Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #7
Issue #7 of Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe arrives mid-stream in one of the most consequential publishing initiatives DC had attempted to that point — a 26-issue alphabetical encyclopedia of its entire universe, running concurrently with Crisis on Infinite Earths. Because this installment preceded the conclusion of Crisis, every entry it contains — from the two Doom Patrols to the Elongated Man to the Legion of Super-Heroes members scattered throughout the 'D' and 'E' alphabet — reflects the pre-Crisis DC Universe in its final, fully articulated form, giving readers a unique freeze-frame of characters and histories that would soon be revised or erased. The issue also stands as a cross-section of mid-1980s DC artistic talent: a single 32-page reference book commissioned work from veterans like Joe Kubert, Murphy Anderson, and Carmine Infantino alongside rising stars like John Byrne, Dave Gibbons, Bill Sienkiewicz, Colleen Doran, and Dave Stevens, making it a document of the creative community as much as the characters themselves.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Who's Who was conceived by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Robert Greenberger as DC's response to Marvel's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, with its distinctive loose-leaf staple-bound format devised by editor Michael Eury. Text was written primarily by Wein and Wolfman, with research contributions from E. Nelson Bridwell and others, and each entry was illustrated by a different artist selected to suit the character — often the creator or the artist most closely associated with them. Issue #7, with its September 1985 cover date, was published as Crisis on Infinite Earths was actively reshaping the continuity being described on its pages, a tension built into the series' DNA from the start.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: September 1985; published September 4, 1985 per digital edition metadata. The issue spans the alphabetical range Doctor Psycho through Fastback.
- The wraparound cover was pencilled by Paris Cullins and inked by Dick Giordano — the same team that handled the preceding issue's cover.
- Both incarnations of the Doom Patrol receive separate full entries: the original Silver Age team (illustrated by John Byrne for the group spread, with Elasti-Girl also by Byrne) and the Bronze Age 'New' Doom Patrol led by Celsius (illustrated by Joe Staton and Terry Austin).
- Dave Stevens — whose pin-up style was at the height of its visibility thanks to The Rocketeer — contributed the Dolphin entry, one of the most-discussed individual illustrations in the entire series.
- Joe Kubert, the definitive artist of DC's war comics, illustrated the Easy Company / Sgt. Rock ensemble entry, giving the page a direct line to the characters' original creative spirit.
- Bill Sienkiewicz contributed the Doctor Tzin-Tzin entry, one of several pages in the issue where the editorial team paired an unconventional artist to a relatively obscure character, a hallmark of the series' approach.
- The Elongated Man entry was drawn by Carmine Infantino and Dick Giordano — Infantino being among the key Silver Age architects of DC's visual identity.
- The entire issue, along with the full 26-issue original series, was collected in the Who's Who Omnibus Vol. 1 (April 2021), a 1,320-page hardcover that also incorporates the Update '87, Update '88, and 1989 annual material.