Welcome back to ASK…THE QUESTION, our regular feature where members of the DC Community can get answers to any question they may have about the entire scope of DC history and minutiae. I’m Alex Jaffe, better known to the community as HubCityQuestion. I’ve chosen a few prompts, as usual, to bring some of your inquiries to the eyes of more readers. But even if you don’t find your answers below, you can always find them in our ASK…THE QUESTION Community thread. Now, let’s get some answers!
It Wasn’t Me
MatthewHecht asks:
Has Eobard ever actually said “It was me Barry”? Or is this another case of “Beam me up, Scotty”?
Like the latter phrase associated with Star Trek, Reverse-Flash’s infamous taunt of “It was me, Barry,” referring to the villain’s penchant for altering Barry Allen’s past as established in 2009’s The Flash: Rebirth and confessing his involvement in the Flash’s most personal and intimate failures, losses and embarrassments, was never actually said in official media. At least, not by the time the memetic expression of that phrase had taken hold across the internet. Fan culture rose up around the moment Eobard Thawne revealed he had been Nora Allen’s killer all along, and “It was me, Barry” became an entirely fan-generated shorthand for the idea that a misfortune in one’s life might be due to a malevolent time traveler.
That said, Reverse-Flash does evoke the phrase a few times during Joshua Williamson’s tenure on The Flash in 2020, but it’s never a perfect match—more like a motif of references for readers in the know. It’s probably just a matter of time before some cheeky writer puts those exact words into Eobard’s mouth.
Only Shooting Stars Break the Mold
PhoenixTalion asks:
What’s the patient zero for referring to ’40s superheroes as “mystery men”?
While “mystery men” may sound like a phrase used in a more modern context to differentiate the pulpier, less superhuman heroes of the early Golden Age in order to differentiate them from the modern superhero, it was actually a contemporary term used for that kind of costumed adventurer at the time. The earliest instance of the phrase in comics was most likely the Fox Features Syndicate anthology comic series, Mystery Men Comics, which ran from 1939-1942. From its first issue, Mystery Men featured such adventurers and crime fighters as Detective Billy Bounce, Hemlock Shomes, Rex Dexter of Mars and the debut of an upstart new hero named Dan Garret, who went by the moniker of “Blue Beetle.”
Creep Out, Creep In
Jurisdiction asks:
Does Creeper ever break the Fourth Wall? I feel like he did, but I can’t find any examples. (Or am I thinking about Freakazoid?)
Although the Creeper has historically been one of DC’s more off-beat heroes, breaking fiction by directly addressing the viewer, what some refer to as “breaking the fourth wall,” isn’t something he’s particularly known for. This is a trait often associated with similarly “goofy” characters, but what makes Creeper’s goofiness unique, at least in creator Steve Ditko’s original vision for him, is that it’s an act—he’s not actually crazy. He’s just putting on an affectation to intimidate people. Not entirely unlike Black Lightning, for instance, who similarly adopts a different vernacular when fighting crime in costume.
But you aren’t alone in conflating the Creeper with Freakazoid, a 1995 animated superhero better known for this tendency. In fact, their association is by design. Freakazoid! was originally a project co-created by the developers of Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. But as Timm attests on the DVD commentary for Freakazoid!, early creative differences led him to exit the show. In 1998, one year after the cancelation of Freakazoid!, Timm and Dini were working together on Batman again—this time, for The New Batman Adventures. Their episode “Beware the Creeper,” the character’s debut in animation, is how many modern fans became aware of him in the first place. But in characterizing the Creeper for their show, Timm intentionally looked back to the conception of Freakazoid and used Creeper as an opportunity to express how he would have led the character in a slightly darker, pulpier direction were he given full creative control. So while the Creeper and Freakazoid are, historically, very different characters, Bruce Timm’s Creeper is an expression of his own earlier vision for Freakazoid.
Have We Met?
One of the kinds of questions I’m asked most often is about whether two particular characters, or groups of characters, have ever met each other in a story. So, debuting now as a sub-feature of ASK…THE QUESTION (and, who knows, maybe someday its own spin-off), I would like to present a new closing segment: “Have We Met?”
Wrightline1.42741 asks:
Has Sand (being very much connected to the Earth now) ever met or been in contact with Swamp Thing?
He has not. Sandy was mostly absent from DC titles in the ’70s and ’80s apart from those taking place on Earth-Two, which would have been his only opportunity to meet Swamp Thing until 2010, when he was moved over to the separated Vertigo branch of the DC Universe. In 2011, with the New 52, Sandy was absent from comics altogether until some recent Justice Society-related titles, which haven’t featured Swamp Thing.
Wrightline1.42741 asks:
Did Batman ever team up with the Pre-Crisis Challengers of the Unknown?
In 1977’s Justice League of America #144, the League shares the “true” origin of the Justice League of America with Green Arrow, where many of Earth’s heroes come to the roster’s aid in a battle against the White Martians. Among them were the original Challengers.
Later, in 1981, Batman and Superman would have a more intimate team-up with the Challengers in World’s Finest #267 against a gang of physics-defying villains who called themselves the Gravity Masters.
Wrightline1.42741 asks:
When did the Atom first meet Doll Man? Have they teamed up since?
Doll Man actually encountered the Golden Age Atom, Al Pratt, long before he ever met the shrinking Atom. Both are present at a meeting of the All-Star Squadron for the first time in 1984’s All-Star Squadron #31-32, but during their shared tenures with the large team, they don’t speak to each other or even share a panel. Similarly, both Al and Doll Man are in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but they don’t cross paths. And in The Golden Age #4, Al and Doll Man are both present at the final fight against Dynaman, but don’t directly interact.
The first and only time Ray Palmer meets Doll Man in any continuity, it’s as an enemy. In 2006’s Justice League Unlimited #17, a rogue officer in the US government orders the Freedom Fighters to take down the League. Naturally, Doll Man is singled out as the Atom’s opponent.
RexRebel asks:
Did Enemy Ace and the Blackhawks ever meet? How about Haunted Tank and the Blackhawks?
The Blackhawk Squadron has encountered Enemy Ace only once, in an event which was just recently added to DC’s archives thanks to its “Backlist Breakout” program—1986’s DC Challenge #8-9.
As for the Haunted Tank, the ghost of Colonel Stuart fought alongside the Blackhawks on two occasions—the first being in the deep background of the all-hands, all-times events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the second in a brief sequence for the disjointed timeline of 2005’s Superman/Batman #17.
Beedlejuice asks:
Which hero outside of Superman or the Bat-Family has Batman teamed up with most often?
Great question, Beedlejuice! I’m going to assume that this precludes larger team-ups and all-hands situations such as Crises and keep it to two-hero operations. Thanks to nine different team-ups throughout the initial run of The Brave and the Bold, many more throughout the Pre-Crisis history of Detective Comics, the fight against Superman in The Dark Knight Returns, Kevin Smith’s “Quiver” and many more modern storylines which place the two millionaire playboys back to back, I’d say that by a significant margin, the answer would have to be Green Arrow.
And that’s all the answers I have for you this month. Make sure you stop by the DC Community with more of your inquiries so we have the coal to keep these fires burning. My job is to do the leg work. Your job is only to ASK…THE QUESTION.
Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Community as HubCityQuestion.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Alex Jaffe and do not necessarily reflect those of DC Entertainment or Warner Bros., nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
