First Appearances in Comic Books Quiz

Answer: Superman

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman. Superman has been played by Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Christopher Reeve among many others in television and the movies. Many say that Christopher Reeve who played Superman in the 1978 movie looked very similar to the way Curt Swan drew him in the comics at the time.

Answer: Batman

Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman. He has always been a popular character. "Batman" was a 1943 15 chapter movie serial full of cliffhangers and a 1966 TV show that had famous actors begging to guest star alongside Adam Wast and Burt Ward. There was a movie based on the TV show in 1966, but most people remember the series of darker movies that began in 1989 and have been coming out every few years ever since.

Answer: Green Lantern

The original Green Lantern, Alan Scott, had a magical ring and it was powerless against wood. "Showcase" #22 of October 1959 completely reworked the character into a member of a galactic corps with a secret identity of Hal Jordan.

Answer: Captain America

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Captain America. While now everyone just sees the Hitler punch as World War II era comics, this issue came out almost a year before the USA entered the war. The two creators received hate mail and threatening phone calls for the political statement they were making.

Answer: Archie

The CW TV series "Riverdale" is a modern take on the comic that has been around for almost 80 years. In 1968 and 1969 "The Archie Show" was a Saturday morning cartoon featuring the band "The Archies". They had a big #1 hit with "Sugar Sugar" in 1969, I guess everybody else was at Woodstock.

Answer: Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman was created by psychologist and inventor William Moulton Marston. Marston was a firm believer in women's rights and was a partial inventor of the polygraph. He was one of the first to associate elevated blood pressure with lying.

Answer: Mighty Mouse

Mighty Mouse had already been in cartoons at the theater for three years before finding his way into a comic book. Superman was the inspiration for his costume and powers. Andy Kaufman did a skit on the first episode of "Saturday Night Live" on October 11, 1975 where he played a recording of the "Mighty Mouse" theme song and lip-synced "Here I come to save the daaaay."

Answer: The Hulk

"The Incredible Hulk" was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They wanted a superhero who was maybe a monster and borrowed from Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As with a lot of superhero origin stories in the 1960s there was radiation involved in his creation. I wonder why his pants turned purple and always managed to stay on as he grew to a much bigger size?

Answer: Spider-Man

Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and became one of the biggest stars in the Marvel universe. He has been portrayed in Saturday morning cartoons, a live action TV show in 1978 and in several movies. In 1971 the U.S. government Department of Health Education and Welfare asked Marvel executive Stan Lee to do a comic showing the negative effects of drug use. Lee chose to run a three-comic story in "Amazing Spider-Man" issues 96-98.

The Comics Code Authority refused to give the comics their seal of approval, but Marvel published them anyway. Later the CCA realized their mistake and changed their strict policy of no drug mentions at all.

Answer: Daredevil

Daredevil was yet another Stan Lee creation. In his secret identity as blind lawyer Matt Murdock no one suspected him of being Daredevil. Even when Spider Man figured out that Daredevil has to work at a certain law firm, it was Matt's partner Foggy Nelson that he thought was Daredevil, completely sure a blind man could not possibly be a superhero.