The first Idle Time comic book trivia night of 2019, and our seventh since falling down this rabbit hole of tangential science questions and Golden Age oddities, took place last night at Mission: Comics and Art in San Francisco. Congratulations to Bronze Tigers for taking home first place! This assembled-on-the-fly superteam featured all first-time champions with the exception of captain Otto, who took home the gold as part of Team Immortal last October. Look out Dan and Ben — Otto has his sights set on being the first three-time champ.

Now for a chance to test your knowledge. Here’s the quiz in its entirety. Do it without Google, true believer!

Question #1 – Easy Opener
In 2015, in order to be closer to its parent company Warner Bros., DC moved its corporate headquarters from New York City to what city in Los Angeles county, also known as “the Media Capital of the World”?

Question #2 – Outside the Big Two
The only time in the modern era in which a publisher claimed more of the market share than either Marvel or DC was in 1992 when this publisher moved ahead of DC (thanks in large part to the fact that they were the first publishers of Image comics). Name the publisher.

Question #3 – Secret Identities
Carol Danvers is the secret identity of which comic book character?

Question #4 – Manga
In 1976, this story of a boy living through the atomic bombing of Hiroshima became the first full-length translation of a manga from Japanese into English to be published in the West. Name the work.

Question #5 – First Appearances
In which comic series did The Martian Manhunter make his first appearance?

Question #6 – Geography
Marvel’s fictional island nation of Madripoor is situated in Southeast Asia, between Singapore and which of Indonesia’s major islands?

Question #7 – The 1970’s
Which of the following Marvel books, released during the 70’s horror resurgence, lasted the longest (most # of issues)?

Question #8 – Science & Technology
DC’s Nth Metal is an element with the preposterous atomic number of 676. In the real world, what is the heaviest naturally occurring element on Earth, with an atomic number of 92?

Question #9 – Writers
This current writer of DC’s Wonder Woman earned an Eisner nomination for her series Air, a World Fantasy Award for her novel Alif the Unseen, and was a co-creator of the Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel character for Marvel Comics. Who is…?

Question #10 – Toys and Games
In December of last year, PS4’s Spider-Man broke the record for fastest-selling* superhero game of all time. Whose record did it break? (*based on number of units sold in first three months of game’s release)

Question #11 – Pulp Inspirations (AKA Where Did DC Get Its Ideas?)
This pulp action hero, first appearing in a Street & Smith publication in 1933, was a billionaire detective genius, employed an arsenal of futuristic gadgets (many stored in his utility pouches), maintained a refuge called the Fortress of Solitude, and was nicknamed “The Man of Bronze.” Who was he?

Question #12 – Résumé Includes Comics
This legendary crime writer, famous for novels such as The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest and The Thin Man, wrote the newspaper strip Secret Agent X-9 from 1934-1936 with artist Alex Raymond.

Question #13 – Hall of Fame
Dave Stevens will be inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. In 1986 Stevens won a Best Graphic Album award for which comic (which was turned into a Disney film in 1991)?

Question #14 – Controversies
Marvel was sued by which Christian pop singer in 1990, after Jackson Guice used one of her album covers as inspiration for this cover of Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme?

Question #15 – Music & Pop Culture
In 1965, The Family Dog organized a concert at Longshoreman’s Hall in San Francisco that featured, among other bands, Jefferson Airplane and The Charlatans. The concert was titled “A tribute to… ” which Marvel comic book character?

Question #16 – Around the World
Beginning in 1954 and lasting through 1966, the first Italian reprints of this popular superhero’s comics were re-named “Nembo Kid.”

Question #17 – Business & Retail
The first comic from a major publisher distributed exclusively to the burgeoning direct market, in 1981, was the premiere issue of which mutant’s solo superhero book?

Question #18 – On TV
Which television show features a comic shop named The Android’s Dungeon and Baseball Card Shop”?

Question #19 – Marvel Cinematic Universe
This guy is the only Marvel character to appear in all of Netflix’s MCU series. The comic book version first appeared in a 1970 issue of Daredevil. What’s his name?

Question #20
Unscramble the anagram (classic newspaper strip):
INEPT CARNIVAL

Questions #21 through 25 are artist identifications, one each from five different eras of comic book history.

Question #21
Golden Age (< 1956)

Question #22
Silver Age (1956 – 1972)

Question #23
Bronze Age (1972 – 1985)

Question #24
“Steel” Age (1986 – 2000)

Question #25
“Diamond” Age (2001 – Present)

Questions #26 through 30 are part of the Imagram. Identify the characters in the puzzle below, and then use the circled letters to solve the final clue.
And, finally, a tiebreaker question…

Prior to Disney’s purchase of Marvel in 2009, an executive summary was prepared to indicate how many characters would be available for licensing. What was the total number of characters reported in that summary?

February 13 | Weekly Buzz | February 27