He was. With the exception of George W. Bush, the DC Universe has all the same US presidents that we’ve had in our own United States. Trump could be heard “off-panel” sporadically through the 2016 Suicide Squad series, being manipulated by Amanda Waller into patronizing her Task Force X until he pulled the trigger on an even foolhardier super soldier program he called “The Wall.”
He later plays a small but significant role in Doomsday Clock, publicly turning the government’s back on Superman and other metahumans as a means of burying the US’s illicit involvement in the Firestorm project and other metahuman experiments – ironically, a move intended to keep himself out of jail. Despite this, when Black Adam and his Kahndaqi metahuman criminal refugees arrive on the White House lawn to take the president into their own custody, Superman returns to stop them. Through all this, Trump is never named, nor is his face shown on panel, but the implication through his action, speech, and mannerisms are all indicative of author Geoff Johns’ intent.
The popular story is that it was Power Girl co-creator and famous comic pin-up artist Wally Wood who did this through her initial appearances in All-Star Comics#58-65. But when you look into the actual drawing, no such mythical cup expansion is visually present.
So, how did this myth come about? Who’s responsible for this misinformation? Probably, Wally Wood himself. A bit of a sensationalist with a bawdy sense of humor, Wally allegedly liked to tell people when the subject of Power Girl came up that his intent was to draw her with a larger chest in each issue until somebody called him out. This was likely meant as a joke, and not something he ever actually went through with. But somewhere along the telephone line, and because people aren’t too careful about checking their sources, what started as an artist’s flight of fancy became popularly accepted as something that actually happened.
Speaking of Powergirl, she has been an Atlantean and Kryptonian depending on her origins, perhaps others, that I do not recall. Has there ever been other heroes retconned to that extent. I mean besides Hawkman and Hawkgirl being Thanagarians and Egyptians, and now other aliens as well
I can certainly name a few examples. The origins of Donna Troy have been retconned many times. In the past she’s been an Amazon sculpted from clay like Diana to either be her companion or her destroyer, a human girl taken in by Amazons, a Titan demigoddess, and a repository for all knowledge of the multiverse.
Less perplexing but more significant is the case of Wonder Woman herself, who’s been both sculpted from clay and blessed by the gods, and the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta.
Cyborg’s origins were significantly retconned to include Mother Box technology in his debut for the New 52, better suiting him for the establishing battle with Darkseid that would bring the Justice League together.
One of the most famous character origin retcons is Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, which reveals that Alec Holland had died all the way back in Swamp Thing #1 after all – the creature we know as Swamp Thing is actually a shambling vegetative mass which merely soaked in Holland’s memories.
Then there are characters like Jason Todd, whose origins change significantly between universe reboots but don’t necessarily change species. Like going from being the red-headed child of acrobats to the black-haired son of a street criminal.
I was reading a Golden Age Dr. Fate collection recently, and I was surprised to discover that in those years, Nabu was an alien and the “magic” he taught to Kent Nelson was actually the extremely advanced science of his species. Kent explicitly says in one issue that he does not believe that truly supernatural even exists.
Do you know when they decided to drop this angle and just make him a wizard?
What a great question! That may turn out to be the first real reboot of a major character, in DC history. Can’t wait to hear what Hub has to say on the subject.
Been catching up on some Flash. I noticed one of the new speedsters in One-Minute War is caveman Ugh. So that brought up the question just what other caveman characters does DC have in continuity?
From our JLL DRAFT thread. Would you call Lightray a speedster per say? Is it more physical speed like Superman or is it a speedforcey kind of deal? How about the Black Racer for that matter?
For the Shazam question I would like to add that “Virtue and Vice” (also in post-crisis continuity, but written by Johns and Goyer, not Ordway) also showed that his power is divided amongst his family.
Nice column sir, as usual. Appreciate the added update on my earlier query. Have a great night! And just pickin’ up on your update on the update @MatthewHecht. Thank ya kindly!
