Who Was Who Is Who #35

So for want of anything better to write about on a Monday, 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 2012, who might make it and who hasn't got a Pig-Iron's chance.

PHANTOM GIRL - one of the perennial Legion members, even I'm aware that Phantom Girl is likely to be included in most versions of the team and a quick check on the internet reveals that she is alive and well in the latest Legion of Super-Heroes series.

PHANTOM LADY - at the time of writing (start of April) none of the versions of the Phantom Lady appear to have survived into the post-Flashpoint world. The last page of The Ray series, though, hinted at a possible return for Uncle Sam and, by extension, the Freedom Fighters so maybe they'll be back at some point. For that reason, Phantom Lady goes in the possible column.

THE PHANTOM STRANGER - for a while it seemed as though we wouldn't be seeing DC's resident spooky guy who turns up when needed but then he showed up at the end of the first Justice League arc, picking a fight with Pandora about the new timeline.

PHANTOM ZONE - it may be back in the pages of one of the Superman title but as it's a location (or maybe a non-location?) I'm not counting it either way.

PHOBIA - surprisingly she turned up in the pages of the new Blue Beetle book as one of the not-mentioned-by-name-but-quite-clearly-was Brotherhood of Evil so she goes in the "in place" column.

PIED PIPER - as far as I know, the Piper hasn't yet appeared in the Flash book yet (remember: early April, folks!) but I do know that the Rogues are making a return so it seems likely that he'll be back before the end of 2012. Having had some ups and downs with the Rogues, though, I'm not certain he'll be included in their ranks so will go in the possible column.

PIG-IRON - like all of Captain Carrot's comrades, I don't think we'll be seeing the Pig of Iron anytime soon.

PLASMUS - like Phobia above, Plasmus turned up in the Blue Beetle series so goes in the "in place" column.

PLASTIC MAN - there's been a distinct lack of Plas for a couple of years despite having been one of the big fan-favourite characters a while back. Will he may a reappearance before the end of 2012? I sort of doubt it but would be happy to be proved wrong.

PLASTIQUE - sometime hero, sometime villain, sometime girlfriend of Captain Atom, I don't think there's any chance we'll see Plastique for a while despite Captain Atom having his own title again.

POISON IVY - a popular Batman villain, Ivy's been appearing in the new Birds of Prey title since the reboot so she's definitely in place.

POLAR BOY - as far as I can see, Polar Boy's been alive and well in the pages of Legion of Super-Heroes since the reboot so he's in place as well.

POWER GIRL - for a while there it looked like Power Girl was lost post-Flashpoint with just an appearance as Karen Starr in the pages of Mr Terrific. However, with the news of the forthcoming (still April here, folks) Worlds' Finest series, PG's reappearance was confirmed and I for one can't wait. So while she hasn't appeared in costume at the time of writing, she's going in the in place column.

POW-WOW SMITH - hmmm, tricky one. Most of the other Old West heroes have gone into the possible column simply because of All Star Western having back-up tales, but old politically incorrectly named Pow-Wow Smith? I'm going to guess not.

THE PRANKSTER - one of Superman's more ridiculous enemies, I'm going to say that the post-Flashpoint world would be better off if he never re-appeared.

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So in summary seven already in place (Phantom Girl, Phantom Stranger, Phobia, Plasmus, Poison Ivy, Polar Boy and Power Girl) no definite predictions and two possibles (Phantom Lady and Pied Piper)