by Scott Tipton
March 23, 2005
THE COMICS 101 POP QUIZ: ANSWERS GALORE
Well, that was unexpected. I had thought I might get a couple dozen entries in the first-ever Comics 101 Pop Quiz. Instead, your humble professor was buried in an avalanche of responses, all vying for the super-cool X-MEN animated production cels. After painstakingly grading the hundreds of entries, I’m proud to announce our winners. Since no one managed a perfect score, the cels will be awarded to the four readers who scored 24 out of 25 in the fastest time. Accordingly, Adam Johnson, Doug Glassman, Brandon Cummings and Rob Smith can take a bow, and more important, get to take home a cel.
Now let’s get to the answers. As a prelude, I’ll say that while there are undoubtedly going to be a couple of answers that seem like nit-picking, all I’ll say is: Hey. It’s a trivia contest. What do you expect? Moreover, in regard to the one or two questions that could possibly be considered “gray areas,” I’m happy to note that they didn’t prove to be decisionmaking in terms of the prizes. In other words, no one lost out on a cel because of those particular answers. Either other questions were also missed, or the four winners got their entries in much, much earlier.
Enough formalities. Let’s get to the questions.
1. Everyone knows that Captain Marvel gets his powers from a sextet of gods, whose first initials spell out the name “SHAZAM.” Captain Marvel’s sister Mary gets her powers from six goddesses sporting the same initials. Name the goddesses and the powers they grant her.
Pretty straightforward answer here:
The grace of Selena
The strength of Hippolyta
The skill of Ariadne
The fleetness of Zephryus
The beauty of Aurora
The wisdom of Minerva
Quite a few people forgot to include the powers as well as the goddesses, and for some reason, whenever somebody would forget to mention one of the goddesses, it was always Ariadne. Every single time, Ariadne. That’s gotta mean something…
2. In Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s novel V FOR VENDETTA, Conrad Heyer controls “The Eye,” Brian Etheridge is in charge of “The Ear,” and Eric Finch heads up “The Nose.” Who runs “The Finger”?
“The Finger” was run by Derek Almond.
3. Complete the following lyric: ”Deck us all with Boston Charlie…"
All I was really looking for here was the rest of the line: “Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo!” Many of you opted for the rest of the stanza, or even the whole song by POGO creator Walt Kelly. Unnecessary, but always good to see a little research.
4. You should know by now all about DC’s multiverse. Name five of DC’s parallel Earths, and their most famous inhabitants.
If I accomplish nothing else with this column, the fact that there are more people walking around now who know the difference between Earth-1 and Earth-2 is enough for me.
Correct answers included:
Earth-1: home of the JLA
Earth-2: home of the JSA
Earth-3: home of the Crime Syndicate
Earth-X: home of the Freedom Fighters
Earth-S: home of the Marvel Family
Earth-4: home of the Blue Beetle
Some people even dropped some more obscure Earths on me, including Earth-C, the home of Captain Carrot. Even funnier was some folks’ listing of the most famous inhabitants of Earth-Prime, such as Julius Schwartz, Brad Pitt and Kevin Smith (All of which are correct, by the way). Unfortunately, a few contestants lost points here for only listing the Earths and not the inhabitants. Always read the question in full, people…
5. On BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, who played Mr. Freeze, and on what other famous television series did he appear?
Pretty much everyone came up with Michael Ansara, although clearly some of you have been to the Internet Movie Database, pulling things off his resume like I DREAM OF JEANNIE, BUCK ROGERS and even the 1978 DR. STRANGE telefilm. Nice going.
6. Jack Gatling was a comic-book fighter pilot during World War II. What was his nickname, and what did he call his plane?
Good to see that so many of you remembered the Bald Eagle and his “Flying Coffin” from Hillman’s AIR FIGHTERS COMICS. Again, many of you lost points for only naming the plane…
7. Name all of the members of the Legion of Doom.
Again most everybody answered correctly here, offering Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Bizarro, Toyman, the Riddler, Cheetah, Giganta, Captain Cold, the Scarecrow, Black Manta, Sinestro, Solomon Grundy and Gorilla Grodd.
Several contestants provided alternate Legions of Doom, such as the short-lived version from the 1990s EXTREME JUSTICE series (consisting of Brainwave, Killer Frost, Gorilla Grodd, Houngan, Major Force and the Madmen) as well as wrestlers Hawk and Animal from the WWF, and since I didn’t specify in the question, as long as they got the membership correct, they got points for it.
8. Batman lives in Gotham City, and the Flash in Central City. Which heroes live in Star City, Midway City and Opal City?
Green Arrow, Hawkman and Starman was what I was looking for here, but I did give points for Wonder Woman and the Doom Patrol for Midway City and Elongated Man and the Black Condor for the Opal. Gotta reward the more recent comics readers…
9. Who replaced Steve Rogers as Captain America in 1985?
John Walker was my intended answer, but I also accepted Super-Patriot or the USAgent. Anything that showed you knew the character.
10. Why does Batman’s dog wear a mask? And what’s his name, while you’re at it?
Ace was wearing the mask because of the unique markings on his forehead, which would have identified him as a dog recently associated with Bruce Wayne.
When he chases the Batmobile and winds up tagging along on a mission, Robin cuts him the mask out of a black velvet tool bag in the Batmobile’s glove box, transforming the mild-mannered dog into Bat-Hound.
11. What Commie-bashing superhero faced such villains as Hottsky Trottsky, Super Khakalovich, Rhode Island Red and Poison Ivan?
That would be Simon and Kirby’s Fighting American.
12. According to Frank Miller, why does Batman wear a target on his chest?
As seen in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, the yellow circle on his chest conceals a steel plate, meant to draw enemy fire away from his unprotected skull. As Batman thinks and so many of you quoted, “I can’t armor my head.”
13. How many members of the classic Justice League of America were married during its heyday in the 1970s?
Probably the most frequently missed question, the answer here is six: Flash was married to Iris West, the Atom was married to Jean Loring, Aquaman was married to Mera, Elongated Man was married to Sue Dibny, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl were married to each other.
Almost 90% of the entries listed Hawkman but forgot to list Hawkgirl. Aquaman, Atom and Flash were also frequently forgotten, while Red Tornado, Sue Dibny, Black Canary and J’onn J’onnz were often mistakenly listed. Red Tornado was shacked up with Kathy Sutton forever, but never married pre-Crisis, while the Black Canary’s status as a widow doesn’t count (especially since she turned out to be the original Canary’s daughter), and J’onn J’onzz’s dead wife is strictly a post-Crisis concept. As for Sue, her honorary status came much later, in the Justice League International years.
14. Name the members of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club from Claremont and Byrne’s DARK PHOENIX SAGA?
Another controversial question; by my count the members were (and I’m only referring to the period taking place during the Dark Phoenix storyline): Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Harry Leland, Donald Pierce, Jason “Mastermind” Wyngarde and Jean Grey. Some may quibble with the inclusion of Wyngarde and Grey, but Wyngarde is officially made a member with the brainwashing of Jean by my reading, and when Jean is dubbed “the Black Queen,” that to me is a declaration of membership.
The OFFICIAL HANDBOOK TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE sides with me, so I’m sticking to it.
15. What does MODOK stand for?
Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing. More than half of the entries I received say “Mental,” which appears to be a common misconception, having been mistakenly used in some Marvel comics over the years. However, I’m almost positive it was “Mobile” at first reference, and more to the point, once more the HANDBOOK backs me up, so “Mobile” it is.
16. Will Eisner’s THE SPIRIT first appeared in newspapers in 1940, and was originally accompanied by two other features. What were they?
That would be LADY LUCK and MR. MYSTIC.
17. The Avengers have long employed a butler, Jarvis. What’s his first name?
It’s Edwin. Edward, as a few of you said, was not quite close enough to garner points.
18. What gives Ralph Dibny his ability to stretch?
Gingold, the essence of the gingo fruit, Gingold essence, Gingold soda: any of these were close enough to be accepted. Not close enough, however, was an answer several contestants offered: Goloka, which is actually the root chewed by Alan Moore’s Tom Strong, providing him strength and vitality.
19. Like most every other Golden Age crimefighter, the Shield has a boy sidekick. Name him.
Pretty much everyone came up with Dusty the Boy Detective here, although my favorite answer was “Roy,” which meant that someone knew enough about obscure Golden-Age heroes to confuse the Shield’s sidekick with the Wizard’s sidekick, “Roy the Wonder Boy.” Impressive, but still wrong.
20. In the swingin’ ‘60s, Wonder Woman gave up her costume and powers, and learned judo at the feet of what martial-arts master?
The improbably named I Ching.
21. What keeps Nick Fury looking so young and fresh?
Clean living and annual injections of the Infinity Formula, that’s what. Actually, just the Infinity Formula…
22. Rex Tyler is secretly what DC superhero?
Chemist Rex Tyler moonlights as the chemically enhanced Hourman, thanks to his discovery of Miraclo, a drug that gives him superhuman strength, speed and durability for exactly 60 minutes.
23. What does the Ultimate Nullifier do? And who was its most famous target?
The Nullifier is a weapon powerful enough to destroy entire solar systems, and can destroy anything its wielder can visualize. The catch is, the Nullifier nullifies (as in vaporizes) both the target and the wielder. So you better make your attempt good with it, because you’ve only got one shot. The Ultimate Nullifier was most famously aimed at Galactus, who practically wet his giant purple trousers at the sight of it.
24. What does Barry Allen use to travel forwards or backwards in time as the Flash?
The Cosmic Treadmill, in a typical bit of Barry Allen insanity. As I’ve said before, it makes perfect comic-book sense. What happens when a guy with super speed runs on a treadmill? Obviously, he’d travel through time…
25. What cosmic secret is Darkseid obsessed with discovering?
He’s looking for the Anti-Life Equation, which would somehow grant him complete dominion over all living things.
Lots of you thought he was looking for The Source, a similarly murky higher power from Kirby’s NEW GODS comics, but no, not quite the same thing.
Thus concludes our Quiz. We’ll probably having another one of these before too long, most likely just before the San Diego Comic-Con rolls around, so I’ll be keeping my eye out for some equally cool prizes for next time. Until then, thanks to all who participated. Meet you back here next week.
Scott Tipton was pleased to discover how well he’d managed to warp the minds of his trusted readers. “One of us…One of us…” If you have questions about comics or just want to argue about the quiz, send your e-mails to stipton99x@comics101.com.
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