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212-581: The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics , frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC's premier superheroes in the Justice League . The original team later becomes known as the Titans when the members age out of their teenage years, while

424-595: A successful franchise which pioneered the Kyodai Hero subgenre where the superheroes would be as big as giant monsters ( kaiju ) that they fought. The kaiju monster Godzilla , originally a villain, began being portrayed as a radioactive superhero in the Godzilla films , starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with

636-422: A "V" at the front (where Allen's costume had a single bolt in a horizontal band), removal of the wings from the top of his boots, a change in the material of his costume (giving it a slight metallic luster), and opaque lenses added to the eyes of his cowl. This modified design utilized elements of the costume designed by artist Dave Stevens for the live-action television series The Flash . A difficult encounter

848-705: A book entitled Business Zero to Superhero . In 2014, he received a cease and desist from DC and Marvel who claimed that his use of the term superhero would cause confusion and dilute their brands. He was offered a few thousand dollars in settlement to change the name of his book, but he did not concede. A few days prior to the scheduled hearing at the Intellectual Property Office in London, the companies backed down. A similar scenario occurred when comic book creator Ray Felix attempted to register his comic book series A World Without Superheroes with

1060-490: A conversation with a manifestation of his memories of Linda, Wally is encouraged not to give up on the idea that he can make a new relationship with her in this timeline, subsequently using his memories of the Titans as a new 'lightning-rod' to return to Earth. Afterwards, Wally is visited by Superman, who confirms that he, like Wally, remembers the world that existed before history was 'edited'. Later, Deathstroke wanted to use

1272-463: A couple, the return of Speedy as Arsenal, and the resurrection of Raven as a villain. Following Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! , the series saw a revamp: Nightwing was removed from the series by Batman editorial and a roster of new young heroes such as Damage and Impulse were inserted into the team to try and renew interest, along with Team Titan survivors Mirage and Terra II. New Green Lantern Kyle Rayner

1484-534: A couple. The initial storyline, "The Terror of Trigon", featured Raven's demon father attempting to take over Earth and Raven's own struggle to remain good despite Trigon's demonic blood inside her. Pérez left the series after issue #5. José Luis García-López followed Pérez as the title's artist and Eduardo Barreto followed García-López. Paul Levitz scripted or fully wrote issues #28-33 in order to give Wolfman time to catch up on his writing after he fell behind by taking on Crisis on Infinite Earths and History of

1696-541: A dangerous serial rapist to an ineffectual buffoon. When Dr. Light vows revenge against the League, Wally realizes that the villain is again a powerful threat. He then warns the Teen Titans and Outsiders not to underestimate Dr. Light, and later joins their fight against him. In the miniseries Infinite Crisis , as a narrative device, Wally West and his family were seen leaving for an alternative reality. This allowed

1908-693: A decorated officer in the United States Air Force who would become a costumed superheroine herself years later. In 1975 Shotaro Ishinomori 's Himitsu Sentai Gorenger debuted on what is now TV Asahi, it brought the concepts of multi-colored teams and supporting vehicles that debuted in Gatchaman into live-action, and began the Super Sentai franchise (later adapted into the American Power Rangers series in

2120-803: A fighter. He is known to often use Judo in his fighting style. Wally's stepfather whom he believed to be his biological father for most of his life, Rudolph West (a Manhunter agent), was presumed deceased following an explosion in Cuba during the Invasion series. He reappeared years later at, among other places, his ex-wife Mary West's (Wally's mother) second wedding. They both later attended Wally and Linda's wedding. Wally also has an older brother-like relationship with his younger cousin Wallace, whom he sometimes refers to as "Ace". Wally's kids Jai and Irey also consider Ace to be their uncle. Wally's best friend

2332-474: A flood of emotional experiences that momentarily allowed Wally to understand he wasn't so alone after all. While this realization might have initially given Wally some comfort, it all came to him in a comparative instant. Instead of helping to heal him, the onslaught of emotions broke him. In turn, he momentarily lost control of the powers of the Speed Force contained within him and in another fateful instant,

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2544-510: A four-part limited series by Wolfman and Pérez, was published in 1982, detailing the back-stories of Cyborg, Raven, Changeling, and Starfire. Wolfman wrote a series of New Teen Titans drug awareness comic books which were published in cooperation with The President's Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983–1984. The first was pencilled by Pérez and sponsored by the Keebler Company , the second was illustrated by Ross Andru and underwritten by

2756-499: A fraction of the normal time), as well as absorbing kinetic energy in a less direct manner; he once absorbed the kinetic energy of the entire planet Earth while standing at the North Pole when his teammates were forced to move the planet to prevent possible earthquakes. Wally has also found a way to create a costume out of pure Speed Force energy. Like all Flashes, Wally is surrounded by a protective aura that allows him to resist

2968-529: A full army of villains called the Wildebeest Society and revealed to be a front for the remaining members of the supervillain group the H.I.V.E. The group fell under the control of Titan Jericho, who in turn was being possessed by the corrupted souls of Azarath. During the "Titans Hunt" storyline that followed (#71–84), Cyborg was destroyed and rebuilt, along with being lobotomized; Danny Chase and Arella (Raven's mother) were killed and resurrected as

3180-436: A large mansion, and began dating beautiful women. The character's finances and luck continued to ebb and wane until The Flash vol. 2 #62, when his fortunes stabilized. The 1990s also saw further modifications to the look of the character, with a modified uniform appearing in 1991. This modified costume altered the visual appearance of the traditional Flash costume, with a belt made of two connecting lightning bolts meeting in

3392-537: A larger one. Another important event was the debut of Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, creating the Super Robot genre. Go Nagai also wrote the manga Cutey Honey in 1973; although the Magical Girl genre already existed, Nagai's manga introduced Transformation sequences that would become a staple of Magical Girl media. The 1970s would see more anti-heroes introduced into Superhero fiction such examples included

3604-449: A letter column of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories , the word superhero was used to define the title character of the comic strip Zarnak , by Max Plaisted. In the 1930s, the trends converged in some of the earliest superpowered costumed heroes, such as Japan's Ōgon Bat (1931) and Prince of Gamma (early 1930s), who first appeared in kamishibai (a kind of hybrid media combining pictures with live storytelling), Mandrake

3816-402: A more expensive edition with higher-quality printing and paper distributed exclusively to comic book specialty stores, then republished a year later in the original format, distributed to newsstands. The title was renamed Tales of the Teen Titans with issue #41, while a new concurrently published series named The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) launched with a new #1 following the release of Tales of

4028-523: A multimedia franchise that used footage from Super Sentai . Internationally, the Japanese comic book character , Sailor Moon , is recognized as one of the most important and popular female superheroes ever created. The first use of the word "super hero" dates back to 1917. At the time, the word was merely used to describe a "public figure of great accomplishments." However, in 1967, Ben Cooper, Inc., an American Halloween costume manufacturer, became

4240-422: A mysterious illness that affected his entire bodily system; the more he used his speed powers, the faster his body deteriorated. This could have been caused by one of two things, Wally was a boy when the electrified chemicals altered his body, which was still developing and maturing (as opposed to Barry Allen, who was already an adult when his accident occurred) or when he was struck with a weapon during his time with

4452-507: A new costume to reflect that he is the Flash rather than 'Kid Flash'. Wally goes to the Titans, and through both physical contact to Nightwing, Donna Troy , Arsenal , Tempest and Lilith Clay with the Speed Force reminding them of their memories with him, creating a new history. After an emotional reunion with his friends, he tells them of the situation. Wally believes that the unknown entity will attack again to prevent them from finding out

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4664-410: A new team of Titans, anchored by Robin, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash and soon followed by The New Teen Titans #1 (November 1980). The series, created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez , re-introduced Beast Boy as Changeling and introduced the machine man Cyborg, the alien Starfire, and the dark empath Raven. Raven, an expert manipulator, forms the group to fight her demonic father Trigon

4876-528: A newly resurrected Roy at the Teen Titans Academy. In " The New Golden Age ", Wally West was among those who attended a party held by the Flash family. Wally's primary superpower is his ability to control the speed at which his body vibrates and to move and think at Super-Speed, which he uses primarily to run at extreme superhuman velocities. His power originates from his mainline-connection to

5088-423: A profound effect on Japanese television . 1958 saw the debut of superhero Moonlight Mask on Japanese television. It was the first of numerous televised superhero dramas that would make up the tokusatsu superhero genre. Created by Kōhan Kawauchi , he followed up its success with the tokusatsu superhero shows Seven Color Mask (1959) and Messenger of Allah (1960), both starring a young Sonny Chiba . It

5300-505: A promiscuous manner. Through the overdeveloped bodies of the heroes or the seductive mannerisms of the villains, women in comic books are used as subordinates to their male counterparts, regardless of their strength or power. Wonder Woman has been subject to a long history of suppression as a result of her strength and power, including American culture's undoing of the Lynda Carter television series. In 2017's Wonder Woman , she had

5512-483: A psychopathic girl named Terra with the power to manipulate Earth and all Earth-related materials. She infiltrates the Titans in order to destroy them. "The Judas Contract" won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for "Favorite Comic Book Story" of 1984 and was later reprinted as a standalone trade paperback in 1988. Robin adopts the identity of Nightwing , while Wally West gives up his Kid Flash persona and quits

5724-577: A publishing agreement with DC Comics that allowed them to introduce a line of comics that included characters of many ethnic minorities. Milestone's initial run lasted four years, during which it introduced Static , a character adapted into the WB Network animated series Static Shock . In addition to the creation of new minority heroes, publishers have filled the identities and roles of once-Caucasian heroes with new characters from minority backgrounds. The African-American John Stewart appeared in

5936-441: A result, the Teen Titans briefly abandoned their identities to work as ordinary civilians, but the effort was quickly abandoned. Along the way, Aqualad left the series and the character of Mr. Jupiter, who was Lilith's mentor and employer, was introduced. He financially backed the Titans for a brief period. The series was canceled with #43 (January–February 1973). The series resumed with issue #44 (November 1976). The stories included

6148-757: A secondary character of the Green Hornet media franchise series since its inception in the 1930s. ). Kitty Pryde , a member of the X-Men, was an openly Jewish superhero in mainstream American comic books as early as 1978. Comic-book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes ; Cage and many of his contemporaries often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films, Native Americans were often associated with shamanism and wild animals , and Asian Americans were often portrayed as kung fu martial artists . Subsequent minority heroes, such as

6360-406: A single source." DC and Marvel have continued to expand their commercialization of the "superhero" mark to categories beyond comic books. Now, the two publishers jointly own numerous trademarks for figurines (see Spider-Man, Batman), movies, TV shows, magazines, merchandise, cardboard stand-up figures, playing cards , erasers , pencils , notebooks , cartoons , and many more. For instance,

6572-513: A skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in Fiction House 's Jungle Comic #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg". The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil , a non-costumed character who fought crime and wartime saboteurs using the superpower of invisibility created by Russell Stamm, would debut in the eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip a few months later on June 3, 1940. In 1940, Maximo

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6784-406: A suit not unlike the swimsuits in the T.V. show Baywatch . The sexualization of women in comic books can be explained mainly by the fact that the majority of writers are male. Not only are the writers mostly male, but the audience is mostly male as well. Therefore, writers are designing characters to appeal to a mostly male audience. The super hero characters illustrate a sociological idea called

6996-535: A three issue miniseries entitled Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day , which saw Lilith's death and Donna Troy sent to another world after seemingly dying, along with the disbanding of the 1998–2002 Titans roster and the Young Justice team. The relaunch came on the heels of the debut of the Teen Titans cartoon on Cartoon Network and reflected DC Comics chief executive Dan DiDio's desire to rehabilitate

7208-522: A variety of characters have been featured heroes in its pages. Significant early additions to the initial quartet of Titans were Speedy (Roy Harper) , Aquagirl (Tula) , Bumblebee (Karen Beecher) , Hawk (Hank Hall) , Dove (Don Hall) , Harlequin (Duela Dent) , and three non-costumed heroes: boxer Mal Duncan , psychic Lilith , and caveman Gnarrk . The series would not become a genuine hit until its 1980s revival as The New Teen Titans under writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez . This run depicted

7420-476: A wide array of different backgrounds and origins. Some superheroes (such as Spider-Man and Superman ) possess non-human or superhuman biology or use and practice magic to achieve their abilities (such as Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel ) while others (for example, Iron Man and Batman ) derive their status from advanced technology they create and use. The Dictionary.com definition of "superhero"

7632-446: Is Dick Grayson , who was the first Robin and current Nightwing . Wally and Dick became close as founding members of both the Teen Titans and the Titans. Their respective mentors, Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne, are also good friends and frequently team up with each other, meaning that when Wally was Kid Flash and Dick was Robin, the two often accompanied their mentors and each other when Bruce and Barry worked together. Dick later served as

7844-551: Is Nick Fury , who is reinterpreted as African-American both in the Ultimate Marvel as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuities. Wally West In his debut as the Flash, Wally wears a distinct red and gold costume which, like his uncle, he traditionally stores compressed inside a ring. He later creates a costume directly out of Speed Force energy. Following his return in 2016, Wally

8056-512: Is "a figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon , endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime", and the Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also: an exceptionally skillful or successful person." Terms such as masked crime fighters, costumed adventurers or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to characters such as

8268-421: Is a motorcycle-riding hero in an insect-like costume, who shouts Henshin (Metamorphosis) to don his costume and gain superhuman powers. The ideas of second-wave feminism , which spread through the 1960s into the 1970s, greatly influenced the way comic book companies would depict as well as market their female characters: Wonder Woman was for a time revamped as a mod-dressing martial artist directly inspired by

8480-544: Is a website satirizing the sexualized portrayal of women in comics by recreating the same poses using male superheroes, especially Marvel's Hawkeye . In 1966, Marvel introduced the Black Panther , an African monarch who became the first non- caricatured black superhero. The first African-American superhero, the Falcon , followed in 1969, and three years later, Luke Cage , a self-styled "hero-for-hire" , became

8692-427: Is able to easily generate white lightning, which means his connection to the Speed Force is stronger than ever. During the first stage of his return, he temporarily wore an alternate red and silver costume when he wasn't the main Flash. Generally portrayed as a white man with red hair and green eyes, Wally was reinterpreted biracial for DC's 2011 New 52 relaunch. A desire from fans to see the original interpretation of

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8904-532: Is arguable that the Marvel Comics teams of the early 1960s brought the biggest assortment of superheroes ever at one time into permanent publication, the likes of Spider-Man (1962), The Hulk , Iron Man , Daredevil , Nick Fury , The Mighty Thor , The Avengers (featuring a rebooted Captain America , Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man , Quicksilver ), and many others were given their own monthly titles. Typically

9116-480: Is hinted at in the final issue of Titans Hunt , in which the various original Teen Titans remember their bond to each other, but realize that they are still forgetting an important final member of their team. They look out to the ocean as lightning strikes. Wally West is reintroduced to DC continuity a week later in a DC Rebirth story. The story reveals that following the Flashpoint event, Wally became lost in

9328-592: Is invited to train, but the two eventually leave, with the members joining the Justice League of America and Justice League International, respectively. The Titans fight the future, evil adult versions of the group ( Titans Tomorrow ) and Clock King and the Terror Titans, who are part of Darkseid's underground fight club for metahumans. After the Batman R.I.P storyline, Robin leaves and Wonder Girl leads

9540-765: Is not completely dead and he revives him by jumpstarting his heart, curing Wally of his pacemaker condition. Wally West then helps the Titans defeat Donna Troy's evil self from an alternate future, Troia, and the other villains. When Barry confronts Wally about how he has not made any real effort to make contact with Iris, rebuild things with Linda, or even try to make a new life for himself, Wally tries to compensate for this by tracking down Frances Kane , but his initial contact with her also re-awakens her old psychological issues, causing her to attack Wally before he calms her down by confessing his own fears about his current circumstances. Inspired by this conversation, Wally calls Dick Grayson to help him purchase an apartment. However, Wally

9752-573: Is unaware that his friend-turned-foe Hunter Zolomon has returned. Now in a position of authority in the 25th century, Zolomon sends the Renegades into the past to arrest Iris for the murder of Eobard Thawne with the intention of provoking a war between the Flashes to make 'the true Flash' stronger through tragedy. After the Flash Family defeated Gorilla Grodd in a battle, Wally meets Iris for

9964-506: Is uncommon, the USPTO will grant joint ownership in a mark. For example, in the case Arrow Trading Co., Inc. v. Victorinox A.G. and Wegner S.A. , Opposition No. 103315 (TTAB June 27, 2003), the TTAB held that when "two entities have a long-standing relationship and rely on each other for quality control, it may be found, in appropriate circumstances, that the parties, as joint owners, do represent

10176-697: The Justice League episode "The Brave and the Bold", the gorilla Solovar tells Wally that he weighed around 400  lbs; Wally then proceeded to lift Solovar and run to safety. Wally is also a skilled science prodigy. In some versions, like Young Justice , Wally uses these skills to recreate the accident that gave Barry his powers by himself, granting himself his own powers. Like his mentor, Wally understands what his speed enables him to do, and uses his knowledge of physics to his advantage in battle. He has extensive knowledge and experience with Time-Travel and

10388-686: The Young Justice series, voiced by Jason Spisak . Wallace Rudolph West II, or Wally West, was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino and introduced in The Flash #110 (1959). The character was the nephew of the existing Flash character's girlfriend and later wife, Iris West . During a visit to the Central City police laboratory where Barry Allen worked, the freak accident that gave Allen his powers repeated itself, bathing Wally in electrically charged chemicals. Now possessing

10600-469: The gestalt being Phantasm (an identity created by Chase early in the series); while Raven, Jericho, and obscure Titans ally Golden Eagle were killed. New character Pantha (based on plans for a female Wildcat character Wolfman conceived in the mid-'80s) joined the team, along with Deathstroke and Red Star. Deathstroke was also given his own solo book and the team received its first crossover tie-in since Millennium , with The New Titans #81 being part of

10812-644: The American Soft Drink Industry , and the third was drawn by Adrian Gonzales and financed by IBM . The New Teen Titans relaunched with a new #1 issue in August 1984 as part of a new initiative at DC informally referred to as "hardcover/softcover". The New Teen Titans along with Legion of Super-Heroes and Batman and the Outsiders were the first and only titles included in this program. The same stories were published twice, first in

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11024-668: The Black Canary , introduced in Flash Comics #86 (Aug. 1947) as a supporting character. The most iconic comic book superheroine, who debuted during the Golden Age, is Wonder Woman . Modeled from the myth of the Amazons of Greek mythology , she was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston , with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. Wonder Woman's first appearance

11236-748: The Black Lantern Corps . In the Titans: Blackest Night miniseries, an emergency team consisting of Donna Troy, Cyborg, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Beast Boy, Kid Flash and the new Hawk and Dove , is formed to defend the Tower. In the ensuing battle, the Hawk is killed after her predecessor Hank Hall tears her heart out. At the end of the Blackest Knight crossover, Hank Hall is resurrected and resumes his partnership with Dove. In

11448-535: The Emma Peel character from the British television series The Avengers (no relation to the superhero team of the same name), but later reverted to Marston's original concept after the editors of Ms. magazine publicly disapproved of the character being depowered and without her traditional costume; Supergirl was moved from being a secondary feature on Action Comics to headline Adventure Comics in 1969;

11660-527: The Lady Liberators appeared in an issue of The Avengers as a group of mind-controlled superheroines led by Valkyrie (actually a disguised supervillainess ) and were meant to be a caricatured parody of feminist activists; and Jean Grey became the embodiment of a cosmic being known as the Phoenix Force with seemingly unlimited power in the late 1970s, a stark contrast from her depiction as

11872-548: The Millennium crossover event, with the second issue being the coda for the event. The series failed to catch on and was cancelled in 1988, along with Tales of the Teen Titans . The Team Titans were one of 100 groups sent back through time to prevent the birth of Lord Chaos , the son of Donna Troy and Terry Long. Their mission was to kill the pregnant Troy before she could give birth. Mirage , Killowat , Redwing, Terra , Nightrider , Prestor Jon and Battalion made up

12084-706: The New York Times and The Colbert Report , and embraced by anti- Islamophobia campaigners in San Francisco who plastered over anti-Muslim bus adverts with Kamala stickers. Other such successor-heroes of color include James "Rhodey" Rhodes as Iron Man and to a lesser extent Riri "Ironheart" Williams , Ryan Choi as the Atom , Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle and Amadeus Cho as Hulk . Certain established characters have had their ethnicity changed when adapted to another continuity or media. A notable example

12296-460: The Speed Force , an energy source that served as a pseudo-scientific explanation for his powers and that of other speedsters . Using this concept as a basis, the character's ability to tap into the Speed Force was used to expand his abilities. The character was now able to lend speed to other objects and people and create a costume directly out of Speed Force energy. Traditional powers such as

12508-589: The Speed Force : a vaguely-defined extra-dimensional and infinite energy source from which most speedster heroes gain their powers. Wally is both the fastest character to have worn the mantle of the Flash and the Prime Earth/DC Rebirth Wally was confirmed by Tempus Fuginaut to be the fastest character within the DC Multiverse (with the exception of deity level characters, meaning characters such as Dr. Manhattan, Michael, and Lucifer, or

12720-671: The X-Men 's Storm and the Teen Titans ' Cyborg avoided such conventions; they were both part of ensemble teams, which became increasingly diverse in subsequent years. The X-Men, in particular, were revived in 1975 with a line-up of characters drawn from several nations, including the Kenyan Storm, German Nightcrawler , Soviet / Russian Colossus , Irish Banshee , and Japanese Sunfire . In 1993, Milestone Comics , an African-American-owned media/publishing company entered into

12932-671: The " Heroes in Crisis " story arc, Wally was initially believed to be one of the massacre's highest-profile victims at the superhero rehabilitation facility known as Sanctuary, but is later revealed to be not only alive but actually the real culprit of the murders. Wally explains all in his confession, one of the many recorded video transcripts that Wally himself sent to Lois Lane, while identifying himself as "The Puddler", that he's felt "alone" since his return, as his family remains wiped from existence, with no one even to remember them, except him. These tortured memories are what led him to Sanctuary in

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13144-399: The " male gaze " which is media created from the viewpoint of a normative heterosexual male. The female characters in comic books are used to satisfy male desire for the "ideal" woman (small waist, large breasts, toned, athletic body). These characters have god-like power, but the most easily identifiable feature is their hyper sexualized bodies: they are designed to be sexually pleasing to

13356-483: The "War of the Gods" storyline. Peterson also saw the launch of Team Titans , which featured a new genetically modified (and heroic) doppelganger of Terra and Donna Troy, who was depowered in the "Total Chaos" crossover. Peterson left the book before "Total Chaos" concluded, leaving Wolfman to deal with the fallout from Peterson's editorially mandated storylines, including the final break-up between Starfire and Nightwing as

13568-463: The "hardcover" series (sans several back-up stories focusing on Tamaran that ran in New Teen Titans #14–18), the first Annual , and the lead story from the second Annual , before being cancelled with issue #91. Issue #1 of The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) created controversy when Grayson and Starfire were depicted in bed together, although it had been established for some time that they were

13780-568: The 1970s as an alternate for Earth's Green Lantern Hal Jordan , and would become a regular member of the Green Lantern Corps from the 1980s onward. The creators of the 2000s-era Justice League animated series selected Stewart as the show's Green Lantern. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Miles Morales , a youth of Puerto Rican and African-American ancestry who was also bitten by a genetically-altered spider, debuted as

13992-458: The 1980s, superhero fiction centered on cultural, ethnic, national, racial and language minority groups (from the perspective of US demographics ) began to be produced. This began with depiction of black superheroes in the 1960s, followed in the 1970s with a number of other ethnic-minority superheroes. In keeping with the political mood of the time, cultural diversity and inclusivism would be an important part of superhero groups starting from

14204-409: The 1980s. In the 1990s, this was further augmented by the first depictions of superheroes as homosexual. In 2017, Sign Gene emerged, the first group of deaf superheroes with superpowers through the use of sign language . Female super heroes—and villains—have been around since the early years of comic books dating back to the 1940s. The representation of women in comic books has been questioned in

14416-561: The 1990s). In 1978, Toei adapted Spider-Man into a live-action Japanese television series . In this continuity, Spider-Man had a vehicle called Marveller that could transform into a giant and powerful robot called Leopardon, this idea would be carried over to Toei's Battle Fever J (also co-produced with Marvel) and now multi-colored teams not only had support vehicles but giant robots to fight giant monsters with. In subsequent decades, popular characters like Dazzler , She-Hulk , Elektra , Catwoman , Witchblade , Spider-Girl , Batgirl and

14628-660: The Amazing Superman debut in Big Little Book series , by Russell R. Winterbotham (text), Henry E. Vallely and Erwin L. Hess (art). Captain America also appeared for the first time in print in December 1940, a year prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese government, when America was still in isolationism . Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby , the superhero was the physical embodiment of

14840-856: The American spirit during World War II. One superpowered character was portrayed as an antiheroine , a rarity for its time: the Black Widow , a costumed emissary of Satan who killed evildoers in order to send them to Hell —debuted in Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940), from Timely Comics , the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics . Most of the other female costumed crime fighters during this era lacked superpowers. Notable characters include The Woman in Red , introduced in Standard Comics ' Thrilling Comics #2 (March 1940); Lady Luck , debuting in

15052-478: The Avengers) with her brother, Quicksilver. In 1963, Astro Boy was adapted into a highly influential anime television series. Phantom Agents in 1964 focused on ninjas working for the Japanese government and would be the foundation for Sentai -type series. 1966 saw the debut of the sci-fi/horror series Ultra Q created by Eiji Tsuburaya this would eventually lead to the sequel Ultraman , spawning

15264-639: The Birds of Prey became stars of long-running eponymous titles. Female characters began assuming leadership roles in many ensemble superhero teams; the Uncanny X-Men series and its related spin-off titles in particular have included many female characters in pivotal roles since the 1970s. Volume 4 of the X-Men comic book series featured an all-female team as part of the Marvel NOW! branding initiative in 2013. Superpowered female characters like Buffy

15476-771: The Black Lantern Guardian Scar attacks them, attempting to convince them into becoming Black Lanterns. Right after, Hal Jordan and the leaders of the seven Lantern Corps arrive to assist. The heroes attack the Black Lanterns, but when Black Hand reanimates Batman's corpse as a Black Lantern, the resulting emotional shock allows the Black Lantern rings to latch onto the resurrected heroes, transforming Superman , Superboy , Wonder Woman , Green Arrow , Black Canary , and Kid Flash into Black Lanterns. Black Lantern Bart Allen attacks Barry Allen, and

15688-677: The Blackest Night, Wally West assists Barry Allen in spreading the word to every hero on Earth about the rise of the Black Lantern Corps. When Black Hand brings back Nekron , Barry is attacked by an army of Black Lanterns, while struggling to fight them off, Wally comes to his rescue, bringing with him the Justice League & Teen Titans, Bart Allen, the Kid Flash, among them. The three Flashes fight their way through Black Lanterns and charge at Nekron. Before they can strike,

15900-541: The Bold #54 (July 1964) by writer Bob Haney and artist Bruno Premiani . They appeared under the name "Teen Titans" in The Brave and the Bold #60 (July 1965), joined by Wonder Woman's younger sister Wonder Girl (Donna Troy). After being featured in Showcase #59 (December 1965), the Teen Titans were spun off into their own series with Teen Titans #1 by Haney and artist Nick Cardy . The series' original premise had

16112-656: The DC Universe . Pérez temporarily returned with issue #50, when the series took the name The New Titans without the "Teen" prefix, as the characters were no longer teenagers. Issue #50 told a new origin story for Wonder Girl, her link to Wonder Woman having been severed due to retcons created in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths . Pérez sketched through issues #55, 57 and 60, while only providing layouts for issues #58–59 and 61, with artist Tom Grummett finishing pencils and Bob McLeod as inker. Pérez remained as cover inker to issues #62–67. He would return for

16324-545: The Flash to a secret identity; his identity had been public since shortly after Barry Allen's death, but the traumatic events of his first battle with Zoom prompted Wally to make a deal with the Spectre to erase his identity from public knowledge. During the Identity Crisis crossover, Wally and Kyle Rayner learned Dr. Light's mindwipe by the original Justice League and the cause of the villain's transformation from

16536-529: The Magician (1934), Olga Mesmer (1937) and then Superman (1938) and Captain Marvel (1939) at the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books , whose span, though disputed, is generally agreed to have started with Superman's launch. Superman has remained one of the most recognizable superheroes, and his success spawned a new archetype of characters with secret identities and superhuman powers. At

16748-558: The Mobius Chair that once belonged to Metron and makes a deal with Fuginaut to return his children Jai and Iris , who were trapped in the Dark Multiverse, to his wife Linda Park . But after sitting upon the chair, Wally, in addition to obtaining a cosmic level of knowledge, also obtains the powers of Doctor Manhattan , after he put a fraction of his power into the chair. Wally's costume and lightning proceeded to turn to

16960-471: The Multiverse, and was also considered by Michael Holt, aka Mister Terrific, to be one of the smartest people he knew, and was given a job as a mechanic/engineer at TerrificTech. After his return to the DC Universe, Wally is said to be even faster than before. Titans (2016) #5 issue, established that the Speed Force is inside Wally more than ever before. He can generate white lightning, which combines all

17172-666: The Presence, the God of the DC Multiverse are technically faster than Wally). While most to all speedsters can make a connection and draw upon this force, Wally "mainlines" power from the Speed Force itself and cannot be cut off from the source. This connection to the Speed Force grants him unique abilities that other speedsters lack, such as lending and taking speed (which manifests in different ways, ranging from becoming speedsters themselves to bolstering others metabolisms and healing abilities, allowing them to recover from injuries in

17384-459: The Speed Force for 10 years. While trapped, he came to realize that Barry had not been responsible for the mutation of the New Earth universe into Prime Earth but that an unknown entity had used Barry's time-traveling to fundamentally alter reality. The fallout of the recent Darkseid War allowed Wally to try and reach out to his former friends in the hopes of either returning or warning them of

17596-566: The Speed Force open in a bid to free them which led to a frantic chase, with Barry Allen trying to stop Wally before he did something drastic, remembering all too well the damage he himself had done to the time-stream attempting to stop his mother's murder during the Flashpoint event. Unfortunately, Wally proved himself to be the true Fastest Man Alive and was able to outrun Barry and create the break he wanted. The resulting explosion sent both heroes back to Barry's hometown of Central City and into

17808-649: The Speed Force to save his son and takes out Wally. Wallace West and Damian Wayne managed to save Wally, but Damian Wayne had to stop Wally West's heart momentarily, making Wally West have a heart pacer. After that adventure, while on a mission with the Titans, Wally learned that he has the ability to go fast and stop time as well. After a battle against Psimon, Mister Twister, and the Key, Wally used too much of his abilities, and he seemingly dies. However, Kid Flash (Wallace West) senses Wally's "death" and rushes to find him. After noticing Wally West "dead", Kid Flash senses that Wally

18020-423: The Speed Force, he can run at varying speeds for extended periods of time without needing rest or causing damage to his body. It is his connection to the Speed Force that constantly rejuvenates him while running, making it so he does not literally feed upon his own body to generate the energy for super speed. Even so, he has a sped-up metabolism and finds it necessary to eat often and in great quantities to help supply

18232-514: The Spirit , who may not be explicitly referred to as superheroes but nevertheless share similar traits. Some superheroes use their powers to help fight daily crime while also combating threats against humanity from supervillains , who are their criminal counterparts. Often at least one of these supervillains will be the superhero's archenemy or nemesis . Some popular supervillains become recurring characters in their own right. Antecedents of

18444-543: The Strength Force. Zoom discovered the existence of these energies by reading 25th-century history books and determined a way to tap into these energies as well as the Speed Force once the Force Barrier was broken. He also donned a replica of Barry Allen's costume, declaring himself the one true Flash, before deciding that he would spare Barry and Wally the pain of their future lives by ending them now. During

18656-827: The Sunday- newspaper comic-book insert The Spirit Section June 2, 1940; the comedic character Red Tornado , debuting in All-American Comics #20 (Nov 1940); Miss Fury , debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941; the Phantom Lady , introduced in Quality Comics Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941); the Black Cat , introduced in Harvey Comics ' Pocket Comics #1 (also Aug. 1941); and

18868-408: The Teen Titans #44 and Annual #3, the conclusion of the "Judas Contract" storyline. After both titles ran new stories for one year, with Tales of the Teen Titans #45–58 taking place prior to the events of The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #1, and a filler issue reprinting a digest-only story and the original preview story from DC Comics Presents #26, the series began reprinting the first 31 issues of

19080-605: The Teen Titans are betrayed by their teammate Terra (Tara Markov) . The 1990s featured a Teen Titans team composed entirely of new members before the previous members returned in the series Titans , which ran from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Subsequent stories in the 2000s introduced a radically different Teen Titans team made up of newer DC Comics sidekicks such as Robin III (Tim Drake) , Wonder Girl II (Cassie Sandsmark) , and Impulse / Kid Flash II (Bart Allen) , as well as Superboy (Kon-El) , some of who had previously featured in

19292-548: The Teen Titans helping teenagers and answering calls. Comics historian Les Daniels noted that Haney "took some ribbing for the writing style that described the Teen Titans as 'the Cool Quartet' or 'the Fab Foursome'. The attempt to reach the youth culture then embracing performers like The Beatles and Bob Dylan impressed some observers." Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy makes guest appearances before officially joining

19504-480: The Teen Titans name is continued by subsequent generations of young heroes. First appearing in 1964 in The Brave and the Bold #54, the team was formed by Kid Flash (Wally West) , Robin (Dick Grayson) , and Aqualad (Garth) before adopting the name Teen Titans in issue 60 with the addition of Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) to their ranks. Over the decades, DC has cancelled and relaunched Teen Titans many times, and

19716-541: The Teen Titans were front and center during the build-up and events of the Infinite Crisis crossover. During the lead-in of the crossover, Donna Troy came back in a four-part crossover miniseries with The Outsiders called "The Return of Donna Troy" while Superboy and Cassie Sandsmark became a couple. During Infinite Crisis, Superboy was killed by his evil doppelganger Superboy Prime, Cyborg was severely damaged by cosmic forces unleashed by Alexander Luthor Jr., Starfire

19928-514: The Teen Titans while the newest three members (replacing Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven) that join the team are Red Arrow (Emiko Queen) , the half-sister of Green Arrow and daughter of the assassin Shado , Crush, the daughter of intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo , Roundhouse, a metahuman with the ability of transforming into a fireball, and Djinn, a powerful 4,000 years old genie. The Teen Titans have been adapted to other media numerous times, such as in

20140-591: The Teen Titans. As such, as Wally's body matured, his altered body chemistry was slowly killing him. During the 1985–1986 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths , Barry gave his life to save the Earth by destroying an antimatter cannon. Initially unaware of this, Wally was coaxed by Jay Garrick into assisting the heroes against the Anti-Monitor 's forces. During the final battle with the Anti-Monitor, Wally

20352-501: The Terrible and the team remains together. Wolfman and Pérez's working relationship quickly evolved to the point where they were plotting the series jointly. Wolfman recalled that "once George moved to the same town I lived in, only five blocks or so away, we usually got together for lunch and would work out a story over the next few hours. In many cases I would then go home and write up a plot based on it, or sometimes George would take

20564-497: The Titans as one of DC's top franchises. Launched at the same time was a companion series, a revived version of The Outsiders which featured Nightwing and Arsenal, along with several other Titans members (Captain Marvel Jr. and Starfire). The series featured several of the main teenage heroes from the Young Justice roster (Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, Impulse) and Starfire, Cyborg and Changeling (now rebranded Beast Boy to reflect

20776-457: The Titans purged Raven of evil once again in order to prevent Raven and the revived Citadel Empire from reconquering the Vega star system. The New Teen Titans was widely thought of as DC's answer to the increasingly popular Uncanny X-Men from Marvel Comics , as both series featured all-new members and depicted young heroes from disparate backgrounds whose internal conflicts were as integral to

20988-589: The Titans. It also featured the introduction of a new member in Jericho , Deathstroke's other son. Other notable New Teen Titans stories included "A Day in the Lives...", presenting a day in the team members' personal lives; "Who is Donna Troy?", depicting Robin investigating Wonder Girl's origins; and "We Are Gathered Here Today...", telling the story of Wonder Girl's wedding. Tales of the New Teen Titans ,

21200-408: The USPTO. Felix is one of many who argue that the term "superhero" has become generic (see discussion below). Felix's mark is currently abandoned, but he has stated that he intends to fight against DC and Marvel for use of the term. In 2024, Superbabies Limited managed to obtain a default judgement and cancel the "super heroes" trademarks as genericized, except for the animation pictures mark. This

21412-540: The Vampire Slayer and Darna have a tremendous influence on popular culture in their respective countries of origin. With more and more anime , manga and tokusatsu being translated or adapted, Western audiences were beginning to experience the Japanese styles of superhero fiction more than they were able to before. Saban 's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , an adaptation of Zyuranger , created

21624-529: The West as Astro Boy , was published. The series focused upon a robot boy built by a scientist to replace his deceased son. Being built from an incomplete robot originally intended for military purposes, Astro Boy possessed amazing powers such as flight through thrusters in his feet and the incredible mechanical strength of his limbs. The 1950s saw the Silver Age of Comics . During this era DC introduced

21836-506: The ability to vibrate through solid objects were also restored. Because of this, the Flash felt pressured into having to constantly be heroic 24/7. During this time, he joined the Justice League. The 2000s saw writer Geoff Johns revitalize the character by introducing new versions of characters such as Zoom ; making significant use of the Rogues ; and marrying the character to longtime girlfriend Linda Park . Other changes included restoring

22048-463: The animated television series Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! , and the live-action television series Titans . Within DC Comics, the Teen Titans have been an influential group of characters taking prominent roles in all of the publisher's major company-wide crossover stories. Many villains who face the Titans have since taken on a larger role within the publisher's fictional universe, such as

22260-512: The archetype include mythological characters such as Gilgamesh , Hanuman , Perseus , Odysseus , David , and demigods like Heracles , all of whom were blessed with extraordinary abilities, which later inspired the superpowers that became a fundamental aspect of modern-day superheroes. The distinct clothing and costumes of individuals from English folklore , like Robin Hood and Spring-Heeled Jack , also became inspirations. The dark costume of

22472-482: The archetypical hero stock character in 1930s American comics, superheroes are predominantly depicted as White American middle- or upper-class young adult males and females who are typically tall, athletic, educated, physically attractive and in perfect health. Beginning in the 1960s with the civil rights movement in the United States, and increasingly with the rising concern over political correctness in

22684-541: The assassin Deathstroke , the supervillain teams Fearsome Five and Brotherhood of Evil (archenemies of the Doom Patrol), the demon Trigon , the alien villian Blackfire (DC Comics) , the cultist zealot Brother Blood and the evil organization H.I.V.E. . Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West) and Aqualad (Garth) team up to defeat a weather-controlling villain known as Mister Twister in The Brave and

22896-437: The attack, except Power Boy, dead after being impaled. The team's new line up consists of former New Teen Titans Nightwing, The Flash (Wally West), Donna Troy, Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg, Red Arrow and Starfire. Superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits

23108-524: The best man at Wally and Linda's wedding. Similar to the friendship of Barry Allen/Flash and Hal Jordan /Green Lantern, Wally West is also close friends with Kyle Rayner , his generation's Green Lantern . Wally is also close friends with other Green Lanterns like John Stewart and Hal, who often looked out for Wally even while he was the Spectre . While they disagree regularly, Wally has developed an odd friendship/respect with Bruce Wayne/ Batman (Bruce

23320-468: The blue of Manhattan, with Manhattan's logo forming on his forehead, and Wally now losing nearly all sense of emotion he had and now seeking logic and knowledge. After finding out that Doctor Manhattan did not completely heal the Universe after Doomsday Clock, Wally begins using his newfound powers to set about restoring the timeline. Following the 2021 event Infinite Frontier #0, Wally is restored as

23532-420: The cartoon). Raven later returned to the team, reborn in a new teenage body while Jericho was brought back, having escaped death by possessing and laying dormant inside his father Deathstroke's mind. The series renewed interest in the Titans, but drew sharp complaints due to shifts in the personalities of the various Young Justice characters. Most notably, the decision to have Impulse rebrand himself Kid Flash and

23744-453: The character Bart Allen to become the fourth Flash and headline a relaunched third volume of the title, called The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive . The critical reaction to this new version of the Flash was mixed and Bart was killed off in the final issue of the short-lived third volume. It was decided that Wally West should return, and the JLA / JSA story " The Lightning Saga " was used to return

23956-697: The character restored, however, led to Wally returning in 2016's DC Rebirth , while his New 52 reinterpretation was made into a separate character to avoid confusion. Wally West has appeared in many other forms of media and was featured as the incarnation of the Flash in the Cartoon Network series Justice League , voiced by Michael Rosenbaum , and the 2010 film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths , voiced by Josh Keaton . As Kid Flash, he appeared in Cartoon Network's Teen Titans series voiced again by Michael Rosenbaum and subsequently in

24168-530: The character to Earth along with his wife and children, who appear to have aged several years. The character next appeared in All Flash #1 (2007), seeking vengeance on those who had killed Bart Allen. This was followed by The Flash vol. 2, which resumed publication after the long hiatus with issue #231 (October 2007). The series found the character struggling with trying to raise his two super-powered twins, plagued by accelerated growth and their inexperience in

24380-534: The character's abusive attitudes towards her teammates post- Infinite Crisis ), Kid Devil is killed in battle, while Kid Eternity is revealed to have been beaten to death by the Calculator after being kidnapped by him. J. T. Krul became the writer with issue #88 and penciler Nicola Scott became the book's artist. The issue's teaser shows a line-up of Superboy, Wonder Girl, Raven, Beast Boy, Kid Flash and Ravager. The Titans undergo this roster change in issue #87,

24592-401: The chemical energy needed. Using his abilities, Wally can run at such speed that he can run on water, create powerful vortices with his arms or body, and vibrate at such speeds that he becomes invisible to the naked eye . Wally can also match the vibrational constant of solid objects and vibrate through them, passing his molecules through the spaces in between the atoms and molecules of

24804-498: The clutches of a gloating Zoom who quickly revealed that his true intention in reminding Wally about the existence of his children was to trick Wally into breaking the Force Barrier - a cosmic barricade that concealed energies that could be tapped into by the right people in much the same way that the Speed Force empowers speedsters. These energies include the Sage Force - seemingly based around telepathic and telekinetic powers - and

25016-471: The colors of the Speed Force. Also in DC Rebirth, Wally learned that he can sense when time has been manipulated, as well as listen to the Speed Force, which allows him to sense disruptions in the space-time continuum. Wally is a talented fighter in his own right and was trained in hand-to-hand combat by people like Barry Allen and Dick Grayson while training people like Bart Allen and his own children as

25228-413: The comic-strip characters Patoruzú (1928) and Popeye (1929) and novelist Philip Wylie 's character Hugo Danner (1930). Another early example was Sarutobi Sasuke , a Japanese superhero ninja from children's novels in the 1910s; by 1914, he had a number of superhuman powers and abilities. The French character L'Oiselle , created in 1909, can be classed as a superheroine. In August 1937, in

25440-534: The companies filed a trademark application as joint owners for the mark "SUPER HEROES" for a series of animated motion pictures in 2009 (Reg. No. 5613972). Both DC and Marvel also individually owned trademarks involving the "super hero" mark. Notably, DC owns the mark " Legion of Super-Heroes " for comic magazines and Marvel owns the mark "Marvel Super Hero Island" for story books, fiction books, and children’s activity books. DC and Marvel have become known for aggressively protecting their registered marks. In 2019,

25652-552: The companies pursued a British law student named Graham Jules who was attempting to publish a self-help book titled Business Zero to Superhero . Much academic debate exists about whether the "super hero" mark has become generic and whether DC and Marvel have created a duopoly over the "super hero" mark. Conversely, DC and Marvel hold that they are merely exercising their right and duty to protect their registered marks. The following trademarks were or are registered jointly with MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC. and DC COMICS: As mentioned,

25864-407: The confession files to Lois Lane to try to “make up for what happened,” telling the world what he'd done at Sanctuary, and encouraging people to get help before they made the same mistakes he did. Five-days-older Wally reveals that this is the same thing that happened to him five days ago - that he also didn't kill the older Wally. Booster Gold explains that they can still “close” the loop, even without

26076-536: The dead body of five-days-older Wally. They can go to the 25th Century and “speed-clone” older Wally. Then younger Wally can take that cloned body back to the past. The Justice League eventually arrived and arrested Wally for the murders. In The Flash #761, it was revealed that Eobard Thawne was responsible for manipulating Wally into killing the heroes at Sanctuary. Later this whole story was recollected in The Flash Annual #1 (2021), stating that Wally West

26288-570: The deaths of Terra II and Young Frankenstein. The deaths led to Beast Boy resigning from the team to join the Doom Patrol along with Herald and Bumblebee, while Raven took a leave of absence in order to purge Jericho of the dark forces that were corrupting him. Robin and Wonder Girl eventually rejoined the Titans (now located in San Francisco, California) and helped foil Bombshell's plan to frame Miss Martian as Deathstroke's latest mole in

26500-477: The debut of Shotaro Ishinomori 's Skull Man (the basis for his later Kamen Rider ) in 1970, Go Nagai's Devilman in 1972 and Gerry Conway and John Romita's Punisher in 1974. The dark Skull Man manga would later get a television adaptation and underwent drastic changes. The character was redesigned to resemble a grasshopper, becoming the renowned first masked hero of the Kamen Rider series. Kamen Rider

26712-483: The decision to Jettison his happy-go-lucky person in favor of a more serious personality. The series, under Geoff Johns, also dramatically retconned Superboy's origin with the revelation that he was a hybrid clone based on the combined DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor (a possibility Johns had first suggested in a fan letter published in the Superboy comic book several years before he was employed by DC). Under Geoff Johns,

26924-401: The end of the decade, in 1939, Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger . During the 1940s there were many superheroes: The Flash , Green Lantern and Blue Beetle debuted in this era. This era saw the debut of one of the earliest female superheroes, writer-artist Fletcher Hanks 's character Fantomah , an ageless ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into

27136-462: The end, the heroes realized that, now that they were in their early 20s, they had outgrown the name the "Teen" Titans. In the last panel, without speaking, they all go their separate ways. The title appeared again in 1999 for Giant Teen Titans Annual #1 (1967) ( ISBN   1-56389-486-6 ), a one-shot special that reprinted selected Silver Age stories in the 1960s-style 80-Page Giant format. DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980) introduced

27348-428: The events of Crisis on Infinite Earths and battled the Anti-Monitor, speed-blitzing him until his shell was destroyed. He also outran death to the edge of the universe and beyond, where death didn't even exist and continued to run to get Linda back. There was a comic series titled The Human Race in which Wally ran faster than instant teleportation, Reaching Trans-Time Velocity. The Flash vol 2 #177 had Wally outrun

27560-425: The final issue before Krul's run. Following a mission to an alternate dimension to rescue Raven, the team splits. Bombshell and Aquagirl are missing in action , Miss Martian is in a coma and she and a powerless Static leave with Cyborg to go to Cadmus Labs in order to find a way to restore his powers. Damian Wayne , the current Robin, is announced as a new team member, officially joining in #89. A series for Static

27772-515: The first black superhero to star in his own series . In 1989, the Monica Rambeau incarnation of Captain Marvel was the first female black superhero from a major publisher to get her own title in a special one-shot issue. In 1971, Red Wolf became the first Native American in the superheroic tradition to headline a series. In 1973, Shang-Chi became the first prominent Asian superhero to star in an American comic book ( Kato had been

27984-454: The first entity to commercialize the phrase "super hero" when it registered the mark in connection with Halloween costumes. In 1972, Mego Corporation , an American toy company, attempted to register the mark "World's Greatest Superheroes" in connection with its line of action figures. Mego Corporation’s attempted registration led Ben Cooper, Inc. to sue Mego Corporation for trademark infringement. Due to its financial struggles, Mego Corporation

28196-536: The first place, but he found no comfort there, instead, he relates how he still felt alone because he didn't see the same kind of pain in its other residents, and the program's anonymity only compounded his feelings of isolation. Wally therefore did some digging of his own into Sanctuary's resident records and uncovered a truth that he had been denying. Every one of the heroes at Sanctuary were in fact coping and trying to overcome their own personal traumas, just as Wally was. Uncovering all this information at superspeed led to

28408-443: The first time after his disappearance. He begins remembering Pre- Flashpoint memories after Iris remembers him. However, a confrontation with his former ally Hunter Zolomon provokes Barry and Wally into conflict, as Hunter convinces Wally that the Speed Force must be destroyed to release those missing allies still 'trapped' within it, including Wally's children, Jai and Iris West, Max Mercury and Impulse. Wally became determined to break

28620-589: The founding roster, including Solstice (Kiran Singh) , Bunker (Miguel Jose Barragan) , and Skitter (Celine Patterson), although this volume proved commercially and critically disappointing for DC. In 2016, DC used the Titans Hunt and DC Rebirth storylines to re-establish the group's original founding members and history, reuniting these classic heroes as the Titans, while introducing a new generation of Teen Titans led by Robin V (Damian Wayne) with Aqualad II (Jackson Hyde) and Kid Flash III (Wallace West) as

28832-445: The franchise since Perez left after The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #5. The project was put on hold when it was decided instead to have Perez return to the main book as artist and for their first project back together to be "Who Is Wonder Girl?" instead. Over the course of 1989 and 1990, George Perez and Marv Wolfman continued to work on Games with over half the project being completed. But the ascension of Jonathan Peterson as editor of

29044-547: The future as an accomplished Flash. In the arc's conclusion, in The Flash Annual 2021 , Wally is thrown back to the moment of his greatest torment: the explosion at Sanctuary which killed his friends. He is unburdened by the revelation that this was not his fault, but rather that of the same Speed Force phenomenon, caused by the mad speedster Savitar and the Speed Force's attempts to expel him from its interior. With help from Mister Terrific, Barry Allen, Green Arrow, and

29256-446: The globe with Batman and Nightwing. Changeling and Raven attempted to keep the Titans going, resulting in a massive open call membership drive that saw a large number of heroes come and join the roster, which was anchored by Beast Boy and Raven. New members include Miss Martian, Kid Devil, Zachary Zatara, Ravager, Bombshell (who like Terra I, was a traitor working for Deathstroke), Young Frankenstein, and Osiris. During this period, Osiris

29468-426: The gravitational pull of a black hole. Using Jessie Quick's speed formula combined with his speed steal, Wally can temporally accelerate to the point where he escapes linear time, essentially allowing him to function like the chronokinetic Zoom. Wally has even become so fast and so powerful, that he became faster than the Speed Force itself. Some interpretations of Wally are shown as having above-average strength. In

29680-435: The heat created by the pressure of compressed air caused by moving at super speed as well as other environmental consequences of moving at such velocities. It is not known how Wally is able to circumvent the damage moving at such great speeds would normally have on the environment, but it has been hypothesized that his protective aura allows him to "sidestep" such environmental consequences. Because of his powers and connection to

29892-556: The heroic game, a task made more difficult by Wally's unemployment, his inability to keep a steady job, and the mistrust of the League for his decision to bring two children into the fold. The series was canceled with issue #247 (February 2009). In Final Crisis , the character was reunited with Barry Allen , who had returned to life. Later, in The Flash: Rebirth , Wally makes modifications on his costume's cowl and emblem to further differentiate himself from Barry. During

30104-479: The hypothetical heteronormative male audience. Villains, such as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy , use their sexuality to take advantage of their male victims. In the film versions of these characters, their sexuality and seductive methods are highlighted. Poison Ivy uses seduction through poison to take over the minds of her victims as seen in the 1997 film Batman and Robin . Harley Quinn in 2016's Suicide Squad uses her sexuality to her advantage, acting in

30316-470: The idea of a masked avenger and the superhero trope of a secret identity . Over the next few decades, masked and costumed pulp fiction characters such as Jimmie Dale/The Grey Seal (1914), Zorro (1919), Buck Rogers (1928), The Shadow (1930), and Flash Gordon (1934), and comic strip heroes such as the Phantom (1936), began appearing, as did non-costumed characters with super strength , including

30528-433: The interim, Wolfman had rewritten the plot (most notably, changing the original ending where Nightwing personally executes the main villain of the series after his "games" result in the death of longtime Titan ally Sarah Simms and the maiming of Danny Chase) though retained several key details (the death of Simms and Chase losing his hands) and several additional twists (the introduction of a previously unknown sibling of Raven,

30740-427: The introductions of African American superheroine Bumblebee and former supervillainess-turned-superheroine Harlequin in issue #48 and the introduction of the "Teen Titans West" team in issues #50–52 consisting of a number of other teen heroes, including Bat-Girl (Betty Kane) and Golden Eagle . The revival was short-lived and the series was cancelled as of issue #53 (February 1978), which featured an origin story. At

30952-556: The investigation until Ted Kord, Booster Gold, Batgirl and Harley Quinn figured out that Wally was the key to the murders, and they devised a way to track Wally's time disturbance by utilizing Skeets and Kord Industries tech. They show up just as Wally is about to kill five-days-older-Wally, and five-days Wally reveals that after he accidentally killed everyone in Sanctuary, he didn't travel back in time to “unmake” his mistake because that's what Barry did during Flashpoint, instead he sent

31164-467: The latter, complete with a domino mask and a cape, became influential for the myriad of masked rogues in penny dreadfuls and dime novels . The vigilantes of the American Old West also became an influence to the superhero. Several vigilantes during this time period hid their identities using masks. In frontier communities where de jure law was not yet matured, people sometimes took

31376-606: The law into their own hands with makeshift masks made out of sacks . Vigilante mobs and gangs like the San Diego Vigilantes and the Bald Knobbers became infamous throughout that Old West era. Such masked vigilantism later inspired fictional masked crimefighters in American story-telling, beginning with the character Deadwood Dick in 1877. The word superhero dates back to 1899. The 1903 British play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized

31588-505: The leader. Following this, Damian quits the team. The book concluded with a three-part storyline spanning issues #98–100, which saw Superboy-Prime return to destroy the team. A large group of former Titans arrived and the series ultimately ended with Prime trapped in the Source Wall , seemingly for all eternity. The remainder of the issue consisted of pieces of artwork showcasing the various Teen Titans who appeared in that incarnation of

31800-478: The likes of Batwoman in 1956, Supergirl , Miss Arrowette , and Bat-Girl ; all female derivatives of established male superheroes. In 1957 Japan, Shintoho produced the first film serial featuring the superhero character Super Giant , signaling a shift in Japanese popular culture towards tokusatsu masked superheroes over kaiju giant monsters. Along with Astro Boy , the Super Giant serials had

32012-764: The magazine King of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s." In 1971, Kamen Rider launched the "Henshin Boom" on Japanese television in the early 1970s, greatly impacting the tokusatsu superhero genre in Japan. In 1972, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman anime debuted, which built upon the superhero team idea of the live-action Phantom Agents as well as introducing different colors for team members and special vehicles to support them, said vehicles could also combine into

32224-506: The main series, Ravager and Jericho fight their father Deathstroke and the dead members of the Wilson family, resurrected as Black Lanterns. During this time, several back-up stories begin to run in the series: one called "The Coven", starring Black Alice , Zachary Zatara and Traci 13 and later, one starring Ravager. Later storylines involve the corruption of Wonder Girl at the hands of various factors (designed to address complaints about

32436-470: The mark in connection with comic books, and were granted the mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1981. In the years leading up to the assignment of the mark, both DC and Marvel battled to register various trademarks involving the phrase “superhero.” However, DC and Marvel quickly discovered that they could only register marks involving the phrase "superhero" if

32648-467: The matter he is vibrating through, however, Wally accidentally destabilizes whatever he passes through, causing it to explode. While this has its drawbacks, Wally has learned to use this offensively in battle. Since Rebirth 2016, Wally improves this ability and can vibrate through objects without causing them to explode. Instead of using the cosmic treadmill as his uncle Barry, Wally can use his speed to travel through time. In Flash #150, he traveled back to

32860-680: The multiverse and created the New 52 Universe, Wally, prior to being freed in DC Universe: Rebirth #1 , briefly escaped the Speed Force to warn Doctor Manhattan that he knows what the latter did and that the heroes of the DC Universe will stop him. Wally was pulled back into the Speed Force afterward. Wally is later recruited by Tempus Fuginaut who wants him to restore the balance between the Light and Dark Multiverses . After saving several universes from being consumed by dark-matter, Wally finds

33072-432: The new Spider-Man after the apparent death of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker . Kamala Khan , a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who is revealed to have Inhuman lineage after her shapeshifting powers manifested, takes on the identity of Ms. Marvel in 2014 after Carol Danvers had become Captain Marvel. Her self-titled comic book series became a cultural phenomenon, with extensive media coverage by CNN ,

33284-413: The new timeline to accommodate his existence, resetting his past and those who associated with him. Following a tearful reunion, Wally gave Barry his warning of the true source of the universal change and the dangers to come. Although the two decide to keep Wally's return secret from Iris based on Wally's own experience with Linda, Barry encourages him to return to the Titans, but also recommends that he don

33496-422: The object to explode), he gained several new powers that Barry never had. He was able to share/steal speed, use his speed to kinetically upgrade his attacks, and super heal others, resulting him become so powerful that he even able to defeat physically stronger foes like Superman 's enemy Mongul . Writer Mark Waid expanded on the character's powers thematically and further redefined the character by introducing

33708-406: The original Titans now as young adults and introduced new characters Cyborg (Victor Stone) , Starfire (Koriand'r) , and Raven (Rachel Roth) , as well as the former Doom Patrol member Beast Boy (Garfield Logan) under his new alias of Changeling, who would all become enduring fan favorites. A high point for the series both critically and commercially was its " The Judas Contract " storyline, where

33920-421: The other Titans. Nightwing encourages Wally to seek Linda out and try and make new memories with her. Elsewhere, Linda is still puzzled by Wally's sudden presence in her life and decides to investigate him further. During a confrontation with Abra Kadabra , Wally is forced to push himself so fast that he is sent into the Speed Force while trying to save her and the other Titans from being killed by Kadabra, but in

34132-465: The pages of Titans Secret Files and Origins #2. Between Teen Titans and Titans , a new generation of young heroes formed a team in Young Justice , consisting of Superboy, Robin, Impulse, Wonder Girl , Secret and Arrowette . The two series concluded with the three-issue miniseries Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day , which led to two new series: Teen Titans and Outsiders . Writer Geoff Johns ' Teen Titans series began in 2003, after

34344-623: The pages of several popular superhero titles from the late 1950s onward: Hal Jordan 's love interest Carol Ferris was introduced as the Vice-President of Ferris Aircraft and later took over the company from her father; Medusa , who was first introduced in the Fantastic Four series, is a member of the Inhuman Royal Family and a prominent statesperson within her people's quasi-feudal society; and Carol Danvers ,

34556-429: The pair into thinking they had left the chambers, when in fact they had not. Instead of seeing the actual massacre, what each instead saw was the other murdering Wally. From there, Wally stole Booster's time-traveling tech, went five days into the future, killed his future self and brought his future body back to present day to leave at the scene. Wally's machinations are what led Booster to discover that dead Wally's body

34768-500: The past Roy Harper shortly before he died at Sanctuary, Wally is able to bring Savitar back with him to the present. Although Savitar easily overcomes Superman and Batman, Barry tells Wally to step up, making use of his superior bond to the Speed Force to defeat, depower, and imprison Savitar once again. Fully Redeemed and more powerful than ever, Wally returns to Linda and the kids, enthusiastic to serve as Central City's Flash once again. Sometime later, Wally shares an emotional reunion with

34980-420: The past decade following the rise of comic book characters in the film industry (Marvel/DC movies). Women are presented differently than their male counterparts, typically wearing revealing clothing that showcases their curves and cleavage and showing a lot of skin in some cases. Heroes like Power Girl and Wonder Woman are portrayed wearing little clothing and showing cleavage. Power Girl is portrayed as wearing

35192-406: The phrase referenced their own company or a character associated with their company. As a result, DC and Marvel decided to become joint owners of the "superhero" trademark. Although many consumers likely see DC and Marvel as competitors, the two comic book publishing giants are allies when it comes to protecting the trademark "superhero" and variants thereof. Although joint ownership in a trademark

35404-419: The power of a god, but was still drawn to a much weaker, mortal male character. This can be explained by the sociological concept "feminine apologetic," which reinforces a woman's femininity to account for her masculine attributes (strength, individualism, toughness, aggressiveness, bravery). Women in comic books are considered to be misrepresented due to being created by men, for men. The Hawkeye Initiative

35616-515: The powers of the Speed Force were unleashed on the other heroes within Sanctuary, killing them instantly. Wally accessing Sanctuary's files had tripped the facility's alarm, and the moment of Wally's breakdown happened, Harley and Booster were immersed in their respective virtual reality therapy sessions. Taking advantage of that happy coincidence, Wally used his powers to deliver a superspeed sleight of hand at Harley and Booster's expense. As each exited their VR chambers, he reprogrammed them and tricked

35828-508: The present and briefly posed as Barry Allen, his bragging that he would become the true Flash forced Wally past this block, as he feared Thawne replacing Barry more than he feared himself doing so. After this encounter, he was again Barry Allen's equal in speed, and eventually became even faster. Though he still had not been able to recover Barry's vibrational/phasing abilities for a time (he could vibrate through objects but this would cause

36040-542: The primary Flash and central character in The Flash series since #768, after Barry Allen's departure to join Justice Incarnate, eventually again donning the costume he designed during The Flash: Rebirth events. Wally's first storyline in the solo title sees him travel through the timeline as he attempts to prevent a destructive release of something in the Speed Force, which sees him meet his daughter, Iris, in

36252-520: The public, and policing unauthorized uses. However, misuse by the public alone does not necessarily cause a trademark to become generic if the primary significance of the term is still to indicate a particular source. Some legal experts argue that, like the once-trademarked terms "aspirin" and "yo-yo," the term "superhero" now primarily refers to a general type of character with extraordinary abilities, rather than characters originating from specific publishers. In keeping with their origins as representing

36464-404: The rest of the team. Believing Wolfman had grown stagnant, DC assigned Wolfman a new editor, Jonathan Peterson, and gave Peterson authority to override Wolfman over the direction of the book. With Peterson controlling the book's direction, the series was rapidly overhauled. The Wildebeest , a villain who used proxies and surrogates to hide his true identity while vexing the Titans, was expanded to

36676-408: The return of Cyborg. This led into Titans , written by Devin K. Grayson , starting with Titans Secret Files and Origins #1 (March 1999). This team consisted of Nightwing, Troia, Arsenal, Tempest, the Flash, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling, Damage and Argent. One new member, Jesse Quick , joined. This team lasted until issue #50 (2002). The West Coast branch of the team, Titans L.A., appeared once, in

36888-415: The revelation that the main villain was a schizophrenic King Faraday, and the destruction of Titan Tower, that make it impossible to fit into canon, reducing it to an alternate universe side story in Teen Titans lore. Due to fan backlash over the hardcover/softcover move to the direct market with the main title, a new newsstand Titans book was launched in August 1986 called Teen Titans Spotlight . The series

37100-570: The role of the hero ; typically using their powers to help the world become a better place , or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime . Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books (and later in Hollywood films , film serials, television and video games ), as well as in Japanese media (including kamishibai , tokusatsu , manga , anime and video games). Superheroes come from

37312-405: The same powers as the Flash, West donned a smaller-sized copy of Barry Allen's Flash outfit and became the young crimefighter Kid Flash . Wally had a strained relationship with his own parents and often looked to his beloved aunt and uncle for moral support and guidance. He also operated as a lone superhero in his hometown, Blue Valley , Nebraska , when not partnering with the Flash. This costume

37524-408: The series as was their combat against villains. The two teams met in the 1982 crossover one-shot entitled "Apokolips... Now", which teamed Darkseid , Deathstroke and Dark Phoenix against both teams. The story was written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Walt Simonson and Terry Austin . In 1989, Marv Wolfman and George Perez began planning a prestige format special, their first work together on

37736-480: The series finale #130 (Feb. 1996) providing cover art. Issues #60 and #61 were part of a five-part crossover with Batman, "A Lonely Place of Dying" and along with issue #65, featured the debut of Tim Drake as the third Robin. The brief return of Perez and the addition of Tom Grummett failed to move sales for the book, which were starting to decline. Furthermore, the addition of Danny Chase (a teenage psychic) drew negative fan response due to his abusive attitude towards

37948-530: The series, and Perez moving off of New Titans in order to work on The Infinity Gauntlet for Marvel led to the book being shelved. In the early '00s, Marv Wolfman and George Perez approached DC about completing the book as a stand-alone graphic novel. The book was completed in 2010 and published in 2011. The plot had the New Titans be forced by King Faraday to go after a mysterious mastermind who forces his victims to play deadly "games" for his amusement. In

38160-454: The similar title Young Justice . Later prominent additions from this era included Miss Martian (M'gann M'orzz) , Ravager (Rose Wilson) , Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) , Kid Devil , and Blue Beetle III (Jaime Reyes) . Concurrently, DC also published Titans , which featured some of the original and 1980s members now as adults, led by Dick Grayson in his adult persona of Nightwing . DC's The New 52 reboot in 2011 later brought new characters to

38372-407: The speed of light, he could run just faster than that of sound. Also, the character had to eat vast quantities of food to maintain his metabolism. Those changes were quickly followed up and 1987 saw the publication of a new Flash comic, initially written by Mike Baron . These stories focused not only on the Flash's superhero exploits, but the state of Wally's wealth. West won a lottery , bought

38584-435: The superhero supergroups featured at least one (and often the only) female member, much like DC's flagship superhero team the Justice League of America (whose initial roster included Wonder Woman as the token female ); examples include the Fantastic Four 's Invisible Girl , the X-Men 's Jean Grey (originally known as Marvel Girl ), the Avengers ' Wasp , and the Brotherhood of Mutants ' Scarlet Witch (who later joined

38796-410: The team and allowed Raven to cleanse Jericho of the Azarathian corruption that had turned him evil. Geoff John's final arc on the series would introduce a new villainous "Titans East" team, led by Deathstroke and Batgirl Cassandra Cain. Soon after, events related to the Countdown story arc impacted the Titans. Duela Dent and Bart Allen are killed; Cyborg leaves, and Supergirl joins and Blue Beetle

39008-430: The team in Teen Titans #19. Aqualad takes a leave of absence from the group in the same issue, but makes several later guest appearances, sometimes with girlfriend Aquagirl . Neal Adams was called upon to rewrite and redraw a Teen Titans story which had been written by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman . The story, titled "Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho!", would have introduced DC's first African American superhero, but

39220-405: The team's latest members alongside team mainstays Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy; while the Titans team from DC Rebirth were composed of Nightwing (Dick Grayson), The Flash III (Wally West) , Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), Tempest (Garth) , Arsenal (Roy Harper), Omen (Lilith Clay) and Bumblebee (Karen Beecher). After the events of Justice League: No Justice, Damian Wayne and Wallace West would remain in

39432-442: The team. Teen Titans was written and penciled by Dan Jurgens . It began in 1996 with a new #1 (October 1996), with Pérez as inker for the first 15 issues. Atom , who had become a teenager following the events of Zero Hour , leads the brand-new team (of Prysm , Joto , Risk and Argent ). Arsenal became a mentor about halfway through and Captain Marvel Junior/ CM3 joins the team. The series ended in September 1998. A contest

39644-448: The team. Red Devil loses his powers after Brother Blood absorbs them. Miss Martian returns with several teen heroes liberated from the Dark Side Club. A new team is formed: Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle and the now-powerless Red Devil are joined by Kid Eternity and Static, with the new Aquagirl, Miss Martian and a reformed Bombshell signing up. During the events of the Blackest Night crossover, some dead Titans are resurrected as members of

39856-410: The term "SUPER HERO" trademark is at risk of becoming generic. Courts have noted that determining whether a term has become generic is a highly factual inquiry not suitable for resolution without considering evidence like dictionary definitions, media usage, and consumer surveys. Trademark owners can take steps to prevent genericide , such as using the trademark with the generic product name, educating

40068-439: The time; existing heroes Hawk and Dove , a duo of teenaged superpowered brothers, appear in issue #21; and time-displaced caveman Gnarrk aids the team in two issues. The series explored events such as inner-city racial tension and protests against the Vietnam War . One storyline beginning in issue #25 (February 1970) saw the Titans deal with the accidental death of a peace activist, leading them to reconsider their methods. As

40280-452: The title, contributed by various DC artists. A second ongoing Teen Titans series, titled Titans , launched in April 2008 with a cover date of June 2008, written by Judd Winick . The first issue was drawn by Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund and the second was by Joe Benitez and Victor Llamas. The opening storyline follows the events of the Teen Titans East Special one-shot released in November 2007, revealing that Cyborg's team survived

40492-404: The truth, which they will do together as Titans. Directly after the events in Titans: Rebirth , Lilith has Wally repeat the story of his return for her to use it as a means of making the mental connections between him, herself and the Titans stronger. While doing this, she notices the most powerful thought in Wally's mind is that of Linda Park, which sparks various, but supportive, reactions from

40704-410: The truth. Each attempt caused him to fall further into the Speed Force. After realizing that not even Linda could remember him, Wally sank into desolation and chose to appear before his uncle, Barry, one last time to thank him for the life he had given him. Just before Wally disappeared, Barry remembered him and dragged him out of the Speed Force. Wally's presence integrates his Pre- Flashpoint history to

40916-411: The two brawl for a moment before Wally fights him off. A pair of Black Lantern Rings then lock onto Barry and Hal. Wally flees with Barry, with Barry telling him to stay and protect himself and Bart. Barry and Hal then flee the scene to avoid becoming Black Lanterns. Following the 2011 reboot of the DC comics universe, Wally West appears to have never existed. A seemingly new interpretation of Wally West

41128-421: The two companies also own a variety of other superhero-related marks. For instance, DC owns "Legion of Super-Heroes" and " DC Super Hero Girls " and Marvel owns “Marvel Super Hero Island" and "Marvel Super Hero Adventures." DC and Marvel have garnered a reputation for zealously protecting their superhero marks. As noted above, one of these instances included a man by the name of Graham Jules, who sought to publish

41340-408: The verbal plotting we did and take it from there." The team's adversaries included Deathstroke the Terminator , a mercenary who takes a contract to kill the Titans to fulfill a job his son had been unable to complete. This led to perhaps the most notable Titans storyline of the era. 1984's " The Judas Contract ", in Tales of the Teen Titans #42–44 and Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3, featured

41552-498: The weakest member of her team a decade ago. Both major American publishers began introducing new superheroines with a more distinct feminist theme as part of their origin stories or character development. Examples include Big Barda , Power Girl , and the Huntress by DC comics; and from Marvel, the second Black Widow , Shanna the She-Devil , and The Cat . Female supporting characters who were successful professionals or hold positions of authority in their own right also debuted in

41764-418: Was also brought onto the title and given a prominent romance with Donna Troy, whose marriage with Terry Long had collapsed in the pages of Team Titans before the book's cancellation. Sales saw a collapse and despite several crossovers with other books ( Damage , Green Lantern , Darkstars , and Deathstroke ), the series was cancelled with issue #130. The series finale saw the return of Blackfire as an ally, as

41976-447: Was an anthology series and featured individual members of the Titans in solo stories, often spanning multiple issues. The series also focused on former members of the group (such as Hawk and Aqualad) and the Brotherhood of Evil, detailing the formation of the second version of the group. As the move to the direct market effectively limited The New Teen Titans ability to be part of company-wide crossovers, two issues of Spotlight tied into

42188-407: Was announced. In January 2011, new Titan Solstice debuted in the January 2011 Wonder Girl one-shot. She entered the main Teen Titans title following the crossover with the Red Robin series. During the crossover, Tim asks the Titans for help in tracking down the Calculator after he tries to kill his friend, Tam Fox . Tim rejoins the team as Red Robin (rather than Robin) but Cassie would remain

42400-407: Was driven from the team due to a smear campaign launched by Amanda Waller after she manipulated him into killing a super-villain. The smear campaign against Osiris, along with the war between Black Adam and Intergang, led to Black Adam declaring war on the world. In the ensuing series of battles against the super-hero community, the Titans fought and lost a bloody battle with the villain, culminating in

42612-434: Was five days too old. Wally then relocated all the bodies of the others he had slain, staging the murders to place himself above suspicion, and set up Harley and Booster as the prime suspects instead. To complete the subterfuge, Wally then destroyed Sanctuary's computer and robot attendants, and scribbled the now-infamous "The puddlers are all dead" on Sanctuary's living room wall. He successfully misdirected everyone involved in

42824-413: Was held in the letters pages to determine who would join the team. Robin (Tim Drake), won the vote, but editors on the Batman titles banned his appearance, forcing Jurgens to use Captain Marvel Jr. instead. His inclusion failed to boost sales and the series was then cancelled. The team returned in a three-issue miniseries, JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative , featuring nearly every Titan and showcasing

43036-494: Was in All Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941), published by All-American Publications , one of two companies that would merge to form DC Comics in 1944. Pérák was an urban legend originating from the city of Prague during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in the midst of World War II . In the decades following the war, Pérák has also been portrayed as the only Czech superhero in film and comics. In 1952, Osamu Tezuka 's manga Tetsuwan Atom , more popularly known in

43248-459: Was introduced in The Flash vol. 4 Annual #3. Originally portrayed as the New 52 version of the classic and original character and the biracial son of Rudy West, this biracial Wally, later renamed Wallace West to avoid confusion, was retconned in DC Rebirth #1 as being the cousin of Wally West and son of the New 52 Reverse-Flash, Daniel West. Both cousins are explained as having been named after their great-grandfather. The existence of Wally West

43460-558: Was later altered in The Flash #135 (1963) to one that would make him more visually distinctive. The original red was replaced with a costume that was primarily yellow with red leggings, gloves and lightning bolt emblem. The ear pieces initially remained yellow, but became red in later issues. In addition to his appearances within the Flash title, the character was a founding member of the newly created Teen Titans , where he became friends with Dick Grayson , then known as Robin, later known as Nightwing . Sometime later, Wally contracted

43672-417: Was lost in space with several other heroes, while Kid Flash became lost in the Speed Force, re-emerging in the Flash uniform and having aged to adulthood after a failed attempt to stop Superboy Prime. Following the events of Infinite Crisis , the Teen Titans fell into a state of chaos. Wonder Girl quit the group to join a cult she believed could resurrect Superboy, while Robin took a leave of absence to travel

43884-532: Was made with a vicious foe, the first Reverse-Flash ( Eobard Thawne ). Thawne had been killed by Barry Allen shortly before Allen's death, but this version of Thawne was from a time period before he originally became Allen's enemy - also served to increase the speed of the character, forcing him to push past a psychological block he had placed on his powers. To prevent himself from truly "replacing" Barry, Wally had subconsciously limited his speed so that he could never become his mentor's equal, but when Thawne arrived in

44096-400: Was not responsible for these deaths, and it was revealed that Speed Force itself had actually caused it when trying to expel Savitar from its corridors. In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock , Lex Luthor mentioned to Lois Lane that someone has been undermining creation, like what Doctor Manhattan did with Wally West and the Justice Society of America . When Doctor Manhattan altered

44308-412: Was rejected by publisher Carmine Infantino . The revised story appeared in Teen Titans #20 (March–April 1969). Wolfman and Gil Kane created an origin for Wonder Girl in Teen Titans #22 (July–Aug. 1969) and introduced her new costume. Psychic Lilith Clay and Mal Duncan also join the group. Beast Boy of the Doom Patrol makes a guest appearance seeking membership, but was rejected as too young at

44520-428: Was struck by a blast of anti-matter energy, which cured his disease. In the aftermath of the conflict, Wally took on his fallen mentor's costume and identity. The decision by DC Comics' editorial staff to radically change their fictional universe saw a number of changes to the status quo of the character. Wally West became the new Flash, but less powerful than his predecessor. For example, instead of being able to reach

44732-404: Was unexpected as Marvel and DC had filed a motion to extend time to answer. There is an ongoing debate among legal scholars and in the courts about whether the term "superhero" has become genericized due to its widespread use in popular culture, similar to terms like "aspirin" or "escalator" which lost their trademark protection and became generic terms for their respective products. Some argue

44944-467: Was unwilling to defend itself against Ben Cooper Inc.'s suit. As a result, in 1977, Mego Corporation jointly assigned its interest in the trademark to DC Comics , Inc. ("DC") and Marvel Comics ("Marvel"). Due to the financial prowess of DC and Marvel, Ben Cooper, Inc. decided to withdraw its trademark opposition and jointly assigned its interest in the "World's Greatest Super Heroes" mark to DC and Marvel. Two years later in 1979, DC and Marvel applied for

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