Geeks guide

GEEKS GUIDE December 2016

DC Series Which is your favorite?

Test How much do you know about your favorite superheroes?

Comic’s Origins Of your favorite superheroes

Table of Contents 2 Summary 3 The Flash 5 Arrow 10 Supergirl 12 Legends of tomorrow 16 Tests

Summary

Explanation of what each DC series is about

Quick look at the super heroes origins in the comics

How well do you know DC comics?

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The flash series The Flash is an American television series developed

by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns, airing on The CW. It is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. It is a spin-off from Arrow, existing in the same fictional universe. The series follows Allen, portrayed by Grant Gustin, a crime scene investigator who gains superhuman speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities.

After witnessing his mother's (Michelle Harrison) supernatural murder and his father's (John Wesley Shipp) wrongful conviction for the crime, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is taken in by Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) and his family. Allen becomes a brilliant but socially awkward crime scene investigator for the Central City Police Department. His obsession with his tragic past causes him to become an outcast among his peers; he investigates cold cases, paranormal occurren ces, and cutting-edge scientific advancements that

may shed light on his mother's murder. No one believes his description of the crime—that a ball of lightning with the face of a man invaded their home that night—and Allen is fiercely driven to vindicate himself and to clear his father's name.

Fourteen years after his mother's death, an advanced particle accelerator malfunctions during its public unveiling, bathing the city center with a previously unknown form of radiation during a severe thunderstorm. Allen is struck by lightning from the storm and doused with chemicals in his lab. Awakening after a nine-month coma, he discovers he has the ability to move at superhuman speeds. Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh), the disgraced designer of the failed particle accelerator, describes Barry's special nature as "metahuman"; Allen soon discovers that he is not the only one who was changed by the radiation. Allen vows to use his gifts to protect Central City from

the escalating violence of metahuman and other criminals. As the Flash, a costumed superhero, Allen accumulates a number of enemies known as The Rogues, whilst pursuing his mother's superhuman murderer the ReverseFlash (Matt Letscher; portrayed by Cavanagh while disguised as Wells). He is aided by a few close friends and associates who guard his secret

The flash origins Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940). Nicknamed the "Scarlet Speedster", all incarnations of the Flash possess "super speed", which includes the ability to run and move extremely fast, use superhuman reflexes, and seemingly violate certain laws of physics.

Thus far, four different characters – each of whom somehow gained the power of "the speed force" – have assumed the mantle of the Flash in DC's history: college athlete Jay Garrick (1940–1951, 1961–present), forensic scientist Barry Allen (1956–1985, 2008–present), Barry's nephew Wally West (1986–2011, 2016– present), and Barry's grandson Bart Allen(2006– 2007). Each incarnation of the Flash has been a key member of at least one of DC's premier teams: the Justice Society of America, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.

The Flash is one of DC Comics' most popular characters and has been integral to the publisher's many realitychanging "crisis" storylines over the years. The original meeting of the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and Silver Age Flash Barry Allen in "Flash of Two Worlds" (1961) introduced the Multiverse storytelling concept to DC readers, which would become the basis for many DC stories in the years to come. Like his Justice

League colleagues Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman, the Flash has a distinctive cast of adversaries, including the various Rogues (unique among DC super villains for their code of honour) and the various psychopathic "speedsters" who go by the name Reverse-Flash. Other supporting characters in Flash stories include Barry's wife Iris West, Wally's wife Linda Park, friendly fellow speedster Max Mercury, and Central City police department members David Singh and Patty Spivot

Arrow series Arrow is an American action crime television series developed by writer/producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. It is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp. It premiered in North America on The CW on October 10, 2012, with international broadcasting taking place in late 2012. Primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who, five years after being stranded on a hostile island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow.

The series follows Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), billionaire playboy of Starling City, who spends five years shipwrecked on the mysterious island of Lian Yu. Upon his return to Starling City, he is reunited with his mother, Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson), his sister, Thea Queen (Willa Holland), and his friend, Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell). The first season focuses on Oliver rekindling his relationships and spending his nights hunting down and sometimes killing wealthy criminals as a hooded vigilante, following a list of names he discovered in a notebook belonging to his father. He uncovers Malcolm Merlyn's (John Barrowman) conspiracy to destroy "The Glades", a poorer section of the city that has become overridden with crime. John Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) assist Oliver in his crusade.

Oliver also reconnects with ex-girlfriend, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), who is still angry over his role in her sister's presumed death. The first season features flashbacks to Oliver's time on the island, and how it changed him; flashbacks in subsequent seasons continue to show how Oliver spent his time and gain the skill-set that shapes him into the vigilante he is.

The series takes a new look at the Green Arrow character, as well as other characters from the DC Comics universe. Although Oliver Queen/Green Arrow had been featured in the television series Smallville from 2006 to 2011, on the CW, the producers decided to start clean and find a new actor (Amell) to portray the character. Arrow focuses on the humanity of Oliver Queen, and how he was changed by time spent shipwrecked on an island. Most episodes have flashback scenes to the five years in which Oliver was missing.

The series averaged about 3.68 million viewers over the course of the first season and received several awards and multiple nominations.

Green arrow origins Green Arrow is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created

by Mortimer Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His real name is Oliver Queen, a billionaire businessman and owner of Queen Industries, also a well-known celebrity in his locale of Star City.[2]Sometimes shown dressed like Robin Hood, Green Arrow is an archer who uses his skills to fight crime in his home cities of Star City and Seattle, as well as alongside his fellow superheroes as a member of the Justice League. Though much less frequently used in modern stories, he also deploys a range of trick arrows with various special functions, such as glue, explosive-tipped, grappling hook, flash grenade, tear gas and even kryptonite arrows for use in a range of special situations. At the time of his debut, Green Arrow functioned in many ways as an archery-themed analogue of the very popular Batman character, but writers at DC subsequently developed him into a voice of progressivism very much distinct in character from Batman.

Green Arrow enjoyed moderate success in his early years, becoming the cover feature of More Fun, as well as having occasional appearances in other comics. Throughout his first twenty-five years, however, the character never enjoyed greater popularity. In the late 1960s, writer Denny O'Neil, inspired by the character's dramatic visual redesign by Neal Adams, chose to have him lose his fortune, giving him the then-unique role of a streetwise crusader for the working class and the disadvantaged. In 1970, he was paired with a more law and order-oriented hero, Green Lantern, in a ground-breaking, socially conscious comic book series.[3]Since then, he has been popular among comic book fans and most writers have taken an urban, gritty approach to the character. The character was killed off in the 1990s and replaced by a new character, Oliver's son Connor Hawke. Connor, however, proved a less popular character, and the original Oliver Queen character was resurrected in the 2001 "Quiver" storyline, by writer Kevin Smith. In the 2000s, the character has been featured in bigger storylines focusing on Green Arrow and Black Canary, such as the DC event The Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding and the highprofile.

Super girl series Supergirl is an American superhero actionadventure drama television series developed

by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg (the latter two having previously created Arrow and The Flash) that originally aired on CBSand premiered on October 26, 2015. It is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, and stars Melissa Benoist in the title role.

Supergirl is a costumed superheroine who is the cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians.

The series was officially picked up on May 6, 2015, after receiving a series commitment in September 2014, and received a full season order on November 30, 2015. On May 12, 2016, Warner Bros. Television announced that the series had been renewed for a second season and that it would move from CBS to The CW. It debuted on October 10, 2016.[1] Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-yearold by her parents Zor-El (Robert Gant) and Alura(Laura Benanti). Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth's yellow sun.

Kara's spacecraft was knocked off course by a shock wave from Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara and when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The series begins eleven years later when the now 24year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.[2]

In the first season, Kara Danvers becomes Supergirl. Having hid her powers for more than a decade, believing that Earth didn't need another hero, Kara is forced to reveal her powers to thwart an unexpected disaster, setting her on her own journey of heroism as National City's protector.[3] Kara discovers that hundreds of the criminals her mother prosecuted as a judge on Krypton are hiding on Earth, including her mother's twin sister Astra (also played by Benanti) and Astra's husband Non (Chris Vance), who seek to rule the world. After briefly becoming suspicious of the true agenda of her boss, Hank Henshaw , she and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers, secretly discover that Henshaw is actually a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz, who has resided on Earth for over fifty years after escaping a holocaust on his homeworld of Mars.

J'onn infiltrated the DEO to reform the organization as well as to watch over both Alex and Kara in addition to guiding the latter in the use of her powers due to his experience with his own abilities. Kara is also being targeted by Earth's criminals as the result of her being related to Superman, and later on encounters an emerging community of metahumans and individuals from parallel universes. In the process, Kara accumulates her own rogues’ gallery who seeks to defeat and destroy her. She is aided by a few close friends and family who guard her secrets—most notably her cousin's longtime friend, James Olsen (which also serves as a major plot in high tech mogul Maxwell Lord's scheme to expose Kara's identity.

Super girl origins Supergirl is a fictional superheroine appeari ng in American comic bookspublished by DC Comics. Supergirl was created to be a female counterpart to DC's popular hero Superman.

The character was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino in 1959. She first appeared in the Action Comics comic book series and later branched out into animation, film, television, and merchandising.

Introduced in 1959, a number of different characters have assumed the Supergirl mantle over the decades, with the most popular and enduring version of the character being Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, who shares his super powers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. Supergirl plays a supporting role in various DC

Comics publications, including Action Comics, Superman, and several comic book series unrelated to Superman. In 1969, Supergirl's adventures became the lead feature in Adventure Comics, and she later starred in an eponymo us comic book series which debuted in 1972 and ran until 1974, followed by a second monthly comic book series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, which ran from 1982 to 1984.

Due to changing editorial policy at DC, Supergirl was initially killed off in the

1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC Comics subsequently rebooted the co ntinuity of the DC Comics Universe, re-establishing Superman's character as the sole survivor of Krypton's destruction. Following the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths, several different characters written as having no familial relationship to Superman have assumed the role of Supergirl, including Matrix, Linda Danvers, and Cir-El. Following the cancellation of the third, 1996-2003 Supergirl comic book series, starring the Matrix/Linda Danvers version of the character, a modern version of Kara Zor-El was reintroduced into the DC comics.

Legends of tomorrow DC's Legends of Tomorrow, or simply Legends of Tomorrow, is an American superhero actionadventure television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, who are also executive producers along with Sarah Schechter and Chris Fedak; Klemmer serves as showrunner. The series, based on the characters of DC Comics, airs on The CW and premiered on January 21, 2016.

The show is a spin-off from Arrow and The Flash, existing in the same fictional universe. On March 11, 2016, The CW renewed the series for a second season, which debuted on October 13, 2016.

When Vandal Savage murders his family, Time Master Rip Hunter goes rogue. Intending to stop him, he recruits a team consisting of Ray Palmer / The Atom, Sara Lance / White Canary, Martin Stein and Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, who together become the hero Firestorm, Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl, Carter Hall / Hawkman, Leonard Snart / Captain Cold, and Mick Rory / Heat Wave. They discover that the Time Masters are backing Savage in his domination of the world in 2166 to facilitate a successful repulsion of

a Thanagarian invasion. Due to Snart's sacrifice, the Time Masters are destroyed. Savage attempts to rewrite history with a temporal explosion, but is killed by the team when he is rendered mortal by the same meteor he used for his scheme. With Savage dead, Kendra and Carter leave the team.

Following the demise of the Time Masters, Rip decides to take their place guarding history with Ray, Sara, Stein, Jax and Mick. However, they are warned by Rex Tyler / Hourman that they will die in 1942 New York City. They ignore the warning, landing Mick in stasis and themselves scattered through time. Historian Nate Heywood, aided

by Oliver Queen, finds Mick and rescues the team; however, Rip's fate is left unknown. During their mission to protect the timeline, the team meets the Justice Society of America, led by Hourman. When Tyler is murdered by Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash, Amaya Jiwe / Vixen joins the Legends to find Tyler's killer. However, Reverse-Flash is gaining allies throughout time, including Damien Darhk, Malcolm Merlyn and Snart.

Legends of tomorrow Characters Victor Garber as Martin Stein / Firestorm: A nuclear physicist focused on transmutation who is also half of the character Firestorm with Jefferson Jackson. Stein is also Ray Palmer's former college professor. Graeme McComb portrays a young Stein in 1975. The character was first introduced on The Flash.

Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer / Atom: A scientist, inventor, businessman and former CEO of Palmer Technologies who developed a power-suit that is now capable of shrinking. The character was first introduced on Arrow.

Arthur Darvill as Rip Hunter: A roguish time traveler and former leader of the team, who hides the strains of being responsible for history itself behind a façade of charm and wit. His goal is to defeat Vandal Savage in order to save the world and his family. He and Savage are archenemies throughout the timeline. Aiden Longworth portrays a young Rip Hunter. Rip recently disappeared and gave command of the Waverider to the Legends.

Caity Lotz as Sara Lance / White Canary A Star City vigilante and former League of Assassins member suffering from rage issues after being resurrected by the mystical Lazarus Pit. The character is partially based on the Black Canary and was first introduced on Arrow. Sara is now the leader of the Legends.

Ciara RenĂŠe as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl: A young woman who is just beginning to learn that she has been repeatedly reincarnated over the centuries. When provoked, her ancient warrior persona manifests itself along with wings that grow out of her back. She chooses to leave the team at the end of the first season. Saunders is also known by her Egyptian name Chay-Ara, and Edith Boardman in the series. The character was first introduced on The Flash. Anna Deavere Smith portrays an older Kendra in 1871, known as Cinnamon.

Falk Hentschel as Carter Hall / Hawkman: The latest reincarnation of the Egyptian prince Khufu who is fated to reincarnate throughout time along with his soulmate Kendra, with powers similar to hers. A reincarnated version is recruited by Vandal Savage where he is known as Scythian Torvil before remembering his life as Carter Hall. He chooses to leave the team at the end of the first season. Hall is also known by the name Joe Boardman in the series. The character was first introduced on The Flash. Hentschel received guest credit in his subsequent appearances in season one after the character's death in "Pilot, Part 2".

Test

How well do you know DC Comics?

What hero was originally published in Action Comics? a) Batman b) Green Lantern c) Aquaman

What is Superman's Kryptonian name? a) Clark Kent b) Kal-El c) Kal

Who paralized Barbara Gordon? a) The Joker b) Clay face c) Two-face

Who adopted the alias “Siegfried the Speedster”? a) Barry Allen b) Jay Garrick c) Wally West

Who killed Superman? a) Darkseid b) Doomsday c) Brainiac

Answers: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

Green Lantern Kal-El The Joker Jay Garrick Doomsdday

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