Harry Potter Facts

Potter Facts

Here are some interesting facts about the world of Harry Potter, from both the books and films.

1. Ginny was the only female Weasley born in "several generations"
2. George could not produce a Patronus charm after Fred's death because all his happy memories are about him.
3. After the Battle of Hogwarts, the trio had Chocolate Frog cards named after them, both Ron and Dumbledore consider this their greatest achievement.
4. People eat chocolate after encountering a dementor as it is an anti-depressant.
5. The 'T' in Voldemort is actually silent.
6. Muggle borns are born when a squid(a person of magical descent with no magic) marries into a muggle family.
7. JKR originally planned to kill Arthur Weasley instead of Sirius Black in the Order of the Phoenix.
8. After the Battle of Hogwart, Kingsley Shacklebolt became the Minister of Magic, he offered those who fought jobs as Aurors without NEWTs.
9. Hermione went back to Hogwarts to complete her 7th year.
10. Alan Rickman was the only actor to know his character would be killed off.

Superhero Facts

SuperFacts

These are a list of interesting facts about superhero's, from both th Marvel and DC comicbook Universes.

1. It was originally thought that Spiderman would fail as a hero, as most people are afraid of spiders.
2. The second Robim, Jason Todd, was killed by the Joker after readers voted for him to be killed off.
3. Marvel's Luke Cage (1972) was the first black superhero to have his own comic book.
4. There are 6 Green Lanterns from Earth, these are Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardener, John Stewart, Kyle Rayne and Simon Baz.
5. Spiderman received his powers after he was biten by a radioactive spider.
6. Happy Hogan had saved Tony Stark from a car crash, so Tony hired him as his chauffeur.
Green Arrow's Chili defeated both Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter.
The Juggernaut is 140 lbs lighter than the Hulk.
There are over 20 different types of Kryptonite, including Silver, Pink and Purple Spotted Kryptonite.
Dr Connors had to have his arm amputated when he worked as an army surgeon and he injured his right arm.
The Suicide Squad is a covert black-ops government strike team partially made up of imprisoned super-villains who agree to serve as expendable agents on life-threatening top-secret missions for the US Government.
The Young Avengers came together because Iron Lad didn't want to become Kang the Conquerer.
Black Panther, T'Challa, is King of Rwanda and was married to Storm for a time.
The character Bruce Wayne was named in honor of Robert Bruce, a Scottish Patriot, and "Mad" Anthony Wayne, an American Revolutionary War general
The srcond Robin was brought back to life and took on the persona of the Red Hood, an anti-hero who is willing to kill.
Daredevil is Marvel hero who is blind and uses his heightened senses to "see".
Bart Allen, aka the Flash had a Green Lantern tatoo on his left shoulder. However, because of his accelerated healing his body rejected the ink and the tatoo disappeared.
Marvel is home to the fisrt openly gay superhero, Northstar.
Nightcrawler was originallt pithched to DC as a charcter but they felt he looked too demonic. Dave Cockrum then brought the charcter to Marvel where Nightcrawler became part of the X-Men.

My top 10 Comic Book Heroes (Part 2)

Top 10 Heroes

Hawkeye

Hawkeye is a character belonging to the Marvel Universe. He was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Don Heck His first appearance was in 'Tales of Suspense' #57 in September 1964. He began life as a villain; however he joined the Avengers in 'Avengers' #16 in May 1965. Hawkeye's real name is Clinton Francis "Clint" Barton. As well as using the name 'Hawkeye', Barton has used the names 'Goliath' and 'Ronin'. He is a master archer and marksman as well as a talented martial artist and acrobat.

   Clint Barton was born in Iowa and lived their with his parents and older brother, Barney. However Barton lost his parents in a car accident as a young child and as sent to a children's home though they later ran away. The two brothers joined the Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders where they worked as roustabouts while being mentored by the original Swordsman and Trisckshot. Clint's life would change, however, when he rejects his mentor,The Swordsman, who he saw counting stolen money. After refusing to take the money Clint and The Swordsman fight, this leaves Clint badly injured after falling from the high wire. Barney, after finding out Clint's decision to reject the money abandons him. Clint joins Trickshot for a short period and helps him in attempting to stop criminals. However Clint leaves him on bad terms.

  Clint went on to travel from carnival to carnival showcasing his natural talent in archery, it is at this time he took on the costumed persona of Hawkeye. It was after seeing Ironman save the lives of people at a carnival that Clint decided to use his gift to fight crime, unfortunately on his first night of patrol he was mistaken for a criminal. Luckily this did not stop him from going to be one of Marvel's best known heroes.

  Clint would go on to join The Avengers along side heroes such as Ironman, Capt. America and Black Widow, the Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver. However Hawkeye is a hot-headed character and often clashes with other members of The Avengers. This was prominent

early on when he refused to work with the team's leader Capt. America. Overtime Hawkeye learns to respect others and views many of his team mates as friends. Hawkeye was also romantically involved with Black Widow, however she leaves him after an undercover mission.

  Hawkeye's main weapon is his trusty bow and arrow. Clint is a grandmaster marksman, an exceptional acrobat and martial artist. He is at peak human physical condition, this is shown when a villain attempt to use the hero's draw weight bow but could not draw back the string to fire a single arrow. Hawkeye's custom arrows are purple, his signature colour. He carries a quiver of "trick" arrows, these include explosive and "tracker" arrows. It is thought he can turn any object into a weapon, including coins, sticks and debris.

 Hawkeye has appeared in many different medias. He is a character on the animated cartoon about The Avengers, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Hawkeye has been played by Jeremy Renner in the live action films Thor and The Avengers (left).

My Top 10 Comic Book Heroes (Part 1)

Top 10 Heroes

 Here are my Top 10 Comic Book heroes. This list contains heroes from both the Marvel and DC Comics universes. This isn't in any particular order and has both superheroes and anti- heroes. First up is...

Captain America:

Steven "Steve" Rogers first appeared as Captain America in March 1941 in Captain America Comics #1. He was chosen to take part in a US Military experiment. The aim was to create the world’s first super soldier. After being rejected to join the army during WW2 because of his sickly physique and asthma Rogers agreed to become the first super soldier. The experiment was successful and lead to Rogers becoming the world’s first super hero: Captain America. Later in the Marvel series Capt. was reintroduced after he apparently died in the Arctic fighting the Red Skull. He had in fact been frozen in the ice and was found by the Avengers. Having gotten over the initial shock of waking up 70 years after WW2 Rogers would come to be one of Marvels best heroes. He became leader of the Avengers as well as having his own solo career. His costume was made up of the colours of the USA's flag; red, white and blue. He wears a blue cowl over his head, with a white A on the forehead and wings on the side. He also carries a vibranium shield as his main weapon which is painted red, blue and white with a white star in the middle.I admire this character because I find him to be a strong character with a good moral code. I admire his strength as a character as well as his leadership skills as an Avenger.
In the 2011 movie "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "The Avengers"(2012), Cgris Evans played the Captain

Flash Origins Part 1



The First Three Flashes: Garrick, Allen and West



The Flash Origins

The Flash is a DC Comics superhero who possess the ability to move at super speed. There have been 4 Flashes, Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West and Bart Allen. The original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1, January 1940. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. The hero was nicknamed The Scarlet Speedster all incarnations of the Flash have possessed super-speed, superhuman reflexes, the ability to vibrate through solid objects and accelerated healing

Jay Garrick: Golden-Age Flash

The character first appeared in the first issue of the anthology series Flash Comics in 1940, published by All-American Publications and created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert. As a boy Jason "Jay" Garrick would often read comics about a speedster named Whip Whirlwind. Little did he realise that he too would be given the power of superspeed. Later in life Garrick would double-major in physics and chemistry at Midwestern University in Keystone City. Whilst conducting an experiment to purify hard water Garrick was given his powers. An accidental spilled test tube of water caused fumes to knock Garrick out. Later in hospital Garrick wakes up to find he has been given superhuman speed by the accident. The ability also gives Garrick an increased metabolism, accelerated healing, decelerated age, the ability to phase and superhuman endurance, to name but a few.

  Garrick's Flash costume comprised of a red shirt with a yellow lightening bolt, blue trousers and a stylised metal helmet. The helmet had wings on either side was based on the ancient Greek messenger god, Hermes. The helmet all so belonged to his father, who fought in WW1. As the Flash, Garrick fought criminals such as the Faultless Four, the Fiddler, the Thinker and the Shade. In early version Garrick made no effort in keeping his identity. It was only in later stories that Garrick would vibrate his face in order to blur. However his girlfriend, Joan Williams, was still able to recognise him.

  Garrick was a close friend of Alan Scott, his time's Green Lantern. However Scott was not the only hero Garrick knew as he was an active and founding member of the Justice Society of America. The group, first appearing in All Star Comics #3 in 1940, included Doctor Fate, Hour-Man, the Sandman,the Spectre, Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman. Garrick left in issue #6 to be replaced by Johnny Thunder.

  Later, Garrick would be seen helping later versions of the Flash. Notably His rescue of the second Flash from his enemy Professor Zoom. Garrick would go on to retire but is seen giving advice to the Flash and even helping in difficult situations.

 

Nightwing Origins

Nightwing Symbol



Nighwing 2012



Nightwing Origins

Nightwing- Richard "Dick" Grayson was first introduced in Detective Comics #38 in 1940. Grayson was an eight year old child acrobat, who along with his parents, formed the group the Flying Graysons for The Haley Circus. However one night a gangster named Tony Zucco tampers with the trapeze equipment used by the Graysons causing Dick's parents to fall to their deaths. 

  After witnessing this Bruce Wayne, Batman, decides to adopt Grayson having also lost his parents at a young age. Grayson learns of Wayne's identity as The Batman. After this he becomes Robin the Boy Wonder, Batman's partner in fighting crime. His costume was inspired by the American rd-breasted robin as well as the medieval hero Robin Hood. The original Robin costume was had a yellow cape, a red vest over a green tunic, green gloves and of course a utility belt.

  Grayson continued to work as Robin until an argument with Batman causes him to leave him as his sidekick in favour of a solo career. An organisation set up by Grayson, The Teen Titans, while he was still Robin welcome him as their leader. It is at this time that Grayson moves into the persona of Nightwing. The "nightwing" was a bird native to the planet Krypton and Grayson takes the name after talking with Superman. Grayson's relationship with Bruce Wayne is damaged further by Wayne taking on a second Robin, Jason Todd. It is while he is leading the New Titans, Grayson is approached by Tim Drake who believes he should return to the Robin mantle. After this Grayson is convinced to return to Gotham to repair his relationship with Wayne and convince him to take Drake on as Robin 3 .Wayne was left distraught and angry after the apparent death of Jason Todd. Wayne eventually takes Drake on and Grayson's relationship with him improves. 

  Grayson becomes the hero of Bludhaven, After seeing the city is as problematic as Gotham Grayson relocates there. He leaves the Teen TItans as leader. Before going to Bludhave Grayson takes the mantle of Batman for a time earning Wayne's respect. After working in Bludhaven Nightwing's character becomes much darker and grittier than he was originally.



Original Nightwing Suit 1984

  Nightwing's costume is primarily black with a blue or red strip running across the shoulders down to the middle two fingers. The suit is light sensitive, turning darker in bright light, triple kevlar weave and has more movability than Batman's suit. Grayson also wears a black domino mask to cover his eyes. Nightwing's suit is full of hidden gadgets in his utility belt, gauntlets and boots. His equipment includes a rebreather, modified batarangs-"Wing-Dings"-, sonic/smoke pellets, look-picking tools, forensic testing tools and a 100,000 volt stun gun. Though he is an expert in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat Nightwing will also use weapons. These includ a stun gun, Wing-Dings and two shatter-proof polymer Escrima sticks.

  Dick Grayson's character was invented by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1940. His Nightwing persona as introduced in 1984 by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez Through these changes Grayson has remained, personally, one of DC's greatest superheroes.

CoderDojo

"Above All: Be Cool"

CoderDojo was set up in early 2011. It was founded by James Wheaton and Bill Liao. It is a non-profit organisation that teaches young people computer coding, HTML, developing websites, apps, programs and games. The Dojos are run by volunteers, who a sides from teaching the course also organise trips and guest speakers. The clubs provide a unique way of learning about computers.

  The idea began when Wheaton hacked the iPod Nano and his students asked about learning to code. After this he set up a small club in Co. Cork teaching HTML and CSS. Entrepreneur Bill Liao showed interest in helping to expand the project and so the first CoderDojo began in the National Software Centre, Co. Cork. It was because of this Dojo's success saw a second Dublin Dojo being launched in Google's Montevetro building. Today there are many more Dojos in Ireland and around the world.

  If you are interested in joining or starting your own Dojo, you should visit: http://coderdojo.com/