It’s the fifth fabulous episode of WHO’S WHO REVIEW! Shag and Rob take a fresh look at classic entries from Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, featuring Bat-Mite, Bronze Tiger, Injustice Society of the World, Slam Bradley, Angel and the Ape, and more! Plus we cover YOUR feedback!
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I guess it’s debatable whether or not they were really a team, but the first Seven Soldiers of Victory story in Leading Comics #1, cover-dated December 1941, had five villains working for a master criminal called the Hand, including preexisting enemies of the Green Arrow, Shining Knight, and Star-Spangled Kid.
It’s funny that you say Master Jailer seems like a Batman villain, because he reminds me of the Batman: The Animated Series character Lock-Up.
I agree with you, Buffalo, because I had the same thought. Leading Comics #1 was printed in Winter 1941, almost six years before All-Star Comics #37. That villain team was referred to as “The Hand’s Five Fingers”, and included Professor Merlin, a Green Arrow and Speedy foe; the Needle, a villain of the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy; the Red Dragon, who fought the Shining Knight, and new characters the Dummy, who would became a recurring arch-nemesis of the Vigilante; and Big Caesar, who faced the Crimson Avenger and Wing in just this story. This story also led to the formation The Seven Soldiers of Victory.
Another fun show as always, Uncle Rob and Uncle Shag. I am curious who else besides Ultra was in the first randomized list, but I also understand if you will never tell.
I have a few comments…
BAT-MITE: I always thought Bat-Mite was invisible while he was giving Batman “the hot foot” myself…
BLACK HAND: My favorite Black Hand story was actually a two-part story in THE FLASH (issues 258 and 259), in which Hand used his device to siphon off the Flash’s protective aura and combine it with Green Lantern energy to give himself an invincible force field (which even stopped yellow attacks). Flash had to find a way to stop him without being able to go at full speed because the friction would burn him up.
DEMOLITION TEAM: I think Dave Gibbons designed/co-created the Demolition Team with Len Wein. He did draw the Green Lantern issues in which they first appeared, so it makes sense that he would draw this entry.
SLAM BRADLEY: Tomahawk’s Rangers also show up in their entry from the waist up, but in terms of *individual* entries with characters who do not have their entire body appear in the full-color portion, Slam Bradley is fairly unique. Nimbus might count, since he appears with half of his body changing into his cloud form… but he might not count since he is one of the Omega Men…
Sonar’s entry has his backside cropped out of the frame, which will probably disappoint THE HOT SQUAD when they eventually cover that entry.
VYKIN: Vykin appeared in episode 14 of the DONE-IN-ONE WONDERS PODCAST WONDER SHOW, voiced by Mike Staley.
ANGEL AND THE APE: I recall Atari Force’s Blackjak was also included in the Volume 26 update by “vox populi”, and that late addition likely enabled the entry to slip into the Omnibus under the Atari embargo…
The letters page of Volume X mentioned another character that was an “accidental omission” and was promised to show up in an update, but never did. So Dad wrote him an entry, which will finally appear in XUM’S WHO Volume II. This character only had one story appearance, but so did Bug and Byte. I think the “at least three appearances rule” mentioned by Bob Greenberger in your interview episode wasn’t really set up until they realized that some characters would need two-page entries (again, likely due to vox populi… as in the number of complaints of the one-page Batman entry having very little space for the Dick Giordano artwork).
XUM’S WHO: Thank you for covering the Hostess entries that were essentially created on a whim. The “narcotic” line was inspired by an old joke by my dad when he talked about those old Hostess adverts. Dad was very critical of Hostess products when he drew mock comic adverts of them years ago for the Line It Is Drawn, from how fattening they were to the chemical ingredients used to just straight calling them “evil”…
And my name is pronounced “ee-SAW-moo hee-DAY-ah-kee yoo-kee-NOR-ee”. I have been called “EE-saw-moo” in other countries, and in Japan it sounded more like “ee-SAW-MOO.” My mom was born in the U.S. and English was her first language, so she pretty much adopted the American pronunciation of many Japanese names and words.
FEEDBACK: Like the two Atom entries, Mantis was another entry which featured the main character with two different looks in full color.
And thanks for the plug of the upcoming XUM’S WHO Volume II. It is going to press on Monday, 8/5, so email Adrian Zet at xumswho@gmail.com about a printed copy if you haven’t already.
Thanks again for a fun show.
Why was Bulletman & Bulletgirl not included in the updates issues like Black Adam was?
DC didn’t know they could use non-Shazam characters, and Black Adam was updated to post-Crisis – no such reboots existed for Bulletman until Power of Shazam much later.
At that time, DC didn’t have full rights to the Fawcett characters except for the Marvel Family, and apparently? Plasticman. Its my understanding that DC didn’t get full rights until 1992.
Sorry. When you get old, sometimes you get confused. Plasticman was a Quality charactsr, so of course DC had tbe rights to him.
I read somewhere that even DC editors were confused about whether they had the rights to Plastic Man, which resulted in the creation of the Elongated Man…
Sabbac? Wasn’t he the one who killed Doctor Fate in the Black Adam movie?
I mean the rest of the film is relatively forgettable, but that scene in particular I remember because it made me so mad. (Warner Brothers has been treating Dr. fate like their own personal Kenny!
(First Absolute Justice on Smallville, now Black Adam):;
Thanks for another wonderful review of randomness! I guess this group was extra random as well. The entries for the Hostess snack foods are absolutely priceless! Those “characters” are possibly the first to interact with both DC and Marvel superheroes. I like to believe that Bronze Age Batman had Hostess treats in his utility belt as a last resort crime fighting tactic.
The Demolition Team is just amazing, but don’t they seem more like Marvel style villains? Let’s see if we can’t get DC & Marvel to coproduce a Demolition Team/Wrecking Crew crossover.
Quicksilver (Max Mercury) is a very unusual entry in retrospect. He hadn’t really been utilized in years, and it would be years before he’d race through the pages of a comic again. When he did, it would be under the name Max Mercury.
Looking forward to the next episode (I hope Ultraa didn’t get shuffled to the bottom of the deck) and thank you for the shout out.
I believe that the first team of super villains was actually The Monster Society of Evil, who faced Captain Marvel originally in 1943. Their storyline ran until 1945 & is one of the first extended story arcs in superhero comics.
Wonder Woman’s foes formed Villainy Incorporated in Wonder Woman #28 (1948) which is also the final issue written by WW creator William Marston.
Chuck is correct about the 1st supervillain team.
I dunno, Uncle Siskoid… The Hand’s Five Fingers story in Leading Comics #1, mentioned by BuffaloDelorean, was on the stands in December of 1941…
Hand’s was also the first vilain team to feature adversaries of different heroes…
Yes, THIS is the correct answer.
They look especially the new ones for the hostess snacks.
My favorite of the dc is angle the ape they look
Very Hanna Barbara. Like they could team up with Captain cave man and teen angles does any one remember that cartoon . Dyno mutt and blue falcon.
Angel and the Ape teaming up with Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels does sound fun…
I bought the original art to the Angel and the Ape entry from Phil Foglio himself at the 1988 San Diego Comic Con. In fact, I own the art for three and a half Who’s Who pages (Angel and the Ape, Carmine Infantino’s Pied Piper, Jack Kirby’s Witchboy, and the surprint of John Bolton’s Shining Knight), and it’s interesting to compare how the main figure/surprint division was done differently. In the case of Angel and the Ape, the two parts of the image were drawn on two separate art pages. Bolton did the same; I only own the art of surprint image and not the main figure. In the Pied Piper page, Infantino penciled the entire image on a single page, and Dennis Jensen inked the main figure directly on the board, and inked the rest of the image on a vellum overlay. The Kirby Witchboy page is pencils only of the entire image; Greg Theakston inked everything separately and left Kirby’s original art untouched. (I don’t have Theakston’s inks, so I don’t know whether he used an overlay, or put another page of artboard on a lightbox.) I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to purchase these pages back when original art was relatively affordable…
The Demolition Team was used entertainingly in the recent Kyle Starks/Steve Pugh mini-series “Peacemaker Tries Hard,” where they were truly dedicated to being union workers: refusing to take on any task outside their job description, and insisting on taking their mandated break periods.
Black Hand was created by John Broome as an affectionate homage to Broome’s colleague Bill Finger; there’s the nameplay of “Finger” and “Hand”, and in Black Hand’s first appearance, he kept a notebook of crime ideas because Bill Finger always carried around a notebook of story ideas.
Good show as always. I was glad to hear that Rob seemed to agree with Shag that Snapper Carr got better in his later appearances.
Those Hostess profiles were a sweet surprise. At least one of those OG villains has become DC canon. Nightwing vol. 4 number 11 saw the debut of a villain called Pigeon, who was an adaptation of the Pigeon Person from the Hostess ads.
There seems to be some disagreement over who the first super villain team was. Well, let me add to the confusion. Bulletman No. 7 with a Sept. 1942 cover date; had three of Bulletman’s foes team up to face him. The Weeper, Black Rat and the Murder Prophet joined forces in a group that, I believe, they called the Revenge Syndicate. This was about a year before the Monster Society.
Assuming you consider three a team.
I’m glad to hear there is a second issue of Xum’s Who coming out. While I didn’t know as much about DC’s characters back then , as I do today, I realised even when I was reading it back then, that characters were being left out of that “definitive directory”. I can think of at least four in the A’s alone.
The aforementioned Adventurer’s Club, Amalak, a recurring Superman foe, Armstrong of the Army and Astra, the Girl of the Future. There was also a popular character in early issues of Teen Titans called the Ant. I believe he was deliberately left ouf because he was an obvious pastiche of a certain wall crawling character from the competition.
I always thought DC should have done two versions of Who’s Who. The ongoing version as well as a quarterly appendix for licensed and non canonical characters such as the Funny Animal and humour characters, Romance characters and any other concept that wouldn’t fit a shared universe. Perhaps Cap’s Hobby Shop.
After fans started complaining about the age difference between Slam Bradley and Catwoman, he was retconned as Slam’s son jr. I believe he has recently been retconned again. He is now biracial and has been passing for white all these years
One final comment. I may have been one of the people responsible for killing the Adventures Club strip. Adventure Comics had just dropped the superheroes and were going to use only adventure characters from now on i was a prolific writer to letter columns and wrote one published letter to Adventure Comics in which I wrote that their new feature, Capt. Fear, fit their criteria, but AC as formatted, did not. I suggested they move that feature to one of their horror books if they wished to keep it as is.
Was it really just a coincidence that after my letter appeared that that iteration of AC was never seen again? I think not.
You’re welcome, Rob.
Funnily enough, the Ant returned in the recent World’s Finest: Teen Titans mini-series.
The letters pages of the first WHO’S WHO run mentioned plans of WHO’S WHO IN THE TEEN TITANS, WHO’S WHO IN THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS, and WHO’S WHO IN THE SUPERMAN FAMILY (and likely BATMAN FAMILY as well), which would have featured entries for the supporting characters… but I guess those plans fell by the wayside in favor of the updates. I wonder if WHO’S WHO IN THE LEGION was a poor seller…
Hello again, old friends.
BRONZE TIGER: I actually remember Ben from the old Richard Dragon / Kung Fu Fighter comics. I didn’t collect those comics, but I read them opportunistically in the Green Rose Barber Shop that I used to frequent as a wee lad. It actually came to me as a shock that he’d turned villain (even if he’d been brainwashed) when I read his entry, and was relieved to see he was on the side of good once more. He was apparently a student of O-Sensei before Richard Dragon (how much longer, I forget), but Richard Dragon kinda got better (and had some sort of jade claw necklace that gave him greater focus in fighting).
BLACK HAND: always felt he could be a better villain than his appearance in Who’s Who suggested, but I was appalled at the jump in power level and death/destruction that came as a result of the Blackest Night event. Well, I guess I can revisit that event again.
ANGEL and the APE is one of those ideas that should come back in a mini-series treatment. I enjoyed both incarnations, but enjoyed the Phil Foglio one a bit more truth be told. Always wanted to see Art Adams try his hand on this series given the Monkeyman & O’Brien comic book, but then it might be too close to his own work for him to be interested.
Another great episode with such a crazy group.
Bat-Mite – I love that Rogers is playing it straight in the surprint images, showcasing his incredible art. But then goes full-on goofy cartoon in the main image. Perfect. Bat-Mite was just recently a big part of the Batman/Superman World’s Finest storyline and was seen in all his incarnations in that including the green-skinned cartoon version. Love the episodes of B&B he’s in.
Black Spider – I bet a month’s rent that the ‘Who’s Hot/Who’s Not’ squad would say he’s hot. Dude is completely jacked! Even his intercostal muscles have muscles! They voted him not! That is why it’s called gambling.
Master Jailer – His origin story is sad but shows how obsesses he was with Lana in an icky way. Portly and nerdy (they called him Moosey in Smallville), he gets in shape, gets plastic surgery, becomes brilliant rich engineer … still spurned by the girl. Decides to kill the competition – Superman! He has become for the most part a Supergirl villain. And I love when small references like when DC prisons talk about ‘Draper tech’. I like this guy.
Quicksilver – do you think he was included as a jab to Marvel? ‘We own the original Quicksilver?’ Do you think that’s why when he was actually brought into a DC book he had to be renamed to the chemically adjacent Max Mercury?
Angel and the Ape – Bob Oksner could draw some beautiful women so seeing him ink Foglio is a treat. Serious, Oksner understood how to convey ‘smoldering’. Never read the original stuff. Chaykin wrote a mini with covers by Art Adams and internal art by Philip Bond. Gorgeous to look at, story lacking. Agree about Showcase #100 (are you shocked to learn I have it signed by Kupperberg and Staton?)
Hostess ads are brilliant. But I am definitely a Fruit Pie guy. I’d choose each flavor of pie before Twinkie or CupCake. Based on what I have heard, I am in the minority. Just means more fat-ass treats for me!
Although I liked both Twinkies and Cupcakes back in the day, I’d also say my favorite Hostess snack was the fruit pies, esp. blackberry, blueberry and apple.
Great show, and some really interesting entries. Specifically, your randomizer tossed out two villains with whom I became familiar thanks to the Whitman three-pack reprints of DC comics, i.e., Black Spider (in Batman #306) and Master Jailer (in Superman #331). The latter, by the way, was pretty effective against Supes in that first outing, in that he rigged up his super-villain jail so that he could tap into the powers of the inmates (at the time Metallo, Parasite and Atomic Skull). Otherwise, since you both seem to think he’s more of a Batman villain, an interesting detail is that in the preceding issue of Superman (#330 – also first read by me as a Whitman reprint), he did in fact face off against an old Batman foe, Spellbinder.
Otherwise, I love it when anyone sings the praises of Showcase #100, which I love so much. And yes, Angel, together with Lois Lane, is really one of the main stars of the whole story (just another reason I like it so much).
Note to Rob: the Stargirl TV show is delightful, you should really watch it.
Note to Shag: JLA #194 is indeed excellent, you should really read it.
Frist of all, you guys don’t have to apologize. I was just kidding in last episode’s comments. But it was nice to hear you squirm!
I love Marshall Rogers, and his Bat-Mite piece, BUT, I always felt the hot-foot was a bit out of character for him. Maybe he did that in a specific story, but he was such a huge hero worshipper of Batman, I can’t see him pranking him. For a REALLY great modern take on Bat-Mite, check out the latest World’s Finest arc!
I always thought Black Spider looked cool, and liked this entry…until the OHOTMU Girls ruined it by pointing out that his chest and abs look too much like a face. And Broderick was one of the regular Batman artists at the time, so I guess this is why he drew this?
Dave Gibbons actually co-created the Demolition Team (WITHOUT Roy Thomas), so there was no shame in drawing them! He helped to cook these loveable morts up!
Isamu’s Hostess pages are sheer genius. I would love Deadpool to make a Hostess gag in Avengers: Secret Wars and throw Twinkies at Dr. RDJ-Doom, thinking it will distract him long enough for Wolverine to skewer him or something.
It’s always a lovely surprise when this show arrives. Thank you for the sacrifice so far as snubbing the initial randomiser choice goes, I’m actually very happy not to hear about Ultra the Multi-Alien yet again! This episode was full of fun characters.
Black Hand is one of my fave GL villains, I came across him as a nipper, reading inherited Silver Age comics (me, not him). He’s got so much going on – the unique motivation, the power ring absorption rod, the book of cliches that was a tribute to Bill Finger’s ideas jotter( as Erich notes)… so why the heck did Geoff Johns have to wreck him with that zombie nonsense? Ugh. I love Black Hand’s costume, but that triangle isn’t pink – that would be so wonderfully gay – it’s lavender… compare it to the magenta of the surprint, it’s more grey than red.
Count me as another fan of the nutty Demolition Team. I have to say, yes, they’re like a Mike W Barr concept, but let’s not undersell the creativity of Barr’s themed teams, such as the Force of July and Nuclear Family. Anyone can come up with a bunch of quirky randoms such as Helix, but try coming up with five disparate characters, each with their own pun names. And I very politely disagree with Shagg that Dave Gibbons wasn’t a star when he was drawing Green Lantern, just because you US types were late to the party… how very World Series!
I wonder if Quicksilver got an entry because he been in The Flash #214 100-page Super-Spectacular in the Seventies?
I don’t think the wonderful Showcase #100 is what elevated Angel and the Ape to the point where they got a mini-series, Shagg – even given it took Phil Foglio a few years to get his project going, there were 23 years in between.
Congrats to Isamu on the Hostess Xum’s Who entries, the cakes are hideous, but the comics remain fun. Roll on Volume 2 of Xum’s Who!
Loving the comments. Who’s next?
If anything can tear me away from the pole vaulting, skateboarding, foil fencing excitement of the Paris Olympics, it is a new Who’s Who Review. Just a few comments.
Bat-Mite: My wife is probably the biggest Bat-Mite fan I have ever met. When we were in line to meet Dan Jurgens at a recent convention, among all the Death of Superman comics, Booster Gold hardcovers, and a few Spider-Man issues, there she was with her prized first issue of Jurgens’ Bat-Mite mini-series. And I agree with everyone who has already commented on the excellence of Mark Waid’s Bat-Mite/Mxyzptlk story in World’s Finest.
What can I say about the Demolition Team? Only that Hardhat looks like someone cosplaying Juggernaut on a really tight budget.
IMHO, the Stargirl TV series was the best of the DC/CW shows and a big part of that was the inclusion of the Injustice Society. Just about every member was well portrayed and written w/ the possible exception of The Wizard who didn’t get much of a chance to shine. I mean, this show made me a fan of The Gambler! My only qualm was the lack of Per Degaton.
Re: Master Jailer: Like Buffalo DeLorean, my first thought was Lockup from BTAS. My second was that he’s a 20th century version of Grimbor the Chainsman of LSH fame.
Finally, I discovered your network right around the time of Xum Yukinori’s passing. However, I knew about him some years before thanks to The Line Must Be Drawn. His wealth of knowledge, artistic talent, and sense of humor are missed. The Hostess entries for Xum’s Who are pretty sweet icing on the cupcake. It hits the nostalgia buttons and funny bone at the same time.
Well, I need to get back to watching the kayaking, breaking, and ping pong-ing in Paris. Thanks again for this network!
fun fact When new writers pitched dc in the 90s and you KILL somebody they said “dont DO THAT EVER!!!” EXcept when I killed The Black Spider! Sure they rejected it! but nobody said “OH my god dont kill BS!!
PS marvel was better about sending rejections 283 rejections from Marvel 5 from DC (ALL batman except the creeper
What Ever Happened To?
Bat-Mite: a wonderful story in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest just finished up with Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk. And yes, he has only 4 fingers in the fantastic art by Dan Mora.
Black Hand: As mentioned, he was turned into the right-hand man of Nekron in 2009’s Blackest Night. He last appeared being sucked into the Source Wall in volume 5 of Green Lantern (right before Rebirth).
Black Spider: There was a second Black Spider, Johnny LaMonica, but he was killed due to his own criminal activities. Eric Needham is currently appearing in The Penguin, where he was working for Cobblepot’s children in exchange for Venom – to alleviate the symptoms of his sick boyfriend. That series has one more issue, so we will see if he makes it out alive.
Bronze Tiger: Thankfully the New 52 version of Ben Turner – who was a literal tiger man, has since been restored to the original human version with. He’s still straddling the line between hero and villain, and he is back and forth with the full tiger mask, too. He was last seen in the Harley Quinn v4 Annual, hired to kill Harley (he missed three times).
The Demolition Team: I can’t believe I am writing this, but the Demo Team has had a resurgence lately. Not only were they in the fantastic (though out-of-continuity) Peacemaker Tries Hard!, but they are also currently in Catwoman, working as contract workers to take out Selina. Assuming it’s during regular hours. They are Union, after all.
The Injustice Society of the World: They’ve only appeared once since Rebirth, in a time travel adventure of Hawkman and Hawkwoman.
Master Jailer: He died on a Suicide Squad mission saving a raised Atlantis after being sent there on orders of Amanda Waller to re-sink it.
Professor Amos Fortune: He has not been seen since the New 52 reboot.
Quicksilver: Max and Impulse are currently running around the current Flash series (which centers around Wally West again!).
Sabbac: A sort-of version of Sabbac was introduced in the New 52 version of Shazam! Bryer was a rich dick who used his money to keep others down and protected his four sons from any consequences. He was possessed by the Seven Deadly Sins in a way similar to how Timothy Karnes would call upon the demons.
Slam Bradley: It was revealed during Gotham City: Year One that Slam was a former Gotham Cop who became a private detective following the Korean War. It is strongly suggested that he is the real father of Thomas Wayne, thus making him Batman’s paternal grandfather.
Vykin: The Forever People have not appeared since 2015.
Angel and the Ape: Sam Simeon recently helped other primate heroes (Detective Chimp, Monkey Prince, Beppo the Supermonkey and Gleek) stop the Legion of D(oo-oo-ah-ah)M as the Jungle League of America. Angel has only been seen briefly.
Hostess Snacks: After a brief scare when original Hostess baker Interstate Foods went bankrupt in 2012, Hostess Brands was formed in 2013 to carry on the Twinkie, Cup Cake, and Fruit Pie traditions. Sadly, any report that Twinkies last forever has failed to live up to scientific testing – although one decade-old Twinkie was revealed to have developed a never-before seen type of mold.
Another fun episode. Thanks for prompting me to finally read Showcase #100, despite having purchased it more than 30 years ago. (Though I was sad to see no personal moment between Angel O’Day and Dumb Bunny of the Inferior Five; Foglio’s awesome early-’90s Angel and the Ape miniseries established them as sisters, silly me thinking that had been canon forever.)
You neglected calling out the best part of the Sabbac entry (one of the best paragraphs in all of Who’s Who, in fact) The entry begins: “Tim Karnes was a nobody who wanted to be somebody; therefore, he began to dabble in black magic.” That’s what comics are all about, right there. (And yes, I also saw the Black Adam movie and completely forgot he was in it.)
I also loved the Demolition Team’s appearance in the recent “Peacemaker Tries Hard” miniseries. They are really the perfect villain team for the new wave of wacky-silly-yet-incredibly-gory superhero stories we seem to be getting lately. (Here’s hoping they turn up in the next season of the Peacemaker TV show.)
I first learned about Black Spider in those great 1980s Batman-villain-team-up stories, in Detective 526 and Batman 400. Unfortunately, in both those cases, he aligns with the other villains, which doesn’t really make sense if he’s a vigilante of the “I’m like Batman but more violent” mold. Alan Grant and Norm Freakin’ Breyfogle set things right in an outstanding early issue of Shadow of the Bat, which nonetheless killed him at the end. (Alas, he turned up again, alive and once more hanging with other supercrooks, in Infinite Crisis, one of that series’s lesser crimes.)
Rob, you’re not the first person to declare the Police Squad “I’m a locksmith” line to be the greatest joke in the history of television; I’ve definitely heard that opinion before. (Maybe it was just a YouTube comment on a video of it; maybe you wrote that comment.) I love that series too, although I think at least the first Naked Gun movie lives up to it (“He’s in the intensive care ward at Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle”).
Brilliant work with the Hostess listings, Isamu. I love that you include the actual, real-life history of these godforsaken products (seriously, you couldn’t pay me to eat a Twinkie nowadays). Though the trivia geek in me needs to add two points: (a) there are two lesser-known Fruit Pie flavors missing: Blackberry and French Apple (how random); (b) James Dewar apparently ate three Twinkies before he went to bed every night, and he lived to be 88. And it’s really amazing how great these Hostess comic-book ads were, considering how famously irritating the products’ TV commercials famously were. (“IT’S JUST BORN THERE!!!”)
You are correct that not every Hostess Fruit Pie flavor was represented in the Xum’s Who listing, Uncle Noah. However, the entry does include all of the flavors shown or mentioned in the DC Comics Fruit Pie adverts.
α} like ‘s pb&j costume more than will paytons but his name is
β} bronze tiger is 1 of my favorite dc characters bought the dvd for the figurine
Γ} sabbac is a fun concept that doesnt seem 2 get executed well
Δ} i think ve reached my lifetime limit on batmite discussion
ε} listen at 2x but slowed 2 1x to hear my comments read + you both sounded like dean martin late into a fryers roast
ζ} the quality of my comments are suffering degradation after this many pass says at the same entrys
η} but there weigh shorter now
Great episode, Rob and Shag! I got the second half of Master Jailer’s intro story off the rack. It’s a great Superman story by pre-Crisis standards, so I always appreciated the Master Jailer. I was surprised to see his turn as Kator in New Adventures of Superboy, but I was impressed at the effort to show continuity.
Regarding the ever-awesome Slam Bradley, Shag is correct that he was in the 50th anniversary issue of Detective Comics, but that issue was #572, not #483. I still need to pick up a copy of 572, but 483 was the 40th anniversary issue, which occurred during the Batman Family era. I helped Shawn and Paul cover it on Batman Family Reunion. As Chris said, there is no need to apologize, feel bad, or even note the error. You are under no obligation to remember picayune details about decades-old comics. But we all care about those details, so I thought you would want to know.
Please keep up the great work reaccomplishing some of your other great work. The more I think about it, the more premise of this podcast makes sense. I like both versions of Ocean’s Eleven. I bet I would have liked a remake with the original actors, too.
Hi guys! Great episode as always!! I’m 53. I LOVED Who’s Who when it came out. I used to draw at the time and the artists involved plus the non static poses blew away OHOTMU.
Plus the book provided clues on where the characters were headed in the future along with the back cover coming attractions page. Very useful with COIE ongoing at the time.
A note of thanks for bringing to my attention the Xum’s Who and ESPECIALLY the hostess book. I’ve been wanting something like this for years!!!! Now I just have to find a DC and Harvey version. Great childhood memories. Please keep up the excellent work!! You guys got me to revisit JLU Detroit a few years back leading me to pick up the Omni
Great show, guys! You know, when you take all the Captain Marvel villains into account, is it possible that Cap was actually just bullying elderly bald men? Was he the bad guy all along?
Yes, I have time to write in on WWR! Thank you, life!
For the Demolition Team, I agree with the Mike W Barr vibe. I look at the Samurai Squad with names like Shuriken and Blowdart, and go, yup! However, I will point out that while Helix’s members were not as themed, (and what theme goes with the word “helix” anyway), they shared an important Barr convention: puns! Tao Jones! Penny Dreadful! Done and done!
I really liked the art in DT’s entry, and Rosie is striking as a stockier body type than usual for comics. Now I really want to see her go solo and battle Ma Hunkle Red Tornado. Don’t judge me!
Master Jailer’s first appearance was a random comic I read “somewhere” as a kid, maybe the local library, and I never came across the second issue, so I figure Superman’s still stuck in his prison. (Also, the first issue where I saw Metallo.) I remember him using the powers of his prisoners as well from the “keys” he wore on his belt, like Edo mentioned, and that seems like an important detail, so I don’t quite understand why it didn’t make the entry. It would have helped explain how he matches up with Superman.
If Max/Quicksilver is ever revealed to have a sorceress sister, then it’ll really be a thumb-nosing to Marvel.
Slam Bradley: Love that Jim Aparo punch in the surprint!
Thank you for the shout-out on Al’s and my coverage of Angel and the Ape! Those issues were a hoot and a half, as the kids say. The artwork in their entry is delightful, and after reading their original debut appearance, there’s no doubt Angel is gorgeous. (Still waiting for DCU Finite to include Showcase #100.) Also noted that smiling face on Angel’s belt. I’d call that a pure Phil Foglio touch. He frequently puts details like that in unexpected places.
Why am I craving chocolate cup cakes with creamy filling? AUGH! MUST HAVES THEM!
Always a fun listen, guys!
Can’t fault Stargirl for managing to include just about every JSA member and villain, except for one or two notable exceptions, plus being an entertaining show that managed to surprise once in a while! Oh well if we’d only had one more season I’m sure they’d have bought on everyone…
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, Who’s, who!
I listened to Who’s Who Review #4 and on Spotify it’s indexed by character. Super cool! Helpful for me to follow along with the omnibus
P.S. Spotify also allows you to comment on episodes on the app
Great show, Rob and Shag the Whites.
Of all the cool entries DC could’ve handed off to Marshall Rogers, they give him Bat-Mite? He makes the most of it, but I hope he got some better entries.
I dig the Demolition Team (was Demolition Squad taken?). Especially shovel hand guy. Stop committing crimes, shovel guy and start a nice landscaping business in the suburbs. You’d clean up. Better bring the steamroller guy, too. He’s not getting away from the cops going 4 miles an hour.
Slam Bradley wears his hat way too high on his head. If you’re gonna be a cool P.I., you need to keep that brim low. It even pops off when he punches that dude. Can’t be the smooth tough guy if you’re showing your hat hair, Slam.
Again, great show, and I hope you enjoyed Monsignor Mallah.