Only a foolish person would say that comic book characters are not works of art especially the superhero and super villain action figures. The knowledge of the human anatomy in motion is incredible and the artistry is spectacular!

Aristotle said, "There are men, so godlike, so exceptional, that they naturally, by right of their extraordinary gifts, transcend all moral judgment or constitutional control. There is no law which embraces men of that caliber. They are themselves law."

Superman Comic Book Art

...Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, no... it's Superman, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Sound familiar?

Superman's first appearance was in Action Comics #1, in 1938. This fictional character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster. Superman was born Kal-El on the alien planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father moments before the planet's destruction. He was adopted and raised by a Kansas farmer and his wife, Jonathan and Martha Kent, who named the child Clark Kent. His adopted parents instilled him with strong morals. Upon reaching maturity Clark Kent develops superhuman abilities and is resolved to use these superhuman abilities for the benefit of humanity.

As Clark Kent, Superman lives among humans as a "mild-mannered reporter" for the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet. There he works with reporter Lois Lane, photographer Jimmy Olsen and editor Perry White.

Since his creation, this super hero from the planet Krypton has found a special place in the hearts of Americans and other countries as well. Why? Because this Man of Steel believes in truth, justice and the American way and has saved the world many times from such super villains such as his first one, the Ultra-Humanite, a mad scientific genius with a crippled body who has the power to transfer his brain into another body. His best-known and most frequently revisited form is a mutated albino gorilla. And his second arch-enemy, Lex Luthor, is another evil rogue scientific genius. Lex Luthor and Superman were once friends, but a lab accident indirectly caused by Superman caused Lex's hair to completely fall out. This event caused Luthor to snap and become a dangerous criminal who eternally plots the destruction of Superman.

The Ultra-Humanite

Lex Luthor

In spite of Superman's famous arsenal of powers: flying, super-strength, super-speed, super-vision, super-hearing, and super-breath, he is vulnerable to green Kryptonite, a mineral debris from Krypton transformed into radioactive material by the forces that destroyed the planet. Exposure to green Kryptonite radiation cancels Superman's powers and immobilizes him with pain and nausea. Prolonged exposure to Kryptonite will eventually kill him. The only mineral on Earth that can protect him from Kryptonite is lead, which blocks the radiation. Lead is also the only known substance that Superman cannot see through with his x-ray vision.

Some of his archenemies have possessed Kryptonite characteristics. Conduit, a good friend of Clark Kent's while growing up, was exposed to Kryptonite Radiation as a baby and  became a living Kryptonite battery. He was obsessed with killing both Clark and Superman. Metallo, a former mercenary who was transformed into a powerful cyborg with a heart of kryptonite, seeks to use this power to destroy Superman.

And Titano, a colossal ape with kryptonite eye-beams. Titano was originally a normal baby chimpanzee used in cruel scientific experiments for the U.S. government. An accident caused the ape to gain super-strength and grow to enormous proportions.

Titano attempted to kill Dr. Thomas Moyers, the head of the project whom he saw as his tormentor, Titano was stopped by and engaged in a battle with Superman. Moyers used his equipment to reverse the transformation, thereby killing Titano, who died in the arms of Lois Lane, the only human who had ever shown him love. Lois later wrote The Daily Planet article "Tears for Titano" in honor of the poor chimp.

Superman has also been attacked by many escaping Kryptonian criminals imprisoned in a dimension called the "Phantom Zone", where they only existed in a ghostlike form which allowed them to survive the destruction of Krypton.

For more information on America's most beloved super hero go to WikiPedia.org or run a Google search.

Batman Comic Book Art

In 1939, a year after the introduction of Superman, Detective Comics introduce another super hero, Batman, whose secret identify is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist who witnessed the murder of his parents as a child which lead him to train himself to physical and intellectual perfection and don a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime.

Batman operates in Gotham City, along with his sidekick Robin and his butler Alfred Pennyworth. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers. He makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical abilities, and intimidation in his war on crime.

The Dynamic Duo's (Batman and Robin) worst arch-enemy is The Joker, a vicious killer with a clown-like appearance, including bleached white skin, red lips, and green hair.

For more information about this caped crusader, go to WikiPedia.org or Google.com and search on Batman.

Wonder Woman Comic Book Art

Wonder Woman is a DC Comics super heroine created by William Moulton Marston during World War II.  She is a member of a fictional, all-female tribe of Amazons from Greek mythology, whose mission is to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men.

Among the Amazons she is known as Princess Diana, the daughter of Amazon Queen Hippolyta. In "man's world" she takes the secret identity of Diana Prince. Her powers include super strength, enhanced speed and stamina, and flight.  She is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She possesses the ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She also uses her Lasso of Truth which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, and an invisible airplane.

Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who won the right to return Steve Trevor, a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homeland, to "Man's World," and fight the evil Nazis.

Baroness Paula Von Gunther, a ruthless Nazi spymaster and evil scientist, was Wonder Woman's first recurring arch-enemy. After several battles, Wonder Woman discovered the Baroness was only working for the Nazis because they were holding her daughter, Gerta, hostage. In a daring raid, Wonder Woman rescued the child and returned her to her mother, who gladly turned against her former Nazi masters and helped the Amazon Princess round up the Nazi spy ring. After being taken to the Amazon rehabilitation community on Transformation Island, the reformed Baroness and her daughter joined the Amazons.

The Cheetah was Wonder Woman's primary arch-rival. The original Cheetah, Priscilla Rich, was a debutante of aristocratic upbringing who also had an overwhelming inferiority complex and suffered from a split personality. After Wonder Woman received more attention than she did at a charity event, Priscilla retreated to her room and sat down in front of a mirror.

There she saw an image of a woman dressed like a cheetah. For the first time, she was gazing at her evil inner self...a treacherous, relentless huntress. The image commanded her to fashion a Cheetah costume and to wear the costume to reveal her true self and do as she commanded her to do. Priscilla vowed to destroy the Amazon princess and had several run-ins with Wonder Woman before retiring.  She eventually died and her niece, Deborah Domaine, took her place as The Cheetah.

Deborah was replaced by a British anthropologist, Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva who was the heiress of a vast fortune. Ambitious, selfish and severely neurotic, Barbara was raised by servants and tutors, since her parents spent most of their time hunting for exotic game. At age seventeen she was in a car accident that killed her parents and left her severely disabled in one leg but this did not stop her. She now had unlimited funds and decided to go to Africa to seek out a female guardian with the powers of a cheetah.

The guardian was killed but the caretaker of the ancient plant god Urzkartaga took her to a place where she would gain immortality. Her powers were given to her by ingesting a combination of human blood and the berries or leaves of Urzkartaga. Unfortunately for Minerva, the host of the Cheetah persona was supposed to be a virgin. Barbara was not, so her transformations were part curse and part blessing, as she experienced severe pain while in her human form and blood-thirsty euphoria while in her cat form.

This third version of The Cheetah came into Wonder Woman's world when Barbara discovered that Princess Diana possessed the Lasso of Truth. As an anthropologist, Barbara came to covet the lasso in the hopes to add it to her collection of historical items.

For a brief period of time, Minerva lost her powers to the businessman Sebastian Ballesteros, who had convinced Urzkartaga that he could be a more effective Cheetah than she was. Minerva later killed Ballesteros and regained her powers.  

Cheetah Priscilla Rich	Cheetah Deborah Domaine
Cheetah Barbara Minerva	Cheetah Sebastian Ballesteros

Spider-Man Comic Book Art

Spider-Manwas created by Marvel Comics in the early 1960's featuring Peter Parker, an orphaned science whiz teenager living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in New York City. He is a brilliant student but the subject of mockery by his peers who regard him as a bookworm, and perpetual victim of bullying by Flash Thompson, who would call him "Puny Parker" and humiliate him daily.

One day, during a science demonstration, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider which gave him spider-like powers such as super-strength, the ability to climb walls, and a phenomenal jumping skill. Peter's own cleverness enables him to develop gadgets that fire an adhesive webbing.

One day he was asked to stop a thief, but he said that it was a job for the police. Minutes later his beloved guardian, Uncle Ben, was murdered and an angry Spider-Man took off to capture the killer. When he captured the killer, he was horrified to find that the man was the burglar he refused to subdue. He had a flashback to what his Uncle Ben had told him that "with great power comes great responsibility" and Spider-Man became a vigilante.

Spider-Man has fought with many arch-enemies but the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus appear to be his worst enemies.

The original Green Goblin is Norman Osborn, the son of an industrialist. His alcoholic father loses control of his company, and turns on his family. Norman was so traumatized, he killed the family dog because it was another mouth to feed.

He attended college to study chemistry and electrical engineering and met his sweetheart Emily. They got married, and eventually had a son, Harry. Later he co-founded a major firm with Dr. Mendel Stromm and found out that Stromm was embezzling from the company. He searched the doctor's possessions and discovered an experimental strength/intelligence enhancement formula.

While he was researching this formula, his wife became ill and died. This tragedy caused him to lose himself in his work and he barely had time for his son.  Unknown to Norman, his son had tampered with the formula so when Norman attempted to create the serum, it turned green and exploded in his face. The accident greatly increased his intelligence and strength, but also drove him insane. He adopted the bizarre identity of the Green Goblin, based on a monster he feared in his childhood.  His goal was to become the boss of the city's organized crime and no one not even Spider-man was going to stand in his way.

Doctor Octopus or Otto Octavius had a traumatic childhood. His father, a factory worker, was abusive and violent towards both Otto and his mother. Even though Otto was shy and reclusive in school, his mother encouraged him not to become like his father and he threw all his efforts into his education. He regularly scored top marks.

After his father's death due to an industrial accident, he became obsessed with the study of physical science. Otto became a brilliant and respected nuclear physicist, atomic research consultant, inventor, and lecturer. He designed a set of highly advanced mechanical arms controlled by a brain-computer interface to assist him with his research into atomic physics. The tentacle arms were resistant to radiation and were capable of great strength and highly precise movement.  The mechanism was attached to a harness that fit around his body.

During an accidental radiation leak that ended in an explosion, the apparatus became fused to Octavius' body. It was later revealed that the radiation had mutated his brain so that he could control the movement of the arms using his thoughts alone. At first it was thought that the accident damaged his brain but his mind was rewiring itself to accommodate four extra limbs, and the scientist turned to a life of crime.

Although Doctor Octopus himself is portly, in poor physical shape, and is near-sighted, with his harness attached he is physically more than a match for Spider-Man. In his first appearance he beat Spider-Man so badly that the wall-crawler considered giving up his heroic career.  Doctor Octopus remains one of Spider-Man's most dangerous foes.

For information on background of other super heroes and heroines comic book art go to DC Comics.