As the writer of Detective Comics, Scott Snyder has delved into some weird mysteries, but this week, he discovered one that even he can't answer: Who are these two cops in every super-hero children's book?



As pointed out by Snyder on his Twitter feed with an overwhelming amount of evidence collected at iFanboy, these two character designs -- dark hair with sideburns and red hair with a hilarious soul patch -- show up as police officers, security guards and background characters in children's books starring different characters, by different artists, set in different universes and even put out by different publishers. Is it an example of stock designs, a sign of the collective artistic unconscious, or -- and I hope this is the case -- are these two the key to a larger story of dimension-hopping cops who represent a secret Marvel/DC crossover that's been going on right under our noses for years?Here they are helping Robin apprehend the Joker in Gotham city:

Then flying a helicopter for the NYPD with Spider-man:



Then back to Gotham City for their night jobs as Park Rangers:



And their even later night jobs as museum security guards:



Then killing time in Metropolis, catching up on the Daily Planet and waiting to catch a bus with Clark Kent:



And catching a flight down to Florida with Spider-Man and America's Greatest Newspaperman, J. Jonah Jameson, while proving that they get their news from a variety of sources:



And then back to Gotham, where all that hard work pays off when they manage to get an invite to a black tie social event with billionaire Bruce Wayne!





Clearly, these dudes are getting around. So we put the question to you, readers: Who are these guys? Are they the Super-Hero versions of the Doctor and a gender-swapped Amy Pond? Did Access have kids and send them back in time? Or are we just going to have to wait for the 12-issue industry-wide event that explains it all?

Let us know what you think in the comments!

(Thanks, Seth)