Nebula Man

From Barbelith

Neh-Buh-Loh, the Nebula Man, is the adult version of the Infant Universe of Qwewq. As an intelligent universe, he is both a character and a location.

Neh-Buh-Loh obviously grew up with a grudge about not having any superheroes in him. Or perhaps Black Death poisoned his outlook.

History/Previous Versions

Back in the original Seven Soldiers stories, Nebula Man was a cosmic villain. In Infinity Inc. #11, The Star-Spangled Kid recalls the funeral of The Crimson Avenger. All of the original Seven Soldiers (including Green Arrow - this is pre-Crisis) are present. The Shining Knight tells about how about "the day the demonic Nebula-Man did hurl us all into a timeless limbo, a third of a century past." Accompanying this text is a picture of a big purple figure whose body seems to be composed of stars (like Neh-Buh-Loh in JLA Classified).

More recently, in 2004's JLA:Classified #1-3, Neh-Buh-Loh possessed Ultramarine John Wether's form for a while and set about, with the aid of Gorilla Grodd and his troupe from Gorillatropolis, utilising the Ultramarines as his own weapons of mass destruction in order to bring about an event known as 'The Harrowing,' until stopped by the JLA.

In Seven Soldiers, Neh-Buh-Loh appears to be the "reality" of the Sheeda as it leaks into the various worlds the other characters inhabit. The story of Seven Soldiers is of The Harrowing come to pass.

The Ultramarines Reborn Theory

One theory concerning that Ultramarines storyline as related to Seven Soldiers:

quinine92001 -- Just a thought today whilst shearing DNA... 
Are the Ultramarines downloaded into the Qwewq reality to protect the infant
universe (our own?) that then becomes the hyperkindtime storytelling universe
of 7 soldiers and each of the Ultramarines has a chance to redeem themselves
as a new character... i.e., one of the new 7 soldiers:
Shining Knight=Squire, 
Zatanna=The Guy who rewrites reality,
Warmaker 1= Frankenstein,
Cyril=The Guardian,
Jack-o-Lantern=Mister Miracle,  etc?

The Wild Huntsman

Neh-Buh-Loh is also analogous to The Wild Huntsman of Celtic mythology (with the Sheeda as one version of the Fair Folk, or Sidhe (http://www.maryjones.us/jce/sidhe.html)). More on the Huntsman here (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/w/wild_hunt.html) and here (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/W/Wi/Wild_Hunt.htm).

As an inter-comics note, the Wild Huntsman is also a baddie in Matt Wagner's Mage books, riding a motorcycle and leading a pack of your worst fears and secret insecurities.

There's also a connection with The Harlequinade from Grant Morrison's previous work The Invisibles...

Kirk Ultra -- I was reading the trade paper back for Finder: King of Cats
(God I love Finder) and while i was reading through the annotations in the back
i came across this little piece of info:

"Mesnie Harlequin is a name used in France for the Wild Hunt. Some sources say
"harlequin" or "helliquin" is derived from "hell king" and denotes a minor demon.
Mesnie Harlequin is believed to be a portent of disaster, plague, and war, and
was reported to have darkened the sun twice before the outbreak of the Revolution.
The Wild Hunt is said to capture harmless and benevolent spirits, changing their
natures to demonic ones and adding them to their ranks."

Nebuloh and the Wild Hunt = the Harlequinade? I love it!

Note that the Harlequinade is/are a personification of a higher level of reality -- an avatar of a greater universe. Just as Neh-Buh-Loh might be to the Seven Soldiers....

As a location, he/it is adjacent to...