Why did Batman steal Sivana's photonic crystal?
How is Tim Drake Batman's greatest student, but has the smallest role?
What is Lazlo Valentin's relationship to Kathy Kane, Spyral, the circus, and Hurt?
Who is David Zavimbe? Who are his Super Fly Crew?
What is The Hood's relationship to Kathy Kane? (Is he Netz's "second best" mention?)
Who was the second double-agent? Matron? Why did his speech bubbles look like Lord Death Man's?
Does Lord Death Man run on Lazarus?
WHAT IS KATHY KANE UP TO?
WHO ARE T.H.E.Y.?
WHAT WAS OROBORO, EXACTLY?
Some scattered responses-
ReplyDelete~Most likely a reach - but since Sivana is involved - I'm wondering if the metamaterial "diamond" might have some sort of connection to the Multiversity project. I wouldn't put it past Morrison to be seeding the Marvel family somehow, even in an oblique way.
The fellow who seemed to ace the Hood - his speech bubbles are indeed incredibly similar to Lord Death Man's which inspired me to go look at LDM's scenes closely in INC 1 and 2. For both- the speech bubbles are white on black and are their bubbles without the usual "tails" that taper towards the speaker. The only difference is that LDM's speech bubbles are more cloud-like, gaseous, irregular. The Matron's (If that is indeed the Matron) speech bubbles were smoothly oval. Perhaps Lord Death Man taught his yoga technique to another? Curious
It might be *ahem* coincidence as it follows a comment about "taking" the Japanese public "to school", but in INC 2 page 13, LDM shouts I AM THE HEADMASTER- which kinda rather now begs some new thought.
I'll throw more at you as they come
I think Batmans reasons for stealing the crystal, much like his reasons for starting INC in the first place, are tied in with his glimpse of the future, or more specifically his brief knowledge of everything that ever has and will happen thanks to his temporary bond with the bio-organic archivist machine at the vanishing point. According to himself he's unclear now as to what exactly he saw, it "seems like a dream now". Grants says in his notes at the back of the Strikes one shot that the crystal was "too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands", perhaps Bruce simply remembers seeing it being used in the wrong hands, and took steps to ensure that didn't happen. No doubt that it will play a larger role towards the end of the story, Grant loves to show us something in issue 1 that ends up being very important by the end of the story.
ReplyDeleteHis role may be small, but Tim Drakes contributions are very important, he continues to be the one to 'figure things out' throughout the run.
Lazlo was a Spyral agent at one time, presumably a double agent working against Spyral, who became Pyg after being put through Otto's cold war era interrogation facility "designed to break even the strongest enemy agent", the Spyral Sink labyrinth. Why did Pyg later work for hurt?, and why did his son later work for Kathy Kane, who's school provides teenaged mind control assassins for Leviathan?, I suspect we might never know.
As seen over at DST, Chris Burnham confirmed that the 3 heroes accompanying the fake Batwing in Strikes are "two kick-ass Mtamban heroines that we hadn't met previously named Tik and Tok. The big guy is a new, as yet un-named, creation".
When Matron spoke to Kathy at the end of Strikes, I believe he was talking about the Death of her father Netz, who she wasn't on good term with, as we saw in issue 4, in Netz's words Batman "killed my daughters love for me!". I believe the flowers were for Netz "I'll send flowers of course, he hated flowers", also the Hood apparently survived Stikes as of the last INC issue. I'm not sure if Kathy has or had any relationship with the Hood. I think Gaucho was the "second best" referred to by Netz.
Matrons speech bubbles looked more like Darkseids than LDM's, there was suggestion of hyper/omega adapter infection over at The Mindless Ones, hard to say, was the Matron also chief Man of Bats superior in the Leviathan infiltrated hospital of issue 7?...
I also notice in another of your blogs that you mentioned the Dedalus on the Falklands in issue 4 was the real one, I believe he was fake, the fake also wore a cloak of smoke in issue 5, the cloak was just drawn differently by Paquette.
Dedalus says that the mind eroding gas is a substance that was pioneered (along with many others) by Lazlo Valentin, I don't think his cloak is the gas, the gas only affected Bruce in issue 10, the substance in Ottos cloak also encircled the edges of the room with all the doors where the Robins waited, remember only Bruce showed the effects of the poisoning and only he needed the cure.
I only saw your blog today, that's why this response is extremely late, I'm posting over at the DC message boards under the name "TheBatmanDigsThisDay" http://new.dcuwiki.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=95
I'd love to hear your opinions on some of the more...unclear aspects of INC.