctor Solar, Man of
8874-641: The Comics Code Authority to regulate comic content. In the wake of these changes, publishers began introducing superhero stories again, a change that began with the introduction of a new version of DC Comics ' The Flash in Showcase #4 (October 1956). In response to strong demand, DC began publishing more superhero titles including Justice League of America , which prompted Marvel Comics to follow suit beginning with The Fantastic Four #1. A number of important comics writers and artists contributed to
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#17328849907069048-868: The Death of the New Gods eight-issue limited series. In this comic book, all of the New Gods are killed, the planets New Genesis and Apokolips merge, and the Fourth World dimension ceases to exist in favor of a new "Fifth World" dimension. In May 2007, even as 52 was still being published, DC Comics began publishing the 52-issue, one-comic-per-week Countdown comic book (later known as Countdown to Final Crisis ). It premiered with issue #51 (issues were numbered in reverse order), changed its name to Countdown to Final Crisis midway through its publication run, and concluded with DC Universe #0 (also known as Countdown to Final Crisis #0). This set in motion yet another reboot of
9222-505: The Golden Age as the Silver Age began, largely due to their creator's ongoing affection for them. Jacobs describes the arrival of Showcase #4 on the newsstands as "begging to be bought", the cover featured an undulating film strip depicting the Flash running so fast that he had escaped from the frame. Editor Julius Schwartz , writer Gardner Fox , and artist Carmine Infantino were some of
9396-490: The Hulk during a time period of social upheaval and the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s . Comic books of the Silver Age explained superhero phenomena and origins through science, inspired by contemporary science fiction , as opposed to the Golden Age , which commonly relied on magic or mysticism . Comics historian Peter Sanderson compares the 1960s DC to a large Hollywood studio, and argues that after having reinvented
9570-733: The Justice League . Despero has been adapted into various media outside comics. Keith David and Kevin Michael Richardson voice the character in Justice League and Batman: The Brave and the Bold respectively. Furthermore, Tony Curran portrays Despero in The Flash five-part episode "Armageddon". In 2010, IGN named Despero the 96th-greatest comic book villain of all time. Despero first appeared in Justice League of America #1 (October 1960) and writer Mike Conroy noted: "It
9744-714: The Justice League Watchtower (a base on the moon), and (after the Watchtower's destruction) the new JLA Satellite . Worse, many villains have learned the secret identity of a wide range of heroes. Zatanna , a sorceress and Justice League member, has (with the consent of nearly all members of the League) been wiping the memories of these villains. Batman, who opposed this decision, also had his memories wiped. In May 2005, comic book readers learn that Batman has designed and constructed an artificial intelligence and placed it aboard
9918-400: The Justice League of America . The DC artists responsible included Murphy Anderson , Gil Kane , Ramona Fradon , Mike Sekowsky , and Joe Kubert . Only the characters' names remained the same; their costumes, locales, and identities were altered, and imaginative scientific explanations for their superpowers generally took the place of magic as a modus operandi in their stories. Schwartz,
10092-500: The Justice League of America . The character occasionally appeared in comics featuring the Justice League from 1969 to 1989, when the Invasion! limited-series comic book gave him superpowers. Snapper was associated with a new superhero team, The Blasters , in various comics until 1993, when he lost his powers and became a main character in the Hourman comic book, beginning in 1999. After
10266-531: The Justice League's Detroit headquarters and meet Snapper Carr, who is managing robotic doubles of the Justice League. As Snapper Carr tries to contact the Hall of Justice , Mister Thunderbolt programs the robots to attack Miguel, Summer, and Snapper. Using the H-Dial, Summer transforms into Chimp Change, Snapper turns into Alien Ice Cream Man, and Miguel turns into Lil' Miguelito. As Chimp Change and Alien Ice Cream Man subdue
10440-517: The Martian Manhunter in Detective Comics #225 predates Showcase #4 by almost a year, and at least one historian considers this character the first Silver Age superhero. However, comics historian Craig Shutt, author of the Comics Buyer's Guide column "Ask Mister Silver Age", disagrees, noting that the Martian Manhunter debuted as a detective who used his alien abilities to solve crimes, in
10614-869: The Phantom Lady ; Strong Man, published by Magazine Enterprises in 1955; Charlton Comics ' Nature Boy , introduced in March 1956, and its revival of the Blue Beetle the previous year; and Atlas Comics' short-lived revivals of Captain America, the Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , beginning in Young Men Comics #24 (December 1953). In the United Kingdom, the Marvelman series was published from 1954 to 1963, substituting for
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#173288499070610788-680: The Werewolf . Gold Key did licensed versions of live-action and animated superhero television shows such as Captain Nice , Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles , and continued the adventures of Walt Disney Pictures ' Goofy character in Supergoof . American Comics Group gave its established character Herbie a secret superhero identity as the Fat Fury , and introduced the characters of Nemesis and Magic-Man. Even
10962-604: The superhero archetype . Following the Golden Age of Comic Books , the Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to 1970, and was succeeded by the Bronze Age . The popularity and circulation of comic books about superheroes had declined following World War II , and comic books about horror, crime and romance took larger shares of the market. However, controversy arose over alleged links between comic books and juvenile delinquency , focusing in particular on crime, horror, and superheroes. In 1954, publishers implemented
11136-615: The "Crisis of Conscience" storyline in JLA #115–119 (September– November 2005), Superman/Batman #33 (March 2007), and Trinity #4 (June 2008). Despero returned to a more human form in an alternate universe storyline in Booster Gold (vol. 2) #5 (February 2008) and #7–10 (April–August 2008). The character returned in Justice League of America (vol. 2) #38 (December 2009) and featured in R.E.B.E.L.S. Vol. 2 #12–13 (March–April 2010). Despero first appears when in pursuit of two rebels from
11310-468: The "quirky detective" vein of contemporaneous DC characters who were "TV detectives, Indian detectives, supernatural detectives, [and] animal detectives". Shutt feels the Martian Manhunter only became a superhero in Detective Comics #273 (November 1959) when he received a secret identity and other superhero accoutrements, saying, "Had Flash not come along, I doubt that the Martian Manhunter would've led
11484-421: The 1985–1986 crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths , DC Comics rebooted its fictional universe and the back-stories of nearly all its characters. This required retellings of many of origin stories , including that of the Justice League of America. The first adventures of the Justice League, and that of Snapper Carr, were retold in the 12-issue maxi-series comic book JLA: Year One . The first several issues of
11658-447: The Atom . According to John Strausbaugh of The New York Times , "traditional" comic book historians feel that although the Silver Age deserves study, the only noteworthy aspect of the Silver Age was the advent of underground comics. One commentator has suggested that, "Perhaps one of the reasons underground comics have come to be considered legitimate art is due to the fact that the work of these artists more truly embodies what much of
11832-552: The Bold #28 (Feb. 1960) before going on to its own title. Film producer and comics historian Michael Uslan later contradicted some specifics, while supporting the story's framework: Irwin said he never played golf with Goodman, so the story is untrue. I heard this story more than a couple of times while sitting in the lunchroom at DC's 909 Third Avenue and 75 Rockefeller Plaza office as Sol Harrison and [production chief] Jack Adler were schmoozing with some of us ... who worked for DC during our college summers. ... [T]he way I heard
12006-467: The Bold #28 as Mr. and Mrs. John Carr. Two years later, readers learn in 1961 that he has a younger brother, Jimmy Carr. Snapper Carr was given a girlfriend, Midge, in Justice League of America #7 (November 1961). Snapper was also shown in 1974 to have a sister, Janet. In 1998, readers learned that Snapper had an uncle, Simon Carr, who played a major role in the founding of the Justice League. A year later, Snapper mentioned in Hourman #1 that he has
12180-516: The British reprints of the Captain Marvel stories after Fawcett stopped publishing the character's adventures. The talking animal superheroes Supermouse and Mighty Mouse were published continuously in their own titles from the end of the Golden Age through the beginning of the Silver Age. Atomic Mouse was given his own title in 1953, lasting ten years. Atomic Rabbit, later named Atomic Bunny,
12354-486: The Checkmate hold-outs. He is attacked by the Anti-Life-infected hero Firehawk , but the supervillain Cheetah knocks Firehawk unconscious. A few days later, Snapper teleports to a hospital in the United States to find medical supplies. He is sickened to see children being infected with Anti-Life. He discovers Cheetah in an empty medical ward of the hospital, bandaging an injury. Cheetah reacts to Snapper's presence by seducing him, and they make love. Cheetah tells Snapper she
12528-468: The Comics Code and found various ways to continue publishing horror-themed comics in addition to other types. Gilberton's extensive Classics Illustrated line adapted literary classics, with the likes of Frankenstein alongside Don Quixote and Oliver Twist ; Classics Illustrated Junior reprinted comic book versions of children's classics such as The Wizard of Oz , Rapunzel , and Pinocchio . During
12702-651: The DC Comics universe, Final Crisis . There was a seven-issue Final Crisis limited series, six crossover stories, a one-off, and 10 Final Crisis spin-off titles (some of them one-shots, some of them limited series). The Final Crisis event storyline begins with Darkseid's death, and his spirit and the spirit of all the Apokoliptian New Gods falling to Earth. This somehow creates a quantum singularity that will consume all creation. The supervillain Libra , who became
12876-735: The Four Horsemen of Apokolips— Yurrd (famine), Rogga (war), Zorrm (pestilence), and Azraeuz (death). These bioengineered beings were created specifically to attack the Black Marvel Family , rulers of the Middle Eastern nation of Kahndaq . In 52 #43 through #50 and expanded upon in the four issues of the limited series World War III , Black Adam's lover, the superheroine Isis , dies after being infected by Zorrm, and Yurrd eats her brother, Osiris . Black Adam goes mad with rage and grief and announces he will kill every single human being on
13050-624: The JLA now decided to abandon its "Secret Sanctuary" and build a new headquarters, the Justice League Satellite . It occupied this orbital hideout in February 1970. "Snapper Carr—Super Traitor!" was the last Joker story for four years, and the last time the Silver Age Joker was seen in print. A much darker, more Gothic Joker later appeared in Batman #251, and is the first appearance of
13224-503: The JLA trophy case. Snapper Carr makes an appearance in the 2019 run of Dial H for Hero . The H-Dial (which can turn a person into a wide range of super-powered beings) is found by Miguel Montez. The H-Dial proves to be addictive, so that anyone who has used it in the past now craves to possess and use it. The mysterious villain Mister Thunderbolt is one of these seeking the device. Miguel and his friend, Summer Pickens, arrive at
13398-531: The James Bond-style spy stories, introducing the vortex beam (which lifts objects), the aphonic bomb (which explodes silently), a miniature electronic absorber (which protected Fury from electricity), and the Q-ray machine (a molecular disintegrator)—all in his first 11-page story. The following comics are sought after by collectors due to their historic significance. A near-mint-plus copy of Amazing Fantasy #15,
13572-494: The Justice League Satellite. After defeating the Justice League, Despero reshapes Gotham City to suit his purposes. Taunted by Batman, Despero is eventually distracted, allowing fellow member Vibe to extinguish the Flame of Py'tar. The villain's form is immediately dispelled and reality restores itself. Despero eventually reforms, and targets the Justice League member Gypsy . After murdering Gypsy's parents, Despero
13746-414: The Justice League again in 1974, attempting to blow up the city of St. Louis, Missouri , but Snapper Carr was not present for this event (having resigned from the JLA five years earlier). The Key's 1977 involvement with Snapper Carr came in the story "The Face of the Star-Tsar!" Doctor Light , a long-time JLA foe, attempted to access the JLA Satellite. Mark Shaw , the former villainous Manhunter now in
13920-468: The Justice League back in 1974. Meanwhile, in Happy Harbor, other JLA members try to talk to Snapper Carr's family in an attempt to understand why Snapper would have turned to crime. Janet Carr bitterly tells the heroes that Snapper was unable to attend college or find employment because of his past association with the Justice League, and had been living a life of misery and poverty. As Janet spoke to them,
14094-475: The Justice League, and in flashback Snapper relates the events of Justice League of America #77. The reader learns that Snapper regrets quitting the Justice League, and that Bethany divorced him because Snapper felt he wasn't good enough for her. Hourman says that Snapper fights for the common man, and that's what people like about him. This lifts Snapper out of his depression. Amazo returns and appears to kill Snapper Carr. The reader learns, however, that Snapper
14268-402: The Key by attacking Happy Harbor (knowing full well that the JLA would easily track him). The JLA soon freed themselves, and discovered that the Key had suffered a horrible accident that left him with a doll-sized body but normal-sized head. The heroes deduced that since the Key could not run in his robotic, humanoid body, there must be a third Star-Tsar. The Red Tornado then exposed Mark Shaw as
14442-461: The League in 1982. In this story ("Critical Mass Stages 1-5"/"Critical Mass Stages 6-16"), Snapper witnesses five JLA members growing to monstrous size. He believes this is a side-effect of a long-ago attack by a minor villain named Packrat. Snapper finds Green Arrow, who locates Packrat's shrink ray and restores the heroes to their correct size. As Snapper departs, Green Arrow tells the boy that he needs to forgive himself. In 1989, DC Comics published
14616-467: The Palais de Louvre in 1967, and books were soon published that contained serious discussions of the art of comics and the nature of the medium. In January 1966, a live-action Batman television show debuted to high ratings. Circulation for comic books in general and Batman merchandise in particular soared. Other masked or superpowered adventurers appeared on the television screen, so that "American TV in
14790-555: The Secret Sanctuary and maintaining the hideout's machinery. In the character's fictional biography, Snapper Carr made a number of appearances between 1969 and 1989. His first appearance came in 1972 100th issue, a story in which the JLA has a celebration. Snapper is invited to attend, but is too ashamed by his betrayal of the League to do so. His second appearance came in 1974, when Justice League of America writer Len Wein decided to have Snapper and his family get kidnapped by
14964-406: The Silver Age lived on a parallel Earth the company dubbed Earth-Two . Characters introduced in the Silver Age and onward lived on Earth-One . The two realities were separated by a vibrational field that could be crossed, should a storyline involve superheroes from different worlds teaming up. Although the Flash is generally regarded as the first superhero of the Silver Age, the introduction of
15138-504: The Star-Tsar attacked Happy Harbor. But after seeing Janet, he broke off his attack and fled. The JLA members followed the Star-Tsar to the Key's hideout, but Snapper—dressed as the Star-Tsar—tried to warn them that they were falling into a trap. A second Star-Tsar appeared and incapacitated everyone. Later, this second Star-Tsar set off bombs in Washington, D.C., and threatened President Jimmy Carter with more explosions if he did not pay
15312-519: The Star-Tsar, felled, and hospitalized. Snapper Carr, who just happened to be in Star City, arrives at the hospital to tell them that his Star-Tsar suit was stolen from the Metropolis police by an astronomer named Richard Rigel, who was working on technology powered by starlight. Green Arrow manages to stop the new Star-Tsar by deducing where he will attack next, but not before members of the JLA almost allow
15486-510: The Supergirl story "What Goes Up Can't Come Down" and its conclusion "The Gravity War". At the end of "Nightmare in New Athens", Snapper is shown to have used the space-sled to fix a Superboy robot , but a disembodied intelligence takes control of the android. In "The Screamin' Demon", readers learn that student teacher Paul French has tried to wipe the memories of his criminal past by developing
15660-520: The Watchtower wearing a Kryptonite ring, subduing Atom and Firestorm . He attacks the rest of the Justice League until he ends up defeated by Martian Manhunter. In Forever Evil , Despero appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains when the Crime Syndicate invade the main universe. Despero is an alien from the planet Kalanor, and in addition to a genius intellect possesses
15834-505: The ability to not just capture a person's super-powers but their humanity as well. Starro is injured, and Hourman reverses the "humanization" effect. In a tie-in to " Day of Judgment ", Snapper fantasizes about two alternative futures—one in which he never betrays the Justice League and becomes a super-hero, and one in which he betrays them and becomes a washed-up alcoholic. Snapper is able to deduce that demons are harassing him and his friends, causing these fantasies, and he not only gets rid of
16008-614: The artist left to join DC Comics ; this combines with DC's Superman #229 (August 1970), editor Mort Weisinger 's last before retiring. According to historian Peter Sanderson, the "neo-silver movement" that began in 1986 with Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? by Alan Moore and Curt Swan , was a backlash against the Bronze Age with a return to Silver Age principles. In Sanderson's opinion, each comics generation rebels against
16182-503: The beings) secretly gives them "morphogenetic technology" to make their bodies more adaptable to Earth and less capable of being destroyed. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman arrive in Bialya in time to see the Four Horsemen constructing new bodies from the millions of corpses lying around them. The Snapper Carr character appears at the end of the second issue, where he is shown monitoring the three heroes for Checkmate. Snapper reveals himself to
16356-460: The best-known pop art painters, specifically chose individual panels from comic books and repainted the images, modifying them to some extent in the process but including in the painting word and thought balloons and captions as well as enlarged-to-scale color dots imitating the coloring process then used in newsprint comic books. An exhibition of comic strip art was held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs of
16530-827: The cancellation of Hourman in April 2001, he became a main character in the Young Justice comic book beginning in December 2001. Young Justice was cancelled in May 2003, and he became associated with the governmental organization Checkmate , a role revealed when the character played a small but important role in the 2007–2008 limited series comic book 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen . The character made major appearances in Final Crisis: Resist in December 2008 and Justice League of America 80-Page Giant in November 2009. In 1959, after
16704-425: The character out of the book. O'Neil decided on the latter, even if it seemed abrupt. By the time the story "Snapper Carr—Super Traitor!" appeared, the Snapper Carr character had not been present in any Justice League of America stories for some time. The story begins with Snapper shown to be upset by the fact that people are interested in him only because of what he knows about the Justice League, and not because he
16878-513: The character] Conan and monsters [in the wake of the Comics Code allowing vampires, werewolves and the like]—were on firm ground by this time." He also dismisses the end of the 12-cent comic book, which went to 15 cents as the industry standard in early 1969, noting that the 1962 hike from 10 cents to 12 cents had no bearing in this regard. Shutt's line comes with Fantastic Four #102 (September 1970), Jack Kirby 's last regular-run issue before
17052-486: The characters) which had turned out poorly, and were about to disband. While rescuing Valor, the team accidentally releases the energy being known as The Unimaginable. Valor and the Blasters battle The Unimaginable, and Valor escapes Starlag II. The Blasters, however, become trapped there. Some time thereafter, Snapper Carr and the Blasters are able to escape Starlag II, but Snapper becomes separated from his friends (their escape, and how Snapper became separated from them,
17226-750: The charge from his backup position in Detective to a new super-hero age." Unsuccessful attempts to revive the superhero archetype's popularity include Captain Comet , who debuted in Strange Adventures #9 (June 1951); St. John Publishing Company's 1953 revival of Rocket Man under the title Zip-Jet; Fighting American , created in 1954 by the Captain America team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ; Sterling Comics ' Captain Flash and its backup feature Tomboy that same year; Ajax/Farrell Publishing's 1954–55 revival of
17400-508: The child. Furthermore, Epoch is also trying to kill the Justice League by attacking them when they were children. Time Commander has already scattered the JLA through time in an attempt to stop Epoch from carrying out his plans (if the Justice League never survives infancy, they will not form the League and Snapper Carr will not be around to help Time Commander). Most of the issue follows the adventures of six teams, composed of one or more League members, as they try to stop Epoch at various points in
17574-400: The comic book Valor . The planet Daxam had helped the Dominators invade Earth, but were convinced by Superman to switch sides. Daxamites, a sub-species of Kryptonian , also gain superpowers under a yellow sun, and this vast army of supermen helped turn the tide and save Earth. The father of Lar Gand (later named Mon-el) died during this battle. Deciding to honor his father, Lar Gand becomes
17748-617: The comic books they read. The result was a decline in the comics industry. To address public concerns, in 1954 the Comics Code Authority was created to regulate and curb violence in comics, marking the start of a new era. The Silver Age began with the publication of DC Comics' Showcase #4 (October 1956), which introduced the modern version of the Flash. At the time, only three superheroes— Superman (and his younger incarnation as Superboy ), Batman (with his sidekick Robin ), and Wonder Woman —were still published under their own titles. According to DC comics writer Will Jacobs , Superman
17922-505: The counterculture movement of the time. The Silver Age of comic books was followed by the Bronze Age. The demarcation is not clearly defined, but there are a number of possibilities. Historian Will Jacobs suggests the Silver Age ended in April 1970 when the man who had started it, Julius Schwartz, handed over Green Lantern —starring one of the first revived heroes of the era—to the new-guard team of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams in response to reduced sales. John Strausbaugh also connects
18096-476: The craft and it crashes on an asteroid. After a few days pass, Hourman returns to the timeship, drops Snapper and his friends off at Happy Harbor, and leaves. The character of Snapper Carr has a major recurring role in the comic book Young Justice . The T-shirt running gag begun in Hourman continues in Young Justice . Young Justice is a group of superheroes composed of teenagers and young adults. Initially,
18270-412: The death of Gwen Stacy." Silver Age historian Craig Shutt disputes this, saying, "Gwen Stacy's death shocked Spider-Man readers. Such a tragedy makes a strong symbolic ending. This theory gained adherents when Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross 's Marvels miniseries in 1994 ended with Gwen's death, but I'm not buying it. It's too late. Too many new directions—especially [the sword-and-sorcery trend begun by
18444-524: The decades and would have gotten this story straight from the horse's mouth. Snapper Carr Lucas " Snapper " Carr is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and penciller Mike Sekowsky , and first appeared in The Brave and the Bold in February 1960. From 1960 to 1969, Snapper Carr appeared as a supporting character to
18618-466: The demons but convinces one of them to reject evil and become good by (feeding it cheesecake ). Shortly thereafter, Snapper Carr and his friends are accidentally trapped aboard Hourman's timeship for months, nearly going insane. After being freed, Snapper is kidnapped by demons and tortured for several days, but is freed by Hourman. Snapper is shown suffering from severe depression after this experience. Hourman asks Snapper to tell him about his time with
18792-577: The early part of the era, including writers Stan Lee , Gardner Fox , John Broome , and Robert Kanigher , and artists Curt Swan , Jack Kirby , Gil Kane , Steve Ditko , Mike Sekowsky , Gene Colan , Carmine Infantino , John Buscema , and John Romita Sr. By the end of the Silver Age, a new generation of talent had entered the field, including writers Denny O'Neil , Gary Friedrich , Roy Thomas , and Archie Goodwin , and artists such as Neal Adams , Herb Trimpe , Jim Steranko , and Barry Windsor-Smith . Silver Age comics have become collectible , with
18966-504: The embodiment of the design of the era: "as sleek and streamlined as the fins Detroit was sporting on all its models". Other notable pencilers of the era include Curt Swan , Gene Colan , Steve Ditko , Gil Kane , Jack Kirby , Joe Kubert , Don Heck , George Tuska , Dick Ayers , and John Romita Sr. Two artists that changed the comics industry dramatically in the late 1960s were Neal Adams , considered one of his country's greatest draftsmen, and Jim Steranko . Both artists expressed
19140-450: The end of the Silver Age to Green Lantern. He observes that in 1960, the character embodied the can-do optimism of the era. However, by 1972 Green Lantern had become world-weary, with the character saying in one story, "Those days are gone—gone forever—the days I was confident, certain ... I was so young ... so sure I couldn't make a mistake! Young and cocky, that was Green Lantern. Well, I've changed. I'm older now ... maybe wiser, too ... and
19314-582: The extraterrestrial superhero team the Omega Men . They also meet Brainiac 2 and his super-team, the Licensed Extra-Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network ( L.E.G.I.O.N. ). Together, the three groups break out of Starlag and flee aboard a shuttle piloted by the feline alien, Churljenkins. They run into a superhero task force led by Superman, and assist in the invasion of the Dominator homeworld. There, they discover
19488-402: The family. Snapper also represented a new egalitarian future, one in which youth could be accepted alongside older adults rather than patronized or excluded. For example, Snapper's first year as an honorary member of the JLA coincided with his senior year of high school. In "Man, Thy Name Is—Brother!", three League members donate their time to help Snapper write a paper about brotherhood . In
19662-555: The few writer-artists at the time, Steranko made use of a cinematic style of storytelling. Strausbaugh credits him as one of Marvel's strongest creative forces during the late 1960s, his art owing a large debt to Salvador Dalí . Steranko started by inking and penciling the details of Kirby's artwork on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. beginning in Strange Tales #151, but by Strange Tales #155 Stan Lee had put him in charge of both writing and drawing Fury's adventures. He exaggerated
19836-522: The fictional timeline of the DC Comics universe, 52 came between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later . 52 included several one-off and limited series comic books. One of these limited series was the six-part comic book 52: Aftermath . 52 had established the existence of the Science Squad , a group of supervillain mad scientists based in the nation of Oolong Island (which is ruled by evil superscientist Veronica Cale ). The Science Squad unleashes
20010-493: The first appearance of Spider-Man, sold for $ 1.1 million to an unnamed collector on March 7, 2011. ^ Apocryphal legend has it that in 1961, Timely and Atlas publisher Martin Goodman was playing golf with either Jack Liebowitz or Irwin Donenfeld of rival DC Comics (then known as National Periodical Publications), who bragged about DC's success with the Justice League of America , which had debuted in The Brave and
20184-409: The first time that a world-destroying (rather than nation-destroying) threat was depicted in comics. Snapper Carr's inclusion was also important. Whereas pre-World War II social norms had emphasized family connections as the most important relationships in a young person's life, the Justice League offered a new kind of relationship, based solely on "ethical commitments to the world", which could supplant
20358-509: The future. One of the few most-selling American comics publishers in 1956, Harvey Comics , discontinued its horror comics when the Comics Code was implemented and sought a new target audience. Harvey's focus shifted to children from 6 to 12 years of age, especially girls, with characters such as Richie Rich , Casper the Friendly Ghost , and Little Dot . Many of the company's comics featured young girls who "defied stereotypes and sent
20532-770: The group was mentored by the Red Tornado, but in Young Justice #38, Impulse ( Bart Allen ) decides to leave the group to live a life away from super-heroics. Robin ( Tim Drake ) resigns, too, feeling no one trusts him. Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark) asks Red Tornado for help, and he persuades Snapper Carr to provide daily oversight of the group. Snapper Carr appears irregularly over the remaining publication history of Young Justice . He appeared in issues #39, #40, and #41, but not in issues #42, #43, #44, or #45. Snapper reappeared in issues #46 and #47, but wasn't in issue #48. He returned in issue #49, did not appear in issue #50, and returned again in issue #51. Snapper Carr appeared in
20706-621: The heroes from the [1930s–1940s] Golden Age, people 20 years from now will be calling this decade the Silver Sixties!" According to Uslan, the natural hierarchy of gold-silver-bronze, as in Olympic medals, took hold: "Fans immediately glommed onto this, refining it more directly into a Silver Age version of the Golden Age. Very soon, it was in our vernacular, replacing such expressions as ... 'Second Heroic Age of Comics' or 'The Modern Age' of comics. It wasn't long before dealers were ... specifying it
20880-506: The heroes in the third issue, and explains that he not only joined Checkmate during the OMAC crisis but has been secretly monitoring the Justice League's activities since the dissolution of Young Justice. Superman is angered by this and demands an end to Snapper's spying, but Batman argues that Snapper can help in case the battle against the Four Horsemen does not go well. Things don't go well, and Superman rescues Batman and Snapper from an advancing army of zombies resurrected by Azraeuz. Superman
21054-460: The heroes that the Science Squad is alarmed that the Four Horsemen remain out of their control. The villains, he says, are now attempting to build a device to contain them, and Checkmate is assisting that effort. Snapper is present when Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman defeat the Four Horsemen, and is left behind on the island by the heroes when they leave. From 2007 to 2008, DC Comics published
21228-570: The host for L-Ron in Justice League Task Force #0 (October 1994), #13–33 (June 1994–March 1996), and #37 (August 1996) and Justice League International (vol. 2) #67–68 (August–September 1994). Despero reappeared in spirit form in Supergirl (vol. 4) #17–18 (January–February 1998) and Young Justice #6 (March 1999). Despero eventually reappeared whole in the graphic novel JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice (December 2002), and featured in
21402-646: The iconic Archie Comics teens acquired super powers and superhero identities in comedic titles such as Archie as Capt. Pureheart and Jughead as Captain Hero . Archie Comics also launched its Archie Adventure line (subsequently titled Mighty Comics ), which included the Fly , the Jaguar , and a revamp of the Golden Age hero the Shield . In addition to their individual titles, they teamed in their group series The Mighty Crusaders , joined by
21576-548: The late 1950s and the 1960s, Dell, which had published comics in 1936, offered licensed TV series comic books from Twilight Zone to Top Cat , as well as numerous Walt Disney titles. Its successor, Gold Key—founded in 1962 after Western Publishing started its own label rather than packaging content for business partner Dell—continued with such licensed TV series and movie adaptations, as well as comics starring such Warner Bros. Cartoons characters as Bugs Bunny and such comic strip properties as Beetle Bailey . With
21750-440: The late 20th century. Hourman III traveled permanently to the 20th century, which is the one place he believed he could grow and evolve as a lifeform. He joined the Justice League, and at one point accessed all of Batman 's memories of the League. These memories made Hourman III realize that Snapper Carr would be a good "humanity coach". The reader learns that, after having his hands restored, Snapper returned to Earth. He married and
21924-471: The latter's body being destroyed shortly afterwards. Now in Despero's body, L-Ron returns to Manga Khan. L-Ron reappeared, still in Despero's body, and had a number of adventures with the Justice League Task Force and Justice League International . Despero returns in spirit form, and temporarily repossesses his old form until stopped by the heroine Supergirl . The villain makes a second attempt to return to
22098-448: The likes of rent-money. In contrast to the straitlaced archetypes of 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 popular among college students who could identify with the angst and the irreverent nature of the characters such as Spider-Man , the X-Men and
22272-542: The maxi-series involved the alien race known as the Appellaxians, which had first appeared in Justice League of America #9 (February 1962). In the fictional character chronology, this story occurs before and shortly after The Brave and the Bold #28, but in the publication history of the character it is printed in 1998. In the story, the Appellaxians conspired with a new criminal organization, Locus , to take over Earth. Snapper's uncle, Simon Carr, made his first appearance in
22446-464: The modern Joker. This story also arguably marked the end of the Silver Age version of the Justice League of America as well. Although Snapper Carr was, in later comic book appearances, shown to have made money by writing a memoir about his time with the League, he was also depicted as feeling immense shame for having been tricked by the Joker into betraying the team. Snapper's role in the Justice League
22620-492: The most distinctive personality of all the members of the Justice League. Snapper not only had the most distinctive means of speaking (with his extreme hipster slang ), but he had the most clearly written and individualist character of all the recurring characters in the comic book. Within a few years, Fox got rid of the hipster slang and had Snapper speak in a more mainstream way. Snapper's parents are identified in The Brave and
22794-480: The new superhero team to tap into the emerging and economically powerful youth culture , and specifically told Schwartz to have the character emulate the hip-talking, leather jacket-wearing, finger-snapping "Kookie" Kookson character on the popular television series 77 Sunset Strip . The teenager had to be a "civilian" (i.e., non-superhero). A hip version of an existing teenage superhero, such as Robin , Supergirl , or existing teenage "civilian" such as Jimmy Olsen
22968-498: The original. Booster Gold and several allies ( Rip Hunter and the Justice League International ) eventually undo the change and restore the original universe. Despero briefly allied with villains Morgaine le Fey and Enigma and became god-like until stopped by the combined efforts of Superman , Batman , and Wonder Woman . Despero returns to attack the Justice League, but when teleported away by member Zatanna ,
23142-484: The past. At the end of the issue, Snapper persuades Cheetah to help by distracting Epoch so Snapper can teleport into the hospital, grab Epoch, and then teleport himself and Epoch back outside. Having done so, Snapper then grabs Epoch's "time gauntlet" and teleports to the side of the Time Commander—with Epoch's forearm and hand in his grasp (the re-emergence of Snapper's teleportation powers is not explained in
23316-464: The people behind the Flash's revitalization. Robert Kanigher wrote the first stories of the revived Flash, and John Broome was the writer of many of the earliest stories. With the success of Showcase #4, several other 1940s superheroes were reworked during Schwartz' tenure, including Green Lantern , Aquaman , the Atom , and Hawkman , and the Justice Society of America was reimagined as
23490-519: The planet Kalanor, which he rules as a tyrant (in Pre- Crisis it is an other-dimensional solar system). They are attempting to create a weapon to defeat him. The rebels make contact with the Justice League of America with JLA member Flash accepting Despero's challenge after he places the rest of the group in a hypnotic trance, but the Flash is defeated in a game similar to chess due to Despero cheating using his third eye's mental powers, and along with
23664-453: The planet. He then commits genocide, murdering all the people in the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Bialya (where he believes the Four Horsemen originated). After being briefly imprisoned by the Science Squad, Black Adam is freed by his friend Atom Smasher (who mistakenly doesn't believe Black Adam capable of genocide) and slaughters hundreds of thousands of people in Italy and China. Black Adam
23838-493: The popularity of the Batman television show in 1966, publishers that had specialized in other forms began adding campy superhero titles to their lines. As well, new publishers sprang up, often using creative talent from the Golden Age. Harvey Comics ' Harvey Thriller imprint released Double-Dare Adventures , starring new characters such as Bee-Man and Magicmaster. Dell published superhero versions of Frankenstein , Dracula and
24012-412: The population of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. Members of the Justice League realize that Starro can be incapacitated using lime, and the alien is defeated. Comic book historian Ramzi Fawaz has argued that this adventure is a critical one in the development of the modern comic book. Not only does it mark the beginning of the superhero who identifies as a defender of the world rather than a nation, it marks
24186-409: The previous, and the movement was a response to Crisis on Infinite Earths , which itself was an attack on the Silver Age. Neo-silver comics creators made comics that recognized and assimilated the more sophisticated aspects of the Silver Age. The Silver Age marked a decline in horror, crime, romance, talking animal humor, and Westerns as American-comics genres. An important feature of the period
24360-612: The public believes is true of newspaper strips—that they are written and drawn (i.e., authentically signed by) a single person." While a large number of mainstream-comics professionals both wrote and drew their own material during the Silver Age, as many had since the start of American comic books , their work is distinct from what another historian describes as the "raw id on paper" of Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton . Most often published in black-and-white with glossy color cover and distributed through counterculture bookstores and head shops, underground comics targeted adults and reflected
24534-421: The publication show Snapper leading a charge of OMACs, Mister Terrific, Cheetah, and the remaining Checkmate staff in a charge out of the bunker. The next appearance of the Snapper Carr character occurred in 2009 in Justice League of America 80-Page Giant . In this story, Snapper Carr is biding his time at the Secret Sanctuary in Happy Harbor, and summons Cheetah for some romance and perhaps sex. Their tryst
24708-443: The rebel and plans to use the energy-absorbing weapon they hoped to use to disable his weapons to conquer Earth, but Snapper Carr uses it to weaken the villain after pretending he has been hypnotized, though the 'blue glow' protected him. Despero is then imprisoned and Kalanor is freed. The villain has his third eye surgically removed, making him lose his hypnotic powers. Eventually it grows back, he fakes his death in an explosion at
24882-482: The remaining issues of Young Justice , which ended its publication run with issue #55. During and after Snapper Carr's run in Young Justice , the character appeared in cameos three times in other comic books. The first appearance was when he attended Green Arrow's funeral. The second appearance showed him hanging out with the Justice League during a meeting with the Avengers from Marvel Comics . The third appearance
25056-427: The rest of the JLA sent to different worlds. Despero found out about this by reading the mind of one of the rebels he had tracked down and teleported, though her father and Flash were protected by the dimensional traveller's 'blue glow'. The JLA are able to escape all the dangers on the worlds and return to Earth using a dimensional traveler one of Despero's henchmen possesses after the Flash defeats him. Despero has found
25230-497: The riot, Snapper resigns his honorary membership in the Justice League. When the League returns to its Secret Sanctuary (located in a seaside cave near Happy Harbor), they're attacked by Dough—who turns out to be the Joker . Joker reveals that Snapper told "John Dough" the location of the League's Secret Sanctuary. The League captures the Joker, but Snapper has departed. Although the Secret Sanctuary had been compromised seven times before,
25404-523: The second issue, and in the third issue readers learned that Simon is the contact person for an ultra-wealthy individual (later revealed to be Oliver Queen ) who wishes to financially support the Justice League in its mission. Simon introduced the League to college student and genius inventor Ted Kord (who would become the superhero Blue Beetle ), who provided them with some technology, and to his nephew, Snapper. The adventure with Starro took place between JLA: Year One issues #3 and #4, and Snapper played
25578-434: The sight of his friend's contamination helping Superman to recognise what is happening to him, allowing Superman to confront the aliens directly and convince them that Despero deceived them. Despero returned in his original human form when plucked from the timestream by Mister Mind , and is convinced to join a group called "The Time Stealers". The villains successfully create an alternate universe that differs significantly from
25752-451: The story from Sol was that Goodman was playing with one of the heads of Independent News , not DC Comics (though DC owned Independent News). ... As the distributor of DC Comics, this man certainly knew all the sales figures and was in the best position to tell this tidbit to Goodman. ... Of course, Goodman would want to be playing golf with this fellow and be in his good graces. ... Sol worked closely with Independent News' top management over
25926-678: The story). With Epoch's technology (and limb) stolen, the attack in the past ceases. The JLA reappear and quickly subdue Epoch. Cheetah, Snapper, and Time Commander bid goodbye to the newborn grandmother in the hospital, and Time Commander takes Epoch to the Timepoint (a frozen moment in time that serves as a prison). In the story's final panels, Cheetah reveals that the baby isn't Time Commander's grandmother (a fact she can sense using her fertility powers). Snapper realizes he's been duped: The Time Commander merely wanted to distract Snapper so that he could steal Hourman's hourglass-shaped time-travel device from
26100-413: The successful revival of Flash and Green Lantern , DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz decided to update the Justice Society of America using a new group of heroes under the name Justice League of America (JLA). According to Schwartz, DC Comics Executive Editor Whitney Ellsworth not only insisted that a teenager be a member of the Justice League but also that this teenager be hip . Ellsworth wanted
26274-457: The superhero archetype, DC by the latter part of the decade was suffering from a creative drought. The audience for comics was no longer just children, and Sanderson sees the 1960s Marvel as the comic equivalent of the French New Wave , developing new methods of storytelling that drew in and retained readers who were in their teens and older and thus influencing the comics writers and artists of
26448-628: The surface, expelling Despero from his body so that Secret can banish Despero's spirit form. Despero's spirit eventually returns with the aid of JSA villain Johnny Sorrow and possesses Lex Luthor . Together they release the Seven Deadly Sins which possess several members of the JLA and JSA, and neutralize the wizard Shazam . The remainder of the teams successfully drive the Sins from their comrades, and eventually defeat both Sorrow and Despero, who
26622-540: The third Star-Tsar. At the end of the story, Superman says he will not send Snapper Carr to jail, and has something else in mind for him. The Snapper Carr character made a number of appearances in The Superman Family comic book from 1978 to 1982. Superman gets Snapper at job at S.T.A.R. Labs , the fictional nonprofit research corporation devoted to creating high-tech weapons and prisons to handle various supervillain and alien menaces. Snapper surreptitiously stole
26796-483: The two of them repair the ship and flee—stranding the Omega Men. They learn that the Dominators have destroyed Churljenkins' home planet, so they return to Earth. On the journey there, they discover that the Spider Guild (an alien race of humanoid arachnids) has created a weapons depot near Earth. Snapper breaks the Blasters out of the hospital, and the team destroys the depot. The Snapper Carr character next appeared in
26970-423: The unconscious Star-Tsar, who had been knocked out by debris from the blast. They unmasked him, only to discover that the Star-Tsar was Snapper Carr. The story continued in "The Key—Or Not The Key", with Snapper/Star-Tsar freed by Star-Tsar henchmen. Several League members trace the henchmen's flying getaway vehicles to the Star-Tsar's lair. They are swiftly captured by the Key, who survived his last encounter with
27144-427: The villain to kill thousands of people. In annoyed at the JLA's conduct, Green Arrow resigned from the Justice League. Writer Gerry Conway brought Snapper Carr back to the Justice League for the comic book's 200th issue. A post-hypnotic suggestion makes the League's original seven members try to reassemble the seven Appellaxian meteorites from the 1962 adventure and use them to clone new Appellaxians who will initiate
27318-499: The winter of 1967 appeared to consist of little else but live-action and animated cartoon comic-book heroes, all in living colour." Existing comic-book publishers began creating superhero titles, as did new publishers. By the end of the 1960s, however, the fad had faded; in 1969, the best-selling comic book in the United States was not a superhero series, but the teen-humor book Archie . Swedish cartoonist Joakim Lindengren draws
27492-418: The wreck of a Kryptonian space-sled in the story "Birthright of Power!", and briefly appeared in the story "Kandor vs. Supergirl" as a witness at the trial of Supergirl . He helped defend her in the follow-on story by gathering letters of recommendation from Justice League members, and then was hired as an assistant by Supergirl's foster father, Fred Danvers . Three issues later, he made a brief appearance in
27666-486: Was a Golden Age comic for sale or a Silver Age comic for sale." Spanning World War II, when American comics provided cheap and disposable escapist entertainment that could be read and then discarded by the troops, the Golden Age of comic books covered the late 1930s to the late 1940s. A number of major superheroes were created during this period, including Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Captain Marvel , and Captain America . In subsequent years comics were blamed for
27840-466: Was a varied one. In many early adventures, he often (and unintentionally) provided information or scientific clues which enabled the League to solve mysteries or defeat enemies. For example, in the team's third published adventure, "Case of the Stolen Super Powers!", several important zoo specimens have gone missing. Snapper mentions a few facts about long-lived creatures that he's incorporating into
28014-544: Was an important element of both Golden Age and Silver Age characters. Many Golden Age writers and artists were science-fiction fans or professional science-fiction writers who incorporated SF elements into their comic-book stories. Science was a common explanation for the origin of heroes in the Silver Age. The Silver Age coincided with the rise of pop art , an artistic movement that used popular cultural artifacts, such as advertising and packaging, as source material for fine, or gallery-exhibited, art. Roy Lichtenstein , one of
28188-576: Was available in "great quantity, but little quality". Batman and Robin were doing better, but Batman's comics were "lackluster" in comparison to his earlier "atmospheric adventures" of the 1940s, and Wonder Woman, having lost her original writer and artist, was no longer "idiosyncratic" or "interesting". Aquaman and Green Arrow (with his sidekick, Speedy ) were also still appearing as back-up features in Adventure Comics , "the only other two superheroes" known to have remained continuously in print from
28362-435: Was depicted as a supervillain in 1977. The Key was a villain who had brainwashed Snapper in 1965, and induced him to poison the JLA's food. In 1968, the Key implanted a post-hypnotic suggestion in the members of the JLA, which forced them to stay in their headquarters for one hour. At the end of that time, they would kill one another. The Key planned for Snapper to kill Superman with a kryptonite ray-gun. The Key battled
28536-399: Was depicted as being a journalist , reporting on the League's activities and providing the "official" record of their exploits, as well as overseeing the JLA's mail handling and processing and responding to fans and admirers. Throughout the comic book series JLA: Year One , Snapper was also depicted as a mechanic and I.T. worker, overseeing the installation of a great deal of technology in
28710-410: Was designed to explore the major continuity changes created by Infinite Crisis . With Superman and Batman apparently dead and Wonder Woman retired, One Year Later also examined how the world coped without its three biggest superheroes. It was followed chronologically by 52 , a one-comic-a-week publication that covered the "missing year" between the end of Infinite Crisis and One Year Later . In
28884-491: Was divorced by a young woman named Bethany Lee (whose mother is the Happy Harbor chief of police). Snapper is depicted spending most of his time at a trendy if run-down Happy Harbor coffeehouse , the Mad Yak Café, and caring for his pet cat, whom he has named Starro. Throughout the run of Hourman , Snapper is subjected to a wide range of horrors and bad experiences. Snapper is turned into an android by Amazo after Amazo gains
29058-450: Was formally made an "honorary member" of the JLA, and was often referred to as the team's mascot . At the end of the first adventure, Snapper received a belt with a signal device embedded in the buckle, with which he can summon members of the JLA. In keeping with his "hip" character, Justice League members later rebuilt a hot rod car so that it could fly and whisk Snapper to JLA meetings. As written by Gardner Fox, Snapper Carr had
29232-413: Was intended to resolve continuity problems which had crept into the DC Comics universe over the past 50 years, and the subsequent reboots were to correct problems created by Crisis on Infinite Earths . During the build-up to Infinite Crisis , DC Comics published a limited series titled Identity Crisis . Batman is surprised to discover that many supervillains have gained access to the JLA Satellite,
29406-430: Was not revealed until 1978. Snapper Carr made his first appearance, alongside the first appearance of the JLA, in the comic book The Brave and the Bold #28, released on December 29, 1959, but with a cover date of February–March 1960. Snapper Carr was not intended to be a superhero, but rather a supporting character for the Justice League. Because of the critical role he played in the League's first adventure, he
29580-418: Was published from 1955 to 1959. DC Comics sparked the superhero revival with its publications from 1955 to 1960. Marvel Comics then capitalized on the revived interest in superhero storytelling with sophisticated stories and characterization. In contrast to previous eras, Marvel characters were "flawed and self-doubting". DC added to its momentum with its 1960 introduction of Justice League of America ,
29754-419: Was ruled out, as these characters would tend to over-emphasize the hero with whom they were already associated. To preserve the "team" nature of the new comic book, therefore, a "neutral" civilian character had to be created. Ellsworth specifically coined the name "Snapper Carr", the character's first name indicating his habit of snapping his fingers when excited or making a point. Snapper's given name of Lucas
29928-467: Was the development of the character makeup of superheroes. Young children and girls were targeted during the Silver Age by certain publishers; in particular, Harvey Comics attracted this group with titles such as Little Dot . Adult-oriented underground comics also began during the Silver Age. Some critics and historians argue that one characteristic of the Silver Age was that science fiction and aliens replaced magic and gods. Others argue that magic
30102-712: Was the first of several run-ins the would-be universe conqueror would have with the superteam". Despero became a semi-regular villain and returned in Justice League of America #26 (March 1964), #133–134 (August–September 1976), and #177–178 (April–May 1980). The character made cameo appearances in Justice League of America #247–250 (February–May 1986) and then featured as the main villain in issues #251–254, dated June–September 1986. Despero returned in an extensive story arc in Justice League America #37–40 (April–July 1990) and Justice League Europe #30–34 (September 1991–January 1992). The character's body reappeared as
30276-784: Was when he attended Green Arrow's wedding to Black Canary. In this last outing, Snapper's invitation to the wedding is stolen and restolen by a host of villains, but Snapper manages to attend the event all the same. DC Comics rebooted their comic universe in 1985 and 1986 in the crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths , again in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time in 1994, then in Infinite Crisis in 2005 and 2006, in Final Crisis in 2008, in Flashpoint and " The New 52 " in 2011. The initial reboot
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