Cover:
This is a repurposing of the promo piece for FC, usually captioned "Heroes die. Legends live forever." Clockwise from top left: Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, Superman, Hawkman, Batman, Flash (unclear which one), Wonder Woman. This is also the first official use of Chip Kidd's trade dress for FC, about which there's a pretty interesting interview here.
Pp. 2-9:
I'll get to all the Kirby characters when they're introduced in the story proper, but in the meantime, there's always Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 1
as a starting point... Pg. 11:
I love the phrase "orrery of worlds." A quick Google search has revealed two earlier uses of it: an 1856 lecture by Joseph Haven on "mental science as a branch of education," and an 1886 sermon called "God's Great Day-and-Night Engine." Both of which are somehow appropriate.
Pp. 12-20:
Very interesting commentary from Will Staples here on the Japanese heroes and their roots in actual Japanese media--I'm a little put off by some of the names too. It's worth noting, also, that Super Young Team were first mentioned back in 52 #6, and that "Young Team" is a reference to Glasgow gangs (see also the Mogwai album with that title).
Pp. 21-22:
Wow, that sure looks like the Martian Manhunter on fire in the top middle image of pg. 21. And top left image of pg. 22 brings in the gigantic-hand motif that, as commenter I noted in the DCU 0 entry, also looks like it's going to be a part of TRINITY.
11 comments:
I read somewhere in an interview with Didio (I believe) that the falling figure is not Martian Manhunter, but Darkseid. If I find the article (Newsarama or CBR) I'll link it.
Actually, the hand reminds me a lot of the threat in the first Wein/Dillin Seven Soldiers arc in JLA. I have a feeling that run is going to come up a LOT before this story is through.
Why is it that almost every non-American character DC or Marvel comes up has to reflect the culture of the character's country (or perhaps more accurately, the creator's VIEW of that country's culture).
Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, etc. could work as characters no matter what country you placed them in. But imagine the Australian Perfect Accomplished Physician. Or the French Most Excellent Superbat. Or the Bolivian Jack O'Lantern.
It's like if every American character were Uncle Sam or the Force of July.
Apropos of nothing, according to Google Reader I am the only GR subscriber to this RSS feed.
Not any longer.
Maybe I'm just slow on the uptake, but I was kind of surprised by one of the marginal notes on the Mister Miracle costume design, which ends with "...so expect that when I get to draw him on the actual book - please indicate this to whoever is doing the mini-series." I don't have the Seven Soldiers trade paperbacks, so maybe this has already been addressed in the back-of-book material. But to this naive reader, it suggests the following:
* JG Jones designed the new Mister Miracle costume...
* ...before Seven Soldiers.
* Thus Final Crisis was in the works before Seven Soldiers (or at least the Mister Miracle miniseries).
* Seven Soldiers might be even more directly connected to Final Crisis than we were already expecting.
* Come to think of it, Seven Soldiers was kind of heavy on the "creative Hand of God" imagery.
* And so was The Filth.
* This could get pretty meta.
Hi Douglas
Thanks for the link to my sites - I've added a link back to your blog and, like Raphaeladidas, your blog's in my Google Reader feed!
Cheers!
Gary
@ mark simmons: i'm pretty sure that shilo norman design with the notation was done by J. H. Williams III for Seven Soldiers. dunno why he wasn't credited though.
jamil: Oh, that makes a lot more sense. Somehow it didn't occur to me that Seven Soldiers #1 was a distinct entity from the Mister Miracle mini-series. Well, scratch that theory. :-)
Oh wow, you're annotating Final Crisis? I seriously missed your insights after 52 ended.
Thanks for the link, by the way! Though the incoming traffic from you and the other fellow who linked me is a little overwhelming -- it's more than I've gotten at any time in the two years since I started blogging!
My compliments on your work, sir.
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