Klarion 3
From Barbelith
“The Deviant Ones”
Barbelith thread: It's the high life, Billy! (http://www.barbelith.com/topic/20837/from/119)
| Table of contents |
Background and General Commentary
Synopsis:
Klarion has reached his destination and now walks the streets of Manhattan beneath Blue Rafters, beholding wonders at every corner. His guide to this new realm is the creepy Mister Melmoth, who is secretly hatching his own sinister plans for the future of Limbo Town, Klarion's home. Klarion falls in among The Deviants, a gang of kids whose only concerns are having fun and causing mayhem until the day they turn sixteen, when they disappear to join the mysterious Team Red. Dangerous forces having taken an interest in young Klarion and in the end he must choose between his carefree life as a lone explorer and his responsibilities to kith and kin.
General Commentary:
This issue continues the conflict of Childhood Vs. Adulthood seen in previous issues and presents a new twist on the dynamic:
Meludreen - "So far Klarion is about adolescence. It's about being responsible for yourself, questioning recieved wisdom and looking at the accepted in a new light. It's also about being aware of the extreme duplicitousness of adults while still knowing that that is what you are becoming. Melmoth and the Deviants are another riff on this adult/child dynamic that carries on from the Submissionaries/Klarion and Badde/Leviathan. The Submissionaries (by virtue of their names) want the children to conform, and want to keep growth stunted. They present themselves as authority figures and keep the generations in check through Puritan preaching and ideals. Vilifying those who question the old ways while enforcing tradition. They are the stern, commanding patriarchs. Badde is at war with the children. He fears them. They outnumber him and understand each other in ways he can't fathom. Youth is an organism, a plague that'll wash over and destroy him. He keeps it at bay by making attacks on it bit by bit, exploiting it for his own gain, using it to keep himself in a state of unquestioning childhood. Melmoth appeals to the children. He uses them by providing an arena for their rebellion. He sheperds them into a controlled relationship where he can let them live out all their youthful, destructive tendencies while all the time keeping a very close eye on them and manipulating everything they do, playing them off against each other and letting them wear themselves out until they become controllable adults."
Klarion #3 also deals with the frightening and frustrating process of growing up. Billy Beezer and Klarion are both forced to grow up in different ways. Billy is comfortable in his position as the popular leader of his childhood gang and apprehensive about entering the working world of adults, but the process is unavoidable and beyond his control. The story paints a dreary picture of adulthood as drudgery in the gold mines, because after all, "every man needs a job." Goldenboy regrets his fate, but helps to enforce the same fate upon Billy, his apprentice, and thus perpetuates the system.
Klarion's growth towards adulthood is slightly different. He voluntarily gives up his carefree existence as an explorer and adventurer at the promptings of his own conscience (Teekl). He chooses to aid the people of Limbo Town, though he found the place stifling and oppressive growing up, because he feels some responsibility to warn them of impending danger. This is a selfless act, whereas before Klarion had thought only for himself. Ezekiel once told Klarion, "You're blessed with wits and curiosity, Boy; you'll make a fine Witch-Man and maybe one day you'll help us break the superstitious hold of Judah and his Submissionaries." In order to survive, Limbo Town needs the qualities that Klarion possesses; namely, his daring, his inquisitiveness, and his creativity. Klarion now has to choose between pursuing his own development and happiness "alone beneath Blue Rafters" or participating as a member of a community.
Annotations
| Featured Characters | Featured Locations |
|---|---|
Cover
The face of Mister Melmoth stares down upon Klarion from every window and every billboard. Even the cracks in the pavement form the image of his face. The visual effect is similar to the appearance of Gwydion in Zatanna 2.
The general appearance of Mister Melmoth - smiling, Van Dyke beard, apple cheeks - is very suggestive of The Tempter, the "minor demon" who appears in Zatanna 3. His behavior towards the children is also similar.
Page 1
PANEL 1: "In the summer of the 1590, the Puritan colonists at Roanoke, West Virginia vanished mysteriously and were never seen or heard of again”
The map behind Mister Silencio shows the world as Europeans knew it in the 16th century. The same map appeared in the background of the Submissionaries’ office in Klarion #1.
PANEL 4: “Our consultant, Mister Melmoth, will bring us up to date.”
Throughout the Seven Soldiers series, we encounter groups that have close to, but not exactly, seven members. This group of gun-toting board members appears to have six, though it’s not clear if Melmoth counts, since he’s a consultant.
Page 3
Mr Tricks - "does anyone else thing Mr Melmoth is actually a hive of little Sheeda with a stitched on head... something about that close up which showed his neckline..."
In panel four, we see that Mister Melemoth has terrible scarring around his neck, as if his head were once chopped off and then reattached. In Frankenstein #1, we learn that the Undead Monster shot Melmoth's head off with his steam-powered pistol back in 1870
Page 4
PANEL 1: “Pumpkin Taxi”
We first saw a cab of the Pumpkin Taxi Company in the background of a panel in Manhattan Guardian #1. This Manhattan-based company serves New York City, a.k.a. “The Cinderella City.” In the well-known fairy tale, Cinderella rode to the ball in a pumpkin carriage. This particular vehicle is likely stolen, since Billy Beezer is too young to be a licensed cabbie.
As Billy, Klarion, and the Deviants cruise along in their stolen cab, they spray splash passing pedestrians in rain water. In Mister Miracle #3, we will see that one of the pedestrians they pass on this dark and rainy night is a hopeless and confused Shilo Norman, Mr. Miracle himself.
PANEL 1: "The Deviant Ones"
There are several explanations for the story's title.
Mario - "The story is entitled 'The Deviant Ones'. While the youth gang in the story is called the Deviants, I'm fairly certain that this is also a reference to the old Brando movie, 'The Defiant Ones'."
Papers called me that, Not I - "I'd also suggest that the 'Deviants' might reference the Deviants from Marvel Comics, who were a weird mutated offshoot of humanity created by the Celestials, who lived underground... You know, sort of like Croatoan's Limbo-Towners."
It's also possibly a nod to Marvel's latest kid gang, the Runaways.
Note the logo has a certain resemblance to the one of the seminal Kubrick film, A Clockwork Orange.
Page 8
PANEL 1: “…a great empty hall of light, filled with flags for men and women to wear.”
In the first panel showing the interior of the Museum of Superheroes, there are four costumes visible in display cases.
Mario - "In the museum, we see on the left the costumes of Stripesy, the Star Spangled Kid, and the Crimson Avenger, all from the original Seven Soldiers of Victory. The costume on the right is harder to place, but looks female."
Papers called me that, not I - "It, ah, depends on what company. If you go look for the Miss America from Marvel, who was one of the Invaders...she married the Whizzer. She also had an American Shield on her top and was otherwise red, with a little red hat. 's definitely Marvel's Miss America costume."
Page 9
PANEL 2: “Quit pervin’, Pops!”
In this panel, the elderly gentleman is admiring the costumes of two female superheroes displayed in glass cases. They are...
Mario - "The costumes of Liberty Belle, and Wonder Woman"
PANEL 10: "IRON HAND"
The prosthetic hand on display here once belonged to Ramon Solomano, a.k.a. The Iron Hand, a.k.a. The Hand, a.k.a. The Napoleon of Crime and first appeared in Justice League of America #100. In the confused aftermath of the Deviant's break-in, no one will notice Agent Helen Helligan "borrowing" the hand, which will go on to play a crucial role in the plot of Bulleteer #2.
Page 10
PANEL 1: “This thing helped win the war for the Allied Forces, says Mister Melmoth.”
Mario - "I can't place all the vehicles, but on the left we can make out one of Blue Beetle's flying bugs, and Batgirl's motorcycle."
And don't forget Fatman The Human Flying Saucer on the right.
The origin of The Sapper Drill that Billy and Klarion steal seems a little difficult to pin down.
One reviewer (http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/112459433458792.htm) suggests that the name is a reference to the Bulldog Drummond stories written by Herman Cyril McNeile under the pen-name "Sapper," between 1920 and 1937. Though the Bulldog Drummond stories contained occasional death-traps, poisons, and death-rays, we have yet to discover any reference to giant subterranean drills. Also, most of Drummond's adventures seem to take place in the period between the two World Wars, not during World War II, as the plaque on the drill implies.
It seems more likely that the word Sapper refers not to the drill's inventor, but to its function. The definition of the word sap is "to undermine by digging away foundations; dig beneath" and "an extended, narrow trench for approaching or undermining an enemy position or fortification," (Webster's New World Dictionary of American English: Third College Edition. MacMillan, USA: 1994). Trench warfare played a big role in the First World War and one can see how an automated trench-digging/tunneling machine might have been incredibly appealing. Though the widespread use of tanks made trench warfare impractical by World War II, the Sapper Drill would still have been useful as a sort of land-based submarine, traveling undetected underground and surfacing behind enemy lines. If the drill is a reference to some specific Golden Age comic, this reader cannot place it. Perhaps Morrison invented the device for this occasion.
Page 12
PANEL 1: “We only just got the gang working straight again.”
The Deviants gang is another group that has almost, but not exactly seven members, depending on how you count. On the same day Klarion joins, Billy Beezer graduates to Team Red. Immediately afterwards, Klarion chooses to walk alone, so the gang membership goes from 6 to 7 to 5 within twenty-four hours. It’s also not clear if Klarion should ever count as a full member.
Count Adam - I just re-read this, and I'm pretty sure the Deviants are Archie, Jughead, Bettie, Veronica, Moose and that other guy from Archie Comics (Reggie). Stone K. - And if the Deviants are all Archie-analogues, does that make Klarion Sabrina the teenage witch?
Fairy tale parallel: The taxi the gang arrives in is a Pumpkin Cab.
PANEL 5: “We keep our familiars small and we keep them inside where I come from, Klarion, but otherwise we are very much alike, you and I.”
It's not entirely clear what Mister Melmoth means by this statement. Perhaps Melmoth is an automaton controlled by Sheeda fairies living inside him, or perhaps the statement is a reference to ideas about familiars from the book series His Dark Materials.
Mr. Tricks - "does anyone else thing Mr Melmoth is actually a hive of little Sheeda with a stitched on head... something about that close up which showed his neckline..."
Keith, Lord of Kobol - "that above quote mostly struck me as His Dark Materials reference, right? In fact, I think it's almost straight out of one of the books when discussing the difference between Lyra and Will's worlds in regards to daemons. ... only thing to add to that is that in the context of the book series, the main character is an adolescent with a daemon and she meets someone her own age from another universe that doesn't have a daemon. it's discussed somewhere in there that some universes do not have external daemons, because their "familiar" is inside."
Page 17
PANELS 5-6: “It’s a hard labor gang. Oh, help me, I’ve seen the gold mines. The gold in The Red Place.”
Goldenboy’s appearance gives us clues about the nature of The Red Place where Team Red goes to work. Goldenboy wears goggles to protect his eyes and nose, he has difficulty breathing, and he wears an oxygen mask attached to a pack on his back. His gear may be to protect him from the dust and atmosphere in The Red Place. He also seems to have unusually long, but weak, limbs; he finds it hard to stand. This may say something about the strength of gravity in The Red Place.
Fairy tale parallel: Billy Beezer is taken at midnight.
Page 18
PANEL 2: “They call this an Erdel Gate after the man who discovered it. It leads through space from here to The Red Place.”
The name of the Erdel Gate is borrowed from the origin story of long-time DC superhero The Martian Manhunter.
Mario - "The Erdel gate is named after Professor Saul Erdel, who's experimental transporter brought the Martian Manhunter to Earth in the 1950's. Hence, the 'Red Place' is almost certainly Mars."
The Erdel Gate leads to gold mines that Mister Melmoth is operating on the planet Mars. This is a link to Frankenstein 2. In that issue, the immortal monster pays a visit to the Gold Mines of Mars, and wreaks his long-delayed vengeance upon Melmoth's head.
Page 21
PANEL 5: “You are a most obstinate beast, Teekl. Will only one thing satisfy you?”
Here, Teekl acts as Klarion’s conscience, the voice in his head that prompts him to responsibility and selflessness.
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