History ComicBook / TheTwelve

''The Twelve'' is a twelve-issue miniseries of comics written by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski and set in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, featuring the titular twelve, a group of a dozen "mystery men" from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, brought back into the strange new world of modern Marvel Earth, shortly after the events of ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006''. It makes use of twelve updated, reimagined Golden Age characters that Marvel wrote about in its days as Timely Comics.

* TheCameo: Splash pages in Book 1 have ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Bucky Barnes]], ComicBook/{{The Invaders|MarvelComics}}, and nearly every other World War II era comic characters that Marvel reintroduced during the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze]] Comic Book Ages. ComicBook/SgtFuryAndHisHowlingCommandos also appears here, and then in the final issue [[spoiler:ComicBook/NickFury recruits The Witness into ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}]]. Oddly included is ComicBook/NightRaven, a Creator/MarvelUK character created during the 1980s, who's neither an actual Golden Age character nor a [=WW2=] comics character. (His in-story history has him as a veteran of [=WW1=].) Although considering his early stories were set in the 1930s and his immortality, it's plausible that he was active during [=WWII=] as well.

* TheCameo: Splash pages in Book 1 have ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Bucky Barnes]], ComicBook/{{The Invaders|MarvelComics}}, and nearly every other World War II era comic characters that Marvel reintroduced during the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze]] Comic Book Ages. ComicBook/SgtFuryAndHisHowlingCommandos also appears here, and then in the final issue [[spoiler:ComicBook/NickFury recruits The Witness into ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}]]. Oddly included is ComicBook/NightRaven, a Creator/MarvelUK character created during the 1980s, who's neither a Golden Age nor a [=WW2=] comics character. (His in-story history has him as a [=WW1=] veteran.)

''The Twelve'' is a twelve-issue miniseries of comics written by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski and set in the MarvelUniverse, featuring the titular twelve, a group of a dozen "mystery men" from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, brought back into the strange new world of modern Marvel Earth, shortly after the events of ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006''. It makes use of twelve updated, reimagined Golden Age characters that Marvel wrote about in its days as Timely Comics.

Sixty years later, the Twelve are discovered and revived, slowly realizing that they have been brought into an alien new future. Each attempts to adjust to their new life, but not with too much success. Mister E retires and eventually reunites with his family, who had long shunned him for the shunning of his Jewish roots. Blue Blade attempts to become a TV star, reviving an old-fashioned cabaret-style comedy act. The Laughing Mask is sent to jail when forensics confirm him to be the murderer of a crime boss in the 1940s. Electro no longer functions and is returned to the descendants of his creator. Excello goes into solitude, as the modern world is far too much for his psychic senses to cope with. Phantom Reporter gets a job writing a column for the Daily Bugle. Rockman remains in the mansion that the Twelve were given to recuperate in, trying to make contact with his kingdom. Black Widow leaves to resume her independent crusade, as does the Witness, and Dynamic Man, Captain Wonder, and Fiery Mask all take the offered job.

''The Twelve'' is a twelve-issue miniseries of comics written by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski and set in the MarvelUniverse, featuring the titular twelve, a group of a dozen "mystery men" from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, brought back into the strange new world of modern Marvel Earth, shortly after the events of ''ComicBook/CivilWar''. It makes use of twelve updated, reimagined Golden Age characters that Marvel wrote about in its days as Timely Comics.

* The gang-busting ''Golden Mask''.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Rockman]] saves the remainder of The 12 [[spoiler:when Dynamic Man]] destroys the mansion but is buried in the rubble. [[spoiler:However, when the survivors search for him, they only find a shaft into the earth...]]

* Black Widow: Real name Claire Voyant, a mysterious and cursed individual who [[DealWithTheDevil sold her soul to Satan for superpowers after her sister was murdered]], in exchange for agreeing to act as Satan's representative on Earth by slaying evil men and women and thus condemning their souls directly to Hell before they can think to seek redemption. Her superpowers consist of SuperStrength and flight, as well as an implied but never-actually-seen TouchOfDeath.
* Blue Blade: Real name Roy Chambers, a flamboyant wisecracking costumed adventurer who dresses up as a half-naked swashbuckler in various shades of blue.
* Captain Wonder: Real name Professor Jeff Jordan, a scientist who accidentally imbued himself with SuperStrength and the ability to fly when he had an accident with a chemical formula of his own creation.
* Dynamic Man: Real name Curt Cowan, he was transformed into the "Man of Tomorrow!" by his father, Professor Goettler, though his father died from heart strain after the process was completed. Possess SuperStrength, SuperIntelligence, flight, shapeshifting, X-Ray Vision, and SelectiveMagnetism as well as NighInvulnerability that could be defeated by the rare element lantholum.
* Electro: A clanking battle robot created and telepathically controlled by Professor Philo Zog, with armor thicker than a tank, the ability to run at speeds of up to 100mph, and SuperStrength.
* Fiery Mask: Real name Jack Castle, a renowned professor brought in by the police to investigate a case where brainwashed zombies were kidnapping homeless men and turning them into more of their own kind. Himself abducted, Castle was brought before their creator, a 20ft tall MadScientist calling himself "The Zombie Master", who attempted to transform Castle, only to fail due to Castle's resistance to hypnosis. Enraged, the villain tried to compensate by increasing the power, but his mind-controlling ray exploded, inadvertently giving Castle superpowers and killing the Zombie Master in the process. [[spoiler:Actually, the flame powers he wields are mystical in origin and are part of a legacy; he saved the mortally wounded last bearer of them, and when he told him that an ambulance would take too long to arrive, the former Fiery Mask passed his power on to Castle.]] Possess [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinesis]] and SuperStrength, which allows him to [[InASingleBound jump for miles]] and generate forcefields out of concentrated heat.
* Laughing Mask: Real name Dennis Burton, this Deputy District Attorney grew frustrated with the American civil justice process and decided to take the law into his own hands, donning his trademark phosphorescent golden Comedy mask and DualWielding .45 pistols as he set to killing gangsters, spies, saboteurs and anyone else he decided the law was being too slow to stop.
* Master Mind Excello: Real name Earl Everett, this former hedonistic gambling wastrel son of a nuclear researcher gained SuperIntelligence and PsychicPowers, most notably precognition, when an unthinking effort to prevent his father from being shot by a Nazi spy left a bullet made by his father from an experimental radioactive element lodged between the halves of his brain.
* Mister E: Real name Victor J. Goldstein, but goes by the alias Victor Jay, due to the prevalent Anti-Semitism of the time. A wealthy sportsman turned costumed adventurer.
* Phantom Reporter: Real name Richard Jones, a reporter who took up the alias of a costumed adventurer to try and fight the wrongs that he couldn't deal with as a reporter.
* Rockman: A king from an underground empire called Abyssmia, founded by the descendants of the first white settlers of America, who emerged from the darkness below to assist the surface-dwellers and distant kin of his people in their plight. Possesses SuperStrength and SuperToughness. [[spoiler:Except he might just be David Rose, a miner whose beloved daughter and wife were killed in a massive mining accident that destroyed their small town along with giving him superpowers, and the loss made him unhinged, causing him to invent the Rockman persona. There are signs that point to either being true.]]
* Witness: A mysterious individual, the Witness was once a detective in Chicago before he accidentally shot an innocent bystander during a case. Sentenced to prison for two years, he almost committed suicide, before a mysterious voice told him it was not his time. He has been charged with the task of seeing a tragedy about to occur beforehand. He will then watch the impending victim for several days to judge if the person deserves saving, in which case he would either try to prevent the tragedy, or simply witness the event without becoming involved.

* BadPresent: Most of them have to deal with either almost everyone they knew being dead, being unable to function in the new time period, or [[ValuesDissonance cultural changes they aren't okay with]]. Excello also has an additional problem - his powers make the cacophony of radio waves, ambient machine noise, and engines that's just normal to us, unbearable and he's forced to isolate himself in a lead-lined room until his brain has realigned himself.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Most of them have some degree of this, but they tend to press hard to get over it. It's strongest in Dynamic Man, and was [[UpToEleven kind of overblown even in the 1940s]], which made Phantom Reporter suspect that Dynamic Man [[ArmoredClosetGay may have had reasons for overemphasizing it]]. [[spoiler:This is the most prominent clue that Dynamic Man is the eventual killer.]]

* TheCameo: Splash pages in Book 1 have ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Bucky Barnes]], [[ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvelComics The Invaders]], and nearly every other World War II era comic characters that Marvel reintroduced during the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze]] Comic Book Ages. [[ComicBook/HowlingCommandos Nick Fury (Sr.)]] also appears here and then in the final book [[spoiler:recruiting The Witness into ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}]] Oddly included is ComicBook/NightRaven, a Creator/MarvelUK character created during the 1980s, who's neither a Golden Age nor a [=WW2=] comics character. (His in-story history has him as a [=WW1=] veteran.)

* TheCameo: Splash pages in Book 1 have ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Bucky Barnes]], [[ComicBook/TheInvadersMarvelComics The Invaders]], and nearly every other World War II era comic characters that Marvel reintroduced during the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze]] Comic Book Ages. [[ComicBook/HowlingCommandos Nick Fury (Sr.)]] also appears here and then in the final book [[spoiler:recruiting The Witness into ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}]] Oddly included is ComicBook/NightRaven, a Creator/MarvelUK character created during the 1980s, who's neither a Golden Age nor a [=WW2=] comics character (he's actually a [=WW1=] veteran).