Bonus SUPERHEROES quiz!

Writing something like The Big Book of Superheroes means taking notes. Lots of notes! And I just looked over them and saw I had plenty left over for this bonus superheroes quiz!

1. True or False: Batman buried his butler, Alfred, alive.

2. Newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson sure hated Spider-Man! One reason for this was because…

a. he hated spiders
b. Jameson’s son, John Jonah III, was an astronaut about to be launched into space—and Spider-Man was stealing all of his attention.
c. No, seriously—spiders really creeped him out!

3. In real life, this man was named Terrence Cotta. But as a supervillain, he was called…

a. Brickface
b. Welcome Back Cotta
c. The Mason

4. True or False: The Fantastic Four has always included the same four superheroes.

5. This superhero surprised readers by shooting and killing a criminal in the very first issue of his own comic book.

a. Bullet Man
b. Batman
c. The Flash

6. The first superhero to swing from place to place on spider webbing that shot from the wrists was...

a. Spider-Man
b. Boris the Spider
c. the Spider Queen

7. The weird thing about the original “Human Torch” is that he...

a. wasn’t human at all
b. burned everything he touched.
c. was easy to find when playing hide-and-seek. (“You’re getting warmer…warmer…uh oh! Does anyone know where the fire extinguisher is?”)

8. Comic writer Daniel Clowes wanted his teenaged character, Andy, to get super-powers in an unusual way. So after Andy…

a. skipped showering, he became super-popular
b. smoked a cigarette, he got super-strength
c. wore a turtleneck, he became invisible   

9. (Short answer) When young Billy Batson says “SHAZAM!” he turns into the mighty Captain Marvel. This superhero is as strong as Superman—and he doesn’t fear kryptonite! Now pretend you’re a supervillain and think of a good way to stop Captain Marvel that doesn’t involve bananas.

Answers below!

1. True! While trying to save Batman, Alfred was crushed by a falling boulder (Detective Comics #328, 1964). Heartbroken, Batman took his butler’s body and stuck it in a refrigerated coffin. Luckily, a passerby walked by the coffin later, and heard Alfred’s weak moans. He was still barely alive!

2. b. 

3. a.

4. False! There have been lots of additions and subtractions to the FF over the years. Heck, Spider-Man even applied for a job with them. And the She-Hulk took the Thing’s place for a while . . . and once, all four members of the FF were believed dead. Then a New Fantastic Four (Wolverine, the Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Spider-Man) was formed.

5. True! 

6. c.

7. a. 

8. b. (This doesn’t work, you know!)

9. Hang on—I told you NOT to use bananas in your answer. Sheesh. I think the best solution is for you to turn Billy Batson into a baby. (How? You’re a super villain!) And since baby Billy can only say “THA-THAM!” you’ve now stopped Captain Marvel.