FCBD & Trinity War *SPOILERS*

[CagedLeo730]

Anyway, I'm so excited after reading this comic!

Remember, I'm totally new to the DC universe, so all of this is a mystery to me.

What I really want to know is why Black Adam is fighting along the heroes? Isn't he considered a villain? Isn't Shazam supposed to be the hero?

Is that new Green Lantern Alan Scott from Earth-2?

So many questions, and I can't wait for the answers!

I can answer one question very easily. That Green Lantern is NOT Alan Scott from Earth 2. There won't be any Earth Prime/Earth 2 crossovers before Trinity War. Earth 2 has barely been explored. Alan Scott's Green Lantern costume is shown on the cover of Earth 2 #3. On it, there is no head covering just a mask. He's also a lighter shade of white. Don't know if this new Lantern is even white.

[Comet Man]

Unless his origin has been changed, he is also granted his powers from the wizard, similarly to how Shazam received his powers to serve the same purpose...so until/unless Black Adam performs some internationally controversial action and criminally charged, his villain-ness is debatable. I'm uncertain, though, if Black Adam has appeared in the DCnU yet.

Thank you very much. I didn't know this. I purchased the Infinity Crisis TP a few weeks ago, and Black Adam is among the villains. Like I said, I'm a brand new DC reader, and there's still a lot I don't know about.

[Comet Man]

I can answer one question very easily. That Green Lantern is NOT Alan Scott from Earth 2. There won't be any Earth Prime/Earth 2 crossovers before Trinity War. Earth 2 has barely been explored. Alan Scott's Green Lantern costume is shown on the cover of Earth 2 #3. On it, there is no head covering just a mask. He's also a lighter shade of white. Don't know if this new Lantern is even white.

I hear what you're saying, CagedLeo, but in the free comic book, a video signal from Earth 2 is seen on Earth 1, or whatever the new DC Earth is called. So contact has already been made. There are already 4 Green Lanterns from Earth 1, so having Alan Scott being the one who Superman is pummeling isn't that far fetched. Also, Power Girl and Huntress are from Earth 2, and they're on Earth 1.

[Thor-Ul]

Don't know if this new Lantern is even white.

We don't know if even is human, could be an alien GL.

[Flashpoint]

Was there any sort of preview material for Batman Inc.?

Nope. But it seems that Argus has taken an interest in Talia's recruitment drives.

Um, not in my copy of DC's FCBD book.

I saw 2 pages from Batman, Inc. in there. I'm not a fan of Morrison's Batman, but I did glance through it.

[Sunspot's spots]

Billy Batson looks to be enthralled by the Black Adam power, but I am definitely under the impression that this is "Black Shazam", not Adam himself. Corrupting power from Pandora's Box could certainly be the influence, as could something messing with the Seven Wizards (more on that in a minute).

That image does seem to suggest a "Black Shazam" ~ With the Nu52 and all, it is anyone's guess when it comes to remodeled characters, but Black Adam is hardly ever depicted with a cape, and the widow's peak and pointy ears have been defining features of the character since it's creation.

I'm as curious as anybody about what the Circus could be. (Red for Robots, Black for Magic, Circus for ...)

I was thinking maybe a prison of some sort - "Circus" suggesting "Freak-Show" - a menagerie of strange and powerful beings? When Trevor ordered the lock-down on other rooms, he singled out securing the Circus as being the most important - so implying that it's the most dangerous. I guess that suggests it could be a Super Weapons Cache, but that doesn't go with the Circus name quite as well Or who knows- perhaps we are in for a treat and will be getting an amazing Professor Pyg story involving magic and parallel universes!

So, you made an earlier point as well about how the contents of Pandora's Box resembled the skull of Despero or Trigon. Pandora's appearance is certainly not all that far off from a certain well known daughter of Trigon- one who also has yet to appear in the Nu52 as far as I'm aware. We have a Sacred Seven Wizards of Shazaminess punishing a woman who carries around a skull which very well might be Trigon's. You know, Trigon - the mega powerful and hyper evil deamon with a canonical connection to the Seven Deadly Sins *coughROCKOFETERNITYcough*.

IF that is were this is all going.. I have to say, I am really liking that weaving of old Perez concepts and the Marvel family thematics. Ir seems like Johns is getting even better at this sort of thing.

[Jody Garland]

All right, lemme look at the Black Room and see if we can catalogue what's in it.
The Bell from the Demons Three?
The Medusa Mask- far right.
The Haunted Tank (YES)
The Suit of Sorrows?
A Red Lantern? (To the right of the Haunted Tank)

[LoneNecromancer]

That image does seem to suggest a "Black Shazam" ~ With the Nu52 and all, it is anyone's guess when it comes to remodeled characters, but Black Adam is hardly ever depicted with a cape, and the widow's peak and pointy ears have been defining features of the character since it's creation.

Maybe it's supposed to be Osiris?

[Zeeguy91]

All right, lemme look at the Black Room and see if we can catalogue what's in it.
The Bell from the Demons Three?
The Medusa Mask- far right.
The Haunted Tank (YES)
The Suit of Sorrows?
A Red Lantern? (To the right of the Haunted Tank)

Can someone post of picture of the Black Room? I was able to recognize everything you mentioned except for the Bell of Uthool. Anyway, if the bell's there, then it can be assumed that the Black Room also has the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath and the Red Jar of Calythos. Also, did anyone notice that that black diamond being covered up by the tarp could be the Heart of Darkness?

[Flashpoint]

Great post, Retro. Very in-depth and thoughtfully written...

The more I learn of it the more jazzed I am by the concepts going into Trinity War. It feels like "Good Silver Age", that is to say the concept; the JLA plagued by Indiana Jones-esque historical artifacts and helped or hindered by secret historical mysteries, feels really freaking Bob Haney. And since he's basically the craziest, coolest writer in the DC back-logs, that's a win in my book.

Agree 100%. This story is only 16 pages yet it is jam-packed with characters and continuity and awesome Easter Eggs for fans. If I were a child again and picking a DC Comic up for the very first time, I would have a field day with this. So much story, so many ideas, so many subplots and so many cool characters to drool over! What a treat this book was!

He'd have had it taken care of in a single issue, but there is merit to the Johnsification of the concept, in that the solo heroes and what's happening in their books can be reflected in the JLA storyline and all be caught up at whatever point they're at. So we seem to have a "New Green Lantern" who is not Hal, Guy, John or Kyle. Very probably he's the new guy representing Earth for the "Third Army" of the Guardians. And we get to see Superman beat him up. Rock.

Nope. The Guardians are not creating a new GL Corps; they are replacing the GL Corps. We haven't seen the Third Army yet, but whoever it is it won't be Green Lanterns. The Guardians stated outright that the whole problem with the GLs is that they have the exact opposite problem from the Manhunters: the Manhunters were too cold and logical, but now the Guardians think the GLs are too emotional.

Whoever the Third Army is? It won't be Green Lanterns.

Which may explain why this new GL refers to himself as "The Green Lantern." He might be the very last GL--which brings up the question if he really *is* the only GL, what does that mean will happen to DC's GL Corps series? GL: New Guardians could continue without Kyle, but not the GL Corps.

And again, what does that mean for Hal Jordan? Where is he and what is he doing when The Trinity War hits?

The "adventurer" element is incredibly strong. The recovery of Pandora's Box ... characters like Hawkman (Archaeology meets Cosmic) work absolutely perfectly, and Aquaman (Historical Atlantis connection) and Wonder Woman (Historical Greco-Roman connection) fit perfectly again. Batman and Green Arrow lend a pulp "everyman adventurer" cred to the whole affair, and tie in nicely to the Area 51-esque Indiana Jones super-spy elements. It should be cool to see them interact with Steve Trevor.

Very well-said. There's a good mix of characters and genres in terms of the story's tone. This isn't just heroes beating up on each other. There are allusions to archeology, elements of ancient history and even pulp fiction-esque characters. This ain't gonna be no AVX, thank God.

Billy Batson looks to be enthralled by the Black Adam power, but I am definitely under the impression that this is "Black Shazam", not Adam himself. Corrupting power from Pandora's Box could certainly be the influence, as could something messing with the Seven Wizards (more on that in a minute).

I don't know why people refuse to believe that or even *want* to believe that, but that's not Billy Batson; that is clearly Black Adam. He doesn't have Shazam's new costume which we already saw over 6 weeks ago.

Trevor made heavy reference to the JLD, so that's cool - Deadman's involvement, as well as Constantine, Mist and more. And Pandora heading to a palm-reading place; could she be going to see Xanadu? It's clear enough that the JLD will factor into this as some kind of JL-title intermingling. How cool is that Black Room - the Haunted Tank! Can anyone name all the relics? And over in the Red Room Thomas Morrow is still a "good guy" in the New 52? We at least know Ivo has already gone nuts. I'm as curious as anybody about what the Circus could be. (Red for Robots, Black for Magic, Circus for ...)

Well, that pretty much settles it. I was leaning toward adding Justice League Dark to my pull list, but with both Jeff Lemire taking over the writing and now all the ties to magic in the DCnU plus ties to Trinity War, JLD is going to become an event book with both good writing & art that, IMHO, we simply cannot afford to miss. Everyone should add it to their pull lists.

RE: The Circus
What do you find in a circus? Animals and freaks of nature all locked up in cages. Ergo, The Circus is where you'll find aliens, monsters and other dangerous freaks of the DCnU all imprisoned. I think that's pretty obvious.

The Wizards are cool, I dig the concept, basically taking the most historically "magical" ancient cultures and having a representative from the Celts, the Aborigines, the Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, American and I can't place the bearded guy; Babylonian maybe? The tying of "coins" to Phantom Stranger's classic necklace was kind of a perfect little notion. As for The Question, he's forgotten his name and seems doomed to Eastern style resurrection, he certainly seems to be Vic Sage, but a historical figure that defies perceived authority? Battle scars? I was thinking Lucifer, but everything indicates this is a human, not an angel.

Historic rebel figure from 2000 years ago ...

Yeah, and someone else here noted that Vandal Savage's daughter is named Cass Sage. For those who forgot, Vandal Savage gave the Mark of Cain to the Renee Montoya Question just 2 years ago.

I find it incredible that characters like Shazam and The Question are now going to be front & center & central to the DC Universe. I'm very excited by how Johns is revitalizing underappreciated and under-exploited properties in the DCU (like Aquaman) and turning them into marquee players who play vital roles that are integral to DC mythology. That's fantastic!

EDIT: Going back to Steve Trevor, CBR pointed out that Steve now has a sister.

Could it be...Lyta Trevor?

[Jody Garland]

Can someone post of picture of the Black Room? I was able to recognize everything you mentioned except for the Bell of Uthool. Anyway, if the bell's there, then it can be assumed that the Black Room also has the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath and the Red Jar of Calythos. Also, did anyone notice that that black diamond being covered up by the tarp could be the Heart of Darkness?

Here ya go.

Maybe the painting next to the Diamond is the Painting That Ate Paris?

[ChristianP]

I hear what you're saying, CagedLeo, but in the free comic book, a video signal from Earth 2 is seen on Earth 1, or whatever the new DC Earth is called. So contact has already been made. There are already 4 Green Lanterns from Earth 1, so having Alan Scott being the one who Superman is pummeling isn't that far fetched. Also, Power Girl and Huntress are from Earth 2, and they're on Earth 1.

I said this in the other thread about this, but oh well, worth saying again.

We know that in the GL book, the Guardians are planning on dismantling the GLC and starting a new Corps. I imagine this new Green Lantern would be a part of that. Also, worth mentioning, that Green Lantern looks soo much like Midnighter form Stormwatch. I'm not saying it's him, just an interesting thing I noticed. Also, I am not reading Stormwatch, but I have been told that in one of the first few issues, they come across a room with artifacts quite similar to the one in FCBD, and there are other little things in that book that potentially and proactively tie into the FCBD book/Trinity War.

[Zeeguy91]

Here ya go.

Maybe the painting next to the Diamond is the Painting That Ate Paris?

Thanks. So, yeah, I think that diamond is probably the Heart of Darkness, which might be a signifier that Eclipso could pop up in the future, which is cool. I'd love to see a revamped version of the character in the DCnU.

Nice catch and interesting theory on the painting.

Anyway, you guys think that pilfering from the Black Room and or Red Room will become a thing for villains in the DCnU? I mean, from the looks of things, if it does then it could mean the return of a bunch of DC villains, like Eclipso and Psycho Pirate.

[Flashpoint]

For those who don't know him? Here are some pics of Doctor Mist---and yes, it's yet another Geoff Johns nod to the Super Friends!





Doctor Mist founded the Global Guardians (again, created in Super Friends); you can see him here in the back wearing a suit and tie.

[Flashpoint]

I hear what you're saying, CagedLeo, but in the free comic book, a video signal from Earth 2 is seen on Earth 1, or whatever the new DC Earth is called. So contact has already been made. There are already 4 Green Lanterns from Earth 1, so having Alan Scott being the one who Superman is pummeling isn't that far fetched. Also, Power Girl and Huntress are from Earth 2, and they're on Earth 1.

They're showing what *just happened* on Earth 2 now in Trinity War which doesn't come out until Summer 2013.

Ergo, S.T.A.R. Labs and/or the denizens of Earth have not been able to even contact Earth 2 until the middle of the Trinity War.