This.
Yes, yes, we all know that the Martian Manhunter is dead. Truly dead. Really most sincerely dead. That is not my point. That is not what I want to talk about.THIS
is my point. THIS is what I want to talk about.There's another scene in this issue where Aquaman appears, but he's just an illusion cast by J'onn. Here? J'onn ain't casting nothing here, folks; that's really Aquaman.
Real Aquaman. I mean, you can tell it's him because of his fabulously styled hair.
If the DCUniverse itself is sentient, then it's crying out for the return of the real Aquaman. This appears to be the first sighting! I've suspected for some time that Final Crisis would begin with Martian Manhunter dying, then have Flash return, then end with Aquaman returning. This seems like pretty strong evidence! And, if he's back, what's the story and when do we get to hear it? Honestly, I'd be just as happy to pretend he never left.
Artist error, one of you will say. Doug Mahnke "accidently" drew Aquaman? Peter Tomasi (who used to edit Aquaman) and Eddie Berganza simply didn't notice that Aquaman was there or "forgot" that one of DC's icons is supposed to be dead and had his book cancelled? I don't think so.
Or it's J'onn, and no one thought to think, "Hey, what's Arthur doing here?"
ReplyDeleteHey, If they end up saying that the whole One Year Later crap was all a bad dream, I'd totally be OK with it. Just give me Aquaman back.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm just tickled pink. Or in this case, orange and green. Too bad about J'onn though.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else notice that J'onn is in his old style costume? I guess his friends didn't like his new duds either...
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I am super excited by the possibility that Aqauaman and his feather, fabulous hair will be back soon!
More importantly: where the hell is Gypsy?
ReplyDeleteI realize this is just a "crowd scene" but a lot of it doesn't make sense.
ReplyDelete* Jason is in Ronnie's costume but has his costumes gloves and boots.
* What's up with Mr. Terrific, an atheist, praying?
* Why is Thunder next to Black Lightning but neither of his daughters there?
* Who invited Bulleteer?
In the things that are so wrong but so right category are..
*Neither Ollie or Roy are comforting their significant others.
* Why is Plastic Man touching Stargirl? Has he even met her?
Wups, I meant Grace.
ReplyDeleteWell, in defense of Mr Terrific, he might be an atheist, but I think he knows better than to be a prick at a funeral. He's probably just pretending while listening to a football game on his T-Spheres or something.
ReplyDeleteYes, separating GA and BC is rather odd. The overall design is clearly to spread the most iconic figures evenly around the corpse, but even so ...
ReplyDeleteOh, and good job on completely obscuring which Flash that is...!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought the placement was very strange. No couple is together. I don't see Liberty Belle at all, Dinah is being comforted by Alan Scott, Hawkgirl is far from Roy, Nightwing is far from Starfire.
ReplyDeleteWho's the guy in the fedora at the bottom? Was Slam Bradley John Jones' partner? I thought that was just New Frontier.
And I agree, what's Bulleteer doing there? Maybe anyone that showed up at the Hall got a GL-Lift to Mars?
Maybe he was dead but is now getting better.
ReplyDeleteThe guy in the fedora is Sandman.
ReplyDeleteRE: Mr. Terrific. I was going to say that an atheist probably would join everyone else in solemn reflection - hands clasp, head down - and not, say, sing a rude song at the top of his lungs while the theists are praying.
But then I clicked on the picture, and... yeah. That's not "solemn reflection", that's praying.
I won't get my copy in the mail for another month, damn it.
ReplyDeleteBill Reed said...
"More importantly: where the hell is Gypsy?"
Indeed. Also, Zook and a slew of others. Frankly, there aren't enough loser super-heroes in this picture. I'm not being snide-- J'Onn was the Patron Saint of Loser Super-Heroes made good. He'd have been the one waving the Ray, Dolphin, Reverb, and whatever other random Global Guardian/New Blood/etc. bothered to show their respects.
Yay on classic duds and Aquaman-- one door closes...
So, what, we've got the current JSA, JLA, both Titans teams, the frickin' Outsiders, and Plas, Huntress, Booster, Zatanna and Aquaman. (And all things Bronze Age are effectively in current continuity-- the moreso if we end up with Barry and Orin but no J'onn.)
ReplyDeleteNo JLIers except currently title-supporting Booster. (Guy, Ice, Dr. Light, Oberon...) No members of the JLTF J'onn led. No Bloodwynd! Missing some of the Watchtower Leaguers who are off the current team-- Kyle, Zauriel, Oracle. Lame, lame.
I just read the issue, and Gypsy does play a pretty large part. Also Ice, Kyle, and Guy are all there.
ReplyDeleteI did like some of the characterization. Batman stood there impassive, Hal looked resolute, Ollie looked really, really pissed, Diana looked forlorn, Dinah was openly weeping. However, the decision to have Ollie standing all the way across the coffin from a sobbing BC seems really weird.
ReplyDeleteAs for the JLI, Captain Marvel, Ice, Booster, and Guy were all there. If you look closely, you can see Dr. Light's boot right next to Atom Smasher's shoulder. I would say the Detroit/JLI groups were fairly well represented, seeing as how a lot of them are dead (Vibe, Mr. Miracle, Ted Kord)
And while Gypsy should have DEFINITELY been in the picture, she did play a big role in the story, and was presumably at the funeral, as she visits the coffin right after.
She was there; you just couldn't see here. That's her power, remember!
ReplyDeleteDidn't the same thing, with the real Aquaman show up with no explaination happen in JLA #13 or something? Was that ever explained?
ReplyDeleteI still think Libra will be revealed as the real J'Onn, and the one who died was Barry Clark. (Get out your Showcase Presents J'Onn J'Onzz)
ReplyDeleteArtist error, one of you will say. Doug Mahnke "accidently" drew Aquaman? Peter Tomasi (who used to edit Aquaman) and Eddie Berganza simply didn't notice that Aquaman was there or "forgot" that one of DC's icons is supposed to be dead and had his book cancelled? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, stranger things have happened. It's possible not to spot something like that in this cuisinart of costumes. Remember Daredevil Annual #5? Of course you don't; it never happened.
I didn't notice Arthur there, because I was too busy crying my eyes out over the damn choco a few pages later.
ReplyDeleteDamn you, Tomasi!
Black Canary couldn't stand next to Ollie because she got assigned to the "fishnet section" next to Zatanna.
ReplyDeleteAre there any differences between Wally and Barry's costumes aside from the lightning bolt pattern around the waist?
ReplyDeleteYes, Wally and Barry's ear pieces are different. Barry's looks more like wings, and Wally's look more stylized.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, Flash's ear pieces are too poorly drawn to be sure which design they are. And why are the wingtips on the boots missing?
ReplyDeleteJeff: JLA #12, actually. And no, that never has been explained.
ReplyDelete