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Lucas "Snapper" Carr is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and penciller Mike Sekowsky, and first appeared in The Brave and the Bold in February 1960. From 1960 to 1969, Snapper Carr appeared as a supporting character to the Justice League of America. The character occasionally appeared in comics featuring the Justice League from 1969 to 1989, when the Invasion! limited-series comic book gave him superpowers. Snapper was associated with a new superhero team, The Blasters, in various comics until 1993, when he lost his powers and became a main character in the Hourman comic book, beginning in 1999. After the cancellation of Hourman in April 2001, he became a main character in the Young Justice comic book beginning in December 2001. Young Justice was cancelled in May 2003, and he became associated with the governmental organization Checkmate, a role revealed when the character played a small but important role in the 2007–2008 limited series comic book 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen. The character made major appearances in Final Crisis: Resist in December 2008 and Justice League of America 80-Page Giant in November 2009. Creation and early characterization In 1959, after the successful revival of Flash and Green Lantern, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz decided to update the Justice Society of America using a new group of heroes under the name Justice League of America (JLA). According to Schwartz, DC Comics Executive Editor Whitney Ellsworth not only insisted that a teenager be a member of the Justice League but also that this teenager be hip. Ellsworth wanted the new superhero team to tap into the emerging and economically powerful youth culture, and specifically told Schwartz to have the character emulate the hip-talking, leather jacket-wearing, finger-snapping "Kookie" Kookson character on the popular television series 77 Sunset Strip. The teenager had to be a "civilian" (i.e., non-superhero). A hip version of an existing teenage superhero, such as Robin, Supergirl, or existing teenage "civilian" such as Jimmy Olsen was ruled out, as these characters would tend to over-emphasize the hero with whom they were already associated. To preserve the "team" nature of the new comic book, therefore, a "neutral" civilian character had to be created. Ellsworth specifically coined the name "Snapper Carr", the character's first name indicating his habit of snapping his fingers when excited or making a point. Snapper's given name of Lucas was not revealed until 1978. Snapper Carr made his first appearance, alongside the first appearance of the JLA, in the comic book The Brave and the Bold #28, released on December 29, 1959, but with a cover date of February–March 1960. Snapper Carr was not intended to be a superhero, but rather a supporting character for the Justice League. Because of the critical role he played in the League's first adventure, he was formally made an "honorary member" of the JLA, and was often referred to as the team's mascot. At the end of the first adventure, Snapper received a belt with a signal device embedded in the buckle, with which he can summon members of the JLA. In keeping with his "hip" character, Justice League members later rebuilt a hot rod car so that it could fly and whisk Snapper to JLA meetings. As written by Gardner Fox, Snapper Carr had the most distinctive personality of all the members of the Justice League. Snapper not only had the most distinctive means of speaking (with his extreme hipster slang), but he had the most clearly written and individualist character of all the recurring characters in the comic book. Within a few years, Fox got rid of the hipster slang and had Snapper speak in a more mainstream way. Snapper's parents are identified in The Brave and the Bold #28 as Mr. and Mrs. John Carr. Two years later, readers learn in 1961 that he has a younger brother, Jimmy Carr. Snapper Carr was given a girlfriend, Midge, in Justice League of America #7 (November 1961). Snapper was also shown in 1974 to have a sister, Janet. In 1998, readers learned that Snapper had an uncle, Simon Carr, who played a major role in the founding of the Justice League. A year later, Snapper mentioned in Hourman #1 that he has a brother nicknamed "Spitter" Carr (for his habit of spitting). It is unclear if Spitter and Jimmy are the same person, or if Snapper was merely being sarcastic. Fictional character biography Membership in the Justice League In The Brave and the Bold #28, the Justice League of America faces the threat of Starro, a giant alien starfish with mind-control powers. Snapper Carr, who is spreading lime on his family's lawn, is unaffected by Starro when the alien takes mental control of the population of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. Members of the Justice League realize that Starro can be incapacitated using lime, and the alien is defeated. Comic book historian Ramzi Fawaz has argued that this adventure is a critical one in the development of the modern comic book. Not only does it mark the beginning of the superhero who identifies as a defender of the world rather than a nation, it marks the first time that a world-destroying (rather than nation-destroying) threat was depicted in comics. Snapper Carr's inclusion was also important. Whereas pre-World War II social norms had emphasized family connections as the most important relationships in a young person's life, the Justice League offered a new kind of relationship, based solely on "ethical commitments to the world", which could supplant the family. Snapper also represented a new egalitarian future, one in which youth could be accepted alongside older adults rather than patronized or excluded. For example, Snapper's first year as an honorary member of the JLA coincided with his senior year of high school. In "Man, Thy Name Is—Brother!", three League members donate their time to help Snapper write a paper about brotherhood. In the 1985–1986 crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics rebooted its fictional universe and the back-stories of nearly all its characters. This required retellings of many of origin stories, including that of the Justice League of America. The first adventures of the Justice League, and that of Snapper Carr, were retold in the 12-issue maxi-series comic book JLA: Year One. The first several issues of the maxi-series involved the alien race known as the Appellaxians, which had first appeared in Justice League of America #9 (February 1962). In the fictional character chronology, this story occurs before and shortly after The Brave and the Bold #28, but in the publication history of the character it is printed in 1998. In the story, the Appellaxians conspired with a new criminal organization, Locus, to take over Earth. Snapper's uncle, Simon Carr, made his first appearance in the second issue, and in the third issue readers learned that Simon is the contact person for an ultra-wealth.... Discover the Gardner Fox Dennis O Neil Mike Sekowsky popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Gardner Fox Dennis O Neil Mike Sekowsky books.