The Punisher (Frank Castle) is a fictional vigilante and anti-hero in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr. and Ross Andru, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Feb. 1974).
The Punisher is a vigilante who considers murder, kidnapping, extortion, coercion, threats of violence and torture to be acceptable crime fighting tactics. Driven by the deaths of his family, who were killed by the mob when they witnessed a gangland execution in New York City's Central Park, he wages a one-man war on the mob and all criminals in general by using all manner of weaponry. A war veteran, Castle is a master of martial arts, stealth tactics, hand-to-hand combat, and a wide variety of weapons.
The Punisher's brutal nature and willingness to kill made him a novel character in mainstream American comic books in 1974. By the late 1980s, he was part of a wave of psychologically troubled anti-heroes and was featured in several monthly publications, including The Punisher War Journal, The Punisher War Zone, and The Punisher Armory. Two movie adaptations have been released, one in 1989, which featured Dolph Lundgren as The Punisher, and another in 2004, with the character played by Thomas Jane. A third adaptation is in post-production with Ray Stevenson as Castle and is planned for a September 2008 release.

Hawkman is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville, the original Hawkman first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (1940)

Several incarnations of Hawkman have appeared in DC Comics, all of them characterized by the use of archaic weaponry and by large, artificial wings, attached to a harness made from the special Nth metal that allows flight. Most incarnations of Hawkman work closely with a partner/romantic interest named Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman.

The Golden Age Hawkman was Carter Hall, an archeologist who was the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince. He and Hawkgirl used the same tools displayed in his museum to fight crime.

Like most Golden Age heroes, Hawkman disappeared from print after World War II. In the Silver Age, DC introduced new versions of several characters. The new Hawkman and Hawkgirl were police officers from the planet Thanagar who stayed on Earth to help human police forces, and the Justice League, deal with supervillains.

Since DC’s continuity was rewritten in the 1985 series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Hawkman’s history has become muddled with several new versions of the character appearing throughout the years, some associated with ancient Egypt and some with Thanagar. These versions of the character have starred in several series of various durations.

Hawkgirl is the name of several fictional superheroines all owned by DC Comics and existing in that company's DC Universe. The character is one of the first costumed female superheroes. All of them are partners, and sometimes spouses or lovers, of the various incarnations of Hawkman, and share many features with the character Hawkwoman.

The Silver Age Hawkwoman was Shayera Hol, a law enforcement officer from the planet Thanagar and wife of Katar Hol, the Silver Age Hawkman. She was a member of the Justice League.

She was born on Thanagar, a planet orbiting the star Polaris. Thanagar had a scientifically advanced civilization in which crime was virtually unknown. As an adolescent, Shayera joined the Thanagarian police force and was assigned to assist the force's most decorated officer, Katar Hol, in capturing the Rainbow Robbers. At first, Katar was furious at being assigned an inexperienced young woman as a partner, but he nevertheless became strongly attracted to her.

Together, they captured the Rainbow Robbers in their stronghold found behind a waterfall; while on the case, Shayera saved Katar's life and the two fell deeply in love. A few weeks later, Katar proposed to Shayera in front of the same waterfall. She accepted and they were married. Ten years later, the couple was sent to Earth in pursuit of the criminal Byth Rok. Upon reaching Earth, they were befriended by Midway City police commissioner George Emmett, who established cover identities for them as Carter and Shiera Hall. After capturing Byth and bringing him back to their planet, Katar and Shayera chose to return to study Earth's crimefighting methods, and they fought against evil as the superheroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Shayera renamed herself Hawkwoman in the early 1980s.

As Hawkwoman, Shayera eventually joined her husband as a member of the Justice League. She was the first League member admitted as part of the League's vote to lift its prior twelve-member limitation which had effectively prevented the admission of more women to its ranks. Her membership set precedent for the admission of Zatanna as the League's fifteenth member.

As Shiera, she first worked as Carter's secretary, but later became co-director of the Midway City Museum. She has a sort of rivalry with the museum naturalist Mavis Trent, who has her eyes on both Hawkman and Carter Hall.

Later, Thanagar had established itself as a military dictatorship bent on conquering other planets. Hawkman and Hawkwoman thwarted Thanagarian plans to invade Earth, destroying their own starship in the process. Hawkman and Hawkwoman remain on Earth, regarded as traitors by everyone on Thanagar. She helped her husband come to terms with the deaths they caused during the battle.

Following the events of DC's miniseries, Crisis on Infinite Earths, the histories of Earth-One and Earth-Two are merged together. As a result, both Golden Age and Silver Age versions of Hawkman and Hawkgirl/Hawkwoman live on the same Earth. Initially, the Silver Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman were kept in continuity unchanged, and they briefly joined Justice League International. However, DC reversed this decision and rebooted Hawkman continuity after the success of the 1989 Hawkworld miniseries. Originally, Hawkworld retold the origins of Silver Age Hawkman and Hawkwoman. After becoming a success, DC Comics launched a Hawkworld ongoing series set in the present resulting in a complete reboot of Hawkman continuity. By doing so, several contiuity errors regarding Hawkman and Hawkwoman's Justice League appearances needed to be fixed.

[Sharon Parker

Years before the events told in the Invasion story arc, Fel Andar, a hybrid Human-Thanagarian spy, was sent to Earth to infiltrate among humans. Eventually he met and married an Earth woman, Sharon Parker, who would soon give birth to Charles Parker -- later the Golden Eagle.When Charlie was four years old, Thanagar called Andar to active duty, so he joined the Justice League International claiming to be Carter and Shiera Hall's son Carter Hall, Jr. Andar never told the Thanagarian Empire of his own son, so they mindwiped Sharon, forcing her to take the identity of Hawkwoman Sharon Hall, wife of Carter Hall Jr.When Sharon learnt about the masquerade she exposed the truth to J'onn J'onzz and Maxwell Lord. Confronted by both, Andar escaped back to Thanagar but not before murdering Sharon for her betrayal.

Shayera Thal

Shayera Thal II is the illegitimate daughter of Shayera Thal I and Andar Pul, Thanagar's Administrator of Protection and close friend of Shayera I's father Thal Provis. Andar Pul had seduced the then 13-year-old Shayera I and her pregnancy became a political scandal that threatened to put her father's political activities to a hold. As a result, Shayera II was abandoned in Downside by her mother shortly after her birth.

When she was ten, she first met Wingan ensign Katar Hol during his first mission to the Thanagarian ghettos. Her mother was killed in a terrorist bombing.

When Shayera lost her Downside guardian as a result of a police action she was sent to an orphanage in the High Towers. Here she was found and adopted by Thal Provis, whose grief over the loss of his own daughter, had led him to find and reclaim his granddaughter. She was unaware Provisl was really her grandfather until much later.

As a young woman, Shayera became a Wingmen and eventually meets Katar Hol again. She helped him stop Byth's drug smuggling.

The X-Men are a fictional Marvel Comics superhero team. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they debuted in The X-Men #1, published in September 1963. The X-Men are fictitious mutants who, as a result of a sudden leap in evolution, are born with latent superhuman abilities, which generally manifest themselves at puberty. In the stories, many ordinary humans harbor an intense fear and/or distrust of mutants (often referred to as Homo superior), who are regarded by a number of scientists as the next step in human evolution and are thus widely viewed as a threat to human civilizations; mutants who use their powers for criminal ends exacerbate the tensions. The X-Men were formed by the benevolent Professor Charles Xavier, (a.k.a. Professor X), a wealthy mutant who founded an academy to train young mutants to protect themselves and the world from Magneto, the Brotherhood of Mutants and other mutant threats.

The X-Men comic book series was one of comicdom’s earliest and most influential trendsetters in adopting a multicultural central cast; during the 1970s, the roster was diversified, adding characters from Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, and the Soviet Union. Characters representing many other ethnicities and cultural backgrounds have subsequently been added. The stories themselves have often included themes relating to the status of minorities, including assimilation, tolerance, and beliefs regarding a "superior race".

The X-Men have been adapated into films and television shows. The television shows have included one of the most successful weekend morning programs, X-Men: The Animated Series and the hit Kids WB! animated series X-Men: Evolution. In 2000, the X-Men movie directed by Bryan Singer was released and featured Patrick Stewart (as Professor Charles Xavier), James Marsden (as Scott Summers / Cyclops), Halle Berry (as Storm), Hugh Jackman (as Wolverine), and Anna Paquin (as Rogue). Its sequel X2: X-Men United was released in 2003, again directed by Singer. A third X-Men movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, directed by Brett Ratner, was released May 26, 2006. By 2008, two more films were in development, one featuring the origin of Wolverine and the other featuring the origins of Magneto.

The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), which helped to usher in a new naturalism in the medium. They were the first superhero team created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby.

There are four core individuals traditionally associated with the Fantastic Four, who gained superpowers after exposure to cosmic rays during a scientific mission to outer space. Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a scientific genius and the leader of the group who can stretch his body into incredible lengths and shapes. The Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm) is Reed's wife; she can render herself invisible and project powerful force fields. The Human Torch (Johnny Storm) is Sue's younger brother, who can generate flames, surround himself with them and fly. The final member is the monstrous Thing (Ben Grimm), their grumpy but benevolent friend, who possesses superhuman strength and endurance. Since the original four's 1961 introduction, the Fantastic Four have been portrayed as a somewhat dysfunctional yet loving family. Breaking convention with other comic-book archetypes of the time, they would squabble and hold grudges both deep and petty, and eschew anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status.

The Fantastic Four have been adapted into other media, including four animated television series, an aborted 1990s low-budget film, the major motion picture Fantastic Four (2005), and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).

Green Lantern is the name of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first (Alan Scott) was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 (July 1940). The best-known is Hal Jordan, created by John Broome and Gil Kane in Showcase #22 (Oct. 1959).

Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring that gives the user great control over the physical world as long as the wielder has sufficient willpower and strength to wield it.

While the ring of the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott) was magically powered, the rings worn by all subsequent Lanterns were technological creations of the Guardians of the Universe, who granted such rings to worthy candidates. These individuals made up the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps.

After World War II, when sales of superhero comic books generally declined, DC ceased publishing new adventures of the Alan Scott Green Lantern. At the beginning of the Silver Age of Comic Books, DC editor Julius Schwartz had writer Broome and artist Kane revive the Green Lantern character, this time as test pilot Hal Jordan, who became a founding member of the Justice League of America. In the early 1970s, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams teamed Green Lantern with archer Green Arrow in groundbreaking, socially conscious, and award-winning stories that pitted the sensibilities of the law-and-order-oriented Lantern with the populist Green Arrow. Several cosmically themed series followed, as did occasional different individuals in the role of Earth's Green Lantern. Most prominent of these are John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner.

Each of Earth's Green Lanterns has been a member of the Justice Society of America or the Justice League, and John Stewart was featured as one of the main characters in both the Justice League and the Justice League Unlimited animated series. The Green Lanterns are often depicted as being close friends of the various men who have been the Flash, the most notable friendships having been between Alan Scott and Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Green Lantern/Flash), Hal Jordan and Barry Allen (the Silver Age Green Lantern and Flash), and Kyle Rayner and Wally West (the modern age Green Lantern and Flash), as well as Jordan being friends with West.

Black Canary is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash Comics #86 (August 1947).

Black Canary is noted for her martial-arts skills and her "Canary Cry" – a high powered, sonic scream with the ability to shatter objects and incapacitate villains. Among the first generation of superheroes, she was a member of the Justice Society of America, the first superhero team to appear in comic books.

In the 1980s, the character's history was rewritten to make her two entities: Dinah Drake Lance, who took part in Golden Age adventures and married Gotham City detective Larry Lance, and their daughter Dinah Laurel Lance, who has appeared in modern stories.

The combination of the Black Canary's courage, fighting prowess, and her sex appeal (accentuated by her characteristic fishnet stockings) has resulted in her being referred to as "The Blonde Bombshell."