So AFI reader hotrod77 found something interesting. In the Myspace blog of comics artist Matthew Clark (who has had runs on several major comics), there are artist turnarounds of DC characters, which–according to Clark–were done at the behest of DC Licensing.

One of these includes Catman. Clark’s art for Catman is the same art used for the DCUC Fan Poll last year:

In another post, Clark shows a turnaround of Cyborg Superman (rumored for an upcoming DCUC wave) and mentions he’d done turnarounds of Wildcat, Huntress, and Bizarro. We’re getting Wildcat in Wave 9, and Huntress was part of the DCUC Fan Poll–and it wouldn’t surprise me if we got a more classic, Silver Age Bizarro (which would require very minimal retooling from a basic Superman figure–really just a new head and a new tampographed reversed-S symbol; they can re-use the “Bizarro #1” tablet from the DCSH figure). While there’s obviously already a Cyborg Superman sculpt, Mattel might still need the turnarounds to ensure they get the paint and tampographing right.

The date on the Cyborg Superman post is December 15, 2008; that may seem a little late for Wildcat, who had to be in development already at that point, but Clark doesn’t say exactly when he made those sketches–it could have been months ago.

But what really makes all of this interesting is this post, which features turnarounds of Atomic Skull and Obsidian. The Atomic Skull is particularly interesting in light of this exchange in Action Figure Pics’s most recent Mattel Q&A:

2. Which figure or figures were you most surprised you were actually able to get made?

Gentleman Ghost really came out well beyond expectations. We have another obscure figure in Wave 13 next year that is just amazing. One hint: there will be a skull involved.

My guess, based on the context of the question and the odd coincidence of the artist turnaround, is that it’s the Atomic Skull. Other possibilities have been tossed around, such as Doctor Destiny and Doctor Phosphorus. Here’s why I don’t think it’s them: Doctor Destiny wouldn’t require much of an engineering feat (his head is basically the same as Skeletor’s), while a good Doctor Phosphorus figure would involve a lot more than just a skull (ideally, he’d be a clear plastic figure with a yellow/green skeleton frame inside, like Hasbro’s Batman Beyond Blight).

The Atomic Skull, on the other hand, is a skull floating on a bunch of Kirby Krackle, which would require some engineering creativity, but not as much as Dr. Phosphorus would. Also, the Atomic Skull turned up a few times on Justice League Unlimited, and Mattel and the Horsemen have shown a clear predilection for DCAU characters in DCSH/DCUC.

And so: I predict Atomic Skull will be part of Wave 13. You (may have) heard it here first.