Guinness World Records 2018

LARGEST SWAMP THING

COLLECTION

John Boylan (USA) owns 797 unique pieces of

Swamp Thing memorabilia, as verified in Sioux Falls,

South Dakota, USA, on 21 Mar 2015. John’s hoard

includes comics, advertisements, movie posters,

figurines, clothing and even some original production

art. His favourite items include a

Swamp Thing TV

crew member jacket, a

Swamp Thing promotional

watch and a sleeping bag.

MOST EXPENSIVE

COSTUME FROM

A TV SERIES

The Superman suit from the

1955 series of Adventures

of Superman (USA) sold for

$180,000 (£118,682) at a

Profiles in History auction in

Los Angeles, California, USA,

on 30^ Sep 2015. Until 1955,

the show was filmed in black

and white. In^ those years, the

Superman outfit was coloured

brown and white, to sharpen

its definition for TV screens.

First superhero team

The founding members

of the Justice Society of

America were the Atom,

Doctor Fate, the Flash,

Green Lantern, Hawkman,

Hourman (Hour-man at

that point), the Sandman

and the Spectre, as seen

seated around a table

on the cover of All Star

Comics #3, dated for the

winter of 1940. Although

he is also mentioned on the

cover, Johnny Thunder is

not depicted and did not

become a member until

issue #6. In later issues, the

heroes would collaborate

in order to defeat more

powerful foes than they

ROUND-UP

could alone, an idea that

served as the template

for every later superhero

team, from the Justice

League to The Avengers

and The X-Men.

Highest-grossing

PG - 13 - rated

superhero movie

In The Avengers

(2012), multiple Marvel

superheroes, including

Iron Man, Thor and

Captain America, united

to save the world from

Loki. According to The-

Numbers.com, the film

had earned $1,519,479,547

(£943,278,000) by

14 Dec 2016.

When combined

with Avengers: Age

of Ultron (2015),

the Avengers series

averages an incredible

$1,462,092,708

(£936.1 m) per

movie – the highest

average gross for

a movie series.

Highest-grossing

PG-rated

superhero movie

Initially a Marvel

property, Big

Hero 6 (USA, 2014) was

developed by Disney

Animation Studios. The

anime-inspired movie

had earned $652,127,828

(£424,129,000) as of 14 Dec

2016, according to The-

Numbers.com.

Most common character

in the Marvel Cinematic

Universe

Nick Fury, portrayed by

Samuel L Jackson (USA),

has appeared in seven

Marvel Cinematic Universe

(MCU) films. They are

Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2

(2010), Thor (2011), Captain

America: The First Avenger

(2011), The Avengers

(2012), Captain America:

The Winter Soldier (2014)

and Avengers: Age of

Ultron (2015). Jackson

also played Fury in two

episodes of the TV series

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

(ABC, 2013–present).

SUPERHEROES

LARGEST 2000 AD

COLLECTION

Robert Stewart (UK) owns 10,018 items of

2000 AD^

memorabilia, as verified in Sunderland, UK, on 25 Mar

2016. He has been collecting

2000 AD comics since

1977, but stepped up his collection in the late 1980s. His

first piece of additional memorabilia was a Judge Death

T-shirt, which his mother eventually threw out. Robert’s

favourite item is a Judge Dredd pinball machine.

MOST ADAPTED SUPERHERO

IN LIVE‑ACTION MOVIES

Excluding animated series, Batman has starred in

10 full-length movies. The run began with

Batman^

(USA, 1966), a movie version of the TV

show

starring Adam West. The Caped Crusader was

subsequently portrayed by Michael Keaton, Val

Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale. For

Justice League

(USA,^ 2017, above), Batman is

played by Ben Affleck, who also starred in

Batman

v Superman: Dawn

of Justice (USA,

2 016).

LARGEST COMIC-

BOOK COLLECTION

Bob Bretall (USA) has

an unmatched 101,822

unique comic books in

his collection in Mission

Viejo, California, USA. His

achievement was verified

on 6 Aug 2015. Bob mainly

keeps his collection in his

three-car garage, although

he also has a “comic room”

with selected comic books

and other associated items

of memorabilia.