Here's the kind of thought experiment that goes on regularly at Siskoid Central. I don't need to reiterate how big a fan I am of DC's old reference series Who's Who, nor do I need to express just how disappointed when DC's announcement of a new Who's Who series didn't come to be and then became irrelevant when the company launched a line-wide reboot. So I often sit here, flipping through my old Who's Whos, trying to imagine what the series would have looked like today 1) if the project had gone ahead as planned, and 2) if they made a New52 version of it.
Then: Here are the entries in the original Who's Who's first issue:
You might throw in Angel and the Ape, which was featured in an appendix section of the 26th and final issue of the first run. What would it look like NOW?
Less than half the entries survived. Of course, the New52 version would also feature Abby Cable, Abyss, Acro-Bat (still Chase's dad), Adam One, Alfred Pennyworth, Al Jabr, Amadeus Arkham, Amanda Waller, Apollo, Arsenal, Atrocitus and August General in Iron. That's about ¾ of the way. I don't even know where Ray Palmer fits anymore. He's appeared, but he's neither of the Atoms.
Alternate now: Who might have made it in a pre-Flushpoint (post-52, return of the Multiverse) Who's Who? I can imagine some culling there too. Cain and Abel would be better under "House", Abnegazar and his chums should be under Demons Three, Atari Force is now off-limits, and the Zoo Crew would probably be all in a single entry.
That leaves room for new entries like the second Aquaman, Arrowette, Anarky, Artemis, Asmodel, Abbattoir, Abin Sur(?), Access, Ace the Bat-Hound, Achilles, Advance Man, Agamemno, Amazing Grace, Agent Liberty, Alpha Centurion, Amygdala, Anima, the new Aqualad, all-new Atom, a couple of Aquagirls and Amazing-Men, Ares, Argent, Argh!yle!, Argus, Atlas, the Agenda, Alpha Lanterns, and most of the characters mentioned in the New52 list. And I'd have payed an extra buck to see Apache Chief get an entry somehow.
Me? I'd linger on the "A"s until even the most obscure supervillain put in a half-page. By all means, if I missed your favorite character, team, object or location that fits between A and Automan (the next issue's first entry), let me know. We won't even see these comics, so we might as well dream about them.
And if you liked my going through Vol.I like this, tell me and I could be convinced to keep this feature going.
Then: Here are the entries in the original Who's Who's first issue:
Alternate now: Who might have made it in a pre-Flushpoint (post-52, return of the Multiverse) Who's Who? I can imagine some culling there too. Cain and Abel would be better under "House", Abnegazar and his chums should be under Demons Three, Atari Force is now off-limits, and the Zoo Crew would probably be all in a single entry.
That leaves room for new entries like the second Aquaman, Arrowette, Anarky, Artemis, Asmodel, Abbattoir, Abin Sur(?), Access, Ace the Bat-Hound, Achilles, Advance Man, Agamemno, Amazing Grace, Agent Liberty, Alpha Centurion, Amygdala, Anima, the new Aqualad, all-new Atom, a couple of Aquagirls and Amazing-Men, Ares, Argent, Argh!yle!, Argus, Atlas, the Agenda, Alpha Lanterns, and most of the characters mentioned in the New52 list. And I'd have payed an extra buck to see Apache Chief get an entry somehow.
Me? I'd linger on the "A"s until even the most obscure supervillain put in a half-page. By all means, if I missed your favorite character, team, object or location that fits between A and Automan (the next issue's first entry), let me know. We won't even see these comics, so we might as well dream about them.
And if you liked my going through Vol.I like this, tell me and I could be convinced to keep this feature going.
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