Strange Visions

***Legacies***
*This article contains information revolving around Legacies of the DC Animated Universe.*

## Strange Visions

### Published on

November, 2015

**Strange Visions** is Issue #0 of *Legacies of the DCAU*.

## Plot Summary

Prologue. The Phantom Stranger sheds light on the hopefulness and the despondency of the DCAU's past, present, and future.

## Details

### Major Events

* The Phantom Stranger is revealed to have been watching over the events of the entire DC Animated Universe.

### Characters

* Phantom Stranger
* Ganthet
* Weaponers of Qwards
* Lex Luthor
* Darkseid
* Batman (Bruce Wayne)
* Thomas Wayne
* Martha Wayne
* Wonder Woman
* Flash
* Green Lantern (John Stewart)
* Hawkgirl (Shayera Hol)
* Hro Talak
* The Justice Lords
* Robin (Dick Grayson)
* Hippolyta
* Lord Hades
* Superman
* Joker
* A.M.A.Z.O.
* Amanda Waller
* Thaal Sinestro
* Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
* Chronos
* The Phantasm
* Blight (Derek Powers)
* Talia
* Brainiac
* Static
* Gear
* Batwoman
* Zeta
* Rosalie "Ro" Rowan

### Locations

* The Beginning of Time
* The Source Wall
* Atlantis
* Skartaris
* The Watchtower
* Krypton
* Mars
* Themyscira

## Mythology

* The nearly pure white, representing the white entropy of emptiness that is the universe itself prior to the “Big Bang.” It also references the timestream pollution seen in the *Justice League Unlimited* two-part episode, *“The Once and Future Thing.”*
	+ The subtle glass texture over the white is a hint toward the next issue, where we find that the Council of the Quintessence is watching and studying the events playing out in Legacies through a crystal ball.
* Elements of “order vs chaos” have historically played important roles in the DC Universe. The Lords of Chaos and Order have ties to familiar characters such as Doctor Fate, Hawk & Dove, and Captain Marvel. In the STAS episode “The Hand of Fate,” Karkull even mentions the Lords of Chaos, and the subject is broached by Doctor Fate again in Justice League’s “The Terror Beyond.”
* The remainder of page 1 calls to imagery seen in various DC stories, most notably *Crisis on Infinite Earths* and *Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths* (which was originally set in the DCAU). Visually, the splitting of the Overvoid is also a nod to the birth of Apokolips and New Genesis, seen in the Superman episode *“Apokolips… Now!”* and the multiverse representation was based on a crop circle image James Strecker found when looking for inspiration of unique ways to present the countless Earths.
* References to the matter and anti-matter universes, a concept featured in the DC Universe proper over the decades. There is also an appearance by the Qwardians, the anti-matter universe’s reflection of our Guardians of the Universe and the weaponizers of the yellow lanterns.
* The New Gods panel features a visual homage to Mother Box’s historical recap in *“Apokolips… Now!”* (which, interestingly, is an homage in itself to Jack Kirby’s New Gods #7.)
* References to various ancient civilizations and concepts featured in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, including The Source Wall, Atlantis, and Skartaris.
	+ On the left half of the Source Wall, are references to classic Jack Kirby created characters like Galactus, the Silver Surfer (mostly hidden by the caption box), and the *"Witch Queen of Ancient Sumeria"* from Kirby's *Weird Mystery Tales #1 (1972)* and *The Batman Adventures Annual #2 (1995).*
	+ Lex Luthor and Darkseid are in the very bottom left corner, who were put there after the events of JLU's series finale, according to producer Dwayne McDuffie.
	+ Also of note, there is a sly nod to the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica in the phrasing of the Phantom Stranger’s captions for this segment.
* Page 3 features the DCAU origins of each of the founding members of the Justice League. Since each backstory had to be condensed down into one slim panel, we chose the most iconic imagery we could conceive per character.
	+ The first is Superman, obviously noting the destruction of Krypton and his lifeboat’s escape
	+ Batman’s was ripped right from the iconic Batman: Year One cover depicting the death of the Waynes. In this version, however, there are chalk outlines as though Bruce had been mourning in Crime Alley for some time, and the clothing matches what the flashback in the *Justice League Unlimited* episode *“For the Man Who Has Everything.”*
	+ Wonder Woman’s is a callback to her first taking the armor from the Temple of Athena on Themyscira in the *Justice League* series premiere, *Secret Origins.*
	+ The DCAU’s Wally West, not unlike their Kyle Rayner, shares an amalgamated character history with another comic book version of his character. The West seen throughout this animated universe has an origin that mimics that of DC’s Barry Allen, the Flash from 1956 to 1985 (and now again since 2011). This origin was briefly hinted at on screen in the *Justice League* episode *“The Brave and the Bold.”*
	+ John Stewart’s Green Lantern has an origin that is harder to pin down in the DCAU. Though known various aspects about his past, and that the Guardians “chose wisely when [they] offered [him] the ring,” we know not the reasoning nor circumstances involved in his gaining of it. So we settled for the best possible option, simply showing him accessing a Lantern battery, similar to Kyle Rayner’s induction in STAS.
	+ J’onn J’onzz' origin was the primary drive of the plot of *“Secret Origins,”* his scene shows something’s about to go down on Mars.
* The Justice Lords appear, they were antagonists in the *Justice League* episode *A Better World.*
* The panel of Robin punching Batman notably calls back to his departure from the Bat-Family as seen in *the New Batman Adventures* episode *“Old Wounds,”* as well as the third issue of *Batman Adventures: The Lost Years.*
* Wonder Woman's birth was shown, which was previously alluded to in the *Justice League Unlimited* episode *The Balance*.
* A flashback to Hawkgirl's betrayal of the Justice League in *Starcrossed* is shown.
* The time when Darkseid brainwashed Superman in the *Superman: The Animated Series* episode *Legacy* is shown.
* The death of the Joker, from *Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker*.
* Batman’s defining moment of failure, *“Rebirth,” Batman Beyond*.
* The A.M.A.Z.O. android appears, a multi-layered character featured in Justice League/Unlimited.
* Amanda Waller’s hand on a chess piece, alluding to upcoming Checkmate appearances in Legacies.
* Thaal Sinestro and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) square off, *“In Brightest Day…” Superman: the Animated Series.*
* Chronos watches the timestream unravel, *“The Once and Future Thing,” Justice League Unlimited*.
* The formation of the Justice League, *“Secret Origins,” Justice League*.
* The Phantasm: an original DCAU character and defining element of Batman’s life, Mask of the Phantasm
* Blight/Derek Powers, Terry McGinnis’ archnemesis, Batman Beyond Batman and Talia trudge through the desert in a still-to-come Legacies story.
* A Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, featured in STAS, JLU and Justice League vs. the Fatal Five.
* The Flash faces Perfected Luthoriac, *“Divided We Fall,” Justice League Unlimited.*
* Wonder Woman’s invisible jet, Justice League Unlimited.
* Static and Gear appear, they are the featured heroes in *Static Shock*.
* “The breach” above Neo-Gotham, featured in the very next issue of Legacies.
* Batwoman: a one-time character with a nonetheless memorable design, Mystery of the Batwoman.
* Zeta and Ro, specifically referencing a moment from the show’s intro, The Zeta Project.
* Superman’s future-era symbol, from “The Call,” Batman Beyond.
* Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips appears, a main antagonist in STAS and JL/U.
* In the final moments of the issue, the Hand of the Creator (seen in the JLU arc “The Once and Future Thing”) crashes through the shards of reality to initiate “the big bang” and set the universe into motion.

## Trivia

* For Hawkgirl, James originally drew out an entire panel with Hro Talak showing Shayera the hyperspace bypass plans for which the Thanagarian armada originally sends her to Earth, but then realized, “Wait. Duh. She had no idea there was a hyperspace bypass at all.” So he redid it to show an imaginary scene of Hro presenting Shayera with the “go to Earth” plan in the first place.
* The shards of glass are a nod to imagery from Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis.
* A feather is seen in one of the shards, that feather is meant to be a nod to a moment in *Final Crisis.*

## References

1. ↑ http://www.legaciesdcau.com/issues/archive/index.htm
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 2.40 2.41 Legacies 0 - Easter Eggs
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