Trivia Quiz #38: Answers

1. Which of Jor-El's official duties did he hate?

Jor-El hated being Krypton's official executioner. Of course, by "execution" what they meant was putting the prisoner into suspended animation and shooting him into space. It was his distaste for this duty that led to him inventing the Phantom Zone projector (aka Punishment Ray).

2. When the young Jor-El was cramming for his exams, what trick did he use to maximize his study time?

Jor-El used the Time-Stretch Globe.

3. What invention of Jor-El's led to him being elected to the Science Council?

The Phantom Zone projector (aka Punishment Ray) resulted in Jor-El's election to the Science Council.

4. Jor-El was stuck in the Phantom Zone twice when the projector failed to bring him back. What two people repaired the projector on those separate occasions?

The first time, Lara repaired the machine, from which baby Kal had removed a necessary part:

The second time, Lex Luthor (temporarily reformed by a ray that Jor-El had invented) saved him:


5. When Jor-El first got married, where did he work?

Jor-El worked at a missile base.

David got part of #4 correct. Blaze contributed the other part of #4 plus #2 and #5. Michael Rebain gets #3 plus part of #4. I stumped my readers with #1, although Michael Rebain was close.

Trivia Quiz #38: Jor-El

These should be fairly tough:

1. Which of Jor-El's official duties did he hate?

2. When the young Jor-El was cramming for his exams, what trick did he use to maximize his study time?

3. What invention of Jor-El's led to him being elected to the Science Council?

4. Jor-El was stuck in the Phantom Zone twice when the projector failed to bring him back. What two people repaired the projector on those separate occasions?

5. When Jor-El first got married, where did he work?

Trivia Quiz #39: Superman

1. Who came from the planet Wexr II?
2. Who came from the planet Staryl?
3. What was the name of the hover-car that Jor-El invented?
4. Who lived on the planet Htrae?
5. Why was Jax-Ur sentenced to the Phantom Zone?

Trivia Quiz #37: Answers

1. Why is this happening?

c. It's actually a Bizarro Supergirl.

2. Why is this happening?

b. It's an effect caused by a comet

3. Why is this happening?

b. It's a plot to increase the Daily Planet's circulation
d. It's an effort to save Superman's secret identity

Yep, this is a trick question. Lois had printed up a gag copy of the Daily Planet with the news that Clark was Superman, but through an accident the entire press run got printed that way. Clark decided this would be a good way to scotch the rumors that he was Superman and convinced Perry this was an opportunity to increase circulation.

4. Why is this happening?

c. It's an effect of Red Kryptonite
d. It's a scheme by a saboteur

Another trick question. The Red K was planted by a saboteur, who knew that Superman would become susceptible to suggestions under its influence, and so he had Supes pretend to dance uncontrollably, so he could enter a naval installation to destroy a new ship.

5. Why is this happening?

c. It's a plot to fool some crooks

Jim got #1 and #3 correct, and was the only one to realize that some questions had more than one answer. Tom O got #1, #2 and #5 correct and gets half credit for #3. Daniel scores with #5 and gets half a point for #4. Ed O'Toole gets full marks for #5, and half credit for #3 and #4. Great job, everybody!

Trivia Quiz #37: Solve the Puzzle Cover

I've talked a bit in the past about Mort Weisinger's fondness for what I call puzzle covers. These covers show something bizarre and unexpected, which he hoped would compel the kid to at least take the magazine off the rack and flip through it to find out why the event depicted on the front was taking place. Here's your opportunity to match wits with Mort:

1. Why is this happening?

a. It's a plot to fool some aliens
b. It's the result of Red Kryptonite
c. It's actually a Bizarro Supergirl
d. It's a plot to fool some crooks

2. Why is this happening?

a. It's a plot to fool some aliens
b. It's an effect caused by a comet
c. It's an effect of Red Kryptonite
d. It's actually Bizarro Superman

3. Why is this happening?

a. It's a plot to fool some aliens
b. It's a plot to increase the Daily Planet's circulation
c. It's a plot to fool some crooks
d. It's an effort to save Superman's secret identity

4. Why is this happening?

a. It's a plot by Mr Mxyzptlk
b. Superman really likes Jimmy's guitar licks
c. It's an effect of Red Kryptonite
d. It's a scheme by a saboteur

5. Why is this happening?

a. It's a plot by Mr Mxyzptlk
b. Jimmy really has a secret super-punch
c. It's a plot to fool some crooks
d. It's an effect of Red Kryptonite

Trivia Quiz #20 Answers

1. (Easy) True or False: Bruce Wayne was a star athlete in his college days.

True:


Back then they hadn't thought about him hiding his interest in crime.

2. (Moderate) Within 2 years, how old was Lois Lane supposed to be in the comics when Lois Lane #1 debuted?

This one surprised me when I saw it, which is why I thought it would make a good trivia question:



There are two conflicting goals here. On the one hand, the comics publishers want young characters for their readers to identify with. On the other, they want accomplished people in their field. It is hard to imagine a 22-year-old woman as the star reporter for a major metropolitan daily; it is far more likely she'd be doing feature articles on local screwballs.

3. (Tough) Name two Superman villains in the Silver Age of comics who obtained their power from green kryptonite.

The ones I had thought of were Metallo and the Annihilator, but Michael Rebain also points out the Kryptonite Kid, which is correct as well.

4. (Really Tough) What woman did Batman rename the Batplane after?



But it was all a plot to fool some crooks.

5. (Tough For Some) During the Adventure Comics run of the Legion of Superheroes, what two LSH members were cross-dressers?

Chameleon Boy (shown here after changing):



And Lightning Lass (later Light Lass) who was impersonating her brother, Lightning Lad. This trivia question was suggested by the Comic Treadmill in a post last week.

Michael Rebain got #1, #3 and #5 right.

Trivia Quiz #20: Grab-Bag DC

1. (Easy) True or False: Bruce Wayne was a star athlete in his college days.

2. (Moderate) Within 2 years, how old was Lois Lane supposed to be in the comics when Lois Lane #1 debuted?

3. (Tough) Name two Superman villains in the Silver Age of comics who obtained their power from green kryptonite.

4. (Really Tough) What woman did Batman rename the Batplane after?

5. (Tough For Some) During the Adventure Comics run of the Legion of Superheroes, what two LSH members were cross-dressers?

The last one may seem impossibly hard, but it was discussed yesterday in one of the blogs on the sidebar (and I'll give full credit in the answer post). Remember that my quizzes are based on the Silver Age, and in the Silver Age, nobody had ever heard of retcons.