Flashback Friday: Krypton's Name

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Krypton's Name!

Krypton first appeared as a nameless "distant planet" in Action Comics #1 (April 1938)...

...but was given a name in the first Superman daily strip, "The Superman is Born" (part 1 of Episode 1:"Superman Comes to Earth", January 1939).

It later appeared in the retelling of Superman's origin in Superman #1 (April 1939).

And, of course, it's been a part of Superman's origin ever since...with one exception that I know of. Superman: Red Son (spoiler alert) has Superman hail from a far future Earth. Of course, it also makes Kal-L a distant, distant descendant of Lex Luthor, so it's kind of just doing it's own thing. Every other version of his origin, from comics retellings to adaptations, has him come from Krypton.

Character Spotlight: Sword Master

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So this month is Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Sword Master!

Last year, Marvel teamed up with a Chinese telecommunications company called NetEase to create its first fully Chinese superheroes (meaning Chinese characters made in China; it has other Chinese superheroes, such as the People's Defense Force). The goal was to increase their brand awareness in the East. Sword Master debuted in the first issue of an online manhua called Warriors of Three Sovereigns in May 2010, which can be found at 163.com.

Unlike Cyclone's more modern bent, Warriors of Three Sovereigns has a more antique flair. Sword Master is a college student named Lin Lie who takes up an ancient sword discovered by his archaeologist father to battle Chiyou, a reincarnated villain from the Imperial era. The sword belonged to one of the three emperors that reigned during that time.

Sword Master debuts in War of the Realms: New Agents of ATLAS #2 (May 2019) fighting fire goblins in Shanghai. He joins the New Agents of ATLAS at the end of the issue, despite being against the idea because he has his own stuff going on - a sentiment shared by several of the new members.

Two other superheroes feature in Cyclone. Will we see them in future issues of New Agents of ATLAS? Only time will tell!

Flashback Friday: Sgt. Casey

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Sgt. Casey!

Sergeant Casey is a Metropolis police that doesn't trust Superman and is constantly trying to catch him doing something illegal.  He first appeared in the Superman newspaper strip (Episode 14: "The Unknown Strikes", May 1940). Ironically, Lois calls him their "old friend" in his first appearance.

He quickly made the jump to comics in Superman #6 (July 1940) and became a mainstay of Earth-2 Superman stories. Over time he got promoted to lieutenant, and he made his final appearance in Superman Family #219 (April 1982).

A police officer named Casey was mentioned in Action Comics #1 (September 2011), but unfortunately hasn't been seen since.

Character Spotlight: Aero

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So this month is Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Aero!

Last year, Marvel teamed up with a Chinese telecommunications company called NetEase to create its first fully Chinese superheroes (meaning Chinese characters made in China; it has other Chinese superheroes, such as the People's Defense Force). The goal was to increase their brand awareness in the East. Aero debuted in the first issue of an online manhua called Cyclone in May 2010, which can be found at 163.com.

Unlike Warriors of Three Sovereigns's more old-fashioned flair, Cyclone has a more modern bent. In her original comic, Aero is an architect that has control over the air and protects Shanghai after a resettlement project goes awry.

In New Agents of ATLAS #1 (May 2019), Aero debuts on the first page in a jurisdiction dispute with a new character, Wave. They get attacked and we don't see them for the rest of the issue, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them.

Two other superheroes feature in Cyclone. Will we see them in future issues of New Agents of ATLAS? Only time will tell!

Flashback Friday: Arc Reactor

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: the Arc Reactor!

The arc reactor first appeared in the film Iron Man (May 2008) as a portable power source that powered the magnet that kept a piece of shrapnel from entering Tony Stark's heart, as well as powering the Iron Man suit. It was a miniaturized version of a machine that Howard Stark built to create clean energy, a project that didn't go anywhere until Tony was able to miniaturize it. Side note: much evidence across the Marvel Cinematic Universe shows that the Arc Reactor is Howard Stark's attempt to create a man-made version of the Tesseract.

It later appeared in Invincible Iron Man #3 (July 2008), though instead called a Repulsor Technology Node. Pepper Potts was caught in an explosion that caused shrapnel to lodge into her body. Tony has a node implanted into her chest to keep the shrapnel from entering her heart. He also says he used one when the same thing happened to him in the Middle East, which essentially completely rewrites his origin to match the movie. Although the "Extremis" storyline from 2007 moved his origin to the Middle East, this is the first time it's been noted that he implanted something into his chest to help with his heart condition, rather than crating a whole chestplate to wear.

In Invincible Iron Man #21 (December 2009), Tony has to reboot the Extremis within his body to prevent Norman Osborn from gaining access to it. Doing so causes his body to shut down, so he has to get an RT Node implanted to restart it. Incidentally, this same issue seems to indicate he had both the RT Node and chestplate when he escaped Afghanistan.

The Arc Reactor/RT Node has continued to appear since then, although I'm not sure it's ever been vital to a storyline again. I'm also pretty sure neither Tony nor Pepper still have theirs; they're simply a way to power the suits these days.

Character Spotlight: Crescent and Io

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So June is going to be Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Crescent (and Io)!

Marvel Future Fight is a mobile fighting game that pits Marvel characters from different dimensions against each other. Occasionally, that means creating original characters from the multiverse we've never seen before. The first example of this was a new version of Captain America (Steve's daughter from a world where he was never frozen), and the second example we saw last week: Luna Snow.

Crescent's story is that she's a kid from Korea whose antique dealer father disappears one night. She finds a red bear mask in his room, and when she puts it on, it summons Io, a moon bear spirit. Together, they track down her father and rescue him from the clutches of Morgan le Fey. Crescent and Io joined Marvel Future Fight in November 2018.

In New Agents of Atlas #1 (May 2019), Crescent and Io debut fighting alongside Luna Snow and White Fox to protect Korea from an invasion by Fire Demons.

Flashback Friday: Chief O'Hara

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Chief O' Hara!

Chief O'Hara was a creation of the 1966 Batman series that first appeared in the premiere episode, "Hi Diddle Riddle" (January 1966).  In the series, he worked in conjunction with Commissioner Gordon as a reflection of the New York Police Department, where the chief is the most senior sworn officer and the commissioner is a civilian overseer.

As Batman was an instant hit, and really the thing that made him as popular as he is today, it didn't take long for it to affect the comics. O'Hara was first mentioned in comics in World's Finest #159 (June 1966), and brought with him the hotline from the show.

He appeared mostly off-panel in Detective Comics #461 (April 1976)...

...and then appeared on-panel in Detective Comics #470 (April 1977), though his face was obscured.

But that's Earth-1 Chief O'Hara. Later that same year, Earth-2 Chief O'Hara debuted in All-Star Comics #67 (June 1977).

He briefly replaced Bruce Wayne as commissioner beginning in Wonder Woman #281 (May 1981).

His first Post-Crisis appearance was as Police Chief Clancy O'Hara in Batman: Dark Victory #1 (December 1999), where he was the first victim of the Hangman.

To my knowledge, he has not appeared in the New 52/Rebirth, but you never know when that will change!

Character Spotlight: Luna Snow

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So June is going to be Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Luna Snow!

Marvel Future Fight is a mobile fighting game that pits Marvel characters from different dimensions against each other. Occasionally, that means creating original characters from the multiverse we've never seen before. The first example of this was a new version of Captain America (Steve's daughter from a world where he was never frozen), and another example we'll see next week: Crescent.

Luna Snow was added to Marvel Future Fight in January 2018. What's interesting is that, since she's a K-pop idol, she's also had a few singles: "Tonight" (July 2018) and "I Really Wanna (feat. Krysta Youngs)" (December 2018).

Luna Snow's story is a little wild. She was a K-pop singer who was performing at a Stark Industries event when AIM attacked and locked her in an experimental cold storage container, where the exposure to new cold fusion technology gave her ice powers. Notably, as you'll see again next week, all of Marvel Future Fight's original characters are Korean; this even includes the first - Captain America, aka Sharon Rogers - who was born in South Korean while Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter were stationed there. This is because the creators of Future Fight, NetMarble Games, is a Korean company.

In New Agents of ATLAS #1 (May 2019), Luna Snow debuts fighting alongside Crescent and Io and White Fox to protect Korea against an invasion of Dark Elves.