title: Twinkie

text: Grupo Bimbo's Vachon Inc., which owns the Canadian rights to the product and made them during their absence from the U.S. market, produces Twinkies in Canada at a bakery in Montreal. They are made in Emporia, Kansas in the U.S. Twinkies are also available in Mexican stores as "Submarinos" made by Marinela, and as "Tuinky" made by Wonder; both Marinela and Wonder are also subsidiaries of Mexican bread company Grupo Bimbo. In Egypt, Twinkies are produced under the company Edita. Twinkies are also available in the United Kingdom and Ireland under the Hostess brand name where they are sold in Sainsburys, Tesco, ASDA, and B&M stores. Twinkies are produced and distributed by multiple commercial bakeries in China, where Hostess does not own the brand.


title: Twinkie

text: Twinkies were invented in Schiller Park, Illinois, on April 6, 1930, by James Alexander Dewar, a Canadian-born baker for the Continental Baking Company. Realizing that several machines used for making cream-filled strawberry shortcake sat idle when strawberries were out of season, Dewar conceived a snack cake filled with banana cream, which he dubbed the Twinkie. Ritchy Koph said he came up with the name when he saw a billboard in St. Louis for "Twinkle Toe Shoes". During World War II, bananas were rationed and the company was forced to switch to vanilla cream. This change proved popular, and banana-cream Twinkies were not widely re-introduced. The original flavor was occasionally found in limited time only promotions, but the company used vanilla cream for most Twinkies. In 1988, Fruit and Cream Twinkies were introduced with a strawberry filling swirled into the cream. The product was soon dropped. Vanilla's dominance over banana flavoring was challenged in 2005, following a month-long promotion of the movie "King Kong". Hostess saw its Twinkie sales rise 20 percent during the promotion, and in 2007 restored the banana-cream Twinkie to its snack lineup although they are now made with 2% banana purée.


title: Twinkie

text: In November 2012, as Hostess announced its plan to shut down its operations, "Time" ranked the Twinkie #1 in its list of 10 "iconic" junk foods, claiming that "they've been a staple in our popular culture and, above all, in our hearts. Often criticized for its lack of any nutritional value whatsoever, the Twinkie has managed to persevere as a cultural and gastronomical icon."


title: Twinkie

text: On January 11, 2012, parent company Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Twinkie sales for the year, , were 36 million packages, down almost 20% from a year earlier. Hostess said customers had migrated to healthier foods. On November 16, 2012, Hostess officially announced that it "will be winding down operations and has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to close its business and sell its assets, including its iconic brands and facilities." Bakery operations were suspended at all plants.


title: Twinkie

text: On November 19, 2012, Hostess and the Bakers Union agreed to mediation, delaying the shutdown for two days. On November 21, 2012, U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Drain approved Hostess' request to shut down, ending Twinkie production in the United States.


title: Twinkie

text: On March 18, 2013, it was reported that Twinkies would return to store shelves in May of that year. Twinkies, along with other Hostess Brands, were purchased out of bankruptcy by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co for $410 million.


title: Twinkie

text: Twinkies returned to U.S. shelves on July 15, 2013. Apollo subsequently sold Hostess for $2.3 billion.


title: Twinkie

text: Before Hostess Brands filed for bankruptcy, Twinkies were reduced in size. They now contain and have a mass of 38.5 grams, while the original Twinkies contained and had a mass of 42.5 grams. The new Twinkies also have a longer shelf life of 45 days, which was also a change made before bankruptcy, compared to the 26 days of the original Twinkies.


title: Twinkie

text: Deep frying a Twinkie involves freezing the cake, dipping it into batter, and deep-frying it. A story in "The New York Times" about the deep fried Twinkie with its inventor — Christopher Sell, originally from Rugby, England — described this way: "Something magical occurs when the pastry hits the hot oil. The creamy white vegetable shortening filling liquefies, impregnating the sponge cake with its luscious vanilla flavor... The cake itself softens and warms, nearly melting, contrasting with the crisp, deep-fried crust in a buttery and suave way. The "pièce de résistance", however, is a ruby-hued berry sauce, adding a tart sophistication to all that airy sugary goodness."


title: Twinkie

text: The Texas State Fair had introduced the fried Twinkie to great popular acclaim, and the notion spread to other state fairs across the U.S., as well as some establishments that specialize in fried foods. Fried Twinkies are sold throughout the U.S. in fairs as well as ball games, and in various restaurants. Starting in August 2016, Walmart began selling prepackaged, frozen versions of the deep-fried Twinkie at stores nationwide in the US.


title: Twinkie

text: "Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression. His change in diet from healthful food to Twinkies and other sugary foods was said to be a symptom of depression. Contrary to common belief, White's attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White's actions, but that their consumption was symptomatic of his underlying depression.


title: Twinkie

text: Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), used the expression "theological Twinkie" at the Church's General Conference in April 1998, in reference to teaching methods that may be pleasing or entertaining, but lack sufficient spiritual and doctrinal substance. In his words: "Are we really nurturing our youth and our new members in a way that will sustain them when the stresses of life appear? Or are we giving them a kind of theological Twinkie—spiritually empty calories?"


title: Twinkie

text: A common urban legend claims that Twinkies have an infinite shelf life, and can last unspoiled for a relatively long time of ten, fifty, or one hundred years due to the chemicals used in their production.


title: Twinkie

text: The 2012 Super Bowl Chevy Silverado Apocalypse commercial also gives a nod to the Twinkie's reputed durability.


title: Twinkie

text: In reality, Twinkies are on the shelf for a short time; a company executive told "The New York Times" in 2000 that the "Twinkie is on the shelf no more than 7 to 10 days."


title: Twinkie

text: The maximum shelf life was reported to have been 26 days, until the addition of stronger preservatives made beginning in 2012 increased it to 45 days. A box of Twinkies from shortly before Hostess's bankruptcy in 2012 was opened eight years later; one had completely molded over with cladosporium, another had a small amount of mold, and the creme filling in a third Twinkie had turned brown with the taste of "old sock".


title: Twinkie

text: In 2010, Kansas State University professor Mark Haub went on a "convenience store" diet consisting mainly of a snack of Twinkies, Oreos, or Doritos every 3 hours in an attempt to demonstrate to his students "...that in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most, not the nutritional value of the food." He lost over a two-month period, returning his body mass index (BMI) to within normal range.


title: Twinkie

text: In addition to Twinkies, Haub ate Little Debbie snack cakes, cereals, cookies, brownies, Doritos, Oreos and other kinds of high calorie, low-nutrition foods that are usually found at convenience stores. However, despite calling it the "Twinkie diet", Haub also consumed 1 protein shake per day and one serving of canned green beans or 4 celery stalks, along with the Twinkies, Oreos, and Doritos. Besides the protein shake and multivitamin, Haub also ate nutritionally dense whole milk, carrots, and vitamin fortified cereal. This contradicts representations by other media outlets stating that Haub "only" ate junk food. He ate the vegetables at the dinner table in order to set a good example for his children.


title: Sandra Ravel

text: She was born as Alessandra Winkelhauser Ratti in Milan, Italy in 1910 to a German father who was a chemical plant worker, and a Swiss mother from the Ratti family of Lugano.


title: Sandra Ravel

text: Ravel had a minor role in "Together in the Dark", where she met her future husband. She was married in 1944 in Venice to the actor and entrepreneur Rodolfo Gucci. Their only child, Maurizio (1948-1995), was named for his father's theatrical alter ego, "Maurizio D'Ancora".


title: Devin Ratray

text: Devin D. Ratray (born January 11, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Buzz McCallister in the "Home Alone" franchise, as well as the films "Nebraska", "Blue Ruin" and "Kimi". His television work includes "The Tick" and "Better Call Saul".


title: Devin Ratray

text: Ratray started acting at the age of nine in the movie "Where Are the Children?" (1986). He starred as a child actor in various other programs and movies until his acting pinnacle in 1990 as Buzz McCallister, the mean older brother of Macaulay Culkin's character Kevin in "Home Alone", "" in 1992, and as Officer McCallister in "Home Sweet Home Alone".


title: Devin Ratray

text: Ratray landed minor roles in "Little Monsters" (as Ronnie Coleman, the bully), "Dennis the Menace" (as Mickey, the boyfriend of one of Dennis's babysitters) and an episode as Martin in "The Enforcers" (1996). Another film role was "The Prince and Me" as the computer-obsessed roommate of Eddy, the royal Prince of Denmark. He was a regular improv actor on MTV's "Damage Control", notably as a director of an erotic film called "Crazy Motor Hos", in which he was dressed as a naval captain. Ratray appeared in the September 29, 2006 episode of "Law & Order", "Avatar", as the mentally ill murderer Richard Elam. He later portrayed an antagonist in an episode of "". He was a lisping doctor in the movie "Slippery Slope" (2006). He performed as Jimmy Link in "Serial" (2007). Ratray appeared in the 2009 film "Surrogates" as Bobby Saunders. "Variety" said "Ratray gets good mileage out of his role as a computer whiz too proud of his corpulent geekiness to consider a more glamorous substitute." In 2009, he was also a guest star on the fifth season of "Supernatural" in the episode "The Real Ghost Busters".


title: Devin Ratray

text: In late 2007, a documentary film crew followed Ratray's attempts to win the heart of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He used 'love disks' -- love letters set to music and images—to serenade her, and traveled from New York, to Alabama, Denver, Palo Alto and Washington, DC to court her. The resulting film, "Courting Condi", was due for international release in fall 2008.


title: Devin Ratray

text: In 2012, Ratray played a mutual funds manager trapped in a Wall Street elevator with eight strangers, in the suspense thriller "Elevator".


title: Devin Ratray

text: In 2013, Ratray played Cole in the film "Nebraska", Ben Gaffney in the film "Blue Ruin", and made an appearance in the film "R.I.P.D."


title: Devin Ratray

text: Ratray also appeared in the 2019 film "Hustlers", alongside Jennifer Lopez and in 2022, he appeared in the Steven Soderbergh film "Kimi", alongside Zoe Kravitz.


title: Devin Ratray

text: Ratray was born in New York City, the son of Ann Willis and Peter Ratray, both actors. He graduated from New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 1994.


title: Devin Ratray

text: On December 8, 2021, Ratray allegedly strangled his girlfriend while in a hotel room in Oklahoma. He was "booked for domestic assault and battery by strangulation, a felony, as well as misdemeanor domestic assault and battery." After an argument over his girlfriend failing to charge fans for his autograph, the duo returned to the hotel and "Ratray then pushed his girlfriend onto the room’s bed, pressed one of his hands against her throat, pressed his other hand over her mouth and applied pressure, according to the affidavit." It was alleged that as Ratray assaulted his girlfriend, he told her, "This is how you die".


title: Devin Ratray

text: In August 2022, police announced that Ratray was under investigation for an alleged rape that occurred in September 2017. The alleged victim, who had been friends with Ratray for 15 years, came forward after hearing about the 2021 domestic assault allegations, accusing Ratray of drugging her drink.


title: Axon

text: An axon (from Greek ἄξων "áxōn", axis), or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see spelling differences), is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action potentials away from the nerve cell body. The function of the axon is to transmit information to different neurons, muscles, and glands. In certain sensory neurons (pseudounipolar neurons), such as those for touch and warmth, the axons are called afferent nerve fibers and the electrical impulse travels along these from the periphery to the cell body and from the cell body to the spinal cord along another branch of the same axon. Axon dysfunction can be the cause of many inherited and acquired neurological disorders that affect both the peripheral and central neurons. Nerve fibers are classed into three typesgroup A nerve fibers, group B nerve fibers, and group C nerve fibers. Groups A and B are myelinated, and group C are unmyelinated. These groups include both sensory fibers and motor fibers. Another classification groups only the sensory fibers as Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV.


title: Axon

text: An axon is one of two types of cytoplasmic protrusions from the cell body of a neuron; the other type is a dendrite. Axons are distinguished from dendrites by several features, including shape (dendrites often taper while axons usually maintain a constant radius), length (dendrites are restricted to a small region around the cell body while axons can be much longer), and function (dendrites receive signals whereas axons transmit them). Some types of neurons have no axon and transmit signals from their dendrites. In some species, axons can emanate from dendrites known as axon-carrying dendrites. No neuron ever has more than one axon; however in invertebrates such as insects or leeches the axon sometimes consists of several regions that function more or less independently of each other.


title: Axon

text: Axons are covered by a membrane known as an axolemma; the cytoplasm of an axon is called axoplasm. Most axons branch, in some cases very profusely. The end branches of an axon are called telodendria. The swollen end of a telodendron is known as the axon terminal which joins the dendron or cell body of another neuron forming a synaptic connection. Axons make contact with other cellsusually other neurons but sometimes muscle or gland cellsat junctions called synapses. In some circumstances, the axon of one neuron may form a synapse with the dendrites of the same neuron, resulting in an autapse. At a synapse, the membrane of the axon closely adjoins the membrane of the target cell, and special molecular structures serve to transmit electrical or electrochemical signals across the gap. Some synaptic junctions appear along the length of an axon as it extends; these are called "en passant" ("in passing") synapses and can be in the hundreds or even the thousands along one axon. Other synapses appear as terminals at the ends of axonal branches.


title: Axon

text: A single axon, with all its branches taken together, can innervate multiple parts of the brain and generate thousands of synaptic terminals. A bundle of axons make a nerve tract in the central nervous system, and a fascicle in the peripheral nervous system. In placental mammals the largest white matter tract in the brain is the corpus callosum, formed of some 200 million axons in the human brain.


title: Axon

text: Axons are the primary transmission lines of the nervous system, and as bundles they form nerves. Some axons can extend up to one meter or more while others extend as little as one millimeter. The longest axons in the human body are those of the sciatic nerve, which run from the base of the spinal cord to the big toe of each foot. The diameter of axons is also variable. Most individual axons are microscopic in diameter (typically about one micrometer (µm) across). The largest mammalian axons can reach a diameter of up to 20 µm. The squid giant axon, which is specialized to conduct signals very rapidly, is close to 1 millimeter in diameter, the size of a small pencil lead. The numbers of axonal telodendria (the branching structures at the end of the axon) can also differ from one nerve fiber to the next. Axons in the central nervous system (CNS) typically show multiple telodendria, with many synaptic end points. In comparison, the cerebellar granule cell axon is characterized by a single T-shaped branch node from which two parallel fibers extend. Elaborate branching allows for the simultaneous transmission of messages to a large number of target neurons within a single region of the brain.


title: Axon

text: There are two types of axons in the nervous system: myelinated and unmyelinated axons. Myelin is a layer of a fatty insulating substance, which is formed by two types of glial cells: Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes. In the peripheral nervous system Schwann cells form the myelin sheath of a myelinated axon. Oligodendrocytes form the insulating myelin in the CNS. Along myelinated nerve fibers, gaps in the myelin sheath known as nodes of Ranvier occur at evenly spaced intervals. The myelination enables an especially rapid mode of electrical impulse propagation called saltatory conduction.


title: Axon

text: The myelinated axons from the cortical neurons form the bulk of the neural tissue called white matter in the brain. The myelin gives the white appearance to the tissue in contrast to the grey matter of the cerebral cortex which contains the neuronal cell bodies. A similar arrangement is seen in the cerebellum. Bundles of myelinated axons make up the nerve tracts in the CNS. Where these tracts cross the midline of the brain to connect opposite regions they are called "commissures". The largest of these is the corpus callosum that connects the two cerebral hemispheres, and this has around 20 million axons.


title: Axon

text: The structure of a neuron is seen to consist of two separate functional regions, or compartmentsthe cell body together with the dendrites as one region, and the axonal region as the other.


title: Axon

text: The axonal region or compartment, includes the axon hillock, the initial segment, the rest of the axon, and the axon telodendria, and axon terminals. It also includes the myelin sheath. The Nissl bodies that produce the neuronal proteins are absent in the axonal region. Proteins needed for the growth of the axon, and the removal of waste materials, need a framework for transport. This axonal transport is provided for in the axoplasm by arrangements of microtubules and intermediate filaments known as neurofilaments.


title: Axon

text: The axon hillock is the area formed from the cell body of the neuron as it extends to become the axon. It precedes the initial segment. The received action potentials that are summed in the neuron are transmitted to the axon hillock for the generation of an action potential from the initial segment.


title: Axon

text: The axonal initial segment (AIS) is a structurally and functionally separate microdomain of the axon. One function of the initial segment is to separate the main part of an axon from the rest of the neuron; another function is to help initiate action potentials. Both of these functions support neuron cell polarity, in which dendrites (and, in some cases the soma) of a neuron receive input signals at the basal region, and at the apical region the neuron's axon provides output signals.


title: Axon

text: The axon initial segment is unmyelinated and contains a specialized complex of proteins. It is between approximately 20 and 60 µm in length and functions as the site of action potential initiation. Both the position on the axon and the length of the AIS can change showing a degree of plasticity that can fine-tune the neuronal output. A longer AIS is associated with a greater excitability. Plasticity is also seen in the ability of the AIS to change its distribution and to maintain the activity of neural circuitry at a constant level.


title: Axon

text: The AIS is highly specialized for the fast conduction of nerve impulses. This is achieved by a high concentration of voltage-gated sodium channels in the initial segment where the action potential is initiated. The ion channels are accompanied by a high number of cell adhesion molecules and scaffolding proteins that anchor them to the cytoskeleton. Interactions with ankyrin G are important as it is the major organizer in the AIS.


title: Axon

text: The axoplasm is the equivalent of cytoplasm in the cell. Microtubules form in the axoplasm at the axon hillock. They are arranged along the length of the axon, in overlapping sections, and all point in the same directiontowards the axon terminals. This is noted by the positive endings of the microtubules. This overlapping arrangement provides the routes for the transport of different materials from the cell body. Studies on the axoplasm has shown the movement of numerous vesicles of all sizes to be seen along cytoskeletal filamentsthe microtubules, and neurofilaments, in both directions between the axon and its terminals and the cell body.


title: Axon

text: Outgoing anterograde transport from the cell body along the axon, carries mitochondria and membrane proteins needed for growth to the axon terminal. Ingoing retrograde transport carries cell waste materials from the axon terminal to the cell body. Outgoing and ingoing tracks use different sets of motor proteins. Outgoing transport is provided by kinesin, and ingoing return traffic is provided by dynein. Dynein is minus-end directed. There are many forms of kinesin and dynein motor proteins, and each is thought to carry a different cargo. The studies on transport in the axon led to the naming of kinesin.


title: Axon

text: In the nervous system, axons may be myelinated, or unmyelinated. This is the provision of an insulating layer, called a myelin sheath. The myelin membrane is unique in its relatively high lipid to protein ratio.


title: Axon

text: In the peripheral nervous system axons are myelinated by glial cells known as Schwann cells. In the central nervous system the myelin sheath is provided by another type of glial cell, the oligodendrocyte. Schwann cells myelinate a single axon. An oligodendrocyte can myelinate up to 50 axons.


title: Axon

text: The composition of myelin is different in the two types. In the CNS the major myelin protein is proteolipid protein, and in the PNS it is myelin basic protein.


title: Axon

text: Nodes of Ranvier (also known as "myelin sheath gaps") are short unmyelinated segments of a myelinated axon, which are found periodically interspersed between segments of the myelin sheath. Therefore, at the point of the node of Ranvier, the axon is reduced in diameter. These nodes are areas where action potentials can be generated. In saltatory conduction, electrical currents produced at each node of Ranvier are conducted with little attenuation to the next node in line, where they remain strong enough to generate another action potential. Thus in a myelinated axon, action potentials effectively "jump" from node to node, bypassing the myelinated stretches in between, resulting in a propagation speed much faster than even the fastest unmyelinated axon can sustain.


title: Axon

text: An axon can divide into many branches called telodendria (Greek for 'end of tree'). At the end of each telodendron is an axon terminal (also called a synaptic bouton, or terminal bouton). Axon terminals contain synaptic vesicles that store the neurotransmitter for release at the synapse. This makes multiple synaptic connections with other neurons possible. Sometimes the axon of a neuron may synapse onto dendrites of the same neuron, when it is known as an autapse.


title: Axon

text: Most axons carry signals in the form of action potentials, which are discrete electrochemical impulses that travel rapidly along an axon, starting at the cell body and terminating at points where the axon makes synaptic contact with target cells. The defining characteristic of an action potential is that it is "all-or-nothing"every action potential that an axon generates has essentially the same size and shape. This all-or-nothing characteristic allows action potentials to be transmitted from one end of a long axon to the other without any reduction in size. There are, however, some types of neurons with short axons that carry graded electrochemical signals, of variable amplitude.


title: Axon

text: When an action potential reaches a presynaptic terminal, it activates the synaptic transmission process. The first step is rapid opening of calcium ion channels in the membrane of the axon, allowing calcium ions to flow inward across the membrane. The resulting increase in intracellular calcium concentration causes synaptic vesicles (tiny containers enclosed by a lipid membrane) filled with a neurotransmitter chemical to fuse with the axon's membrane and empty their contents into the extracellular space. The neurotransmitter is released from the presynaptic nerve through exocytosis. The neurotransmitter chemical then diffuses across to receptors located on the membrane of the target cell. The neurotransmitter binds to these receptors and activates them. Depending on the type of receptors that are activated, the effect on the target cell can be to excite the target cell, inhibit it, or alter its metabolism in some way. This entire sequence of events often takes place in less than a thousandth of a second. Afterward, inside the presynaptic terminal, a new set of vesicles is moved into position next to the membrane, ready to be released when the next action potential arrives. The action potential is the final electrical step in the integration of synaptic messages at the scale of the neuron.


title: Axon

text: Extracellular recordings of action potential propagation in axons has been demonstrated in freely moving animals. While extracellular somatic action potentials have been used to study cellular activity in freely moving animals such as place cells, axonal activity in both white and gray matter can also be recorded. Extracellular recordings of axon action potential propagation is distinct from somatic action potentials in three ways: 1. The signal has a shorter peak-trough duration (~150μs) than of pyramidal cells (~500μs) or interneurons (~250μs). 2. The voltage change is triphasic. 3. Activity recorded on a tetrode is seen on only one of the four recording wires. In recordings from freely moving rats, axonal signals have been isolated in white matter tracts including the alveus and the corpus callosum as well hippocampal gray matter.


title: Axon

text: In fact, the generation of action potentials in vivo is sequential in nature, and these sequential spikes constitute the digital codes in the neurons. Although previous studies indicate an axonal origin of a single spike evoked by short-term pulses, physiological signals in vivo trigger the initiation of sequential spikes at the cell bodies of the neurons.


title: Axon

text: In addition to propagating action potentials to axonal terminals, the axon is able to amplify the action potentials, which makes sure a secure propagation of sequential action potentials toward the axonal terminal. In terms of molecular mechanisms, voltage-gated sodium channels in the axons possess lower threshold and shorter refractory period in response to short-term pulses.


title: Axon

text: The development of the axon to its target, is one of the six major stages in the overall development of the nervous system. Studies done on cultured hippocampal neurons suggest that neurons initially produce multiple neurites that are equivalent, yet only one of these neurites is destined to become the axon. It is unclear whether axon specification precedes axon elongation or vice versa, although recent evidence points to the latter. If an axon that is not fully developed is cut, the polarity can change and other neurites can potentially become the axon. This alteration of polarity only occurs when the axon is cut at least 10 μm shorter than the other neurites. After the incision is made, the longest neurite will become the future axon and all the other neurites, including the original axon, will turn into dendrites. Imposing an external force on a neurite, causing it to elongate, will make it become an axon. Nonetheless, axonal development is achieved through a complex interplay between extracellular signaling, intracellular signaling and cytoskeletal dynamics.


title: Axon

text: The extracellular signals that propagate through the extracellular matrix surrounding neurons play a prominent role in axonal development. These signaling molecules include proteins, neurotrophic factors, and extracellular matrix and adhesion molecules.


title: Axon

text: Netrin (also known as UNC-6) a secreted protein, functions in axon formation. When the UNC-5 netrin receptor is mutated, several neurites are irregularly projected out of neurons and finally a single axon is extended anteriorly. The neurotrophic factorsnerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NTF3) are also involved in axon development and bind to Trk receptors.


title: Axon

text: The ganglioside-converting enzyme plasma membrane ganglioside sialidase (PMGS), which is involved in the activation of TrkA at the tip of neutrites, is required for the elongation of axons. PMGS asymmetrically distributes to the tip of the neurite that is destined to become the future axon.


title: Axon

text: During axonal development, the activity of PI3K is increased at the tip of destined axon. Disrupting the activity of PI3K inhibits axonal development. Activation of PI3K results in the production of phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PtdIns) which can cause significant elongation of a neurite, converting it into an axon. As such, the overexpression of phosphatases that dephosphorylate PtdIns leads into the failure of polarization.


title: Axon

text: The neurite with the lowest actin filament content will become the axon. PGMS concentration and f-actin content are inversely correlated; when PGMS becomes enriched at the tip of a neurite, its f-actin content is substantially decreased. In addition, exposure to actin-depolimerizing drugs and toxin B (which inactivates Rho-signaling) causes the formation of multiple axons. Consequently, the interruption of the actin network in a growth cone will promote its neurite to become the axon.


title: Axon

text: Growing axons move through their environment via the growth cone, which is at the tip of the axon. The growth cone has a broad sheet-like extension called a lamellipodium which contain protrusions called filopodia. The filopodia are the mechanism by which the entire process adheres to surfaces and explores the surrounding environment. Actin plays a major role in the mobility of this system. Environments with high levels of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) create an ideal environment for axonal growth. This seems to provide a "sticky" surface for axons to grow along. Examples of CAMs specific to neural systems include N-CAM, TAG-1an axonal glycoproteinand MAG, all of which are part of the immunoglobulin superfamily. Another set of molecules called extracellular matrix-adhesion molecules also provide a sticky substrate for axons to grow along. Examples of these molecules include laminin, fibronectin, tenascin, and perlecan. Some of these are surface bound to cells and thus act as short range attractants or repellents. Others are difusible ligands and thus can have long range effects.


title: Axon

text: Cells called guidepost cells assist in the guidance of neuronal axon growth. These cells that help axon guidance, are typically other neurons that are sometimes immature. When the axon has completed its growth at its connection to the target, the diameter of the axon can increase by up to five times, depending on the speed of conduction required.


title: Axon

text: It has also been discovered through research that if the axons of a neuron were damaged, as long as the soma (the cell body of a neuron) is not damaged, the axons would regenerate and remake the synaptic connections with neurons with the help of guidepost cells. This is also referred to as neuroregeneration.


title: Axon

text: Nogo-A is a type of neurite outgrowth inhibitory component that is present in the central nervous system myelin membranes (found in an axon). It has a crucial role in restricting axonal regeneration in adult mammalian central nervous system. In recent studies, if Nogo-A is blocked and neutralized, it is possible to induce long-distance axonal regeneration which leads to enhancement of functional recovery in rats and mouse spinal cord. This has yet to be done on humans. A recent study has also found that macrophages activated through a specific inflammatory pathway activated by the Dectin-1 receptor are capable of promoting axon recovery, also however causing neurotoxicity in the neuron.


title: Axon

text: Axons vary largely in length from a few micrometers up to meters in some animals. This emphasizes that there must be a cellular length regulation mechanism allowing the neurons both to sense the length of their axons and to control their growth accordingly. It was discovered that motor proteins play an important role in regulating the length of axons. Based on this observation, researchers developed an explicit model for axonal growth describing how motor proteins could affect the axon length on the molecular level. These studies suggest that motor proteins carry signaling molecules from the soma to the growth cone and vice versa whose concentration oscillates in time with a length-dependent frequency.


title: Axon

text: The axons of neurons in the human peripheral nervous system can be classified based on their physical features and signal conduction properties. Axons were known to have different thicknesses (from 0.1 to 20 µm) and these differences were thought to relate to the speed at which an action potential could travel along the axonits "conductance velocity". Erlanger and Gasser proved this hypothesis, and identified several types of nerve fiber, establishing a relationship between the diameter of an axon and its nerve conduction velocity. They published their findings in 1941 giving the first classification of axons.


title: Axon

text: Axons are classified in two systems. The first one introduced by Erlanger and Gasser, grouped the fibers into three main groups using the letters A, B, and C. These groups, group A, group B, and group C include both the sensory fibers (afferents) and the motor fibers (efferents). The first group A, was subdivided into alpha, beta, gamma, and delta fibersAα, Aβ, Aγ, and Aδ. The motor neurons of the different motor fibers, were the lower motor neuronsalpha motor neuron, beta motor neuron, and gamma motor neuron having the Aα, Aβ, and Aγ nerve fibers, respectively.


title: Axon

text: Later findings by other researchers identified two groups of Aa fibers that were sensory fibers. These were then introduced into a system that only included sensory fibers (though some of these were mixed nerves and were also motor fibers). This system refers to the sensory groups as Types and uses Roman numerals: Type Ia, Type Ib, Type II, Type III, and Type IV.


title: Axon

text: Different sensory receptors innervate different types of nerve fibers. Proprioceptors are innervated by type Ia, Ib and II sensory fibers, mechanoreceptors by type II and III sensory fibers and nociceptors and thermoreceptors by type III and IV sensory fibers.


title: Axon

text: In order of degree of severity, injury to a nerve can be described as neurapraxia, axonotmesis, or neurotmesis.


title: Axon

text: Concussion is considered a mild form of diffuse axonal injury. Axonal injury can also cause central chromatolysis. The dysfunction of axons in the nervous system is one of the major causes of many inherited neurological disorders that affect both peripheral and central neurons.


title: Axon

text: When an axon is crushed, an active process of axonal degeneration takes place at the part of the axon furthest from the cell body. This degeneration takes place quickly following the injury, with the part of the axon being sealed off at the membranes and broken down by macrophages. This is known as Wallerian degeneration. Dying back of an axon can also take place in many neurodegenerative diseases, particularly when axonal transport is impaired, this is known as Wallerian-like degeneration. Studies suggest that the degeneration happens as


title: Axon

text: Demyelination of axons causes the multitude of neurological symptoms found in the disease multiple sclerosis.


title: Axon

text: Dysmyelination is the abnormal formation of the myelin sheath. This is implicated in several leukodystrophies, and also in schizophrenia.


title: Axon

text: A severe traumatic brain injury can result in widespread lesions to nerve tracts damaging the axons in a condition known as diffuse axonal injury. This can lead to a persistent vegetative state. It has been shown in studies on the rat that axonal damage from a single mild traumatic brain injury, can leave a susceptibility to further damage, after repeated mild traumatic brain injuries.


title: Axon

text: A nerve guidance conduit is an artificial means of guiding axon growth to enable neuroregeneration, and is one of the many treatments used for different kinds of nerve injury.


title: Axon

text: German anatomist Otto Friedrich Karl Deiters is generally credited with the discovery of the axon by distinguishing it from the dendrites. Swiss Rüdolf Albert von Kölliker and German Robert Remak were the first to identify and characterize the axon initial segment. Kölliker named the axon in 1896. Louis-Antoine Ranvier was the first to describe the gaps or nodes found on axons and for this contribution these axonal features are now commonly referred to as the nodes of Ranvier. Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Spanish anatomist, proposed that axons were the output components of neurons, describing their functionality. Joseph Erlanger and Herbert Gasser earlier developed the classification system for peripheral nerve fibers, based on axonal conduction velocity, myelination, fiber size etc. Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley also employed the squid giant axon (1939) and by 1952 they had obtained a full quantitative description of the ionic basis of the action potential, leading to the formulation of the Hodgkin–Huxley model. Hodgkin and Huxley were awarded jointly the Nobel Prize for this work in 1963. The formulae detailing axonal conductance were extended to vertebrates in the Frankenhaeuser–Huxley equations. The understanding of the biochemical basis for action potential propagation has advanced further, and includes many details about individual ion channels.


title: Axon

text: The axons in invertebrates have been extensively studied. The longfin inshore squid, often used as a model organism has the longest known axon. The giant squid has the largest axon known. Its size ranges from 0.5 (typically) to 1 mm in diameter and is used in the control of its jet propulsion system. The fastest recorded conduction speed of 210 m/s, is found in the ensheathed axons of some pelagic Penaeid shrimps and the usual range is between 90 and 200 meters/s (cf 100–120 m/s for the fastest myelinated vertebrate axon.)


title: Axon

text: In other cases as seen in rat studies an axon originates from a dendrite; such axons are said to have "dendritic origin". Some axons with dendritic origin similarly have a "proximal" initial segment that starts directly at the axon origin, while others have a "distal" initial segment, discernibly separated from the axon origin. In many species some of the neurons have axons that emanate from the dendrite and not from the cell body, and these are known as axon-carrying dendrites. In many cases, an axon originates at an axon hillock on the soma; such axons are said to have "somatic origin". Some axons with somatic origin have a "proximal" initial segment adjacent the axon hillock, while others have a "distal" initial segment, separated from the soma by an extended axon hillock.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is recurrent nausea, vomiting, and cramping abdominal pain that can occur due to prolonged, high-dose cannabis use. These symptoms may be relieved temporarily by taking a hot shower or bath. Complications may include kidney failure and electrolyte problems, and the condition can be fatal if not properly managed.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Weekly cannabis use is generally required for the syndrome to occur; synthetic cannabinoids can also cause CHS. The underlying mechanism is unclear, with several possibilities proposed. Diagnosis is based on the symptoms, as well as the history of cannabis use (including a urine screen test if necessary). The condition is typically present for some time before the diagnosis is made. Another condition that presents similarly is cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS).


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The only known effective treatment for CHS is to stop using cannabis. Two weeks (or possibly more) may be required to see a benefit. The primary differentiation between CHS and CVS is that cessation of cannabis use only relieves CHS.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Treatments during an episode of vomiting are generally supportive in nature (e.g., hydration). There is tentative evidence for the use of capsaicin cream on the abdomen during an acute episode.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The long-term and short-term effects of cannabis use are associated with behavioral effects leading to a wide variety of effects on the body systems and physiological states. CHS is a paradoxical syndrome characterized by hyperemesis (persistent vomiting), as opposed to the better known antiemetic properties of cannabinoids. Specifically, CHS takes the pattern of cyclical nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain in the setting of chronic cannabinoid use. The abdominal pain tends to be mild and diffused. There are three phases of CHS: the prodromal phase, the hyperemetic phase, and the recovery phase.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The prodromal phase is characterized by mild symptoms of CHS, including nausea, anxiety, mild discomfort, sweating, and increased thirst; symptoms are more severe in the morning. Prior to the use of compensatory exposure to hot water to treat symptoms, people sometimes increase their intake of cannabinoids in an effort to treat the persistent nausea they experience. This phase can last for months or even years.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The hyperemetic phase is characterized by the full syndromal symptoms of CHS, including persistent nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and retching. Retching can occur up to five times per hour. Acute episodes of cannabinoid hyperemesis typically last for 24–48 hours. The symptoms experienced in this phase are cyclical, and can recur unpredictably in intervals of weeks to months. It is very difficult to take food or medicine by mouth during this stage, and patients may develop a fear of eating. Weight loss and dehydration due to decreased oral intake and vomiting are possible. It is during this hyperemetic phase that people with CHS are likely to present to the emergency department of the hospital for treatment.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Treatment via hot water, sometimes for hours at a time, relieves symptoms for many patients, which can result in compulsive bathing or showering. People have described the hot water relief as "temperature-dependent," meaning that hotter temperatures provide greater relief.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The recovery phase begins after the patient abstains from cannabis consumption, but the time for resolution of symptoms is unclear: it has been reported to occur within two weeks, or to take one to three months.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Lost weight can be regained due to a restoration of normal oral intake, and compulsive bathing/showering can give way to normal patterns of behavior. If a person in this phase consumes cannabis again, their symptoms tend to come back. Relapses are common due to reinitiation of cannabis consumption, following which many people use or increase their use of cannabis due to concerns about nausea. Increased patient education may be necessary.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Cannabis contains more than 400 different chemicals, of which about 60 are cannabinoids. The chemical composition of cannabis may vary between cannabis products, making it difficult to identify the specific chemical(s) responsible for the syndrome. The pathophysiology of CHS is complicated by the complex action of these chemicals throughout the body, both in the central nervous system and in the gastrointestinal system. Cannabis-related factors, such as the amount of THC in the cannabis, the amount of use, and the duration of use likely play a role, but are not yet well understood. Other factors, such as chronic stress, genetics, and emotional factors, may influence the risk for CHS.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: It has been hypothesized that certain people may be genetically pre-disposed to metabolize cannabinoids in an atypical manner, making them susceptible to CHS.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Another cannabinoid called cannabigerol acts as an antagonist at cannabinoid (CB1) and serotonin (5HT1A) receptors, antagonizing the anti-emetic effects of cannabidiol that occurs through its effects on serotonin.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a fat-soluble cannabinoid that can be deposited into a person's fat stores, accounting for the long elimination half-life of THC. During periods of stress or food deprivation, a person's fat stores can be mobilized (lipolysis) for energy consumption, releasing the previously stored THC back into the blood. The mechanism can be characterized as a "reintoxication effect."


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The diagnostic criteria for CHS were ill-defined prior to the establishment of the Rome IV criteria of 2016. The criteria specify symptoms which resemble cyclic vomiting syndrome and which occur after long-term cannabis use, but which cease after cannabis use is halted.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Various diagnostic frameworks for CHS have been proposed. , the modified criteria by Simonetto "et al." are the most frequently used. The most important feature is detecting a history of cannabinoid use, the denial of which can delay proper diagnosis. A urine drug screen can be useful for objectively determining the presence of cannabinoids in a person's system. Cannabinoid metabolites (specifically 11-nor-Δ9-carboxylic acid) can be detected in urine for about 2 to 8 days with short-term use, and for 14–42 days of chronic use.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Other commonly used diagnostic tests include laboratory blood tests (complete blood count and differential, blood glucose, basic metabolic panel, pancreatic and liver enzymes), pregnancy test, urinalysis, and plain flat radiographic series. These are used to rule out unrelated conditions, such as pregnancy or infection.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Prior to diagnosing and treating for a presumed CHS, more serious medical conditions need to be ruled out. Medical conditions that may present similarly to CHS include cyclic vomiting syndrome, bowel perforation or obstruction, gastroparesis, cholangitis, pancreatitis, nephrolithiasis, cholecystitis, diverticulitis, ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease, heart attack, acute hepatitis, adrenal insufficiency, and ruptured aortic aneurysm. In general, CHS is most often misdiagnosed as cyclic vomiting syndrome. However, if simple laboratory tests and imaging have excluded more serious conditions, it is reasonable to monitor for a worsening of the patient's status to prevent the unnecessary application of more invasive, and potentially dangerous, diagnostic procedures (e.g., exploratory surgery).


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: A complete history of the person's use of cannabinoids is important in establishing the correct diagnosis. CHS has often been undiagnosed, even for years. This may be due to reluctance on behalf of patients to fully disclose their use of cannabis to healthcare professionals, especially when another person is accompanying the patient to an appointment or emergency department visit. Identifying the correct diagnosis saves money for the healthcare system and reduces morbidity associated with the condition.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Many traditional medications for nausea and vomiting are ineffective. Treatment is otherwise supportive and focuses on stopping cannabis use. Proper patient education includes informing patients that their symptoms are due to their use of cannabis/cannabinoids, and that exposure to cannabinoids in the future are likely to cause their symptoms to return. Clinical pharmacists can play a role in administering this education, as well as encouraging patients to seek the assistance of mental health providers. Abstinence from cannabinoids currently remains the only definitive treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy are evidence-based outpatient treatment options for patients with cannabis use disorder.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Symptomatic relief is noted with exposure to hot water (greater than 41°C, 106°F), which is mediated by TRPV–the capsaicin receptor. Assessing for dehydration due to vomiting and hot showers is important as it can lead to acute kidney failure, and this is easily treated with IV fluids. If dehydration is severe, hospitalization may be required. Based on the mechanism of the effect, some clinicians have used topical capsaicin cream applied to the periumbilical area in the treatment of acute CHS. The use of capsaicin as first-line treatment for CHS has been well tolerated, though the evidence for efficacy is limited. The use of hot water showers in the emergency department setting has been advocated in situations where topical capsaicin cream is unavailable, though the same precautions to hot water use (dehydration, burn injury) are required.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The use of antipsychotics, such as haloperidol and olanzapine, have provided complete relief of symptoms in case-reports. The evidence for the use of benzodiazepines, such as lorazepam, has shown mixed results. Other drug treatments that have been tried, with unclear efficacy, include neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists, first-generation antihistamines (e.g. diphenhydramine), 5-HT receptor antagonists (e.g. ondansetron), and non-antipsychotic antidopaminergics (e.g. metoclopramide).


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: Acetaminophen has shown some benefit in case reports for alleviating headaches associated with CHS. Opioids can provide some relief of abdominal pain, but their use is discouraged due to the risk of worsening nausea and vomiting.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: a French pharmacovigilance program for drug users had received reports of 29 cases of CHS. At the time there were 113 case described in the international medical literature. CHS incidence is likely to have been substantially under-reported. A retrospective application of the 2016 Rome IV criteria to cases recorded in prior literature suggested that the number of people with CHS had been over-estimated.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: In the United States, an analysis of data from the National Emergency Department Sample between 2006 and 2013 found an increase in emergency room attendees with vomiting who also had cannabis use disorder, to a rate of approximately 13 per 100,000 attendees. It is possible this rise, of around times, may be affected by sampling bias, as initial awareness of CHS prompted more diligent questioning and recording of when such ER attendees were also cannabis users.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The number of people affected was unclear as of 2015. CHS has been reported more frequently in people that use cannabis daily (47.9% of people with CHS) and greater than daily (23.7% of people with CHS), compared to once weekly users (19.4% of people with CHS) and less frequent users (2.4% of people with CHS). A significant increase in the incidence of CHS (and other cannabis-related visits to the emergency department) has been noted in U.S. states that have legalized cannabis, with the incidence of cyclic vomiting prominently doubling in the US state of Colorado after legalization. As the use of cannabis continues to be legalized at the state level, the prevalence of CHS is expected to increase in the US.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The name "cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome" was also coined at this time. The report focused on nine patients who were chronic cannabis users who presented with cyclical vomiting illness. One woman in the study reported that warm baths provided the only relief from the nausea, severe vomiting, and stomach pain, and reportedly burned herself in a hot water bath three times trying to get relief.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: CHS is not very well known. In lieu of a correct diagnosis, the average patient in the US may be charged $100,000 or more in medical bills through emergency department visits. An emergency department physician in 2018 commented that the condition wasn't on their "radar" in the five years prior, though the condition was being diagnosed more often now. Many people are surprised by the notion that cannabis can induce symptoms of nausea and vomiting, given the fact that cannabis is used to prevent nausea and vomiting.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: The portmanteau "scromiting" ("scream" + "vomiting") has been used as a colloquial name for the condition, though it is not clear how widespread the use of the term is.


title: Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome

text: It is unclear why CHS is disproportionately uncommon in recognition of how widely used cannabis is throughout the world. There may be genetic differences between cannabis users that affect one's risk for developing CHS, e.g., a genetic difference affecting cannabinoid metabolism that increases the level of pro-emetic cannabinoids. The pathophysiology of the syndrome is also unclear, especially with regards to the effect of cannabinoids on the gut. The long-term outcomes of patients that have had CHS are unknown.


title: Avenue Q

text: Avenue Q is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody of PBS's "Sesame Street", but its content involves adult-oriented themes. It has been praised for its approach to themes of racism, homosexuality and internet pornography.


title: Avenue Q

text: The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 at the Vineyard Theatre, co-produced by the Vineyard Theatre and The New Group. In July of that same year the show moved to the John Golden Theatre on Broadway, where it ran until 2009, playing for over 2,500 performances. It then transferred to the off-Broadway New World Stages, where it played until 2019. Major productions have been staged in Las Vegas and the West End, and the musical has been staged and toured in several countries around the world. A school-friendly script has been produced.


title: Avenue Q

text: The principal cast includes four puppeteers and three human actors. The puppet characters, Princeton, Kate, Nicky, and others, are played by the unconcealed puppeteers as the costumed human actors interact with the puppets.


title: Avenue Q

text: "Avenue Q"s cast consists of three human characters and eleven puppet characters who interact as if human, "Sesame Street"–style. The puppets are animated and voiced by puppeteers who are on stage, unconcealed. The puppet and human characters ignore the puppeteers, creating the illusion that the puppets are alive. To assist with the illusion, the puppeteers wear plain gray clothing in contrast to the human characters' colorful costumes. The same puppet may be operated by different puppeteers in different scenes, and the actor voicing the puppet may not be the one animating it. One puppeteer sometimes voices two or more puppets simultaneously. Conversely, the so-called "live-hands" puppets (see Puppets) require two puppeteers – again, in full view of the audience.


title: Avenue Q

text: The show draws inspiration from and imitates the format of children's educational television show "Sesame Street". Marx interned at the program early in his career, and all four of the original cast's principal puppeteers – John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Jennifer Barnhart and Rick Lyon – were "Sesame Street" performers (D'Abruzzo returned to "Sesame Street" after leaving "Avenue Q"). Three of the puppet characters are direct recognizable parodies of "Sesame Street" puppets: Roommates Rod and Nicky are a riff on Bert and Ernie, while Trekkie Monster bears the distinctive voice and disposition of Cookie Monster, though not his obsession with baked goods. (The production officially disclaims any connection with either Sesame Workshop or The Jim Henson Company.)


title: Avenue Q

text: All of the characters (puppet and human) are young adults who face real-world problems with uncertain solutions, as opposed to the simplistic problems and invariably happy resolutions encountered by characters on children's television programming. Much of the show's ironic humor emerges from its contrasts with "Sesame Street", including the differences between innocent childhood experiences and complex adulthood. The storyline presupposes the existence of "monsters" and talking animals, and human actors sing, dance and interact with puppets, both human and non-human, as if they were sentient beings, in a light-hearted, quasi-fantasy environment. However, the characters use a considerable amount of profanity, and puppet nudity and sex are portrayed. The show addresses adult themes, such as racism, pornography, homosexuality and schadenfreude.


title: Avenue Q

text: The story does not explain why seven of the human characters are portrayed by puppets while the other three human characters are played by humans. One character is a fictionalized version of the real-life celebrity Gary Coleman, the juvenile actor who played Arnold Jackson in the 1980s American sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" and later famously sued his parents and business advisers for stealing his earnings. Coleman is portrayed (by a woman in most productions) as an adult, who happens to be the building superintendent in the run-down Avenue Q neighborhood due to his dire financial situation. Marx and Lopez said that they originally intended to offer the Gary Coleman role to Coleman himself, and he expressed interest in accepting it, but did not show up for a meeting scheduled to discuss it. They stated that the character illustrates "one of the most important themes in "Avenue Q" ... that life isn't as easy as we've been led to believe". Coleman threatened to sue "Avenue Q" producers for their depiction of him, but ultimately he did not.


title: Avenue Q

text: When Coleman died on May 28, 2010, casts of both the Off-Broadway production in New York City and the second national tour in Dallas dedicated that evening's performances to his memory. The Coleman character remains in the show with modified dialogue.


title: Avenue Q

text: Princeton, a recent college graduate, is anxious to discover his purpose in life; but first, he must find an apartment and a job, with no work experience and an English degree ("What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?"). Beginning his search on Avenue A, he finally finds an affordable apartment on Avenue Q. His new neighbors are Kate Monster, a kindergarten assistant teacher; Rod, an obsessively neat Republican investment banker; Nicky, Rod's slacker roommate; Brian, an aspiring comedian recently laid off from his catering job; Christmas Eve, Brian's Japanese fiancée and a therapist with no clients; Trekkie Monster, a surly recluse who surfs the Internet all day in search of porn; and Gary Coleman, the former child actor who now serves as the apartment superintendent. Debates ensue over whose life is worst ("It Sucks to Be Me"), and they conclude that it is Coleman's.


title: Avenue Q

text: Nicky, who is straight, suspects that Rod is gay, and assures Rod it is okay with him if he is; but Rod insists otherwise ("If You Were Gay"). Princeton finds a lucky penny and longs to discover his purpose in life ("Purpose"). Kate dreams of starting a "Monstersori" school for young "people of fur". Princeton innocently asks Kate if she and Trekkie are related, since they are both monsters, but Kate angrily pronounces his assumption racist. Princeton, taken aback, counters that Kate's Monstersori School would discriminate against non-monsters. They all agree that racism, while problematic, is an adult reality ("Everyone's a Little Bit Racist").


title: Avenue Q

text: Princeton receives money from his parents. The Bad Idea Bears, two charming troublemakers, convince him to spend it on beer. Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Thistletwat assigns Kate to teach the next morning's kindergarten class, her first solo teaching opportunity. She decides that her lesson will be about the Internet and all its educational attributes, but Trekkie Monster and the neighbors explain another reality of adulthood: many adults, even "normal people", use it to find pornography ("The Internet is for Porn").


title: Avenue Q

text: Princeton gives Kate a mixtape. His puzzling song selections make her question his intended message, but eventually, she decides that he must like her ("Mixtape"). Sure enough, he invites her on a date to the Around the Clock Café. Brian, the café's MC, does his raunchy stand-up act ("I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today") before introducing skanky chanteuse Lucy the Slut, who wows the guys, especially Princeton, with a seductive cabaret number ("Special"). The Bad Idea Bears suggest that Kate and Princeton order some "harmless" Long Island Iced Teas, and once Kate is totally inebriated, Princeton takes her home to bed.


title: Avenue Q

text: Kate and Princeton have enthusiastic, high-decibel sex. Gary fields angry calls from other tenants but refuses to intercede ("You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want When You're Makin' Love"). Meanwhile, Rod hears Nicky say, "I love you, Rod," in his sleep, and is jubilant, but he eventually realizes he was dreaming. Kate and Princeton profess their mutual love, and he gives her his lucky penny ("Fantasies Come True").


title: Avenue Q

text: The next morning, a hung-over Kate oversleeps and misses her teaching assignment. Mrs. Thistletwat berates her, and Kate angrily quits her job before she can be fired. Christmas Eve decides unilaterally that it is time she and Brian were married. At the wedding, Nicky blurts out his suspicion that Rod is gay. Rod, furious, insists he has a girlfriend named Alberta in Vancouver ("My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada") and tells Nicky he is no longer welcome in their apartment.


title: Avenue Q

text: When Kate catches Christmas Eve's wedding bouquet, Princeton panics, confesses his fear of commitment, and asks Kate if they can just be friends. Kate retorts that she already has many friends, and ends their relationship ("There's a Fine, Fine Line").


title: Avenue Q

text: A despondent Princeton has been holed up in his apartment after breaking up with Kate, but the neighbors coax him outside ("There is Life Outside Your Apartment"). Lucy, looking for a place to crash, seduces the rebounding Princeton. Kate is angry, but Christmas Eve explains that it means she is in love with him ("The More You Ruv Someone"). Kate writes a note to Princeton suggesting that they rendezvous at the Empire State Building and leaves it with Lucy, who promptly destroys it. A homeless Nicky laments his fate to Gary who confesses that he is deriving pleasure from Nicky's misfortune; they agree that this, while morally wrong, is yet another reality ("Schadenfreude").


title: Avenue Q

text: On the Empire State Building's viewing platform, Kate, thinking that Princeton has stood her up, throws his lucky penny away. A hundred stories below, Lucy, walking by on Fifth Avenue, is knocked unconscious by the penny. Kate and Princeton unsuccessfully try to work out their problems over Lucy's comatose body. Rod is too proud to accept Nicky's repeated apologies, despite clearly missing him, and tearfully consults Christmas Eve. Princeton, Kate, and Nicky dream of returning to happier times ("I Wish I Could Go Back to College").


title: Avenue Q

text: Princeton gives a still-homeless panhandling Nicky a quarter, and marvels at how fantastic he feels. Since thinking only about himself has gotten him nowhere, he decides to raise money to build Kate's Monstersori School. He solicits everyone, even breaking the fourth wall to shake down the audience, but results are disappointing ("The Money Song"). Then Trekkie Monster, recalling his own traumatic school experiences, donates ten million dollars – and explains to the astonished cast, "In volatile market, only stable investment is porn!" ("School for Monsters/The Money Song (Reprise)").


title: Avenue Q

text: Kate joyfully opens her new school. Brian lands a consulting job, and Christmas Eve finally has a paying client (Rod), so the newlyweds move to a better neighborhood. Rod finally comes out, unsurprisingly, and takes Nicky back in. Nicky finds Rod a boyfriend – Ricky, a muscle-bound hunk who otherwise looks and sounds exactly like Nicky. The Bad Idea Bears discover Scientology. Lucy, having recovered from her head injury, becomes a born-again Christian and takes a vow of chastity. Kate and Princeton agree to give their relationship another go ("There's a Fine, Fine Line (Reprise)").


title: Avenue Q

text: A new college graduate inquires about the vacancy in the building, ("What Do You Do with a B.A. in English (Reprise)") and Princeton has an epiphany: he concludes that his purpose may be to put everything he has learned into a Broadway musical. Everybody, especially the new guy, immediately ridicules him. The cast reminds Princeton that, in the real world, many people never find their purpose, but life goes on, and everything, both good and bad, is "only for now." ("For Now").


title: Avenue Q

text: The musical is scored for bass (acoustic and electric), drums/percussion (drum kit, bell tree, bongos, china cymbal, cowbell, egg shaker, finger cymbals, ice bell, mark tree, ratchet, siren whistle, slide whistle, tambourine, temple blocks, triangle, vibraslap, and wood block), guitars (acoustic, electric, and banjo), reeds (Bb clarinet, alto sax, flute), and two electronic keyboards.


title: Avenue Q

text: Nine additional songs were written for "Avenue Q" or associated promotions, but are not part of the original Broadway production itself.


title: Avenue Q

text: The "Avenue Q" puppets, which cost up to $10,000 each, and require up to 120 hours of hand fabrication per character, were designed and built by original cast member Rick Lyon. Lyon's company, The Lyon Puppets, built and maintained the puppets used in all North American productions, and several of the international productions, including those from the UK, Australia, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, while supervising the construction of those from the Finnish and Swedish productions. Their unusually sturdy construction, with double-stitching, reinforced seams, steel boning, and custom fake fur and feathers, is necessitated by the rigors of an eight-shows-per-week performance schedule.


title: Avenue Q

text: Rod puppets consist of a head and a torso with two arms, at least one of which is movable for gestures. "Single rod" puppets have one movable arm controlled by one rod, with the other arm "posed" in a permanent gesture or attached to the puppet's torso; both arms are movable on "double rod" puppets, each controlled by a separate rod. The puppeteer controls the puppet's head and mouth with his or her dominant hand, and holds one or both rods in the other hand.


title: Avenue Q

text: Live-hands puppets require two puppeteers, each of whom contributes one hand and arm dressed with a long sleeve and glove matching the puppet's costume, which become the arms and hands of the puppet. The speaking puppeteer controls the puppet's left hand, head, and mouth, while the second, silent operator controls the right hand. (Sides are sometimes reversed if the speaking puppeteer is left-handed.) During the show, one puppeteer will sometimes exit to take over another puppet, leaving the live-hands puppet with a single operator and only one functioning hand. In a variation, one or both of the puppet's hands can be attached to its torso to permit operation by a single puppeteer.


title: Avenue Q

text: Mechanized puppets are not directly controlled by the puppeteer's hand. Instead, they are controlled by a concealed trigger that when pulled causes the mouth to open. The motion is similar to a toy grabber. Princeton's cardboard boxes, also used in "Purpose", are examples of such puppets. Free hand puppets do not have rods, mechanisms, or live-hands for their arms. While their head controls are the same as a rod puppet, the hands are moved by physically picking them up and moving them. In the show Ricky is the only puppet with this design because it is intended for use by a left handed puppeteer.


title: Avenue Q

text: Jeff Marx met Robert Lopez at a songwriting class at the BMI Workshop. As part of the workshop, the two decided to write songs for a speculative Muppet movie based on "Hamlet" called "Kermit, Prince of Denmark". Encouraged by the class response to their songs, they decided to have someone actually performing a puppet present a song, since they were writing them for puppets. Through mutual friends, they contacted Rick Lyon, who agreed to perform Kermit singing a song in their class. He performed a Kermit replica puppet while sitting on a stool in full view of the audience. This visible puppeteer approach became a key component of "Avenue Q". "Kermit, Prince of Denmark" was pitched to, but was ultimately turned down by, the Henson family. The duo then decided to create a new show, with original puppet characters, which was a parody of "Sesame Street". Lyon created the puppets. "Avenue Q" was originally conceived as a show for television, but following a public reading presented for potential producers/investors in 2000, Broadway producers Robyn Goodman and Jeffrey Seller expressed interest in developing it into a theatrical property.


title: Avenue Q

text: "Avenue Q" ran Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre for 72 performances from March 19 through May 4, 2003. The musical won the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical and Outstanding Sound Design (Brett Jarvis). It was nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director (Jason Moore), Outstanding Choreographer (Ken Roberson) and Outstanding Scenic Design (Anna Louizos). It won the 2003–2004 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Ensemble Performance and Puppet Artistry and the 2004 GLAAD Media Award, Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway and Off-Broadway


title: Avenue Q

text: The musical opened on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on July 31, 2003, following previews from July 10, again directed by Moore and choreographed by Roberson, with set design by Louizos, costume design by Mirena Rada, lighting design by Howell Binkley, musical supervision by Stephen Oremus, musical direction by Gary Adler, and puppet design and execution by cast member Rick Lyon. It was produced by Kevin McCollum, Robyn Goodman, and Jeffrey Seller. The show was nominated for six Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.


title: Avenue Q

text: After 22 previews and 2,534 regular performances, it closed on September 13, 2009. As of June 21, 2009, the production had grossed over $117 million and had returned profits of $23.5 million to its investors.(All of the money collected from the audience during "The Money Song" is donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.)


title: Avenue Q

text: After the show closed on Broadway, it reopened Off-Broadway at the New World Stages complex on October 9, 2009. The production played there for a decade until its final performance on May 26, 2019, with many former cast members, and the show's creators in the audience.


title: Avenue Q

text: In September 2005, "Avenue Q" opened at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas under a production contract that precluded "Avenue Q" tours in North America during the Las Vegas run. A new 1,200-seat theater was built especially for the show. Variations from the Broadway production included a new reprise of "It Sucks to Be Me" for Princeton at the top of Act Two, some new orchestrations, a trimmed "The Money Song," and a new rock arrangement of "There Is Life Outside Your Apartment," as well as a few jokes written specifically for Las Vegas audiences.


title: Avenue Q

text: Attendance was well below anticipated levels, and in January 2006 the show was cut to 90 minutes with the intermission removed. Hotel owner Steve Wynn promoted the show heavily, at one point decorating 20 city cabs in orange fuzz and large white "Q" letters. All such efforts were unsuccessful, and the show closed on May 28, 2006 after a nine-month run, terminating the exclusivity agreement and opening the way for national tours.


title: Avenue Q

text: A Cameron Mackintosh-produced version of "Avenue Q" opened in 2006 in the West End at the Noël Coward Theatre (formerly the Albery Theatre). Several adaptive changes were made for British audiences, including portrayal of the Gary Coleman character by a male actor. The production ran 1,179 performances through March 2009, then reopened in June 2009 at the Gielgud Theatre. After a further 327 performances, the show moved in March 2010 to the Wyndham's Theatre, where it closed on October 30, 2010 after a five-year run.


title: Avenue Q

text: The first national tour began at the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego, California on June 30, 2007. Broadway director and choreographer Jason Moore and Ken Roberson returned in those roles, as did most other Broadway creative team members. The tour played a total of 721 performances in 22 cities, and closed at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wisconsin on May 10, 2009. A second national tour opened in Clemson, South Carolina in September 2009 under direction of the same creative team, and closed in Huntsville, Alabama on April 23, 2011.


title: Avenue Q

text: The first UK tour began at the Theatre Royal Bath in February, 2011 and closed at Northampton's Derngate in July. A second UK and Ireland tour began in January, 2012 at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, Sell A Door Theatre Company launched a British revival of the show in April 2014, which ran for 3 weeks at Greenwich Theatre, followed by a 12-week UK tour. The tour differed from the West End production in that Gary Coleman, as in the Broadway production, was portrayed by a female actress. The production toured the UK again in 2015–16; another touring production started in 2019.


title: Avenue Q

text: An Australian production opened in June 2009 at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria, directed by Jonathan Biggins and featuring a local cast, including Michala Banas as Kate/Lucy. The production visited Sydney in August, before touring Canberra (Australian Capital Territory), Perth (Western Australia), Adelaide (South Australia), Brisbane (Queensland), and Auckland in New Zealand, and closed in June 2010. The show won a number of Helpmann Awards, including Best Direction, Best Actress and Best Actor.


title: Avenue Q

text: "Avenue Q" has had additional international productions in Australia, France, Portugal, Germany, Hong Kong, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico, among others.


title: Avenue Q

text: "Avenue Q" and Music Theatre International collaborated on the "Avenue Q: School Edition" to facilitate production of the musical by high school drama departments. Most of the profanity and sexual themes are removed from the script and score, and two songs ("My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada" and "You Can Be As Loud as the Hell You Want") are removed. "The Internet Is for Porn" is replaced with "My Social Life Is Online", and Trekkie's obsession with pornography is replaced by an obsession with social networking sites. The characters Mrs. Thistletwat and Lucy the Slut are renamed Mrs. Butz and Lucy, respectively. The scenes involving the Bad Idea Bears are altered to deemphasize alcohol.


title: Avenue Q

text: On September 30, 2004, the day of , on a stage set up in Times Square, the cast of "Avenue Q" presented their version of the debate, called "Avenue Q&A", with portrait puppets of Bush and Kerry created by Rick Lyon. Eighteen television networks covered the event. Lyon operated the Bush puppet, while Jennifer Barnhart operated the Kerry puppet. Each puppet sang responses to questions from Avenue Q's concerned residents, and the whole cast sang "Vote Your Heart" (see Other Songs above) to the rain-drenched crowd. Rod (played by Tartaglia) moderated the mock-debate. Also in 2004, Rod and Tartaglia appeared on the syndicated game show "Hollywood Squares".


title: Avenue Q

text: Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa puppets created by Lyon hosted the first few minutes of an episode of "Live with Regis and Kelly". In addition, Rod and John Tartaglia did "man on the street"-style interviews on the 2005 NBC broadcast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Rod and John also appeared alongside other Broadway stars in a World AIDS Day benefit concert of "Pippin" held at the Manhattan Center on November 29, 2004; Rod played "The Head."


title: Avenue Q

text: In another Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit in 2005, the original cast of "Avenue Q" and the cast of the Broadway revival of "Fiddler on the Roof" presented a 10-minute spoof of both musicals called "Avenue Jew." Trekkie Monster poorly plays the "Fiddler" theme, pauses, and eats the fiddle. Tevye, his wife Golde and two of their daughters, having immigrated to the US, arrive on Avenue Jew, an area inhabited by Jewish versions of the "Avenue Q" characters. The human cast expresses frustration at being upstaged by the puppets in the song "The Puppets/The Humans." Jewish-American Princeton asks "What do you do with a B.A. in Yiddish?" Tevye's daughter Shprintze falls in love with Princeton; Tevye forbids her union to a puppet but later relents. Princeton laments, "If I were a human". Rod sings "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" begging the matchmaker (played by Mrs. Thistletwat) to find him a Jewish husband. She sets Rod up with Lazar Wolf; the two ask permission to be married from the Tsar puppet, who forbids a gay marriage. The company concludes "everyone's a little bit Jewish". Princeton and Shprintze return in wedding attire, and the cast raises a chuppah adorned with a furry orange "Avenue Q" logo.


title: Avenue Q

text: In November 2005, the "Avenue Q" website held a "One Night Stand" contest for amateur puppeteers and their puppets. Andrew MacDonald Smith and his puppet Maurice Tipo won, and on March 10, 2006, appeared in the evening performance in the opening song, the café scene, and the curtain call. In October 2006, Jonathan Root and Princeton presented the award for Best Young Adult Novel at the Quill Awards. In November 2006, the London cast appeared on the BBC program "Children in Need" and performed "It Sucks to Be Me". In December 2006, the London cast performed on the Royal Variety Performance and performed "It Sucks to Be Me", "For Now", and "Special", in which Lucy the Slut suggested through lyrics and dialogue that she was making a pass at (then) Prince Charles.


title: Avenue Q

text: The cast and puppets took to the stage at Trafalgar Square on 4 July 2009 as part of the "London Pride 2009" celebration, performing "If You Were Gay", "Special" and "For Now", with Lucy the Slut assuring all the ladies in the audience that she is bisexual. Cast members appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on August 13, 2009 to promote the last month of shows, performing "The Internet is for Porn" for the first time on national television. As a response to the Muppets' Bohemian Rhapsody video, "Avenue Q" created a video called "We Will Rock Q". Released on YouTube on May 4, 2010, it features the Off-Broadway cast performing covers of the Queen songs "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".


title: Avenue Q

text: The original cast recording was made on August 10, 2003, at Right Track Studio A in New York City, produced by Grammy Award winner Jay David Saks for RCA Victor. The album contains almost all of the music from the show, with the original Broadway cast and orchestra. Released on October 6, 2003, it has been in the top ten of the "Billboard" Top Cast Album Chart since the chart's launch on January 12, 2006. It was nominated in the Musical Show Album category for a 2004 Grammy Award. According to "Playbill", it was likely the first cast recording to use a Parental Advisory label.


title: Avenue Q

text: "The New York Times" theatre critic Ben Brantley called it a "...savvy, sassy and eminently likable...breakthrough musical", and compared its potential long-term influence to "West Side Story" and "The King and I". "The New Yorker" described it as "...an ingenious combination of 'The Real World' and "Sesame Street"". "The Times" described it as "...how "Friends" might be if it had Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy arguing about their one-night stand, but with more angst, expletives and full-on puppet sex."


title: Avenue Q

text: "Avenue Q" made "Entertainment Weekly"'s 2010 end-of-the-decade "best-of" list: "This 2003 smash musical is "Sesame Street" for grown-ups, with filthy-minded puppets who teach useful lessons like 'The Internet Is for Porn.' Somewhere, Big Bird is molting."


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in "Action Comics" #252 (May 1959)'s "The Supergirl from Krypton" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. Her father, Zor-El, is the brother of Superman’s father, Jor-El. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, "Superman" editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event and retconning her out of existence.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the "Superman/Batman" storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the "Supergirl" comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series "Smallville", played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series "Supergirl" debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film "The Flash" (2022).


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in "Action Comics" #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In the "Superboy" #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In "Superman" #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in "Action Comics" #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in "Action Comics". She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in "Action Comics" #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique". She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in "Action Comics" #285 (February 1962).


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared "Action Comics" with Superman until transferring to the lead in "Adventure Comics" at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named "The Superman Family". In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In 1985, the maxi-series "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the "Crisis". According to Marv Wolfman, writer of "Crisis on Infinite Earths":


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did "really" add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film "Supergirl" was also blamed by some sources.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: A heroine resembling the Pre-"Crisis" Kara would later appear in "" #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's "Supergirl: Many Happy Returns". The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In the Linda Danvers' "Supergirl" series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's "Birds of Prey" which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: After the launch of the "Superman/Batman" comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-"Crisis" history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of "Superman/Batman". Loeb states:


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in "Superman/Batman" #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The "Supergirl" comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new "Supergirl" series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, "cheerleader" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch "Rebirth" incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the "Supergirl" television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled "Supergirl: Rebirth", written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: The "Future State" comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: Under the "Infinite Frontier" brand, Kara's next series "Woman of Tomorrow" debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The "mentor-mentee journey on revenge" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of "True Grit".


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in "Action Comics" drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".


title: Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

text: When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.