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Know this: I, Doctor Polaris am mightily pleased by the events that transpired between the pages of this week's Justice Society of America.

Also, the Atomic Skull is my new best friend.

My surly, bearded replacement "Mr. Polaris" made great pains during the issue to annoy and generally aggravate all around him. The other villains did not respond to it well; perhaps they remember the golden age when the true Doctor Polaris soared above them, unconcerned with the pitiful mercenary work of the villain underclass.

Still, only one of their number had the fortitude of spirit to say what needed to be said. You should know that I was as surprised as any to find that that one was the Atomic Skull. Mr. Skull pulled no punches, telling it exactly as it is. Of the M. B. A. he said:

"You're one to talk, you pathetic excuse for a replacement villain!"

With that, the Atomic Skull has earned a place of glory among the great thinkers and philosophers of our time. To him, kudos.

Last Thursday over at the Absorbascon Scipio asked the following regarding a villainous Anti-Trinity: "Whom do you choose and why?" I had an answer, but seeing as I was busy thinking, I didn't share it here. I will do so now.

For my Anti-Trinity I allowed the standard caveats to apply: each member of the Anti-Trinity must also be members of the actual Trinity's rogues galleries. Additionally, I followed with the idea one should be a crime boss (to represent the common Batman foe), one should be a science fiction villain (to represent the common Superman foe), and one should be supernatural/mythological (to represent the common Wonder Woman foe).

That being said, I did decide to turn things a bit to the side. Rather than having each of those common foe types fit exactly to the characters they are opposing, I decided to mix things up. Thus, my Anti-Trinity:

From Superman's rogues gallery I chose the Atomic Skull. In this, I chose the once seen Kurt Busiek version. That version of the Atomic Skull is the far cry from the mentally deranged villain seen in the recent issue of Manhunter. On the contrary, he is articulate, wealthy, and a schemer. He is a crime boss, and as such, fits the mold of a Batman villian.

From Wonder Woman's rogues gallery I chose Doctor Cyber. Though she hasn't often been seen, when she has appeared she has been portrayed as a brilliant scientist who employs high technology. She is quite clearly a science fiction villain, fitting the mold of your typical Superman nemesis.

Finally, from Batman's rogues gallery I chose The Monk. For those unfamiliar with this character, I point you back Detective Comics #31 in the year 1939. As one of Batman's oldest foes, the Monk is an insidious vampire -- a supernatural entity, which fits the mold of your usual Wonder Woman enemy.

Thus, my Anti-Trinity is revealed: The Atomic Skull, Doctor Cyber, and The Monk. That's who I'd use if I were writing Trinity...

Okay, so I'm going to engage in some crazy speculation here. I'm undoubtedly wrong, but I'm going to lay it out just in case I'm right so I can point to this post and say: "I was right!" Because I'm petty that way.

My train of thought began when I read an interview with Kurt Busiek on the upcoming Trinity. There, Mr. Busiek talks about the villains that he intends to put up against Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman:

"We wanted to build a counter-trinity on grounds other than "the most famous enemies," and use some characters that we could do striking and different things with. So our villains come from the world of myth, the world of SF adventure and the world of crime, but they're not the guys the heroes would immediately see coming, and what they appear to be up to isn't necessarily how things will turn out."

This immediately intrigued me, as Kurt Busiek is one of those writers who likes to "adopt" minor, third-string characters that have been in limbo for a while and then reimagine them. This annoys some people, but I love it when he does that. So I figured that that's what he'd do here: take some old villains of the Big Three that haven't been used in a while and reinvigorate them.

Without mentioning any specifics, he goes on to say that Luthor and the Joker will be featured. Then he says what -- to me -- is the money quote:

"I will say that the skull of Maxwell Lord plays a part..."

That certainly threw me for a loop. The skull of Maxwell Lord? How exactly could Max Lord's cranium play into things?

Then I got to thinking... What did happen to Max Lord's body after Wonder Woman killed him? For the life of me, I couldn't remember. And nobody I asked seemed to know either. So where is Max Lord's skull?

From there, my mind turned to Mr. Busiek's Superman run. I began to think about some of the other third-stringers that Mr. Busiek has adopted and modified. The one that immediately popped into my head was the Atomic Skull.

Now, I'm sure you all see where I'm going with this... But bear with me. Busiek first mentions this new Atomic Skull in his "Camelot Falls" story arc. In the dystopian future it's mentioned that various villains have seized control of huge chunks of the Earth's territory. And one of them was the Atomic Skull.

The original Atomic Skulls (there have been Pre- and Post-Crisis versions) aren't the sort that would be capable of that. Neither have been particularly impressive as villains. So it was safe to assume at the time that this was a new Atomic Skull.

This was borne out by a later Busiek penned comic, Action #852. Here, we get our first glimpse of the new Atomic Skull when an escaped Kryptonite Man contacts a group of major figures in the criminal world:

In the company of movers and shakers like Tobias Whale and the Calculator (as well as rarely used Busiek adoptee Doctor Cyber) we see the new Atomic Skull. His look bears little resemblance to the old ones, and to be in such storied company this Atomic Skull has to be much more than simply a thug with delusions of grandeur.

And the Kryptonite Man treats him as such. This new Atomic Skull is undoubtedly someone of stature and prestige in the criminal underworld. He clearly has resources as well, as the Kryptonite Man has gone to him and the others for financial backing.

So who the hell is this new Atomic Skull? He comes out of nowhere and appears right off the bat to be a major player in supervillainy. Still, when I originally read that comic I didn't give it much thought. The Atomic Skull vanished from my mind. Until I read that Trinity interview.

You see, when Kurt Busiek "adopts" characters they tend to recur in his comic books. Sometimes years later. So when I heard that Mr. Busiek was going to be using lesser villains in his "counter-trinity" the image of the Atomic Skull briefly flitted through my mind. And when I saw "the skull of Maxwell Lord" my eyes bugged out of my head.

Is it possible that the Atomic Skull will be one of the villains that opposes the Big Three in Trinity? And is it also possible that the Atomic Skull is none other than the villainous Maxwell Lord, returned from the grave?

In comics, anything is possible...