It’s Trivia Tuesday! Tell us, which of the below characters did Stan Lee have a hand in co-creating?
A. Nth Man
B. Null, the Living Darkness
C. Namora
D. Nightmare
And the answer is…
D. Nightmare!
But before we dive into that chilling character, let’s take a look at the three other comic creations!
Nth Man
So, there is more than one Nth Man in the Marvel universe. The first character to take the name, a scientist brought to life by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Ron Wilson, first appeared as Thomas Lightner in Marvel Two-in-One #21 in November 1976. It wasn’t until a few years later, 1979’s Marvel Two-in-One #58, in fact, that Lightner debuted as Nth Man. He’s had many aliases over the years, including Blacksun and Mysterium. This is all not to be confused with another character of the same name who starred in his own comicbook, Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja, written by Larry Hama from 1989-1990!
Null, the Living Darkness
With a moniker as mysterious as Null, you know this character’s going to be interesting! Null, the Living Darkness officially made itself known in Defenders #103 in January 1982 from writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Don Perlin. The demonic object was generated by the combined unconscious vengeful yearnings of the S’raphh, a race of now-extinct humanoids that used to reside on Earth’s moon. What. A. Conception.
Namora
Namora (not to be confused with Gamora!) first dove into the pages of Marvel Comics way back in May 1947 in Marvel Mystery Comics #82. Her creation is attributed to artists Syd Shores, Ken Bald and Bob Powell. The half Atlantean-half human is the cousin of Namor the Sub-Mariner, in case the name didn’t give it away, and she even starred in her own series, Namora, which ran for three issues in 1948.
Now onto Stan’s handiwork!
Nightmare
Nightmare first invaded the comicbook world in Strange Tales #110 back in July 1963, courtesy the renowned creative team of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. As the name suggests, yes, this character is indeed villainous, appearing mainly as a foe to Doctor Strange (both making their debuts together!) and Ghost Rider, though he has crossed paths with Spider-Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and many more. And if his name isn’t terrifying enough, there are the facts that 1. He rules the Dream Dimension, 2. He roams the land atop his demonic horse Dreamstalker, and 3. He feeds upon sleeping beings’ unconscious psychic energies. (No big deal.) Now, that’s a villain!
Every couple of weeks, we’ll spotlight some of Stan’s most obscure co-creations through trivia, starting with A and ending with Z! Stay tuned for ‘O,’ coming soon!