Moving on, over in her bailiwick , Libby posted a really interesting quiz from Wizard magazine, that teases what the One Year Later Universe of DC Comics will look like, so named because of the fact that after Infinite Crisis, the entire DC Universe will skip forward one year in continuity. The intervening time will be told in a weekly series called 52 (same concept as the show 24... each issue is a week, though the first 10 are rumored to be a revised history of the DC Universe). They're promising a lot of changes, including what seems to be change for change's sake.

I'm a pretty fair comics guru myself, so I'll give the quiz a shot, with my comments:

1. Which one of these heroines will give birth in '06?
a. Wonder Woman
b. Power Girl
c. Catwoman
d. Oracle

Hmm. I don't think it'll be Catwoman as that would put an end to her career, although they have been doing a lot of teases that she and Bruce will be getting married lately. One of the most blatant ones was during that Teen Titans two part story where the Titans ended up 10 years into the future, and it wasn't a very nice place. At one point, Batman (Tim Drake) takes Robin (Tim Drake) to the graveyard on the grounds of what used to be Arkham Asylum. Bruce Wayne's headstone reads "Beloved Husband". Selina Kyle's reads "Beloved Wife". As an aside to that story, the Titans learned that they had to stay together, because disbanding is what caused that future... and now Superboy's on a huge leave of absence from them... hmmm. Plus, let's face it, if Bruce and Selina had a kid, it'd basically just be a matter of time till the kid was abused and/or killed in this day and age. The Killing Joke Revisited or something like that.

Anyway, getting back to the story, yeah, I agree with Libby that Power Girl seems the most likely. Her character could support the twist. If it were Oracle, the father would be Dick, and the DC creators just can't make him decide between Barbara and Starfire, not to mention the random girls falling at his feet, the latest being Supergirl in Supergirl #3. Dick is the Poochie of the DC Universe, I tells ya. Wonder Woman I just don't see with a baby.

2. Which of these heroes will be stripped of their powers?
a. Superman
b. Wonder Woman
c. Supergirl
d. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

I agree with Libby's reasoning that Supergirl and Hal just got reintroduced, so they seem very unlikely. Superman is DC's Golden Goose, so that leaves Wonder Woman by process of elimination. However, I don't think she'd be without powers before, and even though I haven't historically been a reader of Wonder Woman (I get bored with all the Greek mythology nonsense it goes through sometimes), but I don't think DC is going to permanently change their Trinity or the JLA (as hit upon later) Change might sell comics in the short term based on curiosity factor, but dumb, non crowd pleasing change will just draw complaints, and people will stop reading the book if the complaints aren't addressed.

3. Who will become mayor of their crime-riddled city?
a. Wally West
b. Dick Grayson
c. Bruce Wayne
d. Oliver Queen

I can't see Wally in that position, given that his identity is no longer known, and for all the world knows, Wally West is a mechanic in a police department motor pool now. Bruce being the mayor of a major city like Gotham would seriously cut into the time he needs for his mission, though he could really make his own life easier. "Commissioner Akins*, I order you to go easier on Batman!" I'm not even sure where Ollie is based these days. Star City maybe? Though you could raise the point that with his extreme politics, he may be un-electable.

I like Dick for that. His "city" is Bludhaven now, a suburb of Gotham and much smaller... and he's recently been known for trying to find alternatives to doing right besides the way Bruce does it. Plus he's actually a former police officer there, and now that he is Bruce Wayne's legal son and thus heir, he wouldn't even have to raise a sweat to finance a campaign."

*Yep, Commissioner Akins. Gordon retired. Akins and Batman don't quite get along. Wacky fun for the whole family. Though if Infinite Crisis results in a reboot, we may see Gordon returned.

4. Who will have amnesia and become unable to tell friend from foe?
a. Martian Manhunter
b. Aquaman
c. the Atom
d. the Elongated Man

I agree with Libby that Aquaman seems unlikely. But I'll actually go with J'Onn here. Not only has he been through trauamtic events, his whole life has been rather traumatic. He was an adult when he saw his entire race wiped out, and he lives among total aliens now. And this was before the dude in the red cape made the Watchtower go boom.

5. Who will take the mantle as the most powerful hero in the DCU?
a. Booster Gold
b. Animal Man
c. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
d. Earth 2 Superman

Silly mortals, Booster Gold pwnz j00. Or however you say that.

Seriously though, the rumor is for Kyle to return to the powers and mantle of Ion, rather than remaining a Green Lantern... possibly just to placate the Kyle fans angry that Hal has basically usurped him now, while still not having too many Green Lanterns on Earth. (They've changed the Green Lantern Corps to being 2 GLs a sector, and thus 7,200 Lanterns strong, and Hal and John Stewart [who is over because he's about a billion times more interesting in the cartoon] are the GLs for sector 2814. Kyle, Guy and Kilowog are currently on Oa helping train new Lanterns)

6. Which hero will become a criminal in the eyes of the world?
a. Green Lantern (Hal)
b. Superman
c. The Flash (Wally)
d. Shazam (sic)--it's Captain Marvel pictured.

A note on the (sic). Due to the weird way the whole thing worked out (DC bought Cap from, I think, Fawcett Comics, and Marvel created their Captain Marvel character just so they could claim a legit use on the name), DC can use the name Captain Marvel, but only within books themselves... not for any marketing purposes. This includes covers, or things like Wizard. So even though Captain Marvel is certainly a distinct character from the now-deceased wizard Shazam, if you use that name, people know who you're talking about.

That said, I don't see them making Hal a villain just after making him a hero again, they ain't messing with Superman, Wally just seems wrong... so I'll go with the Big Red Cheese too. That could be an interesting plot for him.

7. Which one of these heroes is the only one who'll be around after Infinite Crisis?
a. Wally West
b. Conner Kent (Superboy)
c. Guy Gardner
d. Dick Grayson

Dammit.

It's either Dick or Wally.

And I really like Guy.

I'm saying Dick. Maybe in 2025, we'll have another Crisis and they'll kill another Flash.

8. Which superteam doesn't survive Infinite Crisis?
a. Justice League of America
b. Justice League of America
c. Justice League of America
d. Justice League of America

Um... yeah. The JLA title is getting the boot (along with several others) but are you trying to tell me the DC Universe is going to go without a JLA? Not for long, I say.

9. Who's about to become the US military's secret weapon?
a. Cyborg
b. Wonder Woman
c. Red Tornado
d. John Stewart

Process of elimination... Wonder Woman is certainly not a tool of the US, her allegiance is to Themyscira. US declares war on Themyscira, and you could see Wonder Woman attack the White House. John Stewart answers to the Guardians of the Universe. Cyborg doesn't seem like the type to work for the government. So I'll go with Reddy. About time they did SOMETHING with him.

10. Which villain will destroy an entire country and kill millions in 2006?
a. Brainiac
b. Sinestro
c. Black Adam
d. Vandal Savage
e. Dynamite Kudo

Nice trick question here, but Dynamite Kudo doesn't exist in the DC Universe. Given Libby's desire to top people, though, I do suspect Dynamite Kudo will be getting rid of that pesky Eastern Hemisphere for us.

I agree with her that it'll be Black Adam and the country in question will be Kahndaq, just to put him cleanly on the "black hat" side of the fence again. Maybe he'll frame Captain Marvel for it, and that's why Marvel will be seen as a villain.

What's your guesses?