It's been a while since I did one of these, and it seems like everyone always enjoys them. Certainly, I do. So it's time for another Hardcore, Take-No-Prisoners Trivia Contest!
This time, it's all about SIDEKICKS. You know, the loyal companions, the boy wonders, and the endangered girlfriends that abound in adventure and superhero comics. We might even throw in a couple of pulp fiction and television hero-type folks too.
Let's review the rules.
* DON'T POST YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. If you do I will delete them as soon as possible, and probably I will also gently mock your intelligence and reading comprehension skills. No, you must EMAIL YOUR ANSWERS to ghatcher79 (at) gmail.com. Putting "Trivia quiz" in the subject line would be helpful, as well.
* USING GOOGLE AND WIKIPEDIA IS FROWNED UPON. I've tried very hard to make this as internet-proof as I can, but we all know that really can't be done. So I implore you to cowboy up and try to do this without cheating. Come on, any idiot can type names into a search engine. If you need to look things up, there's certainly no rule against it, that would just be mean. But meet me halfway on this -- for God's sake, pull out the real comics and look at them. Remember, to win you need only have the highest number of correct answers, not all the correct answers.
* CONTEST ENDS AT MIDNIGHT PACIFIC TIME ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 18. Because the answers will go up in Saturday's column on the 19th. (I want to be sure everyone gets the full week, even though technically I'm supposed to have things posted on Friday. Anyway, it's getting harder to make it by Friday as the end of the semester and the Emerald City Con are both careening toward our household like simultaneous runaway trains.)
* THE FINAL RULING ON WHAT CONSTITUTES CORRECT ANSWERS WILL BE MINE. I learned on the first couple of these that many of you are more thorough than me, often offering multiple possible correct answers or bringing up an angle I might not have considered. So if arbitration should become necessary, I will certainly try to be fair and award points to answers that deserve them, but I reserve the right to say, "Hey, it's my contest, and I'm doing it this way." In case of a tie score, the prize goes to the email with the earliest timestamp.
* AND DON'T POST YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION! I know, I already said that, but it bears repeating. Seriously, it ruins the fun for everyone.
And what are they playing for, Greg?
Well, in the course of re-organizing and rebuilding the home library, I found I have duplicates of several things. So, in hopes of cleaning out some of this crap sharing the wealth, I'm offering first and second prizes this time.
First prize is a really nice trade paperback copy of The Sandman: Book of Dreams, the prose Sandman anthology edited by Neil Gaiman...
...and also Booked to Die, the first of John Dunning's wonderful mysteries featuring cop-turned-bookseller Cliff Janeway.
Second prize is the first trade collection of the new Defenders...
...and the first trade collection of the new 52 version of Green Arrow.
Okay? So let's get started!
*
PART ONE: LOYAL COMPANIONS
1. Alfred Pennyworth's last name, in his Golden Age incarnation, was not actually Pennyworth. What was it originally?
2. You all know the Lone Ranger's partner Tonto is a native American-- it's right there in the opening narration of the radio show, he's the Ranger's "faithful Indian companion." But to what TRIBE does Tonto actually belong?
3. How did the Punisher first meet his tech-savvy friend Microchip?
And for a bonus point can you tell us Micro's real name?
4. In the forties, a lot of superheroes partnered with goofball civilians, such as Plastic Man did with Woozy Winks. Who was the slightly dunderheaded partner of...
...Wildcat?
...the Spectre?
...Green Lantern?
...and Captain Triumph?
5. Where did Doc Savage first meet his five aides?
(Bonus points if you can tell us where each of the TWO versions of this same story appeared.)
PART TWO: BOY (AND GIRL) WONDERS!
6. At one point in his career, the Dick Grayson Robin actually had a fan club... both in real life and in the comics. What was its name?
And what did those fans clamor for more than anything else in the letter columns of the time?
7. There have been a lot of Robins, for sure. But how many BUCKYS have fought alongside Captain America? Name as many as you can.
8. Which DC teenage companion made it to television BEFORE his or her mentor?
9. Speaking of television, you probably know Lynda Carter was TV's Wonder Woman in the seventies.
But who was that show's Wonder GIRL? (Bonus points if you can tell us her civilian name on the show-- it was NOT Donna Troy.)
10. When Jack Kirby revamped JIMMY OLSEN in the 1970s, he added a member to the Newsboy Legion in his first issue, as well. Who was it?
11. As long as we're on the subject of Jimmy Olsen, how many different actors can you name that have played him in live action on movies and television?
12. Who was the Creature in the Velvet Cage and what became of him?
13. During Rick Jones' brief and embarrassing career as a rock singer....
....who was his MANAGER?
PART THREE: MAIN SQUEEZES!
14. According to Walter Gibson, where did the Shadow first meet "friend and companion" Margo Lane?
And according to DC Comics?
15. We all know that Mary Jane Watson's first words to Peter Parker were, "Face it, tiger... you just hit the jackpot!" But what were his first words to HER?
(NOT "You mean... THAT'S Mary Jane??" That is said to MJ's Aunt Anna.)
16. Lois Lane is a reporter for the DAILY PLANET... but what did her sister LUCY originally do for a living?
...and what was her profession post-Crisis?
...and what was it during the New Krypton arc?
...and on TV's SMALLVILLE?
17. Name the two women that at one point or another the Earth-2 Batman was engaged to marry.
18. Modesty Blaise is not romantically involved with her partner Willie Garvin and never has been, but Willie does have a girlfriend. What's her name?
*
...and there you have it. Good luck everyone, and I'll be back with answers and the winners... next week!