Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #3
Issue #3 of Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe arrived in May 1985 as one of the most densely populated single issues in DC's reference series, covering the alphabetical stretch from Black Lightning to Byth and assembling pre-Crisis biographies for dozens of A-list and deep-catalog characters simultaneously. Because the series launched just one month before Crisis on Infinite Earths began reshaping DC's continuity, this issue captures an invaluable pre-Crisis snapshot of characters like Brainiac, Blue Beetle, and the Bronze Tiger at the exact moment the universe they inhabited was about to be fundamentally rewritten. The wraparound cover by George Pérez and Dick Giordano, and interior art contributed by Jack Kirby, Curt Swan, Bill Sienkiewicz, Steve Rude, Keith Giffen, and a roster of other major talents, makes the issue as much a gallery of 1980s comics artistry as it is a reference document. It was later collected in the Who's Who Omnibus Vol. 1 (2021), cementing its place as a permanent resource in DC's publishing history.
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Who's Who was created by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Robert Greenberger as a direct outgrowth of the research undertaken for Crisis on Infinite Earths: in 1982, DC hired comics historian Peter Sanderson to catalog every DC publication from 1938 onward, and on Wolfman's suggestion, that research was repurposed into the companion encyclopedia series. Len Wein served as editor with Marv Wolfman as consulting editor, Robert Greenberger as associate editor, Tom Condon as managing editor, Peter Sanderson and E. Nelson Bridwell as researchers, Neal Pozner as design director, and Todd Klein handling production — with the loose-leaf format for the series devised by editor Michael Eury. The series debuted on newsstands in late 1984 (cover-dated March 1985) and ran for 26 issues through 1987, with issue #3 going on sale January 29, 1985, per DC Releases #12. Writers credited on this issue include Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Paul Levitz, and Gary Cohn.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: May 1985; on-sale date: January 29, 1985. Published by DC Comics as part of a 26-issue limited series running 1985–1987.
- Issue #3 covers the alphabetical range 'Black Lightning through Byth,' profiling dozens of characters including Black Lightning, Black Manta, Black Orchid, the Black Pirate, the Black Racer, Brainiac, Brainiac 5, the Bronze Tiger, Brother Blood, B'wana Beast, Blue Beetle, Blue Devil, and many others.
- The wraparound cover was penciled by George Pérez and inked by Dick Giordano. Interior art credits include Jack Kirby (Black Racer, Boy Commandos), Curt Swan (Blackrock, Brainiac 5), Bill Sienkiewicz (the Brain), Steve Rude (Blue Beetle), Keith Giffen and Karl Kesel (Bouncing Boy), Jim Aparo (Black Lightning), Jerry Ordway (Black Pirate), Pat Broderick (Black Spider), Carmine Infantino (Blackstarr), George Pérez (Brother Blood, Brotherhood of Evil), Denys Cowan (Bronze Tiger), Rafael Kayanan (Breathtaker, Bug & Byte), and Ed Hannigan (Brainiac), among others.
- Written by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Paul Levitz, and Gary Cohn; researched by Peter Sanderson and E. Nelson Bridwell; produced with design direction by Neal Pozner.
- The series was DC's answer to Marvel's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and was itself a direct byproduct of research commissioned for Crisis on Infinite Earths — per Marv Wolfman, DC repurposed the Sanderson research into Who's Who partly to have a complete character record for potential merchandising.
- Because Who's Who launched one month before Crisis on Infinite Earths, this issue depicts strictly pre-Crisis versions of all profiled characters, making it a time-capsule record of DC's multiverse continuity as it existed just before the universe-resetting event began.
- The Grand Comics Database notes a factual error in the issue: the Black Pirate's first appearance is incorrectly listed as Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942); his actual first appearance was in Action Comics #23 (April 1940).
- The entire issue was reprinted in Who's Who Omnibus Vol. 1 (DC Comics, April 2021, ISBN 978-1779505996), which collected all 26 issues of the original series along with the Update '87 and Update '88 issues.