This year's Silver Age Trivia Challenge at C2E2 was tight-fought contest, perhaps Mark Waid's closest brush with defeat yet. He led only 490-410 going into the Lightning Round, where questions were worth 50 points apiece!
Of course, he then won six of the LR questions, ensuring victory. He'd have gotten seven if he hadn't completely blanked on the mentor to Ultra Boy. But that's what happens sometimes, even to the greatest Silver Age trivia geek ever, when you're sitting on a stage with hundreds of fans sitting before you waiting for your answer.
Fortunately, you don't face that challenge. All you have to do is answer these questions and count up your score.
The "T" question in each category was a Toss-up, requiring an answer before someone else honked in, so they're somewhat easier than the others, as speed was the key criteria. And it's on me for using a question so tough as a Toss-Up for Cover Scenes that nobody got it, causing me to make up a second one on the spot. That's what happens when you spend a lot of time immersed in this stuff.
The remaining three questions are worth 10 times their number (ie, 10, 20 and 30 points), because they allegedly get harder. But they're all easy if you know them.
See how you'd do!
2014 C2E2 Trivia Contest
1. Famous Firsts
T. Who created Jewel Kryptonite?
1. Who was the first villain the Justice League faced in their own comic?
2. Who did the Guardians of the Galaxy battle in their first adventure in Marvel Super-Heroes #18?
3. Against what villain did The Thing first use his motto, “It’s Clobbering Time!” in Fantastic Four #22?
2. Captain America
T. Who was Cap battling when he was frozen?
1. Who impersonated the German spy Irma Kruhl in TOS #97 and later issues?
2. What was the name of the experiment that gave Cap his powers, according to TOS #63?
3. Who did Iron Man battle after introducing Captain America on the cover of TOS #59?
3. X-Men
T. What non-mutant was invited to join the X-Men (and refused)?
1. What two villains impersonated X-Men to rob a bank?
2. What villain was responsible for Professor X losing his legs?
3. Who was called “The First Evil Mutant!” in Scott Summers’ origin story in X-Men #40?
4. Green Arrow
T. Who established Green Arrow’s Silver Age origin of being a wealthy playboy stranded on an island?
1. What special arrow did Green Arrow use to free the Justice League in the issue in which he gained membership, JLA #4?
2. By what other name do we know Bonnie King?
3. What was the name of the island Oliver Queen was stranded on, according to Jack Kirby’s origin?
5. The Real Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
T. How did Nick Fury get into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters?
1. How many LMDs of Nick Fury were created?
2. What was the real name of the Imperial Hydra?
3. Name any two of Hydra’s divisions and their animal mascot
6. Is this Lois Lane adventure real? Or is it a hoax, a dream, or an Imaginary Story?
T. Lois is romanced by Herko, a monster from another dimension in Lois Lane #54.
1. Upset by Superman scolding them for competing for his affection, in Lois Lane #60. Lois and Lana put themselves into suspended animation and leave a note saying, “Goodbye, Superman! We’re tired of waiting for you to propose! When we wake up in the future, you’ll be dead, dead, dead!”
2. Lois Lane weds Astounding Man in Lois Lane #18
3. In exposing a Fountain of Youth claim, Lois accidently becomes “Lois Lane, Hag!” in Lois Lane #40.
7. Cover Scenes
T. Which devious villain devised the dastardly death trap of throwing Ant-Man into a bathtub on the cover of TTA #48?
T. Who gave Flash the strange feeling he was being turned into a puppet in Flash #133?
1. Who was the Fantastic Four battling when Stan and Jack showed up on the cover of Fantastic Four #10?
2. On the cover of Batman #182, what is the tell-tale clue as to why Batman is goofing off and watching his TV show rather than responding to the hot-line call?
3. When the Justice League became “Drones of the Queen Bee!” on the cover of JLA #23, which Leaguer is the Queen Bee zapping?
8. Weddings
T. Why couldn’t Aquaman marry Mera?
1. Who interrupted Yellowjacket’s wedding?
2. Who was the best man at Barry Allen’s wedding?
3. What does Hawkgirl wear to indicate she is married?
9. Funerals
T. Who died instead of Professor X?
1. Which three members of the Legion attended Superman’s funeral in the classic “Death of Superman” in Superman #149?
2. Who is consoling Mera at the Sea King’s funeral on the cover of Aquaman #30?
3. What member of the 20th Century Superman Family (who was not a Legion member or honorary member) attended the funeral of Lightning Lad in Adventure #304?
10. Villainous First Words
T. “If the spearlike hands of my trick watch don’t get you, Atom—the buzzsaw gear surely will!”
1. “You sent for me, Comrade Leader?”
2. “I’m all wired up for what I must do.”
3. “It’s exactly 12:42 p.m.! They should be entering in one and one-half seconds!”
11. Jimmy Olsen’s Transformations
What caused Jimmy Olsen to make this transformation?
T. Elastic Lad
1. Giant Turtle Boy
2. The Human Octopus
3. The Human Porcupine
12. Letters Columns
T. In Fantastic Four #20, in which he called FF #17 “greater than great,” a letter was printed from what famous author of a book series with a current HBO series in which winter is slowly coming?
1. What was Lois Lane doing in the header for her letter column?
2. Who’s sitting in the center seat in the header on the JLA’s letter page?
3. What was the first DC comic to run a regular letters column?
13. Arch Foes
What hero fought these villains?
T. Sinister Six
1. Professor Ivo
2. Metal Master
3. The Radioactive Man
14. Annual Cover Scenes
T. Who was the featured, center positioned villain on the cover of Batman Annual #3?
1. What two other super-heroes are featured on the cover of Flash Annual #1?
2. What two non-Earthlings appeared on the cover of Superman Annual #1?
3. Who did Daredevil face on the cover of Daredevil Annual #1?
15. The Infancy of the Silver Age
T: What villain nearly prevented the birth of Franklin Richards?
1. Who gave Aquababy the rare blood disease that nearly killed him at birth?
2. What are the names of the parents of Sugar (who live next door to Spike)?
3. To what did Lois Lane have to be exposed to reverse the de-aging process after she used a scientist’s machine to make her more attractive to Superman and she de-aged all the way to an infant in The Cry-Baby of Metropolis in Lois Lane #10?
16. Teen Humor
T. What teen rock band met Woody Allen?
1. What teen humor comic did DC introduce in 1966?
2. What was the name of Binky’s kid brother?
3. Who was the boyfriend who most often got a date with Judy in A Date With Judy?
17. Kandor
T. Who are the two bird-named heroes of Kandor?
1. When they were in Kandor, where did Nightwing and Flamebird hang out?
2. What Kandorian villain kidnapped Linda Danvers and took her place on Earth just before her existence was revealed?
3. Van-Zee is Superman’s look-alike on the Superman Emergency Squad. But Van-Zee also has a twin brother. What’s his name?
18. DC Licenses
T. What characters were later reprinted as Windy & Willie?
1. What licensed comic featured artwork by Alex Toth and Neal Adams?
2. What was DC’s first licensed comic based on a TV show?
3. What super-power did Jerry Lewis occasionally demonstrate?
19. Letters Columns
T. What was the letters column in Superman?
1. What was the letters column in World’s Finest?
2. What was the letters column in the Silver Surfer?
3. What was the first name used for the letters column in The Avengers?
20. First Words
T. “It is the first time I have found it necessary to give the signal! I pray it will be the last!”
1. “Cool it, man! The kids bet me I wouldn’t have nerve enough to sneak past the guards!”
2. “No use fooling yourself [his own name], you are dying! You have only a short time left to live.”
3. “Naturally! All who come to me are [in trouble]! Speak! Continue. Enough! Tonight, I shall visit you! I shall find the answer to your dream! Now go!”
21. Lightning Round
1. What writer and artist created the Sea Devils?
2. Who was featured on the first cover to Marvel Super-Heroes?
3. Name two members of the Guardians of the Galaxy
4. Who did Stan Lee refer to as Dazzling?
5. Who was Ultra Boy’s mentor?
6. Who is the Molten Man’s step-sister?
7. Who is the King of Gorilla City?
8. Who is Lex Luthor’s girlfriend on Lexor?
9. By what two names do we better know the person masquerading as Starfinger?
10. What Fantastic Four character was based on a syndicated cartoon strip character?
-- MSA
Replies
And here are the answers, in case you need them:
1. Famous Firsts
T. Jax-Ur
1. Despero
2. The Badoon
3. Mole Man
2. Captain America
T. Baron Zemo
1. Sharon Carter
2. Operation Rebirth
3. The Black Knight
3. X-Men
T. Spider-Man
1. Unus and the Blob
2. Lucifer
3. Jack Winter, aka Jack O’Diamonds, aka The Living Diamond
4. Green Arrow
T. Jack Kirby (with Ed Herron)
1. A diamond-tipped arrow to break the star diamond prison.
2. Miss Arrowette
3. Starfish Island
5. The Real Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
T. Though a barbershop chair
1. Four
2. Arnold Brown
3. Diplomacy – Fox / Engineers – Beaver / Planning – Owl /
Assassins – Tiger / Supply –Camel / Air – Falcon / Heavy weapons – Rhino /
Reconnaissance – Leopard / Administration – Mole / Naval – Sea Dragon
6. Is this Lois Lane adventure real? Or is it a hoax, a dream or an Imaginary Story?
T. Real
1. Hoax
2. Hoax
3. Dream
7. Cover Scenes
T. Porcupine
T2. Abra Kadabra
1. Doctor Doom
2. He doesn’t have a yellow emblem because he’s an imposter with an old costume
3. The Flash
8. Weddings
T. She wasn’t from Atlantis
1. The Circus of Crime
2. Wally West
3. Earrings
9. Funerals
T. The Changeling
1. Lighting Lad, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl, of course
2. Wonder Woman
3. Lori Lemaris, don’t ask me why
10.Villainous First Words
T. Chronos (Atom #3)
1. The Black Widow (TOS #52)
2. Electro (ASM #9)
3. The Mad Thinker (FF #15)
11. Jimmy Olsen’s Transformations
T. Professor Potter’s serum
1. Enlarger ray going through a turtle
2. Space fruit
3. Miss Gzptlsnz
12. Letters Columns.
T. George R. R. Martin (he also had a letter in Avengers #12 and several other Marvel comics. He also wrote to Julius Schwartz’s comics, but Julie never ran his letters)
1. Sitting at her typewriter
2. J’onn J’onzz
3. Sugar & Spike (#4, Oct-Nov 56), second was Superman #124 (Sep 58)
13. Arch Foes
T. Spider-Man
1. Justice League
2. Hulk
3. Thor
14.Annual Cover Scenes
T. Gorilla Boss
1. Elongated Man and Kid Flash
2. Jor-El and Krypto
3. The Emissaries of Evil (Electro / Gladiator / Leapfrog / Matador / Stilt-Man
15. The Infancy of the Silver Age
T. Annihilus
1. His own dad, Aquaman, through inheritance
2. Bill and Barbara Plumm
3. Superman’s x-ray vision
16. Teen Humor
T. The Maniaks
1. Swing with Scooter
2. Algernon (aka Allergy)
3. Ogden “Oogie” Pringle
17. Kandor
T. Nightwing and Flamebird
1. The Nightcave
2. Lesla Lar
3. Dik-Zee, hooray, hooray
18. DC Licenses
T. Dobie Gillis and Maynard G. Krebs
1. Hot Wheels
2. Jackie Gleason & The Honeymooners
3. He could talk to animals
19. Letters Columns
T. Metropolis Mail Bag
1. Cape & Cowl Comments
2. Who Speaks for the Surfer?
3. All About the Avengers
20. First Words
T. Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic
1. Rick Jones
2. Abin Sur
3. Dr. Strange
21. Lightning Round
1. Robert Kaniger and Russ Heath
2. Captain Marvel
3. Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27 and Yondu
4. Don Heck
5. Marla
6. Liz Allen
7. Solovar
8. Ardora
9. Lightning Lad / Garth Ranzz
10. Willie Lumpkin
I did the quiz, Mr SA. I think I managed 53 correct answers out of the possible 91. I did get 7.T.
I have a quibble about 18.2, "What was DC’s first licensed comic based on a TV show?" Many early TV shows were versions of popular radio shows, and DC had earlier done adaptations of some of them during that period. Big Town had a "Brand new stories of TV and radio's hit shows!" blurb on its first issue. Mr, District Attorney, Gang Busters and A Date with Judy were initially blurbed as radio shows, but they were blurbed as TV and radio shows for a while on later issues.
Also, "the Mimic" might've been a possible answer for 3.T: he briefly joined the X-Men, although he wasn't a mutant. Aside from his JLA appearance, Prof. Ivo appeared in "The One-Man Justice League" in The Flash #158.
I took the quiz from memory and got 66 out of 91. I also got the Ant-Man cover right.
I put down the Mimic, too. Didn't Professor X ask him to join? Or was the question who was the first non-mutant asked to join and refused?
A lot of the questions seemed to be about subjects that we've brought up here recently like Dik-Zee, Marla and Lori Lemaris. Glad to see that you're reading these threads! ;-)
Nice job, Luke! I'd figure you'd do pretty well. You too, Philip. That's pretty impressive. And yes, I do use whatever sources I can find to come up with questions, including our discussions here. After about 1,600 questions or so, I find I tend to circle around the same ideas unless I think outside the box.
Afterward, I looked at 7T and said, "What was I thinking?" But they're all easy if you know them, and I've seen that cover so many times, I had no trouble calling it up. It's okay as a group question but not for a toss-up.
There were very few that no one knew, even in the audience, but there were a few. Some I consider 50-point questions for their difficulty, but I liked them so much I put them in. Waid can something be surprising with the depth of his geekiness. OTOH, he can forget Marla. The look of panic on his face, since he's sure the Fans will know it but his brain is letting him down, doesn't happen often.
When the comic books began before the shows became TV shows, then they were based on the radio show, not the later TV show, which rules out Date with Judy and Gang Busters, I think. Mr. DA is more problematic, since the comic didn't start until after it became a TV show. So it should have said was based on a show that began on TV.
Mimic could be an answer; I forgot he wasn't a mutant. OTOH, he wasn't actually "invited" to join. And yeah, "refused" would've been a good addition. I'll add it. Fortunately, I got the answer I was looking for. It probably also should've said "first non-mutant" just to cover my bets for later ones I forgot.
With Ivo, I was thinking of Amazo and wrote the wrong guy. Oops. Fortunately, again, the panelists were on the same page. I think Ivo was more "arch" to the JLA. Granted, that may be because of his post-SA adventures, but it worked out.
Loopholes always exist, and we occasionally have a discussion about another possibility, which is not the most exciting part for viewers, so we try to minimize them. Fortunately, I'm in close communication with the judges, who can rule on an answer instantly. Sometimes the panelist can win, if I remember the thing they're suggesting as being as true as they suggest. But it doesn't happen often.
-- MSA
Back there in that world of Krypton
Kandor men weren't never stepped on;
Look away! Look away! Look away! Krypton's gone.
Brainiac snatched us from destruction
Yet we wish salt wet would rust 'im
Look away! Look away! Look away! Krypton's gone.
But I wish I were on Krypton, before t'was dust!
On Krypton's soil at science to toil and live and die on Krypton,
Provided I die of old age on Krypton!
Provided I die of old age on Krypton!
One of my better showings---64 out of 91 (if I remember my third-grade math correctly, that's 70%). On one section, my brain neurons misfired and I failed the "RTFQ" requirement, but even if I had been paying attention, I don't think I would have gotten more than two of those correct. So I wouldn't have beaten out Philip, regardless.
BZ, Philip!
Thanks, Commander but I'm sure you'd be better under pressure than I would!
The ones that I made a clean sweep were : Green Arrow, Weddings, Funerals, Arch Foes, Kandor and Famous First Words.
I also got 8 out 10 in the Lightning Round!
My answer to 12-T
http://www.rpsteeves.com/2012/07/for-george-r-r-martin-completist.html
9. Funerals
T. Who died instead of Professor X?
Are you sure it wasn't Proty?
The only one I aced was Arch Foes. I didn't count my total score because it's always abysmal.
My guess on the Ant-Man cover was Egghead, since he fought him so often back then.
On Tales to Astonish #38 Egghead has him trapped on flypaper, and on #45 he's about to send an anteater after him. ("And now, when I pull this switch, I'll be rid of you--Forever!")