World's Finest #48 - Dark Mirror - Well, that answers that question I guess....

[icon_uk]

We're at the start of a new arc in World's Finest, and this one is going to feature Earth-3



One of the things that's tough to sell in the inverted world of Earth 3, where heroes are villains and villains are... at least somewhat less villainous or possibly even heroic, is Batman-expy Owlman's relationship with his Robin-expy, Talon. (and yes, Talon was named long before the Court of Owls was retconned into Gotham's story)

Kurt Busiek gave it a go back in the 00's with JLA #108's "Syndicate Rules" where we have a subplot about him calling in Ultraman to help remove rival mob boss Jack "Rat Eyes" Drake.



Now, there is the obvious suggestion that what Owlman wants with Tim Drake is as disgusting and disturbing as it sounds.

On the other hand, in the morality flipped world of Earth 3, it's possibly him wanting a nice, family relationship as father/son, mentor/student with Tim IS the disgusting thing in Ultraman's eyes.

(We never see Tim in the story itself so heavens knows, and "Infinite Crisis" happening not long after gave us Geoff Johns take on Talon and one joined the Titans and one had an Earth-3 backstory about being killed after having a Romeo and Juliet type relationship with the Earth-3 Duela Dent and it was all a bit messy, and not why we're here)

But it does underline the issue with the Owlman/Talon relationship though. Bruce Wayne reaching out to Dick Grayson in his moment of utter loss was an act of empathy, his humanity driving him to make a connection with another orphan.

But how does it work in a world where Owlman utterly rejects the entire concept of empathy as being a fatal weakness? Taking on a kid sidekick makes no sense given his mindset, and yet we've seen him with a Talon more than once, and Mark Waid's take is no exception.



Oh dear... that was quick



And that was even quicker... and the defniition of creepily disturbing. Owlman doesn't have a successor to Talon, he has SPARES!
Owlman clearly paraphrases Mrs White in "Clue": "Robin's Talon's should be like Kleenex: Soft, strong... and disposable"
And so...



Given how much this series has done to bolster the Superman/Robin freindship, that's a really brutal way to show how different things are her.
 

Comments

[scorntx]

So, going by the red hair and the being dead, was that supposed to be another Jason Todd? (Todd Jason? Whatever weird not-quite-the-same name an Earth-3 Jason would have)


... if on Earth-3 good is bad, bad is good, would their Niles Caulder be an open, friendly, selfless man who arranges good things to happen to people?
Or is this one of the Earth-3s where there are no good people, only bad and worse?

[icon_uk]

With the implication he gets through a LOT of Talon's, I wouldn't like to guess which one this was, though I agree it could be a Jason to Tim move.

Civilian names tend to stay the same on Earth-3, even if not for the same people* so it would still be Jason Todd.

Niles Caulder here is anther criminal mob boss, since the WF comics do seem to be focussing more on the Silver Age take on Caulder, and he wasn't revealed as a complete monster until the Morrison run, so maybe the Morrison equivalent reveal would be that he's a devoted, if well concealed, humanitarian who also runs puppy orphanages. :)

* So there is a Lois Lane, who is Superwoman, but Superwoman is actually Earth-3's Wonder Woman.

[tcampbell1000]

My read on Thomas' plans for Tim Drake in Busiek's story were that he intended to mold Thomas into a child soldier--which is disturbing and morally repulsive, yes, but still not as dark as some of our imaginations might go in this Epsteinified age. It's hard for me to imagine Thomas and Tim could have a real bond that began with Thomas engineering his father's murder...uuunless Jack Drake was an abusive horror from which Thomas rescued him. Always possibilities, but the rule of thumb for Earth-3 is "Don't get your hopes up."