Heroes & Villians background info?...

[Trent Lane]

Okay, I've got a list of characters I was curious about, so I figured I'd post the names and see if you all could tell me some stuff about them:

The Gentleman Ghost
Starman
The Mist
Circe
Fire
Ice Maiden
The Key
Power Girl

...and lastly, I know enough about him to write a little with him, but could someone fill me in on Blockbuster's origin and abilities? The comics I have don't fully explain...

[Karkull]

That's a tall order. I'll post a response tonight (I'm away from my "research material" right now).

[SimonMoon5]

Gentleman Ghost - Gentleman Jim Craddock, a highwayman, was hanged. He came back as a ghost to bedevil Hawkman. In post-everything continuity, there is a different character called the Gentleman Ghost who is also named Jim Craddock; he is not a ghost but is instead a cat burglar.

Starman - which one?
Starman I- Ted Knight, the Golden Age hero, who with his gravity rod was able to fly and perform various other stunts? Or one of the many, many others?

There was Will Payton, there was the alien Mikaal, there was the Steve Ditko-created space hero, there was the Starman of 1951, there was David Knight who didn't last long as Starman... and there's the Starman whose own series just came to an end recently.

The Mist- which one? The Golden Age villain who was mainly just invisible but who gradually came to become mist like? Or his daughter?

Circe - see Greek mythology. A purple-haired sorceress who bedevils Wonder Woman.

Fire- Originally Green Fury, then Green Flame. As Green Fury, she had the ability to project (breathe) hot or cold fire; she could use fire to hypnotize people and she could fly by snorting fire out her nose. As Green Flame, all she could do was breathe out fire. As Fire, she became able to turn into a humanoid living flame which could fly and project bolts of fire.

Ice Maiden- which one?
The original Ice Maiden was Sigrid Nansen, seen primarily in Superfriends and Infinity Inc. She has blue skin, standard ice projection abilities, and the ability to reduce her body temperature down to absolute zero.
The second Icemaiden, Tora Olafsdotter, had the standard ice projection powers and joined the Justice League International
and changed her name to Ice. She is shy and demure, and gained incredible power shortly before her death.

The Key- a smart guy with a bunch of gimmicks based on the word "key", such as controlling people's minds with a "keyboard".

Power Girl- in previous continuity, the cousin of the Superman of Earth-2. In current continuity, the descendant of Arion the Immortal from Atlantis, projected into the modern day with all the powers of Superman. Most of these powers were lost or diminished after an operation to save her life, but due to the forgetfulness of writers, these powers have mostly come back.
She has also gained a weakness to unprocessed materials (such as sticks and stones).

Blockbuster- which one? The first one who viewed Bruce Wayne as a friend and would calm down whenever Batman took off his cowl... or the current one, brother to the original, who after a deal with Neron, was able to add super-intelligence to his super-physique?

[ether_lad]

i just wanted to add a few tid bits.

i don't know a whole lot about most of them...

circe is notorious for turning men into animals...that's her schtick...but she's also an incredible powerful sorcercess...and has an intense hatred of amazons. she's tried many many many times to rid the world of them...but they keep coming back. in current comic book continuity, she has a daughter named lyta through the demigod ares buchanon... gotta love a woman with purple hair!

and power girl...her story is so majorly screwed up...but essentially she was an earth 2 counterpart to the original supergirl...but that all changed. her powers seem to fluctuate depending on the writer, but she's like superman in term of what she can do. she's a tough cookie...blonde and built. she was great in kingdom come if you read it.

[Green Lantern]

For all information regarding Starman, the best comic book ever published, see Alex Tam's incredible Starman Compendium.

That should answer almost all Starman questions you have.

Or you can IM me with specific questions.

[Karkull]

I'll add to what others have said (great job, SimonMoon5!) and post for those I know:

The Gentleman Ghost
That about covers it. However, there was always a question over whether or not he really was a ghost. He had levitation abilities and was also a foe to Batman as well. In fact, he was almost in an episode of BTAS, but FOX nixed the idea.

Starman
There's been a bunch of them. The Ted and Jack Knight versions (the ones most considered to be Starman) possessed a star rod that gave them levitation powers and the abilty to focus cosmic energy through the rod. Ted Knight could easily show up in the JGA, while Jack (his son) could easily show up as a guest star.

The Mist
The first one was an old Golden Age villain that could transform his body into a fine mist. His daughter, Nash, has that power too, but she was much nastier than her father (in my opinion). In one issue of Starman she managed to kill off several Justice League members.

Circe
She's probably Wonder Woman's most recognized arch-enemy. In addition to her abilities from The Odyssey she's also well-versed in human psychology. And she has purple hair.

The Key
In his old appearances his powers were pretty vague, but Grant Morrison's redesign of him in JLA was pretty good. He used these substances called "psycho-chemicals" to open up "all the doors in his head"--allowing him to use all 100% of his mind (humans only use about 10%). He has 10-12 different senses, the ability to open any door, and some neat machinery (his "Key Men" robots and his Key Gun come to mind).

Blockbuster
The second one was just a dumb brute (with incredible strength) that gained massive intelligence through his deal with Neron. Right now he's a crime boss in Bludhaven.

[Trent Lane]

Thanks for the help, all! The Starman I mentioned was Jack Knight, Mist was the daughter of the original Mist, and the Gentleman Ghost pic I have shows an old styled suit with no face, so draw what conclusions you can about that. Again thanks for all the help!!!

[Joker Jr]

As Blockbuster is in Bludhaven, does that mean that he is now one of Nightwing's foes.