COMIC SCHOOL W/PROFESSOR MIKE - SESSION #2

COMIC SCHOOL W/PROFESSOR MIKE:  SESSION #2



Hey, kids!  School is BACK in session with another lesson in comic book lore!  Last week, we kicked this course off with an introduction and history of Marvel Comics' breakthrough project The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.  This week, we're going to take a look at the "Distinguished Competition" and their counter to that project.  But FIRST---I know I left you a pop quiz at the end of last week's lesson, and I'm here to see if your answers match mine.  So, without further ado, and before we begin this week's lesson, let's see what the answers were to last week's quiz (and yes, children, there WILL be another quiz at the END of this week's lesson):

1.  Spider-Man's first appearance was in AMAZING FANTASY #15 (1962)

2.  The Thing is capable of lifting up to 85 tons at maximum

3.  The original members of the Avengers, which appeared in AVENGERS #1 were:  Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Ant-Man, and The Wasp

4.  In Tony Stark's original story (as told in his first appearance in TALES OF SUSPENSE #39), Tony was hit with shrapnel from a trap he triggered when he hit a trip wire, and it caused a small explosion, while in Vietnam.

5.  The covers for the original 1982 edition of the Handbook were done by Edward Hannigan.

Okay!  Now that we have the answers posted for last week's quiz...how did you do?  Leave a comment below (and if you lie to me and all of you say "100%"...I'll know you've cheated!).

Alright....for this week's lesson, we head over to Marvel's comic rivals---the long standing former National Publications---or, as we know them, DC Comics.  Now, DC has been around since 1935 publishing comics in all forms, but it wasn't until just before their 50th anniversary that they decided to catalogue THEIR storied history in an encyclopedia like tome for the masses to read.  Having seen what Marvel had done with their first volume of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, writers Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Robert Greenberger were tapped to collaborate on a project similar to that of Marvel's, but with a twist.  Hence, they created what became known as Who's Who:  The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe.  The series first run of 26 issues ran from the tail end of 1984 until 1987.  It should also be noted that, during this time, DC had begun it's most popular company wide crossover event, Crisis On Infinite Earths, which was going to shake up the DC Universe at its core.  

DC wanted to make sure their version of their "directory" stood out from Marvel's.  In doing so, they made the decision to keep the information to the bare basics, present it in a format that's appealing to the average comics fan, and jazz it up with better action shots of the character in their entries, by not giving the character just a simple pose, unless room dictated it.  Their table of contents was featured on the cover, and with it being a 26 issue set, it meant that they could, for the most part, feature one letter per issue, and devoting content to that one letter to the alphabet and the characters that fell under that.  The artwork provided in the book was done either by the character's actual creator, or whomever happened to be the artist on that respective book at the time.  Other times, they just tapped various artists in case they couldn't get the actual creator, or the artist involved wasn't available.  Also, the covers were wraparound much like their counterpart's, but didn't show the characters running, flying, driving, or such towards something---it was a bit more freeform, and a majority of the issues featured the artwork of TEEN TITANS and CRISIS artist George Perez.  Paris Cullins filled in for some of the middle issues, and George Perez came back for a few more, and then finished off by John Byrne, who had recently come to DC from Marvel to help give a reboot to the Man of Steel.  The covers looked something like this:

You can see the table of contents right on the front of the cover, and it was only a 32 page book, just as Marvel's first edition was.  Now, as far as the content goes, again, I reiterate that Who's Who used a more "bare bones" approach to each entry.  They divided up the information in "segments" on the page, if you will.  The layouts generally had the main picture of the character in full color, while in the background, were pictures of the character in action.  Also, the artist(s) names were featured at the bottom of the page, thus eliminating a list for them next to the character in the table of contents.  Next, instead of the simple typeface that Marvel used throughout most of their series, DC decided to spruce it up with the logo of the character, like you would see on the front of the comic book.  The actual information was divvied up into 3 parts:  Personal Data, History, and Powers & Weapons.  DC wasn't looking to give very long expositions into the characters, like Marvel, just the very basics that one would need, and a simple overview of the character, and a simple overview of their powers, abilities, and whatever weapons they may have.  Most entries were relegated to one page, like this:

You can see the dividers clearly, the logo, a shot of the character, and shots of them in action in the background.  Also should note that this book was published on a better stock of paper than the original Marvel book, which Marvel upgraded when they did their second volume.  I also would like to point out the border of the entry has something of a polka dot like feature if you would call it, around the character, going from solid to fading down at the bottom.  Depending on the entry or book...the border would change color, but was predominantly yellow.  This was a sleeker design, and actually "popped" more than the straightforward design that Marvel used.  As I stated, most entries were only 1 page, but there were instances where they had characters with shorter entries than most, and were relegated to half a page with someone else....OR, in the case of certain characters, there were TWO of the same...meaning two characters who shared the same name and similar story, or was a revised version of that character at that time.  

There were also instances that certain characters or groups were granted a two page spread, mostly to expand on the character's story, and also allowed the artist to give a bigger spread for artwork, as well as in the case of teams and such, to include all the members.  Some of the most popular and famous characters of DC were given two page spreads.  Here is one example:

Some characters, such as the "Trinity" of DC...had a second version of them.  One that carried one version of the character, and another a different version of the character, with a different appearance.  This was all set up in regards to their "Earth 2" and "Earth 1" versions:  

Wonder Woman was the one character that had THREE entries in the series to depict all three incarnations of her character:  

As stated, this series ran from 1984-1987.  At that time during the run, Crisis On Infinite Earths was happening from 1985-1986, and it altered the entire DC Universe.  Thus, many characters died, and many were revised, or had taken on new identities, and even morso, new characters were introduced.  DC also did not limit the entries of Who's Who to just the DC Universe in and of itself...it counted for the entire publication history of DC, which featured characters that did not fit inside the regular DC continuity.  

After the initial run had ended in 1987, and the DC Universe reset (and also having the reboots of the "Big Three" - Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman having given a fresh new look, their origins were altered.  Gone were the "Earth 2" counterparts, and the CRISIS series streamlined the company's history.  Thus, a NEW edition was called upon.  Around the middle to late 1987, DC published a short 5 issue set called Who's Who:  Update '87.  This set gave entries to new characters who appeared on the scene, gave entries to those who'd never gotten one, characters who had changed, and finally, updates on some popular characters that were needed....thus, many entries had a "Revised" banner somewhere in the entry itself.  What did NOT change, however, was the format.  DC felt it had a winning formula with the original edition, and decided to keep it.  Some characters got updated backgrounds and revised histories that happen to coincide, sometimes, with a book they were premiering in.  The covers looked something like this:

Again, the same concept cover as the original series, but this time, the logo has a drop shadow to it unlike the original series, and there's a box that says "UPDATE '87" on it.  Some characters who got revised entries often had a new book out just after their original entry was published, so they were granted a new entry, such as this example:

As you notice, the one on the left is the original entry found in the 1st volume of the series, the 2nd is the revised version of the character from 1987.  You can see the "Revised" tag on the bottom corner of the page.  This series only lasted for a few months, a quick 5 issue update on the happenings in the DC Universe in the "Post-CRISIS" era.  It wouldn't be until 1988 when DC again provided an update with Update: '88.  This time, it was only a 4 issue set, and again, a "Revised" tag was put on entries that had gotten revisions from 1987 and on.  The covers for this series were still relatively the same except for the final issue, which was the tail end of their entries, and onto their appendix.

There were some entries that were featured in the 1987 edition that got yet ANOTHER upgrade in 1988.  But there was no "Revised" banner on it:

After the 1988 run, DC decided to expand the venture to include a 7 issue volume dedicated to expanding the characters called The Legion  of Super Heroes, and a 2 issue set for Star Trek, which DC had licensed to publish all new material at the time, as well as drawing from the original TV series, animated series, and movies at that time.  In 1990, they came back with yet another version, this time taking yet ANOTHER cue from their rivals down the street, and the Who's Who in the DC Universe was a volume that had pull out entries you could stick in a binder.  In 1993, they released another binder set, 2 "issues" with new material, and one for their Impact line of comics.  

During the late 1990's and into the early 2000's, DC published Secret Files and Origins, which was a series on one-shot books dedicated to the characters of their respective books.  There is now a table top version of this book called The DC Encyclopedia, which is also very similar to Marvel's edition.

So, with all this said, you can see that DC did all it could to separate itself from their rivals in terms of delivering information about the vast DC Universe in a unique way.  I feel they delivered a compendium of a fun and interesting take on their continuity.  They're books that I also recommend collecting, because honestly, you'll never see anything like it again.  

Well, well well...it's that time again!  Time to grab a pencil, and start usin' yer noggin', because it's pop quiz time!  Let's see what information you've absorbed today...and remember, children, we're on the honor system here:

1.  What are the names of the two women who share the identity of Black Canary?

2.  What was Supergirl's first appearance?

3.  Around the time of Crisis On Infinite Earths, how many Luthors were there in the DC Universe?

4.  In Volume XI (issue #11) of Who's Who, under the Joker's entry, what is listed as his Alter Ego (real name)?

5.  Who was DC Comics' FIRST masked hero?  

All righty...next week, let's see how your answers compare to mine.  As always, if you like what you read in class, remember to subscribe and tell all your friends they can take a credit for this course!  And, if you're brave enough...leave me the answers to your quiz, and I'll have my red marker ready to grade.  Thank you all for coming, as usual!

Until next week....Class Dismissed!