Blacklisted: The Winner (and the Answers!)

Earlier this week, I threw down the gauntlet and collectively challenged you to identify 32 comic book characters with the word "black" somewhere in their name.  Some were good guys, some were bad guys...some were ridiculously easy to guess, while others weren't guessed by anybody! Mwah ha haaaa!

Well, a small army of you took up the challenge and sent me your guesses.  After combing through them like a teacher carefully correcting tests, we've got a winner! 

Tobey Cook of Bremerton, Washington (and the Cosmic Rants blog) got an amazing 28 out of the 32 black-themed characters.  Congratulations, Tobey!  Your free mug from my Secret Identity shop is on its way!

Thanks to everyone who participated...I hope you had fun!  I'll try to put together some more comics-themed challenges for you in the months to come.

Oh, and last but not least,
here's the official answer key to

1. Black Widow: Blast! I didn't fool anyone with her old costume! Originally an Iron-Man foe, now a bonafide Marvel hero.

2. Black Terror: A Golden Age superhero published by Nedor Comics, but eventually passing into the public domain.  He will be appearing in Superpowers, an upcoming Alex Ross project for Dynamite Comics.

3. Black Mamba: Marvel supervillain. Member of the Serpent Society.

4.  Black Hood: Vigilante hero published by DC under its short-lived Impact imprint.

5. Black Tarantula: Spider-Man villain.

6. Black Orchid: Mysterious DC superheroine.

7. Black Lightning: DC's first African American superhero in his original costume.

8. Blackout: Supervillain of Nova.

9. Black Condor: Originally a flying superhero published by Quality Comics, now owned by DC.

10.  Black Talon: Voodoo-themed Marvel supervillain.

11.  Black Cat: Golden Age superheroine published by Harvey Comics.

12.  Blackhawk: Ace WWII pilot and leader of the Blackhawk Squadron.  Like Black Condor, originally a Quality Comics character who now appears in DC Comics.

13. Black Panther: Marvel's (and comics') first black superhero.

14. Blacklash: Whip-wielding Iron-Man villain.

15. Black Knight: Swashbuckling Marvel superhero.

16. Black Canary: DC superheroine and soon-to-be Mrs. Green Arrow.

17. Black Swan: Marvel supervillain.

18. Black Racer: The New God personification of Death, as envisioned by Jack Kirby.

19. Black Spider: Batman villain.

20. Black Cobra: Golden Age superhero published by Ajax/Farrell publications.

21. Black Adam: Evil opposite number of Captain Marvel.

22. Black Goliath: Size-changing Marvel superhero.

23. Black Thorn: DC Comics vigilante heroine.

24. Black Bolt: Marvel superhero, leader of the Inhumans.

25. Black Manta: Arch-enemy of Aquaman.

26. Black Alice: DC Comics anti-hero.

27. Black Flash: The personification of death for DC Comics super-speedsters.

28. Blackbriar Thorn: Villainous DC Comics sorcerer.

29. Blackfire: Evil sister of the Teen Titans' Starfire.

30. Black Bison: Native American villain of the original Firestorm.

31. Blacksmith: Flash supervillain.

32. Black Zero: Kryptonian terrorist responsible for Krypton's destruction.

Whew!  There you have it!

Comments

[Siskoid]

So spill the beans! Which ones weren't guess by anybody?

(and sorry I didn't try this time, but then I'd promised I wouldn't after my last win... and this is the last time I brag about it seeing as I have been dethroned - gratz Tobey!)

[Mark Engblom]

The ones that nobody guessed correctly were:

#17: Black Swan

#20: Black Cobra

#32: Black Zero

Admittedly all ridiculously obscure...but you didn't think I'd make it easy for you guys, did you?

That's right...you were the winner of the "Am I Blue" contest, weren't you Siskoid? Interesting that both you and our latest winner picked the Alternate Earth Exploratory Team design. Must be all of that multiple earths stuff DC is into again that's raising its profile.

[James Meeley]

Damn! Beat out by only a couple of other correct answers. Well, I may only have gotten 26, but at least i didn't make it easy for the winner. Plus, i did mine without the help of Google or any other search engine, except my own brain.

I'm still proud of my comic-knowledge geekery! :)

[Siskoid]

I'm guessing Black was harder than Blue. Black had more recognizable characters, but the obscure ones were much more obscure. I think it's the fact that villains were included. It's a bit easier when it's all heroes (there are fewer for one thing).

Multiple Earths was just my favorite concept on there, and I wear the shirt proudly at the office. They know better than to ask questions. ;)

[Mark Engblom]

James-

Congrats on getting so many (27) from memory alone! I have no idea if the other "contestants" used search engines for help, but that's great you tackled it with your brainpower alone.

Siskoid-

I think the blue and black contests had a fairly equal level of difficulty, though I suppose the addition of bad guys and the greater number of characters in total had something to do with the Blacklisted contest feeling a bit trickier.

Glad to hear you're enjoying your shirt.

[acespot]

You forgot at least one:
Black Mask

[Mark Engblom]

Oh, there were a number of black-themed characters I omitted from the contest. I wanted a nice mix of the familiar with the obscure, but it was by no means intended to be an exhaustive survey of every black-themed character to ever grace a comic book page. That, I suspect, would tally up to a much larger number than I was willing to grapple with.

[acespot]

And what about Manchester Black?
And the Felicia Hardy Black Cat?
And the Golden Age Black Widow?
And Blackie Drago, the imposter Vulture?
What about Black Badge from Astro City?
And the Black Rapier too?
And Black Panther's allies the Black Musketeers?
And Sister Voodoo, Vanna Black?
What about the Epic character Black Eagle?
What about the second and third Black Condors?
And the MC2 character Blacklight?
How about Blaquesmith?
And getting even more obscure, how about Black Ice from Dorkstorm?
Black Samson from Image?
The Manga character Black Jack?
Black Vulcan from the Superfriends?
And most obscurely:
Blackman from Leader Comics?
And Black Power Man from the Brazillian book The Territorials?

I'm sure there are even more.

[Mark Engblom]

Er...see my previous answer. Looks like I'll have enough for a sequel, though...so thanks for saving me the research time!

[Tobey Cook]

This was easily a tough contest. I think I managed to get about 18 of them on my own without any help, since I read so many comics.

And Mark, the reason I went with the Alternate Earths mug in particular is because I'm a pre-Crisis DC baby :)

[Mark Engblom]

Hey, us pre-Crisis DC babies have to stick together! The mug is on its way, so may you enjoy many cups of coffee (or your beverage of choice) as you contemplate the multiverse.

[acespot]

When you do the sequel, also make sure you don't forget Dan Slott's Blackjack from Amazing Fantasy (vol 2) #15.

[Mark Engblom]

Sure thing, Acespot.