PETER: I, too, wonder about Chief Savage or Blood Sausage or whatever his name is and his fighting skills. And he didn’t have to club those cave babes over the head and drag them into his hut? Come on!
DOUGLAS: Yeah, the Blood Chief is a.k.a. Vandal Savage, who’s been kicking around DC since 1943; he’s immortal, very strong and very smart, and probably has millennia of combat experience even by this point. (He actually appeared in Final Crisis too, both as a modern-day member of Libra’s group and as the leader of the Cro-Magnon group who attacked the Deer Tribe and were fought off by Anthro and his newly discovered fire.)
LEV: WHAT? The Blood Chief is Vandal Savage? How do you know these things?
DOUGLAS: “The chief who scares death has returned! Conquering chief Savage brings gifts from the forbidden land!” He identifies himself by name!
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PETER: I’m intrigued by the cavemen’s vast knowledge of the “shining ones,” but that surely has something to do with Crisis, right?
DOUGLAS: Right. The first encounter with the “shining ones” is on the first page of Final Crisis, where Metron appears to Anthro, shows him the will/power sigil, and gives him fire. See also the business with Aurakles in Seven Soldiers #1; it’s possible that redheaded Boy/Young Man will eventually become him, and therefore be the ancestor of Bulleteer… if M.I.A. and her shock troops don’t kill him first!!! Wait, wrong continuity.
PETER: This may be a dumb question but why were Superman’s eyes red? And, again, I’m sorry if this is a Crisis thing but why did Supes say they’d all be dead if Bruce returned to the 21st century?
DOUGLAS: My guess is that Superman’s eyes are red because we’re seeing the time-traveling heroes as the locals see them: unknowable sky-gods. As for why it’s a bad thing if Bruce comes back–I think that’s meant to be a mystery right now.
PETER: I actually thought the introduction of cro-mag Joker was a bit much. I mean, is Jonah Hex going to appear in the western Batman issue as Two-Face?
DOUGLAS: Oh God. That can’t not happen.
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PETER: The image of Bruce standing over Blood Sausage on page 31 is magnificent.
One last thing: Bruce tends to have severe nightmares that always involve larger than life bats stirring him awake, which results in the story usually switching directions. I’ve seen this sort of thing before. Why is that? Or am I crazy?
DOUGLAS: I believe that this is what’s referred to as a “motif.” Or a “cliché.” Take your pick.
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