Leviathan Theory: Posters

I know I am going a bit overboard with my Leviathan Theory posts.

But I live for comic mysteries like this. I look for the clues and sift out the feints. I lean on decades of comic reading and too much comic history. It is, simply, a ton of fun.

And I feel like this is the first mystery of this scope that I have been on-line to discuss. There wasn't an internet, a comic community, a blogging atmosphere for Sensor Girl or Armageddon 2001.

So you have to bear with me.

DC came out with 8 one page ads to promote the event and to shine a spotlight on the DC detective characters investigating Leviathan in the main mini-series. And some of the text can be fit into my theory.

And, to make matters worse, I have a theory and I am looking for corroborating evidence for my theory everywhere. But get ready, the end of this post will be a new 'back up' theory in case you don't like my original onw.

Let's start out with this one where Leviathan himself speaks. If this is Ted Kord, he would have seen the heroes doing everything in their power to change the world and fail. Nothing earth-shattering here. If Leviathan is a former hero,which I think they are, this text makes sense.

On to the others.

We'll go alphabetical.

The Year of the Villain special definitely brought a lot of Batgirl material to the table.

In this poster, Leviathan mentions how much she has sacrificed for the greater good only to have it all fail.

For me, I think part of this is that Ted was killed by Max Lord, head of one of the espionage agencies Leviathan has dismantled. He sacrificed his very life and nothing changed. So he knows that things need to get drastic.

Next Batman.

Here is the strongest consideration for Leviathan being a former hero. They tried it Batman's way without success.

And 'War on Crime' is highlighted. Leviathan is waging a war on everyone.

What is interesting here is the 'bleeding heart' be the highlighted words.

If the purpose of this is for Leviathan to point out the failures of current heroes and he is pointing out Ollie's politics, then you might think Leviathan thinks the opposite.

If my idea that Captain Atom and Nightshade, two military operatives, are the lieutenants of the organization, then they would have a much more conservative take. You need order to take control of a situation like the DC world.

Lois Lane is told that she can't see the lies in front of her.

That makes me think that Leviathan is operating in the open in another identity around Lois and smart people, like her, aren't connecting the two.

We have seen Captain Atom resurface recently. All the heroes I am implicating in Leviathan (Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade) all are still out in public. Lois might not think that heroes are actually doing nefarious things.

It also makes me think it can't be someone who hasn't been seen recently or is in hiding.

Kate Spencer gets a poster and the  legacy of being a Manhunter is noted.

If my thought that Leviathan is Ted Kord is true, there is a Legacy to Blue Beetle. In fact, he isn't even Blue Beetle these days meaning he lost the mantle.

Of all the posters, the Plastic Man one is the one which best bolsters my idea, especially if Ted's death at the hands of Max Lord is still in continuity.

Blue Beetle came (initially) from Earth 4. Plastic Man came (initially) from Earth X. So both could have come from 'broken worlds', worlds destroyed by the Crisis. But both came from a crime sort of origins. Plastic Man, of course, was criminal Eel O'Brien. Ted Kord's uncle was a villain who created an army of super-androids that led to the original Blue Beetle Dan Garrett's death.

And that starting over part occurred when Dan made Ted promise to continue to fight for justice. It is the sort of deathbed promise which spurs heroes to have a 'war on crime'.

Of course, even as Blue Beetle, the world rolled over Ted, killing him. 'Step towards me with an open mind' might be gallows humor about Ted being shot in the head, especially coming right after the 'world rolled us over'.

As for The Question's poster, it smacks of Rorschach, another part of why I have my theory.

Rorschach  searched for the Mask Killer, saw all the dominoes falling. He wanted to know who was behind it all. And Leviathan is making our Question ponder similar thoughts.

I will freely admit that while writing this post I had other thoughts and theories cross my mind. I'll throw in some of the lines in these ads which could bolster these other ideas.

1) Leviathan is Ray Palmer and Jean Loring. Leviathan, the opposite sort of word for something tiny like the Atom. He is a hero who worked with Batman. He came from a broken world (failed marriage; Jean being a killer and all) but reinvented himself. Can use White Dwarf stuff as a weapon like the Enforcer. The time in Microverse has made him mad and has him join Jean.

2) Leviathan is Hawk and Dove. Male and female leads as we have seen. Legacy and 'woman not doing better than a man' rings true for both Hawk and Dove. Both have died and been brought back in regards to sacrificing and having the world roll them over. The magic of order and chaos could be weaponized. This could be a backdoor poke at the mystery of Armageddon 2001.

3) Leviathan is Azrael. The woman helper is Sister Lilhy. Leviathan's mask looks similar to Azrael's. He fought for Batman. Wore the cowl so knows legacy. Came from the broken world of St. Dumas. Has a very strict code which is the opposite of the bleeding heart of Ollie. I believe died at some point and was brought back.

Don't think this changes my mind. But something for others to consider.