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Final Crisis #5 - “Into Oblivion”
I think this is was my favorite issue of the series yet, although I can’t imagine the girl-wonder crowd is going to react very favorably to… certain developments with Mary Marvel. Despite the fact that the issue has three pencillers with the addition of Marco Rudy, also known as “the guy who filled in for Ryan Sook on Final Crisis: Resist, but it’s all shockingly contiguous.
Anyway, let’s get to it.
Page 1: Hal on trial in Oa. I presume the Lanterns watching are the jury. The scar Krakky Goodness is talking about was glimpsed in Final Crisis #1, but, oddly enough, isn’t drawn here.
Page 2: I don’t think we’ve seen Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner in this series yet, so that’s Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner, Earth’s other two Green Lanterns who stay on Oa as the Honor Guard rather than live on Earth as its appointed sector protectors like Jordan and Stewart. I love the smirk on Hal’s face in the last panel, that’s a nice detail from Pacheco.
Page 3: After the Manhunters, you’d think the Guardians would be more willing to admit their stuff fucks up, but apparently that’s not how they roll. Guy and Kyle appear to be creating avatars of themselves with their rings to fight Granny/Kraken’s bugs; Morrison established Kyle as a manga nerd back in his JLA run, so that’s what his fight-bot looks like. The Central Power Battery on Oa is ostensibly a collection of willpower that’s tapped by living beings everywhere, but can be used more fully by Green Lanterns with rings - and the Guardians, who blast Kraken.
Page 4: Kraken opening her face like that exposes her, uh, under-face, which is essentially a vacuum cleaner that collects green energy. The “Krona Protocol,” later defined as hiding the Power Battery, is thus-named since Krona blew up the Power Battery during the 1982 Tales of the Green Lantern Corps miniseries cowritten by Mike W. Barr and Len Wein. The “ultimate technology” Granny is referring to is surely the sigil given by Metron to Anthro at the very beginning of #1, although its exact nature isn’t yet clear - I doubt the Green Lantern willpower energy is it, though. I guess she’s using up all her power lifting the Battery, because the restraints on Jordan weaken and he breaks out…
Page 5: And, without a ring, flies at her?? This has to be an art error, since he doesn’t get his ring back from Salaak for another few pages. Either way, he just grounds and pounds the shit out of her, which is kind of an awesome Hal Jordan moment since the dude is so associated with punching stuff. In this situation, yeah, he can hit a God faster than she can think. That’s pretty awesome.
Page 6: I assume the spacetime distortion around Earth is why Hal’s just on trial now in Oa and it’s a month later there. I also assume the machine that can rewrite the laws of being is the Genesis Box from “Rock of Ages”; the word-weapon is obviously the Anti-Life Equation. “Doomsday Singularity” - a quick physics lesson: a singularity is the center of a black hole, an object of infinite density, (so basically a bunch of mass in almost no space), which causes such gravity that it warps time and space. This is, apparently, what’s going on with Darkseid on Earth. Also remember that in the experience Shilo Norman had that caused his awakening, and where he lived hundreds of lives, back in Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle was within a black hole.
Page 7: Why, what *is* the bulk, Professor Beni Khalid? Let’s check Wikipedia:
The central idea is that the visible, four-dimensional universe is restricted to a brane inside a higher-dimensional space, called the “bulk”. The additional dimensions are compact, in which case the observed universe contains the extra dimensions, and then no reference to the bulk is appropriate in this context. In the bulk model, other branes may be moving through this bulk. Interactions with the bulk, and possibly with other branes, can influence our brane and thus introduce effects not seen in more standard cosmological models.
So, pretty much the DC Multiverse as we saw it in Superman Beyond. The OMACs have the classic Kirby look, and their packaging is a clear reference to the “Build-A-Friend” on the cover to OMAC #1. As I’ve seen pointed out elsewhere (God, I can’t remember where for some reason), this is all referencing the “World That’s Coming” of Kirby’s OMAC, especially the Global Peace Agency and their agents that all wore faceless masks to hide their race and identity, just like Montoya’s Question mask.
Page 8: Darkseid rocks Levis pretty well, and I guess Wonder Woman’s beast face was, in fact, just a mask (check the second panel). The seven pages previous were definitely Carlos Pacheco, and this one is definitely J.G. Jones.
Page 9: Darkseid’s body is clearly still in a lot of pain, as he isn’t speaking incredibly clearly.
Page 10: I think this is still Jones, but I’m not sure? Behind Hawkman are Bulleteer (I swear to God, Bulleteer flying in Grant Morrison comics has to be an ongoing joke on him at this point), Black Condor, Blue Beetle, Starman, Cyclone and Stargirl, with, I *think*, Argent making that Bobby Drake-style ice-wave thing. The Justifier with the conspicuously placed breasts in the starfield outfit is Donna Troy, former Wonder Girl.
Page 11: Aaaaaand Superbat gets the line of the entire series so far. The guard’s reaction definitely implies that he wasn’t in control when he shot Norman. Obviously, the Super Young Team and the rest of the New New Gods have had adventures off-panel, and I guess they had the Metron symbols on their face the whole time.
Page 12: The “she” Norman’s referring to is Motherboxxx, the last remaining Mother Box of New Genesis.
page 13: I guess now space is warping as well as time, since the Swiss border is getting further away from the castle. (The spacetime distortion at work here, as well as all the multiverse stuff, seems very similar to Stephen King’s Dark Tower books and the accompanying sense of doom). I imagine everyone painting their faces with the Metron symbol is part of some kind of massive spell to overcome Anti-Life - could Metron’s gift to man have been magic and imagination? Later scenes certainly kind of seem like it could be.
Pages 14 & 15: Kalibak and his tiger people clearly very deliberately evoke the Tiger People of Kirby’s original Kamandi series, which took place on a post-Great Disaster Earth. Evidently, construction is pretty far along in Bludhaven to create a new seat of power for Darkseid.
Pages 16 & 17: Pacheco gets the sweet money shot spread, I guess. Freddie Freeman/Shazam, Rocket Red, Black Adam, John Stewart/Green Lantern, Supergirl and some Spanish dude I don’t recognize at all make up the flying contingent, with Frankenstein on a motorcycle heading up the land crew. To his left are Vixen, Blue Devil and Bronze Tiger on the humvee, Hourman and Liberty Belle on the motorcycle, and J.A.K.E. from the Creature Commandos (recently returned to earth in this week’s Action Comics #872!). To his right are Wildcat & Son on the red motorcycle, Red Arrow on another one, and Mr. America and what appears to be Major Disaster on the car.
Page 18: “Anti-Life: The choice that’s made for you!” I love these little ad slogans for slavery. Frankenstein is just getting people left and right. Frankenstein’s quoting Paradise Lost.
Page 19: Mary Marvel is so crazy.
Page 20: UPDATE: Commenter Super-Dad posits that Black Adam’s comment about the eyes of a leering old man is indicative of Desaad inhabiting Mary Marvel much like Granny Goodness is inhabiting Kraken, which explains why she operates independently from the other Furies and is so incredibly depraved.
Page 21: I… what? I’m really kind of at a loss here, did Grant Morrison just get DC to approve a comic where Mary Marvel crotch-grinds Freddie Freeman? I’m sort of in awe, and I’m pretty sure we’ll hear a bunch about this scene from all the usual commentators later, so I’ll just say that even I’m kind of questioning whether that was necessary. Anyway, Kalibak hits Tawky Tawny in the face with a mace, promising some upcoming hot tiger-on-tiger action.
Page 22: Nix Uotan is thrown in a room with what appear to be Metron’s form from Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle and a mysterious hooded figure. I guess the word balloon on the second panel is a mistake, since it’s pointing at Metron, who shouldn’t be talking. Hooded Figure talks about God’s number; the article states that theoretically the lower bound of God’s number has to be 18, so… well, we’ll see in a page or so. Note the furry finger as Hooded Guy gives Uotan the Metron symbol, and also claims he “made” this moment, probably referring to his powers (and the powers of the Monitors - “his kind”) as seen in Superman Beyond. Hooded Figure says this is a time for “something — DIFFERENT! Something that was UNFORESEEN…”, a reference back to the original description of Metron in New Gods #7: “I have no link with the Old Gods — or New!! I am something different! Something that was unforeseen!! — On New Genesis — or here!!” Is this the death of the Gods and the dawning of the age of reason? I’m also guessing this is the first Marco Rudy page.
Page 23: We see Mysterimonkey looking at Uotan’s drawings of his remembrances of the multiverse, and I guess makes him remember who he is with the drawing of Weeja Dell. Was that the Word of Attention that was stripped from him by Ogama?
Page 24: I guess that isn’t Mokkari, although he has identical facepaint, since Mokkari’s currently bowing before Darkseid-in-Levi’s. Meanwhile, Metron solves the Rubik’s Cube in less moves than the lower bound of God’s Number (apparently), which turns the Rubik’s Cube into a Mother Box? I assume exactly what’s going on on this page will become clearer later.
Page 25: And finally, we check up on Libra and the supervillains, who we haven’t seen since #3. I guess Luthor decided to follow him, and so did many other villains, except Calculator who it looks like is about to get hanged. And is Libra offering Luthor a place at the front of the Supergirl rape line? There’s going to be a Supergirl rape line? Really? I know this is a self-conscious over-the-top attempt at mocking Meltzerish Law & Order: SVU cheap villainy, but I’m still kind of surprised that got printed.
UPDATE: Gabe Mariani pointed out that this page seriously implies that Luthor was the person who sold out the Unternet codes, and not Calculator, which is true.
Page 26: I guess Darkseid’s awful gravity is causing John to lose access to the Power Battery. I guess the experiments on Batman that we’re currently seeing in his title didn’t work, because Mokkari, Simyan and even Godfrey all get to die for their failures (this isn’t a surprise, though; Darkseid kills and resurrects his subordinates on a regular basis).
Page 27: Frankenstein’s still quoting Milton as we finally get the start of the much-ballyhooed Supergirl vs. Mary Marvel battle for the portrayal of women in superhero comics. (That’s how Morrison sold it at NYCC; I ain’t making that up.)
Page 28: I guess Hal, Kyle and Guy were able to get a bunch of other Lanterns together, as the posse comes in from out of town. I guess as they approach Earth, the time distortions and “doomsday singularity” create ghost visions of the other Earths as well - could that mean that the Lanterns land on different Earths next issue?
Page 29: The President (it’s not distinct enough to tell who it is - is it the dude from Uncle Sam or a guy from Decisions, where we never even found out who won?) is holed up in the Oval Office with what looks to be a Secret Service agent and Father Time of S.H.A.D.E. Calculator looks pretty dead in the third panel, and Darkseid’s eyes in the final panel remind me a lot of those Jim Starlin-esque “evil eyes” kind of things that he sticks in his books, especially these days with computer effects. (Maybe it’s just me.)
Pages 30-31: Darkseid making his Hitleresque pep rally speech isn’t too surprising, but newcomer Marco Rudy’s doing a pretty good job with this material considering he was thrown in at (I presume) the last minute. The last of the three sections is Not-Mokkari and two Justifiers reacting to whatever happened when Metron finished the Rubik’s Cube; it’s now floating along with Uotan’s drawings, before showing us…
Page 32: Nix Uotan, now fully costumed as we saw him in the Sketchbook as a “surveillance-age superhero.” Uotan’s new look is very reminiscent of that of the Forever Person Vykin the Black, who had a special connection with an odd-looking motherbox; we’re likely seeing that here, as Uotan seems to be establishing a relationship with the Rubik’s Cube Motherbox. I imagine he’ll meet up with the rest of the New New Gods soon enough to save the day during the battle against Darkseid. If a Monitor can become a New God, I wonder what that means the Monitors actually are, and what their relationship is with New Genesis and Apokolips? I suppose we have two issues of this and an issue of Superman Beyond left to find this out in.
See you in two weeks for Batman #683 and maybe some comments relating to the Secret Files.
I don’t think I’m an overly sensitive, PC reader, but that ’supergirl rape line” REALLY bothered me. It just didn’t seem necessary. So I’m interested in your position that “this is a self-conscious over-the-top attempt at mocking Meltzerish Law & Order: SVU cheap villainy.” Can you say more about why you are so sure Morrison is mocking, instead of just straight participating in these tropes? It sounds like maybe he’s been commenting on his portrayal of Supergirl in FC and I just missed it.
Honestly, I didn’t blink at either of the “questionable” scenes/lines. Probably says something about the desensitization to violence and whatnot, but the Supergirl line is pretty standard bad guy fare and really goes a long way towards showing how absolutely wrong Libra, and really Darkseid’s whole cause, is. GM has gone a long way towards establishing the completely evil nature of the antagonist in this series, so I just don’t see how this is an issue. It’s not like Lex was all “hell yeah, I’ma tear that ass up!”
I actually didn’t even consider the implications of a “rape line”, I just thought Libra was offering Luthor the first shot at torture or some other less sexist villainy thing. Libra would offer up Superman instead, but he’s disappeared.
The Metron sigil was referred to as a circuit in the previous issue and Submit. For a circuit to be useful there has to be energy going through it. I assume that energy would be the Life Equation, which is also the Speed Force, which might be the same thing as Green Lantern energy.
Oh, and considering what Black Adam said about Mary on page 19 (the leering old man thing, “she’s possessed”), I’m guessing Desaad, the God of perversion, is taking over her mind.
Holy shit, Super-Dad, that’s dead on. You just blew the collective minds of Team FBB, I’ll give you credit when I add that in.
Also, he doomsday singularity (love that concept btw) finally explains Uotan’s line about an increase in gravitons back in FC2.
Does anyone else think that Luthor is the spy in the organization? The Undernet leak to the superheroes is mentioned in the previous issue and we have Luthor looking with regret about how mankind has fallen. It does make some sense because Luthor does have ties to Black Lightning. I think even Libra knows about it, which is why he wants Luthor to lead the charge in Bludhaven.
Mary’s corruption seems to be Desaad, but it also might be a shout-out to Marquis De Sade’s other book, Justeen, where a “polyannish” girl is corrupted through sadism and sexuality.
Put me on the list that Libra could be implying either a “rape-line” or a “torture-line” with Supergirl. Consider that he also offered Luthor to lead the charge (probably the Secret Socity charge) against the heroes. So maybe he’s just offering a “first shot” at taking down Supergirl (which is something Luthor might prefer).
Just thought i’d point out that the Metron circuit that Mr. Miracle and the others had painted on their faces?
That circuit has always been a part of Morrison’s Mr. Miracle redesign. Check out the Seven Soldier mini and see!
Great annotations as usual.
The song “Motivation of Man” by the band Iced Earth is the perfect soundtrack to pages 30-31 where Darkseid is giving his “speech”.
Perhaps DC should start releasing two issues per title, one with all of the story and the other with the objectionable parts removed.
Man, chrishaley, if you want a themesong for the whole of Apokolips, try The Protomen’s self-titled album. Just imagine Scott Free as the Blue Bomber.
No Barry & Wally this time around. How great would it be if the hooded guy with Nix and Metron is super-gorilla Grodd, immune to the anti-life through his mental force?
Hi…I love your annotations.
I have re-read the issue about four times now. DId anyone notice how many times Doc Fate has appeared in Nix Uotan’s drawings. The UberMensche [sic] and Nazi Supergirl are in the drawings as well as an unknown green-faced slightly character that resembles Kirby’s Demon wiht a Superman symbol. The Captian Atom from the Superman Beyond is also featured.
I know that the Doc Fate has been mentioned in interviews and has briefly seen in Superman Beyond. As for the green-face-demony thing…another new character? Are these aspects from Superman Beyond that will play in the final two issues?
On the subject of a Final Crisis soundtrack, I think “Year Zero” from Nine Inch Nails would fit quite well.
In addition, Reactron also makes an implied rape threat against Supergirl in this week’s Action Comics. I have to echo your sentiment, David… do they really have to go that far to emphasize how sleazy/evil their villains are? On the other hand, at least it’s not a more explicit depiction.
Not to interweb e-boast or anything, but the Desaad/Mary Marvel connection seemed fairly obvious to me with Black Adam’s line about seeing “a leering old man in her eyes,” even though there was nothing (that I saw) to hint at this in the earlier issues. One of those little twists that Morrison just loves to throw in, I suppose. Although it does make me wonder what the big drama surrounding Batman next issue will turn out to be, considering how this detail deviates from “Rock of Ages.”
I was also very impressed with the Mokkari-lookalike doctor in the Uotan/Metron scene. The facepaint was a nice little detail that goes a long way to justifying the concept of the Cult of Simyan and Mokkari mentioned in issue 4. I hope future writers keep them around as a background terrorist organization in the DCU after FC is over, to demonstrate the series’ lingering aftereffects.
HitTheTargets - I love The Protomen! Their front man went to high school with one of my best friends. You have made a very wise soundtrack suggestion.
Great review/set of annotations, as always.
I don’t really think that the ‘girl wonder’ crowd will be upset with this, particularly b/c of the work of the artist who worked on the Mary Marvel segments. It was dark and perverted w/o being exploitative at all. Honestly, I think it holds the other portrayals of the ‘dark’ female hero to shame.
I think the rape threats were intended to illustrate to the reader just how bad things have gotten. I know this is obvious, but the power of those kinds of scenes are completely lost when other, less competent writers turn them into a trope.
Does no-one else think - and it’s kinda natural given the origins of the project and the artist - that the supervillain train, really every SSoSV scene, has consistently implicitly hearkened toward Moz’ one-time protege Mark Millar’s Wanted?
The origins of Wanted, that is.
what no
“The “ultimate technology†Granny is referring to is surely the sigil given by Metron to Anthro at the very beginning of #1, although its exact nature isn’t yet clear - I doubt the Green Lantern willpower energy is it,”
Actually, I think Granny’s referring to when Metron introduced Anthro to fire; he’s positioned here as the impetus for all technological innovation in the mortal universe, from stone age to space age. The GL energy is certainly close to the endpoint of this path–tech that does just about anything you can think of, when you think it.
I’m not sure any of the Dark Gods know about the sigil yet.
Grant has oft stated that he writes for the smart 14 yr old…in the world we live in of 4chan, the absolute trash that mtv puts out in their reality tv arena and (of course), law and order SVU…theyre aware that bad people rape women. Heck Viagra ads and the presidential BJ scandal are both 10+ yrs old…todays comic readers are aware of sex in multiple forms. Thank the media in all its manifestations, if it sells adspace it’s news.
Remember the nerds and villains are often the losers in many arenas of life, hungry for power and lusting after achieving it in that worst of ways, bodily violation. Alan Moore did it years ago in Mircaleman: Bullies who want to violate and let a victim know they don’t even have control over their own bodies because they desired that control for themselves and are taking it by force, only to be brutally murdered for trying. Everything about that line perfectly describes the Apokoliptian philosophy: Submission against one’s will and ruination of the flesh for the desires of others.
I see this as a potential foreshadowing of a really nasty death for Libra. MM wins the fight vs. Supergirl, and being as twisted and sadistic as she is delivers to Libra as they have plans to ruin her in a manner befitting your average apokoliptian. Watch Supes come back just in time to break Libra and MaryMarvel-Desaad. My guess is they have elected the way of pain. So while MM wins the fight, she’ll lose the war, allowing a nobler portrayal of female heroes to come about. GM in New Xmen had men completely demeated for trying to remove Sooraya’s veil. It’s a precedent he’s set already…
For those of you attracted to our batshit crazy bloodspitting MM Desaad: It’s probably a subconscious evolutionary thing to be attracted to someone who asks for whatever’s thrown at them with a smile…it means they’ll survive childbirth. Bonus points if she survives whatever reboot GM has coming up.
I’m getting the idea that he’s the spy too. I would guess all the villains will revolt regardless of Luthor though. As Sivana put it, he rather likes his brain, and giving Darkseid control of it simply ruins one’s day. At their core, villains are people who go for themselves, and if that means teaming up with the heroes so that they avoid the anti-life equation so be it. There’ll be plenty of time for villainry once norms are reestablished.
In the meantime, any bets on how long before womeninrefrigerators gets ahold of the supergirl rape line?
Rather than suggest a song of apokolips I’d like to suggest an album Ministry:Psalm 69. All that war and religious imagery plus some really rocking sounds and lots of screaming.
On a final note, imagine what Desaad has been doing with his new flesh suit in his spare time….that creepy bastard
Again, great annotations on a great issue. After reading this I scoured through three notebooks to find a first draft of a compilation I made to go alongside Final Crisis. I’ll spare you all my poor taste but I will say that the Justifiers are now-and-forever my favorite shock troopers and I owe it all to the Misfits “Last Caress.”
A few more notes (and the identity of the Spanish-speaking dude!) over at http://finalcrisisannotations.blogspot.com/2008/12/final-crisis-5.html .
Maybe it’s just me, but I think that’s kind of burn by Libra on the fact that Luthor used to date a Supergirl (and bang her) back when he had a lovely mane of red hair.
Your annotations are a life-saver, especially with the who’s who in splash pages and pointing out Kirby history.
By the by, I think that’s STRIPE/Stripesy (or whatever his codename is), not Rocket Red in the 16&17 splash page.
Pedro,
I don’t know if that story happened anymore, b/c if it did, wouldn’t it necessarily imply that the pocket universe stories were still canon?
“Green flame” on thecomicforums.com noticed that all of the vehicles in the battle scene are the Metal Men, maybe except for Frank’s bike. (the Hummer has eyebrows, and you can see the “L” on Liberty Belle’s bike)
And is Blue Devil supposed be holding his pitchfork? haha
we finally get the start of the much-ballyhooed Supergirl vs. Mary Marvel battle for the portrayal of women in superhero comics. (That’s how Morrison sold it at NYCC; I ain’t making that up.)
I hadn’t heard about Morrison saying that, but it’s not terribly surprising given that Mary has, as Black Adam puts it a “leering old man in her eyes.” At the story level it’s Desaad possessing her, but since it’s Morrison I wondered as I read those panels if he was making a commentary on female superheroes and how they’re generally written, given that most of them are written by “leering old men” who determine what they do on the page. Kind of a commentary on how Mary and Supergirl have both been written over the last few years in fact. But I may be reading too much into just a few panels.
Yeah, I was pretty sure that was the Desaad reveal.
[...] a marked improvement over the hamfisted storytelling of previous issues, and readers seem to be responding (at least online) with increased enthusiasm. As DC’s multiverse-shaking events go, [...]
Jamaal, don’t you dare tell me that the Red Haired Bastard Australian Son of Luthor stories didn’t happen. I would never read a comic again.
In all seriousness, I don’t see any reason to suggest those stories did not happen since they are Post-Byrne and don’t contradict any existing stories.
Didio mentioned Matrix Supergirl was retconned away in the whole New Earth business back during Infinite Crisis, although I guess the later Linda Danvers version was referenced recently despite that.
Pedro,
The only part of those stories that is problematic is Supergirl herself. Unless you give Matrix Supergirl a new origin (which would be my preferred solution), she was created by John Byrne and ties into the Levitz-Giffen Legion that no longer exists. It’s way too complicated.
Darksied / new gods havent in any book so far shown such tendencies .
Not sure how this is in line with anything .
Also if Lex had already leaked the codes then he already had made up his mind and the Libra/Luthor exchange really did not serve any purpose in moving the plot forward.
I pretty sure that all the Supergirls except the current one have been retconned out.
Whoah, I really don’t get all this stuff about Luthor being offered first shot…well, other people have described it better.
I thought that being in the first assault group was meant as a chance to take Luthor out. The superheroes might be almost defeated, but the first group in is going to take heavy damage. And while Luthor’s got smarts and a suit, I doubt he’d fare too well in mass combat (especially when it’s the perfect chance for “friendly fire”). It’s like how the Soviets would make traitors “clear” minefields during World War II.
On the first read I missed this, but if Mokkari’s body is dying at the start of the book, why can’t he be in a new body by the time he’s in the room w/ Nix? And if I’m right on that, he looks an awful lot like Dr. Hurt to me.
Anyone else noticed that many of the key characters in this story (counting the spin-offs) are minorities?
Mister Miracle
Nix Uotan (his body is definitely not white)
The Super Young Team
The Tattooed Man
Black Lightning
Mr. Terrific
Kudos, Mr. Morrison.
Just semantics, but the Super Young Team are not “minorities” since they are from Japan.
Don’t forget that most of the Fourth World was African-American in Seven Soldiers and then the beginning of Final Crisis.
Jamaal, I don’t think the current Superman Braintrust has been shying away from keeping characters but just revising their origins to fit - the Eradicator was fit into their new vision of Krypton, for instance. It doesn’t really affect SO many of her appearances to just say that she was an amorphous substance from the actual Krypton - she did just appear in Reign in Hell, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was Flamebird.
one quick comment about Frankenstein’s quoting of Paradise Lost: The exact quote he uses (the one starting “farewell happy fields…”) is also in the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song “Song Of Joy”. I wouldn’t put it past Morrison to be making a double reference.
Dave,
I think that Eradicator’s much, much easier to incorporate anywhere. The creators/editors working on Superman have found some way to incorporate many of the elements of Supeman mythology (especially those that were related to Krypton) into the current version of the character. Matrix/Supergirl’s kind of a different case, and I think that her relationship with the Australian version of Luthor really doesn’t fit with the current version of the character (and needlessly confuses things).
In the end, if they want to do it, they will, in a way that may be elegant or crude. I just think it’s pretty unlikely b/c both the character and the arc were relatively insignificant. Maybe Morrison intended for that scene to resonate in the way Pedro mentioned, but I think its’ really unlikely.
Men, Amypoodle’s somewhat chewed up commentary is now online. He has such sharp little teeth - it was a bugger extracting it from his jaws.
@Sean Witzke: That isn’t Mokkari in the cell with Nix, it’s one of “…the cult of Simyan and Mokkari…” as mentioned on page 8.
Isn’t the ape in Nix’s cell the chimpanzee from Animal Man?
16 & 17: The spanish guy in the mystical armor is in the DC Encyclopedia, which I’ve read before but don’t HAVE. All I can remember is that he’s a semi-recent creation and was involved in some Superman escapades within the past couple years (probably a pre-Crisis II annual event or something.)
I’m pretty sure the guy in the cell is Himon. Himon is the guy who creates Motherboxes and he’s also part of the slave movement in armagetto. He’s the guy who gives Scott Free a chance to escape with a mother box.
It makes the most sense that it is Himon in the cell who creates the motherbox. He’s probably one of the people who were experimented upon in Bludhaven.
“I assume exactly what’s going on on this page will become clearer later.”- Good luck with that. I like Morrison but I can’t make any sense of these comics. It’s like the Filth except you need a Phd in Jack Kirby’s later stuff to decode it.
If Darkseid and Apokolips have any theme song, it’s “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums” by A Perfect Circle.
If you’re looking for Darkseid’s soundtrack during that speech … listen to “Ghost of Perdition” by Opeth.
I’ll join in by saying that I had started wondering what New Gods were possessing whom, and did guess Desaad was the one corrupting Mary (if you think about Desaad’s last death and Darkseid’s subsequent “meeting” with Mary in Countdown it makes sense. I’m not saying Countdown was great, but that might’ve been a Morrison mandated ending).
It’s no stretch to think Lashina = Catwoman, Artemiz = Wonder Woman, Stompa = Giganta and Mad Harriet = Batwoman right now either, given the masks and slight tweaks of hair style on the “new Furies”.
It does seem like the gift Metron gave the Universe (for man beginning with fire) was “Imagination”. And it could explain the natural Green Lantern resistance to Anti-Life (That’d explain how Raker and Kraken became the Green Lanterns of Apokolips) and also how Hal and the Corps are about to kick some serious ass. After all, a Green Lantern ring (and the rest of the colored meta-technology that taps into the emotion spectrum) is pure imagination energy.
So it’s easy to see the link from beginning to end between Metron and the Green Lanterns. The real question is how Barry, Wally, the Speed Force, and Libra (who according to Rogues Revenge has an aura) tie in. They’re faster than Black Racer, does that mean they’re vibrating on a frequency that Anti-Life isn’t fast enough to catch? Or does that just mean that the Speed Force is imagination-based as well?
Most of the “shift the DCU so that somehow Kirby’s OMAC and Kamandi” aspects, I figured out pretty easily. After all, that’s been one of Morrison’s admitted goals all along.
I think there’s an interesting notion to be discussed involving Black Adam being the one who sees Desaad immediately in Mary’s eyes. Black Adam is a top ten DC villain now … he’s DC’s Magneto, actually … the villain you can kind of see eye to eye with. If anyone thought Mary had “gone bad” they would’ve thought it was from his influence, but we all know that Adam might be a huge villain, but he’s honest, and not a sicko. He’d easily be the first to realize Mary’s new darkness had nothing to do with him.
Anyway it’s a neat notion as well, that classical villainy like Adam doesn’t need “sick, twisted, depraved” to provide a bad guy. Kind of reminds me of how sick they made Joker in the recent Graphic Novel just for the sake of the “sickest Joker depiction ever”.
The wake of Final Crisis being the foundation of this “faceless peace” group of Kirby’s is a neat idea, although I’m not sure the Question would stick around after helping found such a thing. Still, Checkmate is kind of a tarnished name after the last Crisis.
Somebody on some board mentioned that Hawkman’s line reminded them of classic Orion, and it’s not hard to see “god of war” status in a guy like Hawkman.
A weakened Multiverse could mean the Green Lanterns manage to literally toss Bludhaven onto another Earth … that’d be an interesting foundation for Kirby’s Last Boy on Earth.
Somebody elsewhere also mentioned that the monkey guy telling Nix Uotan everything might be the monkey from Animal Man who typed the book Superman is reading in Limbo. I think it’s probably Anthro, given Anthro’s learning the symbol in FC#1. An immortal Anthro could’ve gotten awfully hairy, and hey, Vandal Savage never died …
Luthor was my first thought when the heroes used the Unternet last issue. If you recall, one of Libra’s conditions for his “position of status in the Society” was renouncing science. Luthor might be a greedy opportunist, but he’s also a human who hates aliens screwing with Earth, and he’d rather defy a god than renounce science.
Lastly (apart from the myriad of New God in relation to Monitor questions) … I seriously think Morrison is planning on writing a Doc Fate and Lady Blackhawk series set on a parallel Earth at some point here …
when the hooded figure in the cell cracks the rubik cube in 17 moves he holds it towards us so we can see the red, yellow and blue sides - the primary colours and, of course, the colours of Superman.
One thing no one mentioned about the Supergirl rape line is that it’s not the sort of thing that would appeal to Luthor. I read that line as Morrison signaling that Libra does not “get” Luthor.