Anthro (comics)
{{Infobox comics character
|character_name = Anthro
|image = Showcase74Anthro.jpg
|caption = Anthro on the cover of Showcase #74, art by Howard Post.
|publisher = DC Comics
|debut = Showcase #74 (March 1968)
|creators = Howie Post (writer & artist)
|full_name =
|species = Evolved Cro-Magnon or Neanderthal
|homeworld =
|alliances = The Bear Tribe
Freedom Fighters
Team 13
|partners =
|supports =
|aliases =
|powers = *Expertise in hunting and tracking
}}
Anthro is a fictional superhero character published by DC Comics, presented as the "first boy", a caveman born to Neanderthal parents. Anthro was created by cartoonist Howard Post. He first appeared in Showcase #74 (March 1968).{{Citation | last = Wallace | first = Dan | contribution = Anthro | editor-last = Dougall | editor-first = Alastair | title = The DC Comics Encyclopedia | pages = 17 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | place = London | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7566-4119-1}}
Publication history
After a single Showcase appearance, Anthro received his own title, which lasted for 6 issues (1968–69).{{cite book |last1=Wells |first1=John |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969 |date=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490557 |page=209}} All six issues were written and drawn by Post, with Wallace Wood providing inking for the final issue.{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |title=Anthro |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/anthro.htm |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |access-date=1 April 2020}}
Since the cancellation of his title, he has made minor appearances, most notably in Crisis on Infinite Earths #2. Subsequently, Anthro appeared in the 2006 revival of Tales of the Unexpected and the 2008 miniseries Final Crisis by Grant Morrison and J. G. Jones. Anthro also starred in the first story in DC Universe Holiday Special 2010.
Fictional character biography
Anthro is the first caveboy born in the Stone Age.{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Korte |first3=Steve |last4=Manning |first4=Matt |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |last6=Wilson |first6=Sven |title=The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe |date=2016 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-5357-0 |page=18}} His father, Cro-Magnon (or Neanderthal) caveman Ne-Ahn, is the chief of his tribe; his mother, a captive member of another tribe. Winning two competing cavegirls as his wives, Cro-Magnon women Embra and Nima, Anthro begins the human race, as Embra lives to bear his first child.
Justice League Europe Annual #2 features a version of Anthro. In an alternate time-line, an older Silver Sorceress, lost in time, is rescued from a large creature by Anthro. He exhibits great eagerness, smashing the beast long after it is subdued. A bored cavegirl, either Embra or Nima, joins the Sorceress in watching Anthro's 'battle'.
Anthro is featured in the graphic novel Doctor Thirteen: Architecture & Mortality, where he is frozen in ice and resurrected in the modern day.
In Final Crisis, Metron gives Anthro the knowledge to make fire. He later meets a time-displaced Batman before dying from old age.Final Crisis #1. DC ComicsBatman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-2 (May–June 2010). DC Comics.Final Crisis #7 (2009). DC Comics.
In Dark Nights: Death Metal, Anthro is among the superheroes whom Batman resurrects using a Black Lantern ring.Dark Nights: Death Metal #5. DC Comics.
Other versions
Anthro had a supporting role in the Booster Gold series, starting with issue eight. In this storyline, as in Tales of the Unexpected, Anthro wears a leather jacket that resembles Mr. Terrific's, but has Anthro's name on the sleeves instead of "Fair Play". This is an alternate time-line Anthro, who is part of a resistance group against the murderous Maxwell Lord. Fellow members include Green Arrow, Hawkman, Wild Dog and Pantha. During the flight to Lord's headquarters, Anthro is taken out by a mind-controlled Superman.Booster Gold vol. 2 #7-9 (2008)
In Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1, Superman moves briefly through Earth-20, where alternate versions of a number of DC Comics older heroes exist as 'The Society of Super-Heroes', a group of 'pulp'-style mystery men led by Doc Fate and including Immortal Man.Final Crisis Secret Files #1 (2009) Writer Grant Morrison described it as a '1940s retro thing'.Interview with Grant Morrison - {{cite web|url=http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2009/05/grant-morrisons-multiversity-more.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-10-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006132117/http://www.weeklycrisis.com/2009/05/grant-morrisons-multiversity-more.html |archive-date=2014-10-06}} In The Multiversity - The Society of Super-Heroes: Conquerors from the Counter-World #1 (2014), it is revealed that Immortal Man of Earth-20 is Anthro, who was exposed to the same meteorite that bestowed Vandal Savage's powers on him. He and Doc Fate's Society of Super-Heroes are Earth-20's last defence from an invasion by their paired evil world, Earth-40, where the militia is led by Savage and Lady Shiva.
In other media
- Anthro makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "The Siege of Starro!".
- Anthro appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.{{Cite web |last=Eisen |first=Andrew |date=October 2, 2013 |title=DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/scribblenauts-unmasked/DC_Characters_and_Objects |access-date=November 6, 2024 |website=IGN |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Anthro at DC Database
- [http://www.toonopedia.com/anthro.htm Anthro] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. [https://archive.today/20240525204039/https://www.webcitation.org/66gWffoPr?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/anthro.htm Archived] from the original on April 4, 2012.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080501074005/http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=anthro DCU Guide: Anthro]
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1968
Category:DC Comics fantasy characters
Category:DC Comics male characters
Category:Early European modern humans
Category:Fiction about Neanderthals
Category:Fictional hunters in comics