December 2009 Archives

IRON MAN

And so to the man of the hour.
Global industrialist, weapons genius, playboy and star of the hottest film of 2010 - Geekworld's Christmas number 1 is Iron Man.

BATMAN

He's already been voted the most popular superhero ever this year, but Batman just didn't have what it takes to be Geekworld's Christmas number one.
Created in response to an appeal by National Publications for more superheros, Batman debuted in 1939 in Action Comics #27.
Bob Kane's original sketches of Bruce Wayne's alter ego were of a man in red tights, wearing a small domino mask with two stiff wings jutting from his back and swinging from a rope.

SPIDER-MAN

Marvel's flagship character and company mascot, readers have been following the adventures of Spider-Man since 1962.
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, he swung into action in Amazing Fantasy #15.
When Peter Parker first appeared, teenage characters were few and far between.
Peter was an orphan, being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in the poorer part of New York City.

SUPERMAN

Quite possibly the most famous superhero ever created, the Man of Steel has captured the imaginations of comic fans for decades.
Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, he was originally a very different character. In The Reign of the Super-Man, he was portrayed as a bald telepathic supervillain, hell bent on world domination.

THE HULK

Part man, part beast, all Hulk!
Today's character came from the creative minds of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and burst his way onto the scene in 1962.
Inspired by Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Hulk is the physical manifestation of the monster inside each of us.

THE PUNISHER

Staying with dark characters, today's offering is Frank Castle aka The Punisher.
The Punisher's willingness to kill made him a unique character in the Marvel stable when he made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man in 1974, and an antihero template which many other writers and artists would follow.

DAREDEVIL

One of the darker characters in the Marvel stable, Daredevil made his debut in 1964.
Matt Murdock is raised in Hell's Kitchen by his father, a boxer named Jack Murdock. As a youngster Matt is blinded by a radioactive substance which falls into his eyes from a passing truck. His exposure to the substance robbed Matt of his sight, but it heightened his other senses by a phenomenal degree.

HUMAN TORCH

Revisiting the Fantastic Four, today's character is Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch.
The younger brother of Susan Storm aka The Invisible Woman, the character debuted in 1961. The Storm siblings had a rough upbringing. They lost their mother in a car accident at a young age and their father, a brilliant surgeon who had been unable to save his wife, became a broken man.

WOLVERINE

Where do I begin with today's character?
Wolverine is quite possibly one of the X-Men's most popular characters. The ultimate anti-hero, his mysterious past, mutant healing powers and adamantium claws have proved a unique draw - and let's not talk about Hugh Jackman...

WONDER WOMAN

Moving into comic royalty now, today's character is Wonder Woman.
Created by Dr. William Moulton Marston, she made her debut in All Star Comics in 1941 and is one of only three characters to have been continuously published by DC Comics, the other two being Batman and Superman.