Author: Aaron Rosenberg

Happy Birthday: Leonardo da Vinci

Happy Birthday: Leonardo da Vinci

  • News
  • April 15, 2008

Born in Vinci, Florence, Italy in 1452, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was the illegitimate son of a local notary and a peasant girl. He showed an early talent for art, and at the age of 14 he was apprenticed to the renowned Florentine painter Verrocchio.

In 1472, at the age of 20, Leonardo qualified as a master with the Guild of St. Luke and his father set him up in his own workshop. Lorenzo de Medici was so impressed by the young artist that in 1482 he sent Leonardo to serve Ludovico il Moro, the Duke of Milan.

Leonardo remained there until 1499, when he fled to Venice to escape a French invasion. He returned to Florence the following year, and continued to travel between and work among those three cities and more for the rest of his life.

Leonardo da Vinci is considered the examplar of the Renaissance man: a brilliant painter and sculptor but also a talented mathematician and scientist and a renowned scholar. Several of his works, like the Mona Lisa, are still considered among the greatest masterpieces of all time.

Happy Birthday: Chuck Dixon

Happy Birthday: Chuck Dixon

  • News
  • April 13, 2008

Born in 1954 in Philadelphia, Charles “Chuck” Dixon grew up reading comic books. He did his first comic book writing, on Evangeline for Comico, in 1984—his wife (since divorced) Judith Hunt drew the book.

A year later, Marvel editor Larry Hama hired Dixon to write back-up stories for The Savage Sword of Conan. In 1986 Dixon added Eclipse to his list of employers, writing for their Tales of Terror anthology and then for Airboy. The following year he started Alien Legion for Marvel’s Epic line.

In 1990, Dixon caught the eye of DC editor Denny O’Neil, who invited him to write a Robin mini-series. That led to more work within the Batman group, and Dixon wrote Detective Comics #644-738, including several major Batman story arcs.

To this day Dixon is considered one of the most prolific Batman writers in the character’s history.

Happy Birthday: Linda Danvers, Supergirl

Happy Birthday: Linda Danvers, Supergirl

  • News
  • April 11, 2008

Kara Zor-El was born and raised in Argo City on the planet Krypton. The entire city survived the planet’s destruction, separating itself and floating to safety, but most of the inhabitants were soon felled by their homeworld’s remnants, now transformed into deadly Kryptonite.

Kara’s father Zor-El sent her to Earth for her own protection, hoping she would be found and protected by her cousin Kal-El, better known as Superman. Kara landed on Earth on April 11 and her cousin welcomed her with open arms. He also helped her create a secret identity — that of orphan Linda Lee.

As Linda, she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, and it was as Linda Lee Danvers that Kara attended high school and college and later began several careers. Her Kryptonian nature gave her the same powers as Superman, however, and Kara often fought crime both at his side and on her own, becoming renowned and admired as Supergirl.

Sadly, Kara sacrificed herself during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, bravely giving her own life to protect her cousin and the rest of the multiverse.

Happy Birthday: Golden Age Black Canary

Happy Birthday: Golden Age Black Canary

Dinah Drake was born and raised in Gotham City, where her father Richard Drake was a detective with the Gotham City Police Department. He trained his daughter well, and when she was old enough, Dinah applied to the GCPD herself. She was turned down, however, and the disappointment crushed her father, who died a short time later.

Dinah vowed to use her skills and training to fight crime in his memory, and donned a blonde wig, fishnet stockings, pirate boots, a bustier, and a short jacket to create her new alter-ego, the Black Canary. Dinah also opened a flower shop, using the money her father had left her, and that served as both a day job and a cover story.

While fighting crime, Dinah met and fell in love with GCPD detective Larry Lance—the two were later married and had a daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance, who would ultimately follow in her mother’s costumed footsteps. The older Dinah continued her secret life and became a member of the Justice Society of America.

It was during those years that Dinah fought the living star-creature Aquarius, whose radiation ultimately killed her.

Happy Birthday: Sargon the Sorcerer

Happy Birthday: Sargon the Sorcerer

John Sargent became fascinated with magic at an early age—and also gained fearsome powers. This was thanks to his discovery that his mother’s old ruby pendant actually contained the ancient artifact called the Ruby of Life, which let him control anything he touched.

As he grew older, Sargent focused his attention on stage magic in particular, eventually developing his own stage act as "Sargon the Sorcerer." Most of his “tricks” were real magic, however, and off-stage Sargent battled evil for real, eventually becoming an honorary member of the Justice League of America.

Unfortunately, possessing the Ruby of Life affected Sargent’s mind, and he temporarily became a villain. He later shook off that change, but died valiantly aiding Zatara, the Swamp Thing and others fending off a powerful evil.

Happy Birthday: Alfred Pennyworth

Happy Birthday: Alfred Pennyworth

Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth was born the son of a butler—his father, Jarvis, worked for the wealthy Gotham City family the Waynes.

But the life of a domestic was not for young Alfred, and he fled as soon as he was old enough to strike out on his own. For many years, Alfred made a living as a stage actor, but he engaged in more dangerous occupations as well, working for British Intelligence in occupied France during World War II. He was summoned home by his dying father, however, and Jarvis made Alfred promise to continue the family tradition of serving the Waynes. Jarvis’s own employers, Thomas and Martha Wayne, had been tragically murdered many years before, but their son Bruce was now living in Wayne Manor with his young ward, Dick Grayson.

Though he had no desire to do so, Alfred obeyed his father’s last wish and presented himself at Wayne Manor, where he convinced the pair to take him on as a butler. Alfred’s tasks became far more interesting when he accidentally discovered that his employer was the Batman!

Since then, Alfred has been one of Batman’s most trusted friends and allies, and has served not only as a butler, but also as a medic, a scout, a spy, and a confidante. Not bad for a man hired to serve meals and draw curtains!

Happy Birthday: Golden Age Batman

Happy Birthday: Golden Age Batman

The Bruce Wayne of Earth-Two was born on April 7, 1915. A crook named Joe Chill robbed and killed Bruce’s parents in 1924, when Bruce was only eight years old. Bruce dedicated his life to avenging his parents’ deaths and protecting others from criminals and their evil deeds.

After many years of training, Bruce donned a fearsome costume and became the Batman. He was a member of both the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron, and despite not having any superpowers was considered one of the greatest of the American heroes. Bruce also reformed and married the former Catwoman, Selina Kyle—together they had a daughter, Helena Wayne, who later became the Huntress.

After many years, Bruce decided he was too old to continue as the Batman and retired from that side of his life, passing the mantle to his friend and student Dick Grayson. Bruce became the police commissioner of Gotham City instead. The fact that he had been the original Batman became public after Selina died in his arms trying to stop a former Catwoman henchman.

In 1979, Bruce was coaxed out of costumed retirement one last time to stop a super-powered crook named Bill Jensen, and the mission led to Bruce Wayne’s death. After his death, Doctor Fate erased the world’s knowledge that Bruce Wayne and Batman had been the same person.

Happy Birthday: Brainiac

Happy Birthday: Brainiac

Though not truly alive, Brainiac can date his creation to April 6, the day the Computer Tyrants of Colu created him. The green-skinned humanoid wreaked havoc across the galaxy, including shrinking several cities to subdue their populaces.

One of those cities was Kandor of Krypton. Years later, Brainiac encountered the man who would become his chief nemesis, Kal-el of Krypton—better known as Superman. It was a battle with Superman that forced Brainiac to destroy his original body and create a new, metallic skeleton form.

Brainiac has taken on several different forms since then, and his origin story has changed several times as well—sometimes he is an actual Coluan man instead of an android—but his twelfth-level intellect and his hatred for Superman continue unchanged to this day.

Happy Birthday: Bouncing Boy

Happy Birthday: Bouncing Boy

Charles Foster "Chuck" Taine was an ordinary 30th-Century Earth boy who got a job running errands for a famous scientist. The scientist sent Chuck off one day to deliver his experimental super-plastic formula to the Science Council, but Chuck got distracted by a robot gladiator tournament and stopped to watch for a bit.

During the tournament, Chuck got thirsty and, in his excitement, he mistook the formula for a harmless soda and drank it! The drink transformed Chuck, inflating him like a ball and giving him the power to bounce like one as well. When doctors told him his super-bouncing ability was permanent, Chuck gave up his old job and joined the Legion of Super-Heroes as Bouncing Boy.

He later married his teammate Duo Damsel and retired from active service, though he remained in the Legion reserves.

Happy Birthday: Doll Man

Happy Birthday: Doll Man

Darrell Dane was a research chemist working on ways to chemically condense matter. When his fiancee Martha Roberts was kidnapped, Dane downed a formula he had just developed and shrank himself to six inches tall while retaining his full mass and strength.

After rescuing Martha, he decided to continue his miniaturized adventures and donned a costume she created for him to become—Doll Man. Dane later became a member of the Freedom Fighters, a group of superheroes that, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, merged with the All-Star Squadron.

Unfortunately, spending so many years compressed warped Dane’s mind, leaving him mentally unstable. For a time, he was confined to a mental institution—presumably in a very small room.

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