COMIC ANNOTATIONS: Defenders: Beyond #1

I made a comment that I could write pages and pages about just a moment in the most recent Defenders: Beyond #2 by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez and this made me remember all those times I read the annotations for Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or even the annotations for the more recent House of X/Powers of X. Reading a comic that has so much detail and than getting to understand those details is really an amazing feeling. So, hey, why not do what I said I could do?

But let's start with issue one, because that makes more sense:

Defenders: Beyond #1: "Malkuth: The Neutral Zone"

Written by Al Ewing

Artwork by Javier Rodriguez

Letters by Joe Caramagna

Okay, let's start with the title: in Ewing and Rodriguez's previous Defenders book, all of the issue titles were the name of the cosmos they were taking place in and the Tarot card corresponding to the viewpoint character of the issue (i.e. "Eighth Cosmos: The Magician", "Sixth Cosmos: Judgment!", "Fifth Cosmos: The High Priestess"). Not for this book: instead, we have the name of one of the nodes or Sephirots in the Kabbalistic tree of life. Specifically, we have "Malkuth," the tenth node, which sits at the bottom of the tree. Malkuth is specifically the lowest node and represents the "dwelling," the earthly plane of matter. Right after "Malkuth," we do get a location: "The Neutral Zone." In Marvel cosmology, the Neutral Zone (or "Exo-Space") is the space between realities, where positive and negative matter coexist.

Adam Brashear, or the Blue Marvel, actually discovered the Neutral Zone and attempted to explore it, but his son Kevin was lost there after foiling a villain's plot back in Mighty Avengers vol 2 #9 (Al Ewing, Greg Land) in 2014. Although this issue doesn't take place in the Neutral Zone (until the end), it does have the Blue Marvel as the main character.

This also isn't the first time that writers have referred to the Kabbalistic tree of life. Chris Claremont included the tree of life in X-Men: The End and Grant Morrison made references to it in their New X-Men run -- specifically, calling the ultimate form of the Phoenix "the White Phoenix of the Crown," associating it with Keter, the "regal crown" of the Sephirot. Al Ewing himself has made references to Kabbalah in Immortal Hulk, specifically the "Qlippoth," empty husks representing evil spirits and the opposite of the Sephirot.

Page 1, Panel 1: The disembodied head of Doctor Strange saying, "Heed me, Blue Marvel! For I am the Final Spell of Stephen Strange!" Doctor Strange recently died during The Death of Doctor Strange mini-series by Jed MacKay and Lee Garbett.

Blue Marvel's narration box states, "Another day, another strange tale." Doctor Strange's first appearance was in Strange Tales #110 in 1963.

The writer, artist, letterer, and editors are listed on the side of a pilot fish. Pilot fish use a bright bioluminescent light to lure their prey close in dark waters. I wonder if Ewing is saying something with this?

Page 2-3, Panel 3: Doctor Strange left Blue Marvel a box with three objects in it: the Eternity Mask, the headpiece of Taaia of the Sixth Cosmos, and the Tarot of the Secret Flame.

The Eternity Mask first appeared in Marvel Comics #1000, although it was retconned to be the mask of many prior characters, including the original Masked Raider, the Black Rider, the Operative, the Black Avenger, Blind Justice, and, finally the Masked Rider, who left the mask to Doctor Strange after his death in the last issue of the previous Defenders book. The Mask is woven from Eternity itself and has the power to give its wearer equal power and ability to anyone they face.

Taaia of the Sixth Cosmos first appeared in the previous Defenders book by Ewing and Rodriguez. She is a "Scienceer" (since the Sixth Cosmos is based on Kirby-esque super-science) and the mother to Galan, better known as Galactus. In the last issue of that Defenders book, she gave her headpiece to Stephen and told him if he needed her, he could contact her through the headpiece (which must be really powerful if it can send a signal not only back through time, but before not just the current cosmos, but the previous cosmos existed).

The Tarot of the Secret Flame is Doctor Strange's personal Tarot deck. In the first issue of the last Defenders book, he used it to summon a team of Defenders in order to stop Carlos Zota. The deck serves a similar purpose in this issue, with each card representing a character. The first card that Blue Marvel picks up is the Ten of Wands reversed. Blue Marvel correctly says that "additional responsibilities -- a burden over and above what's already carried," but it being reversed means that he is trying to do too much by himself.

Page 4, Panel 1: Behind the Blue Marvel are scenes from his life and the enemies he has faced:

• Top left: Max Brashear, his second son, who called himself Doctor Positron.

• Top middle: Blue Marvel fighting Anti-Man from Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel.

• Top right: Evald Skorpion, Blue Marvel's nemesis from Mighty Avengers.

• Middle left: Jason Quantrell or the Beyond Corporation using Jason Quantrell's body from Captain America and the Mighty Avengers.

• Lower left: The Infininaut from Ultimates (2015) #9.

• Lower right: The First Firmament from Ultimates/Ultimates 2.

Page 5, Panel 2: "You refuse the call...?" The Refusal of the Call is one of the steps of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.

Page 5, Panel 6: The card showing is the Ten of Swords and the figure impaled by the swords is America Chavez. The card represents destruction, hopelessness, and despair, but if it's reversed, it means a troubling situation will continue and not to despair.

Page 6, Panel 13: Blue Marvel's underwater base is named Kadesh. This is the name of many places around the world, both ancient and modern, and comes from the Semitic root that means "sacred."

Blue Marvel also says that his fortress "is a house with many rooms." This is a quote from the Bible, John 14:2:

"My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?"

A sacred house with many rooms? This is Blue Marvel's Heaven.

Page 7, Panel 2: Blue Marvel calls the Neutral Zone "a buffer zone at the edge of reality, leading to what lies beyond." Back in The Ultimates (2015) #3, this was the Neutral Zone's description:

"The farthest edge of things. The white space bordering all. The Exo-Space. Home of eldritch forms and predatory concepts. Beyond this, nothing is known."

Page 9, Panel 2: The Ten of Cups reversed is Taaia's card. Generally, it represents contentment, friendship, and love, but reversed it means a disrupted contentment, a broken routine.

Page 9, Panel 8: The Ten of Coins reversed is Loki's card. Generally, this represents wealth and riches (hence the coins), but reversed it means financial ruin. Blue Marvel is being a bit lofty here, describing it as "a kingdom unwanted, a future yawning like the grave."

Page 10, Panels 1-4: The letters are actually the word "NEXT" written backwards. In the last issue of Loki: Agent of Asgard (by Al Ewing and Lee Garbett), Loki decided to avoid the whole Secret Wars thing by creating a doorway and writing "NEXT" above it and then walking through. As we saw in Thor vol 6 #24 (Legacy #650) story "What Comes Next" (also by Al Ewing and Lee Garbett), this led them to the post-Secret Wars Eighth Cosmos and then to the Sixth Cosmos and to Taaia. Deciding to go on one last adventure, they persuaded Taaia to come with them and stepped through the NEXT door...

Page 10, Panel 5: ...and stepped out right here.

Page 14, Panel 4: Loki tells them that they can't investigate the threat to reality while inside reality. They have to go outside, "into the mystery." In The Ultimates (2015) #3-4, Blue Marvel's other team (the titular Ultimates) tried going "outside" reality in order to judge what was wrong with time, but failed and needed Galactus to put them back.

"Into the mystery" is a phrase that Ewing has been using for a long time, usually as a reference to the 1960's Marvel anthology Journey Into Mystery. In The Ultimates 2 (2017), the Fourth Cosmos is referred to as "the pilgrim, the true believer, who journeys into mystery." Ewing has also referred to the place beyond all things, the heart of creation itself (otherwise known as the White-Hot Room) as "the Mystery" in both Valkyrie: Jane Foster and S.W.O.R.D.

Page 15, Panel 1: The Ten of Crowns is Tigra. The Ten of Crowns does not, actually, exist. So far, we have had four previous tens in the four suits of Tarot:

• Ten of Wands (Blue Marvel)

• Ten of Swords (America Chavez)

• Ten of Cups (Taaia of the Sixth Cosmos)

• Ten of Coins (Loki)

But since there are only four suits, the fifth card should either be from one of the already drawn suits or one of the Major Arcana -- but that wouldn't fit the theme, which is all tens. So Ewing just made up a new suit and voila, the Ten of Crowns.

But what could it represent? Crowns usually are for royalty or high spirituality -- the Five Heavenly Crowns is a concept in Christian theology (too bad there aren't ten). The Beast is also supposed to be wearing ten crowns atop his ten horns, although, while Tigra is kind of beastly, I don't think she's the Beast of Revelation. Especially because the Ten of Crowns is reversed -- and if a crown represents royalty or spirit, reversal of one could represent base matter or disbelief.

Page 18-19, Panel 1: You'll notice that the face of Eternity looks a lot like the disembodied head of Stephen Strange the last time we saw it.

All around the Defenders are surrounded by crystals of "frozen spacetime" or "Neutronium" as Blue Marvel put it back in Captain America and the Mighty Avengers. This is, finally, the Neutral Zone. But they aren't staying here for long.

Page 22, Panel 1: "I am from Beyond." This is the Beyonder. He is saying the exact same thing he originally stated in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 back in 1984:

"I am from Beyond. Slay your enemies and all you desire shall be yours. Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish."

The Beyonder is wearing the "superhero" outfit that he briefly wore in Secret Wars II and then in "Secret Wars III" in Fantastic Four #318-319 (1988), however it's gold now instead of silver. He also has an Omega symbol on his chest. We won't know why until the next issue.

And that's it for now!