(Earth-712)
120-595: Hyperion is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics , of which there are several notable versions. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Sal Buscema , the original Hyperion made his debut in The Avengers #69 (October 1969). The alternate versions are each from a different dimension of the Marvel Multiverse , and consist of both heroes and villains. Thomas says that
240-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with
360-557: A behavior modification program, which the team uses to brainwash the Institute of Evil and numerous other criminals. He becomes trapped in an inter-dimensional zone and is impersonated by the Squadron Sinister Hyperion (Zhib-Ran). Forced to ally himself with Master Menace to escape, Hyperion battles Zhib-Ran to the death; although he wins, he is blinded in the fight. After a battle to the death with Nighthawk and
480-488: A script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have the final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors ,
600-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought
720-455: A 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in the red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch
840-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,
960-530: A corrupt government has filled the power vacuum they left. With the aid of inter-dimensional adventurers the Exiles , Hyperion and the Squadron expose the government to a global audience. Earth-712 was eventually destroyed by an Incursion, a collision between two realities. Hyperion and Power Princess were the last two survivors of their team. A fatally injured Hyperion urged Zarda to escape their reality before it
1080-520: A dystopian possible future. Another Hyperion joins the Avengers in Jonathan Hickman 's The Avengers vol. 5 #1 (Dec. 2012). Hickman described the decision to use a new Hyperion, rather than an existing one: This is yet another parallel universe Hyperion. This is not King Hyperion, or Supreme Power Hyperion, this is not Gruenwald's Hyperion. This is Hyperion without all that baggage. This
1200-739: A glass sphere. The Squadron reappears in the title Defenders , reunited by the alien Nebulon . The villains receive greater power in exchange for the planet Earth, and create a giant laser cannon in the Arctic to melt the polar ice caps , which would cover the entire planet in water. The superhero team the Defenders prevent the scheme and defeat the villains (and Nebulon), with the Hulk overpowering Hyperion. After this defeat Hyperion and his two remaining teammates are teleported off world by Nebulon, and later return to Earth. Acquiring an energy-draining weapon,
1320-524: A government bio-chemical weapons facility beneath the city of Blüdhaven that has also fallen under the control of Darkseid's minions. Slowly becoming aware of the threat the evil gods pose, Alan Scott enacts "Article X", a superhero draft that readies Earth's metahuman forces for the coming war. With Batman and Jordan removed from play, the New Gods continue to eliminate the greatest threats to Darkseid's plan. Wonder Woman , while investigating Bludhaven,
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#17327757261911440-664: A group of recursive homages to other companies' pastiches of DC characters. The Squadron Sinister are assembled by the cosmic entity the Grandmaster to battle the champions of the time-traveling Kang the Conqueror , the superhero team the Avengers. Hyperion ( Zhib-Ran ) is apparently brought from a microverse . The Avengers defeat the Squadron and thwart the Grandmaster, with Thor shrinking Hyperion and trapping him in
1560-656: A history teacher at Buscema High School in Kensington, Maryland. In the team's first mission, Hyperion and the Squadron Supreme of America fought Namor and the Defenders of the Deep, when they targeted a Roxxon oil platform off the coast of Alaska. Hyperion had Orka tied up in chains. Then, the Squadron Supreme visited another oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The Squadron Supreme then made short work of Namor and
1680-624: A huge battle erupts between the superheroes and the Justifiers in Blüdhaven, during which the equation-controlled Wonder Woman infects the heroes with Morticoccous, which strips the heroes of their powers. However, the loss of these troops is soon mitigated by the turning of Libra's Justifiers, control over whom is usurped by Lex Luthor and Doctor Sivana so they can help defeat Darkseid. These twists and turns are observed by Nix Uotan, whose powers and memories of his true nature are unlocked with
1800-514: A huge crossover event called Hypercrisis, which didn't happen for various reasons. Some of Hypercrisis went into Seven Soldiers , some went into All-Star Superman , some went into 52 and some of it found a home in Final Crisis ." According to Grant Morrison, work finally began on Final Crisis #1 in early 2006 , with the intention of the series being a thematic and literal sequel to Seven Soldiers and 52 , two projects that Morrison
1920-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as
2040-459: A new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as
2160-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did
2280-523: A secret identity and later decides to take a job as a truck driver. A variation of the Mark Milton version of Hyperion appears as a member of the Squadron Supreme of America. This version is a simulacrum created by Mephisto and programmed by the Power Elite. Hyperion was programmed to be a mild-mannered man raised by farmers who had the strength of an Eternal. In his personal time, he works as
2400-419: A separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books, the art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with
2520-441: A success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish the 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of
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#17327757261912640-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring
2760-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were
2880-549: A wish for a happy ending. In the distant past, Anthro dies of old age in a cave. His body is discovered by Bruce Wayne—not killed, but having been sent back in time by the Omega Beams. He picks up where Anthro left off, drawing a bat symbol on the cave wall. The first issue of Final Crisis went on sale May 28, 2008. Final Crisis was seven oversized issues released over nine months starting in May 2008. Morrison explained that
3000-476: Is Hyperion with a fresh slate, for a very specific purpose. He comes out of what the big story is behind the whole Avengers three-year plan that I have. He's very important, very pivotal, and I think people are really going to dig where we go with that. He's not going to be our poor analogue for Superman. A pastiche of Hyperion, "Hyperius", appears in DC Comics' Final Crisis and The Multiversity , part of
3120-404: Is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison . Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely by J. G. Jones ; artists Carlos Pacheco , Marco Rudy and Doug Mahnke later provided art for the series. The storyline directly follows DC Universe #0 after
3240-577: Is a member of the race of superhumans known as the Eternals . As a result, he has superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, and flight. All versions of Hyperion possess these superhuman attributes, and in a few cases powerful breath. Each also has greatly enhanced sensory perceptions which extends to being able to perceive the entire electromagnetic spectrum . Their "atomic vision" allows them to fire beams of heat from their eyes. The heroic Earth-712 version of Hyperion also possesses
3360-485: Is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized,
3480-667: Is an inorganic duplicate created by the Grandmaster modeled on the Earth-712 Hyperion. The Squadron Sinister Hyperion then impersonates the Squadron Supreme Hyperion for several weeks before dying in battle against the original. The Grandmaster briefly resurrects the character as part of a group called the Legion of the Unliving to combat the Avengers. A new Hyperion is made when the Grandmaster reforms
3600-523: Is blown to pieces, Hyperion survives, regenerating and eventually regaining his full power. He seeks revenge on the Exiles, only to be engaged in battle by two alternate versions of himself, including the Earth-712 version. King Hyperion is then exiled to his home reality, where Earth was completely destroyed by nuclear weapons in an attempt to destroy him years prior. He somehow escapes, and is later seen in
3720-653: Is infected by the Morticoccous bacterium by a DeSaad -possessed Mary Marvel . Superman departs for the future to obtain a cure for Lois Lane after a bomb in the Daily Planet building mortally wounds her. The Silver Age Flash , Barry Allen , is resurrected from within the Speed Force by powers unknown and races back in time alongside Wally West in an attempt to outrun the Black Racer and stop
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3840-424: Is left in the darkness at the end of creation, struggling to complete a copy of the "Miracle Machine", a wish-granting machine shown to him by Brainiac 5 during his trip to the future. Darkseid's essence re-emerges to claim the machine, but Superman destroys him for good by using the last of his super-powered breath to sing, countering the vibrational frequency of Darkseid's life force. With Darkseid's end, however,
3960-505: Is recruited by X-51 for his squadron of interdimensional heralds. in his reality, almost all superheroes perished in a nuclear attack by Earth's governments. He later kills Kulan Gath , who is responsible for the deaths of many of another reality's heroes. Another version of Hyperion appears on Battleworld during Secret Wars in the four issue mini-series Squadron Sinister . He and his Squadron have been annexing other domains of Battleworld. Nighthawk secretly works against Hyperion, framing
4080-714: Is soon brought down by Ghost, who uses the nanites in King Hyperion's spine to dose him with argonite. After that, Hyperion is subject to Man-Thing's touch, which burns anyone who feels fear. Scientists in the mainstream 616 reality graft the DNA of the Earth-712 Squadron Supreme members to normal human corpses and zap them with radiation to create a Squadron Supreme for their reality in an attempt to attain disease-curing knowledge of genetics. The bodies are reanimated as zombies, and, believing themselves to be
4200-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined
4320-456: Is the destruction of Atlantis, which Hyperion enacts himself as well as severing Namor 's head with his atomic vision, killing him instantly in retaliation for the King of Atlantis' role in the annihilation of Doctor Spectrum's home reality. After the public death of Namor the Squadron Supreme become a very controversial team which puts them at odds with the Avengers. Hyperion is convinced to take on
4440-799: The Terror Titans mini-series takes place during the events of Final Crisis and deals heavily with the Dark Side Club and the Anti-Life Equation. In a move Dan DiDio described as "inspirationally tied to Final Crisis ," in early 2009, the villains took over the main DC Universe titles and some were featured in " Faces of Evil ," a series of one-shots , all designed to examine the question "What happens when evil wins?" Four Final Crisis Aftermath six-issue limited series were announced at New York Comic Con 2009: In
4560-500: The Anti-Life Equation through all of Earth's communications networks, spreading it across the entire planet. The two Flashes, having failed to prevent Orion's death, emerge from the time stream one month after the equation's release and discover that the minds of nearly the entire population have fallen under Darkseid's control, with its super-human victims having been transformed into a military force of "Justifiers". With
4680-683: The Earth-616 version of the Squadron Supreme. Thomas spoke in depth on the character's creation stating, "The first of the 4 members of the Squadron Sinister I designed for THE AVENGERS, to be an evil counterpart of Superman , kind of a parody/homage. I took the name from the Greek sun god , by way of the Shakespearean quote from Hamlet : "...that was to this, Hyperion to a satyr." I made sure that every costume line on Hyperion
4800-667: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),
4920-482: The Green Lantern Corps to investigate the murder, deducing the cause of death to be a bullet of Radion (a substance toxic to New Gods) fired backward through time from the future. New God Granny Goodness , possessing the body of Green Lantern Kraken, stymies the investigation by framing Hal Jordan for the murder; when Batman deduces her true identity, she captures him and teleports him to Command D ,
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5040-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for
5160-619: The Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than a true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of
5280-729: The McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved
5400-517: The Redeemers , a team formed to stop the domineering Squadron, Hyperion relents and relinquishes power. Hyperion and the other surviving members of the Squadron Supreme travel into space to protect their planet from the expanding Nth Man , and are exiled to the Earth-616 universe. The team encounters the hero Quasar , and take up residence at the government facility Project Pegasus . Quasar and
5520-757: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on
5640-456: The Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as a way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from
5760-585: The Zoo Crew , the Super Young Team, the armies of Heaven itself and more for a final battle with Mandrakk that culminates in the Corps spearing him with a stake made of pure light created by the combined energy of their rings. The heroes drag Earth out of the black hole that is Darkseid, and Nix Uotan returns to being human as the other Monitors cease to exist in accordance with the wish Superman had made:
5880-458: The "break" between Final Crisis #3 and #4. Morrison, who wrote one of the "final" Batman stories in " Batman R.I.P. ," stated, "First it's R.I.P. , and we'll see how that winds up for Batman. Then the two-parter mentioned ( Batman #682–683) goes through Batman's whole career, in a big summing up of everything that also ties directly into Final Crisis . And Final Crisis is where we see the final fate of Batman." While not an official tie-in,
6000-484: The 12-issue Squadron Supreme limited series (Sept. 1985-Aug. 1986) Mark Gruenwald picked up from where Earth-712 was last seen in The Defenders #114 and revealed this Hyperion's origins. The character is re-imagined for Marvel's MAX imprint title Supreme Power , where he is an alien who has been raised by the government. This iteration received a spinoff miniseries, Supreme Power: Hyperion , which showed
6120-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following
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#17327757261916240-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had
6360-419: The 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect the comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of
6480-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In
6600-559: The Defenders of the Deep. During the War of the Realms storyline, Mark was teaching a class when a code red was issued. He and other members of the Squadron Supreme of America were summoned to Washington D.C., where Phil Coulson brought them up to speed with Malekith the Accursed 's invasion. Hyperion and the Squadron Supreme of America fight an army of Rock Trolls and Frost Giants . After
6720-587: The Eternal Makkari rescue the Squadron when the team is captured by the cosmic entity the Stranger ; Makkari realizes that Hyperion is an Eternal and teaches him how to restore his eyesight. The entire Squadron later assists the Avengers against the villain Imus Champion before finding the means to return to their universe. Once home, the team disbands, but Hyperion reunites them when he discovers
6840-416: The Grandmaster, and in the ensuing chaos Hyperion and his teammates scatter and escape. Hyperion, also known as Mark Milton , is a founding member of his reality's Squadron Supreme and the last known Eternal left on his Earth. Four Avengers from the Earth-616 universe accidentally arrive in this Squadron's reality, and the two groups first battle and then work together to stop the global threat posed by
6960-526: The Metron symbol across the face of the Earth in beams of light, liberating all those under the equation's control. The freed Wonder Woman uses her lasso of truth to release Darkseid's consciousness from Turpin's body. Although physically bested, Darkseid's dying essence is still dragging all of reality into nothingness along with it. Time and space break down as the effect worsens, until eventually, only Superman
7080-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in
7200-707: The Red Lanterns " is the start of a storyline of the same name, that picks up on events in " Green Lantern: Secret Origin " and continues in Green Lantern #36–38. It starts as a tie-in because, according to writer Geoff Johns , "events in Final Crisis have motivated the Guardians to proceed further with their attempted containment of the light". The limited series comprise Superman Beyond (a two issue mini-series also written by Grant Morrison ), Legion of 3 Worlds (a five-issue limited series focusing on
7320-459: The Squadron Sinister called the Squadron Supreme, once again in the title The Avengers , using characters with the same names as those of the Squadron Sinister (this caused confusion in Marvel's production department, as the covers of The Avengers #85 and #141 claimed the issues featured appearances by the Squadron Sinister when it was in fact the Squadron Supreme that appeared in both issues). In
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#17327757261917440-595: The Squadron Sinister. He is joined by a new Doctor Spectrum (Alice Nugent, former lab assistant of Henry Pym); the Whizzer (now called Speed Demon ), and Nighthawk. This Hyperion originated from the Microverse, as the original Hyperion had believed himself to have been. The Grandmaster increases the Squadron Sinister's powers and they battle the New Thunderbolts. Thunderbolts team leader Baron Zemo defeats
7560-421: The Squadron Supreme caused the Frost Giants to retreat, Phil Coulson sends them to Ohio which has become a battleground. Hyperion was with the Squadron Supreme attempting to apprehend Black Panther, when he infiltrated the Pentagon to confront Phil Coulson. Hyperion states that the Squadron Supreme are the United States' sanctioned superhero team in light of the Avengers becoming an "anti-American" team. Hyperion
7680-415: The Squadron Supreme rule a dystopian world. This causes Hyperion (on his counterpart's advice) to rethink his ideas about power, humanity, and teamwork, leading him to surrender to the Squadron from his world. Emil Burbank later deduces that it was not an alternate world they traveled to, but their own future; Burbank tells no one of his discovery. Along with the rest of his team, save Nighthawk, Hyperion
7800-411: The Whizzer for treachery so that Hyperion incinerates him, and causing Doctor Spectrum to flee when he is also framed. Nighthawk later shoots Hyperion with an argonite gun, and holds his own in a fight with him using Doctor Spectrum's power prism until Hyperion is so weakened by the argonite that Nighthawk strangles him to death with his bare hands. American comic book An American comic book
7920-448: The ability to use cosmic energy to augment his life force granting him great longevity and regenerative abilities. The powers of Hyperion and his alternative versions are drained when exposed to argonite radiation. King Hyperion was a member of the reality-hopping team known as Weapon X . He is incredibly ruthless and seeks to conquer alternate Earths, but is eventually defeated by Blink and an alternate version of Gambit. Although his body
8040-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This
8160-473: The back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted a year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by
8280-415: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated
8400-400: The body of a human being. Darkseid's "fall" has sundered reality, creating a singularity at the heart of creation, into which all of space and time are slowly being drawn, setting the stage for the evil god's final victory, to be claimed in his inevitable death. Through his agent Libra , he arranges for a huge army of super villains to be gathered, who capture and kill Martian Manhunter as
8520-420: The bullet that will kill Orion. Turpin's search for the missing children leads him to the Dark Side Club, where he is confronted by Darkseid's human host, Boss Dark Side. Darkseid transfers his essence into Turpin's body and brings him to Command D, where the detective is subjected to bio-genetic restructuring to transform his body into a replica of Darkseid's original form. Concurrently, Darkseid's agents release
8640-477: The character was a major character in the 1985 series Squadron Supreme , which fleshed out the characterization of Hyperion and the other Squadron Supreme members. In 2003, Marvel Comics launched Supreme Power , a new take on the Squadron Supreme universe, where Hyperion is raised by the United States government to be a super-powered operative. Yet another alternate Hyperion joined the Avengers and later
8760-421: The character was intended as a pastiche of DC's iconic hero Superman . The first Hyperion, Zhib-Ran, was a member of Squadron Sinister , a team created by the Grandmaster to fight against a team of Avengers gathered by the time travelling Kang . Two years after the character's first appearance, a heroic version appeared as a founding member of the alternate-reality Squadron Supreme . This incarnation of
8880-414: The comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into
9000-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled
9120-507: The conclusion of the 51-issue Countdown to Final Crisis weekly limited series. Promotion about the limited series describes its story as "the day evil won". The series deals with alien villain Darkseid 's plot to overthrow reality, and the subsequent death and corruption of various DC characters and their universe. Final Crisis came out of several ideas Grant Morrison had when they returned to DC Comics in 2003. Morrison said, "I pitched
9240-480: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote
9360-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,
9480-581: The crossover approached, a "Sightings" cover banner appeared on various DC comics as "signposts, marking important storybeats and moments throughout the DC Universe." The first such headers appeared on Justice League of America (vol. 2) #21 and Action Comics #866, respectively (the JLA issue featured Libra's return and his recruiting of the Human Flame ). The original intent was for Jones to pencil
9600-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of
9720-525: The different incarnations of the Legion of Super-Heroes ), Revelations (a five-issue limited series ), and Rogues' Revenge (a three-issue mini-series focused on the Flash Rogues ). Following the final battle of the New Gods , Darkseid 's spirit tumbles through time itself, coming to rest on Earth , where he, along with the spirits of the other evil gods of Apokolips , manifests himself in
9840-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In
9960-615: The evil behind evils emerges: Mandrakk , the Dark Monitor, fallen father of Nix Uotan, who waits at the end of all things to consume what remains. Superman uses the solar energy in his own cells to power the Miracle Machine and makes a wish that is granted by the appearance of an army of Supermen from all across the multiverse. Nix Uotan joins the clash, using his Monitor powers to summon the Green Lantern Corps,
10080-750: The first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring the Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on
10200-453: The government's even more closely guarded secret super-operative, Joe Ledger . He briefly allies himself with Nighthawk and Blur to find and defeat the super-powered serial killer Michael Redstone . As Hyperion discovers that he has been systematically lied to his entire life, he becomes disillusioned with the government and eventually openly rebels. When the government attempts to blackmail him into returning by revealing his alien status to
10320-636: The help of Metron and a mysterious ape-like figure in a robe. Escaping confinement in Command D, Batman uses the Radion bullet to mortally wound Darkseid, while Darkseid in turn kills Batman with his Omega Beams. Superman returns to the present and tears Command D apart to recover Batman's corpse and faces off against Darkseid as the Flashes come racing into Blüdhaven, the Black Racer hot on their heels. As
10440-546: The help of the Tattooed Man , the Super Young Team and former allies of the New Gods of New Genesis Shilo Norman and Sonny Sumo , small cells of super heroes who have managed to resist the equation discover a possible salvation: a symbol from the alphabet of the New Gods that will break the equation's control over minds; it had been gifted to the cave-boy Anthro by Metron in prehistoric times. Meanwhile,
10560-464: The heroes reach super-luminal velocity, time warps around the Flashes, creating the temporal eddy into which Darkseid fires the bullet, sending it back in time to kill Orion. Outpacing Omega Beams fired from the eyes of the humans in Darkseid's thrall, the Flashes lead both the beams and the Black Racer straight to Darkseid, finishing the job Batman had begun to kill him. Simultaneously, The Ray traces
10680-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there
10800-486: The largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of the process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in
10920-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across
11040-451: The limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in the 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than
11160-705: The mainstream Earth-616 reality's Russia, battling the Winter Guard and the Blue Marvel . He is imprisoned in the Raft, and Luke Cage nominates him for the Thunderbolts program. King Hyperion tells the team that he is a heroic iteration, and that the Hyperion who fought Blue Marvel had switched places with him upon defeat. This is a lie, and he turns on the Thunderbolts during their first mission together. He
11280-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed
11400-451: The mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in the tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from
11520-574: The most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking a ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934),
11640-791: The mutant Brain-Child. Hyperion and the Squadron Supreme are manipulated by the Serpent Crown into battling the Avengers. The Defenders travel to their world to fight the villain Overmind and his ally Null, the Living Darkness, who have placed the Squadron under their control. Following the societal instability caused by Overmind's takeover of the planet, Hyperion and other Squadron members resolve, against their teammate Nighthawk's advice, to assume control of their United States government, instituting programs aimed at increasing quality of life; for instance Hyperion helps establish
11760-473: The opening salvo of the conflict. Coinciding with the Manhunter's death is the arrival on Earth of Nix Uotan , an exiled member of the cosmic Monitors , who has been sentenced to become human as punishment for failure in his duties. Following the trail of a group of missing child prodigies, detective Dan Turpin discovers the dying body of Darkseid's son, Orion . The Justice League of America liaise with
11880-516: The original Squadron Supreme, they attempt to escape the lab facility. Hyperion is successful and goes on an eating rampage in Kansas, but eventually finds enough willpower to realize deep in his mind the immorality of his appetite-driven actions, and thus in turn stopping himself through eating cattle infected with mad cow disease to kill himself. In the Paradise X miniseries, a version of Hyperion
12000-542: The page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of the American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be
12120-604: The public, he responds by smashing into the North Pole from space, creating a 10.5 seismic event. In the Supreme Power: Hyperion miniseries, a hastily assembled team of superhumans is sent by the government to retrieve him, and the resulting battle—through an interaction of Hyperion's "flash vision" eye-beams, Nuke 's radiation blast, and Arcanna 's reality manipulation—sends the combatants into what appears to be an alternate timeline where Hyperion and
12240-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in
12360-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash
12480-408: The sequence of stories in the main series and tie-ins is Final Crisis #1–3, Superman Beyond #1–2, Final Crisis: Submit , Final Crisis #4–5, Batman #682–683, and finally Final Crisis #6–7. Several one-shots and mini-series were released as tie-ins to Final Crisis; three series ran in parallel to the main one and the one-shot , DC Universe: Last Will and Testament , was planned to fit in
12600-464: The small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck , a collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published
12720-701: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half
12840-586: The three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically, the size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that
12960-459: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . Final Crisis " Final Crisis "
13080-492: The villains plan to threaten the Earth once again but are defeated by the Defenders and the Avenger Yellowjacket . The character battles Thor once again and encounters the Earth-712 version of Hyperion. He becomes involved with Thundra , but the relationship ends when she discovers a means of returning to her own dimension. The Earth-712 Master Menace transports Hyperion to his universe and informs him that he
13200-541: The whole series. Due to delays, however, Carlos Pacheco drew issues #4–6 with Jones and issue 7 was drawn entirely by Doug Mahnke . Jones said that "Any problems completing the series are my own. I love Doug Mahnke's art, and he would have probably been a better choice to draw this series in the first place." In addition to the core limited series the larger storyline includes a number of tie-ins , including one-shots and limited series. The one-shots comprise "Requiem," "Resist," "Secret Files" and "Submit". Also " Rage of
13320-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in
13440-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of
13560-401: Was destroyed. This Hyperion was sent to Earth in a spacecraft, and seized shortly after by U.S. government agents who raised him in a tightly controlled, isolated environment. As an adult, he became a covert agent used in strict secrecy, but eventually a reporter came too close to the truth, and the decision was made to make his existence public, largely so he could be used as a distraction from
13680-538: Was different from those on Superman... boots, belt, length of sleeves, face mask, etc. And I gave him a cape that only attached to one shoulder, after the look of a 1940s character called Dyna-Man in a Harry Chesler comic." The first iteration of Hyperion, created by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema , debuted in The Avengers #69 as a member of the Squadron Sinister . Two years later, Thomas and penciller John Buscema created an alternate , heroic version of
13800-411: Was heavily involved in at the time. References to Infinite Crisis as the "middle Crisis" gave readers the impression there would be at least one additional major follow-up to the original Crisis on Infinite Earths . A May 2007 teaser poster confirmed this speculation with the tagline: "Heroes die. Legends live forever." Final Crisis was preceded by Countdown , a year-long weekly series which
13920-481: Was killed by the Cabal during an Incursion. This Hyperion was sent to his reality's Earth as a baby, the only survivor of a race of Eternals from a dying world. He was raised by a man named "Father", who named him Marcus Milton and taught him the morals of society. As an adult, he became the superhero named Hyperion and protected the world alongside the Squadron Supreme. When his reality collided with another, Hyperion
14040-406: Was meant as a follow-up to 52 . Halfway through, the series was renamed Countdown to Final Crisis . However, the artwork met with delays. To keep the release on schedule, Countdown wrapped with issue #1 and its planned final issue (#0) was revamped as a 50 cent one-shot special called DC Universe #0. Besides hyping upcoming storylines such as " Batman R.I.P. " and " Blackest Night ," the issue
14160-448: Was narrated by Barry Allen and featured Libra leading a group of super-villains in prayer for the "god of evil", Darkseid . The result is, as described by Morrison, that "we're watching him fall back through the present, into the past of Seven Soldiers where he finally comes to rest in the body of 'Boss Dark Side', the gangster from that story." To help readers identify events pertinent to Final Crisis and other major DCU events as
14280-553: Was sighted in the Savage Land trying to extract the formula from one of the Garden's evolution pods. Hyperion later joins the Earth-616 version of the Squadron Supreme along with other various heroes who survived their home realities' destruction. This new incarnation of the Squadron Supreme are more dangerous than the Earth-712 and Supreme Power versions as they swear to protect Earth by any means necessary. Their first public battle
14400-406: Was the only survivor, floating around in the void that had been his universe until a group of A.I.M. scientists pulled him into the Earth-616 reality. Hyperion was in the captivity of A.I.M. until he was freed by the Avengers and offered a place amongst them. Hyperion is among the superheroes that joined the Avengers due to the threat of Ex Nihilo on Mars. Hyperion was with the Avengers when A.I.M.
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