This file created by Jess Nevins, jjnevins@ix.netcom.com. Amalgam Annotations: X-Patrol #1 (corrections/additions to my errors/omissions are welcome) cvr Roger Cruz & Terry Austin are obviously spoofing the Liefeld style of art here... The members of X-Patrol are: Elasti-Girl (a riff on Elasti-Woman of DC's Doom Patrol, an heiress who gained growing powers by inhaling strange volcanic fumes, and Marvel's Wasp, who can shrink and fly); Ferro Man (a combination of Marvel's Colossus, a member of the X-Men whose mutant ability is to change his human body into one of organic metal, and Robotman of DC's Doom Patrol, who was a race car driver who was caught in a horrible accident and had his brain transplanted into a robot body; there's also a touch of the Legion of Superhero's Ferro Lad in Amalgam's Ferro Man - Ferro Lad's influence becomes more pronounced on page 9. Shatterstarfire (my vote for the lamest-name-so-far-seen) (a combination of Marvel's Shatterstar, an alien warrior who traveled to this dimension to join the X-Men (sorta), and DC's Starfire, who is an alien princess who ended up joining the New Teen Titans); Beastling (a combination of Marvel's The Beast, a member of the original X-Men who got changed all blue and furry in a lab accident, and of DC's Changeling (formerly known as Beast Boy), who got his shapeshifting powers and green skin via an experimental treatment by his parents - the same origin we see for Amalgam Beastling on page 7 of this issue); and Niles Cable (a combination of DC's Niles Caulder, the eccentric scientist who formed the original Doom Patrol, and Marvel's Cable, the time-travelling warrior who came back in time to fight for mutants or some such thing). Now - you'll pardon my presumption, but I'm going to assume that some of you out there don't already know this - merging the X-Men and the Doom Patrol is a natural. Both debuted late in 1963, both were bands of misfits hated and/or distrusted by the public at large, and both were led by men in wheelchairs. A natural fit. p 1 "The X Building...built for a World's Fair long ago..." The Teen Titans have their own building, on an island in New York City's East River, and the X-Men work out of Professor Xavier's school in Westchester County, in New York state; the original Doom Patrol worked out of "Midway City;" but I think that the Kesels here are making a reference to all those _plus_ the All-Star Squadron's Perisphere, which was built for the 1939 World's Fair. If they are, a tip of the hat to them for it. Note that Titans Tower, in DC Continuity, is in the shape of a capital T, in much the same way that the X Building in Amalgam Continuity is in the shape of an X (thanks to Doug Limmer for pointing this out). Todd Yancy also notes that in a story in Flash the gorillas of Gorilla City have an embassy in Central City that, apparently, is in an X-shaped building quite like the one here. p 2 We've got a verbose/eloquent Beastling - a combination of the Beast's "eloquence" and Changeling's talkativeness. (a tedious combination IMHO) p 3 Shatterstarfire (ugh...I hate typing that) is wearing Starfire's outfit and Shatterstar's face-mask. She also has Shatterstar's sword, as we'll see later. And her expression "`zal!" is a combination of Shatterstar's "Za's vid!" (don't ask me) and Starfire's "X'Hal!" (a goddess from Starfire's home planet). Elasti-Girl, as we see here, is "Janet Van Dyne" - in "real" Marvel Continuity Janet Van Dyne is an heiress (just like the "real" Elasti-Woman was) who became the heroine The Wasp, a long-serving member of Marvel's Avengers. Her joke about changing her uniform here is a reference to The Wasp's tendency to continually be trying out new uniforms (a sexist holdover from the Bad Old Days of Marvel, IMHO). Her talkativeness is something new, though. p 4 We see the Beastling ogling Shatterstarfire's hinder - the DC Continuity Changeling was girl-crazy, for lack of a better phrase. Ferro Man's "nyet" hearkens back to Colossus' Russian background in "real" Marvel continuity. Shatterstarfire's (oh, yuch) solar blast is Starfire's main power; her spiked sword is Shatterstar's weapon-of-choice. Her claim to be a "princess of Tamojoran" is a merging of Shatterstar's world, which is ruled by the evil alien dictator Mojo, and Starfire's planet, Tamaran, where she is a princess. Beastling's reference to "Mrs. MacTaggert" as his primary school teacher might be a reference to Moira MacTaggart, a long-time supporting character and advisor to Professor Xavier in the X-Men. p 5 Nice to see Ferro Man spouting some of the Marxist line. Power to the people, brother! Up the revolution! The blonde woman, so far unnamed, is "Dial H for HUSK" - a combination of Marvel's Paige Guthrie, a mutant member of Generation X who has the power to rip off her skin and get a new body and power (thanks to Doug Limmer for clearing this up), and Dial H for Hero, a DC hero from the 1960s who gained his and her powers by dialing a magic thingamabob and getting random, new powers every time he did. (the actual story of Dial H for Hero is more wonderfully goofy & complicated than that, but I need to conserve space). p 6 Niles Cable Does The Origins. We see that Shatterstarfire comes from a "sub-atomic world," a reference Marvel Continuity's Jarella's World, a subatomic world, ruled by the princess Jarella, where the Hulk adventured at one point; Jarella had green blood, which is echoed here (thanks to Doug Limmer for confirming my suspicions regarding this). We also see Shatterstarfire fighting the alien Branx lizard-men from Starfire's DC continuity history. And we get a cameo of "Spider-Boy," a combination of Marvel's Spiderman and DC's Superboy. (for more on him, see _Spider-Boy_ #1) p 7 The Beastling's origin. He's "Hank Logan" (The Beast, in Marvel Continuity, is Hank McCoy, and the Changeling in DC Continuity is Garfield Logan). This is, in essence, the same origin as DC Continuity Changeling. Paul O'Brian speculates that the mention here, by Niles Cable, of the Beastling being able to "transform into the same unreal creatures that haunted your fever dreams" might be a reference to the Dorothy Spinner, a member of Vertigo Doom Patrol who could make real creatures from her dreams. p 8 Paige Guthrie's origin - we saw the gist of it for page 5. We get a nice tip of the hat to the Dial H for Hero phenomenon when Cable refers to it as "Dial H-U-S-K." As a few people pointed out, including Doug Limmer, Dial H for HUSK, in her first incarnation here as "Wonder Girl," has elements of the Marvel Continuity character Wonder Man - the W across her chest and the goggles/sunglasses - and the DC character Wonder Girl (aka Troia), who has the starfield-on-black of Troia's costume). Another aspect of Dial H for HUSK that a few people have wondered about, including John Jakala and Doug Limmer, is the implicit schizophrenia of her powers being a merging of the powers of Crazy Jane of the Vertigo Doom Patrol, who had 64 separate personalities, each with their own superpower. p 9 "Piotyr Rasputin" is Colossus' "real" name in Marvel Continuity. "Alexi" is Colossus' now-dead brother in Marvel continuity. The origin of the Rasputin twins makes the Ferro Lad homage unmistakable. Ferro Lad, in Legion continuity - the original Legion, I mean, not the current Legion (don't even ask) - had the ability to change into iron, but he was so ugly that he covered his face in iron, too - just like Piotyr & Alexi do here. p 10 "Domino" is, in "real" Marvel continuity, the mercenary who is a member of X-Force. Elasti-Girl here gets her growth powers here in the same way that Elasti-Woman did. Like Elasti-Woman, is an ally to Niles. And, like Domino, Elasti- Woman has a colored oval over her left eye. p 11 Niles Cable - back from the future to save mutantkind, just like the "real" Cable. p 12 Cable pitches the band-together-to-save-us-all spiel to his heroes, in much the same way that both Prof. X and Niles Caulder did to the original X-Men and Doom Patrol. Elasti-Woman's comment about "is there something about a cyborg in a uniform" is similar to Domino's feelings for Cable in Marvel Continuity. p 13 Cable makes reference to "Brother Blood's slaughtering zealots" and "Mr. Immortus's concentration camps." Brother Blood was the leader of a cult and all-around Bad Guy in the New Teen Titans. "Mr. Immortus" is a combination of General Immortus - the Doom Patrol's now-he's-dead, now-he-isn't long-running bad-guy - and Mr. Sinister, the X-Men's several-years-now enemy (who is still too ambiguous for my taste) who aims to take over the world in the future and who might well make the concentration camps mentioned here. In the "real" Cable's future, of course, Apocalypse, now made into the Supreme X-Men Villain Of Them All, has taken over the world and is generally doing bad things to it. But I don't recall him having concentration camps in Marvel Continuity, so the implication here might be that Niles Cable is from the Age of Apocalypse Earth, where Apocalypse is practicing global genocide (trust me on this one, folks, it would take too long to explain). p 14 "Doctor Doomsday" - not a bad name combination. Doomsday is, of course, the johnny-come-lately villain who "killed" Superman (really, people, it should have been Luthor or Mxyzptlk who did it), and Doctor Doom is the Marvel Continuity arch-enemy of the Fantastic Four. The only problem with Doctor Doomsday is that Doctor Doom is one of the best villains of all-time, while Doomsday is a one-note character with almost no complexities whatsoever; they are hardly a natural fit together. But obviously Doctor Doomsday, in the Amalgam world, is tough - Dial H for HUSK mentions him standing off the "JLA" - which I assume is a reference to Amalgam's "Judgment League - Avengers," a combination of the DC's Justice League and Marvel's Avengers, the two premier superteams of comicdom (at least, they should be) (thanks to Doug Limmer for correcing my error here). Beastling also makes reference to Doctor Doomsday being "best bud" with "Thanoseid," a combination of Marvel's Thanos (the mad mutant god from Titan who is in love with Death and has tried to commit universal genocide) and DC's Darkseid (the evil ruler of the planet Apokolips, who is also trying to commit a variety of universal genocide). They are a lot alike, so combining them makes sense - far more than merging Doctor Doom and Doomsday. Doctor Doomsday is said to rule an "island nation," which I'm not sure I understand; Doctor Doom, in Marvel Continuity, rules the land-locked Eastern European nation of Latveria. As Jim MoC pointed out, in DC Continuity the New Teen Titans enemy Brother Blood rules the island nation of Zandia, which might be what is being implied here. (Of course, in _X-Patrol_ #1 we get a reference to Brother Blood, so it's possible that there are two island nations in the Amalgam Universe ruled over by tyrants...) p 15 Doctor Doomsday's nation here is called Latveria, just like the Marvel Continuity version. (of course, in _Magneto and the Magnetic Men_ #1 the country is called Latkovia, but why quibble?) Doug Limmer points out that the X-Patrol's plane being blown up in mid-air, and the X-Patrol members having to make their way to the ground as they do here, is a riff on a recurring event in Chris Claremont's early- and mid-period X- Men books. p 16 Like Doctor Doom, Doctor Doomsday rules his country from a medieval-style castle. The mention of "Erik Magnus" is a reference to the Amalgam Continuity hero Magneto; for more on him, read _Magneto & the Magnetic Men_ #1. Doctor Doomsday has Doomsday's spikes but otherwise is dressed like Doctor Doom - cloak, vest, armor, etc. As far as I can tell the face is new - Dr. Doom's face was covered by armor, and Doomsday's face was different from this, I think. Doctor Doomsday's reference to his "bio-armor" is meant to mean, I'm willing to guess, that he grows his armor, just like Doomsday grows his defenses - it's some sort of power he has. p 17 Exit Dial H for HUSK, enter "Polaris, Mistress of Magnetism" - a combination of Marvel's Polaris, a character in X-Factor with magnetic powers, and DC's Doctor Polaris, a villain with magnetic powers. Amalgam's Polaris' costume is almost completely Doctor Polaris' - but, as Doug Limmer points out, the "old," pre-Zero Hour, Doctor Polaris. p 18 Doctor Doomsday makes reference here to "alien DNA" being combined with his own. That's not a part of Doctor Doom's background, but (as an unnamed person pointed out) the DC Doomsday is an alien, so it might be referring to that, or to Dr. Doomsday having done it as a reaction to the Super- Soldier's origin (see _Super-Soldier_ #1 for more details re: this). Niles discovers Dr. Doomsday's plan - somehow he's going to bring "an army of twisted, splintered version of OUR OWN HEROES!" into the Amalgam reality. The kicker, of course, being that the heroes we see - Marvel's Wolverine & Spiderman and DC's Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman - are the originals, and the ones who fought to decide the fate of their respective universes in _Marvel vs. DC_ #1-3. Thanks to the unnamed person who pointed this out. p 19 We see Elasti-Girl shrinking here, rather than growing - the Wasp's power is to shrink and fly. p 20 Doctor Doomsday here breaks Niles Cable's spine; he'll be in a wheelchair from now on. Just like Niles Caulder (who ended up in a wheelchair because of General Immortus), and just like Charles Xavier (who ended up in a wheelchair because of his enemy Lucifer). Also note, as John Jakala pointed out, that in panel 3 the Beastling turns into a green-skinned version of the Marvel Continuity Sasquatch, who is a were-monster. p 21 Exit Polaris and enter Mary Marvel Girl - a combination of Marvel's Marvel Girl - Jean Grey, the telekinetic from the original X-Men - and Fawcett/DC's Mary Marvel, who has the powers of 7 goddesses. The line about "Golly! It doesn't take the wisdom of Minerva to see that my telekinesis will sure come in handy here," which is a sort of merging of Mary Marvel's refreshing innocence and Marvel Girl's attitude towards things, is a predictable one - I knew something like it was coming, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. p 22 Mary Marvel makes reference to "Zephyrus" - one of Mary Marvel's patron goddesses. Doug Limmer points out that Zephyrus is a male spirit - which is true, but take that up with CC Beck, who created Mary Marvel, not me . Even better, the Kesels make a reference to the island they end up sailing towards - "Corto Maltese." Which has been a name in comics since Hugo Pratt's series, which used the island of the same name some 50+ years ago. Corto Maltese also played a small but important role in Frank Miller's _Dark Knight_ series, and has occasionally shown up in the DC universe ever since. Thanks to Jim MoC for clearing my confusion on this point up. Thanks to Ken Arromdee, John Jakala, Doug Limmer, Jim Moc, Paul O'Brian, Todd Yancy, and to everyone whose name I didn't get for their corrections and additions. jess This file created by Jess Nevins, jjnevins@ix.netcom.com.