Character Spotlight: Bud and Lou

This is a pretty cut-and-dried one, so it'll be quick.

In the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Harley and Ivy" (1993), we learn that Harley Quin has two pet hyenas named Bud and Lou, after Bud Abbot and Lou Costello.

Not long after Harley Quinn got her own series, Bud and Lou appeared as well, in Harley Quinn #4 (January 2001).

And, although this is a bit surprising, they survived the New 52, appearing here on the cover of her first issue (September 2011), although they didn't actually appear within a New 52 comic until Suicide Squad #15 (December 2012).

Character Spotlight: Condiment King

I've previously included Condiment King in the Batman the Animated Series Super-Post, where I said this:

Condiment King

The Condiment King, aka Mitchell Mayo, is a comic relief villain that first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Make 'Em Laugh" (1994).  He first appeared in comics in Birds of Prey #37 (January 2002), also in a comic relief role, although chronologically he first appeared in Batgirl: Year One #8 (September 2003), where his costume and equipment has a much more home-made vibe.


Except for a couple issues of Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! (2009), those were the extent of his comic appearances. He belongs to an important-but-overlooked class of villains that's good for cameos and brief fight scenes but not much else. And there's nothing wrong with that.

It's in that regard that he makes a post-Rebirth appearance, locked up in Arkham in Batman #9 (October 2016):

Character/Team Spotlight: The Awesome Threesome

This is one of those tricky ones, and I never would've known about it without the tip from user shadzane. Thanks!

The Awesome Threesome is a trio of supervillains that first appeared in Aquaman #36 (September 1967). The team is comprised of Torpedoman, Claw, and Magneto.

Torpedoman also appeared in the Aquaman cartoon episode "Treacherous is the Torpedoman", which debuted in October 1967. He returned in the November 1967 episode "The Torp, The Magneto, and The Claw", which featured the debuts of Claw and Magneto (obviously).

So why are these on this site? They clearly showed up in comics before animation. Well, not so fast. First, both of these episodes and the issue were written by Bob Haney. Furthermore, we've seen several times before that the lead time for animation can cause characters created for animation to jump over to comics before the animation airs. And beyond that, check out the cover to Aquaman #36.

It's the only issue to feature that banner at the top, so I'm pretty sure this issue was meant to promote the cartoon by featuring characters created for the cartoon. I think that also holds true for Tusky the Walrus, as seen last week.

Character Spotlight: Tusky the Walrus

This is one of those tricky ones, and I never would've known about it without the tip from user shadzane. Thanks!

Tusky is a very intelligent walrus who is sort of Aquaman's equivalent of Krypto. He debuted in the first episode of the Aquaman cartoon, "Menace of the Black Manta" (September 1967).

He first appeared in comics in Aquaman #36, which was also in September 1967.

And both the episode and the issue were written by Bob Haney. So which came first? Well, we've seen several times before that the lead time for animation can cause characters created for animation to jump over to comics before the animation airs. And beyond that, check out the cover to Aquaman #36.

It's the only issue to feature that banner at the top, so I'm pretty sure this issue was meant to promote the cartoon by featuring characters created for the cartoon. You'll see more of those next week.

Group Spotlight: Peregrinator's Club (Earth-0)

This is not the first time I've featured the Peregrinator's Club, but the other time was on Earth-12 and in the future. This is on Earth-0 and in the present. And this is actually the TRUE first appearance, so it's more important.

The Peregrinator's Club is a men's club where the Gotham Police Department held a party for Commissioner Gordon in the episode "Joker's Favor" (1992), which is also notable for featuring the debut of Harley Quinn.

That episode was written by Paul Dini, and about fifteen years later, Dini started a run on Detective Comics. So in his very first issue - Detective Comics #821 (July 2006) - he featured the Peregrinator's Club as a setting.