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[JackFrost2012]

Does anyone here like Warren Ellis' Planetary? I <3 Planetary. If you haven't read Planetary, for God's sake don't read this thread, because it's going to spoil things you have no idea exist so hard your eyes will melt. I will now pause while all you non-Planetary readers leave. Go, shoo.

...


Okay, so Planetary 22 came out today and it's some of the coolest shit I've ever seen. I spent way, way too long today poring over old issues and trying to piece together where the story is going. Nich and I hammered out a hell of a lot of stuff together and this is the theory I eventually came up with (Nich's may differ).

Who is the Fourth Man? This is the question that has been driving Planetary almost the entire series. In #12 it was revealed that the Fourth Man is actually the Third Man himself, Elijah Snow. Okay, cool mindfuck. But recent issues have caused me to reread the issues in a different light, and I no longer think that the Fourth Man is Snow.

Ambrose meets the Fourth Man in flashback, but we don't see 4M's face. The only time we see the 4M as Elijah is in Elijah's own flashback - and his memory, tampered with as it was by Dowling, is highly suspect. When Ambrose meets 4M, he's surprised: "But you're ..." "Yes. I noticed that too." So whoever the 4M is, he's a shock to Ambrose.

In issue 22, Leather mentions that he didn't realize he had been cheated out of his "inheritance" (as the son of Century Baby Bret Leather) until he met Dowling. This got me thinking that Dowling himself is the son of a Century Baby (who, I don't know). When implanting the memories into Snow, he says "we are old and powerful and bore easily." I think that word is crucial - boredom is a chronically repeated trait of all the Century Babies and their progeny. Jakita says she joined Planetary because it "kept her from being bored." Jakita herself was only born because Kevin Blackstock and his lover "were bored." Etc. etc. It's there dozens of times throughout the series. "It's a game," Dowling says, and though I didn't believe him at first - that he could really think of it as such - I now believe him.

I think that Dowling is the Fourth Man.

We know that the Fourth Man has "more money than God" - something Dowling certainly does. Elijah, on the other hand, seems to have kept quite busy travelling the world during the 20th century, and it's unclear when if at all he would have amassed such a grand fortune. Dowling, with his vast intelligence, money, and power, is even more easily bored than a regular Century Baby and/or offspring. I think that he currently supports Planetary because he needs an organization powerful enough to challenge himself and the Four - so he keeps it around himself. (I don't, however, believe Dowling was responsible for the original sponsorship in 1925.) Dowling is the "Fourth Man" of both organizations; he's playing chess with himself and that way he's guaranteed to win.

I don't believe the remainder of the Four know of Dowling's plan. As has been clearly stated, Dowling is only looking out for himself and maaaybe Suskind.

However, I think that Jakita's in on this double scheme - she may not like Dowling, but she dislikes being bored even more, and she probably realizes that allowing Dowling to set her up as an opposing force will make for a much better gig than letting Dowling exist unopposed. Dowling, too, relishes the challenge of going up against someone with Jakita's talents and ability. So, as a fellow Century Baby child, she understands Dowling's extreme boredom and agrees to go along.

In issue #9, during Ambrose's flashback, he's shown a mirror. "This is Planetary," says a voice. "It's warped," says Ambrose. Planetary and the Four are mirror images of each other - instead of "good" vs. "evil," we just have Dowling playing with himself.

The problem is that Elijah Snow was too good at what he did - probably because of what happened on the Nautilus in 1959, which we don't know yet. Snow began to take things too personally and escalated the imaginary "war" to an untenable level. Because of this, Dowling - with Jakita complicit - "reset" Snow's memories to pacify him and keep him safe. At the same time, he introduced false memories into Snow of Snow as the Fourth Man, to draw attention away from himself.

...well, that's a whole lot of babbling and not a lot of evidence. Even so, I'm increasingly sure of one thing: Snow is not the Fourth Man. The real force behind Planetary is still out there, at large, and unidentified.

Thoughts? Your own theories? I want to SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF PLANETARY, help me out here!

To help you out, here's a timeline Nich and I assembled today.

 

[NichM]

This mostly works for me -- it fits better than last night's initial theory of "OMG Snow IS Dowling and Jakita made him forget his true identity in the Antarctic!!" which was pretty neatly destroyed by the actual Antarctic issue. However, there are still a few holes/questions:

1. If Dowling is Century Baby progeny, whose is he? He's not Snow's -- the Dowling family lineage is already established in 22, when we meet the Dowling gang. He could be Jimmy's, the Aviator's, or Edison's, but we have no hard proof that any of them are Century Babies except for the (admittedly striking) fact that four other members of Brass' People have been revealed as such.

2. When did either Randall Dowling or Dowling's father insinuate himself into Planetary? It might fit if Dowling was the post-Antarctic Fourth Man, but we're also guessing at his appearance as Fourth Man prior to that, in a meeting with Ambrose in 1994. We know Snow himself founded the organization, and has been writing Planetary guides since 1925, when he acquired "a serious sponsor." Andrew thinks this sponsor means Holmes, who died in 1925 and left his money to Snow, but I disagree: I think the Sponsor was Dowling's father. It would be a natural point for the family to insert itself in the "secret funding" role of Planetary, which continues to this day with Randall as the Fourth Man.

3. Not a hole, but plugging one that others may have: "Dowling can't be the Fourth Man! There are four field members on the Antarctic mission!" No, there aren't. Ambrose is the Third Man here, but Snow isn't the Fourth: he's probably the first, with Jakita as the second. So what about Drummer? Well, we know from #9 (Planet Fiction) that Drums' first field op was the one where Ambrose died, in which Snow wasn't around. So I'm pretty sure that Drums is in the Antarctic mission in a purely advisory/control capacity from a remote location, rather than being a field member proper. It's hard to tell, because that's exactly the way he operates now that he IS on the Field Team, but #9 is evidence that he didn't start out his Field Team service that way -- Ambrose's death was the trigger for scaring him off of further active duty on field operations.

 

[BuddyC]

Whoa. And just as I was about to start a Planetary thread of my very own. I'll weigh in on this later, once I've had some time to think about it, well, that and I need to get to class.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Boy, do I need to reread this series. I've missed/forgotten half of this.

Anybody else a little disappointed that the series seems to be in overdrive to the conclusion about now?

 

[NichM]

Some more ruminations on Jakita:

I think Andrew is reading too much into Dowling's line about "We are old and bore easily" in issues 12 and 14 -- I think it's there specifically as a reference to Jakita herself and not to century babies or their offspring in general. Remember, Anna Hark is the child of a century baby, and her motivations are very different from Jakita's. We haven't seen any other confirmed children of the century baby crew, but I don't think they would necessarily have the same character trait. It's something that Jakita got from Blackstock, who was exactly the same way.

But I think she's definitely in on it -- she acts really suspicious in the first few issues. Remember the third helicopter in #1? What was on it? She wouldn't say, and we still don't know. Then there's #3, where Jakita gives a very dirty look to the Hong Kong agent and says "I've never met anyone who's admitted to being in Planetary longer than four years." Four years ago from the Hong Kong mission was 1995, the date of Snow's memory blocks. She's also acting to bring Snow back into the "game" by giving him the files that lead him to the Four. Later, she begins to have misgivings when he proves too effective -- as Snow says to her in #20, "You tried to bring me back by showing me a file detailing every disgusting thing these people ever did. What did you expect to happen?" Apparently not this.

One big reason I think Snow is doing unexpectedly well is that he's wised up after the last time his team mounted a direct assault on the Four. As early as #12, "Memory Cloud," Jakita is stern with Snow for using Planetary resources without proper authorization -- is she afraid of something? Maybe she should be, because when they eliminate Greene, it's with angels and traps Jakita never knew about beforehand ... and Snow reveals to Leather just before torturing him that no one else, not even the rest of the field team, knows where Leather is being kept. Before, when Jakita was part of the operation, Dowling neutralized Snow as soon as he touched the Four in the Antarctic -- but now, keeping Jakita in the dark about his actions, Snow's doing very well for himself and has half of the Four eliminated.

Now, onto Dowling. It's hard to pin down what he is ... we know almost nothing about him. But there's one interesting line that's never been followed up on, from #6: "They would have let him be the American Einstein, if not for his background." Dowling wasn't German -- it says right there in that line that he was American. There's nothing particularly ethnic about his name that would have drawn prejudicial treatment -- he comes from the Dowling family out of Texas, or is at least strongly related to them. What's his background, then? What was so bad about it that drove him into the underground Artemis project, preventing him from taking credit for his genius?

 

[nomoment]

Dammit. The third Planetary TPB can't come soon enough.

 

[BastardSamurai]

I wish I was somehow a witness, or a participant to the discussion between Vestalicious and Niche. And that I need to reread the Run So Far to see the points being made. The main thing I took away from issue 22 is, wow, those goggles at the end are TEH FUCKED UP.

P.S. Andrew, Nich, this is Scooter, if you didn't know.

P.P.S. Andrew, I saw from your blog that you received your Q&C bookplate. What was YOUR bookplate #?

 

[Templar Wizard]

what is this ''Planetary" you speak of?

a comic book? where could i get it? the synop, which i read the first paragraph seemed slightly complex and intriguing.
i would like to check my PMs or similar.

 

[BlackClouds]

I'd try Amazon.com for the trade paperbacks, then maybe milehighcomics.com for the missing singles. I bought the Absolute Planetary because I like the series so much (and it really lends itself to rereading). That volume kicks ass.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Is there any reason Dowling can't be a Century Baby himself?

But, if he's the child of one, I vote he's Doc Brass'. Mostly becuase it fits with Reed Richards being the offspring of Doc Savage.

His "background" might refer to dirty work he did before Artemis (presume he has some abilities beyond what the Four got in space) or something his father did.

Anyway, it seems important in #22 to highlight the fact that Century Baby Offspring have abilities, so I assume we'll see another one somewhere.

Why can't Dowling be Snow's child?

Oh, I thought Jakita's anger at Snow was for sending away the angels/wrecking their ship and stranding them. Could just be a cover for being mad that Greene was taken out.

Inspired by this thread, I went back and read a few scattered issues (I wish I had them all organized, in one place). The conspiracy stuff is cool, but I'm also struck by the critique of the pulp/comics world itself. Snow repeatedly says the offense of the Four is that all this wonderful stuff is held back. I read the Four = Marvel Comics specifically, and the dominance they've had over Superhero comics since June 1961 (FF #1, also the date of the trip the Four take). DC has certainly become more Marvelish in that time, and less like the Pulps and older comics that preceded them. DCs icon get particularly ravaged in an early issue. Greene's and Leather's brutality seems to underscore the point.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Another completely bizarre theory:

What if Ambose Chase *is* Snow *is* the Fourth Man? I mean, some sort of other-dimensional version? Or Maybe Ambrose is Snow's son?

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Dammit. The third Planetary TPB can't come soon enough.

And so it has-- and I've just reread the whole series over in one lump.

I'm not sure what to make of the speculation-- I think Snow is the fourth man. But the fact that we havn't yet seen Dowling in present time, and that he's behind jsut about everything bad from the get-go, makes me think there's going to be some huge reveals when he shows up. My guess is that he himself is a century baby. His "background" that's alluded to might simply be his longevity. And my guess is that he was the funding behind Planetary in the first place, in 1925.

So, danglers of note:

What happened to Ambrose, really? Is he dead, or will he be back? He had reality-warping powers and he disappeared. Seems not as final an end as it could be.

What happened to the thing that came back from Planet Fiction?

Why do issues 19, 20, and 21 seem to happen before 18? There are references to William Leather still being loose at that point, that don't make sense purely from a cover-up aspect. That is, I don't think it's just Snow lying.

What's up with Stone? Is he a century baby? As the world's greatest spy, perhaps he has mental powers? What does he gain by loosening Snow's mental blocks, assuming he did?

And the metaphysical nature of the afterlife comes up too otten to be just a theme. We've seen a couple of ghosts so far, and #21 seem preoccupied with bringing up the afterlife for some reason. And as the guide told Snow in that issue, his mission is somehow bigger than just the Four. Also, did the Four die is space? It looks like their bodies are decimated in the photos. Perhaps they've pulled a Dr Manhattan move of sorts, since Randall understood the nature of the soul from his experiments in Science City Zero?

Last, I expect to see Anna Hark and Jakita eventually swap roles. Anna being in Planetary and Jakita not. Whether or not she's a full-time accomplice of the Four or merely aloof and of flawed enough morals to be manipulated I am not sure-- but I do expect to see her against the others by the end.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Was this thread lost to the Great GAF disappearance?

C'mon, I know there are other Planetary followers out there.

 

[JackFrost2012]

BUMP for #23! This whole thing is going to be in spoiler text.

Spoiler

#24, I presume, is going to be about saving Ambrose Chase. The question then is: why? He's Elijah's friend, but it's clear that Snow and Chase are mostly even-steven, it's not just "payback." Ambrose could certainly help take out the 4 (the 2, at this point), but Snow's visit to the seer makes it clear that taking out the 4 isn't his "ultimate" goal.

At this point, the major unresolved issues are:

1) What happened on the Nautilus in 1959?
2) Why is Snow behaving the way he is? And it's to bring back Ambrose: for what purpose?
3) Dowling and Suskind, the remaining 2 of th 4.
4) The shiftship.

In issue 4, Hark's man (forget his name) says about the shiftship: "There was a man who was the engine, impelling dynamic flow to the ship's drive systems. The fuel stood behind him, her very presence lighting the ship. Seven people to make a shiftship work. Seven people to get her home. I'm the first. I need to find six more."

Powering a shiftship sounds like exactly the sort of thing for which Ambrose's power could be channeled. If Ambrose is brought back, and the remaining 2 could somehow be "turned", then that's six people, each of whom has something they could contribute to the ship: Drummer's information processing, Dowling's intelligence, Suskind's fields, etc. It would also be a more noble goal for Snow and the rest than simply cleaning up the baddies.

This would resolve almost all of the outstanding plot threads fairly neatly, though I'm sure what would make the 2 decide to give up being bad and join up with Planetary. Still, a thought.

 

[8bit]

Just read 23, and I think I need to read the whole thing from the beginning. The origin story is good, but I'm lost with regards to what's happening in the background.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

BUMP for #23! This whole thing is going to be in spoiler text.

Spoiler

#24, I presume, is going to be about saving Ambrose Chase. The question then is: why? He's Elijah's friend, but it's clear that Snow and Chase are mostly even-steven, it's not just "payback." Ambrose could certainly help take out the 4 (the 2, at this point), but Snow's visit to the seer makes it clear that taking out the 4 isn't his "ultimate" goal.

At this point, the major unresolved issues are:

1) What happened on the Nautilus in 1959?
2) Why is Snow behaving the way he is? And it's to bring back Ambrose: for what purpose?
3) Dowling and Suskind, the remaining 2 of th 4.
4) The shiftship.

In issue 4, Hark's man (forget his name) says about the shiftship: "There was a man who was the engine, impelling dynamic flow to the ship's drive systems. The fuel stood behind him, her very presence lighting the ship. Seven people to make a shiftship work. Seven people to get her home. I'm the first. I need to find six more."

Powering a shiftship sounds like exactly the sort of thing for which Ambrose's power could be channeled. If Ambrose is brought back, and the remaining 2 could somehow be "turned", then that's six people, each of whom has something they could contribute to the ship: Drummer's information processing, Dowling's intelligence, Suskind's fields, etc. It would also be a more noble goal for Snow and the rest than simply cleaning up the baddies.

This would resolve almost all of the outstanding plot threads fairly neatly, though I'm sure what would make the 2 decide to give up being bad and join up with Planetary. Still, a thought.

Spoiler

I take Snow's desire to rescue at face value. He's clearly friends with Ambrose, and cares about him (as well as his family, as we saw earlier). I think that's motive enough for Snow. Whether it's motive enough for the series, I don't know.

I like Drums' point about Saving Jacob Greene, although it did mean sacrificing however many of those primitive people there are in that ship. Greene will probably kill a lot of them before he calms down, if ever.

Also, there's another thing loose plot thread-- whatever escaped from Planet Fiction.

Snaow's behavior makes more sense to me after this issue. If he's hell-bent on preserving life's oddness, then His recent aggression fits, as well as moving Leather. Leather's already on the outs with Dowling, and I'm sure Dowling would kill him if to preserve his own secrets. What's upsettign Jakita is that she's pl;aying for the sake of the game, and Snow is moving to end the game.

 

[calder]

Holy shit, I've had a comics renaissance the last few weeks. Just finished reading Planetary 1 - 22 this weekend (and now I have to buy them for myself *sob* or kill my comic collecting cousin and inherit his giant stack) and it's instantly up there with my favourite series. I even like it a bit more than the overly apocalyptic Authority - something about Planetary learning bits of secret history one story at a time is more satisfying to me than Authority's near constant giant super-violent battles.

Can't read the spoilers for #23 until I get that issue, but very interesting speculation about Snow not being the 4th Man. Not sure I buy that yet, but as I've already half reread the series trying to pick up little clues I'll definitely see if it fits when I reread the last 10 issues I have.

First Ex Machina, then I bought the first 3 volumes of Y: The Last Man (also incredibly good), now I have to buy at least 3 or 4 volumes of Planetary before I give the 22 issues back to their rightful owner. I haven't even picked up any of the Sleeper TPB's since the first one... too much good shit out there suddenly (or else I'm just finding it all too quickly ).

 

[Blacklion]

heh didnt read much of the thread..
Forgot about the damn book altogether!!!

Now i gotta go and get the trade paper backs..