Bloodbath #1

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Cover: At the top left is Maxima; below her is Gemir. To the left, the blue Parasite being punched by Superman is Pritor; to the right is Batman.

Working clockwise from the very bottom left, to the side of the grey platform, are Guy Gardner; Wonder Woman; and Power Girl.

On the platform itself, again working from the bottom up, is Tasmanian Devil; Starfire; Green Lantern; Elongated Man’s legs; the Parasite Gemir holding Booster Gold; and Pantha.

To the right of the platform, again bottom up, is the Parasite Venev; the rest of Elongated Man; Flash; and Red Star.

Page 1 – Main Panel: The Parasite Pritor feasting on a victim.

Page 1 – Panel 2: Anonymous distraught mother holding another victim.

Page 1 – Panel 3: Batman watching as a victim is loaded into an ambulance. This Batman is Jean-Paul Valley who is in the Batsuit following the events of Knightfall.

Page 1 – Panel 4: Hawkman flying over a terrified crowd.

Page 1 – Panel 5: Joe Public, the New Blood who debuted in BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT ANNUAL. Odd that he’s the first one shown here as he finished his first adventure convinced the heroing game wasn’t for him.

Page 2: A reporter in front of the United Nations building in New York. No idea who she is, though there’s a vague similarity to Tawny Young, a reporter working at the time of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.

Page 3 – Panel 1: The Flash, randomly collecting small children who seem to be enjoying themselves.

Page 3 – Panel 2: The speaker is President Bill Clinton; DC Comics hasn’t shied away from showing whichever US President was in office over the years – indeed, Ronald Reagan played a fairly important role in LEGENDS. Behind him is Martian Manhunter while on the screen are the human faces of the Parasites. Top row left to right are Pritor; Angon; and Venev. Bottom row are Lissik; Gemir; and Glonth.

Page 3 – Panel 3: Based on the number of metahumans created in the annuals, the President’s claim of “about one in 100 victims” becoming New Bloods means around 300 victims in total.

Page 3 – Panel 4: And here are some of the New Bloods. Top left is Sparx; in front of her is Nightblade; sat next to him is Loose Cannon; behind him is Edge; to the right is Prism; and sat on the floor is Anima. This is the same group that recruited Prism in the ECLIPSO ANNUAL.

Page 4 – Panel 2: Elsewhere, three of the Parasites are running amock. On the left, with his back to us, is Glonth; the red one is Gemir; on the right is Venev.

Page 4 – Panel 5: Venev foreshadows later events by claiming there is a place where the heroes will be powerless.

Page 5 – Panel 1: This is Amanda Waller. I’ll admit to being uncertain of which island she’s on and why she’s in charge of it. If you can explain, use the Contact Me form at the top of the page and drop me a line.

Page 5 – Panel 2: Waller’s claim that “the Parasites have only attacked in America and Northern Europe” is correct; all of the annuals detailed attacks in either the States or, in the case of JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL and DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR, in London and Paris respectively.

Page 5 – Panel 5: Guy Gardner has come to collect Waller on behalf of the President. Here Gardner is an ex-Green Lantern and using Sinestro’s yellow power ring. Waller’s claim that the “death toll is about 1,100” doesn’t jibe with the President’s earlier claim of “about one in 100 victims” becoming New Bloods; if that were the case we should have seen upwards of one hundred New Bloods and not the 30 or so in the annuals.

Page 5 – Panel 6: The outfit Waller ran was the Suicide Squad.

Page 6: The traditional gathering of the heroes. Amanda Waller is on the stage while above her, in the lighting rig, is Batman. For the rest I’ll work in rows from the front of the auditorium to back and from those closest to us to those furthest away.

First row: Booster Gold; Guy Gardner; Wonder Woman (shushing Gardner!); Superman; Maxima; Bloodwynd.

Second row: Hawkman; the Ray; Arsenal; Red Star; Battalion; Elongated Man (his body, at least); Dagon.

Third row: the Atom; Martian Manhunter; Green Lantern; Deathstroke; Terra (who’s edging away from…); Etrigan; Dr Light (who also appears scared of the Demon); Power Girl (who is glaring at him).

Fourth row: Nightwing; Changeling; Pantha; Red Wing.

Back row: Tasmanian Devil; and Superboy hovering.

Page 7 – Panel 1: The Parasites in their lair. Flying in the upper left is Lissik; the small blue one is Pritor. Something much larger stirs in the pit. Pritor mentions “the body of our brother, Slodd” – this was the seventh Parasite who was killed by Lobo in LOBO ANNUAL, the first part of this story.

Page 7 – Panel 2: Gemir, fresh from the killing spree at the supermarket, carries the corpse of Slodd.

Page 7 – Panel 3: Venev has also returned but Glonth hasn’t.

Page 8 – Panel 2: Something much, much larger than the Parasites reaches up and grabs the body of Slodd . . .

Page 8 – Panel 3: . . . and literally munches on it.

Page 9 – Panel 1: Superman and Green Lantern, as per the command of Amanda Waller, are searching near Metropolis for the Parasites’ lair.

Page 9 – Panel 2: Green Lantern’s reference to Superman not being alive is to the Death of Superman storyline (and his subsequent return) that had been running at the same time as the Bloodlines event.

Page 9 – Panel 3: GL has a point – it’s hard to think of a better reason for not being around than “Sorry, I was dead at the time.”

Page 9 – Panel 4: The Atom standing on the shoulder of Deathstroke; Hawkman in the sky to the right; and Green Arrow on the far right. Atom mentions an “ECM” – electronic countermeasure, maybe?

Page 9 – Panel 5: Hawkman wonders how the Parasites are able to “travel around undetected.“

Page 10 – Panel 2: And in answer to that, here’s Glonth in his human form on an airplane.

Page 10 – Panel 5: Of course, hiding in plain sight doesn’t work so well if you transform into a Parasite and start eating people mid-flight.

Page 11 – Panel 2: Amanda Waller gets to hear of the attack on the plane and has Robin get in touch with the JLA.

Page 11 – Panel 4: And the first to respond is the Ray.

Page 12 – Panel 2: Seeing the Ray, Glonth tears a hole in the side of the plane which results in . . .

Page 12 – Panel 3: . . . depressurisation, sending passengers out into the sky.

Page 12 – Panel 4: Thankfully the rest of the JLA arrive to help. Top left is Guy Gardner; bottom left is Bloodwynd; top centre is Maxima; below her is Booster Gold; top right are Martian Manhunter and the Ray; bottom right is Wonder Woman.

Page 13 – Panel 1: As Guy Gardner saves the plane . . .

Page 13 – Panel 2: . . . the Ray finds Glonth and signals for . . .

Page 13 – Panel 3: . . . Booster Gold to attack.

Page 13 – Panel 4: Which ends with him getting a Parasite foot in the face.

Page 14 – Panel 2: Glonth attacks Bloodwynd. As an aside, I have no idea what’s happening with Bloodwynd’s legs here.

Page 14 – Panel 3: Martian Manhunter attacks while Maxima, bottom right, waits. In the air, Wonder Woman saves Bloodwynd.

Page 14 – Panels 4 and 5: Maxima and Martian Manhunter play tennis with Glonth . . .

Page 15 – Panels 1 to 3: . . . allowing Guy Gardner to capture him.

Page 15 – Panel 4: The JLA have captured their first Parasite. I name-checked everyone in this panel just a few moments ago so we’ll move on.

Page 16 – Panel 1: Angon, always the angriest of the Parasites, rages as she senses Glonth’s capture.

Page 16 – Panel 2: Lissik flies over Venev, blaming her for Glonth being captured.

Page 16 – Panel 3: Left to right are Pritor, Venev and Gemir.

Page 16 – Panel 4: Pritor mentions the limitations on their shape-shifting abilities that were caused with the loss of Slodd in LOBO ANNUAL #1.

Page 16 – Panel 5: Pritor has no choice but to . . . do what?

Page 17 – Panel 1: STAR Labs where the heroes have taken their prisoner.

Page 17 – Panel 2: Glonth held securely; standing watching from behind the window, left to right, are Martian Manhunter, the Eradicator, and Metamorpho; seated is Amanda Waller.

Page 17 – Panel 3: Joining them is Lex Luthor. At this time, Luthor was thought dead when he was actually inhabiting a cloned body and pretending to be his own son.

Page 17 – Panel 4: The Demon Etrigan offering to torture Glonth for information.

Page 17 – Panel 6: Amanda Waller is miscoloured here.

Page 18 – Panel 1: Flash and Power Girl search a garbage dump. Power Girl has often poked fun at Flash since their days together in Justice League Europe.

Page 18 – Panel 2: Pantha hanging out above Nightwing and, behind him, Changeling.

Page 18 – Panel 3: They’re joined by Arsenal.

Page 18 – Panel 4: Crammed into the helicopter are the Team Titans: in the left hand seat, in front, is Mirage; behind her on the left is probably Killowat, with Terra on the right; in the right hand seat is Battalion. Below the helicopter is Redwing.

Page 19 – Panel 1: Metamorpho attempts to interrogate Glonth while the Eradicator has had enough.

Page 19 – Panel 3: Someone’s come to join in . . .

Page 19 – Panel 4: . . . it’s Pritor, coming to the rescue.

Page 20 – Panel 1: Poor old Pritor is having a problem with his telepathy.

Page 20 – Panel 3: And his mind is going – he doesn’t know where the Parasites are hiding out.

Page 20 – Panel 4: So Glonth tells him.

Page 20 – Panel 5: Metamorpho and the Eradicator stop fighting each other.

Page 21 – Panel 1: And Pritor is revealed to have been a shape-shifted Martian Manhunter.

Page 21 – Panel 2: It was all a ruse to get Glonth to reveal the hideout so that Amanda Waller can inform the troops.

Page 21 – Panel 3: Green Arrow and Deathstroke (behind him) head to Mulholland.

Page 21 – Panel 4: Superman and Green Lantern. Lantern’s arm is in a sling because it was broken by Mongul during the Reign of The Supermen storyline that ended with the return of Superman.

Page 21 – Panel 5: Guy Gardner on the left; Maxima on the right. In the background on the left is Booster Gold; on the right is the Ray.

Page 21 – Panel 5: Glonth is restrained again.

Page 22 – Panel 1: Dr Light, Elongated Man, and Tasmanian Devil, all members of Justice League International have found . . .

Page 22 – Panel 2: . . . the Parasites’ lair.

Page 23 – Panel 1: Presumably some time later as Amanda Waller has re-grouped the heroes. Green Lantern’s over to the right and, in the carrier behind him, colorist Stuart Chaifetz has decided to leave everyone a blanket yellow. At back is Tasmanian Devil; in front of him is Deathstroke on the left and Battalion on the right; to the left of Deathstroke is Dagon; in front of him is Wonder Woman; to the right of her is Etrigan; and to the right of him is the Flash. They’re all looking at the speaker, Amanda Waller.

Page 23 – Panel 2: A closer look at most of those in the carrier. Top to bottom are Tasmanian Devil; Battalion; Deathstroke; Dagon; Wonder Woman; and Etrigan.

Page 23 – Panel 3: Waller handily names everyone here but, for the sake of completion, left to right are: Flash and Waller in the carrier; Guy Gardner below them; to the right of him is Starfire; Green Lantern above her; the Ray is to the right of Starfire; Dr Light is below him; leaving Killowat on the right. She mentioned the Eradicator . . .

Page 23 – Panel 4: . . . but he’s stayed behind where the Martian Manhunter has resumed Pritor’s form.

Page 24 – Panel 2: And again Waller names everyone. On the left at the bottom is Arsenal; carrying him is Booster Gold; riding Booster is Pantha; to the right of her is Maxima carrying Red Star in her energy field; and to the right in the impossible boobs and butt position is Terra.

Page 24 – Panel 3: And she continues doing it, almost making me redundant. Left to right are Superboy, Superman and Power Girl.

Page 24 – Panel 4: Back with the Eradicator and it turns out that wasn’t the Martian Manhunter in Parasite form. Left to right are Angon, Pritor, Eradicator, and Gemir.

Page 25 – Panel 1: Battalion, Waller, and the Flash in the flier, with Waller naming everyone who appears in the next panel.

Page 25 – Panel 2: Left to right on the ground are Hawkman; Mirage; Nightwing; Elongated Man; Robin (the yellow silhouette); and Green Arrow; while above them is Redwing.

Page 26 – Panels 1 to 4: The Eradicator doesn’t fare too well against all three Parasites.

Page 26 – Panel 5: Gemir frees Glonth.

Page 27 – Panel 3: Nightwing leads his team into the Parasites’ nest.

Page 27 – Panel 5: Hawkman realises someone’s nearby and it turns out to be . . .

Page 27 – Panel 6: Batman. Robin’s comment refers to the fact that this Batman, Jean-Paul Valley, has become increasingly unstable and violent of late.

Page 28 – Panel 1: Power Girl, Superboy, and Superman about to make an entrance.

Page 28 – Panel 3: Literally making an entrance.

Page 29 – Panel 1: Left to right are Red Star; Arsenal; Pantha; Terra; Booster Gold; Superman; and Maxima.

Page 29 – Panel 3: “We’re about forty feet below sea level” says Arsenal mere moments after entering the nest through an entrance that was clearly over a hundred feet up in Page 28 – Panel 2.

Page 29 – Panel 4: Maxima spots Venev with her searchlight eye power . . . or whatever that is.

Page 30 – Panel 1: Something appears to be dampening Terra’s ability to control earth.

Page 30 – Panel 4: But she has enough power to cause stalagtites to pin Venev.

Page 30 – Panel 5: At least until the nest opens beneath her and she drops from sight.

Page 30 – Panel 6: The rest of the team rush in and despite an ineffectual warning – would it not have been quicker to shout “Watch out!” rather than “Pantha — Arsenal — Redstar watch out!” . . .

Page 31 – Panel 1: . . . the three of them fall down the same hole Venev used.

Page 31 – Panel 3: Top to bottom are Venev; Maxima; Booster Gold; Pantha; Arsenal; and Red Star.

Page 32 – Panel 1: Back with the team from the flier where Amanda Waller receives word about the Parasites rescuing Glonth.  Back left is Dagon; then Tasmanian Devil; Wonder Woman; Deathstroke; Battalion; and Etrigan; with the Flash at the front left, and Waller front right.

Page 32 – Panel 2: Ten minutes? When has the Flash ever needed ten minutes to scout a perimeter?

Page 32 – Panel 3: Clockwise from bottom left are Starfire; Dr Light; Green Lantern Hal Jordan; Guy Gardner; the Ray; and Killowat; with Waller and the Flash on the ground.

Page 33 – Panel 1: Deathstroke has been both villain and hero at various times.

Page 33 – Panel 2: The obligatory rhyming doggerel from Etrigan.

Page 33 – Panel 4: Flash finds New Bloods nearby: left to right are Prism, Loose Cannon, and Nightblade.

Page 34 – Panel 1: If Wonder Woman’s speech seems a little stilted, it’s because it has to be twenty words exactly to make Etrigan’s comment of speaking “a score” accurate.

Page 34 – Panel 3: Tasmanian Devil, Wonder Woman and Etrigan discover a vat that was used to hold spinal fluid.

Page 34 – Panel 5: Someone should tell Etrigan that just because “done” and “gone” share the same last three letters, it doesn’t mean they rhyme.

Page 35 – Panel 1: Venev attacks the team, trying to stop them destroying the now empty vat.

Page 35 – Panels 2 and 3: The team surround and attack Venev.

Page 35 – Panel 4: Wonder Woman senses a trap even as she knows they have to follow the escaping parasite.

Page 36 – Panel 1: Back with Nightwing’s team. Left to right are Hawkman; Redwing; Elongated Man; Green Arrow; Robin; Nightwing; and Mirage. It appears they have some sort of secret plan.

Page 36 – Panel 2: Arrow insinuates his team-mates don’t have superpowers.

Page 36 – Panel 4: Elongated Man rightly says he has powers; shame no-one mentioned Mirage also has powers.

Page 36 – Panel 6: The Parasites attack from behind. Left to right are Pritor; Angon; Gemir; and Glonth.

Page 37 – Panel 1: Robin’s about to be eaten by Angon . . .

Page 37 – Panel 2: . . . when the secret plan is revealed with Martian Manhunter having been invisible with them the whole time. In the top right, we can see another Parasite, Lissik.

Page 37 – Panel 3: And the other members of the secret team are revealed as Bloodwynd on the left, and Metamorpho on the right.

Page 38 – Panel 1: Changeling appears, transforming from a butterfly, to his human state, to the green monster.

Page 38 – Panel 3: Martian Manhunter, Bloodwynd and Metamorpho attack Angon.

Page 38 – Panel 4: And another member of the team is revealed, with the Atom perched on Manhunter’s shoulder.

Page 38 – Panel 5: Atom jumps down and enters Angon’s head, possibly through her nose.

Page 39 – Panel 2: He identifies something internal that might be nerve endings . . .

Page 39 – Panel 3: . . . and pulls them off, complete with snap, crackle and pop sound effects. For a story which has been played straight, these sound effects – synonymous with Kellogg’s Rice Krispies – are completely out of place.

Page 39 – Panel 4: His plan clearly worked as Gemir rears up in pain and flies off . . . it’s just a shame that he went into Angon’s head, not Gemir’s.

Page 39 – Panel 5: On the left Lissik is getting kicked in the face by Nightwing; in the middle is Redwing; on the right Hawkman is stabbing Glonth.

Page 40 – Panel 3: Lissik reveals that the Parasites are no longer interested in spinal fluid.

Page 40 – Panel 4: Pritor grabs Angon and heads off to The Taker.

Page 41 – Panel 1: Lissik grabs Glonth, avoiding the blow from Metamorpho. Above him is Bloodwynd and, to the bottom right, Elongated Man.

Page 41 – Panel 2: Mirage; the Atom; Robin; Nightwing; and Green Arrow.

Page 41 – Panel 3: Superman, Power Girl and Superboy in the air; Green Lantern and Amanda Waller on the ground. GL’s sling is miscoloured here – it should be green as it’s a ring construct.

Page 41 – Panel 4: Venev hides from Wonder Woman, Etrigan, Tasmanian Devil, and Dagon on the far right.

Page 42 – Panel 2: Batman swings in to attack Venev.

Page 42 – Panel 3: Behind Wonder Woman are Deathstroke and Etrigan. It’s clearer here that they’re on a bridge or span over some sort of pit.

Page 42 – Panel 5: Another warning that takes longer than necessary to deliver. Surely “Behind you!” would be quicker than “Batman . . . Wonder Woman! Behind you!“?

Page 43 – Panel 1: In the top right are Glonth (the same blue as the background); Pritor; Lissik; and Angon. Moving right we come to Venev; in the air is Gemir striking Batman; with Wonder Woman on the right.

Page 43 – Panel 2: In the air is Booster Gold; below him are Arsenal; Red Star; and Pantha; below them on the left is Terra; on the right Maxima.

Page 43 – Panel 4: As Batman swings to safety, Robin and Nightwing barely greet him. Again, this is because Batman is currently Jean-Paul Valley, a fact most of the other heroes don’t know.

Page 44 – Panel 1: Glonth and Angon on the bridge; Martian Manhunter in front of them; Redwing in front of him; Hawkman in front of her; with Bloodwynd in the background. Hawkman notices there’s something in the pit.

Page 44 – Panel 2: Top down are Terra; Booster Gold; Maxima; and Martian Manhunter who’s eyes look really weird in this panel!

Page 44 – Panel 3: Bursting in are Superman; Power Girl; and Superboy.

Page 44 – Panel 4: Superman hovers over Venev; Lissik; and Pritor.

Page 45 – Panel 1: Robin and Nightwing.

Page 45 – Panel 2: On the bridge are the six Parasites; with most of them being the same colour it’s hard to distinguish some of them but they’re all there, okay? Facing them is Superman. Working clockwise round from him are Martian Manhunter; Maxima; Redwing; Bloodwynd; Hawkman; and Wonder Woman. Pritor says “We seven” when there’s only six of them.

Page 45 – Panel 3: Top down are Guy Gardner; Hal Jordan; and Killowat; with Amanda Waller shouting at them below.

Page 45 – Panel 5: Glonth steps off the bridge.

Page 46 – Panels 1 and 2: Tentacles rise from the pit, grab Glonth, and drag him down.

Page 46 – Panel 3: Elongated Man, Changeling, and Robin stand amazed.

Page 46 – Panel 4: Wonder Woman says what we’re all thinking, while Battalion notices the other Parasites jumping.

Page 46 – Panel 5: Top down are Killowat; Guy Gardner; Starfire; Green Lantern; and Dr Light. To the left are Gemir; probably Angon; and Lissik.

Page 47 – Panel 1: Superman and Bloodwynd watch Venev being taken.

Page 47 – Panel 2: Maxima in the foreground, Lissik to the left, Angon to the right, Martian Manhunter in the background.

Page 47 – Panel 3: Green Lantern and Guy Gardner attempt to stop the tentacles taking Pritor on the left and Gemir on the right; the Ray joins the fight from the bottom left.

Page 47 – Panel 4: Hawkman (top left) and Redwing (top right) join Guy and GL.

Page 48: And the Taker surfaces from the pit. You should know everyone on the page but top left is Superboy; top right is Redwing; below her is Wonder Woman; below her to the left is Superman; below him is Guy Gardner; just below Wonder Woman’s lasso is Martian Manhunter; below him is Power Girl; below her is Booster Gold; below him is Killowat; below him is Starfire; to the left of her is Maxima; in the bottom left is Bloodwynd; above him is Dr Light; above her is the Ray; and to the right of him is Green Lantern.

Page 49 – Panel 1: Bloodwynd is stunned.

Page 49 – Panel 2: Terra and Pantha.

Page 49 – Panel 3: Dr Light and Superman above the Taker. Not sure where everybody else has gone.

Page 49 – Panel 4: Nightwing, Robin and Batman realise the Taker is growing.

Page 50 – Panels 1 and 2: Martian Manhunter and Starfire attack. As an aside, this is a strange pairing as Manhunter is afraid of fire and usually avoids her.

Page 50 – Panel 3: Their attack was ineffective and Manhunter looks worse for wear. Above them are Guy Gardner, Superman, Superboy, Power Girl, and Bloodwynd who also attack.

Page 50 – Panel 4: Martian Manhunter is captured.

Page 51 – Panel 4: Power Girl saves Starfire . . .

Page 51 – Panel 5: . . . but both of them are captured.

Page 51 – Panel 6: Deathstroke and Battalion firing at the Taker with little effect.

Page 52 – Panel 1: The Taker snares more heroes but it’s impossible to determine who.

Page 52 – Panel 4: As it crawls from the pit, it’s able to grab . . .

Page 52 – Panel 5: . . . clockwise from the left: Wonder Woman; Guy Garnder; Bloodwynd; and Terra.

Page 53 – Panel 1: Maxima and Superman, Maxima breaking off a huge piece of rock.

Page 53 – Panel 2: Maxima, a psychic herself, detects the creature is using a psychic drain on everyone. Together she and Superman aim the rock at the Taker’s eye.

Page 53 – Panel 4: To no effect.

Page 53 – Panel 5: Dagon at the top; Redwing below; Changeling below her.

Page 54 – Panel 1: And all three of them are captured.

Page 54 – Panel 2: Left to right are Superman; Robin; Pantha (kneeling); Red Star; Elongated Man; Nightwing; Dr Light; the Atom (on Light’s shoulder); Tasmanian Devil; Etrigan; Batman.

Page 54 – Panel 3: Dr Light says she and Etrigan have already combined powers, even though we never saw it.

Page 55 – Panel 1: Robin convinces Superman that he shouldn’t sacrifice himself.

Page 55 – Panel 2: While Nightwing and the others are going to sacrifice themselves to allow Superman to escape and get help.

Page 55 – Panel 3: Top to bottom are: Nightwing; Pantha; batman; Elongated Man; Dr Light; and Red Star. Not sure where Etrigan or Tasmanian Devil have got to.

Page 55 – Panel 6: Oh if only there was some help around, some other group of heroes that have yet to prove themselves . . .

Page 56: Superman flies off to find some help while the Taker emerges from the nest.

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