Interest has been expressed in a Planetary discussion so I guess I'll start one and see where it goes. I have never read it before. I don't plan to do in-depth summaries because those who expressed said interest have, and some have committed to reading along with me. I bought the omnibus edition, which doesn't have a table of contents but it does have an introduction written by Alan Moore. It collects Planetary #1-27, Planetary Preview, Planetary/Batman, Planetary/JLA and Planetary/Authority. Issue #1 begins with a woman named Jakita Wagner recruiting a man named Elijah Snow into a organization called "Planetary." The third member of the group calls himself "The Drummer." She has been with the team for four years, but knows nothing about it before that, including whether or not it even existed. She explains that Planetary is always a three-person team, but when Snow inquires about the third person before him she responds, "Tell you some other time. When we've worked it out for ourselves." There is also a mysterious "fourth man" who finances the group.
Their first mission takes them to a base in the Adirondacks in search of a man named Dr. Axel Brass (basically Doc Savage) who was born on January 1, 1900 and disappeared on January 1, 1945. They find him a a headquarters filled with trophies (such as "The Hull of the Charnal Ship," "Vestments of the Black Crow King," "The Murder Colonels," etc.). They find Brass still alive. He has been awake since 1945; he eliminated the need for food and sleep in 1942; stopped aging in in '43; learned to close wounds with the power of his mind in '44. He and his collegues (basically Tarzan, the Shadow, etc... a sort of latter day "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") created a quantum computer which opened the door to the multiverse where they discovered a team of super-powered individuals (basically the original Justice League of America) who attacked. Everyone except him was killed, and he has remained guarding the gateway ever since.
"It's a strange world," Snow remarks.
"Let's keep it that way," Jakita agrees.
Planetary is written by Warren Ellis and drawn by John Cassaday. Earlier today I finished reading #37-47 of Stormwatch, also by Ellis, but it really didn't grab me. Some of his stuff I like, some I don't, but Planetary drew me right in.
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You won't believe that ChatGPT says when asked about the academic significance of the number 196833...
Won't understand it more like. I honestly wouldn't have thought anything of it had you not brought it up. I wish my brother (a mathematician) was still alive so he could explain it me. Simply put...
196,833 is an odd composite number composed of four prime numbers multiplied together.
Prime factorization of 196833: 3 × 72 × 13 × 103
A ghost cop... Jim Corrigan?
Maybe! But it might be a reference to a Japanese horror tradition, that of the the vengeful ghost (Onryō), which goes back to Kabuki times in the Edo era. I am no expert on Japanese pop culture (calling the Baron!), but this appears to be a thing, evidenced by such movies as Ring. That movie came out in 1998, so maybe Ellis researched the genre? An Onryō movie called Ghost Cop came out of Japan a few years after this issue came out. The other examples I found online are plays and books famous in Japan that most of us in the West have never heard of.
Or maybe it's Jim Corrigan. Ellis even uses the phrase "spirit of vengeance." Of course, that could be Ghost Rider, too.
Reading Planetary reminds me a bit of reading Astro City for the first time and trying to figure out who's who.
I didn't want to spoil anything before you got into it, but the Planetary team basically investigates the existence of various genres and fictional characters, most of which comics fans are very familiar with. And there's a BIG swing coming.
Drummer's comment about the "196,833" different angles is a call-back to the "theoretical snowflake" in #1.
Ellis isn't done with the snowflake, so keep it in mind. Also, we will re-visit Doc Brass and learn more about his secret society.
Drummer asks Jakita to provide kinetic energy by stomping her foot on the ground. Could that have something to do with the drumsticks?
I hadn't thought of that!
As I typically do, I’m bringing up the rear in this discussion.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
ISSUE #2:
Jakita demonstrates super-speed in this story, and super-strength was alluded to last issue.
Page 50 of the omnibus also demonstrates that she has telescopic vision.
Captain Comics said:
What do you suppose happened to Doc Brass' legs?
“Not needing to eat” may have been an over-simplification.
There are at least five islands I’m aware of that fit this description IRL. One is Sakhalin, and there four more in the Kuril chain, whose names I don't know.
I was going to say that Sakhalin was the birthplace of Yul Brynner, but his Wiki entry says he was born in Vladivostok. There are a lot of conflicting “facts” about Yul, usually courtesy of him.
The flags on the dead soldier’s arm are, in order, U.S., Japanese, Russian Federation. Whodathunk you could have gotten those three to agree on anything and keep it secret.
In 1999, the Russian Federation tricolor flag was still representing a fledgling democracy. Hopefully, post-Putin, it will be again. One of the editorial cartoonists was showing it as Trump’s flag-pin a while ago.
Jeff of Earth-J said:
ISSUE #3:
I have known many percussionists in my life, even roomed with one in college, and Drummer is just like every one of them.
My friend, who was married to my late LCS owner, is a percussionist (all types of drums, plus cymbals and triangles). She’s nothing like this guy.
Drummer asks Jakita to provide kinetic energy by stomping her foot on the ground. Could that have something to do with the drumsticks?
He also says he wanted her to do it for a fantasy of his, so who knows?
My friend, who was married to my late LCS owner, is a percussionist (all types of drums, plus cymbals and triangles). She’s nothing like this guy.
I've never known any female drummers.
.....also xylophones.
I would argue that there is a difference between a "drummer" and a "percussionist."
Trying not to be overly pedantic. Technically, "percussion" is an umbrella term that includes drums. Many kit drum players can also play other percussion instruments and vice-versa. In everyday usage, the word "drummer" usually refers to someone who primarily plays a drum kit (like you see in jazz and rock bands).
Exactly my point.
ISSUE #4:
I feel as if I should recognize the font and layout of that cover, but it's not quite coming to me. Paging ahead a bit in the omnibus (which I try not to do), I see that some of the cover layouts are quite definitely homages to other publications. I'll try to point out those I recognize, but if I miss any (such as the cover above), please feel free to jump in with an assist.
One thing I've been meaning to mention is that I appreciate that the stories have so far been "done-in-one." Too often these days (and I have complained about it a lot), new series begin with a decompressed, six-issue "arc" which takes about as long to real as a single "actual" comic book.This issue begins to make clear the blurb from the cover of the first issue: "Archaelogists of the Impossible." Early on in this issue, Snow complains, "Do we ever get to see anything when it happens, instead of mopping up after it or digging it up?" By the end of the issue, he decides, "It's time Planetary stopped watching things and started doing things." Up until this point, Snow has been content to let Jakita lead, but this decision signals a change in the status quo. The terrorist group "The Snowflake" hearkens back to the "Theoretical Snowflake" of #1. This issue also introduces the concept of "The Bleed," which is similar to my own personal theory of comic book cosmology. So far, it's difficult to imagine this group existing within the DC Universe, but I'm curious to see how Ellis pulls that off. (Or an I confusing Planetary with Stormwatch?)
I don't know that the title logo of this issue emulates any specific previous work, beyond having very evident pulp inspiration.
I see resemblances to typical "Weird Tales" title logos, but what do I know?
https://grognardia.blogspot.com/2008/09/pulp-fantasy-gallery-conans...
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