Or it could be still be for Moon Shadow.
Note that Julie said “certificate” rather than “application form”, every potential member of the Infinite Vanguard gets a gift certificate worth a name change and a new costume regardless of whether they join.
Yes Tyler’s certainly not the only one who has a dark counterpart out there in the multiverse, anyone with the potential to be a focal point in particular likely has dark futures associated with them when they broke at a key moment.
Funny, thinking of that I end up on the tangent regarding the villainous version of Tyler we see first when he’s tripping through the mirror realities in the Castle Beyond Time And Space and wondering if he was as he was because his parents were identical to Tyler’s in the main setting and their constant harping about destiny and supers being superior to normals turned him villainous or if that was simply your standard ‘corrupted by power’ villainous path.
Why would the Revenant even say that, unless it’s foreshadowing a thing that’s going to become a real risk in the plot that’s heading our way?
I mean, it’s probably also vitally important that Julie not do a whole bunch of other things that aren’t going to happen: slaughter all her friends, for example, or go power-mad, or… The Revenant has to be saying this because in his assessment (which is usually accurate) there’s an actual possibility that under certain circumstances Julie could be convinced there’s no other choice but war with some other group of metahumans.
Julie is a little girl, less than 10 years old. Sorry for proving out Godwin’s Law, here, but when Adolf Hitler was 8, I doubt he had a particular penchant for believing race war was a reasonable option.
She’s young and impressionable. If the Infinite Vanguard, who all think she’s awesome, and who she doesn’t want to let down, start having low-end rumblings of it, she’ll pick up on it. Kids are good at that. And she’ll try to voice things in ways that seem not to attack anybody she likes or respects. It’s possible to use that to slowly bring her up with that kind of mindset, especially as she goes into her teen years when the X-Men seem to be a normal, real-world teen’s reflection of how they feel: both infinitely special and underappreciated, and totally alienated and craving for understanding that nobody seems to have.
Imagine really BEING a lionized icon with big expectations, some self-confidence issues, and a genuine horror at the social treatment of the group she not only identifies with, but nominally leads. While being 13 to 19 years of age. Oh, and you were able to lift multi-ton metal objects when you were little, and have only gotten stronger since.
Yeah, it could happen. Revenant’s not judging Julie, here; he’s being paranoid. Which, um, well. REVENANT.
Oh yes. But that was my point – and I don’t think we’re going to have to wait for her teen years, either.
I was speaking on a meta level. Revenant didn’t just say, “We have to make sure the Headmaster doesn’t ever gain control of Infinite Vanguard,” which would be a natural remark in the circumstances. No, he goes further, identifying Julie as the Vanguard’s weakest point, and a Julie who believes in war on other metahumans as the greatest risk. This is so far outside of what anyone knows of Julie’s psychology so far, that it is a really unusual thing to say at this point. So why?
It’s not impossible. She has a strong sense of duty. She feels an obligation towards people who put their trust in her. Circumstances could conceivably conspire to put her in a place where she felt she had to go to war… but I can’t at this moment imagine what they could be. She has some non-F.I.S.S. friends she cares about deeply. All the same… Revenant said it.
In my view, that means that somehow, someway, this exact scenario is going to turn out to be a threat. How soon? Dunno… but teen years are a loooong way off. I think we should be looking for pieces being put in place that might push her in that direction, despite Revenant and Tyler being aware of the danger and trying to prevent it.
Actually, I think the Revenant’s actual remark is the more natural one, as it cuts from the general to the specific.
It stands to reason. For the Headmaster to achieve a F.I.S.S.-dominated Earth, he would pretty much need the Infinite Vanguard. If he’s going to control the Vanguard’s actions, he can’t have 84 opposed to his desired action or it’s not going to happen – the Vanguard may have agreed to make Zero their leader, but it’s 84 they follow. If everybody else says yes but then she says no, every yes will become a no and that’s the end of that. The Revenant would have no trouble deducing that as long as 84 doesn’t believe an inter-meta war is a valid option, the Headmaster will not be able to use the Vanguard to implement his plan.
That doesn’t mean your suspicion about foreshadowing is wrong, mind. Just not a necessary conclusion.
As the Revenant mentioned before, metahumans panic when their super powers are threatened; currently on Earth, Julie and Forak are the only FISS who are aware of Argonite and what it can do. Even if Julie doesn’t actively participate in the murder of her non-FISS metahuman friends, there’s the risk of her knowledge of Argonite getting leaked to other FISS.
The last thing the rest of the population needs from a group of genocidal, invulnerable metahumans is to have them panic and start breaking necks and asking questions later.
That said, if the FISS population does actually start an Argos-scale purge, they fully deserve what’s coming to them even if they are manipulated into it.
Correct. What is unknown is (a) that it is artificial, not a radioactive piece of Argos; and (b) that it affects all FISS, not just the big expy himself. These are both very valueable pieces of information.
I would be more inclined to think that he’s worried about a “Child’s Crusade” situation where they’re using her as a figurehead and she’s going along with it because she’s a kid and easily convinced that she needs to present a strong front, etc.
Heh. It would be funny if, after she tells him what the other certificate is, she takes a minute to talk to the plant herself before leaving. After all, some people really do like to talk to plants.
Come to think of it, having the “R” on it is foolish on the Revenant’s part. If Tyler is searched, he’ll have to explain it. He can, I am sure, but still, anybody not almost willfully convinced that Tyler COULD NOT be Moonshadow might start putting that together.
It should be a nondescript phone. Or maybe one with his parents’ organization symbol on it; worst case there is his parents find it and wonder who gave it to him. Add in a little “oh, they thought it would be a good idea if I could call for help in case a supervillain tried to get to you through me” and they’d smile and nod.
In a super school I doubt if abnormal behaviour would register.
She might object to the plant not replying to her like she heard it reply to him though.
It’s likely she recognised the disappointment that the last form wasn’t for him.
The only classmate not in a super team gets an invite. She knows how he was feeling.
But Tyler isn’t the only classmate not on a superteam. Zodon and the Flea also aren’t really wanted by any of the other teams, though I think it would be a good idea if Julie asked both of them to join.
Sure it is. Julie has a crush on Tyler. She wants someone in her life that is always there. Moonshadow is cool and all, but he keeps disappearing. She wants somebody reliable. Things will get even more interesting once puberty starts for them
Well, this solves Freak’s confusion about the last panel: “OddâĶ weâre seeing a call between Tyler and the Revenant, and the Revenant isnât fighting anyone.” It was just a short hacking break before battle.
D’oh, missed this comment when I posted my own below. But yeah, for me the clue came from studying statistics and finite math; the capital Sigma is used in the notation for taking the sum of a series (in total or in part of its range).
It’s likely either for Tyler OR for Cecil, just not sure if Revenant would let it get out to anyone including the supers at the school that a Metahuman Detector actually exists (thankfully while the Headmaster is aware of Cecil’s existence he has no idea of his powers and might think them related to his being able to create batlike wings for flight just like people think Moonshadow’s got strange and awesome powers). Certainly the government would try and use Cecil to hunt down metahumans similar to how Revenant did (although at least he was only doing it to test a hypothesis) since the people running things are dangerously paranoid (seriously, when you create something specifically to kill your greatest hero because you’re afraid he’ll turn on you you are dangerously paranoid, particularly given how the setting is on the idealistic side of the scale of idealism vs cynicism).
Then again the school should have some idea Cecil has powers of some sort, at a minimum they should know he’s got a magic leather coat that lets him form wings and fly and from what we’ve seen having a magic item still qualifies you for entry into the school (like the kid with the Helmet forged by Zeus). It’s surprising we haven’t seen some attempts to enroll him at the school, ESPECIALLY since they know he gets involved in metahuman situations and has demonstrated so far NO survival instincts at all. I mean he’s a squishy human basically yet runs right towards super-powerful alien invaders without a moment’s thought that he could get killed and nothing beyond a shrink gun to defend himself.
Well, by this point, he’s a squishy human with a supernatural coat and a chair that can project a force field, communicate over interstellar distances, and control what is, to earth-tech, a warship.
Though yeah, I’m surprised nobody’s approached his parents yet. They’re pretty clearly aware “weird stuff” is going on, and I think they’ve figured out it’s no longer just in his imagination.
Sorry, I was trying to use a rhetorical device to illustrate that “squishy human” is dwarfed by all the other supernatural and super-power-like things he can do, and how his life is now shaped. He’s certainly no more a “squishy human” than his friend who can do the extradimensional drawings (Alex? I think “Lady Alexandra’s” gone by that, so I’m not sure if the One Steve Limit is in play or if I’m misremembering his name).
In any event, my point was that Cecil is not really as normal (and thus as ineligible for enrollment in PS238) as is implied by “squishy human” in the context it was used.
Okay, I know fighting while talking is a power most fictional characters seem to possess. But the Revenant takes it to a whole new level. In fact, I think he is a metahuman whose power is serious multitasking.
It wouldn’t be the first logo that mixed up its symbols. Many medical societies in North America use the caduceus (two snakes around a rod with wings, which was held by Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead, and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves) instead of the rod of Asclepius (a staff with one snake around it, symbol of Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine). This error dates back to the wrong symbol being used in a logo created by the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1902, and has caused bad iconography ever since.
Well, that and a regular looking “EI” doesn’t look as cool as “ÎĢI”. ð
To be fair to the Army Medical Corps, they had the right symbol on the flag. It bled through the white fabric, though, so when people looked at the flag they saw two snakes. Something similar happened to the shoulder patch for the Pennsylvania National Guard, which led to the Keystone Division getting the nickname ‘The Bloody Bucket’.
That page indicates it even appeared on Army hospital chevrons as far back as the 1850’s. The flag explanation you gave sounds like a post-facto explanation someone made up to explain the error long after the fact, not something which matches actual history.
Slightly off-topic, jumping off the topic of Revenant’s Batman reputation:
We know that Tyler is going to continue to be Moon Shadow into adulthood. So I wonder what kind of a rep he has by then. ð
Consider that Revevant’s peers (by age) think of him as a violent vigilante sticking his non-powered nose where he (according to metahuman elitism) shouldn’t. Compare that to Moon Shadow’s peers (by age- his schoolmates at PS238) who revere him as a highly effective, legendary, mysterious, and undoubtedly successful superhero. You gotta wonder if Moon Shadow keeps/gets either one of these as an adult.
Moonshadow will have two reputations. An inner circle of friends will eventually know his secret (e.g. Cecil), but most will keep ascribing ever-more legendary and apocryphal superpowers to him. Where the Revenant’s reputation comes from an image of being a violent, terrifying figure of pain and intimidation, Moonshadow’s will be more akin to some of Batman’s more fanciful rumors. (In some continuities, most criminals think he’s some sort of vampire or other supernatural night-horror.) Those who do know what’s what and who know Tyler for who he is…they’ll trust him implicitly for all of the RIGHT reasons. He’ll be a Batman without the personal demons, which is actually a pretty frightening (but uplifting) thing to which to aspire.
I just had an idea that I’m sure Aaron has already thought of: Headmaster is building a computer model of Moonshadow in order to try to defeat him someday (or he asks Alexis and/or Ajax to do it as an assignment!) only they build it based on Moonshadow’s alleged meta-abilities. The Praetorians build a phalanx gantlet (sic–it ISN’T “gauntlet”!) of masterful traps that would work against such powers–but they completely fail against Tyler’s skills and cleverness.
I can see that, especially if he’s specifically targeting weaknesses that superpowers give you (a la Argonite/Kryptonite) that do absolutely nothing to non-supers.
So Tyler walks right through the hallway made of Argonite, whistling a jaunty tune to ward off the boredom of a far too long stroll.
Too bad the future image of Moon Shadow we get has him as mission control for the Revenant rather than in the field agent role. I also keep wondering what kind of fighting style his adult self employs.
I doubt he’s purely mission control; most likely he and the Revenant don’t go out at the same time that often unless there’s something really big to deal with.
And to take this idea even further…there was an episode of Class of the Titans in which the heroes modeled the archvillain in order to predict possible behavior and counterstrategies. The computer model then became self-aware, took on the identity of the villain, and came within a whisker of defeating EVERYBODY, till the villain finally saved the day.
Who would win if the ordinary Moonshadow threw down against the mythic one?
I’d bet on the genuine article. Shadow-walking and seeing the depths of someone’s soul are nothing compared to the right amounts of gadgets, guile, and guts. Tyler has all those in spades, combined with a common sense rare among his peers.
I’m sure Revenant will lose his ‘bad rep’ as the current crop of kids turn into adults. After all some of them know he’s a decent person and if he works with Moonshadow then his fans would think more highly of Revenant by association.
Well considering that Revenant and Fotak were already talking about non-FiSS in IV, the Praetorian Headmaster won’t get an Argonaut-susceptable group. I doubt the Revenant is planing for that shift to take more than a few years. (Moonshadow is already a Non-FISS and maybe Julie wants to have him on board or associated)
The unfortunate thing about that logo is that that’s a Sigma, not an Epsilon. (Capital Epsilon looks much like our own capital E.) Guess that organisation is trying a little too hard to look Classically-inspired…
Moonshadow with a real super costume… Upgrade time ð
I’d like to see him talking with the staff in the shop. How do you get around mentioning or excusing gadgets among other things.
I’m sure there are other heroes whose power largely revolves around their gadgetry. Difference being they have a super-powered intellect to devise them with and the gadgets correspondingly go much farther into the realm of the super-powered themselves.
Is it Tyler’s? Couldn’t be…
Or it could be still be for Moon Shadow.
Note that Julie said “certificate” rather than “application form”, every potential member of the Infinite Vanguard gets a gift certificate worth a name change and a new costume regardless of whether they join.
Double disappointment for Tyler?
Maybe for his “brother”.
Just to add insult to injury.
Toby isn’t a FISS. He’s something else.
I can’t imagine Julie thinking that about war, but in a dark timeline it might happen.
Yes Tyler’s certainly not the only one who has a dark counterpart out there in the multiverse, anyone with the potential to be a focal point in particular likely has dark futures associated with them when they broke at a key moment.
Funny, thinking of that I end up on the tangent regarding the villainous version of Tyler we see first when he’s tripping through the mirror realities in the Castle Beyond Time And Space and wondering if he was as he was because his parents were identical to Tyler’s in the main setting and their constant harping about destiny and supers being superior to normals turned him villainous or if that was simply your standard ‘corrupted by power’ villainous path.
Why not BOTH motives?
Why would the Revenant even say that, unless it’s foreshadowing a thing that’s going to become a real risk in the plot that’s heading our way?
I mean, it’s probably also vitally important that Julie not do a whole bunch of other things that aren’t going to happen: slaughter all her friends, for example, or go power-mad, or… The Revenant has to be saying this because in his assessment (which is usually accurate) there’s an actual possibility that under certain circumstances Julie could be convinced there’s no other choice but war with some other group of metahumans.
Julie is a little girl, less than 10 years old. Sorry for proving out Godwin’s Law, here, but when Adolf Hitler was 8, I doubt he had a particular penchant for believing race war was a reasonable option.
She’s young and impressionable. If the Infinite Vanguard, who all think she’s awesome, and who she doesn’t want to let down, start having low-end rumblings of it, she’ll pick up on it. Kids are good at that. And she’ll try to voice things in ways that seem not to attack anybody she likes or respects. It’s possible to use that to slowly bring her up with that kind of mindset, especially as she goes into her teen years when the X-Men seem to be a normal, real-world teen’s reflection of how they feel: both infinitely special and underappreciated, and totally alienated and craving for understanding that nobody seems to have.
Imagine really BEING a lionized icon with big expectations, some self-confidence issues, and a genuine horror at the social treatment of the group she not only identifies with, but nominally leads. While being 13 to 19 years of age. Oh, and you were able to lift multi-ton metal objects when you were little, and have only gotten stronger since.
Yeah, it could happen. Revenant’s not judging Julie, here; he’s being paranoid. Which, um, well. REVENANT.
Oh yes. But that was my point – and I don’t think we’re going to have to wait for her teen years, either.
I was speaking on a meta level. Revenant didn’t just say, “We have to make sure the Headmaster doesn’t ever gain control of Infinite Vanguard,” which would be a natural remark in the circumstances. No, he goes further, identifying Julie as the Vanguard’s weakest point, and a Julie who believes in war on other metahumans as the greatest risk. This is so far outside of what anyone knows of Julie’s psychology so far, that it is a really unusual thing to say at this point. So why?
It’s not impossible. She has a strong sense of duty. She feels an obligation towards people who put their trust in her. Circumstances could conceivably conspire to put her in a place where she felt she had to go to war… but I can’t at this moment imagine what they could be. She has some non-F.I.S.S. friends she cares about deeply. All the same… Revenant said it.
In my view, that means that somehow, someway, this exact scenario is going to turn out to be a threat. How soon? Dunno… but teen years are a loooong way off. I think we should be looking for pieces being put in place that might push her in that direction, despite Revenant and Tyler being aware of the danger and trying to prevent it.
Actually, I think the Revenant’s actual remark is the more natural one, as it cuts from the general to the specific.
It stands to reason. For the Headmaster to achieve a F.I.S.S.-dominated Earth, he would pretty much need the Infinite Vanguard. If he’s going to control the Vanguard’s actions, he can’t have 84 opposed to his desired action or it’s not going to happen – the Vanguard may have agreed to make Zero their leader, but it’s 84 they follow. If everybody else says yes but then she says no, every yes will become a no and that’s the end of that. The Revenant would have no trouble deducing that as long as 84 doesn’t believe an inter-meta war is a valid option, the Headmaster will not be able to use the Vanguard to implement his plan.
That doesn’t mean your suspicion about foreshadowing is wrong, mind. Just not a necessary conclusion.
As the Revenant mentioned before, metahumans panic when their super powers are threatened; currently on Earth, Julie and Forak are the only FISS who are aware of Argonite and what it can do. Even if Julie doesn’t actively participate in the murder of her non-FISS metahuman friends, there’s the risk of her knowledge of Argonite getting leaked to other FISS.
The last thing the rest of the population needs from a group of genocidal, invulnerable metahumans is to have them panic and start breaking necks and asking questions later.
That said, if the FISS population does actually start an Argos-scale purge, they fully deserve what’s coming to them even if they are manipulated into it.
Argonite is well known Zordon was talking about it with Capt. Clarinet in issue one
Correct. What is unknown is (a) that it is artificial, not a radioactive piece of Argos; and (b) that it affects all FISS, not just the big expy himself. These are both very valueable pieces of information.
I would be more inclined to think that he’s worried about a “Child’s Crusade” situation where they’re using her as a figurehead and she’s going along with it because she’s a kid and easily convinced that she needs to present a strong front, etc.
Tyler: Talking to the plant? No I was on my cell phone. See?
He would not want her to think he is 1) insane, 2) herbapathic (See Poison Ivy).
Heh. It would be funny if, after she tells him what the other certificate is, she takes a minute to talk to the plant herself before leaving. After all, some people really do like to talk to plants.
It would be even funnier if the plant replied.
The cell phone has the Revenant’s logo on it. He might not want to show it to her.
Come to think of it, having the “R” on it is foolish on the Revenant’s part. If Tyler is searched, he’ll have to explain it. He can, I am sure, but still, anybody not almost willfully convinced that Tyler COULD NOT be Moonshadow might start putting that together.
It should be a nondescript phone. Or maybe one with his parents’ organization symbol on it; worst case there is his parents find it and wonder who gave it to him. Add in a little “oh, they thought it would be a good idea if I could call for help in case a supervillain tried to get to you through me” and they’d smile and nod.
In a super school I doubt if abnormal behaviour would register.
She might object to the plant not replying to her like she heard it reply to him though.
It’s likely she recognised the disappointment that the last form wasn’t for him.
The only classmate not in a super team gets an invite. She knows how he was feeling.
But Tyler isn’t the only classmate not on a superteam. Zodon and the Flea also aren’t really wanted by any of the other teams, though I think it would be a good idea if Julie asked both of them to join.
Zodon would refuse to join a “hero” team and Flea takes pride in being at the top NOT wanted of for the super teams list.
Knowing the students of PS238, talking to plants may be more common than talking to cell phones.
Sure it is. Julie has a crush on Tyler. She wants someone in her life that is always there. Moonshadow is cool and all, but he keeps disappearing. She wants somebody reliable. Things will get even more interesting once puberty starts for them
Sorry, that was supposed to be a reply to Doughbelly’s comment.
I think you’re on to something there, lets see what happens, Tyler might end up having to do a big reveal in front of her.
Ummm. My brain really wants to take that last phrase to a post-puberty place.
I mean, I found the comment funny in that it could be taken the wrong way. Double meanings and all that.
Well, this solves Freak’s confusion about the last panel: “OddâĶ weâre seeing a call between Tyler and the Revenant, and the Revenant isnât fighting anyone.” It was just a short hacking break before battle.
ADAHN! You were RIGHT!!! ð
(Comments of 2016-01-25)
Good memory! (And a bit too much attention to the comments section.)
I already forgot when I came up with that theory. :p
What if that form is for the Revenant?
See, I definitely assumed he had this plan. But I assumed the plan would be how to stop them once it happened.
Is the Epsilon Initiative a call out to something in comics, or is that another one for the case files?
Given the Greek reference, maybe Project Cadmus, since Aaron’s a DC fanboy.
But the logo actually features a capital Sigma, not an Epsilon (which actually looks like an E).
All that time in college spent at parties on Frat Row finally proves useful!
D’oh, missed this comment when I posted my own below. But yeah, for me the clue came from studying statistics and finite math; the capital Sigma is used in the notation for taking the sum of a series (in total or in part of its range).
It’s likely either for Tyler OR for Cecil, just not sure if Revenant would let it get out to anyone including the supers at the school that a Metahuman Detector actually exists (thankfully while the Headmaster is aware of Cecil’s existence he has no idea of his powers and might think them related to his being able to create batlike wings for flight just like people think Moonshadow’s got strange and awesome powers). Certainly the government would try and use Cecil to hunt down metahumans similar to how Revenant did (although at least he was only doing it to test a hypothesis) since the people running things are dangerously paranoid (seriously, when you create something specifically to kill your greatest hero because you’re afraid he’ll turn on you you are dangerously paranoid, particularly given how the setting is on the idealistic side of the scale of idealism vs cynicism).
Then again the school should have some idea Cecil has powers of some sort, at a minimum they should know he’s got a magic leather coat that lets him form wings and fly and from what we’ve seen having a magic item still qualifies you for entry into the school (like the kid with the Helmet forged by Zeus). It’s surprising we haven’t seen some attempts to enroll him at the school, ESPECIALLY since they know he gets involved in metahuman situations and has demonstrated so far NO survival instincts at all. I mean he’s a squishy human basically yet runs right towards super-powerful alien invaders without a moment’s thought that he could get killed and nothing beyond a shrink gun to defend himself.
Well, by this point, he’s a squishy human with a supernatural coat and a chair that can project a force field, communicate over interstellar distances, and control what is, to earth-tech, a warship.
Though yeah, I’m surprised nobody’s approached his parents yet. They’re pretty clearly aware “weird stuff” is going on, and I think they’ve figured out it’s no longer just in his imagination.
Tyler’s a squishy human too, just one with super parents who leaned on the school, and weird luck.
Sorry, I was trying to use a rhetorical device to illustrate that “squishy human” is dwarfed by all the other supernatural and super-power-like things he can do, and how his life is now shaped. He’s certainly no more a “squishy human” than his friend who can do the extradimensional drawings (Alex? I think “Lady Alexandra’s” gone by that, so I’m not sure if the One Steve Limit is in play or if I’m misremembering his name).
In any event, my point was that Cecil is not really as normal (and thus as ineligible for enrollment in PS238) as is implied by “squishy human” in the context it was used.
Don’t forget the shrink Gun.
Okay, I know fighting while talking is a power most fictional characters seem to possess. But the Revenant takes it to a whole new level. In fact, I think he is a metahuman whose power is serious multitasking.
Actually, I’m starting to think his meta is competency. He’s exactly as competent as he needs to be.
Given the topic of the phone call, the other application is for a super group battle royale among the school’s super groups.
I think that certificate is either for tyler or the revenant, either would be awkward.
I’m just distracted by wondering why the Epsilon Initiative has a logo consisting of a sigma and an iota. Where’s the epsilon?
It wouldn’t be the first logo that mixed up its symbols. Many medical societies in North America use the caduceus (two snakes around a rod with wings, which was held by Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead, and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves) instead of the rod of Asclepius (a staff with one snake around it, symbol of Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine). This error dates back to the wrong symbol being used in a logo created by the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1902, and has caused bad iconography ever since.
Well, that and a regular looking “EI” doesn’t look as cool as “ÎĢI”. ð
Hey, they could go for lowercase epsilon, with the backward 3 look. Of course, that makes the logo look a bit like an emoticon, but who cares?
To be fair to the Army Medical Corps, they had the right symbol on the flag. It bled through the white fabric, though, so when people looked at the flag they saw two snakes. Something similar happened to the shoulder patch for the Pennsylvania National Guard, which led to the Keystone Division getting the nickname ‘The Bloody Bucket’.
Saying it had something to do with the flag doesn’t match any information I’ve ever seen. Take a look here for the history with the US military:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_as_a_symbol_of_medicine#Adoption_by_the_US_military
That page indicates it even appeared on Army hospital chevrons as far back as the 1850’s. The flag explanation you gave sounds like a post-facto explanation someone made up to explain the error long after the fact, not something which matches actual history.
Slightly off-topic, jumping off the topic of Revenant’s Batman reputation:
We know that Tyler is going to continue to be Moon Shadow into adulthood. So I wonder what kind of a rep he has by then. ð
Consider that Revevant’s peers (by age) think of him as a violent vigilante sticking his non-powered nose where he (according to metahuman elitism) shouldn’t. Compare that to Moon Shadow’s peers (by age- his schoolmates at PS238) who revere him as a highly effective, legendary, mysterious, and undoubtedly successful superhero. You gotta wonder if Moon Shadow keeps/gets either one of these as an adult.
Moonshadow will have two reputations. An inner circle of friends will eventually know his secret (e.g. Cecil), but most will keep ascribing ever-more legendary and apocryphal superpowers to him. Where the Revenant’s reputation comes from an image of being a violent, terrifying figure of pain and intimidation, Moonshadow’s will be more akin to some of Batman’s more fanciful rumors. (In some continuities, most criminals think he’s some sort of vampire or other supernatural night-horror.) Those who do know what’s what and who know Tyler for who he is…they’ll trust him implicitly for all of the RIGHT reasons. He’ll be a Batman without the personal demons, which is actually a pretty frightening (but uplifting) thing to which to aspire.
I just had an idea that I’m sure Aaron has already thought of: Headmaster is building a computer model of Moonshadow in order to try to defeat him someday (or he asks Alexis and/or Ajax to do it as an assignment!) only they build it based on Moonshadow’s alleged meta-abilities. The Praetorians build a phalanx gantlet (sic–it ISN’T “gauntlet”!) of masterful traps that would work against such powers–but they completely fail against Tyler’s skills and cleverness.
To overestimate an enemy can be just as dangerous as to underestimate them.
I can see that, especially if he’s specifically targeting weaknesses that superpowers give you (a la Argonite/Kryptonite) that do absolutely nothing to non-supers.
So Tyler walks right through the hallway made of Argonite, whistling a jaunty tune to ward off the boredom of a far too long stroll.
Ha! I like that. That’s funny.
Too bad the future image of Moon Shadow we get has him as mission control for the Revenant rather than in the field agent role. I also keep wondering what kind of fighting style his adult self employs.
I doubt he’s purely mission control; most likely he and the Revenant don’t go out at the same time that often unless there’s something really big to deal with.
And to take this idea even further…there was an episode of Class of the Titans in which the heroes modeled the archvillain in order to predict possible behavior and counterstrategies. The computer model then became self-aware, took on the identity of the villain, and came within a whisker of defeating EVERYBODY, till the villain finally saved the day.
Who would win if the ordinary Moonshadow threw down against the mythic one?
I’d bet on the genuine article. Shadow-walking and seeing the depths of someone’s soul are nothing compared to the right amounts of gadgets, guile, and guts. Tyler has all those in spades, combined with a common sense rare among his peers.
Yeah i mean who would be stupid enough to try and use something as powerfull as the ultimate negetory (Victor Vonn Dumb)
I’m sure Revenant will lose his ‘bad rep’ as the current crop of kids turn into adults. After all some of them know he’s a decent person and if he works with Moonshadow then his fans would think more highly of Revenant by association.
Moonshadows sidekick is how he was referred to during the alien invasion.
Well considering that Revenant and Fotak were already talking about non-FiSS in IV, the Praetorian Headmaster won’t get an Argonaut-susceptable group. I doubt the Revenant is planing for that shift to take more than a few years. (Moonshadow is already a Non-FISS and maybe Julie wants to have him on board or associated)
The unfortunate thing about that logo is that that’s a Sigma, not an Epsilon. (Capital Epsilon looks much like our own capital E.) Guess that organisation is trying a little too hard to look Classically-inspired…
Moonshadow with a real super costume… Upgrade time ð
I’d like to see him talking with the staff in the shop. How do you get around mentioning or excusing gadgets among other things.
Request lots and lots of pockets.
I’m sure there are other heroes whose power largely revolves around their gadgetry. Difference being they have a super-powered intellect to devise them with and the gadgets correspondingly go much farther into the realm of the super-powered themselves.