The first post-pandemic Idle Time comic book trivia night turned out to be our most successful yet, with an impressive seven teams and 25 participants. Congratulations to Charles, Henry, and Dan of Team G.O.A.T. for taking home first place.  That marked Dan’s third first-place finish, tying him with Ben (whose Mystique & Destiny’s Child finished in second by a mere point) for most gold medals.

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
The subject of this Best Picture-nominated biopic modeled his stage cape on that of one of his comic book heroes, Captain Marvel, Jr.

Question #2 – How Hard Can It Be?
These four followed up successful music careers with forays into comic book writing. Match the writer to his former band.

A. Taboo
B. Gerard Way
C. Max Bemis
D. Claudio Sanchez

1. Coheed and Cambria
2. Black Eyed Peas
3. Say Anything
4. My Chemical Romance

Question #3 – Secret Identities
What is the not-so-secret superheroic alter ego of attorney Jennifer Walters?

Question #4 – Geography
Xhosa, the language spoken by Wakandans in the Black Panther films, is one of the official languages of which African nation?

Question #5 – First Appearances
In which comic book series does Wonder Woman make her first appearance? (First appearance or first cover appearance accepted.)

Question #6 – Fashion
Buster Brown, created by comic strip pioneer Richard Outcault in 1902, gave his name to this type of apparel, still manufactured up until the 1970’s.

Question #7 – Manga
The term manga, loosely translated to “whimsical pictures,” is often credited to this 18th-century woodblock printing master, famous for his Great Wave and Mount Fuji series.

Question #8 – Science & Technology
This late 80’s/early 90’s comics publisher, based in Calabasas, CA, was the first to move exclusively to digital coloring for its publications, innovating technology that made them valuable as a Marvel acquisition in 1994.

Question #9 – Local Notables
This multiple Eisner-winning San Francisco native set a record with an initial print-run of 500,000 copies for 2016’s Ghosts, the most ever (at the time) for a graphic novel. She followed it up with a million-copy printing of 2019’s Guts and was named ComicsBeat’s Comics Industry Person of the Decade in 2020.

Who is..?

Question #10 – Toys and Games
This superhero-themed card battler launched in October of last year, opening with 12 million downloads in its first week en route to $50 million in revenue and an award for Mobile Game of the Year.

Question #11 – The Golden Age
MLJ Magazines picked up on the superhero boom of the 1940’s with characters like The Shield and The Fly. 

In 1946, however, playing up the success and popularity of its teenage characters from the fictional Riverdale, MLJ changed its name to what?

Question #12 – Cartoonists
Pulitzer Prize and Oscar winner Jules Feiffer graduated from Will Eisner’s shop in 1956 and began a 42-year career as an editorial cartoonist for this famed NYC newspaper. 

The paper, founded by Norman Mailer in Greenwich Village, was hailed as the country’s first alternative newspaper and is the sponsor of the annual Obie Awards recognizing off-Broadway plays.

Question #13 – Sports
Although baseball is featured in a whopping 10% of Peanuts strips, creator Charles Schulz has been inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame of a different sport. Name the sport.

Question #14 – Music and Pop Culture
Raymond Pettibon graduated from self-published black-and-white comic zines in his native southern California to fine art galleries and museums worldwide. In addition to his iconic cover art for Sonic Youth’s Goo, Pettibon designed the four-bar logo for his brother’s band. Name the band.

Question #15 – Around the World
France launched their first orbital satellite in 1965, naming it after this wildly popular comic hero, a Gallic warrior fighting against the Julius Caesar-era Romans.

Question #16 – Conventions
Founded in 1989, Dragon Con was the first convention to explicitly market itself as a multi-genre, multi-media celebration. Today, it claims to be the largest fan-run pop culture convention in the U.S.

What city hosts Dragon Con?

Question #17 – Business & Retail
Before Free Comic Book Day became associated with the first Saturday of May, it was scheduled to coincide with a major Hollywood comic book movie.

The first FCBD, May 4, 2002, was held the Saturday after the release of which feature film?

Question #18 – On TV
The adaptation of Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese is set to premiere this month as a television series on which streaming service?

Question #19 – Marvel Cinematic Universe
Harrison Ford has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, taking over what role formerly portrayed by the late William Hurt?

Question #20
Unscramble the anagram (Marvel spin-off series):
WHAM TEEN STUNT

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…

Of the 10,614 respondents to DC’s infamous telephone stunt, how many calls voted to kill off Robin?