It’s the sixth stupendous 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 Arkham Asylum, Blue Devil, Felix Faust, Guardian, Hawkwoman, Weasel, and more! Plus we cover YOUR feedback!
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Fantastic as always. Just some comments
-I think my 1st Felix Faust memory was the Super Friends comic face off cover with the Halloween costumes story- awesome
-Guardian!!!! I like some of the 2nd tier heroes and the Guardian is a big one. I even made a Guardian shield to hang in the comic room. Golden age, Clone Guardian , All Star Squadron Guardian. Mal Guardian, Roy Harpers cousin/uncle Guardian. I loved every iteration
-Air Wave’s mom- Teen Air Wave hit the scene right in my formative years so I will always follow this character. Another 2nd tier favorite. The mom’s appearance in DC Comic presents was a very enjoyable story.
Great show guys
Amazing show so far only 1 hour in… But I am stunned, amazed, blown way…. Major Disaster appeared in the JL Annual that Rob inked one page of and it wasn’t mentioned nor was the Kubert Art School! Is this the real Rob?
I will keep listening for other clues to suggest Rob has been replaced by an alien or robot or something.
A fun show, gentlemen. It definitely made my morning bike ride very entertaining…
A few comments before I listen to the feedback section…
Regarding Major Disaster, here are some details of his first encounter with Green Lantern and Flash. In Green Lantern #43, the energies from the devices used by Major Disaster to create disasters had “somehow” caused Green Lantern and the Flash to switch powers. Flash’s aura became charged with power ring energy, and Green Lanterns ring gave him super-speed (and presumably protected him from friction somehow, since the Flash still had his protective aura). Flash could had easily used his “power aura” to undo this, but the heroes thought that having each other’s powers would confuse Disaster and his gang and give them the edge in battle. (Also, the heroes having switched powers was really the main hook to make people want to read this story.)
However, the heroes later discovered that using each other’s powers was creating more disasters (because they were both charged with the disaster device energy) that prevented them from going after the Major. So Flash used his power aura to negate the disaster energy in their bodies and switch their powers back. This immediately stopped the disasters.
The Major, in desperation, went to activate his most powerful disaster weapon (he saved the best for last), but in his haste he forgot to put on “the special insulated gloves [he] must wear to make it work!” Pulling the main lever with his bare hand “somehow” caused the machine to explode. So it was the Major, and not the heroes, that “accidentally caus[ed] an explosion that apparently killed him.”
Regarding the Adjudicator, he was a “necessary addition” to Xum’s Who Volume II. Those who read the 2021 reprint of Volume I (or the digital edition extras) would know that Dad originally had 2-D Man sharing the page with Air Wave’s Mom. But since I decided to include the entry Dad wrote for Ace the Bat-Hound, which now split that page, I suddenly needed an easy-to-condense-to-a-half-page “A” character between Ace and Anti-Lad to fill the void. Going through online lists of DC Comics characters, narrowing them down to those published before 1986 that never had a Who’s Who entry, I found the Adjudicator’s story to be the most interesting. However, this was largely because of the main hook of that story: Wonder Woman teaming up with 10 prominent DC super-heroines from three parallel Earths: Supergirl, Zatanna, Black Canary, Wonder Girl, Raven, Starfire, and Madam Xanadu from Earth One, Power Girl and Huntress from Earth Two, and Phantom Lady from Earth X.
Oh, and his “disco ball of death” was a great visual.
And yes, I had a similar challenge to fill the space between 2-D Man and Ace, and went with the Quality Comics character of 711 because, again, he was the most interesting choice to me. I suppose I was making a big leap in assuming that character was included with the Quality characters acquired by DC Comics in 1956, since he was dead long before then and thus DC Comics never featured him in a story. But I see DC’s Who’s Who as a celebration of not just the history of DC Comics but also the defunct Quality Comics (plus Fawcett and Charlton) as well — so it seemed appropriate to include 711 as part of that.
But I digress (a trait I picked up from Dad, I guess). I’m off to listen to the feedback…
Phew… maybe after I take a shower…
Arkham Asylum first appeared in Batman 258. At that time, it was located “somewhere in New England” near the town of Arkham. Arkham, of course, was one of the locales in the works of H.P. Lovecraft. It was patterned after the Danvers State Lunatic Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts.
I believe Grant Morrison played off the Lovecraft angle when he had a deranged Amadeus Arkham scratch arcane symbols into the floor of his cell. The runes were a spell of protection.
Arkham Asylum must have learned to teleport, as at its next appearance it had moved to just outside of Gotham City.
On Element Lad, I have to say that I prefer his 1970s look, i.e., both the blue and green costume with that cool arrow and the long flowing locks (can’t recall if that iteration was created by Grell or Cockrum). I was never a fan of his ‘perm’ or the old/new predominantly magenta duds.
As to Shag’s question about Paul Smith and the X-men’s best known redhead – yes, Jean Grey was gone by the time he came on as the artist, but the Jean lookalike Madelyne Pryor was introduced at the time (in fact, he has a co-creator credit for the character). And that Hawkwoman image is lovely – makes me wish that Smith had done at least one whole story featuring the Hawks.
p.s. very much agree with Shag about Jeff Parker – a personal favorite of mine is his Agents of Atlas material. Great stuff.
Who do y’all loathe more the Omega Men or Forever People?
Great show, guys! I don’t know if Wayne Manor, the Bat Cave (which I guess is part of Wayne Manor), or the Daily Planet would be eligible for the best-known fictional building. Arkham certainly has the laxest security in the DCU. It’s the anti-Vegas–whoever is locked up in Arkham never stays in Arkham.
Blue Devil was a great character and book. Regarding the name of Bolt’s son Dreadbolt not being called Deathbolt–DC already has/had a character by that name first appearing in All-Star Squadron. And the DCU has another character using the name Bolt introduced in Christopher Priest’s recent-ish Black Adam miniseries. Originally, he was called “White Adam” but thankfully that didn’t last.
I love Colleen Doran’s Element Lad (and her art in general), but I agree 100% with Edo Bosnar that the green and black costume is his best.
My favorite Felix Faust story is definitely Superfriends #28, “Masquerade of Madness”.
Every time I hear “The Weasel”, I can’t help but recall Pauly Shore from the MTV of long ago.
Finally, I was reminded of Roy Raymond TV Detective when reading one of my old DC Best of Blue Ribbon Digests, #30 spotlighting Detective Comics. Roy appears in “The Riddle of the Unseen Man!” and the collection also includes stories featuring fellow Who’s Who deep cuts Captain Compass and Mysto, Magician Detective.
Looking forward to the next episode featuring Snapper Carr, the Lieutenant Marvels. Northwind, Jericho, and the rest of your favorites.
Yay! A new WHO’s Who? Review! It’s going to to be a great day.
Is there a more famous fictional building than Arkham Asylum? I’d argue the Daily Planet Building, and possibly Avengers Tower thanks to the extreme popularity of the MCU.
Shag, I completely agree that Giffen’s Suicide Squad is an under appreciated gem. I’ve reread the first issue about twent times, it’s a great single issue adventure.
Major Disaster is definitely a character who greatly benefitted from the InderWorld Unleashed story arc. He basically gained the powers of the Final Destination movies.
Thanks for another great episode
Great episode and another ‘lucky’ randomizer. It only ups the chances for the randomizer to create an ‘all Anj episode’ – Creeper, Fatal Five, The Gang, Hawk and Dove, Hyathis, Ironwolf, Lightning Lass, Shade the Changing Man, Supergirl, and the Warlock of Ys!
A few comments –
Arkham – Alan Moore did have Swamp Thing head to Arkham a couple of times in his tenure and I wonder if Bissette/Totleben got the gig as the preeminent horror guys at the time. Loved this entry then and now
Element Lad – I’d put the pink outfit with the Interlac E in the ‘Baxter’ era. He was still in the Grell green and blue in The Great Darkness. This is, of course, a riff on his original with the interlac rather than the English E in the center. I always thought his ‘lonely life’ was more that he was sensitive to his role as only survivor and much more religious. As you say, in 5YL, he is almost monk-ish. But once pointed out, I can see where the LGBTQ threads could be seen. I’ve always been a fan. As you say Shag, that moment in 5yL #12 where he says they should spare Roxxas is my fave moment of that series.
Felix Faust – has anyone got more mileage out of a great cover than Felix Faust? Remove that finger puppet cover from human memory and he would be a complete afterthought.
Hawkwoman – man, this one ranks up with Dave Stevens Dolphin! How much more did Paul Smith do in the DCU? Feels as rare as ManHawk teeth.
The Adjuticator – As Isamu says, his one story is memorable for a couple of reasons – an all female hero team-up basically saving the universe. Supergirl fighting Nazis? Yes please. But also it had those ‘book cover’ covers which made them stand out on the rack even then. Glad he got some love here!
Thanks again for a great episode!
I’m not an LSH expert, but I’m in the middle of an LSH re-read right now and have to agree with the doc’s assessment of Element Lad. I am almost at the end of the Baxter run and have seen no indication of Jan being LGBTQ. In fact, there are years of stories with him being romantically involved with Shvaughn Erin from the Science Police. Admittedly, around 5YL was when I stopped reading the title, so I’ll see if anything comes up when I get there. Either way, put me in the Pink Costume camp. It made him stand out a bit, as did his Jericho-like curly blonde hair.
Listening now, but I have ALWAYS thought Weasel’s unmasked face looked like Curt Swan’s work. WAY before you guys exposed how Brozowski liked to liberally swipe from other artists. So yes, Rob, I believe you’re right. He’s totally ripping off Swan.
Dropping back in to say I think the JL/JLU animated Hawkgirl did get quite a bit of her personality from the Hawkworld verison, but I agree with Rob that the strong, aggressive side of Shayera was at least there by the 70s/early 80s in JLA. I think the snarky humor of Shayera in the DCAU comes somewhat from her limited time in JLI, where she lovingly busted Katar’s balls for being such an old stick in the mud. It’s crazy to think that now Hawkgirl/Woman is probably better known than Hawkman thanks to JLU (since no one can really seem to remember much about Black Adam, which featured Hawkman).
Oh, and as for Arkham Asylum, I THINK much of the historical background of the asylum was first revealed here. I think I read that Len Wein wrote this entry, and he was the Batman editor at the time this was published. Grant Morrison ran with much of this for the graphic novel, and I agree with Shag (Rao help me) that Morrioon and McKean’s book is what put Arkham on the road to becoming a household name. BTAS and then Batman Forever were the first media outside of comics to feature it. And don’t forget O’Neil cribbed the name from H.P. Lovecraft as well.
Arkham Asylum: apparently Len Wein wrote the Amadeus Arkham backstory specifically for this entry which then strongly inspired Grant Morrison and Dave McKean’s AA book. And not just the text; I’m sure Maxie Zeus wouldn’t have been on their radar without the art here.
Roy Raymond met an extremely dark and disgusting fate early in Rick Vietch’s Swamp Thing run.
Weasel is pretty typical of a lot Firestorm villains. Since he’s sort of a marvel character put into the DCU (his origin is basically Hulk’s, his personal life is the bizarro world Spider-Man’s), and he mostly gets Spider-Man type villains that he completely outclassed. (Sure, there’s Typhoon. But it’s mostly were-creatures, animal themed guys, and Goldenrod.)
Nice group this time around
My favorite is the
The guardian
With blue devil and bolt being tie for second
The zooms who art is great as always.
I can’t wait to see who will pop up next .
Loved The Guardian — a beat cop who decided the best thing he can do to protect the neighborhood is to fight crime even more while he’s off duty. And the best gear for that is a brightly colored body stocking accentuated by golden boots, helmet, and bulletproof shield. It’s just all so logical in my comic book-warped brain.
I remember Element Lad and Shvaughn pushing the limits and forcing us as readers to consider questions we hadn’t before, or at least I hadn’t. Don’t remember exactly when.
The Hawkwoman entry is both powerful and gorgeous. I remember that Wonder Woman story with the Adjudicator. I wasn’t always buying her book at the time, but that story was too big to resist. The Yukinori family did amazing work as always. It sounds like I’m taking them for granted, but I’m impressed every time.
These refried beans are excellent, gentlemen. Keep cooking!
I don’t normally comment on the Xum panels, as excellent as they normally are, as they’re two obscure for relatively modern comic book reader me! But I know Adjudicator, and have those issues physically, because as mentioned by greater minds than me the Huntress and Power Girl, of Earth-2, get involved in the story!
Even covered them on my blog for the few interested in my view of the issues! 😀
Another great episode.
I’ve always loved the Guardian—something about his costume and his general look really intrigued me when I first saw him in All-Star Squadron. Now I find myself hoping for a Guardian figure in the new Super Powers collection.
Echoing what many have already said: It’s my understanding that a lot of the Arkham Asylum backstory was established by Len Wein for this Who’s Who entry, the rare WW listing that included new info. Does that make this the single-most influential entry in the history of Who’s Who? And I always assumed this entry was drawn by Bisette and Totelbein because the institution had recently figured in an issue of Swamp Thing (same reason Floronic Man is depicted).
One of you speculated that it would have been cool to see Arkham in the Batman ’60s TV show, and I agree. Though it did happen…sort of: In a third-season episode, guest villain Dr. Cassandra (played by Ida Lupino) infiltrates Gotham State Prison, letting loose the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, King Tut, and Egghead (alas, all played by no-name actors with no dialogue) who then fight the Dynamic Duo and Batgirl in the dark (all the better to hide the episode’s lack of Romeroness, Meredithism, Newmarity, etc.).
And sorry, I don’t buy that Arkham is the most famous fictional building. Even in the realm of superhero fiction, the Batcave has to top it. Beyond that, Hogwarts comes to mind. I also wonder if our own view of this question is skewed by our superhero-centric perspective—it’s possible that more people are familiar with something like the house in Gone with the Wind or the Ministry of Truth in 1984 than have even heard of Arkham. (It’s telling that for all its pop culture reach, Arkham has no real physical trademarks—it’s never physically depicted the same way more than once.)
Re: Hawkwoman. Rob, you said it always seemed like she was underappreciated in the old JLA title, and I strongly agree, never more so than your beloved JLA #200, where she’s the only Justice Leaguer—past or present—to not appear (I don’t think she’s even mentioned). For God’s sake, they dug up Snapper Carr for that issue!
And Rob, if you and Kelly like the Kids in the Hall theme (officially titled “Having an Average Weekend”), I strongly urge you to check out the rest of the oeuvre of the band who wrote and recorded it, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. That song is typical of their sound, an updated take on 1960s surf rock instrumentals that for some reason was typical of a whole scene in various Canadian cities in the late ’80s/early ’90s.
I finally listened to a Fire & Water podcast that wasn’t already 6 months old. In reference to Hawkwoman, I saw Marv Wolfman at a convention a long time ago. He talked about how the Hawks were some of the most visually compelling super heroes. Marv also said that he wanted Hawkman to die in Crisis, so Hawkwoman could be a widower with a solo book. I looked around online and couldn’t find anything else about this. She didn’t get her own book for another 20 years.
I initially dismissed the idea of an Arkham ’66 as anachronistic, but now I’m beginning to visualize the high-spirited hi-jinks.
I don’t know much about Warlord or Arion and had no recollection of Wyynde. It seems odd that there was Arak, who was Native American and within a few issues Wyynde who only seems Native American.
Damn, I missed Xum’s Who’s Whos, but I’m looking forward to a digital version.
Slam Bradley is Thomas’ grandfather?! But Catwoman hooked up with Slam and had a baby with Sam Bradley Jr. Does that mean Helena Kyle and Helena Wayne could be half sisters AND half cousins? Is there an evil Huntress lurking about?!
Hey, we were making good stuff 6 month ago.
You may not have completely missed out on printed copies of Xum’s Who, as some of the preorders had been cancelled. Email xumswho@gmail.com to ask about available copies.
I much prefer Firestorm’s original Weasel, a monologuing evil genius (something of a genius, anyway) clad in orange. Kudos to Rafael Kayanan for depicting Weez with such intimidating agility and speed, even if it makes no sense that a guy in a fursuit could threaten Firestorm.
Gary Martin spent several years inking Steve Rude on nexus.
The extra artist on Arkham Asylum might be the person the did the blueprint.
DC already had a Deathbolt, from All-Star Squadron.
Major Disaster appeared about the same time as the similarly powered Calamity King from the Legion, in March 1966.
Great show, Rob and Shag. I was told there’d be more Forever People. Interesting randomizer this time around: I love Dr. Bedlam’s Phil Collins hair style. Maybe Bolt should’ve gone with the name Bulge instead. The Star Hunters have to be an 80’s cover band. Only JLGL could make Roy Raymond the standout character. Just a master. And Paul Smith is consistently the most underappreciated artist of the 80’s/90’s. Beautiful work on Hawkwoman. Blue Devil was also included.
So I sold my Blue Devil comics to Blue Devil.
At least I’m 98% sure of this.
Shag might remember this but a few years ago when I was unloading my comic collection I was selling a lot of books on eBay. I put my Blue Devil run up and it sold and I was doing the usual thing of getting the shipping label printed and getting it packed up and between the eBay member ID having Ian in the name and the shipping name having Ziering in it I was like, “Wait a minute.” The address had Los Angeles in it and it occurred to me that I was selling my books to the guy that was playing Dan Cassidy.
A few months later a friend was working a gig where Ziering was going to be and confirmed that he had bought Blue Devil books off of eBay.
So…all signs point to me selling comics to the guy that played a character on a show that was on when I was in high school that was insanely popular and I rarely watched it.
Weird.
Hey Shag have you seen that the Who’s Who guides from DC Heroes are being reprinted in this kickstarter?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/dc-heroes-role-playing-game-40th-anniversary?ref=64cihs
What Ever Happened To?
Arkham Asylum: After the original Arkham Asylum was destroyed, Wayne Manor was seized by Gotham City and used as a temporary replacement facility while Arkham was rebuilt. Naturally, that rebuilt facility was destroyed by Simon Saint and Scarecrow during Fear State. Afterward, Arkham Tower was built on the site of Hugo Strange’s former lair, until that too was destroyed during Gotham Nocturne. At present time, there is no facility standing that bears the name Arkham.
Blue Devil: Danny has been moonlighting as a bartender at The Oblivion Bar. He is set to be a key supporting character in the upcoming Zatanna mini-series by the amazing Jamal Campbell!
Bolt: Larry was recently killed while on a Suicide Squad mission. The name is now being used by the hero Malik White, who is a direct descendant of Teth-Adam.
Doctor Bedlam: He was last seen in 2019’s Mister Miracle series from DC Black Label (YMMV if you consider Black Label as mainstream continuity or not: I don’t). However, with a New Gods series coming out in 2025, it’s possible he’ll make an appearance again.
Element Lad: The poor Legion of Super-Heroes. While there was an Element Lad as part of the Bendisboot, he wasn’t ever in the spotlight. When the Retroboot Legion returned within the last few issues of Geoff John’s final Justice Society of America run, Jan was not among them.
Felix Faust: Felix was last seen drunk in The Oblivion Bar during the events of Absolute Power. He was convinced he would be king of the world with all of the superheroes depowered. He didn’t even make it out of the bar.
The Guardian: Jim sided with Mark Shaw during the Event Leviathan fiasco. However, he was back on the side of right and helped Jimmy Olsen protect Metropolis while Superman was busy with The Authority taking down Warworld.
Hawkwoman: It’s honestly very hard to keep up with Who’s Who when it comes to the Hawks. At present, Shayera Thal, Shiera Hall, Shayera Hol, etc. are all merged, while Kendra Saunders has been removed from the reincarnation cycle. Hawkwoman was last seen in 2021 where she and Carter had a definitive (but not final) confrontation with Hath-Set. They were shown growing very old together in the 40th Century.
Major Disaster: Not too long ago, Booker tried to dissuade his daughter from following in his footsteps as Minor Disaster. Recently, Hal and Barry took him down in Coast City, where he was trying to use his heightened powers to… who knows. He is scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of Action Comics, where it will be explored why he went back to crime.
Roy Raymond, TV Detective: Roy survived his encounter with Wild Thing in the pages of Swamp Thing, but he has since retired. Roy Raymond Jr. (Owlman) hasn’t been seen since Flashpoint. Roy Raymond III is a podcast host for Impossible… But True, continuing his family’s detective legacy. His team on the show includes Marty Compass (grandson of Captain Compass), Sandra Bradley (granddaughter of Slam), and Cathy Saunders (granddaughter of Speed Saunders).
Star Hunters: They are part of the DC Multiverse, but their universe hasn’t been seen since a brief glimpse by Batman back in 2007.
The Weasel: John Monroe was killed, but Amanda Waller brought him back from the dead to be a member of the Suicide Squad. This process removed most of his humanity. He is no longer a man in a costume, but a true anthropomorphic weasel.
Wyynde: He was seen in a flashback to Atlantis’s golden age during the Drowned Earth event. But other than that, he hasn’t been seen since at least Flashpoint. He does have a namesake on Earth-16, who is a member of King Orin’s Atlantean Royal Guard and in a romantic relationship with Kaldur’ahm (Aquaman).