A few weeks ago, I started looking at whether or not Who's Who and Crisis on Infinite Earths were on the same page when it came to celebrating DC's 50 years of creative output. In other words, if I saw someone in Crisis, could I go to Who's Who and find out who they were? Our sample, the first half of Who's Who #1, showed a third of the 15 entries we looked at did not then show up in Crisis or any of its tie-ins. Some asked that I continue the study, so I will. Here then are the results from the second half of that issue of Who's Who, ignoring Atari Force, since that series took place outside the DC multiverse.
Apokolips: We learn in Crisis #8 that Darkseid is using all his power to keep his world cloaked from the Anti-Monitor's attention, which seems to be why it's on hand to help him engineer DC's next crossover event, Legends.
Aquagirl and Aqualad: Appear a fair bit in Crisis (Wolfman IS Teen Titans' writer, and they were part of the cast at this time), but notably, Aquagirl is killed during the event (in #9), and Aqualad is powerless to prevent it.
Aquaman: Appears throughout. Nothing too bad happens to the King of the Seven Seas compared to other denizens of Atlantis, but he's still in the middle of a marital crisis. He was appearing regularly in JLA at the time, and his "blue suit" mini-series started towards the end of Crisis' run.
Arak Son of Thunder: While Arak does not appear between the covers of Crisis on Infinite Earths, he and a number of historical heroes get "red skied" to 1985 in the All-Star Squadron #55 tie-in. Oddly, despite being the only one with his own (recent, it had been cancelled only months before) title, he does not make the cover.
Arcane: Abby's Uncle Anton does NOT appear in Crisis, a difficult ask for a villain associated with one of the more hidden corners of the DC Universe, despite appearing regularly on Saga of the Swamp Thing. He's the first in this particular batch of characters.
Arion Lord of Atlantis: Actually shows up in the first 5 issues of Crisis, including the cover of the very first issue. Pictured above being recruited by Harbinger. Little did he know this event would make Power Girl his granddaughter. His important contribution makes sense as he was starring in a series at the time.
Arkham Asylum: Everyone's favorite Asylum for the Criminally Insane is where they leave the Psycho-Pirate at the end of Crisis. It is, in fact, the last identifiable Who's Who entry of the whole series.
Atlantis: There's quite a bit of action taking place in and around Atlantis during Crisis. The characters featured in the entry all appear in issue 10. It's just the back of Vulko's head when Aqualad learns of Tula's death, I'm afraid, but both Lori Lemaris and Ronal (of Tritonis) are in the thick of it, which spells death for Lori herself. The Tritonians had appeared in Superman #408, concurent with Crisis, while Vulko hadn't shown up in three years (JLA 217).
Atom I: Al Pratt, the Earth-2 Atom, fights to save his world in Crisis, as he was a regular member of All-Star Squadron at the time. His arc in Crisis is mostly to help usher in a new Wildcat.
Atom II: Ray Palmer had only recently returned from his life as a tiny barbarian, in time to enter the Red Tornado's skull, which had been modified and booby-trapped by the Monitor (in Crisis #8).
Atomic Knight: Appeared in the last three issues of Crisis, with the "Forgotten Heroes" going out to ask Brainiac for help. He had appeared several times in the two previous year (in DC Comics Presents and Wonder Woman) where it was revealed his life in the postapocalyptic world was a virtual reality simulation. A retcon before the mother of all retcons, I guess.
Atomic Skull: My reverse namesake (Albert Michaels) did NOT appear in Crisis or any of its tie-ins. He had last appeared in DC Comics Presents #50 (an odd Superman/Clark Kent team-up) in 1982.
Auron: The Omega Men leave such a big footprint in Who's Who, they BETTER tie into Crisis. Auron WASN'T a permanent fixture of the book, but did appear in issue #33, which lacked the Crisis banner but WAS a Crisis tie-in (following up on a loose thread mentioned in Crisis #10). A small cameo in a flashback, but that's why I need Who's Who to tell me who he is!
The second half of the first volume of Who's Who has 14 entries, only 2 of which did not show up in Crisis. That brings the total to 22/29 that do after 1 issue. Tell the Batman Family to show up for questioning, they'll be next.
The second half of the first volume of Who's Who has 14 entries, only 2 of which did not show up in Crisis. That brings the total to 22/29 that do after 1 issue. Tell the Batman Family to show up for questioning, they'll be next.
Comments
While I do think Perez didn't always need Wolfman to tell him who to put in scenes (I'm sure he added some of his favorites in crowds and such), I can't exactly blame Marv when it comes to the immense number of villains in the DC stable. Heroes, yes. They're the stars. But a stray villain who doesn't make it in, here and there? Quite possible.
So in the present case, it's inexcusable not to have Arak Son of Thunder appear. This is a character who led a title for 50 issues +Annual. Roy Thomas shouldn't have had to squeeze him into an issue of All-Star Squadron (even if Roy was planning to do it all along - Arak was his creation after all).
Mike W.
I know Arak has been an unused character for quite a long time, but come on, that's just insane. The BAD kind.
I have to admit, a big hunk of my knowledge of world history circa 800 CE hinges upon Arak comics. Vikings: happening. Charlemagne: king of the Franks. Byzantine Empire: exists and uses Norsemen for some of its guards. Muslims: exist and are occasionally trying to invade France (though, much to my later surprise, they're coming from Spain and not from the Balkans).