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Jim Starlin

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113-732: James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock , and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos , Drax the Destroyer , Gamora , Nebula , and Shang-Chi , as well as writing the acclaimed miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet and its many sequels including The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade , all detailing Thanos' pursuit of

226-641: A Western tale. Englehart then wrote two romance stories under the pseudonym Anne Spencer , in Our Love #18 (Aug. 1972) and My Love #19 (Sept. 1972), and, under his own name, a standalone supernatural story in the anthology Journey into Mystery vol. 2, #1 (Oct. 1972) During his first credited superhero work, on a series starring erstwhile X-Men member the Beast in Amazing Adventures vol. 2, #12–17 (May 1972 – March 1973), Englehart integrated

339-635: A genetically engineered being created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s and re-imagined by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in the 1970s as a Jesus Christ-like figure on an alternate Earth. Envisioning the character as philosophical and existentially tortured, Starlin wrote and drew a complex space opera with theological and psychological themes. Warlock confronted the militaristic Universal Church of Truth , eventually revealed to be created and led by an evil evolution of his future–past self, known as Magus . Starlin ultimately incorporated Thanos into this story. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "In

452-528: A "very important" role in their lives, a proportion unusual among developed countries . However, similar to the other nations of the Americas. Many faiths have flourished in the United States, including both later imports spanning the country's multicultural immigrant heritage, as well as those founded within the country; these have led the United States to become the most religiously diverse country in

565-605: A 2007 interview, Englehart became ...a summer replacement or some such for [writer] Gary Friedrich . When Gary wanted to go away for a while, he got Steve, who was sort of a young aspiring artist when he came up to Neal [Adams]'s studio, and he ended up at Marvel as a proofreader . Then he wanted to write, and I believe he wrote a few pages of a sample script. Anyway, I gave him " The Beast " [in Amazing Adventures ] to try out on, and that worked out pretty well. Englehart said he had first done uncredited co-scripting on

678-668: A brief stint with Marvel, which included work on two characters [Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock] that had previously never quite made their mark, Starlin managed to build a considerable cult following." In Fall 1978, Starlin, Howard Chaykin , Walt Simonson , and Val Mayerik formed Upstart Associates , a shared studio space on West 29th Street in New York City. The membership of the studio changed over time. Death and suicide are recurring themes in Starlin's work: Personifications of Death appeared in his Captain Marvel series and in

791-579: A continuous presence in what is now the continental United States in 1565. Martín de Argüelles , born in 1566 in San Agustín, La Florida then a part of New Spain , was the first person of European descent born in what is now the continental United States. Virginia Dare , born in 1587 in Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina , was the first child born in the original Thirteen Colonies to English parents. The Spaniards also established

904-414: A continuous presence in what over three centuries later would become a possession of the United States with the founding of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico , in 1521. In the 2020 United States census, English Americans 46.5 million (19.8%), German Americans 45m (19.1%), Irish Americans 38.6m (16.4%), and Italian Americans 16.8m (7.1%) were the four largest self-reported European ancestry groups in

1017-458: A few notable authors from outside the comic book industry, such as Stephen King , George R. R. Martin , Harlan Ellison , and Edward Bryant . In 1986, he and Wrightson produced a second benefit comic for famine relief. Heroes Against Hunger , featuring Superman and Batman, was published by DC and like the earlier Marvel benefit project featured many top comics creators. Starlin became the writer of Batman , and one of his first storylines for

1130-849: A fill-in story for Ghost Rider ; Warlock commits suicide by killing his future self; and suicide is a theme in a story he plotted and drew for The Rampaging Hulk magazine. Starlin occasionally worked for Marvel's chief competitor DC Comics and drew stories for Legion of Super-Heroes and the " Batman " feature in Detective Comics in the late 1970s. Starlin co-created the supervillain Mongul with writer Len Wein in DC Comics Presents #27 (Nov. 1980). The new decade found Starlin creating an expansive story titled "the Metamorphosis Odyssey ", which introduced

1243-403: A number of stories: When Gary Friedrich's Sgt. Fury #94 came in, de facto editor-in-chief Roy Thomas wanted major revisions in the script and had me do them. Evidently he liked the result, because right after that, Gary turned back a job he'd been holding onto - dialoguing a little story plotted by Al Hewetson - and Roy asked me to script it from scratch. That was [the seven-page] "Terror of

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1356-681: A reaction to the prevailing European consensus that America's domestic originality was degenerate . Prevalent ideas and ideals that evolved domestically, such as national holidays , uniquely American sports , military tradition, and innovations in the arts and entertainment give a strong sense of national pride among the population as a whole. American culture includes both conservative and liberal elements, scientific and religious competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite certain consistent ideological principles (e.g. individualism , egalitarianism , faith in freedom and democracy ),

1469-545: A region that was settled historically by the British. Overall, as the largest group, European Americans have the lowest poverty rate and the second highest educational attainment levels, median household income , and median personal income of any racial demographic in the nation, second only to Asian Americans in the latter three categories. According to the American Jewish Archives and

1582-413: A retraction saying this was not God but a god, so as to avoid offending religious readers. The writer and artist concocted a fake letter from a fictitious minister praising the story, and mailed it to Marvel from Texas; Marvel unwittingly printed the letter, and dropped the retraction order. Englehart's Doctor Strange #14 featured a crossover story with The Tomb of Dracula #44, another series which

1695-607: A revival of the Silver Surfer series and introduced his creation Thanos into the story, which led to the The Infinity Gauntlet miniseries and its crossover storyline. Here, Starlin brought back Adam Warlock , whom he had killed years earlier in his concluding Warlock story in The Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 in 1977. The Infinity Gauntlet proved successful and

1808-553: A rictus grin, then expects to be granted a federal trademark on them, only to start killing bureaucrats who try to explain that obtaining such a claim on a natural resource is legally impossible. The Detective Comics storyline was reprinted in trade paperback in 1999 as Batman: Strange Apparitions . Englehart and Rogers had a short run on DC's revived Mister Miracle series as well. His run on Justice League of America included another unofficial crossover between DC and Marvel in issue #142 by reworking his character Mantis into

1921-413: A series he had earlier created at Eclipse Comics with Rogers, in collaboration with artist Steve Leialoha . Among those he collaborated with on the title was a young Todd McFarlane , whom Englehart hired on the basis of McFarlane's Coyote art samples, which was McFarlane's first comic book work. Englehart returned to mainstream Marvel comics later that decade with stints on West Coast Avengers ,

2034-694: A series of young adult books for Avon , including the DNAgers series (with his wife, Terry) and the Countdown series. Countdown to Flight was selected by NASA for its school curriculum on the Wright Brothers . In the mid-2000s, Englehart turned his 1980 novel, The Point Man , into Book Zero for a series concerning its hero, Max August. The first sequel, The Long Man , was published in 2009, The Plain Man in 2011, and The Arena Man in 2013. In

2147-413: A sorcerer named Sise-Neg ("Genesis" spelled backward) goes back through history, collecting all magical energies, until he reaches the beginning of the universe, becomes all-powerful and creates it anew, leaving Strange to wonder whether this was, paradoxically, the original creation ( Marvel Premiere #14). Editor-in-chief Stan Lee , seeing the issue after publication, ordered Englehart and Brunner to print

2260-552: A total of 1,834,212 self-identifying individuals. Barack Obama , 44th President of the United States who is biracial- his mother is white (of English and Irish descent) and his father is of Kenyan birth- only self-identifies as being African American. According to the 2020 United States census, 8.4% or 27,915,715 Americans chose to self-identify with the "some other race" category, the third most popular option. Also, 42.2% or 26,225,882 Hispanic/Latino Americans chose to identify as some other race as these Hispanic/Latinos may feel

2373-442: Is also an option in the census and other surveys. The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that comprises the largest minority group in the nation. People of European descent, or White Americans (also referred to as European Americans and Caucasian Americans), constitute

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2486-513: Is indigenous to the Americas , originally migrated to the two continents between 10,000 and 45,000 years ago. These Paleoamericans spread throughout the two continents and evolved into hundreds of distinct cultures during the pre-Columbian era . Following the first voyage of Christopher Columbus , the European colonization of the Americas began, with St. Augustine , Florida becoming

2599-453: Is now United States territory since the founding of San Juan, Puerto Rico (the oldest continuously inhabited settlement on American soil) in 1521 by Juan Ponce de León , and the founding of St. Augustine, Florida (the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the continental United States) in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés . In the State of Texas , Spaniards first settled the region in

2712-554: Is now the United States since before the Revolutionary War , relatively large waves of Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese immigration did not begin until the mid-to-late 19th century. Immigration and significant population growth continue to this day. Due to a number of factors, Asian Americans have been stereotyped as " perpetual foreigners ". As defined by the United States Census Bureau and

2825-598: Is the Asian American population, comprising 19,618,719 people in 2020, or 5.9% of the United States population. California is home to 5.6 million Asian Americans, the greatest number in any state. In Hawaii, Asian Americans make up the highest proportion of the population (57 percent). Asian Americans live across the country, yet are heavily urbanized, with significant populations in the Greater Los Angeles Area , New York metropolitan area , and

2938-513: The 1950s Captain America and Bucky had been different characters from the ones who had debuted in the 1940s. This was followed by an extended storyline of Steve Rogers becoming so profoundly disillusioned with the United States that he temporarily abandoned his Captain America identity to become Nomad until he decided to refocus his purpose as the defender of America's ideals, not necessarily its government. The Englehart/Sal Buscema run on

3051-765: The Arab American Institute (AAI), Arab Americans have family origins in each of the 22 member states of the Arab League . Following consultations with MENA organizations, the Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from the Middle East , North Africa , and the Arab world , separate from the "white" classification that these populations had previously sought in 1909. The groups felt that

3164-639: The Arab American National Museum , the first Middle Easterners and North Africans (viz. Jews and Berbers ) to arrive in the Americas landed in the late 15th to mid-16th centuries. Many fled ethnic or ethnoreligious persecution during the Spanish Inquisition ; a few were taken to the Americas as slaves. In 2014, the United States Census Bureau began finalizing the ethnic classification of people of Middle Eastern and North African ("MENA") origins. According to

3277-599: The Captain America title saw the series become one of Marvel's top-sellers. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart's work on Captain America , The Avengers , and Doctor Strange fourth, eighth, and ninth, respectively, on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels". In March 1976, Englehart had a falling-out with Marvel and left the company. Englehart, in fact, planned to quit comics altogether and pursue novels, but DC Comics publisher Jenette Kahn persuaded him to come to DC. His only previous credited work for

3390-547: The Comics Code Authority . Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom , for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974). After working on Captain Marvel , Starlin and writer Steve Englehart co-created the character Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu , though they only worked on the early issues of the Master of Kung Fu series. Starlin then took over the title Warlock , starring

3503-574: The Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico . Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Eastern and Southern Europe introduced a variety of elements. Immigration from Africa , Asia , and Latin America has also had impact. A cultural melting pot , or pluralistic salad bowl , describes

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3616-483: The District of Columbia and the five inhabited U.S. territories have a non-white majority. The state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is Maine , while the state with the lowest percentage is Hawaii . Europe is the largest continent that Americans trace their ancestry to, and many claim descent from various European ethnic groups . The Spaniards were the first Europeans to establish

3729-720: The Infinity Gems to court Mistress Death by annihilating half of all life in the cosmos, before coming into conflict with the Avengers , X-Men , Fantastic Four , and the Elders of the Universe , joined by the Silver Surfer , Doctor Strange , Gamora, Nebula, and Drax. Later, for DC Comics , he drew many of their iconic characters, including Darkseid and other characters from Jack Kirby 's Fourth World , and wrote

3842-574: The Kingdom of Kongo ). The first West African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The English settlers treated these captives as indentured servants and released them after a number of years. This practice was gradually replaced by the system of race-based slavery used in the Caribbean . All the American colonies had slavery, but it was usually the form of personal servants in

3955-746: The Marvel Cinematic Universe . The 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy featured his character Star-Lord . He returned in its 2017 sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 , which also featured Mantis . Both characters appear in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder , The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (both 2022), and Guardians of

4068-618: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), an "American Indian or Alaska Native" is a person whose ancestry have origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, or South America. 2.3 million individuals who are American Indian or Alaskan Native are multiracial; additionally the plurality of American Indians reside in the Western United States (40.7%). Collectively and historically this race has been known by several names ; as of 1995, 50% of those who fall within

4181-582: The Office of Management and Budget , the grouping includes individuals who self-identify as African American, as well as persons who emigrated from nations in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. The grouping is thus based on geography, and may contradict or misrepresent an individual's self-identification since not all immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are "Black". Among these racial outliers are persons from Cape Verde , Madagascar , various Arab states, and Hamito-Semitic populations in East Africa and

4294-1248: The Patsy Walker character, the star of a teen romantic - comedy series, into the Marvel Universe alongside the company's superheroes. He and artist Sal Buscema launched The Defenders as an ongoing series in August 1972 and introduced the Valkyrie to the team in issue #4 (Feb. 1973). Englehart has stated that he added the Valkyrie to the Defenders "to provide some texture to the group." He wrote The Avengers from issue #105 (Nov. 1972) to #152 (Oct. 1976). During his time on that title, he wrote several major storylines including "The Avengers Defenders War" in issues #115–118 (Sept.–Dec. 1973), crossing over into The Defenders #8–11 (Sept.–Dec. 1973); "The Celestial Madonna" in #129–135 (Nov. 1974 – May 1975) and Giant-Size Avengers #2–4 (Nov. 1974 – May 1975); and "The Serpent Crown" in #141–144 (Nov. 1975 – Feb. 1976) and #147–149 (May–July 1976). In

4407-525: The Sahel , and the Afrikaners of Southern Africa . African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes ) are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. According to the 2020 United States census, there were 39,940,338 Black and African Americans in the United States, representing 12.1% of

4520-586: The San Francisco Bay Area . The United States census defines Asian Americans as those with origins to the countries of East Asia , South Asia , and Southeast Asia . Although Americans with roots in West Asia were once classified as "Asian", they are now excluded from the term in modern census classifications. The largest sub-groups are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Cambodia, mainland China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Pakistan,

4633-581: The United Kingdom . Unlike migration from other countries, United States migration is not concentrated in specific countries, possibly as a result of the roots of immigration from so many different countries to the United States. As of 2016 , there were approximately 9 million United States citizens living outside of the United States. As the result of U.S. tax and financial reporting requirements that apply to non-resident citizens, record numbers of American citizens renounced their U.S. citizenship in

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4746-579: The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom , the framers of the Constitution rejected any religious test for office. The First Amendment specifically denied the federal government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise, thus protecting any religious organization, institution, or denomination from government interference. European Rationalist and Protestant ideals mainly influenced

4859-570: The Western Hemisphere and beyond, including the District of Columbia, the seat of government of the United States. English is the unofficial national language . Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements —standardize English. In 2007, about 226 million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. Spanish , spoken by 12% of

4972-490: The citizens and nationals of the United States of America . The United States is home to people of many racial and ethnic origins ; consequently, American law does not equate nationality with race or ethnicity but with citizenship. The majority of Americans or their ancestors immigrated to the United States or are descended from people who were brought as slaves within the past five centuries, with

5085-551: The flag of the United States – for example, typically a top hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue band, and red and white striped trousers. Columbia is a poetic name for the Americas and the feminine personification of the United States of America, made famous by African American poet Phillis Wheatley during the American Revolutionary War in 1776. It has inspired the names of many persons, places, objects, institutions, and companies in

5198-742: The miniseries Batman: Dark Detective , elements of which he alleged were adapted into the Batman film The Dark Knight . The next year, he wrote a storyline featuring the Detroit Era Justice League and the Justice Society of America that ran in JLA Classified #22–25 and JSA Classified #14–16 for DC, and the one-shot Strange Westerns starring the Black Rider for Marvel. Starting in 1994, he wrote

5311-767: The northern states (north of the Mason–Dixon line ) had abolished slavery. However, slavery would persist in the southern states until the end of the American Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment . Following the end of the Reconstruction era , which saw the first African American representation in Congress , African Americans became disenfranchised and subject to Jim Crow laws , legislation that would persist until

5424-597: The slavery era within the boundaries of the present United States. As an adjective, the term is usually spelled African-American . Montinaro et al. (2014) observed that around 50% of the overall ancestry of African Americans traces back to the Niger-Congo -speaking Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin (before the European colonization of Africa this people created the Oyo Empire ), reflecting

5537-543: The 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett . Steve Englehart majored in psychology at Wesleyan University , where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society , earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969. He had served in the United States Army , but was honorably discharged as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War . Englehart's first work in comics

5650-538: The American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical scale and demographic diversity. Americans have migrated to many places around the world, including Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Chile , China , Costa Rica , France , Germany , Hong Kong , India , Japan , Mexico , New Zealand , Pakistan , the Philippines , South Korea , the United Arab Emirates , and

5763-481: The Batman as a pulp-oriented, dark character; the Joker 's persona as a homicidal maniac; and introduced love interest Silver St. Cloud . Englehart claims this storyline was adapted as the first Batman film in 1989, with Englehart providing uncredited development. The Englehart and Rogers pairing was described in 2009 by comics writer and historian Robert Greenberger as "one of the greatest" creative teams to work on

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5876-417: The Batman character. DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz noted that "Arguably fans' best-loved version of Batman in the mid-1970s, writer Steve Englehart and penciller Rogers's Detective run featured an unambiguously homicidal Joker...in noirish, moodily rendered stories that evoked the classic Kane-Robinson era." In their story "The Laughing Fish", the Joker is brazen enough to disfigure fish with

5989-460: The DC Universe as a character named "Willow". Other contributions to the series were crafting a new origin for the team and the induction of the character Hawkwoman into the team's membership. Englehart temporarily left comics at this juncture, moving to Europe before his first issue of Detective was published. During this time he wrote a fantasy / occult novel, The Point Man , which

6102-419: The English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances, had a formative influence. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe, especially Germany , France , and Italy . Original elements also play a strong role, such as Jeffersonian democracy . Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia was perhaps the first influential domestic cultural critique by an American and

6215-431: The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by English Puritans , Pennsylvania by Irish and English Quakers , Maryland by English and Irish Catholics , and Virginia by English Anglicans . Although some individual states retained established religious confessions well into the 19th century, the United States was the first nation to have no official state-endorsed religion. Modeling the provisions concerning religion within

6328-410: The North (where 2% of the people were slaves), and field hands in plantations in the South (where 25% were slaves); by the beginning of the American Revolutionary War 1/5th of the total population was enslaved. During the revolution, some would serve in the Continental Army or Continental Navy , while others would serve the British Empire in the Ethiopian Regiment , and other units. By 1804,

6441-549: The OMB definition prefer the term "American Indian", 37% prefer "Native American" and the remainder have no preference or prefer a different term altogether. Among Americans today, levels of Native American ancestry (distinct from Native American identity ) differ. Based on a sample of users of the 23andMe commercial genetic test, genomes of self-reported African Americans averaged to 0.8% Native American ancestry, those of European Americans averaged to 0.18%, and those of Latinos averaged to 18.0%. Native Americans, whose ancestry

6554-429: The Office of Management and Budget, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are "persons having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii , Guam , Samoa , or other Pacific Islands ". Previously called Asian Pacific American , along with Asian Americans beginning in 1976, this was changed in 1997. As of the 2020 United States census, there are 622,018 who reside in the United States, and make up 0.2% of

6667-456: The Pacific also have large Pacific Islander populations such as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (Chammoro), and American Samoa (Samoan). The largest concentration of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, is Honolulu County in Hawaii, and Los Angeles County in the continental United States . The United States has a growing multiracial identity movement. Multiracial Americans numbered 7.0 million in 2008, or 2.3% of

6780-461: The Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Asians overall have higher income levels than all other racial groups in the United States, including whites, and the trend appears to be increasing in relation to those groups. Additionally, Asians have a higher education attainment level than all other racial groups in the United States. For better or for worse, the group has been called a model minority . While Asian Americans have been in what

6893-469: The Pterodactyl" [drawn by Syd Shores , in Monsters on the Prowl #15 (Feb. 1972)] and my first credited job.... Over the next six months, even as my credited stories began to appear, I continued to do uncredited collaborations - sometimes by design and sometimes at the last minute." This uncredited work included Friedrich's Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #97, Iron Man #45, and The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #152, plus two romance comics stories and

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7006-444: The United States census does not describe their European and American Indian ancestry as they understand it to be. A significant portion of the Hispanic and Latino population self-identifies as Mestizo , particularly the Mexican and Central American community. Mestizo is not a racial category in the United States census, but signifies someone who has both European and American Indian ancestry. Hispanic or Latino Americans constitute

7119-408: The United States constituting 62.4% of the population. However, the English Americans and British Americans demography is considered a serious under-count as they tend to self-report and identify as simply " Americans " (since the introduction of a new "American" category in the 1990 census) due to the length of time they have inhabited America. This is highly over-represented in the Upland South ,

7232-466: The United States has a high adherence level compared to other developed countries and a diversity in beliefs. The First Amendment to the country's Constitution prevents the Federal government from making any "law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this as preventing the government from having any authority in religion. A majority of Americans report that religion plays

7345-419: The United States. Despite its multi-ethnic composition, the culture of the United States held in common by most Americans can also be referred to as mainstream American culture , a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of Northern and Western European colonists, settlers, and immigrants. It also includes significant influences of African-American culture . Westward expansion integrated

7458-510: The adult population identifies as having no religious belief or no religious affiliation. According to the American Religious Identification Survey , religious belief varies considerably across the country: 59% of Americans living in Western states (the " Unchurched Belt ") report a belief in God , yet in the South (the " Bible Belt ") the figure is as high as 86%. Several of the original Thirteen Colonies were established by settlers who wished to practice their religion without discrimination:

7571-469: The centrality of this West African region in the Atlantic slave trade . Zakharaia et al. (2009) found a similar proportion of Yoruba associated ancestry in their African American samples, with a minority also drawn from Mandinka populations (founders of the Mali Empire ), and Bantu populations (who had a varying level of social organization during the colonial era, while some Bantu peoples were still tribal, other Bantu peoples had founded kingdoms such as

7684-440: The character of Vanth Dreadstar in Epic Illustrated #3. From its beginning in Epic Illustrated , the initial story was painted in monochromatic grays, eventually added to with other tones, and finally becoming full color. The storyline was further developed in The Price and Marvel Graphic Novel #3 and eventually the long-running Dreadstar comic book, published first by Epic Comics , and then by First Comics . Starlin

7797-503: The company had been scripting the Batman story "Night of the Stalker!" in Detective Comics #439 (Feb–March 1974). "I said, 'Okay I'll fix Justice League [of America] for you, but I'm only going to do this for a year." To that end, he wrote Justice League of America #139–146 and 149–150, with artist Dick Dillin , and additionally wrote an eight-issue arc of Batman stories in Detective Comics #469–476, with pencilers Walt Simonson and Marshall Rogers . In this arc, he recreated

7910-432: The decade from 2010 to 2020. In 2024 a new organization was created to lobby the U.S. Congress for relief from citizenship-based taxation that is often cited as the reason for the record renunciations. Steve Englehart Steve Englehart ( / ˈ ɛ ŋ ɡ əl h ɑːr t / ; born April 22, 1947 ) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in

8023-765: The decision. Still, it was also a consequence of the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups and small states that did not want to be under the power or influence of a national religion that did not represent them. The American culture is primarily a Western culture , but is influenced by Native American, West African, Latin American, East Asian, and Polynesian cultures. The United States of America has its own unique social and cultural characteristics, such as dialect , music , arts , social habits , cuisine , and folklore . Its chief early European influences came from English , Scottish , Welsh , and Irish settlers of colonial America during British rule. British culture , due to colonial ties with Britain that spread

8136-457: The earlier "white" designation no longer accurately represents MENA identity, so they successfully lobbied for a distinct categorization. This new category would also include Israeli Americans . The Census Bureau does not currently ask about whether one is Sikh , because it views them as followers of a religion rather than members of an ethnic group, and it does not combine questions concerning religion with race or ethnicity. As of December 2015,

8249-608: The end of the day and there’s this image there that wasn’t there before. That’s very satisfying and I miss that." In early 2020 it was announced that Starlin had rehabilitated his drawing hand and would be publishing a new Dreadstar graphic novel, Dreadstar Returns, backed by a successful Kickstarter campaign. The book was published in June 2021. In 2024, Starlin announced that he plans to use generative AI technology for future projects, including Dreadstar vs. Dreadstar . Hardcover Softcover Americans Americans are

8362-588: The exception of the Native American population and people from Alaska , Hawaii , Puerto Rico , Guam , Texas , and formerly the Philippines , who became American through expansion of the country in the 19th century; additionally, American Samoa , the United States Virgin Islands , and Northern Mariana Islands came under American sovereignty in the 20th century, although American Samoans are only nationals and not citizens of

8475-589: The fall of 1972, Englehart and writers Gerry Conway and Len Wein crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis , interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont . Beginning in Amazing Adventures #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin ),

8588-721: The federal government. In addition to the United States, Americans and people of American descent can be found internationally. As many as seven million Americans are estimated to be living abroad, and make up the American diaspora . The United States is a diverse country, racially , and ethnically . Six races are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes: Alaska Native and American Indian, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, White, and people of two or more races. "Some other race"

8701-532: The first issue of Shadowman . Also in 1992, he co-created the Ultraverse comics universe for Malibu Comics and wrote Night Man and the superhero-team series The Strangers . Night Man was later adapted for a syndicated television series which ran for two seasons. Englehart wrote three episodes of the television series. He also wrote issues of other Malibu comic series like Freex , Hardcase and Prototype . For Claypool Comics , he wrote

8814-468: The first permanent European settlement in the continental United States . From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the population of Native Americans declined in the following ways: epidemic diseases brought from Europe; genocide and warfare at the hands of European explorers, settlers and colonists, as well as between tribes; displacement from their lands; internal warfare, enslavement ; and intermarriage . Another significant population

8927-408: The largest ethnic minority in the United States . They form the second largest group in the United States, comprising 62,080,044 people or 18.7% of the population according to the 2020 United States census. Hispanic and Latino Americans are not considered a race in the United States census, instead forming an ethnic category. People of Spanish or Hispanic and Latino descent have lived in what

9040-454: The late 1600s and formed a unique cultural group known as Tejanos . Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States and sometimes more specifically of the American government , with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812 . He is depicted as a stern elderly white man with white hair and a goatee beard, and dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of

9153-517: The majority of the 331 million people living in the United States, with 191,697,647 people or 57.8% of the population in the 2020 United States census . They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 45 states. There are five minority-majority states : California , Texas , New Mexico , Nevada , and Hawaii . In addition,

9266-664: The miniseries Mystery in Space vol. 2, featuring Captain Comet and Starlin's earlier creation, the Weird. In 2007–2008, he worked on the DC miniseries Death of the New Gods and Rann-Thanagar Holy War , as well as a Hawkman tie-in which altered the character's origins. He wrote the eight-issue miniseries Strange Adventures in 2009 and in 2013, became the writer of Stormwatch , one of

9379-468: The nation's total population. 14% of the population have at least a bachelor's degree , and 15.1% live in poverty , below the poverty threshold . As compared to the 2000 United States census, this population grew by 40%; and 71% live in the West ; of those over half (52%) live in either Hawaii or California , with no other states having populations greater than 100,000. The United States territories in

9492-468: The navy, Starlin sold two stories to DC Comics . After writing and drawing stories for a number of fan publications, Jim Starlin entered the comics industry in 1972, working for Roy Thomas and John Romita at Marvel Comics . Starlin was part of the generation of artists and writers who grew up as fans of Silver Age Marvel Comics. At a Steve Ditko -focused panel at the 2008 Comic-Con International , Starlin said, "Everything I learned about storytelling

9605-583: The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act due to the civil rights movement . According to United States Census Bureau data, very few African immigrants self-identify as African American. On average, less than 5% of African residents self-reported as "African American" or "Afro-American" on the 2000 U.S. census. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants (~95%) identified instead with their own respective ethnicities. Self-designation as "African American" or "Afro-American"

9718-550: The population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language. Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states. Both English and Hawaiian are official languages in Hawaii by state law. While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French. Other states, such as California, mandate

9831-703: The population. Black and African Americans make up the third largest group in the United States, after White and European Americans, and Hispanic and Latino Americans. The majority of the population (55%) lives in the South ; compared to the 2000 United States census, there has also been a decrease of African Americans in the Northeast and Midwest . Most African Americans are the direct descendants of captives from Central and West Africa , from ancestral populations in countries like Nigeria , Benin , Sierra Leone , Guinea-Bissau , Senegal , and Angola , who survived

9944-408: The population; by the 2020 census the multiracial increased to 13,548,983, or 4.1% of the total population. They can be any combination of races (White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, "some other race") and ethnicities. The largest population of Multiracial Americans were those of White and African American descent, with

10057-501: The publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents. The latter include court forms. Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by American Samoa and Guam , respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico. Religion in

10170-449: The sampling strata for the new MENA category includes the Census Bureau's working classification of 19 MENA groups, as well as Iranian , Turkish , Armenian , Afghan , Azerbaijani , and Georgian groups. In January 2018, it was announced that the Census Bureau would not include the grouping in the 2020 census. Black and African Americans are citizens and residents of the United States with origins in sub-Saharan Africa . According to

10283-568: The second Vision and the Scarlet Witch limited series (with artist Richard Howell ), Silver Surfer (again with Rogers), and Fantastic Four (during which editorial disputes led to his using the pseudonym John Harkness , a name he had first used on his last issue of Mister Miracle ). Englehart was going to be the regular writer of Daredevil in 1986 but left after only one issue due to an editorial conflict. Simultaneously, Englehart wrote DC Comics' Green Lantern , overseeing

10396-409: The second-largest group and are 18.7% of the United States population. African Americans constitute the country's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the total U.S. population. Asian Americans are the country's fourth-largest group, composing 5.9% of the United States population. The country's 3.7 million Native Americans account for about 1%, and some 574 native tribes are recognized by

10509-692: The seminal storyline A Death in the Family which featured the death of Jason Todd , the second Robin , during his run on Batman . For Epic Illustrated , he created his own character, Dreadstar . Jim Starlin was born on October 9, 1949, in Detroit , Michigan . He had a Catholic upbringing. In the 1960s, Starlin served as an aviation photographer in the US Navy in Vietnam . During his off duty time, he drew and submitted various comics. After leaving

10622-404: The series of The New 52 line, beginning with issue #19. In 2016, Starlin's drawing hand was injured in an accident, which limited him to writing stories without the opportunity to illustrate them. "It takes me two minutes to write the sentence and will take the artist a day and a half to draw the scene. But there is a certain satisfaction to the drawing part … you get up from the drawing board at

10735-588: The series, Max became immortal in 1985 and is dealing with the consequences two decades later in real time. He has admitted to writing the novel Hellstorm in the TALON Force series under the house pseudonym Cliff Garnett . For producer Michael Uslan , Englehart wrote early treatments and served as script doctor for the Batman film that was based on his comics series; it was later scripted by Sam Hamm and directed by Tim Burton . He wrote three episodes of

10848-577: The story continued in Justice League of America #103 (by Wein, Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano ), and concluded in Thor #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema ). As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle (laughs) and each story had to stand on its own, but we really worked it out. It's really worthwhile to read those stories back to back to back — it didn't matter to us that one

10961-459: The supernatural series Phantom of Fear City #1–12 (May 1993 – May 1995) and, for Topps Comics , several Jurassic Park limited series in the years 1993 to 1995. In the early 2000s, Englehart returned to comics to write the miniseries Hellcat , Fantastic Four: Big Town and Avengers: Celestial Quest for Marvel and stories for The Batman Chronicles and Legends of the DC Universe for DC. In 2005, he reunited with Rogers and Austin on

11074-505: The television series Night Man , an adaptation of the comic series of the same name that he had created for Malibu Comics. Englehart also worked in animation, with episodes of Street Fighter and G.I. Joe Extreme , and wrote one of the three episodes in Disney's Atlantis: Milo's Return film. His screenplay for an unproduced film, Majorca , was published as a book by Black Coat Press. Several of Englehart's characters appear in

11187-484: The time). Englehart and artist Starlin co-created the character Shang-Chi , Master of Kung Fu, though they only worked on the early issues of the series. Englehart reconciled the existence of Captain America and sidekick Bucky in Marvel's 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics , an anomaly that had been ignored since Captain America's 1964 reintroduction to Marvel presented him as having been in suspended animation since 1945. Englehart's newly retconned history stated that

11300-539: The title was "Ten Nights of The Beast" in issues #417–420 (March – June 1988) which introduced the KGBeast . Starlin then wrote the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.–Nov. 1988) drawn by Wrightson, and the storyline " Batman: A Death in the Family " in Batman #426–429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd , the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed by the Joker . The controversial storyline

11413-508: The title's name change to Green Lantern Corps. During that time he also wrote both the DC weekly crossover series Millennium (Jan–Feb 1988) and the first two issues of the spin-off The New Guardians . Issue #2 was notable for featuring the villain SnowFlame , a superpowered human who derived his powers from cocaine. In 1992, Jim Shooter hired Englehart to write for Valiant Comics where he scripted issue #1–4 of X-O-Manowar and

11526-425: The villainous Thanos which spread across a number of Marvel titles. Starlin left Captain Marvel one issue after concluding his Thanos saga. Concurrently in the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach . Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm,

11639-412: The way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics. The United States currently has 37 ancestry groups with more than one million individuals. White Americans with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa form the largest racial and ethnic group at 57.8% of the United States population. Hispanic and Latino Americans form

11752-476: The world. The United States has the world's largest Christian population . The majority of Americans (76%) are Christians , mostly within Protestant and Catholic denominations; these adherents constitute 48% and 23% of the population, respectively. Other religions include Buddhism , Hinduism , Islam , and Judaism , which collectively make up about 4% to 5% of the adult population. Another 15% of

11865-457: Was [due to] him or Kirby. [Ditko] did the best layouts." Starlin's first job for Marvel was as a finisher on pages of The Amazing Spider-Man . He then drew three issues of Iron Man which introduced the characters Thanos and Drax the Destroyer . He was then given the chance to draw an issue (#25) of the "cosmic" title Captain Marvel . Starlin took over as plotter the following issue, and began developing an elaborate story arc centered on

11978-661: Was as an art assistant to Neal Adams on a 10-page story by writer Denny O'Neil in Warren Publishing 's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #10 (March 1971). After briefly serving as a member of the Crusty Bunkers , Englehart started working as a full-time writer. He began with a co-writing credit, with Gardner Fox , on the six-page, Englehart-drawn "Retribution" in Warren's Eerie #35 (Sept. 1971). Then, as Marvel editor Roy Thomas said in

12091-463: Was at DC and two were at Marvel — I think it was us being creative, thinking what would be really cool to do." Englehart had a run on Doctor Strange (originally with artist Frank Brunner , later with Gene Colan ), in which Strange's mentor, the Ancient One , died, and Strange became the new Sorcerer Supreme. Englehart and Brunner, audaciously, also created a multi-issue storyline in which

12204-575: Was being drawn by Gene Colan at the time. In Englehart's final story for the series, he sent Dr. Strange back in time to meet Benjamin Franklin . Describing that time, Englehart said in 1998, We'd rampage around New York City. There was one night when a bunch of us, including Jim Starlin , went out on the town. We partied all day, then did some more acid , then roamed around town until dawn and saw all sorts of amazing things (most of which ended up in Master of Kung Fu , which Jim and I were doing at

12317-665: Was followed by the sequel miniseries The Infinity War and Infinity Crusade . In 1998, he created Hardcore Station in 1998 for DC Comics. In 2003, Starlin wrote and drew the Marvel Comics miniseries Marvel: The End . The series starred Thanos and a multitude of Marvel characters, and subsequently, Starlin was assigned an eponymous Thanos series. Starlin then worked for independent companies, creating Cosmic Guard (later renamed Kid Cosmos ) published by Devil's Due and then Dynamite Entertainment in 2006. Starlin returned to DC and, with artist Shane Davis , wrote

12430-439: Was given the opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by Marvel itself. Starlin and Bernie Wrightson produced Heroes for Hope , a 1985 one-shot designed to raise money for African famine relief and recovery. Published in the form of a " comic jam ," the book featured an all-star lineup of comics creators as well as

12543-399: Was highest among individuals from West Africa (4%–9%), and lowest among individuals from Cape Verde, East Africa and Southern Africa (0%–4%). African immigrants may also experience conflict with African Americans. According to the 2020 United States census, there are 2,251,699 people who are Native Americans or Alaska Natives alone; they make up 0.7% of the total population. According to

12656-417: Was republished in 2010. A 25-page Englehart-Rogers story featuring Madame Xanadu , originally commissioned for Doorway to Nightmare , sat in inventory for years before being published as the one-shot Madame Xanadu in 1981, in DC's first attempt at marketing comics specifically to the " direct market " of fans and collectors. In 1983, Marvel's creator-owned imprint Epic Comics published Coyote ,

12769-648: Was suggested by editor Denny O'Neil and lined up with Starlin's well-known desire to remove the Robin character from Batman's storyline. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. Starlin was fired off the Batman title soon afterward. Other projects for DC included writing The Weird drawn by Wrightson and Cosmic Odyssey drawn by Mike Mignola . Starlin wrote and drew Gilgamesh II in 1989 before returning to Marvel. Back at Marvel, Starlin began scripting

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