Location: Wherever the carnage is.

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk #1 (1962)

Created By: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Team Affiliations: Avengers, Defenders

Currently Seen In: Incredible Hulk, Marvel Age: Hulk

Powers:
Super Strength.
Superhuman speed and constitution.
Enhanced healing abilities.

Powers:

When Bruce Banner changes into the Hulk, he becomes an unstoppable beast of near unlimited strength, power, and destruction. The Hulk’s strength is probably the greatest in the Marvel universe, with many foes falling to his thunderous attacks. The Hulk is also able to leap great distances traveling for miles before bounding upwards again.

For his size, the Hulk is incredibly fast and can run great distances at extreme speeds. He generally travels by jumping as described above though. The hulk is also highly resistant to damage, being near impervious to most forms of damage. Very little has been known to faze the Hulk, except those of the same power level as the Hulk such as The Thing, Thor, Abomination, and others.

Even when the Hulk is damaged, he heals at a fast rate and his endurance makes him an untiring creature capable of great in immense destruction. The Hulk is truly a marvel, both in his capability to defeat any enemy that would get in his way and as a being capable of destroying much that mankind has worked so hard to create.

Interesting Fact:

In "The Incredible Hulk #1" The Hulk was not green, he was grey!

Main Villains:

Leader
The Abomination
General Thunderbolt Ross
Absorbing Man

Origin

Bruce Banner was a top scientist for the military that was working on a gamma bomb, a weapon of massive destructive power. During a test of the gamma bomb, Bruce noticed a young teenager by the name of Rick Jones had entered the test site. Bruce rushed to aide the young man, and in pushing Rick into a trench, exposed himself to the rays of the gamma bomb. The result of this exposure would be to transform mild Bruce Banner into the destructive monster known as The Incredible Hulk.

The Hulk has gone through many different personality transformations during his lifetime. At first, the Hulk had very little of Bruce Banner in him and was easily angered, making him a threat to mankind. Banner was able to control the beast at a time though, through radiation treatments, going on to help form the Avengers in the process. His control would wane though, and the Hulk continued to threaten the world.

Another gamma powered being, Doc Samson, who was also a psychiatrist, attempted to treat Banner. He successfully freed Bruce from the Hulk persona, but when the Hulk threatened to continue to destroy all around him, Bruce reformed with the Hulk, shattering his persona in the process. What emerged was the Grey Hulk, known as, “Mr. Fixit.” This version had the intellect of Banner, but maintained the savage side of the hulk.

Doc Samson further tried to help Banner, and through hypnosis, helped him to create the, “Professor Hulk.” This entity appeared to have the full intellect and personality of Bruce Banner, but the powers of the Hulk. After much inner battle, Bruce has had to make a deal with the three main personas of the Hulk, each taking turns to control the beast.

Recently, The Hulk has gone back to being more like his earlier incarnation. Having a limited intellect and being easily angered. This Hulk became part of a scheme from S.H.I.E.L.D to help them destroy a satellite called the Godseye, It was a S.H.I.E.L.D. weapon that had fallen into the hands of the terrorist group Hydra and had the ability to replicate the strength of any enemy it faced. The Hulk succeeded but was soon to be betrayed by his new employers.

The Illuminati, a group of super humans including Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Nick Fury, who are working to protect mankind and operate behind the scenes to better the world, saw an opportunity to rid the earth of The Hulk. When he was picked up by a shuttle to return to earth, he was sent into a wormhole, destined for a desolate planet. Instead, he landed on Planet Sakaar and became part of a gladiatorial game, after passing through the portal weakened him immensely.

Rising to great fame on the planet and succeeding time and again, The Hulk became known as The Green Scar and has unintentionally helped to lead a revolution against the corrupt emperor. On this planet, The Hulk reigned supreme. He had found peace, love, and people who adored him. This all ended however, when the ship that had taken him to Sakaar exploded, killing millions, including his new wife. The resulting explosion destroyed the planet, and the Hulk hurled the remnants of his Warbound into space. His target…Earth and all of those he deemed responsible for the death of his loved ones.

Arriving on Earth, he systematically went through and defeated those he held responsible. Black Bolt, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and The Sentry all fell before the Hulk before he finally changed back into Bruce Banner with New York torn into pieces. When one of his own Warbound, the insectoid Miek, turned on the Hulk, revealing it was he that had detonated the ship, Banner changed back into the Hulk, consumed with rage. He then asked Iron Man to stop him as he feared he would destroy the world in their rage. Iron Man turned all the defensive satellites upon The Hulk and defeated him.

With The Hulk imprisoned, a new red Hulk has emerged, as well as a new Abomination. It seems the only one who can stop these threats could be The Incredible Hulk.

Location: Westchester County, New York

First Appearance: Incredible Hulk #180 (1974)

Created By: Len Wein, John Romita Sr., and Herb Trimpe.

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Team Affiliations: X-Men, New Avengers

Currently Seen In: Wolverine, The X-Men, New Avengers

Powers

Wolverine has many animal-like powers attributed to his mutant gene. His senses are extremely heightened, making him able to track by smell alone and detect nearby enemies. He also has bone claws that can pop out through the skin of his knuckles and are razor sharp weapons.

One of the things that allow Wolverine to do the things he does is his superhuman healing factor. Cuts, bullet wounds, broken bones and much more can be healed in a matter of minutes, if not seconds to heal him from most any injury. A side effect of this healing factor is that drugs have little effect on him (including alcohol) and that he has an unnaturally long lifespan.

When Wolverine joined the Weapon X program, an indestructible metal known as Adamantium was grafted to his skeletal structure, making his claws able to cut through just about anything and also making him even more resistant to damage.

Wolverine is also a master of many martial arts, including ninjitsu. When in times of great stress and anger, Wolverine can revert to a more animalistic stage and can go into a, “berserker rage,” not caring if he lives or dies, but unrelenting in his attacks. With these powers, Wolverine is one of the most dangerous mutants alive.

Interesting Fact

Wolverine was Marvels first Canadian superhero.

Main Villains:

Sabertooth
Apocalypse
Lady Deathstrke
Reavers
Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants

Origin

Wolverine, aka Logan, was born in the late 19th century with the name James Howlett. His parents were respectable and well to do. During a break in by the ex-groundskeeper Thomas Logan and his son Dog, James saw the groundskeeper kill his father in an attempt to get his ex-love back, James’ mother. In turn, James’ mutant gene activated and his bone claws came out. He attacked and killed Thomas Logan and wounded Dog. His mother killed herself shortly afterwards.

James ran away with his longtime friend Rose, and the murders were placed falsely upon James. They escaped to British Columbia and lived there for some time, James taking the name, “Logan” to hide his identity. Unfortunately, Dog tracked them down and attacked Logan hoping to kill him. Logan defeated Dog, but in the process, accidentally killed his love, Rose. Logan ran into the wilderness and lived with the wolves for some time.

During the next hundred years, Logan wandered the countryside. He met Captain America during WW2 fighting with the Canadian army. He is thought to have been a samurai and a covert operative. Then, much later, he joined Weapon X, a project that worked to create a superhuman being. During this time, Wolverine had his bones grafted with Adamantium and had memories implanted, making much of his history unknown whether it is true or not.

He was sent to stop The Incredible Hulk, who was rampaging in the Canadian wilderness. It was then that he was approached by Professor Charles Xavier, head of the School for Gifted Youngsters and leader of The X-Men. Professor X was recruiting for a new team and Wolverine agreed to go with the Professor.

Wolverine has since become a major part of the X-Men team and has been a leader on more than one occasion. One of the main reasons for his staying was that he fell in love for Jean Grey, even though she married fellow X-Man Cyclops. Despite all of this, Wolverine continues to serve the X-Men as a leader and teacher to the younger generation.

Location: Gotham City

First Appearance: Detective Comics #27 (1939)

Created By: Bob Kane

Publisher: DC Comics

Team Affiliations: Justice League of America (JLA)

Currently Seen In: Batman, Detective Comics, Superman/Batman, Justice League of America, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman: Gotham Knights

Powers:

Although Batman has no powers per SE, when compared to the normal human being what he can do often appears to be superhuman. First and foremost is Batman’s keen intellect. Batman is considered by many to be the greatest detective in the world. With his mind, and supercomputer in the Batcave, he has been able to solve many problems, from seemingly random attacks by the Joker to the toughest riddles of The Riddler.

He is also an excellent tactician and strategist, always thinking many steps ahead of his opponent. One would say that this is the reason he has been able to beat Superman, using his mind instead of his brawn to outwit the Man of Steel into his traps. Others might say that this can be seen as paranoia on Batman’s part, like when he built a satellite system to spy on super humans to keep tabs on them or when he had his secret files with ways to take down the Justice League.

Batman is also a master of many martial arts, hand to hand weapons, and close quarters combat. His body is in the pinnacle of human ability and has been honed by many years of training. He is also extremely agile and is an accomplished gymnast and acrobatic, with many years moving over the Gotham landscape to keep him on his toes.

Finally, with his vast wealth, Batman has amassed an arsenal of technological gadgets, vehicles, and weapons. From his ever trusty Batarang to the Batmobile, and utility belt, Batman is always ready for anything, using the powers of his company, to further research and development as his tool to acquiring whatever he needs to avenge his family and to protect Gotham City.

Interesting Fact:                       

Batman had files on each and every member of the Justice League of America, with key information on how to beat his own teammates.

Joker
Two Face
Clayface
Mister Freeze
The Riddler
The Penguin
Ra’s Al Ghul

Origin         

Bruce trained, traveled the world, and attended college, honing his mind and body with every way possible to fight crime. When he finally returned to Gotham City, his first outing was less then victorious. He word dark clothes and attacked some thugs, but was beaten to a pulp by the very people he tried to save. Bruce knew he had to try a different strategy.

When a bat crashed into the room, Bruce found his answer. He would dress in the guise of a bat, using an ominous costume to strike fear into his enemies, using that as his first weapon against crime. He designed a costume, using the latest technologies at the time and struck out as Batman for the first time.

Along the way, Batman would gain many allies in his crusade to rid Gotham of evil. First and foremost has been Jim Gordon, at first a detective and then later commissioner of Gotham. Batman knew that he needed the police to cooperate with him and not get in his way. Their relationship has been tenuous at times, but a strong bond of trust has formed between the two crime fighters, one inside the law, and the other out.

Batman has also had a few sidekicks join him, all under the disguise of Robin, Boy Wonder. The first was Dick Grayson, a circus performer whose family was killed by the mob. Dick eventually dropped the mantle of Robin to become Nightwing, and has since worked to stop crime in Bludhaven a nearby town. Then there was Jason Todd, who appeared to have been killed by the Joker. Jason has recently reappeared though and has taken up the villainous role as the Red Hood.

The latest Robin to join Batman is Tim Drake, a young student who has greatly risen in the eyes of his teacher. Drake has since become a part of the Teen Titans.

Throughout all of his trials and tribulations, Batman has continued on his never ending quest to ride his beloved Gotham City of crime and evil. Some would say he has become paranoid in his later days, pushing those he could love far away to the point that they cannot hurt him. It would seem that Batman is truly conflicted, wanting to have the things his family had, love, children, and the like, but never able to truly attain these things, as they will only be in harms way as he continues to try to complete his vow to his parents, made on that fateful day in a cinema alley.

Currently Seen In
Green Lantern

Real Name
Hal Jordan

Location                    
Coast City

First Appearance
Showcase #22 - 1959

Created By
Martin Nodell and Bill Finger

Powers
The Green Lanterns use a ring that channels pure willpower in the form of green energy. This energy can be used to do just about anything the wielder can imagine, from blasting a ray of energy like a laser, protecting the user with a force field, allowing them to fly, and even create solid objects.

 Most wielders bring their own personality into the projection of their power such as John Stewart an architect whose green creations are extremely detailed to the smallest rivet of a structure. Others, like Kyle Rayner, are through the eyes of an artist and are highly creative. In Green Lantern’s case, his tend to be more forceful and less streamlined, but by no means less powerful. In fact, Hal is considered to be the greatest Green Lantern that has ever wielded a ring.

The downside to the rings is that they are not unlimited in power. The rings must be recharged up to full power. They do these with a device called, “The Green Lantern”. This is a lantern that is, of course, green and when the wielder puts the ring in the lantern and says,” In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, BEWARE MY POWER ... Green Lantern's Light,“ the ring is restored to full power.

At the beginning of the Green Lantern comics, the rings were inactive against the color yellow. This was because an entity known as Parallax was imprisoned in the Central Battery. Parallax is a creature that feeds off of fear, and that fear comes across as the color yellow. During the “Green Lantern Rebirth” mini-series, the lanterns learned to overcome this flaw in the rings. In overcoming fear, the color yellow holds no bar to them.

 Interesting Fact

When Hal Jordan was removed as the current Green Lantern. A group of fans got together and formed the organization H.E.A.T., which stands for Hal's Emerald Advancement Team.

Origin
Green Lantern was a fighter test pilot for the Air Force. That all changed when on one day, he was mysteriously transported to a crashed spaceship. There he met Abin Sur, a Green Lantern. Abin Sur was dying and offered Hal the opportunity to succeed him. Hal Jordan accepted.

With the ring in his possession, Hal Jordan became the greatest member of the Green Lantern Corps. He became a founding member of the Justice League and has helped save the world countless times.

That changed when Hal couldn’t save his hometown, Coast City, and it was destroyed by the villains Mongul and a Cyborg Superman, killing millions. This event shattered Hal and sent him on a dizzying course of destruction.

Hal tried to use the power of his ring to bring back Coast City and its citizens. But the Guardians of Oa, the leaders of the Green Lanterns, forbade him to do it. This sent Hal on a mission to get the full power of the ring from the Central Battery on the planet Oa. Hal seemingly went mad, when a parasite creature entered his body and Hal stopped calling himself Green Lantern, and emerged as Parallax.

His mission to restore Coast City destroyed most of the Green Lanterns and Guardians of Oa. Parallax was set to redo history as he saw it with the full power of the Green Lantern Central Battery, but the heroes of the DC universe stopped him. Alongside those heroes was the last of the Green Lanterns, newly appointed Kyle Rayner, who was given the power ring by Ganthet the last of the Guardians.

In the end, Hal, as Parallax, sacrificed himself when a giant alien was devouring the sun. Hal used his powers to reignite the sun and in doing so sacrificed his life as well. His spirit went and became one with the Spectre, an avenging spirit of God who righted wrongs and persecuted the guilty. Hal’s penance had begun.

But this was not Hal’s end. It was discovered that Parallax was an ancient enemy of the Green Lanterns and was imprisoned in the Central Battery for eons. This entity was still with Hal, but with the joined effort of the remaining Green Lanterns, (by this time there was John Stewart, an alien named Kilowog, current GL Kyle Rayner and onetime Lantern Guy Gardner, they reinstated Hal’s spirit into his body and defeated Parallax, sealing him again into the Central Battery, and restoring the Guardians to oversee the Green Lanterns. Hal is now the core Green Lantern of the DC universe.

Location: New York City

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)

Created By: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Team Affiliations: New Avengers

Currently Seen In:  Amazing Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, New Avengers.

Powers:

Spider-Man has spider like abilities including superhuman strength and the ability to cling to most surfaces. He is also extremely agile and has amazing reflexes. Spider-Man also has a, “spider sense,” that warns him of impending danger.

 Spider-Man has supplemented his powers with technology. Being a brilliant chemist and scientist, Peter has made web-slingers, bracelets that shoot out a sticky webbing, allowing him to swing from building to building and ensnare opponents. He has also developed stingers that shoot powerful energy blasts that can stun foes.

 In the recent storyline, Spider-Man has been reborn with even stronger abilities. He has the ability to see in the dark, enhanced senses, and can feel the vibrations through his webbing. In addition to this, the new, “Iron Spidey,” suit has enhanced his strength further and gives protection from damage. Recently, however, he has gotten rid of the suit and returned to the classic costume.

Interesting Fact:

The publishers didn't want to do a character named Spider-Man at first because they thought it was too scary.

Main Villains:

Green Goblin
Venom
Sandman
Hobgoblin
Vulture
Doctor Octopus
Lizard
Kraven
Chameleon
Mysterio
Rhino
Carnage

Origin:

Peter Parker was an orphaned teenage boy who lived in upstate Queens, New York with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He was a shy boy, but highly intelligent and excelled in science. He was often teased by other more popular kids like longtime nemesis Flash Thompson, but his life was soon to change on a visit to the science museum.

At the science museum, Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider. The spider bite gave Peter spider like powers with super strength and reflexes. He also had a, “spider-sense” alerting him to danger. Armed with these new powers, Peter first sought fame and money before fighting crime. He worked with a wrestling circuit and got some fame and appeared on a television show. During a robbery of the television show, Peter has the chance to stop the thief, but chose not to.

Peter later finds out that the same robber that he could have stopped at the television studio attempted to rob his aunt and uncles residence, and his Uncle Ben was killed in the struggle. The words of his late uncle: "with great power there must also comes great responsibility,” drive Peter to fight crime instead of following fame. Spider-Man was truly born.

One of the greatest turning points in Peter’s life was his relationship with Gwen Stacy. During his younger years, Gwen was the love of Peter’s life. The blond bombshell a perfect fit for Peter. This relationship had a sad end when during a battle with Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, Gwen is killed. Peter did everything he could to save her. This event has always haunted Peter and made it difficult for him to trust others with his identity, fearing that they would become targets of his enemies.

Peter eventually got over Gwen and began a relationship with Mary Jane Watson, a high school friend and now model and actress. Their relationship was rocky, with Peter ever fearful that he would put Mary into harms way. Mary Jane finally told Peter that she has known for some time that Peter was Spider-Man, something that helped cement their new relationship.

In the mini-series, Secret Wars, many of the Earth’s heroes and villains are transported to a planet by the omnipotent being, “The Beyonder.” During his time there, Peter gets a new black costume that can alter its shape by the power of thought and has an unlimited supply of webbing. Peter takes the costume back to Earth and continues to fight crime in his new suit. The suit turns out to be an alien symbiont and tries to merge completely with Peter.

With the help of the Fantastic Four, Peter manages to free himself of the black costume an goes back to wearing his typical red and blue suit. The alien symbiont, however, bonds with fellow journalist and rival Eddie Brock, turning him into the villain Venom. The two have since become major enemies and continue to fight each other.

Peter has since learned that his powers are linked to the totem like power of the Native Americans. In a ferocious battle with a being called Morlun, Peter died, only to be reborn again with stronger spider like abilities. It was also during this battle that his Aunt May discovered that Peter was Spider-Man and is now one of his more vocal supporters.

Lately, Peter has come under the wing of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Tony Stark has given him a new costume that further enhances his strength and abilities, such as protecting him from bullets. As part of Tony’s initiative to reign in superheroes with the Superhuman Registration Act, Peter served as the ultimate poster child, announcing his secret identity to the world, an act that may have serious consequences for the superhero in the future.

It took Peter some time, but he soon came to the realization that he was on the wrong side, and defected to join Captain America's rogue band of heroes. When the war ended and Iron Man won, Peter went underground and donned his black costume again. He is now on the run from the authorities.

Real Name: Clark Kent – Kal-El

Location: Metropolis, U.S.

First Appearance: Action Comics #1 (1938)

Created By: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster           

Publisher: DC Comics

Team Affiliations: Justice League of America (JLA)

Currently Seen In: Superman, Action Comics, Superman - All Star, Superman/Batman, Justice League of America (JLA).

Powers:

Superman’s powers have changed greatly over the years. In the first incarnation of Superman by Siegel and Shuster, Superman had super strength, being able to lift a car over his head. He also had the ability to run extremely fast and to jump as much as an eighth of a mile into the air. Later writers though, have increased Superman’s powers, taken them away, re-raised them to near omnipotence and then back again.

The current incarnation of Superman sees him near his omnipotent (near god-like) powers. Superman has the power of flight, being able to fly into space and survive in a vacuum. His strength has also been increased, allowing him to lift entire mountains. He has a heat vision that allows him to shoot laser like beams. He also has x-ray and telescopic vision. Superman’s breath is so powerful that he can knock over vehicles and even freeze objects.

The origin of Superman’s powers has also been something that has been transformed over the years. The basic tenant is still there, that Superman came from Krypton to Earth to survive a calamity. At first, there was no mention of how Superman got his powers. Later it was decided that the people of Krypton all had powers like Superman, but that caused problems. It was finally written that Kryptonians live under a red star and when they are exposed to light from a yellow star, their powers emerge.

Interesting Fact

Every episode of the "Seinfeld" television show had a picture, toy, or Superman reference.

Main Villains:

Lex Luthor
Brainiac
Darkseid
Doomsday

Origins

Superman’s origin has been one of much change over the last many decades. His origin has been changed many times to adjust for the changes in our own culture and to bring in other story elements from other comics. There have even been many different parallel Supermen that exist in alternate realities. The current origin of Superman is still being reworked with comic series like the 2006 series, “Infinite Crisis,” and the 1986 series, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”

Superman is the last of a dying race from the planet Krypton. His Krypton name is Kal-El. His father, Jor-El was a great scientist and saw the warning signs that their planet was doomed to destruction. A council heard his discoveries, but dismissed them and forbid Jor-El to speak of this to anyone. Realizing that his family was in danger, Jor-El started to construct a rocket that would take him, his son and wife Lara away from Krypton, but it was too late.

Jor-El had only constructed a small model of the rocket, when disaster struck, Lara decided to stay behind with Jor-El to give their baby a better chance of survival. Lara and Jor-El but their baby into the rocket and directed it to Earth, where it landed and was discovered by John and Martha Kent, near the town of Smallville.

 As young Kal-El, called Clark by his Earth parents, grew up, he discovered his amazing powers of speed, strength, and invulnerability and eventually flight. It would be in Smallville with the Kents that Clark learned many of his life lessons and became the honest and good man that many know him to be today. After he graduated, he went to the Metropolis University and majored in Journalism, eventually getting a job with The Daily Planet as a reporter.

It would be at The Daily Planet that Clark would first don the Superman costume and save Metropolis time and again. He also met Lois Lane a fellow reporter and became romantically involved with her.

One of Superman’s darkest times was when he faced the nigh unstoppable villain Doomsday. The battle lasted for days, but when the dust settled, both hero and villain were slain. Superman was dead.

The backlash from his death resulted in four separate beings taking up the Superman mantle. There was a cyborg, a new Superboy, Steel, and an alien being with the memories of Superman. It would later come out that Superman was not dead, and resurfaced without his powers. He eventually gained them back and was reunited with Lois, whom he later married.

Superman has continued to fight evil and protect Earth from all challengers. Despite his many continuity changes, Superman is still as powerful and noble as ever. He is a modern day hero with over eighty years of continuity behind him. To many, though, he will always be that lovable boy from Smallville who became a mighty man of steel.

The symbol of America has long touched the hearts and minds of free people everywhere. Captain America stands for all that America should be; noble, strong, hard-working, just, and honest. With these qualities, Captain America easily makes it on the list as one of the top comic book characters.

Bottom of Form

Real Name: Steve Rogers

Location: New York

First Appearance: Captain America Comics #1 (1941) - (Atlas Comics)

Created By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Team Affiliations: Avengers, SHIELD, Invaders, All Winners Squad

Currently Seen In: Captain America, New Avengers

Powers:

Because of his super soldier serum, Captain America is at the pinnacle of physical human health. Over the years, he has trained his body to be a perfect fighting machine, mastering many different martial arts and types of combat. He is highly acrobatic and uses his speed and agility to always be one step ahead of his foes.

Captain America is also known for his shield, which is made of an indestructible vibranium/admantium alloy. The disc shaped shield can be thrown with great accuracy and rebound to its owner. It is also impervious to all sorts of attacks, physical, energy, or otherwise. Captain America is so in tune with using his shield that he is able to attack multiple targets, having it bounce and rebound multiple times.

One thing that the Avengers have made him famous for is his expertise in group tactics, always taking the role of leader in battle. His teammates have come to greatly trust in Captain Americas ability to lead them into battle and trust him with their lives.

Finally, although not a superpower per se, Captain America is the ultimate optimist, trusting in the things that make America great. He never gives up hope in the good of humanity and will fight to his last dying breath. Fighting to protect the freedoms we have in America from any attacker.

Interesting Fact:

Captain America's "indestructible" shield has been destroyed and put back together again - two times.

Main Villains

The Red Skull
Baron Zemo
Hydra

Origin:

During World War II, a young Steve Rogers tried to enlist into the military, but was turned away due to his frail and sickly body. Steve Rogers was given another chance to serve his country though, as a General overheard his rejection and offers Steve a chance to fight the Nazi’s by being a part of a top-secret experiment. Steve agreed.

Steve was given a super-solider serum and was blasted by radiation. After the process, Steve’s body was no longer sickly and frail but the pinnacle of human perfection. Unfortunately, the plans for the super-soldier serum were lost when a Nazi spy killed the scientist who kept the plans secreted away in his mind. Steve was to be the first and last super soldier.

Steve underwent extensive training and was soon put into action as Captain America, fighting Hitler, the Nazi’s and his greatest foe, The Red Skull. But his work was soon cut short when fighting Baron Zemo. Tied to a rocket with his sidekick, Bucky, Captain America was too late in freeing the two and the rocket exploded, killing Bucky and sending Captain America to what seemed to be an icy grave in the harsh Atlantic Ocean.

His frozen body was found decades later by the Sub-Mariner, and somehow, Captain America survived. He is a man that is ripped from his own generation, living in the future but never able to escape his past. Instead of sulking, Captain America took the opportunity to continue to fight the good fight and has gone on to lead the Avengers and become and agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

This isn’t to say Captain America hasn’t had his share of problems with his own government. He was once asked to resign from being Captain America when he refused to become a government sponsored operative, he resigned, but later came back to stop a pan of The Red Skull to overthrow the government. He decided that the government didn’t own Captain America, the people did, and he vowed to serve them as their protector.

Recently, Captain America has come into opposition again with the United States Government. He is opposed to the Superhuman Registration Act, which forces all superhuman beings to reveal their identities to the government, and become paid employees, doing what the government says and when. He is in direct opposition to his long time frind, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. The two are now in the middle of a Civil War, with superheroes on both sides of the fence.

Regardless of where Captain America is, he is always working to promote freedom and the American Way. He is a stalwart ambassador of all that is good in America, and an opponent to greed, crime, racism, and hatred.

Real Name: Diana Themyscira

Location: New York City

First Appearance: All Star Comics #8 (1941)

Created By: William M. Marston

Publisher: DC Comics

Team Affiliations: Justice League of America (JLA)

Currently Seen In: Wonder Woman, Justice League of America.

Powers:
Super strength.
Flight.
Lasso of truth.
Unbreakable silver bracelets.
Razor sharp golden tiara.
Invisible vehicles made at will.

Interesting Fact:

Wonder Woman’s ability to create invisible vehicles can also be stretched to make a complete fortress, known as the Wonderdome.

Origin:

Diana Themyscira is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, the leader of the Amazons. Queen Hippolyta created her out of clay and her wish of motherhood was granted to her by the Greek gods. Created to battle the god Ares, Diana fights for Earth as an ambassador and protector. She is a vital member of the Justice League of America, and is known as Wonder Woman.

We realize some new mothers may appreciate this information, especially if they’ve never had the chance to actually make their own Jack-O-Lanterns. When I was a kid, my brother was in charge of carving and lighting the pumpkin. He used a regular taper candle. Needless to say, there are easier ways! Here are some tips.

Candles and Holders

Candles have been the age old method of illuminating Jack O' Lanterns since, well, forever. Regular Votive candles, placed in clear glass candle holders like the one shown to the right, are safer, brighter and will last a lot longer than exposed candles. This size candle is suitable for medium to large pumpkins. For small candles you may want to use the small tea-light candles. Votive candles and clear glass candle holders are available at most department, hardware and art stores.
If you use candles to light your pumpkins, or for any other Halloween activity, remember, to never leave a lit candle unsupervised. Never use a lit candle in an artificial pumpkin.

Depending on your local weather conditions during the month of October, a carved pumpkin can have a life span any were of from a week to only a day. The best way to make a carved pumpkin last longer is to slow down the dehydration process and deter the on-set of mold.

When pumpkins shrivel up, it's because they have lost moisture. You can usually restore them back to their original condition by soaking them in water overnight.

One technique is to coat all cut surfaces of the pumpkin with petroleum jelly immediately after carving. This includes a light coating of the entire inside of the pumpkin. If you can't coat the whole inside, at least try to coat the design that you've cut.
The petroleum jelly acts as a barrier to seal in the pumpkins internal moisture to help slow down the dehydration process. You can use a finger to coat the eyes, nose and mouth but you may want to use a paper towel with jelly on it to coat the inside. It's less messy that way.

Because of the amount of pumpkins we carve for Halloween, we usually carve most, if not all the pumpkins one or two days before Halloween. Because temperature, particularly heat, it is important to move the pumpkins to a dry, shaded area during the day.This wi ll help to extend their life. If you have a spare refrigerator, you can empty it out and keep them in it over night to slow down decomposition.

Another way to keep them fresh is to use a pumpkin dip that is available at most grocery stores or stands that sell pumpkins during the Halloween season. Pumpkin dip is mixed with water in a large container and the pumpkins are submerged in it, sometimes over night, in order to preserve them. This is a tedious and messy way to keep your pumpkins fresh as you have to do it every night after they have been carved.

We have found spray-on preservers are available as well as dips and much easier to use. Most are low cost, environmentally friendly products that impede the deterioration of jack-o’-lanterns by deterring mold, rot and bugs.
Most contain all natural ingredients and come in a convenient spray bottle for easy application. Just spray the inside and cut parts, let it drain if you spray too heavily and let dry. It really does work!

If you’re a new mother, or have never had the opportunity to actually carve a pumpkin, we’ve included this article to give you some great tips!

A well carved pumpkin will impress your friends, neighbors and best of all, you're trick-or-treaters! Carving a pumpkin into a Jack-O'-Lantern freehand is the traditional way. It is very easy and only takes a few basic tools. A large spoon or ice-cream scoop, a thin bladed knife and some newspaper will get you started.
 
With a long, thin bladed knife, cut out the top of the pumpkin a few inches out from the stem. The hole should be large enough to allow you tosc oop out the guts (seeds and stringy membrane) by hand and with a large spoon. Generally, the size of the hole should be about two-thirds thedi ameter of the pumpkin. While you can cut a round circle out, you'll find that cutting a five or six sided opening will work the best. As youcu t out the top hole, angle the knife so that the lid and hole will be somewhat cone shaped. This will help prevent the lid from falling intoth e hole. Now use the spoon to scrap the inside walls clean.
 
Inspect the surface of the pumpkin to decide the best side to carve your face. Now, visualizing the face you want to carve, use your knife tocare fully cut out the individual parts of the face or you can pre-marked the pumpkin by using a Crayon to draw the face onto the surface ofthe  pumpkin and cut through the lines you drew. When you are finished cutting, carefully push out the pieces to view the final results.
 
Make sure that you have scrapped the bottom of the pumpkin flat, so that the candle will sit level in the pumpkin. We prefer the traditionaluse of candles to illuminate our Jack-O'-Lanterns. A Votive candle, placed in a clear glass candle holder is safer and will actually last longer. Also, plain white candles give off the most light and will illuminate the inside of your Jack-O'-Lantern the best.

Most of the Halloween games for kids you find here are variations of favorite party games that have been given a spooky Halloween spin.  Standard Halloween games can still be used for toddlers and preschoolers. You may just need to choose games that are not too scary. Aim for the Halloween games which are ageappropriate, fun and entertaining while still maintaining a Halloween spirit.

Hot Pumpkin Game

Based on the game hot potato, hot pumpkin uses a small pumpkin and Halloween music. The kids sit around in a circle and pass around the pumpkin to Halloween music. When the music stops, the person holding the pumpkin stands up and makes a Halloween sound for everyone to guess.

I Spy Something Game

Go for a walk outside with the kids and look for Halloween decorations around the neighborhood. Take turns playing eye spy and describing things such as:

• scarecrows
• black cats
• witches
• pumpkins
• ghosts
• skeletons
• monsters
• vampires

Keep track of how many of each kind of decoration is seen on the walk.

Wrap the Mummy Activity

Easily done as a relay race with older kids, choose an older child or adult to be the mummy and have them sit down in a kitchen chair. Let the kids take turns wrapping the mummy with a roll of toilet paper until all the paper is gone. Give the kids washable markers to decorate the mummy and take pictures of the kids sitting on the mummy’s lap.

Pin the Grin on the Jack-o-Lantern Game

On a large piece of paper, draw a picture of a jack-o-lantern with eyes and a nose. Do not draw a mouth on the picture but cut a mouth out of black construction paper. Attach a piece of masking tape to the back of the mouth. Take turns blindfolding the children to see if they can stick the mouth onto the picture of the jack-o-lantern, much like pin the tail on the donkey.

Pumpkin Hunt

This is Halloween’s twist on the classic Easter egg hunt. It’s a fun one for little people.

What You Need: Miniature pumpkins
Baskets: Toys and treats for prizes

Instructions:  Hide mini pumpkins before the children arrive to the party. Before the game, give each child a basket, and send them in search of pumpkins.  The children who find the most pumpkins win the bigger prizes, but all children will love to get a small prize, no matter how many pumpkins they find.

Your little goblins will love these crafts, and will get into the spirit of Halloween.

Handprint Spider

Age: Preschooler
Time: 1 Hour
Difficulty: Easy

Here is a perfect Halloween craft for the preschool crowd: the Handprint Spider Craft. They are too cute to be scary, and kids love painting

crafts.
Materials
• black tempera or poster paint
• paper
• wiggly eyes

Instructions

1. Paint your child's 4 fingers and palm black. Do not paint the thumb.
2. Press the painted hand onto the paper, pointing the fingers out.
3. Paint other hand and press it in the opposite direction, overlapping the palm prints.
4. Add wiggly eyes.

Orange Jack O' Lantern Craft
Age: Preschooler, Toddler
Time: 30 to 45 Minutes
Difficulty: Medium

It's hard to be healthy during Halloween, a holiday that is known for its delicious treats and sugar overload! Here's a healthy Halloween

craft that is sweet but not sugary, and is a fun activity for preschoolers: an Orange Jack-o'-Lantern.  If you have older kids, make this

treat as a surprise for their lunchboxes.

Materials
• 1 orange, regular size or a small variety like mandarin or tangerine
• 2 googly eyes
• black self-stick craft foam
• ½ green pipe cleaner stem
• 2 glue dots
• scissors
• pencil

Instructions
1. Cut out a jack-o'-lantern mouth and triangle-shaped nose from the self-stick craft foam.
2. Place a glue dot on the back of 1 googly eye and adhere it to the orange. Repeat with the second googly eye.
3. Stick craft foam nose and mouth to orange.
4. Wrap the half piece of green pipe cleaner stem around pencil to make it curly.
5. Stick the curly stem into the top of the orange.

Tips
• Make it with Preschoolers: Pre-cut nose and mouth and lay out materials for your preschooler. Verbally give him the instructions step-by-

step and let him do it himself! You might need to demonstrate some of the steps, but let him try to do it alone first.
• Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana: Use a banana (or other peel-able fruit) for a funny twist on the Orange Jack-O'-Lantern.

Egg Carton Ghost
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 1 hour

This cute little Halloween Egg Carton Ghost is a great craft for school classrooms, scout troops, or your own Halloween party.

Materials
• empty egg cartons
• white and black tempera or acrylic paint
• white pipe-cleaners
• masking tape
• paint brush

Instructions
1. Cut two cups from an egg carton.
2. Put the two cups together with masking tape.
3. Paint with white paint and let dry.
4. Use the black paint for the eyes and mouth.
5. Cut the pipe cleaner stem into two pieces. Push the pieces on either side of the ghost and curl with your finger tip or pencil.

Gravestone Goody Bags

Time:  1 Hour
Difficulty: Medium

Kids will gladly help you make these easy Gravestone Goody Bags to share with friends at school, deliver sweet treats to a scout meeting, or

you can include a batch when decorating your Halloween party table. It's a spooky craft, perfect for the spooky season.

Materials
• black paper sacks
• white, yellow, or orange tissue
• scissors
• pencil
• round object for tracing (like a drinking glass)
• blank mailing labels
• marker

Instructions
1. Keep the bag closed. Place the drinking glass at the top edge of the bag and trace a semi-circle. From each side of the semi-circlec ontinue the line to the edge of the bag. Cut along the line.
2. Use the permanent marker to write on your blank mailing labels ("R.I.P." is one scary message you could write) and stick them to the bag.
3. Fill the bag with your favorite treats.

Halloween Party Invitations

Your Halloween party invitations are very important aspects of your party. Invitations are the best way to get your guests excited about your Halloween party. Send some great hand made Halloween party invitations and you can be sure your party will stick in people’s minds. Make sure to apply your Halloween party theme to your invitations.

• Decide on the date and time. Tip: Have your Halloween party start later in the evening, after dinner time so you only have to serve snacks and finger foods.
• Set a number of guests you can easily accommodate and to make sure you have the right amount of food and supplies.
• Write them with a shaky hand and enclose little black plastic spiders. Include an RSVP and phone number or email address so your guest can respond to your invitation.
• Send Halloween invites at least 2 weeks in advance.

Halloween Party Decoration

• Create a spooky ambiance: Halloween's one of the best times to go all out on your decoration.
• Create a spooky ambiance: Halloween's one of the best times to go all out on your decoration.
• Announce a Pumpkin contest in your Halloween party invitation. Ask your guest to bring their carved pumpkins to the party and you got some great decorations.
• Reserve a corner and turn it into a pumpkin patch. Use a brown sheet and drape it over a table or some boxes to get different heights. Display your pumpkins and add some green ribbons around them.
• Hang orange and black balloons in clusters in corners with black ribbons attached.
• Hang spider webs up in ceilings and corners and place big hairy spiders in some of the cobwebs.
• Cover tables with black plastic table cloth and decorate with a pumpkin cut-outs and pumpkin garlands. (see pattern to make it yourself)
• Decorate each doorway for your Halloween party with cobwebs and spiders.
• Roll up orange napkins with black cutlery inside and place it inside a bat napkin holder.
• Lower the lights to create an eerie atmosphere, or replace the lights with red or black bulbs.
• Throw old sheets over furniture and decorate with spider webs.
• Hang glow-in-the-dark skeletons from the ceiling and walls.
• Light essential passageways to the toilets or the bar with strings of glowing Halloween party decoration.
• Use Halloween music to set the mood.
• Use Halloween Place Cards for your table

Welcome your guests

Children can help you to create and place rows of tombstones with the names of your guests leading up to your door. Use decorated cardboard or cereal boxes.

Hang Halloween lights around your front door and use a fog machine to welcome your guests.

Halloween Party Games and Activities

• Next you'll want to keep your guests busy. Create several activities areas for the guests to visit.
• Photo spot- Create a Halloween photo backdrop to get their special picture taken. Use an instant camera to get pictures right away.
• Dance contest - have a dance contest to the Monster Mash.
• Videos and Movies - Rent some Goosebumps videos or classic monster movies for later in the evening.
• Games  - See our games section for fabulous and fun games.
• Trick-or-Treating - Have your party goers line up and parade around your neighborhood for trick-or-treating.
• Pumpkin Contest - Hand out a price for the scariest and best looking pumpkin.

Halloween Party Food and Refreshments

Serve chips and dips in black cauldron pots at your Halloween Party. Make Oreo cookie spiders and place them on the table. Make a freaky fruit punch bowl with ginger ale and an ice hand floating in it. (Fill plastic glove with water and freeze it. Remove plastic glove and you got a creepy ice hand).

Graveyard Pudding - Put chocolate pudding in clear plastic containers and place gummy worms in the pudding and some half submerged. Cover the top of the pudding with crushed chocolate or oreo cookie crumbs.

Ghost Sandwich - Let the children make their own ghost sandwiches. Use marshmallow creme to spread on sandwich. Give each child a ghost cookie cutter and let them press the shape out of the center of their sandwich. Use raisins for the eyes.

Swamp Slime - Prepare some green jello according to package directions, when jello starts to set divide it into two containers. Stir in various gummy bugs to the first container. Beat the rest of the jello with some whipped cream or cool whip and add to the top of the slime. Sprinkle crushed chocolate cookie crumbs and half submerge some gummy worms. Let set.

Buggy Ice - Freeze ice cubes with raisins in them to look like bugs.

Witch Hat Cookies - Take Oreo® cookies and place them on wax paper. Place an unwrapped Hershey's kiss in the middle of the cookie attaching it with a dab of frosting. With orange colored frosting, pipe a ring around the candy kiss to look like a hat band.

Spider Cookies - Little kids love this food project!! You'll need some Oreo cookies, some thin black licorice and a tube of white decorating icing.

Take Oreo cookies and loosen top and bottom of cookie. Cut black licorice stings into 5-inch lengths and place 4 licorice pieces inside each cookie. Cover with cookie and use frosting to make eyes on the top.

End your Halloween Party with a Treat!

Hand out costume awards for each child with party favors.

What better way to teach your kids about the 50’s than by throwing them a 50’s sock hop? You’ll need some great invitations. You could visit a record store and buy some inexpensive old 45’s. Then decorate them with paper and other trappings, making sure to write the details of the party, the dress code, and the date and time.

For the dress code, you may want to ask the girls to come in poodle skirts. Costume supply stores online are a convenient place to find those. For the guys, how about leather jackets, sweater vests, or a bowling shirt?

One thing you can do to add extra fun, since it is a sock hop, is to let everyone know there will be a competition for prizes based on the most elaborate, the most unusual, and the flashiest socks worn to the party.

Ahead of time, buy your own Elvis wigs and Pink Beehive wigs and don your guests with them, as they arrive. You will be met with many giggles and happy faces. Who doesn’t want to wear a cool wig to a party anyway?

Finally, decorate with a juke box theme. You can find paper goods and inflatable instruments, for example, to decorate inexpensively. Or, consider the looks of a 50’s diner with red checkered table cloths, serving root beer floats and hamburgers with French fries. Regardless of what you serve, your kids will never forget their own 50’s sock hop.

Football parties are the same way. Anyone can watch football at their own house, but if there are Super Bowl foods and treats being offered, that’s where the football fans will flock. If you’re planning your own party, you need to have some good ideas for the kind of snacks and treats that will keep your guests happy.

Bacon wrapped franks are very popular and will disappear as fast as you bring them out. All you need are little franks, bacon, ketchup, brown sugar, and a casserole dish. Wrap the little franks in the bacon and pour brown sugar over them all, in the dish, with a drizzle of ketchup.

Cook them in the oven, covered, for about 20-30 minutes, just long enough to crisp the bacon.  Just make sure you make enough, because they will go fast.

Another great snack, for dessert, is dirt and worms. You take chocolate pudding, crumbled up Oreos and gummy worms and serve them in a paper cup, with a spoon.

Finally, monkey cupcakes are a blast! Cut Nutter Butters in half, to make the monkey ears. Use half of a Nilla wafer for the background for the mouth, M&M’s for the eyes, and then frosting drizzle to make the lips, eyes, hair, and nose. Then, sit back and enjoy the compliments on your awesome party treats.

Small babies tend to spit up, as everyone knows. So, it is a good idea to place a large bib on your baby until just when the photo shoot begins. Better still, dress you baby in something different and then change him or her into the holiday outfit when you’re ready for pictures.

For little girls in the crawling stage, watch out for overly long dresses or skirts. Once you set your toddler down for a second, she may get caught on the hem and fall, making for an unhappy photo subject. Consider leggings, a shorter dress with tights, or a cute diaper cover under a small skirt.

For all toddlers, avoid white or light collars, as they stain easily. New shoes can be cute for a photo shoot, but only if you preserve them until that day, because toddlers are very effective at scuffing new shoes.

Finally, think comfort. You want to see that dimply grin in spite of the strange atmosphere and flashing lights. So, you’ll have to compromise somewhere. That ruffled dress or button up vest may need to be exchanged for softer clothing.

However, more and more clothing manufacturers are catching on to the fact that dress-up clothes don’t need to be uncomfortable. So, look around and see if you can find something comfortable that can still bring the “Oohs! And Aahs!” that you want, when you pass your baby’s holiday picture around.

Start by learning the time the graduation ceremony is anticipated to end, so you can plan when the guests will arrive. Second, you will need to talk with your teenager about the theme. What about a 1920’s gangster party or an Arabian nights party?

Once you have your theme, you will need to send out invitations. Homemade invitations are a lot more fun than premade cards. If you have selected a theme for the costume party, you can make the invitations even more fun by using special paper and scrapbooking supplies to theme the invitations to match.

Make sure to indicate, on the invitations, that it is a themed costume party. The guests will need to know what they are expected to wear.

Now comes the fun part- planning the party. You will need food and drinks. If you have the Arabian nights party, why not plan on ordering some middle-eastern food to go? If you have the 1920’s gangster party, how about some cocktail glasses (with sprite) and some cocktail weenies to match? Finger foods are always a hit with the teens.

Lastly, you will need decorations to fit the theme of your party. For Arabian nights, how about some colorful pillows for seating? For the 1920’s gangster party, black and white will work for an old-fashioned piano lounge feel.

How about a Lego family? Dress up your whole family as a set of matching Lego blocks, without breaking the bank. Start by finding some unwanted boxes at a store or restaurant. Make sure you have one to fit from the neck to the legs of each family member.

Now, you’ll need to tape up the boxes, leaving a hole in the bottom for legs to come out and move freely, and cutting another hole in the top for the head to fit through. Finally, cut some circles into the front section of the box for the connector pieces.

You’ll make the Lego connector pieces with plastic Solo cups. Make sure they fit through the holes neatly. For smaller children, you’ll only need four holes, to make a smaller Lego. For adults or older children, use six holes and cups.

Finally, paint each Lego a different color like yellow, blue, green, red, and white, with the cups taped in place securely. Use spray paint for the easiest and quickest paint job. Once you finish that, all you need are some long sleeve shirts and some stretchy pants, tights, or sweat pants in matching colors. You will find that you get many compliments on your Lego family.

Start with a cookie dough base. Oatmeal cookie dough makes a great cookie pizza. Roll the dough and make it into a pizza shape on a 12” pizza pan. If you don’t have a pizza pan, you can substitute with a cookie sheet or brownie pan.

Chocolate chips and coconut can be baked into the cookie pizza. Follow the instructions for the cookie recipe you selected. Once it is finished baking, let it cool before the guests arrive.

Before the party, you’ll need to buy some M&M’s, frosting (or make your own), food coloring (to mix the frosting in small bowls of different colors), candy corn, sprinkles, and/or other little treats to decorate the cookie pizza slices.

Slice the cookie pizza into individual slices and give them to each of the children to decorate. You may end up needing more than one cookie pizza, depending upon how many children you invite. Then, just sit back and supervise while they have a blast decorating their own slice of cookie pizza.

One fun game is a red, white, and blue balloon dart game. All you need is a bulletin board, patriotic balloons, and a few darts. Underneath the balloons, you can place small pieces of paper with notes indicating what prize has been won. Prizes can be candy bars or popsicles from a cooler.

Watermelon carving is a fun twist on a Halloween activity. Scoop out the watermelon with a melon baller, for serving at the party, then have fun carving watermelon quarters into faces, shapes, or animals.

Cupcake decorating is a blast at parties. You can socialize while you decorate, or help the kids decorate. All you need are homemade, or premade, cupcakes, frosting in red, white, and blue colors, and various sprinkles and candies in the same colors. Make sure you have a plastic tablecloth for easy cleanup.

Duck pond fishing is an enjoyable activity for a warm July day. Using a small wading pool, magnetized rubber ducks and a magnetic fishing pole, tape some laminated or plastic-coated slips of paper indicating prizes, or use colored markings on the bottom for the same reason. Games involving prizes make for lots of enjoyment at a 4^th of July party.

This year, you can try something different. If you want to get some “Oohs!” and Aahs!” without a lot of time and expense, try some of the following ideas. You can start with some sugar cookies, premade, from a mix, or from scratch.

Decorate a number of the sugar cookies with one half red and the other white, until you have constructed the stripes section of the American flag. Then decorate the remainder with blue icing and white stars. Arrange them on a tray, to appear like the flag and people will think you put a lot of thought and effort into it.

Find a diagram online for carving melons into fun shapes. Watermelon baskets are fun, but you can also cut other shapes as well. Use a melon baller to shape the edible part of the melon, or better yet, cut 1-inch thick slices of the melon and use small star-shaped cookie cutters for bite-size pieces.

Stuffed potatoes are so much more fun if they are red, white, and blue. How do you do it? Simply use the potato as the white part, dye some sour cream with blue food coloring, and use diced red peppers to sprinkle on top. With a little ingenuity and a few inexpensive ingredients, you can make almost any dish patriotic.

IF you’re hoping for some creative ideas for this year’s patriotic bash, you can consider some of the following options. One thing that not many people do, but is really popular with the kids, is to rent an inflatable slide pool.

The kids can get all wet sliding down the inflatable slide to the pool below. Most of the inflatable rental companies set it all up for you. You just pay for it and sit back while they do the work.

Another option is to have a cookout competition. You can assign all your guests to bring a competitive dish, for a potluck, and then everyone can vote later on the best one. If you’re worried about a biased vote, just have all the kids vote on their favorite dish.

Old fashioned games can be some of the most memorable like potato sack or three-legged races, or egg and spoon team races. Or have you considered hiring a clown that can make animal balloons for the kids? Some of these ideas are so simple to implement, but can truly make a memorable 4^th of July party.

Hats: You could throw a hat party, for which you could purchase a variety of inexpensive but fun hats from pirate to firefighter to football helmet! You could make it a game to pick which child gets to wear which hat for the party.

Masquerade: Instead of the hats, you could collect a variety of masks. Look at themes like animal masks or TV character masks, if your child likes a particular theme. You could even do a fun activity starting with basic masks and objects like feathers, buttons, and sequins, allowing the children to make their own masks at the beginning of the party.

Princess theme costume party: If your daughter loves princesses, have all of her friends come dressed as their favorite Disney princess, or make up their own princess from a foreign land or historic past.

Hero costume party: If your son enjoys superheroes, you could specify a different hero for each of the guests to come as, so each child can represent a unique superhero. That way, the party pictures will be truly memorable and your son can be the hero of his choice.

Tea party or monster bash: Another gender-specific option. Again, for the invitations, just be sure that it is clear that each child invited needs to come dressed for the tea party in her “tea-party best” or dressed for the monster bash in his “monster attire.”

Girls love to dress up, so you may consider a costume. Depending on what your girl likes, you can find a princess costume, Wonder Woman or Supergirl, or just about anything else to fit her personality.

Starting with one of the hottest toys trends right now, Littlest Pet Shops are a great idea for any girl who is past the potential choking age, because the accessories are incredibly tiny. Littlest Pet Shop toys are so cute and popular, you could even use it as the party theme as well.

Other current trends include Bratz, Zoobles, and Loving Family. Loving Family is a great way to get your daughter into the dollhouse stage. You can buy the house and select individual rooms of furniture to fit her style and interests.

If you have a crafty girl, you might consider getting her a bead making set. You could be almost guaranteed that the bead making set would be brought out for use at the birthday party because all the girls will love it. Just make sure you get enough beads and supplies to go around.

On the other hand, if you have a girly girl, you could consider a pamper-me kit. Makeup for girls, including nail polish and decorations, eye makeup, and accessories kits are something that will never get old. Your daughter could have a blast making up all her friends and having a fashion show slumber party.

Finally, if you have a daughter who is more into reading and writing, you can’t go wrong with some great books (by authors you know she likes) and a journal set with a lock and key. She’ll have a lot of quiet enjoyment with her gifts and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you picked the right presents for your daughter.

One creative idea that is often under utilized is a costume. Kids love to pretend to be superheros, cowboys, or soldiers. Having the right gear to look the part can be a big deal for them.

If your son is into sports, what kinds of sports in particular? If he loves soccer, you might consider either actual soccer equipment (such as a net for the backyard or new ball) or a soccer game for his video game console.

Boys usually enjoy building things. If your son is no exception, you might look at LEGO sets. LEGO sets are extremely popular and come in the latest movie themes and current trends. You can select a LEGO set that fits the age and/or skill-level of your son.

Perhaps your son is active, or you feel he needs to get that way. In this case, you could consider some outdoor Nerf toys like shooters, a Nerf football, or a target set. Super Soakers are fun for summer and can get your child off the couch when he’s not in school.

If your son needs some indoor activities and he likes cars, Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars are very popular gifts. They have many different tracks and sets to choose from, such as color changing, racing, and themed sets.

Finally, it is always a good idea to consider a bike or rollerblades, again depending on the age and skill level of your son. If you spend the time and effort to make a choice that fits your son, he will know you have really been thinking about what he would like and you may get a hug out of the deal, maybe even a “Yeah!” if you’re lucky.