A Halloween preview of WALT WEDNESDAYS…
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13th Dimension‘s chief house colorist, banner-maker, and all-around contributor Walt Grogan’s new WALT WEDNESDAYS feature kicks off November 4! As a preview, dig this brilliant piece he put together for Halloween. This is exactly the type of thing you can expect from Wallopin’ Walt every week. Dig it! — Dan
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By WALT GROGAN
13th Dimension Head Honcho Dan Greenfield will often put a call out for submissions to support a major comic-book milestone or sometimes to celebrate a holiday — in this case, Halloween!
And I’m often flummoxed as to what to do! It generally takes me a bit before an idea pops into my head but I finally settled on one that Quint might call “either very smart or very dumb.” I was probably very dumb!
I’m a big fan of comic-book handbooks, and my favorite is DC’s original 1984-86 Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. So I decided to do a Who’s Who page — I’ve done these before –pulling DC’s creepy, crawly heroes and villains — supernatural or just plain monstrous — from the reference series into one big jam piece!
That was the “smart” part.
What I didn’t realize was how many characters I’d eventually have to collate and recolor! That was the “dumb” part. (For the record, there are… dozens!)
Side note: One of the characters I love is Nightmaster by Charles Vess. There are so many great entries but Vess’ art just sings with a kind of Prince Valiant stylistic take.
In a typical Who’s Who grouping, headshots of the characters are included as an identification key. As the number of entries grew, I realized that including a key would mean very small headshots and a smaller main image. So, Who’s Who purists, please forgive me as this is the largest grouping I’ve tackled! And that means I have another grouping that’s completed, in the pipeline, and will be revealed in the coming weeks!
Since there’s no key, just treat this like a Where’s Waldo? page and have fun trying to find your favorite! I usually stick with characters in the initial Who’s Who series, keeping it pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, but in this case I made an exception for John Constantine and Ian Karkull from the updates!
If you think I missed someone, please let me know! Who knows, maybe I’ll include them in a revised version next year!
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Now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Boy, those images are pretty small! What’s the deal?!? I’d love to see them bigger!” Well, to paraphrase Doug Henning, “Size is just an illusion!” — we’ve got you covered!
In your desktop browser, simply right-click the image and choose “Open image in new tab” from the pop-up menu. Select that new tab! Now it might still look small, but if you click it, it will expand in size! And, of course, you could always save it and open it up in your favorite image software!
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Here are some stats:
Most Entries, Penciller: Steve Bissette, 5
Most Entries, Inker: Dick Giordano, 6
Earliest First Appearance: Doctor Occult (New Fun #6, on sale Sept. 13, 1935)
Latest First Appearance: John Constantine (The Saga of the Swamp Thing #37, on sale Feb. 26, 1985)
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Generally, I’d be done at this point and would hope that you enjoyed the offering. However, if you choose to continue on, and please do, here’s a lengthy list of all the entries and the many talented artists who brought them to life! (Included is the volume the entry was pulled from.)
1. Abel (Vol. I): Joe Orlando
2. Abnegazar, Rath, and Ghast (Vol. I): Craig Hamilton and Dick Giordano
3. Arcane (Vol. I): Steve Bissette and John Totleben
4. Arkham Asylum (Vol. I): Steve Bissette and John Totleben
5. Baron Winters (Vol. II): Gene Colan and Bob Smith
6. Bat-Mite (Vol. II): Marshall Rogers
7. Blackbriar Thorn (Vol. II): Joe Kubert
8. Blue Devil (Vol. III): Paris Cullins and Gary Martin
9. Cain (Vol. IV): Joe Orlando
10. Clayface (Vol. V): Marshall Rogers
11. The Creature Commandos (Vol. V): Jerry Ordway
12. Deadman (Vol. VI): Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
13. Demon (Vol. VI): Jack Kirby and Terry Austin
14. Destiny (Vol. VI): Eduardo Barreto
15. Doctor Fate (Vol. VI, pg. 26): Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt
16. Doctor Occult (Vol. VI, pg. 30): Eduardo Barreto
17. Doctor Phosphorus (Vol. VI): Walt Simonson
18. Dr. Thirteen (Vol. VII): Tony DeZuniga
19. Earthworm (Vol. VII): Tim Burgard
20. Eclipso (Vol. VII): Dave Gibbons
21. Enchantress (Vol. VII): Carl Potts and Dick Giordano
22. Felix Faust (Vol. VIII): Gil Kane
23. Floronic Man (Vol. VIII): Steve Bissette
24. Gentleman Ghost (Vol. IX): Joe Kubert
25. Ghost Patrol (Vol. IX): Luke McDonnell and Karl Kesel
26. Grim Ghost (Vol. IX): Bill Sienkiewicz
27. Houngan (Vol. X): George Pérez
28. Hyena (Vol. X): Rafael Kayanan
29. I… Vampire (Vol. X): Tom Sutton and Dick Giordano
30. Ian Karkull (WWU87 #3): Greg Brooks
31. John Constantine (WWU87 #3): John Ridgway
32. Kid Eternity and Mr. Keeper (Vol. XII): Murphy Anderson
33. Kulak (Vol. XIII): Michael Chen and Bob Smith
34. Lilith (Vol. XIII): George Pérez
35. Lord Satanis (Vol. XIII): Curt Swan and Bob Smith
36. Man-Bat (Vol. XIV): Ed Hannigan and Ricardo Villagran
37. Mister E (Vol. XV): Dan Spiegle
38. Mister Mxyzptlk (Vol. XV): Marshall Rogers
39. Mister Mxyztplk (Vol. XV): Marshall Rogers
40. Mordru (Vol. #XVI): Pat Broderick
41. Morgaine Le Fey (Vol. XVI): Brian Bolland
42. Myrwhydden (Vol. XVI): Gil Kane
43. Mysto, Magician Detective (Vol. XVI): Denys Cowan and Greg Brooks
44. Nebiros (Vol. XVI): Paris Cullins and Gary Martin
45. Nekron (Vol. XVI): Joe Staton
46. Nightmaster (Vol. XVI): Charles Vess
47. Nightshade (Vol. XVII): Cindy Martin and Joe Rubinstein
48. Patchwork Man (Vol. XVII): Steve Bissette
49. Phantom Stranger (Vol. XVIII): Jim Aparo
50. Plasmus (Vol. XVIII): Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
51. Prince Ra-Man (Vol. XVIII): Alex Saviuk and Joe Giella
52. Professor Amos Fortune (Vol. XVIII): Luke McDonnell and Bill Wray
53. Raven (Vol. XIX): George Pérez
54. Sabbac (Vol. XX): Kurt Schaffenberger
55. Sandman (Vol. XX): Jack Kirby and Greg Theakson
56. Sargon (Vol. XX): Fred Fredericks
57. Shaggy Man (Vol. XX): Wendy Pini
58. Shazam (Vol. XX): Jerry Bingham
59. Solomon Grundy (Vol. XXI): Murphy Anderson
60. Spawn of Frankenstein (Vol. XXI): Mike W. Kaluta
61. Spectre (Vol. XXI): Mike Machlan and Jerry Ordway
62. Swamp Thing (Vol. XXII): Steve Bissette and John Totleben
63. Tannarack (Vol. XXIII): Jim Aparo
64. Trigon the Terrible (Vol. XXIV): George Pérez
65. Warlock of Ys (Vol. XXV): Gil Kane
66. Witchboy [Klarion] (Vol. XXV): Jack Kirby and Greg Theakston
67. Wizard (Vol. XXVI): José Luis Garcia-López
68. Wotan (Vol. XXVI): Mike Mignola
69. Zatanna (Vol. XXVI): Gray Morrow
70. Zatara (Vol. XXVI): Fred Fredericks
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MORE
— WHO’S WHO in the Three Villains of Doom — JOKER, PENGUIN and RIDDLER. Click here.
— WHAT IF the MANY LOVES OF PETER PARKER Got a DC WHO’S WHO Entry in the 1980s. Click here.
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A 10-year-old Walt Grogan fell in love with the Big Red Cheese thanks to essays written by Dick Lupoff and Don Thompson in the paperback edition of All in Color for a Dime, released in 1970 and bought for him by his father off a paperback spinner rack in a liquor store on the South Side of Chicago. Walt runs The Marvel Family Web Facebook page devoted to all incarnations of the Fawcett/DC Captain Marvel and blogs about Captain Marvel at shazamshistorama.com.
October 30, 2026
Oh this is fun! Nice to see Doctor Occult (DC’s first superhero!) and that wizard who was living in Abin Sur’s power ring. And Mr. Mxyzptlk and Mr. Mxyxtlp…I mean…the Golden Age one. (Did they ever team up?)
October 30, 2026
Hi, Jeff! Thanks for the kind words! I don’t know if the Mxys ever teamed up. Maybe they met in World’s Funnest! I can’t remember!
October 30, 2026
Really nice work, Walt. Really gives us something to look forward to on Wednesdays!
October 30, 2026
Thanks, Not that Joe! I doubt that I’ll do something this massive again, but who knows! But there will be some fun stuff for sure!
October 30, 2026
Thanks for an amazing mash-up, a great trick which is also a wonderful treat for this long-time fan of DC’s Who’s Who. Each of the entries were beautiful in their own right, but I have to say that seeing the Lopez Deadman next to a an Ordway Spectre, a Giffen Dr. Fate, a Rogers Man-Bat and a Perez Trigon really makes this page stand out. I love how you framed the scene at the bottom with the Aparo Phantom Stranger on the right side and the Aparo Tannarack on the left. The similar framing on the top with the imp from the fifth dimension is another stroke of genius. Having Kirby’s Demon and Witch Boy in the bottom middle is an excellent way to highlight the King’s importance and Anderson’s Solomon Grundy is a fitting nod to the Silver Age. I was always so impressed with the George Perez covers to Who’s Who and his entries were no less exciting. He was definitely at his peak at that time so seeing so many of his renderings on this page just makes these memories that much sweeter. Now where did you get the background building? It looks familiar but I can’t quite place it.
October 30, 2026
Hi, Wade! Thanks for the kind words! The building in the back background is another Who’s Who entry as well — it’s Arkham Asylum by Steve Bissette and John Totleben! And I forgot to call it out in my write-up!
And thanks for commenting on the symmetry, I probably could have done a better job with it as I was getting bleary-eyed near the end, but I tried!