The Multiversity SOS no. 1 review [spoilers!]

[PyroSikTh]

I think it's the opposite, I think that it's biggest asset will be each story will be a self contained story that tells a full story, like Seven Soldiers did. At the end of the day, all the toys are left on the table for more stories if needed and wanted. Always leave the audience wanting more...

Yeah, and look how many of those soldiers got their own ongoing...

[Michael P]

That's the cursed plan, damnit!! Morrison wants us to want more and buy more comics.

By the way, Shiva of earth 40 had a sick taste in jewelry.
And so, officially the Liberty File has been banned as earth-40?

Either that, or this is the Savage, Felix Faust, etc. from the Liberty Files Earth. (We didn't see any of them in the LF minis, as I recall, so no reason why they can't be.)

[FishboneX]

Yeah, and look how many of those soldiers got their own ongoing...

That's not even the point, however, most of them started appearing all over the DCU. Frankenstein would never of had a new 52 book, and shining Knight would never have been on Demon Knights without it. Zatana on the JLD could be attributed to this as well. Klarion popped up quite a bit, and even Bulleteer.

[K. Jones]

This was pleasant. I'm sure I'll get more into it later, but my initial reaction is that what it set out to do was to tell a combination of pulpy stories with an almost newspaper serial quality (like it could be broken into micro-chunks in a periodical) and really working that sort of Art Deco 40s Indiana Jones meets The Rocketeer vibe. Total success on that front. There were also two other elements I got from it - some of it which felt somewhat Whovian, and obviously a lot of that "First Wave, except with superheroes" vibe.

The villains, and Earth-40 in general weren't that flushed but because they were positioned as mirrors of our heroes we can sort of fill in the backstory in our own minds pretty easily. Otherwise, as far as theme, genre and all that, Earth-40 seems to be similar to Earth-20 in that it's a sort of Rocketeer-world, post-War. By labeling it a "Counter-World" we discover that what we learn about Earth-20 "almost" holds true for 40 as well.

I also really liked that Grant got to use Sprouse to tell another Vandal Savage story, a pseudo-sequel to Return of Bruce # 1. And I'm stoked on satanic Golden Age Abin Sur being our Multiversity representative. And how his dialogue was like verbatim to some of the Green Lantern dialogue in Final Crisis.

[Lee Stone]

My fave line..?

"All of you -- I turned you into -- killers. I win... Always..."

Was it me, or did that just sound utterly meta, considering what's been happening in the DCU since Identity Crisis?


Other things I liked:
Infinity Man fashioning a Spear of Destiny with his stone, while Savage's stone is more than likely that Earth's Philosopher Stone, and then both are most likely fragments of the Rock of Eternity.
Doc Fate's obvious homage to Rocketeer.
The Lady Blackhawks, which could be more aptly named the "Birds of Prey".
Abin Sur's appearance reminded me of the Mystic Seer from the Twilight Zone.
I also like how Grant didn't just pull characters from the Golden Age but also mixed in newer concepts like Faust and Shiva.

I want to see more of this team and their world.

[Mark]

I think it would have had more of an impact on me if I had known these characters for more than one issue.

[K. Jones]

Abin Sur is the total highlight for me, which is why I'm pleased he'll be joining the Multiversity. Something about the design is perfect, color, homage and everything else, but also because the costume is Golden Age Green Lantern but Abin is highly representative of Silver (Rocket) Age Green Lantern. Count Sinestro works similarly well. I thought the T-Rex Dragon Parallax was great, too. Hell, same for Jonesian archaeologist Faust. Interestingly, the archetypes Savage, Faust and Shiva represented almost worked as nods to the types of foreign villains American heroes would be fighting in those pulps, anyway. A European aristocrat ... a mysterious possibly middle-eastern man, and an almost sort of yellow peril character. But they also represent the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages of comics and are primo examples of their trope archetypes.

Savage's hilarious line about being from a pirate universe reminded me - we never got an answer whether or not "Blackbeard" in Return of Bruce Wayne was Vandal Savage or not! His talk about unleashing demons from hell reminded me of New Earth Vandal's alliances with Ra's al Ghul and Doctor Hurt. The red rock was evocative of a lot of Rucka's Crime Bible Question stuff. I also thought the red and yellow were evocative of Kryptonite, though the timing is wrong in both universes if they struck 10,000 years ago. But the comparisons to New Earth are implicit anyway, since once again we find him up against Anthro.

[Deniz Camp]

My joy in the Abin Sur character is that he's been impregnated with something that was once very common the Green Lantern mythology but has since been lost. He's MAJESTIC. He's larger than life, larger than logic, larger than the reality in which he exists in a very real (and literal, at the end) sense.

The direction of the line during John's run but especially after has been to reduce the Lanterns to almost nothing, but here Morrison appropriately blurs the line beween 'magic' and 'science' and gives us a character of stature.

I think I heard one or two people complain about the length, and certainly I could have done with more, but I felt like this issue was so pregnant with character, which once again separates Morrison from any of those who might claim to be the 'new' Morrison; sure, ideas abound, but the characters here were so full, so clear, so resonant, and made so in such little space. My god but I understood Anthro - Immortal Man's - character, can hear his voice and imagine his adventures clear as any bell. I know the fears of Doc Fate, my heart weeps for poor, idealistic Atom whose idealism, in the end, just wasn't enough, who damned himself to save the world.

[HsssH]

That's not even the point, however, most of them started appearing all over the DCU. Frankenstein would never of had a new 52 book, and shining Knight would never have been on Demon Knights without it. Zatana on the JLD could be attributed to this as well. Klarion popped up quite a bit, and even Bulleteer.

Frankenstein practically has appeared every month since new52 launched. His ongoing, Rotworld, JLD, Batman and Robin, Futures End. He might have had couple of missing months here and there but overall his rise in status is hard to argue.

Klarion is getting his own ongoing and was featured in Teen Titans Futures End.

As for the issue. Loved it. I think people complaining about lack of characterization kinda miss the point. This issue was about opposites clashing. Immortal Man vs Vandal Savage, Shiva vs Blackhawks, Faust vs Doc Fate, Blockbuster vs Mighty Atom, Abin Sur vs Count Sinestro. Its not about shades of grey, its about idealistic good meeting sadistic evil. Its easy to fill in the blanks since we know these archetypes very well + you can basically reverse some of the traits shown for one character and apply it to his mirror version.

[Darth Gravely]

Really enjoyed it. Morrison has got Multiversity off to a really great start thus far. Ever since I read Kavalier & Clay and Gerard Jones' Men of Tomorrow, I've had a fascination with the pulpy history of superheroes. Morrison seemed to really be paying homage to that era here with the fanboyish flair he tried (and occassionally succeeded in) expressing in Supergods. Sprouse did a really amazing job with the art too. I enjoy Earth 2, but I kinda wish it had been done more like this.

[gwangung]

My joy in the Abin Sur character is that he's been impregnated with something that was once very common the Green Lantern mythology but has since been lost. He's MAJESTIC. He's larger than life, larger than logic, larger than the reality in which he exists in a very real (and literal, at the end) sense.

My God, that is so spot on.

The recitation of the Silver Age oath was just so...majestic and awe inspiring (like it was a supreme effort to make the last minute save), instead of the perfunctory cliche it's become in recent years.

[MykeHavoc]

That's the first time I haven't skipped over reading the oath in years. Legitimate badass. All the best elements of my favorite Lantern's mixed together. Though I'd have been content with the ring having been carved from the starheart to allow even more ambiguity. But still great. none the less. The whole thing. Its amazing and yet a bummer that Morrison does more in 40 pages to set up an "Earth 2" style book I'd rather read then everything we've gotten thus far. Could you imagine if he had been given that project initially? To think of the potential.

[Robotman]

Loved it! I want more of this pulp world! So many great moments. Doc Fate kicking Faust right in the balls when it seemed like they were about to have a big magic duel. Reminded me of Indiana Jones shooting the swordsman in Raiders.
Loved the inclusion of the Green Lantern mythos!

Did anyone else notice that the Niczhuotan idol had designs carved into it that looked like Nix Uotan's costume? The name is basically Nix Uotan.

[HsssH]

Also, did I get it wrong or did Doc imply that Nix Uotan is a father of all modern super heroes? It also kinda implies that it was really long time ago when Nix was trapped by Gentry.

[Deniz Camp]

Time works different, but yes, that's the long and the short of it -- you saw that in issue 1, where he claims he's been trapped forever.