Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Who's Who Volume XVIII - Aug. 1986

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It's Phantom Stranger time in Who's Who, The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe!

I guess one could argue who the biggest character in this issue was, so DC decided to split the difference and having Plastic Man wrap himself around Power Girl (and who could blame him?) so they could share the spotlight. As a PS fan, I'm glad to see he got a prominent place on the front.

The Phantom Stranger of course got his own listing in the Who's Who series, written by PS scribe Mike W. Barr and drawn by, of course, Jim Aparo:
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The Stranger's powers are initially described thusly: "Just as The Phantom Stranger has often exhibited abilities that defy rational explanation, these abilities also defy any attempts at classification."

Well said, Mr. Barr.


My admiration for the Who's Who series knows no bounds--as a kid, I loved seeing all these obscure characters I had never heard of, and it made the DCU seem so much bigger and cooler to me.

As an adult, I appreciate the extra little touches DC added--like on the cover, where they let The Pied Piper lay his head on the Table of Contents, and bump the Pursuer text over to fit.

On the inside, some of character/artist combos are Comics Nirvana--Jaime Hernandez on Phantom Girl, Dave Stevens on Phantom Lady, Steve Rude on Poison Ivy, Art Adams on Punch and Jewelee, and Marv Wolfman(!) drawing the Plasmus entry!


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