JUSTICE LEAGUE # 22: after 34 years, the background of COIE finally makes sense

[Buried Alien]

Anybody read JUSTICE LEAGUE # 22, released yesterday?

Not exactly a lot of action and adventure, and the Justice League itself doesn't even appear, but we finally DO get some clarity (or more confusion, depending on how you see things) on the origins of the Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and the Multiverse. It also reconciles Marv Wolfman's origins of the Monitor and Anti-Monitor from COIE with Grant Morrison's take in FINAL CRISIS/MULTIVERSITY, Geoff Johns' take in DARKSEID WAR, and Scott Snyder's from DARK NIGHTS: METAL. If you're into the whole cosmology/chronology of the DC Multiverse, this was quite a read. If none of that floats your boat, however, it's better to steer clear.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Vampire Savior]

Thanks for letting me know. I'll check it out.

My personal favorite version is the Marv Wolfman take. It's the most interesting and has a lot of fascinating mystery to it. Like... why exactly does looking at the beginning of time cause an Anti-Matter universe to be created and why are the Monitor and Anti-Monitor even "born?" Yet, somehow, it seems perfectly acceptable that is what would happen if you looked at the beginning of time. I actually think it's brilliant and I don't use that word lightly.

I don't like the other versions. The Geoff Johns one is the worst. It's terrible. It lacks all the fascinating nuance of Wolfman's take and just makes it bland.

On a completely other note. I don't like this Justice League. Why are there so many issues where the League isn't in it? Like, Legion of Doom issues and stuff?

[Buried Alien]

Thanks for letting me know. I'll check it out.

My personal favorite version is the Marv Wolfman take. It's the most interesting and has a lot of fascinating mystery to it. Like... why exactly does looking at the beginning of time cause an Anti-Matter universe to be created and why are the Monitor and Anti-Monitor even "born?" Yet, somehow, it seems perfectly acceptable that is what would happen if you looked at the beginning of time. I actually think it's brilliant and I don't use that word lightly.

Somehow, JUSTICE LEAGUE # 22 is able to reconcile all the versions of the Monitor's and Anti-Monitor's origins up to now. I didn't think it was possible to unsnarl all that in any kind of coherent way, but Tynion somehow pulled it off.

I don't like the other versions. The Geoff Johns one is the worst. It's terrible. It lacks all the fascinating nuance of Wolfman's take and just makes it bland.

Johns' version is accounted for (mainly in the name "Mobius" for the Anti-Monitor), but not emphasized.

On a completely other note. I don't like this Justice League. Why are there so many issues where the League isn't in it? Like, Legion of Doom issues and stuff?

The Legion features in this issue too, though the League doesn't. I know what you mean: the Justice League almost seems like an occasional sideshow in their own title these days.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Robanker]

It made a surprising amount of sense and really made the Anti-Monitor "click" for me, something no writer's been able to do thus far.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

It made a surprising amount of sense and really made the Anti-Monitor "click" for me, something no writer's been able to do thus far.

Me, too.

I love the sweep of Mobius The Anti-Monitor's story now.

So, from the looks of it, after The Fall, The Anti-Monitor is reborn on Qward's moon and then comes in contact with Metron and regains The Anti-Life Equation and becomes the engine of destruction from the original Crisis.

That's wrapping it all up pretty nicely.

[Buried Alien]

Me, too.

I love the sweep of Mobius The Anti-Monitor's story now.

So, from the looks of it, after The Fall, The Anti-Monitor is reborn on Qward's moon and then comes in contact with Metron and regains The Anti-Life Equation and becomes the engine of destruction from the original Crisis.

That's wrapping it all up pretty nicely.

It also finally gives the Anti-Monitor a discernible motive for destroying the Multiverse beyond, "I'm evil and I destroy the Multiverse," which has been the character's biggest weakness since his conception. Now, there's an actual Cain and Abel vibe between the Anti-Monitor and the Monitor.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Does anybody love the giant robot version of The Anti-Monitor from the Green Lantern TAS?

Watching with my kids now. Awesome.

[9th.]

Does anybody love the giant robot version of The Anti-Monitor from the Green Lantern TAS?

Watching with my kids now. Awesome.

This is awesome, I gotta finish this series one day

[Tenzel Kim]

Not exactly a lot of action and adventure, and the Justice League itself doesn't even appear, but we finally DO get some clarity (or more confusion, depending on how you see things) on the origins of the Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and the Multiverse. It also reconciles Marv Wolfman's origins of the Monitor and Anti-Monitor from COIE with Grant Morrison's take in FINAL CRISIS/MULTIVERSITY, Geoff Johns' take in DARKSEID WAR, and Scott Snyder's from DARK NIGHTS: METAL. If you're into the whole cosmology/chronology of the DC Multiverse, this was quite a read.

I quite liked this issue as well, but I'm not so sure I agree that it reconciles Wolfman's COIE origin and Morrison's origin in Final Crisis/Multiversity. In fact it seems to me that this origin diverts quite a bit from Morrison's making it hard to really reconcile the two. Not so much COIE and FC/Multiversity but rather this new one and Morrison's. I've actually been trying to figure out how it all fits but I'm running into a few obstacles and haven't been able to find anyone who could really clear things up so I'm going to try here as well.

First of all let me say that this new origin works very well with Wolfman's and actually gives the two characters some depth that really suits the characters.

However, when you look at Morrison's origin it doesn't quite seem to line up, as his Monitor probe is stated to have been split in two, suggesting that those two were the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor from COIE, which doesn't fit with them and the World Forger being the sons of Perpetua. There might be ways to explain this but it is not so clear-cut.

Whether or not there are additional problems depends on how exactly Morrison's should be read. I've seen it interpreted a number of different ways but haven't found anything by Morrison that fully clarifies it.

The first and biggest problem is who exactly Dax Novu is supposed to be.

In Superman Beyond we learn that in the beginning "there was Monitor only! And then! Then a flaw is found at the heart of Monitor perfection. Monitor makes a concept to contain the flaw". Now this part seems to fit what is seen in the Multiversity page I've posted here, except that the Multiversity page changes the name of the Monitor to Monitor-Mind the Over-Void, which I would say is probably just a clarification, so that part is fine.

The problem arises in how the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor come to be and who the Monitor is. In both versions we learn that a probe is sent to investigate. The Multiversity page has it a bit odd though as it starts by stating that "Of the Over-Void is Monitor born and Anti-Monitor" and then in the next panel it is stated that “For study, Monitor-Mind brings forth Science Monitor Dax Novu. Who selflessly enters the flaw and is contaminated and split in two” Now my understanding would be that the split would be into Monitor and Anti-Monitor, but if both were already created then who is it he is split into?

Another problem I have is that in Superman Beyond, the probe appears to be the Monitor we know as we see an image of him during the Crisis. However, in the text it states that he is blinded by what he sees and is split in two, before he withdraws. Based on that I guess Dax Novu canÂ’t be the Monitor of Crisis as the Monitor and Anti-Monitor were created at the same time. So is Dax Novu "just" the probe, who upon entering the flaw (the DC Universe) actually saw the two beings he would be split into, before he himself would withdraw from the Multiverse? We know that Dax Novu is the monitor who would end up locking himself up in the Monitor Sphere only to return as Mandrakk.

In the new origin the COIE Monitor is referred to as Mar Novu, as he was in the Arrowverse, so that might be a simple mistake. On the other hand we've seen what looked to be the COIE Monitor in Dark Nights: Metal (where he was referred to as the Over-Monitor) and we've also seen the return of Mandrakk (the Dax Novu version, not the Rox Ogama one) in the pages of the Unexpected, which would suggest that Dax Novu was not the Monitor of COIE.

Now if the Monitor probe (Dax Novu) and Mar Novu are supposed to be the same then the appearance of Perpetua seems to completely invalidate Morrison's origin. If they are not the same, then only the part about him splitting into two seems to be in question. The latter might be explained as a result of the Monitor and Anti-Monitor becoming part of the "flaw" (the narrative of the DC Universe) and that this narrative simply expanded and devised an in-universe explanation for these two beings entering from outside of the multiverse with no explanation that worked within the confines of the multiverse itself.

Anyway, I'd be very interested in hearing your or anybody else's thoughts on this. What are your thoughts on who Dax Novu is? Was he supposed to be the “father” of the original Monitor and Anti-Monitor from Crisis or is he supposed to be the Monitor of Crisis and if so how would that work?