Religious Reference In JLU

[CPI Guy]

As I am new to the posting but a long-time reader of this forum, was anyone shocked as to the (what I think) was a religious reference at the end of the episode of JLU set in the future? When John and Batman are chasing Chronos to the beginning of time, you see it is represented as a huge hand holding the galaxy (God), rather than an explosion to represent the "big bang" theory? As a Christian and a husband and father, I was THRILLED to see that portrayal, and was encouraged by the folks that make JLU if that was their intention to portray God in that way!

Did anyone else notice this?

By the way to all "posters", past & present: THANKS for making this one of the most enjoyable & entertaining message boards I have ever seen! Keep up the good work!!

 

[Knight]

To my knowledge (and from reading lots of comics) that is how the begining of the universe has always been portrayed in the DC. It was a nice nod to the comics.

 

[El Zorro]

That "Hand" and the begining of the Universe actually dates back to Green Lantern v.2 #40, 1965. A renegade Oan named Krona was trying to peer back in time to see creation, saw that hand, and in some fashion fractured the universe thus introducing evil into it. This was the motivation for the Oan's creating the Green Lantern Corps. Most people know it from its appearence under similar cirumstances during the Crisis on Infinite Earth's limited series in the mid-80s.

 

[El Zorro]

That "Hand" and the begining of the Universe actually dates back to Green Lantern v.2 #40, 1965. A renegade Oan named Krona was trying to peer back in time to see creation, saw that hand, and in some fashion fractured the universe thus introducing evil into it. This was the motivation for the Oan's creating the Green Lantern Corps. Most people know it from its appearence under similar cirumstances during the Crisis on Infinite Earth's limited series in the mid-80s.

This is a page from GL #40:

​

 

[CPI Guy]

Nice job on your posts, El Zorro! Thanks for the info and image scan!

 

[Knight]

Thats why it was so important in the The Once and Future thing part2 that they prevented Chronos from going to far back in time ,seeing the origin of the universe would destroy everything. Atleast according to legend.

 

[Harley_Quinn]

Thats why it was so important in the The Once and Future thing part2 that they prevented Chronos from going to far back in time ,seeing the origin of the universe would destroy everything. Atleast according to legend.

That kind of cool, I knew that had some sort of comic book origin but didn't know where it came from.

 

[El Zorro]

Here's another shot of the "hand" from the cover of Crisis on Infinite Earths #10 (1986):

The image is from The Annotated Crisis, a very cool site that I highly recommend to readers of the series, or indeed anyone who would like to know what Crisis was and why its still seems so important.
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[Zebi]

I thought the hand might have been a spiritual or religious reference, which was pretty cool. But it's even better to learn about the Green Lanterns' legend. Thanks for sharing, El Zorro!

 

[Harley_Quinn]

. Thanks for sharing, El Zorro!

Ditto!

 

[El Zorro]

My pleasure. I figure I've been filling my head with arcane comic book trivia (among other things) for nigh on 30 years now, I might as well share some of it with others

 

[Jade_GL]

I mainly remembered this image, the hand holding the universe, from a book called *Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale* which pretty much goes over the whole Krona story for new readers. The original story was pretty dated, from 1965 as was already mentioned. This book was done in 1995.

I read it about 3-4 years ago and really enjoyed it. Larry Niven wrote it and John Byrne did the penciling and such. It was a fun read. 48 pages and a nice paperback cover. Like I said, it was a prestige book, so it cost 4.95 or so when it first came out.

You can get it on sale at Mile High for pretty cheap if you're interested in the story. I think it was under 2 dollars when I looked it up earlier. Amazon also sells it, but for much more. I got mine for a steal on ebay, of course.

Anyway, here's a linky. As you can see, the corp is surrounding the hand and spiral in the center. It's kind of hard to see at first, but it's there.

Mile High Comics page

 

[Harley_Quinn]

I mainly remembered this image, the hand holding the universe, from a book called *Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale* which pretty much goes over the whole Krona story for new readers. The original story was pretty dated, from 1965 as was already mentioned. This book was done in 1995.

I read it about 3-4 years ago and really enjoyed it. Larry Niven wrote it and John Byrne did the penciling and such. It was a fun read. 48 pages and a nice paperback cover. Like I said, it was a prestige book, so it cost 4.95 or so when it first came out.

You can get it on sale at Mile High for pretty cheap if you're interested in the story. I think it was under 2 dollars when I looked it up earlier. Amazon also sells it, but for much more. I got mine for a steal on ebay, of course.

Anyway, here's a linky. As you can see, the corp is surrounding the hand and spiral in the center. It's kind of hard to see at first, but it's there.

Mile High Comics page

May have to pick it up, sounds like an interesting read

 

[The Detective]

Interesting, I didn't realize this hand has such precedence in the comics. Of course, in the DC Comics world I think the presence of a God is pretty unquestionable so it does make a lot of sense. (now we just need the vengeance of God, The Spectre to show up)

</The Detective>

 

[Christopher Glennon]

Huh, thanks El Zorro.

Now how does all this relate to that giant green woman in JLA/Avengers who was hanging out with Eternity (a Marvel being)?

 

[Knight]

Huh, thanks El Zorro.

Now how does all this relate to that giant green woman in JLA/Avengers who was hanging out with Eternity (a Marvel being)?

Who knows I dont think she had ever appeared before that series Where she was created to be the DC counterpart to Marvel's Eternity. I dont belive Kurt Busiek even gave her a name for the series or made up a background for her yet.

 

[Rabi~en~Rose]

that whole hand thing in the episode was way unexpected and it really creeped me out to in a way it gave me the shivers! but wasnt it wrong for Batman to see it/remember it? seeing Batman in space fighting aliens is one thing but him seeing the beginning of time is on a whole other level

ps

the anti-monitor? lol what kind of name is that?
theres a starro in the second picture!

 

[El Zorro]

the anti-monitor? lol what kind of name is that?

Well, he was the evil counterpart of The Monitor from the 'Anti-Matter Universe' of Qward, so the name--despite sounding incredibly silly--did have some reasoning behind it.

theres a starro in the second picture!

Actually, in the comics there was only ever one Starro, he was a giant intelligent alien star-fish who could read minds and shoot atomic energy through its tentacles... As I typed that description it erased any doubt as to why they totally re-did Starro for The Call *L* .. Comics back then were a little less sophisticated than some made in more recent years, but they were loads of fun

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[V.L.]

Thanks for posting that last pic El Zorro. It's a bit of geeky trivia but I now know the pic at the end of Book Six of DC: The New Frontier is a nice homage to the cover you posted.

 

[Singularity]

They already redid Starro before "The Call"; he appears changed from original in at least seven years ago, whereas "The Call" aired in 2000. Of course, there is a difference between "The Call" and the comics in that the comics Starro was a giant space-faring starfish that spawned lots of little starfish, whereas "The Call" has Starro being a group of starfish.

Who knows I dont think she had ever appeared before that series Where she was created to be the DC counterpart to Marvel's Eternity. I dont belive Kurt Busiek even gave her a name for the series or made up a background for her yet.

Her name is Kismet and she has appeared before in Superman comics.
http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/who/who-intro.php?topic=kismet