Just finished IC #6... <spoilers>

[chrisco37]

Good points Z! I like scenario #2. I think Jean is playing the classic 'femme-fatale' role in the story. Ray is still in love with her, so he's easily manipulated by her. She's using that against him while she tries to cover her tracks.

 

And, here's something that nobody has brought up. Assuming the attacks on Sue and Jean were by the same person, why didn't the killer use the same method on Jean?

 

Answer: Jean wasn't supposed to die!

 

Why isn't she supposed to die?

 

Answer: Because she's the killer!

 

I'm so positive at this point, I'd bet on it. If anybody wants to take me up on it, I'll offer up a IC Promo poster signed by Meltzer.

[BradleyX2]

My point is that Dr. Light doesn't kill people with flamethrowers. He would have killed her by using his powers. He was still a insufficiently_thoughtful_person at the time of Sue's death. (We don't see him until issue 2 when he arrives at the satellite running for his life).

 

So if you wanted to FRAME Dr. Light you would have done it by actually imitating his powers, not using a flame-thrower. Sue's body was burned to hide the real cause of death - pressure on her mid-medulla (likely microscopic assassination).

 

We've just been following the core group of JLAers who felt that Light had a motive to attack Sue.

 

 

But Oracle said in issue #4: "The first attack made it look like Dr. Light was behind it."

[BradleyX2]

Ok, I'm still confused behind this sequence of events from issue #6-

 

Batman finds the note addressed to Jack Drake. He storms off and is later shown breaking into what looks like the room that Calculator had been working in earlier in the series. Batman finds a lone TV and a note that says: "Bats- We're not all " apparently signed by the Calculator. Batman is shown soon after in the Batcave thinking "Calculator's innocence is harder to process than I thought."

 

So....

1. How did the note lead Batman to Calculator's old hideout?

2. How did Calculator know that Batman would be going there?

3. What made Calculator think that Batman thought he was a "insufficiently_thoughtful_person"?

4. How did what happened clear the Calculator in Batman's mind?

 

[Zonker]

I'm entirely with you that Jean was not supposed to die. Whether that means Jean (or "Jean") killed Sue is another matter, and I'm still stuck on the opportunity for the "Jean" we see in issue 1 to actually be the killer of Sue:

 

Sue's murder

- Atom has the opportunity. He is 1 hour late for his meeting with Jean. That meeting occurs 1 hour after Sue's death.

- Jean appears to be waiting on the Atom. She might have had an opportunity, but she could not have counted on that opportunity, having scheduled the meeting for the precise hour of Sue's death.

- For that matter, if either are guilty, why would either Jean or the Atom plan to meet at the same time when Sue was to be murdered? That time was fairly predictable, given Ollie's impending arrival.

[BradleyX2]

One last thing, so far there have been three attacks on family members- Sue, Jean, and Jack.

 

I'm thinking that Captain Boomerang, while obviously behind the attack on Jack, is also behind the attack on Jean, but *not* Sue.

 

First, as others have pointed out, the one shadowy glimpse we get of Jean's attacker is bulky like Captain Boomerang, and Jean said her attacker was wearing workboots like CB wears. Finally, in the message CB leaves on his son's answering machine, he says that he's about to hit the big time "and this time I'll be using my calling card". Jack was killed with a boomerang, but Jean's attacker tried to hang her.

[Zonker]

I'm equally mystified about that Batman/Calculator sequence.

 

That one, and the "Golden Glider's not really my mom" exchange between Boomerang & son seem to be non sequiturs.

 

Identity Crisis 7 is going to be either the biggest A-Ha! moment in comics history, or another in a long line of dissappointing resolutions...

[Ares]

Good points Z! I like scenario #2. I think Jean is playing the classic 'femme-fatale' role in the story. Ray is still in love with her, so he's easily manipulated by her. She's using that against him while she tries to cover her tracks.

 

And, here's something that nobody has brought up. Assuming the attacks on Sue and Jean were by the same person, why didn't the killer use the same method on Jean?

 

Answer: Jean wasn't supposed to die!

 

Why isn't she supposed to die?

 

Answer: Because she's the killer!

 

I'm so positive at this point, I'd bet on it. If anybody wants to take me up on it, I'll offer up a IC Promo poster signed by Meltzer.

 

I'll take you up on it!

[chrisco37]

the one shadowy glimpse we get of Jean's attacker is bulky like Captain Boomerang, and Jean said her attacker was wearing workboots like CB wears.

 

But that's shown during one of the heroes recounting what Jean had told them happened. We never actually see the attacker.

[chrisco37]

Good points Z! I like scenario #2. I think Jean is playing the classic 'femme-fatale' role in the story. Ray is still in love with her, so he's easily manipulated by her. She's using that against him while she tries to cover her tracks.

 

And, here's something that nobody has brought up. Assuming the attacks on Sue and Jean were by the same person, why didn't the killer use the same method on Jean?

 

Answer: Jean wasn't supposed to die!

 

Why isn't she supposed to die?

 

Answer: Because she's the killer!

 

I'm so positive at this point, I'd bet on it. If anybody wants to take me up on it, I'll offer up a IC Promo poster signed by Meltzer.

 

I'll take you up on it!

 

You're on! What are you offering up?

[chrisco37]

Identity Crisis 7 is going to be either the biggest A-Ha! moment in comics history, or another in a long line of dissappointing resolutions...

 

It's got to be an AHA! ( ) It better be!!!!

 

I'm equally mystified about that Batman/Calculator sequence.

 

This requires further investigation. Good job calling this scene out BradleyX2!!!!

[Jeffreykli]

What if the Calculator is taunting Batman? The note says "We're not all ." I may be reading into this, but it could mean:

 

1. Calculator knows that other villains have been mind-wiped, and they weren't before.

2. We (the villains) aren't stupid, and know that they're being set up.

3. The Calculator is calling Batman a insufficiently_thoughtful_person, because Calculator knows that Batman's been mindwiped, but Batman himself doesn't.

 

OK, the last one is a stretch, but an interesting interpretation of the note.

[Aman619]

One last thing, so far there have been three attacks on family members- Sue, Jean, and Jack.

 

I'm thinking that Captain Boomerang, while obviously behind the attack on Jack, is also behind the attack on Jean, but *not* Sue.

 

First, as others have pointed out, the one shadowy glimpse we get of Jean's attacker is bulky like Captain Boomerang, and Jean said her attacker was wearing workboots like CB wears. Finally, in the message CB leaves on his son's answering machine, he says that he's about to hit the big time "and this time I'll be using my calling card". Jack was killed with a boomerang, but Jean's attacker tried to hang her.

 

seems to me now that the "they" are Jean and Calculator, working together. Jean fakes her attack, leaving cluse that it was a "hulking guy in boots", setting up Boomerang. Calculator then chooses Boomerang to kill Drake, but in reality , by sending Drake the gun, its a plan to kill Boomerang thereby "solving the case" by killing the mystery attacker. The handwriting is always the same on th enotes, so If Calculator wrote the gun note, he also wrote the TV note to Batman., The "we're not all " means that hes not stupid like the mind-wiped villains, which he learned about by bugging the heroes in this storyline.

 

I dont know why Jean killed Sue, however, or is Jean is already long dead and this IC Jean is some 'body snatcher' all along.

[Zonker]

Hey Chris,

I missed this question previously, about why Boomerang was set up by the Calculator:

 

so it's more than likely he was set up to take the fall for the murder as opposed to being killed to pave the way for a more profitable client for the Calculator.

 

If the Calculator wanted him dead, why not just kill him? Why the elaborate set-up? Something doesn't quite add up.

 

 

Because if the Calculator comes right out and kills Boomerang, he makes an enemy of super-powered Junior. Heck, Junior might even decide to play for the JLA's team in order to get back at the Calculator. As it is, Junior is mad as hell, and even though he probably doesn't realize the exact Frank Drake connection, he understands Drake was on the side of the good guys, and so he's lined up now with the Calculator, and following in his dad's footsteps on the side of the Rogues.

 

Of course, if the Calculator is also behind the Sue murder, then setting Boomerang up has the added bonus of further mis-direction in that case.

[chrisco37]

All Jean is able to tell them is that her attacker had "brown work boots". Nothing else.

 

The handwriting on the notes is similar. But, the warning letters are always written in caps while Calculator's was lower case. I think that's to tell us they're not the same person. Even the print in Deathstroke's note to GA looks similar (and that's in cursive).

 

As far as the magazine goes, I think Zonker is right. It's important as it is shown too many times. But all we've been able to come up with is the eye color difference. It's definitely bothersome. But, I have to assume (as someone, maybe Kev) pointed out awhile back) that Ray would notice this. If that's the tip-off, that's really lame.

 

How about this? Notice that the on the magazine cover, Jean isn't called Jean Loring. She's called "Ms. Atom". In Issue #6, the magazine is shown right after Sue's cause of death is determined and Batman figures it out. It's the first panel in the Ray/Jean closing scene.

 

So, we just learn that Sue died from microscopic assasination, and the very next thing we see is a picture of "Ms. Atom"!

 

When it's all revealed and people are still wondering about the clues, Meltzer can say, "You Fools! I was telling you the whole time!" It's right there on the magazine cover.

[Illiterati-migration]

This is interesting because it's like the old riddle about "George and Edna" being found in a room with no windows and the doors locked from the inside, yet they were both dead in a puddle of water. Only the cat was still living. How did it happen?

[Aman619]

heres a question : many of you have pointed out panel placement and panel sequence as part of Meltzer's devising as to giving out clues and telling the story. BUT - - isn t this his first Comic book story hes ever written? How do we know how much control or to what degree he plotted out the layouts of the pages having never done this before, and that he didnt just write a cool -script? I suppose he and the artist conferenced and choreographed the drawing, but... anybody?

 

Im really asking, just how deeply should we be parsing EVERY PANEL as we have been doing??? The TIME cover just may be the artists way of showing that the scene is in Jean's house/bedroom again.... like a cave is justa cave untill you see a giant penny and a super sized Cray computer willa wall sized monitor!

[chrisco37]

heres a question : many of you have pointed out panel placement and panel sequence as part of Meltzer's devising as to giving out clues and telling the story. BUT - - isn t this his first Comic book story hes ever written? How do we know how much control or to what degree he plotted out the layouts of the pages having never done this before, and that he didnt just write a cool -script? I suppose he and the artist conferenced and choreographed the drawing, but... anybody?

 

Im really asking, just how deeply should we be parsing EVERY PANEL as we have been doing??? The TIME cover just may be the artists way of showing that the scene is in Jean's house/bedroom again.... like a cave is justa cave untill you see a giant penny and a super sized Cray computer willa wall sized monitor!

 

Meltzer wrote some stuff in Green Arrow, if I'm not mistaken. IC is not his first comic.

[chrisco37]

This is interesting because it's like the old riddle about "George and Edna" being found in a room with no windows and the doors locked from the inside, yet they were both dead in a puddle of water. Only the cat was still living. How did it happen?

 

I dunno. If they were dumb enough to not unlock the door themselves, I'm sure they were stupid enough to slip in the puddle and crack their skulls. Cat drinks water to survive.

[deathlok]

heres a question : many of you have pointed out panel placement and panel sequence as part of Meltzer's devising as to giving out clues and telling the story. BUT - - isn t this his first Comic book story hes ever written? How do we know how much control or to what degree he plotted out the layouts of the pages having never done this before, and that he didnt just write a cool -script? I suppose he and the artist conferenced and choreographed the drawing, but... anybody?

 

Im really asking, just how deeply should we be parsing EVERY PANEL as we have been doing??? The TIME cover just may be the artists way of showing that the scene is in Jean's house/bedroom again.... like a cave is justa cave untill you see a giant penny and a super sized Cray computer willa wall sized monitor!

 

Meltzer wrote some stuff in Green Arrow, if I'm not mistaken. IC is not his first comic.

 

I just finished the four issue TPB Meltzer wrote for Green Arrow, "Archer's Quest" Not a bad little story, the art was a little simple.

[Zonker]

Correct. Meltzer wrote the first post-Kevin Smith arc of the revived Green Arrow series a couple of years ago.

 

And aman, the magazine is called PERSONS, not TIME. (Based on someone on here referring to it as TIME, I mistakenly thought the title of the mag was a clue to the involvement of Chronos )