This file created by Jess Nevins, jjnevins@ix.netcom.com. Amalgam Annotations: Speed Demon #1 (corrections/additions to my errors/omissions are welcome) p. 1 The gentleman in panel 1 is Hal Jordan, DC's Green Lantern during the Silver Age; you'll notice his right hand is glowing green, which is the color of the Green Lantern's power. As no one but Mark Coale seems to have caught, or at least pointed out to me, the events taking place here are in Crime Alley - the area in DC Continuity Gotham City where Bruce Wayne's parents were shot and killed, which was the event that drove him to become the Batman. "Starbrand Corps" - the Green Lantern Corps was DC's intergalactic police organization. Jim MoC points out that the Starbrand character came from Marvel's New Universe and was a clear double of the Green Lantern. David White adds that Starbrand was later brought into Marvel Continuity via the Quasar comic. "Sinestro" - a Green Lantern gone rogue; Hal Jordan's archenemy. "You framed me! Betrayed the Corps! Killed Sinestro!" - This is undoubtedly a reference to the events in DC's infamous "Emerald Twilight" miniseries, in which the writer and editor of _Green Lantern_ saw fit to throw away 30 years of characterization and suddenly and illogically make Hal Jordan into a criminal and murderer; in "Emerald Twilight" Hal took all the other power rings from the other Green Lanterns - usually by force, and sometimes killing the other Green Lanterns (his friends) in the process - and tried to remake the universe. Here, obviously, it wasn't Hal at all, but someone else. Good. "Uatu" - in Marvel Continuity Uatu is a member of the ultra-powerful race of the Watchers, who observe the goings-on in the universe without interfering (they interfered once, long ago, and Something Bad happened) (Uatu sometimes interferes, but let's not get into that right now...). They dress in the white robes of the Amalgam Uatu, and have the big head. The DC component of the Amalgam Uatu comes from the Guardians of the Universe, another super-powerful race who help to police the universe; they ran and powered the Green Lantern corps. The symbol on Amalgam Uatu's chest is quite similar to the symbol of the Green Lantern corps, and like the Guardians of the Universe Amalgam Uatu is blue. It's notable that the Uatu here is acting in concert with the other Guardians, but that Uatu, and by extension the other Guardians, do note seem to be very nice. The Guardians historically in DC Continuity were the good guys, and the Marvel Continuity Watchers were strictly neutral - the Swiss of the intergalactic set. Obviously, there's been some kind of change here. And, of course, if Hal Jordan is the last of the Starbrand Corps, what does that make Jade Nova, over in Dr. Strangefate? p 2 Enter the Speed Demon. He obviously moves very quickly - hence the "speed" part of his name. As for the demon, his general appearance makes that name pretty clear. Who is he? From Marvel we've got the Ghost Rider, a demon that possesses the bodies of humans to avenge evils and murders, or some such thing (Jeremy Harris points out that Ghost Rider isn't really Ghost Rider but the demon Zarathos. Um, whatever). From DC we've got the demon Etrigan, who speaks in rhyme (like Amalgam Speed Demon), has horns on his head and odd ears (like Amalgam Speed Demon), and who breaths hellfire (like Amalgam Speed Demon). The Speed Demon's speed will be explained in a few pages. p 3 The obvious problem with this page is that the Speed Demon just plain should _not_ be able to snuff Uatu. He's a flippin' Guardian of the Universe and a Watcher! And he's killed by demon flame??? No, I don't think so... Interestingly, the Speed Demon kills Hal Jordan here, charging that "many murders have you committed." But if Hal wasn't responsible for Emerald Twilight, what deaths did he cause? Obviously there's some backstory here that is, alas, going to have to go unexplained. p 4 Big cameos here (including an X-Files coffee mug). From left to right: Miss Miracle, the Amalgam version of DC's Mister Miracle, the escape artist (and who, in DC Continuity, is also Scott Free of Apokolips - but Amalgam's Scott Free is dead, as we saw in _Bullets and Bracelets #1_) - many people, including Jennifer Matthews and Paul Moorehead, point out that the ribbons in Miss Miracle's hair, and her hair itself, are quite similar to those worn by the Marvel Continuity Crystal, and that Miss Miracle herself looks like Crystal, both of which points are quite true, so I'll assume that the Amalgam Miss Miracle is meant to be influenced by Crystal - but since Marvel Continuity Crystal has no association with a circus in her background, I wonder what the rationale for the merging was; (John Jakala also notes that the Amalgam Miss Miracle looks somewhat like the Marvel Continuity character Heather McNeil Hudson, aka the Vindicator; using Heather Hudson as the Marvel half of the Amalgam Miss Miracle makes slightly more sense than using only Crystal, since Heather Hudson had a long friendship with Marvel's Puck, who is part of Amalgam's Puck - see below) the dwarf Puck, a combination of Marvel's Puck - a dwarfish acrobat and adventurer who served with the Alpha Flight team of heroes - and DC's Oberon, who was the assistant to Scott Free/Mr. Miracle; (Jeremy Harris notes that Johnny Blaze's Quentin Carnival employed a midget acrobat named Wolf) Wally West, who in DC Continuity was Kid Flash and is now the Flash; and the Blob, a merging of DC's Chunk (a grossly fat stereotype who is friends with Wally West in DC Continuity) and Marvel's The Blob (a grossly fat mutant criminal). All of these characters' analogues have circus experience back in their respective continuities. The "Quentin" who owns the circus is, as William Ferguson and Rick Jones point out, a reference to the first Marvel Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, who performed in "Quentin's Circus" before he was turned into the Ghost Rider. Note the "Blaze Allen - the man who cheats death" poster in the lower right - big irony going on here. As we find out, "Blaze Allen" is Wally West's uncle - in DC Continuity Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash, was Wally West's uncle. But Barry Allen died in DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, and despite the wishes of many fans has not come back - i.e., he's dead. Really dead. Dead like Marvel's Captain Marvel and Bucky - that is, permanently, no-fooling, no-chance-of-resurrection- or-retconning dead. So while Amalgam Blaze Allen may cheat death, his DC Continuity analogue can't. William Ferguson points out that the poster is also very similar to posters for the pre-Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze, while Rick Hodge notes that it is similar to Boston Brand's poster before he became Deadman. p 5 More cameos & revelations. We see the Speed Demon - finally named Etrigan here - utter his oath and return to the form of Barry Allen; in DC Continuity the Etrigan's oath is slightly different, I believe, and his human host's name is Jason Blood. Note that Amalgam's Blaze Allen has the streak of white hair down the middle of his head, just like DC Continuity's Jason Blood. So - let me recap - the Speed Demon is a combination of Marvel's Ghost Rider - the evil-avenging demon - and DC's superfast Flash and anti-hero Etrigan the Demon. Got it? In Marvel Continuity Johnny Blaze was a stunt motorcyclist who was for a time, the human alter-identity of the Ghost Rider. My compliments to whoever remembered to include this piece of the Marvel Continuity Ghost Rider's backstory in the Amalgam Speed Demon. Note as well the statue (?) in panel 1; its panel reads "Rintrah." In Marvel Continuity Rintrah was an alien from another dimension who travelled to Earth to become the apprentice of Dr. Strange, the sorcerer supreme. He looked just like this Rintrah. Why there's a statue of Rintrah here is more unexplained backstory. Doug Limmer suggests that the poster in the background might be of Mysterio, a Marvel Continuity villain; a good guess, except Mysterio never had a kerchief around his neck, as the figure in the poster does. That helmet acting as a candle-rest - is that the head/helmet of one of the Mindless Ones? Jeremy Harris notes that the purple skull in the upper- lefthand corner is that of Vengeance, who was a pseudo-Ghost Rider created as the antithesis to the real Ghost Rider. p 6 "Iris" - in DC Continuity Barry Allen's long-time girlfriend was Iris West (sister of Wally West's father). She was "killed" (well, sorta - trust me, it's too long to explain here) by Barry's arch-enemy, the Reverse-Flash (thanks to the ever-informative Mark Coale for correcting my original error here). In Amalgam Universe, though, her death is much more ambiguous. Note the cameos in the crowd on Barry and Iris' wedding day: Puck, Blob, Miss Miracle, the Flying Gambonnos and the Clown; the gentleman in the top hat with the swirly/spiral symbol is the Marvel character the Ringmaster - in Marvel Continuity he runs the Circus of Crime, of which the Flying Gambonnos and the Clown are members (thanks to William Ferguson and Mark Coale for confirming who the Gambonnos & the Clown were); the priest presiding over the ceremony is not Peter David, but rather "Father Hellstrom" - that is, the Marvel Continuity character Damian Hellstrom, the "Son of Satan," a hero whose father was a demon claiming to be Satan. In Amalgam Universe Damian Hellstrom obviously fled into the arms of the church. p 7 Even more cameos. But first... We learn the name of the Big Bad Guy for this comic - the Night Spectre, whose motivation is left somewhat murky here. He's a combination of DC's Spectre, who is the personification of God's wrath and vengeance towards evil, and Marvel's Nightmare, who is the evil ruler of the realm of dreams & nightmares. In Amalgam Universe the Night Spectre has obviously been more influenced by Nightmare's evil. Mark Coale points out that that display behind the Night Spectre is a Mandelbrot Set - which is tied up with chaos theory and is too complex for me to go into here. Those souls that the Night Spectre is holding - the "souls of power...only the most pure or most corrupt of individuals" - from left to right: Marvel's Mr. Sinister (top left) - the manipulator and bad guy in the X-books; Marvel's Super-Skrull - an alien bad guy with the powers of the Fantastic Four (note that J'onn J'onzz, in _JLX_ #1, claims to be the last of the Skrulls); I'm not sure about the third figure, but I think it's DC's Jor-el - that is, the birth-father of Superman (William Ferguson adds that it could be the Silver Age Marvel Character Marvel Boy, but this figure here has a circular chest symbol, which Marvel Boy does not); the fourth figure is Marvel's the Leader, who is the Hulk's arch-enemy and, as written by Peter David, is a _nasty_, _nasty_ man; and the fifth figure...well, call me crazy, but I think that's DC's Polar Boy, a member of the Legion of Superheroes. What Polar Boy would be doing amongst such august company, I have no idea. But he's got Polar Boy's weird hat and costume. As Sean McDonald and Mark Coale point out, that fifth figure is not Polar Boy, but rather DC's Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, who we'll see later in the issue. But I like my idea better, so I'm keeping it. :) p 9 "Green Goblin" - in Marvel Continuity the Green Goblin was/is Spiderman's archenemy, looking much the same as he does here. His Marvel Continuity alter-ego was originally Norman Osborne - the pal of Spiderman's alter-ego, Peter Parker; after Norman Osborne was killed, his son Harry took on the role of the Green Goblin (thanks to Trevor Barrie for correcting my original error here) (note that the Night Spectre calls the Goblin "Norman" on page 15 - either the writers were getting confused about who the Golbin was, or his middle name is Norman). In Amalgam Universe they've combined him with Harvey Dent, who (in DC Continuity) is Two-Face, a member of the Batman's Rogues Gallery. "Scarecrow" - both DC and Marvel have a Scarecrow; the Amalgam Scarecrow looks like the Marvel one. "Siliconman" - they're obviously riffing on the Marvel anti-hero Sandman, whose body is made of sand, just like Amalgam's Siliconman; he somewhat visually resembles the DC Scarecrow. Moreover, Fizrod caught what I missed originally, which is that they are also incorporating the DC hero Plastic Man - the black hair, red costume, and funky sunglasses. "Terrible Three" - I know that, in Marvel Continuity, the Sandman was a member of the Sinister Six, but I don't believe that the Green Goblin or the Scarecrow (as Mark Coale points out) were ever a part of that group. Mark also goes on to note that there is a long-time Batman enemy called the Terrible Trio, a group of supervillains - Rick Hodge also caught this. Clearly the Amalgam Terrible Three is based on that. Mark also points out that Scarecrow's group was with the Plantman, Porcupine, and the Eel. p 12 Harvey Dent, in DC Continuity, had his face scarred when a crime boss threw acid on him. That event led to him becoming Two-Face - half his face normal and handsome, half hideously scarred. In Amalgam Universe it was "Logan," aka the Dark Claw, who scarred Harvey Dent. The Amalgam Universe Dark Claw is apparently a bit meaner than either Batman or Wolverine. p 13 "Arrowcaster" - in DC Continuity the character Speedy (a teen archer) was the sidekick to the Green Arrow. Speedy dressed just like the Arrowcaster does here. Why the Arrowcaster/Speedy is the Night Spectre's lackey is another question. Yes, Speedy had a drug problem. Yes, Speedy has turned into a jerk of late as the character Arsenal. But making his Amalgam Universe analogue a flunky of Hell? Harsh. Again, something obviously went wrong far in the past - more unexplained backstory. p 16 "Merlin" - in DC Continuity the Demon Etrigan was conjured up and mastered by Merlin - the Merlin of Arthurian legend. Amalgam's Merlin, though, is much more sinister than the DC Continuity Merlin. The Amalgam Merlin may be a combination of other characters - DC's Anton Arcane, perhaps (one of comicdom's most wicked characters) and, just possibly, the Marvel villain Merlin, who appeared (in a circus, now that I think on it) in one of Thor's first adventures, back around _Journey Into Mystery_ 98 or so, and later on became the Maha Yogi. William George Ferguson notes - and has convinced me - that the Merlin here is none of those - see page 23. Mark Coale also points out that in DC Continuity Merlin and Etrigan were brothers. p 17 I'm a fairly educated person. I have two degrees and am working on a third. I am not unintelligent. Why don't I understand what's going on in this comic from here on out? "Jay Garrick" - in DC Continuity Jay Garrick was the original, Golden Age Flash. Chris Holly helpfully notes that, in Marvel Continuity, Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch (who I assume became the Ghost Rider after Blaze was freed of the spirit) are brothers, so that what the Speed Demon writers are implying is that Barry and Jay are brothers. Which is aesthetically pleasing to me, except that the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe says that Johnny Blaze never had a brother. Can anyone out there clear this up for me? p 18 Okay - here's my guess for at least part of what is going on in this very muddled story. The Speed Demon used to be Jay Garrick - but then Garrick got trapped by the Night Spectre. So now, somehow, Jay Garrick is the demon side of the Speed Demon, whose human host is Blaze Allen. Like I said, very muddled, indeed. p 20-23 Jeremy Harris's take on this whole confusing muddle was that the other Speed Demon is an Amalgamation of the _real_ Marvel Ghost Rider (not Zarathos) and Wally West. So that the demon that Blaze is wondering about near the end is the real Ghost Rider. Well, as long as this story made sense to one person, I guess it was a success.... p 23 As William Ferguson points out - a shame the story didn't make this clearer - it was the Night Spectre, not Merlin, who merged Wally Blaze with the Speed Demon. Thanks to Trevor Barrie, Mark Coale, William George Ferguson, Fizrod, Jeremy Harris, Chris Holly, John Jakala, Rick H(ai- keeba)odge, Rick Jones, Doug Limmer, Alan Mac, Jim MoC, Jennifer Mathews, Sean McDonald, Paul Moorehead, David White, and everyone else whose names I didn't get for their additions and corrections. jess This file created by Jess Nevins, jjnevins@ix.netcom.com.