Leviathan Theory - Entomology

By now everyone who comes here is probably aware of my main Leviathan Theory , the idea that Ted Kord is leading the 'Charlton Heroes' in a way to wrest control of the world and bring order.

From Captain Atom as the 'Enforcer' to Nightshade as a lieutenant to all the Watchmen references, I am pretty confidant of this pick.

As a result I am looking for any clue, even the vaguest whiff of a clue to help bolster this idea.

So from cover layouts to power visualizations to Leviathan's handcuffs, I have been doing my best to force the clues to fit my paradigm.

So what about Leviathan himself?

Well, I mentioned how the mask as we had seen it was familiar to Carapax, an armor linked to Blue Beetle.

At the end of Action Comics #1012, we get an up close look at Leviathan's mask. This is one intricate and detailed rendering by new Action artist Szymon Kudranski. And I thought it was our best look yet.

And there was something about it ...

Leviathan Theory

Okay.

Please settle down as this may be a rambling post.

It will be an attempt for me to put into words my theory on who Leviathan is. Or maybe more like who are in the group Leviathan.

But it will be trying to connect thoughts and feelings and guesses I have been working through as clues and scenes unfold. And in that way, it will be akin to a neural map of my mind, the blogging equivalent of a conspiracy theory connected by yarn and thumb tacks.

At its essence it boils down to this inescapable Watchmen feeling that is draped over everything. And you know when the Watchmen are discussed in comics, you need to remember their origins, the Charlton heroes they were based on.  And when you think about those heroes, you need to think about their histories in DC Comics.

And so I beg you to stay with me here, as I lay out the crumbs of my case, hoping I can sweep them together in your mind and form a cake.

I also freely admit that this very well could represent anchoring bias. Anchoring bias is when you make a conclusion early on and then twist all further incoming information (even ignoring new information) so that it fits your conclusion. I made a leap early. And this is my anchor.

On to the details.

Review: Blue Beetle #13

One of the books which I feel was underappreciated and ultimately cancelled was Justice League 3001. A wonderful stew of action, humor, with multiple universe interpretations mashed into one wild world, and crazy new versions of classic comic characters, JL3001 was great. J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, Howard Porter, and Scott Kolins brought us an entertaining and electric romp of a book.

Moreover, it gave us a very interesting Supergirl, a Silver Age-y Kara who was thrust into a universal war and a leadership role in this League.

When the plug was pulled, the 3001 Flash and Batman were pushed back into the present day and were made part of the supporting cast of Blue Beetle.

I admit I didn't buy Beetle regularly, but last month we saw the League in a flashback panel. The Flash and Batman recognized they needed to get back to their time and help their team in the fight against Lady Styx.

Last week, Blue Beetle #13 came out which truly featured the JL3001 team, even promoting it on the cover dress.

This is the last issue for this Beetle creative team of J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and Scott Kolins. Maybe realizing this might be their last chance to visit the 3001 universe, this book reads more like JL3001 and less like a Blue Beetle book. That made me happy. There isn't much closure here. The future of the 3001 universe is still up in the air.

DeMatteis and Giffen do make a solid connection between this book and the primary villain of the 3001 universe. And Kolins brings his usual gritty, rough energy to the fight.

But mostly, it was great to see this League one more time. I have missed reading their adventures monthly.

Nick Spencer On His Supergirl Run

In the aftermath of the Andy Diggle and Joshua Hale Fialkov, other creators who have been editorially squashed by DC Comics have started to come out of the woodwork and fan the flames. One of them was Nick Spencer who lasted one half of one issue on Supergirl, here on  Supergirl #60.

On his blog, Spencer wrote about his proposed story arc. Here is that link:
http://nickspencerly.tumblr.com/post/45862702793/by-the-amazing-amy-reeder-the-unpublished-cover

And here are the major parts of that post and the proposed story.

The idea for the story was pretty simple: Kara learns how to be a leader. She had, to that point, been almost exclusively used as either a solo character, or in a supporting role on a team. I felt like someone wearing that ‘S’ on their chest would find people looking to them for answers when things got bad.

The story beats that really stand out, to me:
I know I wanted to have a scene where the fight gets really hectic, and Impulse runs away, with Kara really calmly and sympathetically talking to her about it, just the two of them, in the aftermath. That was supposed to be the big moment that Kara comes into her own.

The entire team (except for Kara) were gonna get captured, and Kara would go to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman for advice— and from there, putting together ANOTHER team to rescue them (I forget who all was on that one- Black Alice, Klarion, Shining Knight, Arrowette, I think).

The whole thing would climax at the launch party for the Flyover app, and the last scene was Impulse pulling Damian onto the dancefloor.

So I don't know exactly what here was so objectionable to the editors. My guesses? The villain was to be a Luthor/Brainiac hybrid which might have been being saved for Superman. Or maybe this story, creating a team, losing a team, talking to the Trinity, creating a new team, saving the day was deemed too cumbersome?

With blood in the water, every major comic site covered Spencer's news and used it to prove DC editorial overreach existed back then ... even though there was not as much news of editorial overreach back then. We didn't hear these stories then which makes me think something must have been amiss for this to have happened. Now I do fault DC for giving the reins to Spencer too early if they hadn't heard all the details of his story. Isn't that the role of editors? 

As for that issue, the one thing that struck me about it was that a lot of time was spent showcasing not only 'Alex' (the villain) but his college friends. It seemed overly long and wasted space, almost like Spencer needed to show how pithy and snappy his dialogue could be. Those kids weren't part of the big story so why do I care that one of them has a new girlfriend?

Anyways, given the feeding frenzy against DC (something I am taking part of) I am not surprised to see how many people have come out and said 'I would have read that story about Kara becoming a leader!'

Yeah?? Where were you back then??

Because the truth is, James Peaty's story, which picked up after Spencer left, did just that. So they should go back and get the back issues because there are some great moments in Peaty's story. And the art by Bernard Chang is so beautiful. I have reviewed those issues (Supergirl #60-64) on this site so folks can go to those posts if they want. But let me give you some highlights.

Here is Damien Wayne telling Jaime that he is listening to Kara because she has proven to be a true leader. She has passed his internal test of earning respect. Damien!!

And then in the battle with Dubbilex (the stand in for the Lex/Brainiac villain), Miss Martian admits that she looked up to Supergirl ... was in awe of her.

Best yet, the whole counterattack against Dubbilex has been masterfully orchestrated by Supergirl. Despite all his intelligence and planning, he is soundly beaten by Kara. He was simply 'outsmarted'.

Look at how strong Supergirl looks as she sort of rubs in her victory.

And in the end, Supergirl knows she is ready. She is the leader of her generation and ready to take a place in the majors.

So if you are saying 'I missed out on a great story' because of Nick Spencer's post, go find this arc.

Anyways, hopefully DC gets there act together and lets creators breathe a bit.

Review: Tiny Titans 6

And now for something completely different ...

Tiny Titans is the new Johnny DC comic written/drawn by Art Baltazar. It has got fairly decent reviews for a Johnny DC title, being enjoyed by both kids and adults, but more on that in a bit.

In this issue, Supergirl and Blue Beetle join the Tiny Titans. This is some indeterminant incarnation of Kara, although it most likely represents the new Supergirl ... not that continuity means anything here. For example, the Robin in this book is written as though it is Dick Grayson (given the occasional disco Nightwing costume jokes) rather than Tim Drake. And the Titans here are an amalgam of all incarnations of the Titans that have existed.

This is Supergirl's first appearance in the title and she is in 3 short stories in the issue.

The first story called 'Meet ya, greet ya' shows Supergirl and Blue Beetle's arriving at Titans Treehouse (cute).

Together they enter, hoping to meet the core members of the team: Robin, Speedy, Cyborg, etc.

In their place are some second stringers: Kid Vulcan, Hawk and Dove, Power Boy, and a few others. Turns out the real titans are on a field trip.

Nonplussed by the also-rans, Blue Beetle and Supergirl resign themselves to a long day with some nerds.

The second story she appears in is more a Blue Beetle story in which she has a brief role. It is not worth a scan.

The third story is untitled but has the Titans bringing their pets in for a 'show and tell' style event. Supergirl brings in her pets, Beppo the Super-monkey and Streaky the Super-cat. Beppo and Streaky !!!

Any Streaky appearance is a good Streaky appearance.

Clearly the Titans are starstruck by Kara and her pets.

Later Blue Beetle accidentally steps on Streaky's tail and as a result he spills his pets - a case full of bugs. Some mayhem ensues until Raven uses her magic to gather up the beetles.

This is an strange comic for me in a couple of ways.

It looks as though it is aimed at a younger set of readers, younger than the JLU/Teen Titans Go! tweener set. And the short stories with their slapstick elementary school level humor fits the bill.

And yet, as a reader, you need to have a fairly comprehensive understanding of the Titans and their history and powers to comprehend what happens. For example, there are lots of Trigon jokes without much explanation why Raven has a demon father (not that little kids need an explanation). Baltazar has brought in dozens of characters over the first six issues and does little to discuss their powers or explain who they are. So when a little Jericho uses his powers on Deathstroke (who is the prinicipal of the Sidekick elementary school ... also cute), it is confusing unless you know that Jericho can take over people's minds. He includes both the Cassie and Donna and calls them both Wonder Girl. Kid Flash seems to be Wally, although it is never stated. That is a lot of Titans stuff for the young novice reader to grasp.

On the plus side, there is usually a game or puzzle page at the end. Also, this issue there was a code at the end so kids can translate what the beetle scarab is saying to Blue Beetle. Makes it a little fun.

I supose that children would be a better judge of this comic rather than a jaded veteran like me. But if you are not a comic fan and bought the issue as a lark for your kids, or if you bought this for a friend's kid as a way to introduce them to the medium, it might make very little sense to everyone.

Lastly, I am really glad that Supergirl is included in the title. Any time Supergirl is a featured character I am happy. And if introducing Supergirl in this comic makes a few young readers become lifelong Kara fans, even better.

Overall grade: silly enough to earn a 'B' from the kid in me