On the Origins of Supers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Radioactive spider

Following that arachnid encounter, Peter Parker went on to an illustrious career as Spiderman. Perhaps surprisingly, Spiderman is a relatively recent creation in the world of superheroes, brought to us for the first time as recently as 1962, by the great Stan Lee.

Answer: Super-soldier serum

They injected him, and exposed him to "Vita-Rays" and that's how they made the rejected recruit into Captain America. He was unique, since the scientist who perfected the process was assassinated by a Nazi spy. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941, well before words like cyborg and nanobot entered the language.

Answer: Krypton

He is, of course, Superman. He was introduced in 1932, by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and was by many accounts, the first truly "super" hero. His backstory has evolved over the years, and details vary, but he always comes from Krypton, under the giant red star known as Rao.

Answer: Aphrodite

The earliest version of the story went that the goddess Aphrodite created the Amazons to be superior over men, and that Diana, their Princess, was the best among them. Diana became known as Wonder Woman when she left the island of the Amazons. She was the conception of William Moulton Marston and his wife, who suggested that this new superhero ought to be a woman, and she first appeared in 1941. Later stories have it that it was Athena who bestowed her powers, or a group of deities working together.

Answer: Ring

Alan Scott became the first Green Lantern. The power ring gave superhuman powers, so long as the wielder had the strength and willpower to control it - and so long as it was charged. It was re-charged every 24 hours by touching it to a green lantern. The first Green Lantern appeared in 1940, the creation of Martin Nodell and Bill Finger. Originally the lantern and ring were magical in nature, but in later versions of the Green Lantern they became the product of alien technology.

Answer: A cosmic ray storm

On returning to Earth, they became known as the Fantastic Four. Created by either Jack Kirby or Stan Lee (there is some disagreement as to which of the comics greats had the initial inspiration), they first appeared in 1961. This was the same year that Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, and people had little idea what cosmic rays would really do to astronauts.

Answer: Mutant genes

They are known as Cyclops, Phoenix, Shadowcat, and Professor X. They are just a few of the X-men, all of whom carry the X-gene, which gives them their superhuman abilities. The X-men first appeared in 1963, written by Stan Lee, and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Answer: Heavy water vapours

Jay Garrick was the original Flash. He was created by Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert and introduced in 1940. Other versions of the Flash have appeared since, with a variety of origins involving chemicals, accidents, and lightning!

Answer: Atlantis

His father was a lighthouse keeper, named Tom Curry, his mother was Atlanna of Atlantis, and he became known as Aquaman. He was the second version of Aquaman, dating from 1959, with a rather more detailed background than the earlier version, which had been introduced by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris in 1941.

Answer: Gamma bomb explosion

He did it to himself - in an accident, saving a teen who unwisely drove onto the testing field, and he's regretted it ever since. Under stress the mild-mannered scientist turns into the superhuman monster known as the Hulk. The green guy first appeared in 1962, and was another creation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The name "Bruce Banner" was changed to "David Banner" in the TV series, but back to "Bruce Banner" for the 2008 film.