Comic Vine News

80 Comments

What's Happening in this DC "Abandon All Hope" Image?

We break down the two page spread in the back of every DC issue this past week.

Since the start of the New 52, there's been a heavy focus on the dark and mystical side of DC. The stories contained within these books even leaked their way into main series i.e. Trinity War. This past week, the Channel 52 ad at the end of each DC comic contained this two page spread featuring a slew of DC's dark characters on boat. Let's try to make some sense of this and figure out what's coming up for the future of these characters.

No Caption Provided

There's a lot to look at here, but my eye went right to Aquaman's hand coming out of the water, covered in vines. Vines that may or may not be coming from Swamp Thing, who just happens to be holding his trident. What are these two characters going to be fighting about? In between them is Pandora, so maybe she has something to do with this, as her back is turned to the King of Atlantis.

Constantine is tied up by Sargon the Sorceress. Does the Cult of the Cold Flame finally capture him? On the boat behind them is a few Justice League Dark members, including Zatanna, Deadman, Nightmare Nurse, The Question, Frankenstein, Etrigan, and Madame Xanadu, as well as a few others. Why are they all on this boat? Could this be the new team, after the fallout of Forever Evil?

Finally, in the background, is Phantom Stranger and Spectre. Phantom Stranger seems to be caught between two different worlds, like he has been in the past, whether is was juggling his life as the Stranger and his family or being caught between life and death. However, this picture suggests that maybe the Spectre is behind this. since he has a bit of history with Stranger and blames him for becoming the entity he is today.

There's a lot to talk about within this picture: "Who's that cat?" or "Why is Etrigan grabbing onto Frankenstein?" What we can gather is that this is going to be a new age for the Justice League Dark and the Dark characters, in general. So make sure you keep an eye out on these characters in the upcoming months. We want to know what you guys think. What is interesting about this picture to you and what conclusions can you draw from it?

80 Comments

Avatar image for armiv2
ARMIV2

10074

Forum Posts

15

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Sorry for this, but seeing Aquaman's hand like that made me chuckle.

Avatar image for fhiz
Fhiz

746

Forum Posts

756595

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 11

User Lists: 0

Edited By Fhiz

I just noticed the cat too... Going to guess Teekl so that might mean we'll see Klarion soon?

Avatar image for inferiorego
inferiorego

25752

Forum Posts

28300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 324

User Lists: 12

inferiorego  Staff

@fhiz said:

I just noticed the cat too... Going to guess Teekl so that might mean we'll see Klarion soon?

OHHHH! I didn't even think of that!

Avatar image for crimsonfox69
crimsonfox69

85

Forum Posts

5470

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Edited By crimsonfox69

Isn't that cat the one from animal man? and who is that woman between deadman and etrigan behind nightmare nurse and frankenstein?…

Avatar image for fhiz
Fhiz

746

Forum Posts

756595

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 11

User Lists: 0

@fhiz said:

I just noticed the cat too... Going to guess Teekl so that might mean we'll see Klarion soon?

OHHHH! I didn't even think of that!

He's one of those characters, who now that I think about it, I'm really surprised hasn't shown up in JLD or one of those books yet.

Avatar image for keroga
KEROGA

1340

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 6

Edited By KEROGA

"Whos that faceless man? Thats the QUESTION i wanna know" :3 i couldnt resist.

Avatar image for legendofhellyea
LegendofHellYea

3

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Does anyone know if is this based off a painting? I'm pretty sure all of DC's big double page teasers for the past decade or so have all been based on a painting in some way or form

Avatar image for inferiorego
inferiorego

25752

Forum Posts

28300

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 324

User Lists: 12

inferiorego  Staff

Isn't that cat the one from animal man? and who is that woman between deadman and etrigan behind nightmare nurse and frankenstein?…

Socks is black.

Avatar image for fhiz
Fhiz

746

Forum Posts

756595

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 11

User Lists: 0

Also worth noting, that like the Batman: Eternal teaser image, this too was based off a classic painting, this time it's the bottom right corner of Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement"

Avatar image for outside_85
Outside_85

23518

Forum Posts

18735

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 39

User Lists: 1

Edited By Outside_85

My speculations:

  • Zatanna leaving the JLD, hence the oar seemingly aimed at Deadman
  • Swamp Thing vs Aquaman
  • Constantine has a run-in of somekind with an Orange Lantern
  • Etrigan appears in the modern-day... again
  • Phantom Stranger is either going elsewhere or is, as said, torn between worlds
  • The Spectre takes on a bigger presence within the world

My personal annoyance:

  • No sign of Trigon, his sons or his daughter :(
Avatar image for jonny_anonymous
Jonny_Anonymous

45773

Forum Posts

11109

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 32

@fhiz said:

I just noticed the cat too... Going to guess Teekl so that might mean we'll see Klarion soon?

OHHHH! I didn't even think of that!

Oh snap! I Thought it was Socks to start with but then I realised he was a different colour.

Avatar image for jonny_anonymous
Jonny_Anonymous

45773

Forum Posts

11109

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 32

My speculations:

  • Zatanna leaving the JLD, hence the oar seemingly aimed at Deadman
  • Swamp Thing vs Aquaman
  • Constantine has a run-in of somekind with an Orange Lantern
  • Etrigan appears in the modern-day... again
  • Phantom Stranger is either going elsewhere or is, as said, torn between worlds
  • The Spectre takes on a bigger presence within the world

My personal annoyance:

  • No sign of Trigon, his sons or his daughter :(

I don't think Zatanna is leaving JLD. They said JLD is getting a new leader so I think John is and she will be leading also I thought Trigon and Raven have all been turning up in Teen Titans?

Avatar image for lvenger
Lvenger

36475

Forum Posts

899

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 50

User Lists: 18

Edited By Lvenger

Although The Edge and Wildstorm side of the New 52 DCU has gone to the dogs, it's nice to see the supernatural and mystical side of DC flourish in the New 52 even though I'm not a huge fan of mystical/supernatural titles myself. I'm glad Etrigan is getting a role in The Dark side of the universe again and the mystery of the Phantom Stranger and The Spectre should spice things up.

@fhiz said:

I just noticed the cat too... Going to guess Teekl so that might mean we'll see Klarion soon?

OH YEAH I can just see why you're coming from. Nice eye you have there, that's a solid theory that Klarion could be getting involved at last.

Avatar image for avenging_x_bolt
Avenging-X-Bolt

18534

Forum Posts

15750

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 140

@fhiz: it's not a Cat. It's the dog from Phantom Stranger

Avatar image for vsg413
VSG413

75

Forum Posts

8

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

Grant Morrison has an obsession with putting cats into his books. I would like to see Grant dive into some Dark, supernatural, horror themes.

Avatar image for the_stegman
the_stegman

41911

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

the_stegman  Moderator

I kinda dropped all of DC's "Dark" titles, but this could be interesting.

Avatar image for outside_85
Outside_85

23518

Forum Posts

18735

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 39

User Lists: 1

I don't think Zatanna is leaving JLD. They said JLD is getting a new leader so I think John is and she will be leading also I thought Trigon and Raven have all been turning up in Teen Titans?

Well John appears to be going all loco super traitor by the looks of things and with Zatanna being his big reason to keep going atm, I could imagine that she'd want to distance herself from everyone because of the stuff he's done for her.

And yes, the Trigons have been appearing in TT... and I really don't want them to be stuck there, again, since they were practically TT exclusives before Flashpoint, which was annoying when you wanted them to interact with the rest of the DCU. (also Trigon has appeared in PS, so has his sons... and they were much better written there.)

Avatar image for dondave
dondave

41764

Forum Posts

345855

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By dondave

I doubt it's Aquaman, but rather Sea King

Avatar image for dondave
dondave

41764

Forum Posts

345855

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@avenging_x_bolt: The Presence isn't in the teaser. It's pretty clear that its a cat and not a dog

Avatar image for manneffest
MannEffest

1378

Forum Posts

5177

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 6

Edited By MannEffest

Uhhh…. Okay. Definitely the most "interesting" two page spread I have seen. I hope Aquaman doesn't cross over with the dark titles, I can't afford anymore books!!!

Avatar image for nightfang3
NightFang3

12417

Forum Posts

399491

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

@fhiz said:

Also worth noting, that like the Batman: Eternal teaser image, this too was based off a classic painting, this time it's the bottom right corner of Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement"

I think that says a lot about what to expect from this event.

Avatar image for frozenedge2
frozenedge2

1465

Forum Posts

164

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Amethyst between Question and Xandu and what looks like Zatara? maybe coming out of the portal behind Zatanna

Avatar image for lvenger
Lvenger

36475

Forum Posts

899

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 50

User Lists: 18

@fhiz: it's not a Cat. It's the dog from Phantom Stranger

It's clearly a cat. Dogs don't have long tails or pointy ears in most breeds. Plus the deep green eyes kinda give it away too.

Avatar image for saren
Saren

27947

Forum Posts

213824

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 14

User Lists: 12

Edited By Saren

Socks? Sold.

That snake wrapped around ConJob definitely looks like one of Larfleeze's constructs, though I don't know if Larfleeze is actually involved here (seems unlikely given the mystic side of DC isn't his usual stomping ground) or it's supposed to be some metaphorical greed thing.

EDIT: It's not Socks and now I'm torn.

Avatar image for saoakden
saoakden

1284

Forum Posts

548

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 4

My guess, it's promoting the Forever Evil: Blight crossover.

Avatar image for gajeel23
Gajeel23

3

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Gajeel23

For me it seems that they are looking towards us, like something is coming. And what's with that swamp thing human leg?

Avatar image for saren
Saren

27947

Forum Posts

213824

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 14

User Lists: 12

@saoakden said:

My guess, it's promoting the Forever Evil: Blight crossover.

Nah. Blight's nearly over, and Amethyst, the Question, Etrigan and Capucine aren't involved in that at all.

Avatar image for lvenger
Lvenger

36475

Forum Posts

899

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 50

User Lists: 18

@saren: It could be Teekl given the shade of the cat's fur. I don't know whether you like Klarion though so this might not appease you in any way.

Avatar image for dreamfall31
dreamfall31

611

Forum Posts

13

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By dreamfall31

Is the Question getting his own series? I'm only familliar with his character because of the Justice League Unlimited series, but I really liked him on that show. If he's like that in the comic universe I'd love to read a series like that!

Avatar image for al_capown
Al_capOWN

646

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Isn't that cat the one from animal man? and who is that woman between deadman and etrigan behind nightmare nurse and frankenstein?…

Capucine??

Avatar image for madeinbangladesh
MadeinBangladesh

12494

Forum Posts

53

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 59

User Lists: 172

Edited By MadeinBangladesh

I hope DC dark titles get better after FOREVER EVIL is over.

And DC needs to use QUESTION better!!!!!!!

Avatar image for kidchipotle
kidchipotle

15770

Forum Posts

229

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Edited By kidchipotle

Here's my speculation: Weekly series #3.

Avatar image for jonny_anonymous
Jonny_Anonymous

45773

Forum Posts

11109

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 32

@dondave said:

I doubt it's Aquaman, but rather Sea King

I don't think so since Aquaman and Swamp Thing will be having a crossover

Avatar image for samuel_simmons
Samuel_Simmons

214

Forum Posts

50

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@dondave said:

I doubt it's Aquaman, but rather Sea King

Sea Kings armor is purple, not orange

Avatar image for jenkale
Jenkale

1656

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 2

Edited By Jenkale

i dont think anything about this other than: AMETHYST!!!! when i saw this last week in my comics was super excited. maybe the cat is teekl but honestly didnt pay attention to it, sometimes a cat's just a cat

Avatar image for dondave
dondave

41764

Forum Posts

345855

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@dondave said:

I doubt it's Aquaman, but rather Sea King

Sea Kings armor is purple, not orange

Ehh, he could always get another costume

Avatar image for jenkale
Jenkale

1656

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 10

User Lists: 2

@crimsonfox69: that's capucine, an ally of swamp thing you can catch in his book. she's french, immortal and a badass fighter

Avatar image for samuel_simmons
Samuel_Simmons

214

Forum Posts

50

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@dondave yeah but also Sea King is dead, only through deadman is he alive and deadman is also in the pic. plus swampy and aquaman are about to crossover.

Avatar image for deactivated-5d3f071d30d9f
deactivated-5d3f071d30d9f

5172

Forum Posts

3

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 1

@jonny_anonymous:

Zatanna on Trinity War was with Justice League, possibel because close allie of Batman and there were dealing Shazam (a magical character). Maybe Trigon and Raven is with Young Justice Titles. Like how previous were all about Batman tittles (possibel that Batgirl was her solo and Birds of Prey Titles.)

Avatar image for deactivated-5fbfd5d291164
deactivated-5fbfd5d291164

12702

Forum Posts

1547

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 74

User Lists: 7

@fhiz said:

Also worth noting, that like the Batman: Eternal teaser image, this too was based off a classic painting, this time it's the bottom right corner of Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement"

What was the Eternal teaser based off of?

Avatar image for citizenjp
CitizenJP

782

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By CitizenJP

Eyyy Etrigan! I miss Demon Knights. :/

Avatar image for longbowhunter
longbowhunter

9425

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 1

After Animal Man wraps, Swamp Thing will be the only Dark book I'm pulling. The line started strong but just petered out.

Avatar image for jwalser3
jwalser3

6131

Forum Posts

2559

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

The roster is amazing.

Avatar image for makkyd
MakkyD

6989

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

Edited By MakkyD

Really reminds me how much behind Marvel is when it comes to their Magic side....

Anyway, besides anything already mentioned: Though it's probably wishful thinking, could Zatanna's distance from the others signify a solo? After the Forever Evil tie-ins end, there is 4/5 spots open after all.

Avatar image for darkbeam
darkbeam

2873

Forum Posts

6

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By darkbeam

This looks good can't wait to find out more about this.

Avatar image for laabitres
laabitres

801

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

this looks dope

Avatar image for transformers1024
Transformers1024

7603

Forum Posts

1596

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Swamp Thing is apart of it so I'm sold!

  • 80 results
  • 1
  • 2