Trivia Tuesday: Win a download of ‘Superman: Doomsday’ with extras– if you can stump the co-author of ‘The Essential Superman Encyclopedia’

Robert Greenberger

Robert Greenberger is best known to comics fans as the editor of Who's Who In The DC Universe, Suicide Squad, and Doom Patrol. He's written and edited several Star Trek novels and is the author of The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. He's known for his work as an editor for Comics Scene, Starlog, and Weekly World News, as well as holding executive positions at both Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

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34 Responses

  1. Chuck Williams says:

    Clark Kent once asked Ma Kent to make him a second Superboy costume with a different color scheme. What color replaced blue as the primary color of this second costume, and why did it prove to be a mistake?

  2. Chuck Williams says:

    Clark Kent once asked Ma Kent to make him a second Superboy costume with a different color scheme. What color replaced blue as the primary color of this second costume, and why did it prove to be a mistake?

  3. Chuck Williams says:

    Clark Kent once asked Ma Kent to make him a second Superboy costume with a different color scheme. What color replaced blue as the primary color of this second costume, and why did it prove to be a mistake?

  4. mike weber says:

    What recent film features a visual reference/homage to the Fleischer animated version’s costume change sequences to introduce the hero?

  5. Kyle Gnepper says:

    What is the mascot for the Smallville High football team?

  6. Kyle Gnepper says:

    What is the mascot for the Smallville High football team?

  7. mike weber says:

    What recent film features a visual reference/homage to the Fleischer animated version's costume change sequences to introduce the hero?

  8. Kyle Gnepper says:

    What is the mascot for the Smallville High football team?

  9. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    We know four of them as Harpo, Chico, Groucho and Zeppo. Who was the fifth Marx brother?Bonus points? Real names.

    • mike weber says:

      Gummo – who was the fourth Marx Brother *before* Zeppo.I’ll take a shot: Adolph, Leonard and Julius and i have no idea.How did they get the names, and what do they refer to?

  10. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    We know four of them as Harpo, Chico, Groucho and Zeppo. Who was the fifth Marx brother?
    Bonus points? Real names.

    • mike weber says:

      Gummo – who was the fourth Marx Brother *before* Zeppo.

      I’ll take a shot: Adolph, Leonard and Julius and i have no idea.

      How did they get the names, and what do they refer to?

  11. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    We know four of them as Harpo, Chico, Groucho and Zeppo. Who was the fifth Marx brother?Bonus points? Real names.

    • mike weber says:

      Gummo – who was the fourth Marx Brother *before* Zeppo.I'll take a shot: Adolph, Leonard and Julius and i have no idea.How did they get the names, and what do they refer to?

  12. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    Harpo was for obvious reasons: he was the harp player in the family. Depending on who you heard it from, Chico was the skirt chaser, and pronounced it Chicko. Groucho was the moneyman, and took care of the grouch bag. I never really knew where Zeppo’s nickname came from, or even what his real name was. Gummo was the gumshoe of the act; he found them work, and was to all intent their agent. If you get the big box set of their best movies, the one with “Night At The Opera”, there’s a group shot of all five of them.

    • Miles Vorkosigan says:

      Gummo’s name was Milton, Zeppo was Herbert. And, I thought this was funny, their dad, Samuel, was an Alsatian nicknamed Frenchy. There’s a Wiki page on the guys, where multiple reasons are given for most of their names.

      • mike weber says:

        Harpo said (in Harpo Speaks that there was a popular act on the vaudeville circuits called “Knocko the Clown” (or something like that). And, as usually happens, there were a horde of knock-off acts, using names ending in “o”.

        One night there was a poker game going on. And the dealer, in a joking mood, said “…and a hole card for … Harpo.”

        And then continued; and, indeed, Julius carried their money safely in a grouch bag, and Leonard was a skirt chaser and Milton was notorious for suddenly turning up when he wasn’t expected, “gumshoeing” silently around back stage.

        When Milton left – for the Army? – and Herbert joined the act, they had to come up with an “o” name. (This, again, according to Harpo.) And there was a chimpanzee act, Zippo the Chimp, and they bestowed the name “Zippo” on Herbert.

        For reasons that ought be apparent, he hated it (“Wow – you were named after a chimpanzee?”), and when a printer misspelt it on a show program or something like that, he became “Zeppo”.

        (Their uncle was Al Shehan, of Gallagher and Sheen.)

        • Miles Vorkosigan says:

          The Wiki page has pretty much the same info, along with the bit about how Alexander Wolcott asked why they didn’t use the nicknames in their playbills (“That wouldn’t be dignified.”). And yeah, the page says Gummo joined the Army so he could get some rest. Apparently being the backstage Marx Brother got wearing; “Anything is better than being an actor!” When Zeppo quit the act, he and Gummo founded a talent agency, and made a truckload of money. Gummo seldom met with his clients; he figured that if they didn’t like what he was doing for them, they’d find better.

          Supposedly Art Fisher came up with the names during a poker game in Galesburg, Illinois; There was a comic strip called Sherlocko the Monk, and Art got Groucho from there, and just made up the others. Honestly, though, this is like Rashomon by now, with everybody having a different story about who did what. But who cares? I’ve found another Marxmaniac in the world of comics! This is so damn cool!

          • mike weber says:

            That was it – i’d forgotten it was a comic strip.

            Have you encountered Son of Harpo Speaks? I just discovered it myself, looking up Harpo Speaks.

            Somewhere, i have a multi-lp set of Marx Brothers appearances on radio, and one of the tracks features Groucho on a Chicago-based radio program – can’t think whose – remarking that it’s been a long time since he was last in Chicago – “…lat time I was here, there was a Republican Mayor.”

          • Miles Vorkosigan says:

            I didn’t even know “Son of Harpo” existed! I’ll hunt it up through Nashville Public Library. I owned a pb copy of Mangy Lover long years ago, and want it in hb so it’ll survive multiple readings. At some point I need to get some bigger bookshelves, which will entail moving to a bigger house…

            He’s long since stepped on a rainbow, so his widow likely sold off a lot of his books, but one of my old Memphis friends, Dr. Dalvan Coger, had an immense library of just about anything you’d want; he was a historian and member of First Fandom, and among his collection was a complete run of F&SF magazine, cased. They covered an entire wall. You couldn’t visit Dal and Greta without whimpering from envy.

            I coveted his complete works of James Branch Cabell and Thorne Smith…

  13. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    Harpo was for obvious reasons: he was the harp player in the family. Depending on who you heard it from, Chico was the skirt chaser, and pronounced it Chicko. Groucho was the moneyman, and took care of the grouch bag.

    I never really knew where Zeppo’s nickname came from, or even what his real name was. Gummo was the gumshoe of the act; he found them work, and was to all intent their agent.

    If you get the big box set of their best movies, the one with “Night At The Opera”, there’s a group shot of all five of them.

  14. Michael A. Burstein says:

    What did red kryptonite do to Superman in its very first appearance in the comic book?(I’m asking this question because I don’t know the answer and I’m curious.)

  15. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    Since we’re Supermanning on these questions, I got one for ya, Bob. In the “Crisis on Two Earths” Justice League movie, what’s the last thing Supes says to Lex before they leave the police station?

  16. Michael A. Burstein says:

    What did red kryptonite do to Superman in its very first appearance in the comic book?

    (I’m asking this question because I don’t know the answer and I’m curious.)

  17. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    Harpo was for obvious reasons: he was the harp player in the family. Depending on who you heard it from, Chico was the skirt chaser, and pronounced it Chicko. Groucho was the moneyman, and took care of the grouch bag. I never really knew where Zeppo's nickname came from, or even what his real name was. Gummo was the gumshoe of the act; he found them work, and was to all intent their agent. If you get the big box set of their best movies, the one with "Night At The Opera", there's a group shot of all five of them.

    • Miles Vorkosigan says:

      Gummo's name was Milton, Zeppo was Herbert. And, I thought this was funny, their dad, Samuel, was an Alsatian nicknamed Frenchy. There's a Wiki page on the guys, where multiple reasons are given for most of their names.

      • mike weber says:

        Harpo said (in Harpo Speaks that there was a popular act on the vaudeville circuits called "Knocko the Clown" (or something like that). And, as usually happens, there were a horde of knock-off acts, using names ending in "o".One night there was a poker game going on. And the dealer, in a joking mood, said "…and a hole card for … Harpo." And then continued; and, indeed, Julius carried their money safely in a grouch bag, and Leonard was a skirt chaser and Milton was notorious for suddenly turning up when he wasn't expected, "gumshoeing" silently around back stage.When Milton left – for the Army? – and Herbert joined the act, they had to come up with an "o" name. (This, again, according to Harpo.) And there was a chimpanzee act, Zippo the Chimp, and they bestowed the name "Zippo" on Herbert.For reasons that ought be apparent, he hated it ("Wow – you were named after a chimpanzee?"), and when a printer misspelt it on a show program or something like that, he became "Zeppo".(Their uncle was Al Shehan, of Gallagher and Sheen.)

        • Miles Vorkosigan says:

          The Wiki page has pretty much the same info, along with the bit about how Alexander Wolcott asked why they didn't use the nicknames in their playbills ("That wouldn't be dignified."). And yeah, the page says Gummo joined the Army so he could get some rest. Apparently being the backstage Marx Brother got wearing; "Anything is better than being an actor!" When Zeppo quit the act, he and Gummo founded a talent agency, and made a truckload of money. Gummo seldom met with his clients; he figured that if they didn't like what he was doing for them, they'd find better. Supposedly Art Fisher came up with the names during a poker game in Galesburg, Illinois; There was a comic strip called Sherlocko the Monk, and Art got Groucho from there, and just made up the others. Honestly, though, this is like Rashomon by now, with everybody having a different story about who did what. But who cares? I've found another Marxmaniac in the world of comics! This is so damn cool!

          • mike weber says:

            That was it – i'd forgotten it was a comic strip.Have you encountered Son of Harpo Speaks? I just discovered it myself, looking up Harpo Speaks.Somewhere, i have a multi-lp set of Marx Brothers appearances on radio, and one of the tracks features Groucho on a Chicago-based radio program – can't think whose – remarking that it's been a long time since he was last in Chicago – "…lat time I was here, there was a Republican Mayor."

          • Miles Vorkosigan says:

            I didn't even know "Son of Harpo" existed! I'll hunt it up through Nashville Public Library. I owned a pb copy of Mangy Lover long years ago, and want it in hb so it'll survive multiple readings. At some point I need to get some bigger bookshelves, which will entail moving to a bigger house… He's long since stepped on a rainbow, so his widow likely sold off a lot of his books, but one of my old Memphis friends, Dr. Dalvan Coger, had an immense library of just about anything you'd want; he was a historian and member of First Fandom, and among his collection was a complete run of F&SF magazine, cased. They covered an entire wall. You couldn't visit Dal and Greta without whimpering from envy. I coveted his complete works of James Branch Cabell and Thorne Smith…

  18. Miles Vorkosigan says:

    Since we're Supermanning on these questions, I got one for ya, Bob. In the "Crisis on Two Earths" Justice League movie, what's the last thing Supes says to Lex before they leave the police station?

  19. Michael A. Burstein says:

    What did red kryptonite do to Superman in its very first appearance in the comic book?(I'm asking this question because I don't know the answer and I'm curious.)