Comments on: May: One, DC Universe: Zero

by: Douglas Wolk

Sat, 10 May 2008 18:49:32 +0000

Todd, this is fantastic. That’s really all I have to say…

by: Todd Seavey

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:21:56 +0000

You know, another, far simpler, indication of where things are headed in Morrison’s hands is probably the line “If I was [sic] scared, I wouldn’t be Batman” — meant as bravado but perhaps a chilling bit of foreshadowing as well.

by: Todd Seavey

Fri, 02 May 2008 19:08:51 +0000

By the way, Googling reveals that Bill Finger’s abandoned original design for Batman’s costume was consciously very red-and-black, and Morrison gave this line to Joker (referring to his own new mouth scars, imitated in the late Heath Ledger’s upcoming film version of the character) in the story that recently revamped Joker, “Clown at Midnight”:

“Red and black. Like a bat. In a dream. In a window.”

Not that Joker’s obsession with the colors is in doubt — the cosmic stuff above is a bit more speculative. But Animal Man’s love of the Red, at least, is no doubt something close to Morrison’s heart, animal rights advocate that he is. Vitality vs. entropy and decay. Life vs. control (from his left-anarchist perspective).

by: Ali Kokmen

Fri, 02 May 2008 15:46:10 +0000

“What’s next, a comment from a relative of Veyl’s rival, Galactic Pope Nokmek?”

Oh, for the heck of it, sure!

by: Todd Seavey

Fri, 02 May 2008 15:06:20 +0000

Hey, wait a second — do you realize your name is an anagram of that villain I mentioned creating earlier who worships Krona, the one named Bajoc Veyl? What are the odds of that? Man, the connections go deeper than I realized. What’s next, a comment from a relative of Veyl’s rival, Galactic Pope Nokmek?

by: Jacob T. Levy

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:28:42 +0000

Wow. I’m fully persuaded that you’re reading Morrison in ways that are something like what he intends– and in ways that indicate that you’re really mentally channeling him in a way that almost worries me. Essentially *none* of that would have occurred to me. I’m glad you’ll be writing our readers’ guides to Final Crisis.

The Time Trapper plot gets going in this weeks’ Johns’-written Action.

by: Todd Seavey

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:22:08 +0000

By the way, one neat touch about that black/red narration not directly related to the color scheme: Though it’s implied Barry Allen is one with the universe, if you look back at page 1 carefully, you’ll notice that when he says “This is everything” it seems to take in the whole cosmos depicted on that opening spread — but look! Near the “This is me” caption is something decidedly smaller than the universe as a whole: Is that? Yes, it is! A tiny yellow lightning bolt. So whether Barry is/was the whole universe or just a little energy speck in it remains an open question (as does his relationship to fellow one-with-the-universe guy Libra — who, as noted by Newsarama, takes his name from the only _non-organic_ Zodiac symbol, interestingly enough).

by: T.A.B.

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:01:04 +0000

To further your theory, think of the color schemes of the Marvel family. You have Captain Marvel, the good guy representing life, dressed in red and Black Adam, in black obviously, representing death. If memory serves, this idea is being furthered along with Cap Jr. becoming the new, red Captain Marvel and Mary switching to the dark side.