The letter column of the ongoing POWER COMPANY series is slowly documenting the DC trivia details that were included in January's Power Surge one-shots that documented the earlier lives and origins of the heroes destined to come together as the Power Company. At the time, I put together some footnotes of my own and posted them on DC's PCo message board. For your reading pleasure, they're reproduced here.

JLA # 61:

Page One: Petroil appears here for the first time though there was a chain of Petroco gas stations in the DCU during the 1950s (HOURMAN # 23).

Page Two: Originally based in Japan, the Black Dragon Society was an anti-U.S. organization who fought Minute-Man (MASTER COMICS # 21), the Justice Society (ALL-STAR COMICS # 12; ALL-STAR SQUADRON # 30), the Atom (ALL-AMERICAN COMICS # 41), the Black Condor (CRACK COMICS # 28), the Sniper (MILITARY COMICS # 24) and Johnny Everyman (COMIC CAVALCADE # 10) during World War Two. They were based on a real organization by that name though this Black Dragon Society wasn't quite as sinister as its comics counterparts. The Dragon King struck off from the Society early on, deeming them "ineffectual" (ALL-STAR SQUADRON # 4) and he survived into the present (STARS & S.T.R.I.P.E. # 1, 3, 5-7, 10-13).

Page Eleven: On Earth-One, Doctor Cylvia Cyber led a global network of female criminals before her encounters with Diana Prince, the de-powered Wonder Woman, led to her downfall and facial disfigurement (WONDER WOMAN # 179-182, 187-188). These and Doctor Cyber's other appearances (WW # 200, 221, 287, 319-321) aren't part of current DCU continuity and her revised origin remains a secret.

JOSIAH POWER # 1:

Page Two: Lexcorp, the conglomerate owned by Lex Luthor, first appeared in THE MAN OF STEEL # 2 (1986), though a prototype called the Thunder Corporation exists in Elliot S. Maggin's earlier novels, SUPERMAN: LAST SON OF KRYPTON and MIRACLE MONDAY.

Page Three: Following the Alien Alliance's assault on Australia in INVASION! # 1, the Wingmen of the planet Thanagar struck Metropolis in SUPERMAN [second series] # 26.

Page Four: The Cuban conflict took place in DETECTIVE COMICS # 595, MANHUNTER [second series] # 8-9 and FLASH [second series] # 22. Josiah also recalls "the battles in the South Pacific (FIRESTORM # 80; STARMAN [first series] # 5; JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL # 22; WONDER WOMAN [second series] # 25) and China (NEW GUARDIANS # 6) to the counterattack in Australia (POWER OF THE ATOM # 7-8) ... to victories in Moscow (SUICIDE SQUAD # 23) ... in the Arctic (DOOM PATROL [second series] # 17) ... in space (CAPTAIN ATOM # 24; INVASION! # 2) ..." Near the end of INVASION! # 2, "Captain Atom addressed the world" about the Alliance's surrender.

Page Four: The M'changan artifact from the Nitantu Valley alludes to the African nation of M'changa, birthplace of the Vixen, whose powers were derived from the Tantu Totem (first detailed in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 234).

Page Four: The negative-image detonation of the Dominators' Metagene Bomb was seen in multiple DC titles that led into INVASION! # 3.

Page Five: The repercussions of the Gene Bomb cited here all took place in INVASION! # 3.

Page Nine: Doctor Ovarni is a geneticist whose fascination with cloning and the life sciences led Baron Bedlam to nickname her Madame Ovary (ADVENTURES OF THE OUTSIDERS # 33-35). At the end of that story, she was presumably smuggled out of Markovia by the Bad Samaritan, a freelance spy who was allied with the Soviet Union in the aforementioned issues and THE OUTSIDERS [first series] # 3, 4, 10 and 12. According to Kurt, the normally Caucasian Doctor Ovarni is a victim of bad lighting in this story.

Page Eleven: "The Shockley data" is a reference to scientist Eugene Shockley, who studied the effects of the meta-gene on Richard Redditch in THE SPECTRE [second series] # 24-29.

Page Eleven: The Creeper fought the Recruits between his appearances as Jack Ryder in BATMAN ANNUAL # 13 and ACTION COMICS # 668.

Page Twelve: Firestorm appears here following FIRESTORM # 94. First seen in FURY OF FIRESTORM # 38, Vandemeer University became a fixture in that title, initially serving as a school for Ronnie Raymond and employer for Martin Stein. John Ostrander later changed the spelling to Vandermeer and made the campus the host to the Institute For Metahuman Studies.

Page Twelve: Wonder Woman appears here following WONDER WOMAN [second series] # 41.

Page Fifteen: The Chicago branch of S.T.A.R. Labs was featured prominently in the 1986-1988 run of BLUE BEETLE (# 1-4, 6, 9, 11-12, 14-19) and had recently been under the supervision of company founder Garrison Slate.

Page Sixteen: Pictured here [left to right] are the Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Blue Beetle, Superman and Mister Miracle, plus the unidentifiable Booster Gold, Captain Atom and Guy Gardner. Justice League America appears here between ACTION COMICS # 650 and DOCTOR FATE # 14, Captain Atom is between ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN # 463 and CAPTAIN ATOM # 38 and Superman is between ACTION COMICS # 650 and SUPERMAN # 41.

Page Nineteen: The hero next to Superman is Captain Atom.

Page Twenty: Guy Gardner and Booster Gold appear opposite Blue Beetle..

JOSIAH POWER follows the Eugene Shockley/Richard Redditch sequence in THE SPECTRE # 24-29 (Feb. - Sept., 1989; note that Dr. Shockley's research is mentioned on page 11). The story also has to take place after Superman returned from his exile in space (ACTION COMICS # 643: July, 1989) and renewed his League ties (JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE # 9: December, 1989) but before Booster Gold quit the Justice League (JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA # 37: April, 1990). Here goes ...

In FIRESTORM # 94 (February, 1990), the new Firestorm was reunited with Martin Stein at Vandermeer University, where they exposed Clement Morrison, a scientist working with a "transferable ... but ... ultimately fatal" metahuman virus. Aware of Firestorm's renewed presence in the area, the Agent arranged for a team to distract the fire elemental during their subsequent raid at the University (JP # 1).

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman found herself a bit bored while Julia and Vanessa Kapatelis were engaged in activities outside of Boston (WONDER WOMAN # 41). Though she'd allowed her Justice League membership to lapse almost immediately after joining the team (JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE # 1), Diana sought out the League after an encountering some of the Agent's soldiers in Boston. The details that Wonder Woman provided, combined with evidence gathered by S.T.A.R. Labs (who'd been present at Vandermeer thanks to the Morrison incident in FIRESTORM # 94), were enough to establish a pattern.

Working with S.T.A.R. founder Garrison Slate in Chicago, Justice League America (between JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA # 35 and 36 -- and, specifically, ACTION COMICS # 650 and Doctor Fate # 14), Captain Atom (between JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE# 10 and 11 -- and, specifically, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN # 463 and CAPTAIN ATOM # 38) and Superman (between ACTION COMICS # 650 and SUPERMAN # 41) laid a trap for the raiders and followed them back to their lair. Captain Atom reports on the case to Justice League Europe during a meeting glimpsed in CAPTAIN ATOM # 38.

[A tip of the hat to Dave "Datalore" Marchand for working out most of the details of the JLA-JLE continuity.]

STRIKER Z # 1:

Page One: Superboy appears here between SUPERBOY [third series] # 19 and 20.

Page Thirteen: Superboy is accompanied by his manager, Rex Leech, and Rex's daughter, Roxie, first seen in ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN # 502.

STRIKER Z takes place after the period when Superboy wore x-ray specs (SUPERBOY # 0, 9-15) and the Rex Leech gambling debt subplot was resolved (SUPERBOY # 16-19) but before Roxy got involved with the SCU (# 20-21) and Knockout moved in (# 21-22). Most likely, the STRIKER Z flashback takes place between SUPERBOY # 19 and 20.

WITCHFIRE # 1:

Page One: Princess Diana a.k.a. Wonder Woman was still new to the United States and was learning about the culture from Boston professor Julia Kapatelis. Diana had also formed a close bond with Julia's daughter, Vanessa, who is seen here. This story almost certainly falls in the midst of the "Time Passages" vignettes in WONDER WOMAN [second series] # 8, sometime after Diana's talk at Vanessa's school (pages 16-17) but before her "Farewell Tour" (pages 20-21).

Page Twelve: The "little curio shop in Opal City" might be Jack Knight's collectibles shop, Knights Past, first seen in STARMAN [second series] # 0.

Page Fourteen: "B'haar Weyein S'tatn ..." brings to mind Mike W. Barr, Len Wein and Joe Staton, the plotter, scripter and penciller responsible for creating 1981's TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS # 1-3, a mini-series that introduced ...

Page Fifteen: ... Nekron, "Lord of the Unliving!"

Page Fifteen: Mnemosyne is the Amazons' resident historian, with early appearances in WONDER WOMAN [second series] # 10, 37-39, 50, 58-60 and WW ANNUAL # 1.

Page Seventeen: Wonder Woman's "enchanted bracelets" were made from fragments of the Aegis, Zeus' mighty shield (WONDER WOMAN [second series] # 21).

Page Twenty-One: Nekron appears next in CAPTAIN ATOM # 43.

Since WITCHFIRE occurred "six years ago," this obviously took place early in the George Perez run, as supported by Diana's comment that Julia was still teaching her about the U.S.'s customs and language. The WITCHFIRE flashback almost certainly fell in the midst of the "Time Passages" vignettes in WONDER WOMAN # 8, sometime after Diana's talk at Vanessa's school (pages 16-17) but before her "Farewell Tour" (pages 20-21).

SKYROCKET # 1:

Page One: Green Lantern had recently been a frequent visitor to St. Louis during his ill-fated romance with Kari Limbo in GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 117-122. The Emerald Gladiator appears here between GL [second series] # 132 and 133.

Page Two: Scorpio is a group of terrorists-for-hire who fought the Sea Devils and the Challs in 1966's CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN # 51.

Page Twelve: Scorpia is Number Eight, the Scorpio operative who seduced the Sponge-Man in COTU # 51.

Page Eighteen: Scorpio returns in PETER CANNON ... THUNDERBOLT # 2-3, 7-12.

Page Twenty: Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan's salute stems from his service in the Air Force (GREEN LANTERN [second series] # 36 and others).

Page Twenty-One: First seen in JIMMY OLSEN # 133, FOREVER PEOPLE [first series] # 1 and MISTER MIRACLE [first series] # 1, Intergang is a criminal operation with weaponry and support supplied from the evil world of Apokolips.

According to the timelines I've done, "seven years ago" would correspond to comics published from 1979 to 1981 (while "six years ago" matches 1982-1986). And that fits neatly with the period when Joe Staton began drawing the Emerald Gladiator's adventures on a regular basis.

Since SKYROCKET took place in July of that year, I'd put it at the midway point of the 1979-1981 Green Lantern appearances and -- hey ! -- there's a nice gap in continuity in the summer of 1980 between Denny O'Neil's departure as scripter and Marv Wolfman's arrival. Most likely, "First Gleamings" took place after GL # 132's industrial sabotage story but before the Doctor Polaris arc that began in # 133.

There was, incidentally, a good reason for Hal to have been in St. Louis beyond searching for Scorpio. He'd been romantically involved with St. Louis resident Kari Limbo in GL # 117-122 though the relationship hit a snag when her beloved Guy Gardner turned up alive (# 122-123). With Guy in a coma and Kari maintaining a vigil at his bedside, it seems reasonable that Hal would check in on their St. Louis properties from time to time.

Who is Scorpio ? I've got four entries in my database but we can eliminate the two individual villains.

That leaves two groups, neither of them based in the U.S. First up is "the notorious criminal organization" who fought the Sea Devils and the Challs in 1966's CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN # 51. They hired themselves out to various foreign powers and, in this instance, were "paid ... plenty to sabotage the United States' 'Fortress Fishhook.'" The leaders of the group wore crimson hoods and cloaks while the field agents had more functional red shirts and pants with a scorpion insignia. The group was led by a man known only as Number One.

Cut to1993 in PETER CANNON ... THUNDERBOLT # 7 and 8. In this sequence, Thunderbolt encountered Scorpio, a group of terrorists clad in blue/gray body armor and visored helmets. They were, according to one man, "European mobsters. They've got their paws into everything legit as well as criminal. I've heard they moved into Britain." As the story progressed, we learned that Scorpio had crossed paths with the Crimson Fox and watched as Green Lantern and Justice League Europe joined the hunt.

Ultimately in PC: T # 12, the head of Scorpio was exposed as businesswoman and former model Cairo DeFrey. In issue # 1, she'd noted that "I inherited DeFrey Endeavours on my father's untimely death." And one of those interests was Scorpio. "Like my father before me," Cairo declared in # 12, "I seek to free the world from chaos."

It now seems apparent that Scorpio II and Scorpio IV are one and the same! Based on this, I think it can be concluded that Claude DeFrey was Scorpio's Number One from COTU # 51 and that Cairo took control of the operation after he died.

Kurt's story seemed to depict Scorpio in an intermediate phase -- the group was still clad in red but the visors of the later era were now in place. According to Kurt, Scorpia is actually Number Eight, an agent from the original COTU story.

BORK # 1:

Page One: Carl Bork's battle with Batman and the Flash took place in 1968's THE BRAVE & THE BOLD # 81 (reprinted in 1988's BEST OF THE BRAVE & THE BOLD # 2).

Page Five: Batman and the Flash appear here following their exploits in THE BRAVE & THE BOLD # 143 and ADVENTURE COMICS # 459, respectively.

Pages Thirteen & Fourteen: Carl Bork's visit to Desolation Island and its mystic statues were mentioned in THE BRAVE & THE BOLD # 81 but this is the first time Bork's origin has actually been seen.

Page Twenty: Following this case, Batman recorded a previous adventure for his archives (BATMAN # 303) while the Flash took on Heat Wave (THE FLASH # 266-267).

Page Twenty: The Wayne Foundation is a philanthropic organization that was originally conceived as the Alfred Foundation in tribute to Bruce Wayne's deceased butler (DETECTIVE COMICS # 328). When Alfred was revealed to have survived, Bruce revised the Foundation's name to its present form (DETECTIVE # 356).

I wanted to place BORK in the latter half of the "Eight Years Ago" time frame to allow as much time as possible for Bork's multiple escape attempts cited on page two. For that reason, I leaned towards issues published in 1978.

At the same time, the Flash's upbeat demeanor would seem to place this before Barry and Iris' marital difficulties that emerged late in 1978.

[Dave Marchand suggested that Batman might have been on the JLA satellite when the call came in (though the Flash wasn't; he comments that Batman called him in). That makes perfect sense to me.]

And, finally, since the Van Kull prison was "south of Metropolis," we need to account for Superman. Here goes ...

Superman, Green Lantern and several other JLA members are called away to an as-yet-unrecorded "case across the galaxy" (mentioned in BATMAN FAMILY # 20). Barry Allen misses the case because he's finishing up his class reunion in Fallville, Iowa (ADVENTURE COMICS # 459) while Batman is occupied with closing down a major drug operation alongside the Creeper (THE BRAVE & THE BOLD # 143).

Belatedly arriving at the satellite, Batman gets the news of Bork's escape from Ralph (Elongated Man) Dibny and calls in the Flash to help with his recapture (BORK # 1). The Elongated Man subsequently dispatches Red Tornado to Washington, D.C. to battle the Power Sower. With no other JLA members available, Batgirl and Robin help Reddy defeat the villain (BATMAN FAMILY # 20).

Afterwards, Green Lantern fills in Ralph on the space mission while Batman and Flash discuss the Bork case. Unknown to all, an energy being called Xum senses Batman, Flash and the Elongated Man in the JLA satellite and creates a body that is a composite of their costumes. He soon battles Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Black Canary as Replikon (GREEN LANTERN # 108).

[In the original GL story, it was Wonder Woman, of course, not the Elongated Man but post-Crisis DCU history messed that up. Ralph's costume is red and blue, though, and the yellow stripes on Replikon's chest could easily represent his belt.]

Following the Bork case, Batman recalls the tragic story of another muscle man he'd encountered the previous summer and belatedly records the circumstances of the "unsolved case" for his archives (BATMAN # 303). Meanwhile, the Flash returns to Central City and fights Heat Wave (FLASH # 266-267).

MANHUNTER # 1:

Page One: Paul Kirk's exploits as Manhunter from 1942 to 1944 were originally recorded in ADVENTURE COMICS # 73-92. The details of his death and resurrection, along with the Council's cloning procedures, were elaborated on in DETECTIVE COMICS # 439-440. Manhunter's subsequent war with the Council and his eventual death were the subject of DETECTIVE COMICS # 437-443 (compiled most recently in MANHUNTER: THE SPECIAL EDITION).

Pages One & Two: The aftermath of Paul Kirk's battle in Marrakech was seen in the opening of DETECTIVE # 439's Manhunter episode.

Page Three: Nightwing was last seen in THE NEW TITANS # 114 and ZERO HOUR # 3-1.

Page Three: General Haile Selaisse Frelimo was the leader of Ogaden, an African nation situated between Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya that had been wracked by civil war for years. Ogaden appeared in FIRESTORM # 77-79, SUICIDE SQUAD # 24-25 and CAPTAIN ATOM # 54 & 56 and WAR OF THE GODS # 2. Frelimo's rise to power was discussed in FIRESTORM # 77 and he actually appeared in SUICIDE SQUAD # 25.

Page Four: Oranga was an African nation ruled by a despot with the unfortunate name of Ada Baba (a.k.a. Idi Amin of Uganda) from SUPERMAN FAMILY # 186's Lois Lane episode. BLACK CANARY/ORACLE: BIRDS OF PREY # 1 introduced Bwunda and its leader, General M'barra.

Page Nine: Nightwing's alias of Junior Malone is a riff on Batman's underworld alter ego of Matches Malone, first seen in BATMAN # 242 and 243. Dick Grayson posed as Matches twice, once in BATMAN # 243 and again in # 353.

Page Thirteen: Paul Kirk's healing factor was revealed in DETECTIVE # 439 and named as such in issue # 440.

Page Twenty-Two: Following this adventure, Nightwing consults with Sarge Steel, head of the government agency known as Checkmate (THE NEW TITANS # 0).

In MANHUNTER, the key detail is Dick's costume. It's the version designed by Tom Grummett and Nightwing began wearing it in THE NEW TITANS # 88. Nightwing pulled his hair back as a ponytail during "KnightsEnd" but occasionally let it all hang out again circa "Zero Hour" (in NEW TITANS # 114 and 0).

My first inclination was to place this in the period immediately following Kory's recovery in THE NEW TITANS # 105. This was when Nightwing showed up in FLASH # 81-83 and SHOWCASE '93 # 11-12 and took part in a couple adventures overseas (JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE # 1-3 and BLACK CANARY # 10-11).

But somehow that didn't feel right. The Dick Grayson in those stories was full of inner doubts stemming from his failures with Kory and the Titans and Batman's decision to choose Jean Paul Valley as his successor. We see none of those insecurities here.

Beyond that, there was no obvious connection between Dick's journey to Kenya and those other international cases. Nightwing was angry at having been used by the U.N.'s Hannibal Martin at the end of JLTF # 3 so the "European contacts" alluded to on page three are most likely unconnected to the Task Force.

Instead, consider this scenario: Checkmate's Sarge Steel had forced out Nightwing as leader of the Titans in favor of Arsenal (TNT # 100). After helping Batman and Robin defeat the unhinged Jean Paul in "KnightsEnd," Dick was reunited with Arsenal and was horrified to learn the Titans had signed a contract to work on behalf of the government (TNT # 114). Before he could do anything, Nightwing, Arsenal and company found themselves embroiled in the crisis in time known as "Zero Hour" (ZERO HOUR # 3-1 -- written and penciled by ... Dan Jurgens).

Afterwards, Dick confronted Steel. The head of Checkmate agreed to consider Nightwing's demands if he'd track down some stolen plutonium that was en route to an African dictatorship. With memories of comrades who recently materialized on Earth from other time periods and alternate timelines during "Zero Hour," Nightwing could be forgiven for not immediately realizing that Kirk dePaul was a clone. Upon the recovery of the plutonium, Nightwing did as Manhunter suggested, "call[ing] the right people and arrang[ing] for it to be disposed of."

Once Checkmate had taken care of the plutonium, Nightwing found himself in a position to negotiate a better deal for the New Titans, recommending members, establishing a headquarters and making sure that "they started out right." As he prepared to assume the mantle of the Bat, Nightwing told Steel, "I've committed myself to other problems." His story continued in ROBIN # 0.

Meanwhile, Checkmate's newly-acquired data on the mysterious Manhunter eventually filtered down to Josiah Power, who made him an offer to join the Power Company. And the rest is history ...

Still unknown is whether this was the first time that Kirk (inspired by Nightwing) had returned to the Manhunter name and costume since his break with the Council. If this was Kirk's first official claim to the Manhunter name as a solo agent, this places his debut (barely) after Chase Lawler took the name for himself back in Star City.

Oh, and that prologue on pages 1 and 2 ? It immediately precedes DETECTIVE COMICS # 439's Manhunter episode. When that story opened, the bodies of the blue and white Manhunters were sprawled in an alley of Marrakech and Paul Kirk was recovering from his wounds.

SAPPHIRE # 1:

Page Two: The members of the Justice League of America are Plastic Man, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, the Flash ...

Page Three: ... the Atom, the Martian Manhunter and Batman.

Page Three: Kobra is the leader of a worldwide cult of cobra worshippers who has variously been concerned with the acquisition of power (beginning in KOBRA # 1-7) and the propagation of chaos (starting in SUICIDE SQUAD # 30). The fracture in the Kobra cult was revealed in ROBIN # 88-91 when Eve, Kobra's former paramour, attempted to install a new Kobra-Prime (or Naja-Naja). Batman's own hatred of Kobra stems back to his failure to save the life of Jason Burr, the serpent lord's twin brother (DC SPECIAL SERIES # 1 a.k.a. "FIVE STAR SUPER-HERO SPECTACULAR").

Page Six: Kobra's containment field technology has progressed from a personal protection device (SUPERMAN # 327) to a shield used to protect his space ark (OUTSIDERS ANNUAL # 1) to a barrier capable of sealing off Keystone City (FLASH [second series] # 98-100).

Page Seven: Lady Eve first met Kobra when she and her family saved his life in the Indian Desert (BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS # 26) and she quickly became his lover and perhaps the closest member of his inner circle. During the culmination of the cult's Project Morpheus (FLASH [second series] # 95-100), Kobra was openly dismissive of Eve (OUTSIDERS [second series] # 16), creating a rift that grew into the aforementioned split in ROBIN # 88-91.

Page Seven: The Servitors originated as alien probes from the world of Illandus. Kobra initially discovered one in Peru (KOBRA # 1) and soon learned of its origin and the means of manufacturing more (KOBRA # 4). Eve and her forces had possession of the Servitors in ROBIN # 88-91.

Page Eight: "Nulla Pambu, the bloodthirsty cobra god" was first mentioned in KOBRA # 1 and his name was frequently used as an oath by his followers in succeeding issues.

Page Nine: Kobra's serpent-men are the latest result of the cult's genetic-engineering experiments seen previously in SHOWCASE '93 # 6-11 and JLA: FOREIGN BODIES.

Page Nine: The Kurtzberg Gallery is a nod to Jacob Kurtzberg a.k.a. Jack Kirby, the legendary writer-artist who co-created Kobra with Steve Sherman.

Page Nine: Kobra's fascination with artifacts from the stars dates back to KOBRA # 1.

Page Fifteen: Kobra's definition of mercy is reminiscent of another sequence in THE FLASH [second series] # 96. In the past, he frequently tortured his minions for slight infractions (KOBRA # 1, 2, 6 and 7) and once strangled an underling for the mere expression of doubt in his power (BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS # 27).

Page Nineteen: "The old ways -- they're still the best!" The six-inch Atom began using his control belt to adjust his weight to a full 180 pounds in his first appearance (SHOWCASE # 34). Mark Bagley's pencils evoke those of the Atom's designer, Gil Kane.

John "Mikishawm" Wells, the pride of Batavia, Iowa, is a lifelong comics fan, working his way forward from Disneys in 1969 to newspaper strips in 1973 to SHAZAM! and the rest of the DC Universe in 1974. During the 1980s, he began compiling a lists of DC character appearances, a massive database that he's tapped into when writing articles for publications such as the DC Index series, Amazing Heroes, The Comics Buyer’s Guide, Comic Effect, Comic Book Marketplace, It’s A Fanzine, The O‘Neil Observer and, of course, Fanzing. He is Kurt Busiek's unofficial reference guide, as the keen-eyed may have noticed in Power Company #2.

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The Power Company

Year One Footnotes

by John Wells

Fanzing site version 7.1