Episode 139 - Who are You

Even Kryptonite got an entry in Who’s Who. © 2025 DC Comics.

It’s back to the future as we welcome back to the podcast our very first guest, Al Kennedy from House to Astonish. The original plan was to discuss one of Al’s Mastermind subjects, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (and DC’s Who’s Who), but we only got there after a meandering bit of chat about a variety of subjects, including wrestlers from the 2010s and their current identities (no kayfabe breaking here).

But we do a deep dive on the original 1980s version of the Handbook, how DC’s approach to Who’s Who differed, Marvel’s readjustment with the Deluxe Handbook, the art in both books and more. Amazingly, we didn’t mention the three-ring binder era of Who’s Who or DC doing a spinoff Who’s Who for Star Trek (which DC was publishing at the time).

There’s also some dicussion on some current books we are enjoying, including work by past guests Mark Waid (Justice League Unlimited) and Al Ewing (the gone too soon Metamorpho, with Steve Lieber). There’s also reminiscing about late 90s comics, including John Ostrander and Pascual Ferry’s Heroes for Hire and Starman. Sadly, no Swingers talk, although I had it in my notes. Shame on me.

There’s also some sci-fi media talk, but nothing on Doctor Who (I stopped watching after Capaldi left). Since Al and Paul O’Brien do a Thunderbolts podcast, we obliquely discuss the new movie, the Fabian Nicieza era of the book and rehabilitating of super villains, how the pod with deal with the “fight club” era of the book and more.

Al also discusses some of his other projects, including his Terry Pratchett podcast Desert Island Discworld and some shout-out for our pals Joe and Todd at Longbox Heroes.

The Plot - Episode 3 - Secret Six / Showcase 43

Introducing the team in Secret Six issue 2. (2) 2022 DC Comics.

We’re back with a new episode of The Plot and it’s back to the spies, this time in comic book form with two topics for discussion

First up is Secret Six, the seven-issue DC Comics from 1968 and 1969. We look at the creation of the book, its fairly obvious inspiration (see Episode 1), the members of the team, their mysterious leader and an issue-by-story description of their missions. We talk about the book’s premature end, the unsolved mystery surrounding Mockingbird and how that was unofficially resolved and how to read it today. (Note: This is about the Silver Age team, not the Gail Simone books of the 2000s.)

And then, it’s Showcase 43, cover dated April 1963, the DC Comics adaptation of Dr. No, the first James Bond movie starring Sean Connery. We look at the comic’s original home, how it got to DC Comics. how were it’s sales since it was published before the movie was released in the US and some of the major and minor changes back to the movie versus the comic. We also touch on, 60 years after being published, it’s quite the rarity in the collector’s world.

Special shout out to comics scribe and font of knowledge Mark Waid for research help. Check out the Irredeemable Kickstarter still going on as this episode debuts. And remember to check out the other podcasts on the When It Was Cool network.