Annotations
Title: "The girl most likely to" reminds me of a Morrissey's b-side song :"the girl least
likely to". [CI]
o [pages 2-3] The celestial traffic signal. First seen in 1.02, page 18. [RD/JB]
o [pages 3] [panel 5] "Salomon's House": According to
my Wordsworth Dictionary of the Occult, Sir Francis Bacon wrote The
New Atlantis which has, as its central theme the house of Solomon, a
multidisciplinary laboratory. [L] Benet's describes The New Atlantis
as "a Utopian fable published [in 1627] in an unfinished state after
his death. It is an account of a voyage to the island 'Bensalem' and
of the government and manners of its people. Of particular interest
is the Bensalem institution for scientific study, 'Solomon's House,'
which provided inspiration for the founding of the Royal Society. [JB]
o [pages 4] Note the zeppelin in the background. Similar
to those in 1.01, page 19. [JB] "The Invisible College" is a non-fiction
book by Jacques Vallee, in which he proposes the theory (novel for its
time) that UFOs are a manifestation of a phenomenon that has accompanied
humanity throughout its history; that UFOs are not physical alien starships,
but non-physical entities that have taken on the "mask" of alien ships
beacuse it is appropriate to this day and age. The "Invisible College"
is also one of the ways in which Rosicrucian-influenced mystical/magical
groups refer to the "Secret Masters" of their traditions... [HE] Frances
Huxley wrote a book entitled "The Invisibles." It's a study of life
amongst voodoo practitioners in Haiti. It sounds very influential, if
not inspirational, to say the least. [ANC]
o [pages 5] [panel 1] Is KM's dialogue some kind of Clockwork
Orange ref? "O my brothers"? [RD] [panel 4] Is that young KM and Jacqui?
[RD] I think it's actually Sex Pistols "bassist" Sid Vicious and his
girlfriend Nancy. [JB] bottom: That Saturn-thing is Barbelith, at least
according to Dane in 2.02, page 7. [RD]
o [pages 6] [panel 1] Notice the blind chessman from "Arcadia" in the righthand side of this panel. [GG]
o [pages 8-9] Look carefully at Toby's t-shirt... [CI]
o [pages 12] [panel 2] Is Takashi *supposed* to look like
Hadji from Johnny Quest? Sure does.. [RD]
o [pages 13] [panel 1] Look closely at what Fanny's painting
on hir fingernails. "TV in a bottle." It looks like a newscast. Behind
the newswoman's head it looks like a giant eye shooting out energy at
earth. This is very similar to a story from Grant's run on Doom Patrol,
Issue 33, second page. While battling the Cult of the Unwritten Book
the 'Patrol encounters what Willougby Kipling calls "the Antigod. The
Unmaker. Decreator" and, "The Egyptians called it the Eye Of Horus,
Lord of Force and Fire. For thousands of years, the Hindus have known
it as the annihilating Eye of Shiva." By the end of the issue the Cult
has been beaten but they couldn't stop the Decreator. They merely slowed
it down, to quote, "Objects and people will continue to vanish mysteriously.
But it'll all happen so slowly that no one need ever know the old place
is coming undone." The image on Fanny's fingernails could be the Invisibles'
universe "Decreator", come to destroy earth. Robin went back in time
at 7:45 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2012 and Jack's cradling someone in his arms
fifteen minutes later (see Vol. 1, 23) where he says, "That's it starting."
Since it appears this is the day 'it' happens (the Eschaton, the leap
into hyperspace, the apocalypse, the end of time and history???) it
could also mean that the "Eye of Horus" is descending upon the planet
to destroy it. Like with the Ragged Robin/Crazy Jane theory, or Prometheus'
house appearing in the Invisibles or the Worlogog (Philosopher's stone)
being linked to the Hand of Glory, Grant can't come out and say it's
the Decreator because of copyright and work-for-hire laws, but it's
basically the same theme. [FF] panel 2: Let me finish Dane's sentence.
When you meet the Buddha on the road, you're supposed to kill him (in
case you're wondering why, this is from Zen Buddhism, which regards
the enlightenment experience as being superior to any religious literature
or imagery, which can only distract at best. If the very Buddha himself
distracts you from enlightenment by limiting you to his image, ignore
him). But, Dane's the Buddha, right? So what's he going to do... [RD]
Jack's mention of "meeting the Buddha on the road" could refer to the
appearance of the future Jack in 1.23. It's the only apparition that
isn't established to be one of the King of All Tears' tricks, so I'm
inclined to believe that it isn't one. [CM]
o [pages 15] [panel 1] Whoever the new person is in the
cell, she seems to have access to some sort of 4-D armor like Miss Dwyer's
or Col. Friday. [CG] Both Fanny and the Unknown Member of the future
Invisibles cell is manifesting something similar to the opposition's
armor: I'd be given to believe she, Fanny and others have learned how
to utilize the 'magic matter' in the same manner as the enemy, as a
defensive weapon (as most body armor initially is). [JBA]
o [pages 16] [panel 3] The King-of-all-Tears first appeared
in 1.17, page 13. [RD/JB]
o [pages 17] This is evocative of the cover of Flex Mentallo
#4, as well as page 6 of the same issue. It was used for Flex's trip
through a "teleport tube," though given the nature of the series he
might have been travelling through time and/or dimensions at the same
time. [CE]
o [pages 21] This dimensional theory crops up, almost
exactly the same, in Philip K. Dick's VALIS. I strongly recommend reading
it to get the full impact of this and the god-as-liquid-information
ideas; Dick can spend a lot more time explicating it in a novel than
Grant can in 24 pages a month... [RD] [panel 2] Bootsy Collins (a famous,
and famously bizarre funk bassist, often spotted in the company of George
Clinton)! He always did say he was from another planet... [RD] panel
5: Note the visual similarity here to 2.02, page 2, panel 2. Here King
Mob reaches into the "large-scale universe" between the sick and healthy
universes -- there, Mason imitates Oppenheimer casting a spell. [JWB]
o [pages 22] [panel 1] Grant did some similar weird stuff
with the borders of comics and reality back in Animal Man. [BSI] The
numbers on the bottom of the page are mirror images of each other. [SW]
o [pages 23] [panel 2] Gideon mentions wanting to be Jerry
Cornelius. [BSI]
|