Klarion 2
From Barbelith
“Badde”
Barbelith thread: Horigal must judge! (http://www.barbelith.com/topic/20837/from/81)
| Table of contents |
Background and General Commentary
Summary:
Klarion the Witch-Boy has run away from his subterranean home in Limbo Town, fiercely pursued by the monster Horigal. After escaping Horigal through a chance collision and the timely assistance of Ebeneezer Badde, a former Witch-Man and fellow exile, Klarion learns more about the dark tunnels beneath New York and those who inhabit them, including the Lost Children of Leviathan and the Rat Kings. Following a close call with betrayal and near enslavement, Klarion makes him way to his destination: Blue Rafters.
General Commentary:
Ebeneezer Badde learns that the Witch-Men have no god, and the knowledge terrifies him. He runs from the knowledge and afterwards the world holds no wonder, no meaning. He is “just a man.” He lives in “just a world,” where “you’ll soon get bored.” He thinks the story of his life would make for “dull reading.” Klarion learns the same secret, but has the opposite reaction. He is freed by the knowledge and finds the world filled with possibilities. In a world with no god, he can make his own myths. I see Klarion as a proponent of the everyday magic found in writing and the exercise of human creativity and Badde as the voice of a dreary adult world that has no time for fantasy or child-like wonder.
Annotations
| Featured Characters | Featured Locations |
|---|---|
|
|
Page 5-6
Panel 2ff: “What light is that? What roaring? …. …That engine of light and iron!”
The train car that runs down Horigal is called the President Clinton. It is captained by the subway pirate No-Beard. This collision was seen from another perspective in The Manhattan Guardian #2.
Ganesh - I admit, I also felt the comment meant more, but why invent a name so significant? Ebenezer? Bad-de? Erm, is it particularly significant? Not just a pun (Jerry Sadowicz, who played Goode in the video, was a shadowy ne'erdowell with long curly hair and a top hat)?
The name "Ebeneezer Badde", as Ganesh points out, may well be inspired by the Shamen song entitled "Ebeneezer Goode," the lyrics to which can be found here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.hart/lyricss/shamen.html).
Page 7
Panel 2: “You have the look of Limbo Town – The Sheeda Face.”
All the inhabitants of Limbo Town have a distinctive blue complexion. This is the first time we have heard that their skin tone might indicate a connection between the Witch-Folk and the Sheeda.
Panel 3: “Ha. Well, Master Klarion.”
Does Ebeneezer recognize Klarion’s name and family? Has Badde met or heard of Klarion’s father?
Page 8
Panel 4: “We travel on night rivers now, whereby the filth is carried down from a higher world than this.”
Badde roams the sewers of New York riding a giant alligator. Someone should call the Manhattan Guardian - there really are giant alligators in the sewers!
Page 11
Panel 1: “Are these dead men of an unknown race?”
This is the wreck of the Almight Worm and the President Clinton after racing over the cliff at Dead Man’s Junction. The bald pirate with two hooks appears to be the corpse of No-Beard, dead following his battle with All-Beard -- but it's not supposed to be.
Chad -- >>>(Looks more like All-Beard won.) Check out the bodies in Klarion 2.<<< Cameron Stewart -- Sorry to burst your bubble here, but that's actually just a little flub that slipped through - I sent Frazer a bunch of pages of pirate artwork for reference (just like he sent me his design for the Horigal) but at the time he drew that Klarion page with the bodies strewn about, I don't think he realized what the closing pages of Guardian 2 were. No-Beard's body technically shouldn't be there.
Panel 3: “Did he not, Klarion? Lost, ye say? Now, that seems a mystery.”
Does Badde secretly know the fate of Klarion's father, Mordecai, after he departed Limbo Town? This question will not be answered until Seven Soldiers #1 reveals Ebeneezer Badde's true identity.
The fur coat Ebeneezer holds up here may have previously belonged to All-Beard.
Panel 5: “Are you sure your father was not done in by this stepdad, Ezekiel, who now shares thy mother’s bed?”
This is certainly possible. Ezekiel was part of the search party that scoured the tunnels for Mordecai, giving him opportunity. However, I tend to agree with Klarion: Ezekiel doesn’t seem the type.
Page 12
Panel 1: “Klarion, this is the House of Croatoan.”
We last saw the Chamber of the Enchained God in The Manhattan Guardian #2, where it was the resting place of the fabled Foundation Stone of Manhattan. The die that Klarion picks up off the floor is the Stone itself. Apparently the missing god who was formerly imprisoned here was the one the Witch-Folk call Croatoan, ...although Mister Miracle #4 raises the possibility that the missing, chained God was Oracle I (http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=oracle).
Page 14
Panel 1: “There was a rat buying and selling little weapons at a stall.”
It seems that No-Beard’s tales of talking rats (from The Manhattan Guardian #2) are true. They were mutated by discarded chemicals and gained intelligence. I wonder if one was named Splinter. :-)
Panel 2: “The Rules are we stay away from the Market.”
It seems that humans from the surface world are not welcome in High Market proper (or Vanity Fair as Badde calls it) and instead lurk on the outskirts.
Panel 5: “These wild kids that Badde brings in can be more vicious than animals.”
It seems that Badde is indeed a “Puritan kiddie-snatcher.” That means No-Beard’s accusation against the Witch-Men has some basis in fact, at least in Badde’s case.
Page 15
Teekl slays a King of the Talking Rats, which earns him the gratitude of the Leviathan Children. We know that the Talking Rats did trade with Badde at High Market in the old days. We know Badde is a hated enemy of Leviathan. We know Badde has been stealing “normal” children (not Witch-Kids) to bring to Melmoth’s men. Did the rats and Badde earn the enmity of Leviathan by poaching children from among its number? There are some complicated feudal politics going on in the tunnels beneath New York.
Page 18
Panel 2: “I was trying to help you!”
Why? Is there more to Badde’s story? Has Klarion misjudged his intentions? He appeared to have a change of heart at 'selling his own kin', a statement which, allied with his interest in Klarion's mother's sleeping arrangements earlier, led many to believe him the Witch Boy's lost father. This theory will not be conclusive confirmed or invalidate until Seven Soldiers #1.
Page 19
Panel 2: “Some shiny man took my first cart for a borrow and in return left only this…”
This is a reference to Jake Jordan, the Manhattan Guardian, whose helmet the Leviathan girl holds. He borrowed the cart in The Manhattan Guardian #2.
Page 21
Panel 1: “Oh, heaven.”
Klarion’s reaction to his first view of an American city is very different from the Shining Knight’s. To Justin, LA is hell on earth. To Klarion, New York is heaven. Perspective is everything.
Panel 4: “My name is Mister Melmoth.”
We know that Mister Melmoth is the one who hired Badde to deliver him a Witch-Boy, but we don’t know his intentions yet. Note that he is also bald. Could Melmoth be one of the Seven Unknown Men, come to nudge Klarion on his path to becoming a Soldier?
Back to Klarion
Back to Seven Soldiers Annotations
