Something you may not know about me is that I'm quite the able Tarotmancer (I was about to say Tarot reader, but I didn't want you to think I was into sleazy Jim Balent comics). Keep in mind that I don't believe in magic. I use it as a psychological tool and never on myself. Reading the Tarot is like telling a story, one that progresses like panels in a comic. If it works (and I'm told by the people I read that it does), then it's the person being read that's making connections between the symbols described by the guide and their own lives, and the cards tap into Jungian archetypes that make them universal to human experience. I doesn't matter. All that's important here is that I know my way around the 78-card pack, so I'm always interested when Tarot cards show up in movies or comics. However, it's rare that movie or comics writers have any understanding of how the Tarot works, and you get the inevitable Death card heralding an actual death, etc. One comic that was very fluent in Tarot-speak was the weekly Trinity by Kurt Busiek, and with Justice League Dark, I think I may have found another. It sort of has to be with Madame Xanadu as part of the cast.
The first page of Peter Milligan's new series shows Xanadu surrounded by floating Tarot cards. The only ones face up are Major Arcana showing her (future) team mates, each connected to a particular symbol. What is Milligan telling us about his cast through these connections?
June Moon is the Fool. Free of the Tarot's sequence (card #0), the Fool is a wanderer who does not really know where he's going or who he even is. In the first few pages, we see a number of lost June Moons being hit by cars on the highway. It fits. In the usual Tarot imagery, the Fool is about to fall down a precipice, into a dangerous world where he might or might not find himself. June's other self, the Enchantress is divorced from her at this point.
Zatanna is the Magician. Seems a bit obvious, but it's a strange inversion of the normal Tarot rules where the Magician is a young man. The card represents male principles, you see. Light, reason, knowledge, power. Showing a woman in this role (the opposite female principles of wisdom, intuition and mystery of the High Priestess are no doubt represented by Xanadu herself) may be an indication that Zee will be one of the most powerful members of the team, possibly take a leadership role, and her ties to the real JLA do represent a link to the "lighter" world outside DC Dark.
John Constantine is the Hermit. In Rachel Pollack's awesome Vertigo Tarot, Constantine was the Fool, which fit him very well. Milligan rather sees him as the Hermit, a character that stands apart from the world in order to observe and understand it. A loner seeking wisdom, he has difficulty engaging with the rest of society. That's our John, especially if the rest of the cast is going to tend towards the super-powered.
Shade is Justice. The 11th card here is called the Madness, one of two outright changes to an Arcana's names. What is Milligan telling us here? That any "justice" to be found in this JUSTICE League title is strictly madness? Or that Shade is the only truly honest character in the group because he accepts the madness of his existence? It will certainly be interesting to see how this inversion plays a part in the greater story of JLDark.
The Enchantress is the Hanged Man. Or just the Hanged here, perhaps to avoid the male/female confusion. In the Tarot, the character is hanged by the heel, not the neck. The card represents inversion, a reversal of normal values (usually the legs are placed in an inverted 4, a number that represents structure, its Arcana - the Emperor - a symbol of lawful society). The Enchantress is June's opposite personality, evil where June is good. A good fit, but what does it mean for our team?
Deadman is Death. Not surprising, but more fitting than it first might seem. The card does not mean death, of course, but rather change. The end of one state and the beginning of another. Deadman is always jumping from life to life, so change is a way of life for him. We'll have to wait to see if he also has that kind of EFFECT on his cast-mates.
Mindwipe is the Tower. Perhaps not evocative enough, Milligan has changed the Arcana's title to the Sickness, which opens up certain interpretations, I suppose. The classic Tower is a card I personally hate to see in readings because it frankly scares me. It's the Hanged Man in overdrive. Not a reversal of what's important to a person, but a complete rejection, a laying waste in order to start again. It's a painful, traumatic experience that ultimately results in liberation. On the card, the person's ego is a tower being destroyed by divine lightning (in the cards, this follows the discovery of one's dark side in the Devil). Here, though the tower is in the background, the threat seems to come from "Sickness", but we don't know enough about Mindwipe (who appeared in the Flashpoint mini only) to say what it means. Is it something about him or will he cause the destruction of the Justice League?
With Madame Xanadu in the mix, we'll probably see more Tarot cards. I'll be very curious to see how their prophetic nature will actually impact the series.
The first page of Peter Milligan's new series shows Xanadu surrounded by floating Tarot cards. The only ones face up are Major Arcana showing her (future) team mates, each connected to a particular symbol. What is Milligan telling us about his cast through these connections?
June Moon is the Fool. Free of the Tarot's sequence (card #0), the Fool is a wanderer who does not really know where he's going or who he even is. In the first few pages, we see a number of lost June Moons being hit by cars on the highway. It fits. In the usual Tarot imagery, the Fool is about to fall down a precipice, into a dangerous world where he might or might not find himself. June's other self, the Enchantress is divorced from her at this point.
Zatanna is the Magician. Seems a bit obvious, but it's a strange inversion of the normal Tarot rules where the Magician is a young man. The card represents male principles, you see. Light, reason, knowledge, power. Showing a woman in this role (the opposite female principles of wisdom, intuition and mystery of the High Priestess are no doubt represented by Xanadu herself) may be an indication that Zee will be one of the most powerful members of the team, possibly take a leadership role, and her ties to the real JLA do represent a link to the "lighter" world outside DC Dark.
John Constantine is the Hermit. In Rachel Pollack's awesome Vertigo Tarot, Constantine was the Fool, which fit him very well. Milligan rather sees him as the Hermit, a character that stands apart from the world in order to observe and understand it. A loner seeking wisdom, he has difficulty engaging with the rest of society. That's our John, especially if the rest of the cast is going to tend towards the super-powered.
Shade is Justice. The 11th card here is called the Madness, one of two outright changes to an Arcana's names. What is Milligan telling us here? That any "justice" to be found in this JUSTICE League title is strictly madness? Or that Shade is the only truly honest character in the group because he accepts the madness of his existence? It will certainly be interesting to see how this inversion plays a part in the greater story of JLDark.
The Enchantress is the Hanged Man. Or just the Hanged here, perhaps to avoid the male/female confusion. In the Tarot, the character is hanged by the heel, not the neck. The card represents inversion, a reversal of normal values (usually the legs are placed in an inverted 4, a number that represents structure, its Arcana - the Emperor - a symbol of lawful society). The Enchantress is June's opposite personality, evil where June is good. A good fit, but what does it mean for our team?
Deadman is Death. Not surprising, but more fitting than it first might seem. The card does not mean death, of course, but rather change. The end of one state and the beginning of another. Deadman is always jumping from life to life, so change is a way of life for him. We'll have to wait to see if he also has that kind of EFFECT on his cast-mates.
Mindwipe is the Tower. Perhaps not evocative enough, Milligan has changed the Arcana's title to the Sickness, which opens up certain interpretations, I suppose. The classic Tower is a card I personally hate to see in readings because it frankly scares me. It's the Hanged Man in overdrive. Not a reversal of what's important to a person, but a complete rejection, a laying waste in order to start again. It's a painful, traumatic experience that ultimately results in liberation. On the card, the person's ego is a tower being destroyed by divine lightning (in the cards, this follows the discovery of one's dark side in the Devil). Here, though the tower is in the background, the threat seems to come from "Sickness", but we don't know enough about Mindwipe (who appeared in the Flashpoint mini only) to say what it means. Is it something about him or will he cause the destruction of the Justice League?With Madame Xanadu in the mix, we'll probably see more Tarot cards. I'll be very curious to see how their prophetic nature will actually impact the series.
Comments
I've fixed the article, showing that Shade card.
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