Event Leviathan discussion thread

[Pohzee]

I’m with those that think that today’s reveal was a red herring. If it was actually Manhunter, then it would’ve made sense to show his face right after Damian made the Manhunter connection. If it were actually Manhunter, it’d be odd to hold off on showing his face until the next issue even though his identity had been resolved.

And given Damian’s acute interest in this case, his explicit interest in Leviathan tech, and his claim to the Leviathan title in Superman #16, I think Superlad is looking more and more correct.

[Godlike13]

Who gives a **** if it’s the first Manhunter. I been reading comics for over 20 years and I don’t even know who the hell that even is.

[Sacred Knight]

Does Damian have any connection to the Manhunter lore in his past? Because I still think its related. Perhaps a red herring in some fashion in that it may not be actually Mark, but still related. Didn't the Order of St. Dumas have something to do with Mark Shaw Manhunter at one time? I was thinking about Azrael earlier, Jean-Paul. That wouldn't be the shock of all shockers but he is less obscure than Mark.

With the 5G thing and upcoming major importance of this new generation, as much as I may hate it, I could see it being an older version of Damian now though.

[king81992]

Does Damian have any connection to the Manhunter lore in his past? Because I still think its related. Perhaps a red herring in some fashion in that it may not be actually Mark, but still related. Didn't the Order of St. Dumas have something to do with Mark Shaw Manhunter at one time? I was thinking about Azrael earlier, Jean-Paul. That wouldn't be the shock of all shockers but he is less obscure than Mark.

With the 5G thing and upcoming major importance of this new generation, as much as I may hate it, I could see it being an older version of Damian now though.

I don't know much about Manhunter but I'm pretty sure that Damian has no connections to either of them.

[cranger]

There is only one clue I take as a fact:

Whoever is dressed up as Leviathan does not know Clark Kent and Superman is the same person.

[Showstoppa101]

There is only one clue I take as a fact:

Whoever is dressed up as Leviathan does not know Clark Kent and Superman is the same person.

To add onto this, there was a small passing clue earlier in the issue. It’s said in a conversation that leviathan is either a Manhunter or someone who is anti... and then they are cut off. It’s likely that the sentence was “someone who is anti Manhunter”
Don’t think I need to say spoiler alert since this is a spoiler thread.... the most anti Manhunter organization are the green lanterns. Superman clearly knew the person revealed as indicated by him saying “you”. I think it’s probable that it’s a green lantern. I don’t think that’s a stretch, and the people who know leviathans identity trusts them. Could be Hal Jordan or Alan Scott. I only say Alan Scott bc he was once a member of checkmate and some of what leviathan previously said to Plastic Man would also apply to Alan Scott. Off chance it is Booster Gold bc he also has a negative history with the Manhunters that tarnished his rep circa the millennial cross over. That’s reaching though.

Other then that the “anti Manhunter” comment could refer to someone who specifically dislikes Kate Spencer but I don’t know enough about her rogues to really comment. I’d go with a Green Lantern.

[Badou]

I don't think this has been a very good event. I think it started okay, but it really has kind of fallen off more and more each issue. When the "world's greatest detectives" weren't standing around in a room talking issue after issue they were shown to be acting kind of incompetent. Then the whole mystery of who Leviathan is really never developed into anything more than him showing up, spouting some vague nonsense about their ways not working, and some blue light flashing. The whole thing really doesn't feel very fleshed out and when you are this far in it should feel like there is more to this who story and mystery.

I mean Leviathan being the first Manhunter would be such an underwhelming reveal that I can't believe they would pin a whole event on it.

[j9ac9k]

I know Bendis is known for talky stories, but we're five issue in and it feels like it's taking forever. And yes, these investigators don't seem to do much investigating - they're just talking about it most of the time. And I'm not a fan of all the bickering. Bendis seems to like having the heroes talk over each other and not agree on what to do as a way to amp up the drama or urgency, but it makes them seem like amateurs and it's a poor substitute for action. There's still a lot here to like, but I wish we had gotten to this point in issue three. Dragging out the reveal just puts more pressure on that payoff rather than creating a real story.

[Robotman]

I’m really loving this series! Bendis has done such a great job of giving interest clues but still keeping the reader guessing. I love the little bits of dialogue and character interactions, like GA saying “tell Ralph hey.”, Bullock being pissed that Batman was listening in, and Zee calling Constantine “Sting” (his character design was apparently based on Sting).

Manhunter being Mark Shaw would make sense but I don’t think he’s a big enough character to make the reveal matter. Superman saying “you?” could be indicating that it was someone they weren’t suspecting.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I think the big clue is when Leviathan says it's not a mask. It isn't a mask, it's a new configuration of his face. Leviathan is Kelex, who has converted to the philosophy of the Manhunter Cult.

Kelex has been there from the beginning, all along.

[Jackalope89]

I think the big clue is when Leviathan says it's not a mask. It isn't a mask, it's a new configuration of his face. Leviathan is Kelex, who has converted to the philosophy of the Manhunter Cult.

Kelex has been there from the beginning, all along.

Nope. Its Bibbo. Major Superman and Clark Kent fan, but doesn't know the two are related. Saw outside forces making Supes stupid (Man of Steel) and finally took up a cause besides a diner.

[Robotman]

Snowman’s ticket? Anyone?

[numberthirty]

I think the big clue is when Leviathan says it's not a mask. It isn't a mask, it's a new configuration of his face. Leviathan is Kelex, who has converted to the philosophy of the Manhunter Cult.

Kelex has been there from the beginning, all along.

While I doubt this really plays in at all, it did occur to me that Nyssa was apparently killed in an explosion the last time I can recall hearing anything about her.

[Superlad93]

Thought I may as well post this here

Can't believe I missed one of the bigger clues in the issue: Leviathan confirms their "daddy issues" that were theorized by Green Arrow 2 issues ago.

When talking to Clark about the recent dealings with his dad in space, Leviathan says that they can relate to things not ending well with ones father. They double confirm it by saying they know that struggle.

Once again, Damian has a pretty famously complicated relationship with his father.

Mix in the fact that this issue once again confirmed that Leviathan's teleport tech is temporal in nature, and today's issue of Superman has the fortress A.I., Kelex, describe Saturn Girl's arrival and departure as temporal in nature (obviously), and I think it's clear that time travel is a clue. Also worth noting that, like Leviathan, Saturn Girl was able to penetrate the defenses of a place that's normally highly secure.

Future Damian. I'm telling ya.

Reread some stuff on my break, and in issue 2 there's a moment where Plastic Man says that he and Batman went over the Leviathan foot soldier deign and found out that it was extremely close to Batman's design. That another point for future Damian as far as I go.

Also, in the same issue, I want to point out that Leviathan said that similar to Plastic Man he was "born into a broken world" and it almost killed them. He then goes on to say to Plas that "what you and I have in common is that we took a step back, assessed our situation ourselves, and figured out what we need to start again before this world rolled over us like so many others." He also says that the two of them were born into unfair and dark lives.

That tracks for Damian, and not--to my knowledge-- anyone else still established as a fair suspect in the book. Basically from birth Damian was trained and mentally conditioned to be a killer, and when given the choice he decided to follow his father's code rather than his mother's and grandfather's that he grew up with and was conditioned under from birth.

And because of that, I think it's worth noting that Leviathan and his troops have yet to kill. They us stun weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and temporal teleportation tech for all of their attacks. Even when they went to get Waller, I noticed that they had energy shields in their hands rather than any sort of guns.

[_Feely_]

Have we all guessed that it's an army of Paul Kirk clones?

Good.

Been cold on Bendis for a while, but this and YJ are awesome.