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WHO’S WHO: The Definitive Podcast of the DC Universe, Volume XXIII

Who's Who: The Definitive Podcast of the DC UniverseThe Fire and Water Podcast Presents… WHO’S WHO: THE DEFINITIVE PODCAST OF THE DC UNIVERSE, Volume XXIII!

The twenty-third episode of our WHO’S WHO podcast is now available — the show that dares to tackle one of DC Comics’ greatest publications! Each episode Rob and I cover a single issue of the legendary 1980s series, Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. This time around we chat about WHO’S WHO: Volume XXIII, discussing characters such as the Tarantula, The Teen Titans, Tellus, Terminator, Timber Wolf, and more! We wrap up the show with your Who’s Who Listener Feedback! This episode sponsored in part by InStockTrades.com!

Be sure to check out our Tumblr site for several pages from this Who’s Who issue: FireandWaterPodcast.Tumblr.com!

Have a question or comment? Send us an e-mail at: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net

You can find the twenty-third episode of WHO’S WHO: THE DEFINITIVE PODCAST OF THE DC UNIVERSE on iTunes. Each episode is released as part of THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST feed. While you’re on iTunes, please drop us a review. Alternatively, you may download the podcast by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (169 MB).

Thanks to my co-host Rob Kelly, Sea King of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE, for doing all the post-production on this episode! Special thanks to Daniel Adams and Ashton Burge with their band The Bad Mamma Jammas for our fantastic Who’s Who theme song!

One of the coolest aspects of each Who’s Who issue was the amazing wrap-around cover! Check out this Joe Staton and Mike DeCarlo cover for Volume XXIII! Click the image to enlarge.

Who's Who the Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #23 cover by Joe Staton and Mike DeCarlo

No Firestorm characters this time. The closest would be The Thinker, as he was later replaced by Cliff Carmichael.

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27 Comments

  1. Xum Yukinori says:

    Great show again gentlemen. Regarding the comment regarding Aisha Tyler and “Starfish” — I suspect Alexander Osiris actually meant to type “StarFIRE” from the New Teen Titans — but an autocorrect function decided to “help” him spell it. Of course, only Alexander and Ms. Tyler know for sure.

  2. Xum Yukinori says:

    As for why Barry Allen was in the surprint of the Thinker: I suspect that was a nod to the story in The Flash v1 #229, where he and Jay Garrick teamed-up to fight him. It was actually an interesting story in which the Thinker made Jay Garrick believe that he was getting a little incompetent as a crime fighter in his “old” age…

  3. Xum Yukinori says:

    Superwoman, as Kristen Wells, first appeared in a Superman prose novel written by Elliot S! Maggin entitled “Superman, Miracle Monday.” She was a journalist student from the 29th century who traveled to our present (1981) to learn the origin of a holiday called “Miracle Monday”. In the comics, she became a teacher that traveled again to the past (our present) to find out who the mysterious heroine known as “Superwoman” was (and it of course ended up being herself, using 29th century technology to enable her power set). She had appeared in DC Comics Presents Annuals #2 and #4.

    And yes, Shag, a variation of the Superwoman costume design, with an added white cowl and cape, was used in the just-before-the-New-52 “Return to Krypton” saga.

  4. Anj says:

    Thanks for another fun show. I have to say the amount of Titans and Legion stuff in this issue props this up more than … let’s say … Tarantula. I can only imagine what this cover would look like if DC put it out today. Deathstroke would take up 85% of the cover.

    This issue (and the 10 eyed man in particular) are both seen in the Batman The Brave and The Bold cartoon episode ‘Legend of the Dark Mite’.

    You guys were rapid fire here so I will try to do the same:

    Teen Titans: I don’t know how anyone can say that Donna Troy in that Wonder Girl costume isn’t the most beautiful woman on the Titans page! Lilith might have a pleated skirt … but it’s Wonder Girl. Nothing more need be said!

    Tempest: I never really liked this character. At times he was written like a hot-head. Other times a pacifist. Hard to figure out who he was. He did have an understated role in the Morrison book. And it wasn’t Morrison who ‘killed off’ the new Doom Patrol. It was Kupperberg himself who knocked off a bunch of characters in Doom Patrol #18 to clear the decks for Grant. As for Reactron, that character was Tempest’s commanding officer in Vietnam. When Tempest saw Reactron gun down civilians in the war, Tempest’s powers manifested and he attacked Reactron. Tempest then went AWOL. So the two are linked enough to warrant the surprint. (I know way too much about Reactron.)

    10-Eyed-Man: What a wild character who I also love for it’s zaniness. How does he make a fist or anything requiring his hands to be closed? Wouldn’t that make him go blind?

    Terra Man: What a ridiculous character, even for a Superman fan. For complete insanity, look up the cover for Action Comics #469. There is something weird happening on that cover.

    Thanagar: Why the hatred for Hyathis?? WHHHYYYYY???

    Thunderbolt: I have exactly one memory of him. In Crisis #5, maddened by the Psycho Pirate, Thunderbolt tries to run into the antimatter wall. He gets stopped by Jay Garrick who lays him out with an uppercut.

    Time Trapper: He becomes a major villain in the Legion during the Baxter series and beyond before being erased by Glorith. I am thrilled that Shag did not mention that at one point Cosmic Boy is revealed to be the Time Trapper. Utter nonsense.

    Thanks again for the show!

  5. Siskoid says:

    Here we go again…

    Syrene: I’ll take Blaze in this role any day.

    Talia: Take the surprint away and she might be a western star.

    Tarantula: Yeah, he’s one of the great heroes of All-Star Squadron. As for the costume, I think it has enough pulp influences (brown, the gloves, even the way these particular pouches work) that it works for me. But yes, the design isn’t “naive” enough to really fit the 40s.

    Tattooed Man: Just before the New52, Tattooed Man was Mark Richards, who even had his own series as an anti-hero type in Gotham. In the New52, Tattooed Man exists as “Tats”, a female version who has appeared in World’s Finest.

    Teen Titans: I’m disappointed by the lack of surprint. And not sur Wally West should appear as the Flash rather than Kid-Flash. I mean, come on.

    Titans Tower: OUT OF ALPHABETICAL ORDER!!! That OCD outburst aside, yeah, it’s okay, I like how the vehicles pop out from the surprint. But for my money, the DC Heroes RPG has the best Tower maps and diagrams available.

    Who’s the Ten-Eyed Man? http://siskoid.blogspot.ca/2014/10/whos-ten-fingered-man.html

    Deathstroke: I do not like this character (and I hate that name), or at least I don’t like him in the comics. The design works, somehow, but it’s still garish and over-busy. He’s much better in other media though. Yes, he’s cool enough on Arrow, but my favorite version is “Slade” on the Teen Titans Go! cartoon show. He was soooo cool there.

    Terrible Trio: Coming soon to Who’s This! They only had 3 stories before this entry, one of which is not referenced here, probably because it featured different people under the masks, including Lucius Fox’s son. Are they trying to sweep those events under the rug? Because I think it would make the Trio getting an entry more relevant.

    Thanagar: Very disappointed with the art here. It could be any future city on any planet, including Earth.

    Thia: This villain has the distinction of being presented on TWO Who’s Who covers (which I consider a mistake). She’ll be on the next cover as well.

    Thriller: I read the entire series and talked about it here, http://siskoid.blogspot.ca/2012/05/old-52-thriller.html I was ready to congratulate you on not giving in to the impulse of singing Michael Jackson’s song, alas…

    Thunder and Lightning: I asked around, and people seem to think these guys are obscure enough to be worth doing Who’s This on them. So I guess I will.

    Thunderbolt: Peter Cannon recently had a series over at Dynamite, so whether or not he’s the only entry not owned by DC or not, he’s the only one who was published elsewhere later (probably). Maybe there’s a confusion with Johnny Thunder’s Thunderbolt for the JSA stuff?

    “I don’t know what to Talia” – best accidental pun in the episode.

    Time Trapper: I love Giffen’s spare, abstracted style. I like it. They change his identity often, but it’s several times been Cosmic Boy.

    Back page: I don’t think there’s a volume of Who’s Who where so few characters are referenced. Really speaks to the lack of big stars in this issue.

    1. Re: Thunderbolt

      I think you’re totally right about the JSA/Thunderbolt confusion. Seems like someone at comicbookdb was confused when adding characters to the AMERICA v. JSA series & LAST DAYS OF THE JSA Special. The Peter Cannon character seems to have been added instead of Johnny Thunder’s genie friend.

      P.S. Peter Cannon hung out with Justice League(s) Europe & Task Force for a short time, where he acquired a new eastern-influenced costume & short pony tail (ah, the 90s).

  6. To add what Xum wrote about Superwoman, there were technically two variations of the character in the Post Infinite Crisis/Pre New 52 DCU. The first was during a storyline called THE THIRD KRYPTONIAN where Superman discovers…well, a third Kryptonian who is living on Earth under the name Kristen Wells. There isn’t a lot of meat on that bone in terms of tying it to the original version but there you go. And as Xum hinted at there was a Super Woman that turned out to be a major player in the Superman supporting cast. The Supergirl portions of NEW KRYPTON were not bad and this was a rather dramatic development in the story.

  7. Anj says:

    Listening to feedback after a meeting.

    1) As Xum states, Superwoman Kristen Wells was in Manic Monday novel and then in the comics. She is sent back in time to figure out ‘Superwoman’s secret identity’ only to have it turn out to be herself. Not a bad little wrinkle. In New Krypton (spoiler alert), Superwoman is …. Lucy Lane … and is a villain. I agree with Michael that the Supergirl pieces of New Krypton weren’t bad. Lots of good characterization between Kara and her mother as well as some great Supergirl/Superwoman brawls.

    2) The Starro in REBELS is more than a ‘space gangster’. He is a conqueror of worlds and a complete badass. But Vril Dox is the star of that book, sadly canceled.

  8. Kyle Benning says:

    Terry Beatty would be the co-creator of DC’s Wild Dog shortly after his Terrible Trio entry. And he would eventually become a regular artist on the Batman Animated comics in the 1990’s and early 2000’s as both a Penciller and Inker. He is currently writing and drawing the Phantom Comic strip. Great guy, I’ve met him a few times and he’s always a very nice guy. He loves signing copies of Action Comics Weekly #638, which has a Wild Dog Story he pencilled inside of a Jack Kirby Etrigan cover. He told me it blew his mind that he had a story in a comic that had a Jack Kirby cover when that issue came out.

    A lot of Teen Titans goodness in this issue, I really need to track down those fleet of Omnibuses.

    Dick Dillin was a machine, that is no doubt, but don’t forget that Kirby drew as many as 4 ongoings a month at times, and Byrne during his prime was pencilling as many as 3 books a month at times, while writing others, and doing covers for other books as well. When Byrne was at Marvel, he pencilled 3-4 books a month pretty regularly, which given the level of detail and dynamic storytelling Byrne did, is pretty amazing! Just a random example of how Byrne was still churning out an incredible work load at the end of the 1980’s are the issues cover dated May 1989. That month say him both write and pencil Star Brand #19, West Coast Avengers #44, Sensational She-Hulk #1, as well as pencilling the Louis Simonson written New Mutants #75. He also pencilled the cover to Marvel Comics #18 and wrote Batman #433 which was pencilled by Jim Aparo. Wow, what a work load!

    Another great episode, crazy to think that there are only 3 more issues of this first volume!

    PS Man do I miss the Brave & the Bold cartoon, especially the Bat-Mite episodes.

  9. Joe X says:

    I found Henry Bismuth: http://henrybismuth.com/biography.html He was a French medical student who quit to be an artist, and studied under John Buscema, which would explain how he got to draw a WW page.

    Tarantula showed up later in Devin Grayson’s Nightwing.

    There were a couple different Tattooed Man later. The latest one is Mark Richards, whose son was killed by Slipknot(!), which caused him to join up with Deathstroke and help kill the Ryan Choi Atom.

    Tellus showed up in the Five Year Later Legion as a Dark Circle convert. He and Quislet were the first non-humanoid Legionnaires.

    Thinker appeared in one of the GA/SA crossover issues of the Atom, which explains the Ray Palmer image.

    There was a subplot in Teen Titans Spotlight that had some of the Titans allies brainwashed by someone using fairy tale characters as triggers. Was there ever any follow-up to that?

    Time Commander was part of a team of (mostly lame) time-related villains that had a few stories in Showcase right around the time of Zero Hour.

  10. Jeff R. says:

    Deathstroke the Terminator should have been the clear choice for front cover feature; he brings the Titans connection and was already a popular character in his own right. Or a shared spotlight between him and Terra. Neither of them deserved the back cover.

    Trivial Correction time: DC did not own tons of characters who appeared in the Star Trek Who’s Who. Obviously.

    So, this is a two-award week. First, I’m actually going to give an Egregious Inclusion of the Month award, for an entry that really, really shouldn’t have been in the issue. I’ve said before that this book is called Who’s Who, not Where’s Where, so for the most part I haven’t dinged them that hard for places that get left out. However, when they come out with an issue that includes two Planets in it already, well, they’re asking for trouble, and when those planets are Tamaran, which can’t possibly say anything not completely redundant with the Blackfire, Starfire, and (imminent) Vegan System articles. You could almost say the same for the other planet, Thanagar, but it wasn’t their fault that almost everything they’re able to say about it would get retconned or otherwise entangled in the near future.

    If you absolutely must include a second place in this issue, it should have been Takron-Galtos (Which, although a Legion thing, was about to be established as a thing in the modern day DC universe as well, although I’m not sure when the first 20th century appearance actually was.)

    But the actual Egregious Omission of the Month award goes to Tigress, a villainess whos history goes back to Action Comics #1 and was almost certainly still in continuity at that time. (She was Zatara’s archenemy.)

  11. Frank says:

    1) Anj, Superwoman was my second favorite Bangle after Susanna Hoffs.

    A) I’m going to surprise everyone, myself included, and defend the cover. I am not a Joe Staton fan, but I respect his choice to forego the always shaky conceit that all these characters are supposed to exist in the same space and offer instead a dynamic collage of figures varied by their relative representation in the DCU. I very much prefer Deathstroke blasting through 25% of the back cover at a unique angle to John Byrne giving Superman a static OHOTMU entry that takes up 75% of a front cover with perfunctory additional doodles in the margins. Truth be told, I find Staton’s effort more interesting than most any other non-Perez cover, though I confess Mike DeCarlo’s inks surely made this more palatable to me than it would have been otherwise. There’s also a lot of Staton-y characters to work with (New Doom Patrol, Atari Force, garish Charlton, Titans, and Legion types.)

    B) I like Cowan’s drawing of Syrene, but I don’t recall ever encountering her in the comics, and that I costume is a mess. Never got into the Phantom Stranger, so Tala is also a personal blind spot, but I like the art in the entry. I was surprised by Rob’s hostility toward it, but expect the clunky panel borders in the surprint played a role in that.

    C) Talia was such a mooning teenybopper type in her 70s stories that I could never get into her, but Mike W. Barr and later writers made her more formidable (likely influenced by Elektra.) Probably a generational/exposure thing, but I’ll always prefer O’Barr/Bingham over O’Neil/Adams on these characters. Can’t believe Superman writers of the aughts tried to get away with calling her Talia Head though. She made Lex Luthor look like an eeeediot.

    D) I can’t figure out whether Romeo Tanghal’s inks helps or hurts Patton’s art. It definitely makes Blackfire on-Perez-model. Tannarack is the main guy who fights Phantom Stranger, and with that I sum up my full breadth of knowledge regarding this character. Aparo’s just okay here. Tara was a key figure in Warlord, and the art is solid period Mike Grell.

    E) I bought exactly one issue of All-Star Squadron brand new off the spinner rack at Gemco, and that happened solely because it featured The Tarantula in that spiffy costume drawn by Jerry Ordway on the cover and interiors. Tarantula is such a snazzy looking character that I want to read stories about him, and have, but they’ve never come within a football field of matching his visual pizzazz. I’ve heard that “no reproductions of copyrighted material” bit before, and it is true, because you had to pay Kinko’s for the facsimile. However, Rob is correct that Kinko’s staff had the moral character of an opium den, especially on the late shift. The spec mini-series sounds Vertigo-go, and could’a been a contender. Given that both Tarantula and Silver Scarab were Blue Beetle derivative, it’s too bad the former didn’t replace the latter among Infinity Inc, where lack of period verisimilitude wouldn’t interfere with a swell design’s reception. Also, Silver Scarab’s look could have been simplified for the ’40s, and then he could have been killed in Crisis, and maybe someone would have given any kind of a fig that he ever existed.

    F) I think Rob is wrong about thinking he’s wrong about The Illustrated Man influencing The Tattooed Man. I got it in my head that he was some sort of classic Green Lantern villain, only to later learn he barely made any appearances before joining the Dancing With The Stars of DC Comics, SSoSV. That, and a touring production of Hair as a background dancer. The art was so bad they misspelled Kevin Maguire’s name.

    G) Taz is a delightful little weirdo with an adorable logo, based solely on the entry, because Atari Force? Pfft!

    H) I’m kind of really not that into the Titans entry. Too many tiny figures on a plain with dead white space floating above their heads. The Aquas diving into the text doesn’t help, but the colored speed lines created by Flash do. Wasn’t there an unreleased NTT pilot in the ’80s, or am I just thinking of their animated anti-drug PSA. Since you guys mention it, are the ladies of the Teen Titans attractive to people? One area where Chris Claremont always had it all over Marv Wolfman was in writing diverse, engaging female characters. Perez made the Titanesses look different, but their personalities were too flat to ever hook me in. I like Donna Troy because she looks gorgeous in a red onesie with knee high patent leather boots, not because she has any discernible personality.

  12. Phylemon says:

    Thoughts for this issue:

    Shag! Your In-Stock Trades recommendation! You forgot the most important thing to happen during that part of Wolfman’s run. That’s right, if you buy New Teen Titans Omnibus 2, you get the first appearance of Jericho! Stellar recommendation!

    I completely agree with Shag about Syrene (and Lord Satanus). Never sure why these two were included in Who’s Who. You only get these blow by blow type of entries when there isn’t enough history to fill out the section.

    Tarantula- The original Spider Man. Roy Thomas was very fond of drawing attention to that fact during All Star Squadron. Shag, you are forgetting that this is the 1940’s on Earth 2, which is roughly equivalent to the Earth 1’s 1980’s so the costume makes sense. Regardless, Ordway’s art on this entry is phenomenal.

    I hate the idea of reinterpreting Tattooed Man to be “hep”, although when TM first appeared, he was a sailor, since only a sailor would have that many tattoos in the 50’s. So, I guess reinterpretation to fit the time is appropriate.

    Teen Titans- finally, a little more Jericho! Great entry. What does it say about me that I always thought Terra was the hottest Titan (just overall, not from this picture)?

    Steve Lightle’s art on both Tellus and Timber Wolf is really awesome! He is criminally underrated and could be mentioned in the same category as George Perez and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (whose Tempest entry in this issue is very nice. Look at that Punch!)

    Yeah, I’m going to make the same comment for Ten-Eyed Man that I did for Signal Man in a previous episode, this is a must buy character for me! This guy is 5 1/2 shades of awesome. My favorite appearance of the Ten-Eyed Man is in the Emperor Joker episode of Batman The Brave and The Bold where Bat-Mite makes this issue of Who’s Who appear out of nowhere to read Ten-Eyed Man’s entry. Also, love his logo.

    Terminator- yet another appearance of Jericho! This issue is quickly becoming my favorite. Totally agree, though, that this should be under D for Deathstroke. It could be worse, though. He could be under S for Slade ala Teen Titans Go!

    Terra- that surprint shot goes along way to explaining why I thought she was the hottest Titan (when I was a teen myself, of course). Her romance with Changling always broke my heart. The fact that there was no redemption for Ms. Markov is still jarring and makes Judas Contract such an insanely powerful story.

    Yeah, I’m a fan of Terra-Man as well. Surprised you didn’t mention his demise, where Black Adam rips him in twain.

    Thanagar is not a super interesting entry, but the artwork is clean and inviting.

    I have read roughly 3/4’s of a Thriller comic. I’ve given it several tries and it is nearly impenetrable. I LOOOOVVVVEEEE Ambush Bug and Robert Loren Flemming because of that, but I just can’t process this one.

    Rob, you are missing Star Trek. DC decidedly does not have the rights to any of the Star Trek characters, but I’ll agree Thunderbolt is the only character in any of the Who’s Who in the DC Universe or updates that DC no longer owns. As a side note, I always thought the Peter Cannon outfit was pretty unique.

    Time Commander is another character who just visually draws me in. Great classic design, interesting color contrasts. I know nothing about this character, but I want to read more about him.

    Hmm, you make some valid comments about Teen Titans. Things may fall apart towards the end, with Titans membership, but bad Titans is better than most other things (except, of course, Teen Titans Go!)

    Sorry, Rob. I am a huge movie guy, but Citizen Kane is over rated. Howard the Duck is laugh out loud funny.

    Great episode, guys! Appreciate it as always.

  13. rob! says:

    I am a huge movie guy, but Citizen Kane is over rated. Howard the Duck is laugh out loud funny.

    Phy, can you please put these words in some sort of order that make sense?

    BTW to everyone–yeah, I wasn’t including the Star Trek universe in my “Only character in Who’s Who DC doesn’t own” statement. I was just referring to the DCU characters.

  14. Siskoid says:

    To defend Rob here, I do think he meant to say there are no non-DC properties in the original volume of Who’s Who, as of course, the loose-leaf series has creator-owned fare like Butcher and Sovereign 7.

  15. Anthony Durso/The Toyroom says:

    Number 23? Wow, that was fast!

    Cover: The glory days of the covers are behind “Who’s Who” at this point.
    It’s all downhill from here. I know DC liked to give the artists free reign with
    the Who’s Who covers and entries but I think it would have been worthwhile to
    have George Perez do some quick thumbnails for each cover to at least get
    everyone on the same page.

    Syrene: I have no love for Syrene or Lord Satanis. While there were some nice
    bits like the Forgotten Heroes toward the end of the Bronze Age Superman’s run,
    I can see why John Byrne was brought in to reboot the Man of Steel into the
    modern era. The Superman line of comics was becoming unreadable. The storylines
    and tone were all over the map.

    Tala: Henri Bismuth also drew the Spymaster entry for OHOTMU (2nd Series).
    From my detective work, it wasn’t a pseudonym. A former med student, he was a
    French artist that may have studied under John Buscema in the late 80s. He didn’t last long in the comics field, only doing a handful of pin-ups before he moved on to fine art illustration and painting.

    Tamaran: A unnecessary entry. And yet Gotham City and Metropolis get snubbed. Again, I must
    reiterate that the pages that DC wasted on Omega Men/New Gods/Atari Force/Warlord related nonsense could have been better used elsewhere.

    Tattooed Man: I preferred his original “sailor” look to whatever this get-up is.
    There was a more modern take on the Tattooed Man during Geoff John’s GL run but I don’t know if that has carried over into the new 52.

    Teen Titans: As they say,this piece is worth the price of admission alone. In regards
    to the absence of Golden Eagle and Flamebird, they’d get their own Who’s Who-style listings in “Secret Origins Annual” #3 (1989).

    Titans Tower: Good thing the X-Men never tried a similarly styled headquarters…

    Tellus: Much like Alex Ross’ version of the JLA stops before the introduction of
    Firestorm (he’s wrong BTW), my favorite version of the LSH stops with the induction of the White Witch. Tellus, Polar Boy, Sensor Girl, Quislet, and Magnetic Kid didn’t do much for me, even with the great Steve Lightle art.

    Ten-Eyed Man: He’s so bad that even Calendar Man and Signal Man won’t
    associate with him….

    Terminator: I think they started referring to him more as Deathstroke once the
    Schwarzenegger “Terminator” films became popular. At the point of his “Who’s
    Who” listing the original James Cameron movie was only 3 years old.

    Terra Man: There’s a great Dick Dillin/Neal Adams illustrated origin story that actually makes Terra Man look cool in “Superman” #249.

    Terrible Trio: This is one of the Ka-Pow moments of the issue for me. I love
    obscure Batman villains and this does the trick.

    Thanagar: All of this mention of “see ‘Superman II'” makes me want to Kneel
    Before Zod for some odd reason…

    Thinker: The Thinker fought both Atoms in “The Atom” #29, in which Ray Palmer
    travelled to Earth-2 and both Flashes in “The Flash” #123, the infamous
    “Flash of Two Worlds” story.

    Thriller: This was a series I always wanted to read but I was never able to find
    copies at my LCS when it first came out. Apparently I wasn’t missing much?

    Timber Wolf: One of my Top 5 Favorite Legionnaires…

    Time Commander: There was a wacky one-shot in one of the Showcase revivals of
    the early 90s that featured Time Commander teaming up with Calendar Man,
    Chronos and Clock King as The Time Foes.

    Comments:

    • My living arrangements in regards to my comic book knowledge is challenged by someone who admits to being part of a blog focusing on the Ultraverse? Pot. Kettle.

    • Windy and Willy were actually reworked reprints of previous issues of “Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” where art and script was changed in order to avoid paying licensing fees again. They “debuted” in “Showcase” #81 and later graduated to their own series, which ran 4 issues.

    • Did someone just mention Susanna Hoffs? Schwing! SHE gets my vote as Hottest Legionnaire.

  16. wolfgang hartz says:

    I have a question about the covering for the 87 and 88 updates. The final volumes of both series had an appendix in the last pages. Will those be covered too?

  17. Frank says:

    2) Jeff R., Tigress was listed under her original name, Huntress I.

    3) Phylemon, I was going to make an off-color joke about Terra, thought better of it, and then you actually copped to fancying her! My tongue is bleeding here! But I can remember when Kitty Pryde was my older girl crush, so I’m not one to talk.

    I) The Tellus entry is fan-freaking-tastic. I bought all the Typhoid Mary serials in Marvel Comics Presents just for the Steve Lightle art. I especially like the elephantine arms, but this piece is lush with detail.

    J) Tempest is so, so, so, sooo a black character created in the 1970s by albino white comic book nerds. I usually take issue with killing off minority super-people due to low representation, but this guy needed to go. He makes Tyroc look like Black Panther.

    K) A touching tribute to Jani Lane by JLGLPBHN. Is he bursting from a celestial cherry pie in the surprint? Heaven truly isn’t so far away. Who-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhhhh!

    L) Ten-Eyed Man has a messed-up origin. Couldn’t he have spared at least one finger to look at that costume (and I have fine suggestion as to which one?) He “accidentally” was killed during Crisis? Dude couldn’t even lead a purposeful death.

    M) While introduced as Deathstroke, the favored terms for him in the actual comics of the time were “Terminator” and variations on his birth name. DC only started pushing “Deathstroke” when they wanted to launch a solo series after the Dark Horse movie comics had already secured the Terminator trademark. Exceptional entry art. I became a fan of Deathstroke during “Titans Hunt,” and bought 95% of his first series before giving up after enjoy maybe 10% of those issues. There was a time when this kind of character was special, but then the ’90s happened, and today he’s just a forerunner to “those guys.”

    N) There’s no excuse for a grown man to hook up with this young of a girl, but I had such respect for the concept and execution of Terra, especially her being unequivocally evil herself. Geoff Johns ruined both characters when he turned Slade Wilson into the alpha sexual predator of the DCU (move over Dr. Light) while consigning Terra to perpetual victimization until her grisly death. Awesome art on a character who was inspired at this time.

    O) Terra-Man is the real deal. What a wonderfully absurd super-villain! No kidding– in the alternate universe where anything ever happens with my ideas, Terra-Man is the big bad of my Superman (movie or comic) revamp. The problem, for me and surely others, was that DC failed to properly convey why Terra-Man is the shizzle, because he looks like a moronic eyesore, but is in fact an ideal concept to break up the long streak of pathetic Superman foils. He’s Lee Van Clieef by way of Outland, you guys! P.S. Curt Swan was a big part of Terra-Man’s failure to connect, and Sam De La Rosa has been the bad penny of the Texas con circuit since teh nine-Ds.

  18. Jeff R. says:

    Frank: Well, dang. I guess Takron-Galtos gets the slot, then. In an issue with two less important place entries, it’ll do.

    Things get more than a little thin in these last few issues, where they’re clearly lowering their standards to fill up the pages.

  19. Frank says:

    P) I read a few issues of Ms. Tree (featuring Mike Myst) as a kid, and I both liked them and recognized I was right square in the age bracket to be reading that stuff, before teenage cynicism set in. Terrible Trio is one of those Silver Age conceits that is kind of cool yet totally dated. For my Martian Manhunter blog, I once pitted these guys against The Human Falcon, Mr. Moth and The Human Squirrel in a reader poll. Might I recommend the film “You’re Next” to Shag?

    Q) Richard Howell drew Thanagar. No more need be said. Rob not knowing Tharok speaks volumes about his love of the Legion. Maybe he got a Bobbitt pump put in? Pretty picture of Thia, but I mostly skimmed NTT from the point of Perez’s departure until his return, so I don’t really remember her. I was disappointed by the JLGL Modern Masters volume because there were so few ‘finds,” where with other artists TwoMorrows were good about unearthing rarities or printing art for the first time in the mass market.

    R) The Thinker was one of the very rare super-villains in the Atom’s rogues gallery, and fought both Atoms in the Silver Age under Gil Kane’s pen (though in the costume design department, that was perhaps not beneficial.) Trevor Von Eeden drew Thriller during my favorite period of his art, but I own not a single issue because it’s Thriller. I’m looking forward to Twin Peaks coming back on Showtime, because it’s such a linear, conventional, clear cut series by comparison to Thriller. Keith Pollard drew the entire OHOTMU Master Edition, which would be more of an accomplishment if it looked like the Thunder & Lightning entry instead of intentionally lifeless turnarounds.

    S) Amazing Man was the granddaddy of all comic book heroes who get their extraordinary abilities from extreme concentration/discipline/etc. Peter Canon was directly influenced by him in concept, and visually his costume was taken from the Lev Gleason Daredevil. Pete Morisi was a police officer who moonlighted in comics back in the ’60s, and contested Charlton’s sale of Thunderbolt from jump as he had agreements with that company to retain creator rights. DC (surely influenced by Dick Giordano) settled the dispute by agreeing to a “use it or lose it” contract aka Marston’s on Wonder Woman, which is why the Mike Collins series was launched, and its cancellation saw rights eventually revert to Morisi. His estate has since licensed Thunderbolt to Dynamite Entertainment, which released a series that lasted even fewer issues than the Collins effort. I had a Charlton or Modern Comics issue of Thunderbolt as a kid that I bought at a flea market, and it was my entry point to the Action Heroes line. Morisi had a beautiful style that combined Alex Toth with Wally Wood and a hefty dose of classic George Tuska. One of those characters that if you haven’t read the original stories, you haven’t read the character.

    T) I also had an issue of Judomaster as a lad, and Tiger was the kid sidekick. Yeah. I wasn’t as won over by Judomaster as I was Thunderbolt. Tiger was turned into the big bad of The L.A.W. mini-series, which was no damned good at all. Tigorr is an Omega Man named Tigorr drawn by Todd Smith. Steve Lightle went a little sparse with the Timber Wolf surprint, but I only care about the central figure and logo, which are rad. Always dug that costume.

    U) Everyone in the comments references Time Commander’s being a member of a time-themed group of villains during the lead-up to Zero Hour, specifically in issues of Showcase, because no one has anything else to say about that character. Well, not me! I can point out that the team also turned up in issues of Team Titans.

    V) Hey, I like Giffen’s Time Trapper.

    4) The sad truth is that I’d resigned myself to the assumption that you guys were not listening to The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast and that I would just get my giggles taking the odd potshots at you for it. I was really sharpening my knives for that Ultraverse podcast, too. Then ya’ll had to go and be sweet toward us! Now I have to edit out the part of next week’s episode where I called you both commie satanists. While I clearly work blue, I’ve still ended up in the Rob position as grown-up straight man on the show, with Mac my Shag, and Fixit… in no way shape or form Michael Bailey nor Earth-2 Chris. There’s a lot of Fire & Water in the show’s DNA, but I apologize to Rob now and in the future for our constant comments right in his admonishment wheelhouse (For instance, this week’s discussion of whether Werewolf by Night’s penis is more wolf or man).

    Shag, we’re on iTunes now with episode listings. #0-3, 9-10, 12-13 & 15 are non-Annihilation subject matter, but don’t listen to the Mail Bag sections at the end, which may have spoilers from previous episodes. Also, don’t listen to #6, which also isn’t related to Annihilation, but is just plain bad.

    I also feel it is important that I admit that Rob was right about OHOTMU being more boring to talk about than Who’s Who. We recorded a first try at an OHOTMU podcast a few months back in the same style as this one, and it sucked worse than episode #6. The characters just stand there against a mono/non-chromatic background, and the first edition isn’t even drawn by well known/regarded artists. We’re still going to do an OHOTMU podcast in the future, but we’ve had to radically alter the format to make it work.

    5) Looking forward to Xum’s Bronze Age Wonder Woman entry. Whoaaaaah Diana Prince!

    6) Aisha Tyler and Rosario Dawson are two of the most beautiful women on the planet earth and comic savvy enough to break your heart to tiny pieces. Tyler would like to cosplay as Starfire, not Starro.

    7) I would argue that The Predator was a separate entity from Carol Ferris requiring its own entry.

    8) Interesting comments from Shag on Marvel’s purchase of Ultraverse. Usually, it’s DC that buys a company only to ruin it forever, but at least Wildstorm, Fawcett, Quality, etc. are still allowed to exist in some fashion. Ultraverse seems to be the only sub-universe not to appear in the upcoming Secret Wars. Malibu made a huge mistake in a dance partner.

  20. Jeff R. says:

    Mr. Element and Doctor Alchemy got separate entries. (Whereas poor Alfred only got one, which was under The Outsider.) The other possibilities that come to mind from that era: Robin/Nightwing, and Princess Projectra/Sensor Girl were only covered once. (And Reflecto didn’t get an entry, which is a semi-shame in a series where Lord Satanis and Syrene didn’t share a half-page, but would have been problematical for these types of reasons.)

  21. Martin Gray says:

    Nice one, boys, this is always a highlight of my month.

    I’ve always found Ra’s al-Ghul and daughter Talia excruciatingly boring, just a couple of generic Bond villains who tended to take Bats away from Gotham.

    Shag was spot on about the Tarantula costume being gorgeous, but wrong – it immediately stood out as nothing like a Golden Age look.

    Rob has to be right about a Tattooed Man and Illustrated Man connection, given Julie Schwarz was Ray Bradbury’s first agent. Old Abel Tarrant was pretty much a one-off among male DC characters, having had two very different, but equally hot, looks. That second costume was up there with the original Black Condor and Firebrand for swoonsome sexiness.

    Hate hate hate Titans Tower, it’s ugly and top heavy. Apart from the branding, what was the point of the T shape?

    Tellus – Rob is such a xenophobe

    This is the only podcast ever to mention kerning – be proud!

    I loved the new Doom Patrol too, and hated that Celsius got written off as a fantasist so far as being married to the Chief was concerned, then killed.

    I always detested Deathstroke the Terminator, he was such a Mary Sue – all the Titans had to do was pile on him, or get Starfire or Cyborg to blast him, or Raven to dump him in a hell dimension, etc, but no, he was such a BIG threat because he had extra brainpower and, er, no depth perception. That ‘taking down the JLA’ scene in Identity Crisis was just one more reason to hate that book.

    Terra was not called Tina, it was Tara.

    Oh Rob, Terra Man is a space cowboy with a winged horse, how is that not awesome?

    Given the Thinker’s headgear, he should have been called Colander Man

    I agree with my fellow geniuses, surely this Aisha Tyler person meant Starfire, not Starro, when she said Starfish, ie a female character who resonated with her.

    I’m not surprised Swamp Thing is on the cusp of cancellation – I’m enjoying Charles Soule’s work, but boy, it was hard to get through the 36-part or something Rot crossover with Animal Man that came previously. I bet a lot of people abandoned and never returned.

  22. rob! says:

    Tellus – Rob is such a xenophobe

    Aw come on, I give you the benefit of the doubt Martin.

    Oh Rob, Terra Man is a space cowboy with a winged horse, how is that not awesome?

    Hey, didn’t I say I want him and Ten-Eyed Man to be the villains in Batman v Superman?

  23. Way late to the party on this one, without much to add. As much as I appreciate how Perez draws Wonder Girl and Lilith, I’m going to thumb my nose at Shag and say Starfire is still the hottest Titan. Perez’s Starfire helped assure my straightness.

    As for why Deathstroke was listed under Terminator…I seem to recall they shied away from the Deathstroke name for a while, and called him Terminator more often. I guess when the 84 movie got some legs over the years, building to the inevitable sequel, DC went back to Deathstroke. This is just conjecture. He, Terra or Timber Wolf should have definitely got the cover. As much as I love Tarantula’s design, he had no business being there.

    Speaking of Tarantula, an elderly version of John Law was a supporting character in Nightwing’s title under Chuck Dixon. He lived in the same apartment building as Dick Grayson. Unfortunately, Devin Grayson blew that building up, and Law with it, in her horrible, horrible run.

    Nice B:TBATB sting at the end!

    Chris

  24. Oh, and I have to agree with Shag on Teen Titans Go!, for the most part. At first, I liked it well enough, but it’s clearly another one of Cartoon Network’s mind-numbingly dumb and snarky cartoons that rots your kids’ minds from the inside out. I miss the old Teen Titans series, and wish they would have just made more of those.

    Chris

  25. […] sure to check out Episode Twenty-Three of the amazing Who’s Who: The Definitive Podcast of the DC Universe hosted by Rob Kelly and the […]

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