Who Was Who Is Who #7

So for want of anything better to write about on a Monday, and with DC's New 52 well under way (how long are they keeping that title do you think?) I'm going to go through all my copies of Who's Who and see if I can predict who will make it over to the new DCU by the end of this year, who might make it and who hasn't got a Captain Compass's chance.

CADRE - these were the guys who, under the Overmaster, fought the Detroit League. They were, to a man, a complete shambles and no real threat to the League whatsoever as I mentioned last year. Will they appear again? Not a chance. Sure, there's the chance that the name might be repurposed but Fastball? Crowbar? Shrike? Naaaaah.

CAIN - as I mentioned with Abel in the first of these posts, there's the possibility that Cain might turn up in some Vertigo title at some point. In the new DCU, though? I doubt it.

CALCULATOR - given a fresh lease of life by being turned into the villains' version of Oracle, the Calculator was the go to bad guy for nefarious information. With Oracle getting out of the chair and back into the role of Batgirl, I think it unlikely that the Calculator will continue in that role. Who knows, maybe he'll go back to wearing a bloody great number pad on his chest again.


CALENDAR MAN - I think it was Long Halloween that gave Calendar Man a bit of a make-over, moving him away from the red and white costume and putting him into the bald headed, months tattooed on his scalp variation we all know and . . . er . . . love. Wouldn't surprise me if he turned up in some new form by the end of the year, so I'm going to put him in the possibles.

CAMELOT 3000 - not DCU, incredibly slim chance of it turning up somewhere in the Multiverse but I wouldn't bet on it.

CAPTAIN ATOM - and our first one who's already in place goes to our good captain who, despite looking a lot different, he's still the same character underneath the less shiny, more blue skin of this latest version. Recently (at least at the time of writing which is mid-Jan) he's escaped the first DC cull which I'm happy about as his book's not bad.

CAPTAIN BOOMERANG - what's a Flash without his Rogues, eh? This is being written not long after an announcement has been made by DC that the Rogues gallery are indeed returning to the pages of Flash sometime soon. By dint of that, Digger Harkness goes in the definite column.

CAPTAIN CARROT - I know there's a lot of love out there for Captain Carrot but, seriously? I doubt it.

CAPTAIN COLD - he may well be a meta this time round, but as mentioned above for Captain Boomerang, Cold's return to the DCU has already been announced so he's another definite.

CAPTAIN COMET - Comet had a nice revival around Infinite Crisis and 52, dropping the Captain and going by Comet. Like Adam Strange, I could maybe see him turning up in the pages of Justice League if they get an off-world adventure but I doubt it'll be before the end of the year.

CAPTAIN COMPASS - ummmm . . . no.

CAPTAIN FEAR - last appearing in the excellent Dr Thirteen back up in Tales of The Unexpected, unless DC happen to add a pirate title to their roster (which, honestly, is a little more likely than it was a year ago) I can't see him turning up any time soon.

CAPTAIN MARVEL - a nice easy one here, as it's already been announced that Geoff Johns will be reintroducing Captain Marvel into the DCU by way of a back-up story in the pages of Justice League. I know some were hoping that Marvel would get to head to his own dedicated world but really, what's wrong with having the Big Red Cheese knocking about?

CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. - and where Billy Batson goes, Freddy Freeman is almost certain to follow so it should come as no surprise that I'm putting him in the definite column as well.

CAPTAIN NAZI - this guy, however . . . Despite being a Captain Marvel foe, I'd be really surprised to see him turn up. Having (presumably) no real ties to the Second World War in the rebooted world, Captain Marvel has no need for a dated villain such as this.

CAPTAIN STORM - with Men of War biting the dust in the DC Second Wave, the chances of Captain Storm or any of the Losers turning up now seems slim. Unless he turns up in G.I. Combat, of course. But probably not.

CAT-MAN - oh Thomas, where are you? One of my most-missed series following Flashpoint and the DCU relaunch is definitely Secret Six featuring Catman along with his dysfunctional friends. Despite originally being a second tier Batman villain and ending up a fat and flabby joke in Green Arrow, Gail Simone turned him and his friends into one of the best teams in the pre-Flashpoint DCU. Will we see him back before the end of 2012 in one form or another? Sad to say, I'm going with no, only because Simone's excellent interpretation of the character makes it hard to think of someone else writing him.

---

So, summary for this week: one already in place (Captain Atom); four definites (Captains Boomerang, Cold, Marvel and Marvel Jr.) and one possible in Calendar Man.