The Great Comic Heroes Trivia Quiz

Face it; today's cocktail-party chatter requires a whole new vocabulary. Gone are the days when a repertoire of peace slogans, dope jargon and a mantra could get you through an evening. In today's post-Superman polite circles, you've got to be conversant with a completely different range of trendy esoterica: Kryptonite, gamma rays, web shooters.... Say goodbye to radical chic; it's time for a little comic relief.

That's as in comic books and comic strips, of course. Superman and its multiple sequels are just part of the rage that's sweeping America faster than a speeding bullet. Buck Rogers is snaring his share of bad guys and movie audiences. Television has brought Spider-Man, Mandrake, Dr. Strange, The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman crash!ing and pow!ing right into our living rooms.

And that's just the beginning. Sometime next year, Dino De Laurentiis' $20,000,000-plus screen version of Flash Gordon will blast off, and Mork & Mindy's Robin Williams will bring his version of Popeye to movie theaters. The following year, Columbia Pictures hopes to make us a Christmas present of Annie, based on the life and times of the inimitable Little Orphan Annie. The Amazing Spider-Man is slated for not one but two movies; and the Silver Surfer will be soaring in a multimillion-dollar major motion picture. Still on the drawing board are screen adaptations of Terry and the Pirates and Dick Tracy. At least a dozen more comics-inspired projects are in the concept stage and may eventually trun into full-fledged "ideas."

All these are live-action, flesh-and-blood versions of our newsprint idols. The switch from ink to celluloid has simply driven America comics crazy.

So you won't be caught without your cape on when the subject comes up, as it surely will, we've prepared a quiz that lets you test your comics quotient in advance. Check yourself now, in private, and be spared the embarrassment of not knowing who Supergirl's father was. (Zor-El. Now, don't ask it again.)

Who knows? You might be more chic than you suspect. If not, stay home, read playboy and hope that the next trend is something easier, like sex.

Who said ...

1. "Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot...."

2. "Holy Moley!"

3. "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight."

4. "Hawkaaaa!"

5. "We have met the enemy and he is us."

6. "Arf!"

Geography lesson

1. According to the story told upon his return in 1964, where had Captain America been keeping himself since 1949?

2. The name of Wonder Woman's home island, please.

3. Of course, you remember Captain Marvel, Jr., alias crippled newsboy Freddy Freeman. But where did Freddy set up his newsstand?

4. Which New York City neighborhood did Dr. Strange keep hopping with demons and extradimensional nasties?

5. A real city named Metropolis tried without much success to capitalize on its nominal connection with Superman by building an Amazing World of Superman museum. In what state is this real Metropolis?

Words and Music

1. When Dick Tracy started going great guns (literally), what famous mystery writer did King Features bring in to script its new competing strip, Secret Agent X-9?

2. Who wrote the Barney Google ("with the Goo-Goo-Googly eyes") song?

3. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston, under the pseudonym Charles Moulton. That's easy. What other, real-life weapon against evildoers did Marston invent?

In the beginning

1. Name the comic strip in which Popeye first sailed into view.

2. Who were the five original Avengers? (Comic-book style, not to be confused with the British TV series.)

3. What was Blondie's maiden name, before she devoted her life to shopping and getting hubby Dagwood to work each morning?

4. How did Maggie and Jiggs strike it rich?

5. Who killed Batman's parents? Give yourself a ten-point bonus if you also know how old Bruce Wayne was at the time.

6. Robin was also an orphan, though his parents died in a more unorthodox way. What was their unusual profession? (continued on page 322) Comic Heroes (continued from page 178)

7. Who put the silver glaze on the Silver Surfer?

8. The dubious distinction of the weirdest superhero origin has to go to the justly little-known Whizzer. What gave him his superspeed?

Say the Magic Word

1. Where did Mandrake learn his tricks?

2. What two unlikely magic words did Captain Marvel Jr. say to turn super--or, rather, marvel-ous?

3. What made Zatara's spells special?

4. This will be no mystery at all to the fans of Dr. Strange: To whom did the hoary hosts belong?

Sex and the single Hero

1. Adam had Eve, Superman had Lois Lane. What red-haired girl reporter was Batman saddled with for a time?

2. Who married Dick Tracy?

3. The women were the true stars of Terry and the Pirates, not Terry and Pat Ryan. Give the name--she had only one (sigh!)--of the lovely blonde who was on the side of the angels.

4. What month is Sadie Hawkins Day always scheduled? A big ten-point bonus if you know the date of the very first race for matrimony in Li'l Abner.

5. In 1940, DC Comics banned a certain innocuous five-letter word from its pages for fear it might blur into a nasty four-letter word. What was it, kids?

6. Dr. Fredric Wertham's 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent warned America that comic books were making our youths into juvenile delinquents, illiterates and--especially--perverts. What famous superhero duo did he describe as "like a wish dream of two homosexuals living together"?

Dr. Frankenstein, I presume?

Match each mad scientist to his sane hero:

1. Dr. Wonmug

2. Dr. Hans Zarkov

3. Prof. Reinstein

4. Professor Horton

5. Dr. Huer

a. Captain America

b. Alley Oop

c. Buck Rogers

d. Flash Gordon

e. The Human Torch

Jungle Funnies

1. Jungle Jim was a dashing man about Africa, of course, not a back-yard plaything. But does anyone recall his last name?

2. Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, had her own male version of Lois Lane--always following her around, always needing saving from snacking crocodiles and cannibals. What was his name?

3. How about the name of Tarzan's son? If you answered Boy, you've been watching too many movies; go to your room and read some comic books.

4. Before the name became associated with black militancy, Marvel Comics created the Black Panther, leader of a hidden, Superscientific African kingdom. What was the Black Panther's tribe called?

Love and hisses

1. Can you name the schizoid Batman foe who always flipped a coin to decide whether he'd keep his ill-gotten loot or give it to charity?

2. Of course you know Captain America's grim archenemy--a Nazi, not a Communist, despite his name. Don't you?

3. Who was the prankster from another dimension who gave Superman fits? Yes, spelling counts. And count ten points extra if you know what the little villain had to be tricked into saying to get rid of him.

4. The Riddler's punny real name?

5.He himself was frequently featured as a villain in American comics, but Hirohito said a tried-and-true U. S. good guy was his own favorite fictional character. Who was it?

6. What's the newspaper published by J. Jonah Jameson, Spider-Man's eternal pain in the neck?

7. This Dick Tracy nemesis used killing as an admittedly offbeat substitute for tranquilizers. Name him.

8. And who was the only supervillain who was literally a worm?

Handicapped parking

1. Which horny (horns on his costume, that is) hero compensated for his blindness with "radar senses"?

2. Who came down to earth as lame doctor Donald Blake?

3. More than one hero has had to overcome the rather severe handicap of being, well, dead. Name the ghostly guardian who was detective Jim Corrigan in life?

4. OK, how short was the Doll Man?

Making the connection

1. Lois Flagston, of Hi and Lois fame, has an even more famous brother. Who is he?

2. What do Superman's girlfriend, Super-boy's sweetheart, Superman's worst enemy, Supergirl's alter ego (preadoption) and Jimmy Olsen's sometime flame all have in common?

3. Who was the movie-serial star who portrayed both Blackhawk and Superman?

4. What well-known actor served as the model for Captain Marvel's face?

5. Captain America and The Hulk had ladyfriends with the same name. (Presumably not the same woman--two-timing The Hulk would be an exceptionally dangerous dalliance.) Who was she? (Were she?)

Chic crusaders

1. What was added to Batman's costume when he became a Sixties TV star?

2. What was Flash Gordon's alma mater? Ten points extra if you remember his favorite collegiate sport.

3. Clark Kent has gone through a lot of changes, but two things have always remained the same--his glasses and his tie. What color is Clark's tie?

4. Which hero pioneered the pointy-eared look, long before Mr. Spock?

Heroes by any other name

1. Henry Pym alone kept the costume designers working overtime. Can you name fickle Hank's four superhero identities, in order?

2. Even Jimmy Olsen, Superman's pesky best friend, got into the superhero game now and then. What did he call himself?

3. Give the full monicker of Popeye's hamburger-eating pal.

4. You know him as Pappy Yokum in Li'l Abner. But what's his real name?

5. Smilin' Jack's elusive last name?

6. In the original book (Armageddon 2419) by Philip Nowlan, what was Buck Rogers' first name?

7. Who became Terry's commanding officer when he switched from fighting pirates to squaring off against the Japanese?

Initial here, please

1. Billy Batson had but to say "Shazam!" and a bolt of lightning would change him into the mighty Captain Marvel. What six names did S-H-A-Z-A-M stand for?

2. To help us remember their meek, mild-mannered identities, all these heroes were saddled with double-initial names. Score ten points for each monotonous-monogrammed alter ego you can come up with.

a. Spider-Man

b. Daredevil

c. Mr. Fantastic

d. The Hulk (comics, now, not some bastardized TV version)

3. The comics contributed Thunder to the Sixties' secret-agent alphabet soup (Uncle, Spectre, Kaos, etc.). What was it an acronym for?

4. What were the call letters of the radio station Alan Scott, alias the Green Lantern, worked for?

The head of the class

1. In her pre-Daddy Warbucks days, Little Orphan Annie always dragged around a doll. What was the doll's name?

2. Which American space mission literally put Charlie Brown and Snoopy into orbit?

3. What was the litle of the very first Classic Comics?

4. Why couldn't Clark Kent get into the Army in World War Two?

Answers who said...

1. Bruce Wayne

2. Captain Marvel

3. Green Lantern

4. Blackhawk

5. Pogo

6. Sandy

Geography lesson

1. In an iceberg

2. Paradise Island

3. The corner of Oak and Main

4. Greenwich Village

5. Illinois

Words and Music

1. Dashiell Hammett

2. Billy Rose and Con Conrad

3. The polygraph

In the beginning

1. Thimble Theatre

2. Thor, Iron Man, The Wasp, Ant-Man, The Hulk

3. Blondie Boopadoop

4. They won the Irish Sweepstakes

5. Joe Chill; aged ten

6. Circus trapeze artists

7. Galactus

8. A transfusion of mongoose blood

Say the Magic Word

1. Tibet

2. "Captain Marvel"

3. He spoke them backward

4. Hoggoth

Sex and the single hero

1. Vicki Vale

2. Tess Trueheart

3. Burma

4. November; November 13, 1937

5. Flick

6. Batman and Robin

Dr. Frankenstein, I presume?

1. b

2. d

3. a

4. e

5. c

Jungle funnies

1. Bradley

2. Bob

3. Korak

4. The Wakanda

Love and hisses

1. Two-Face

2. The Red Skull

3. Mr. Mxyztplk (Mxyzptlk from 1950 on--after a typo in DC Comics); he was tricked into saying his own name, backward

4. E. Nigma

5. Superman

6. The Daily Bugle

7. Shaky

8. Mr. Mind

Handicapped parking

1. Daredevil

2. Thor

3. The Spectre

4. Five inches

Making the connection

1. Beetle Bailey

2. "L.L." initials: Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, Linda Lee, Lucy Lane

3. Kirk Alyn

4. Fred MacMurray

5. Betty Ross

Chic Crusaders

1. A yellow oval behind the bat insignia on his chest

2. Yale; polo

3. Red

4. The Sub-Mariner

Heroes by any other name

1. Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yel-lowjacket

2. Elastic Lad

3. J. Wellington Wimpy

4. Lucifer Ornamental Yokum

5. Martin

6. Anthony

7. Colonel Flip Corkin

Initial here, please

1. Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury

2. a. Peter Parker; b. Matt Murdock; c. Reed Richards; d. Bruce Banner

3. The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves

4. Wxyz

The head of the class

1. Emily Marie

2. Apollo 10

3. The Three Musketeers

4. He was 4F--Clark flunked the eye test when he mistakenly used his X-ray vision to read the eye chart in the next room

Scoring

700 points or more--Super. You'll knock'em dead at the next party.

550-690--Able to leap tall buildings with two bounds.

400-540--You might still be a hero.

Memorize the names of the Three Lieutenant Marvels (Tall Marvel, Fat Marvel, Hillbilly Marvel) and fake it.

250-390--No superpowers. You need a bottle of Vitamin 2X (the Blue Beetle).

100-240--Merely mortal. Try a crash! course.

Under 100--Holy schnook! Don't go out of the house without your secret decoder ring.

"Wertham warned America that comic books were making our youths into illiterates and perverts."