 Noteworthy Items:
Gwydion is one of the seven treasures.
Gwydion’s dialogue is similar to Rebis from Morrison's penned Doom Patrol run during the Aenigma Regis.
Zor was one of the 7 Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp before going renegade as the Terrible Time Tailor. He introduced the Sheeda as a sort of techno-organic virus. The 7 Unknown Men “make sure the fabric of the universe is in good repair.”
Zor is a silver age villain who first appeared in More Fun Comics #55.
Jabs at Moore? Zatanna is the “anti-Promethea?”
And you have a stupid beard.-Zatanna
Liar! It’s a magnificent beard and I know you want one!-Zor
From CBR: There were hints and nudges throughout the series, but it was really obvious to me during the lines concerning the end of the world. "It's just something that happens" was a line often used in Promethea and "Not on my watch" seemed like a nice counter/snub to it.
The spinning wheel that Zatanna and Misty find in Cyrus Gold's shack looks exactly like the upon which Misty was forced to spin a cobweb dress of forgetfullness, as shown in Zatanna #3. When the Newsboys visited the shack in Guardian #4, they saw a sewing machine there, the same Time Sewing Machine abandoned by the Seven Unknown Men in Seven Soldiers #0. Looms, spinning wheels, and sewing machines are all tools use to produce cloth and clothing.
On page 12, Zor is referring to his battle with the Spectre back in the MORE FUN #55, a very old Golden Age comic.
Gwydion admits to being one of the Seven Treasures of Camelot, which Gloriana Tenebrae has been trying to collect over in Shining Knight. Two of the other treasures are Arthur's sword, Caliburn Ex Calibur, and the Undry Cauldorn.
 Zatanna leaped out of panel five at the bottom of page 12, through the white space beyond the panels and landed at the bottom of page 13, thus getting ahead of the flow of the story. The ink-diving Hand agents in The Filth accomplished something similar.
"You're in a dimensional lock, Zee."
A lock is a enclosed part of a canal in which the water can be raised or lowered to move a boat from one level plane to another. Zatanna is in-between two dimensional planes: the DC Universe and the higher plane of existence where we read their adventures in comic books.
Zatanna is surrounded by letters, ink, pens, and type-writer components. These are the tools used to craft stories and thus to shape the world in which Zatanna lives.
"We want to thank you for subduing the Renegade, but he's caused some Terrible trouble I'm afraid."
Zor is a renegade former member of the Seven Unknown Men. The description also implies that he is the same Terrible Time Tailor seen in Guardian 4.
"There were eyes, tens of thousands of eyes, in different times and places all converging on me."
Zatanna can sense the eyes of comic book readers watching her.
"Had I always known the universe was like this?"
The object Zatanna holds in her hand is a caption box waiting to be installed onto the panels of the printed page. The words it contains are Zatanna's mental narration of her own adventure. Narrative caption boxes exactly like this one appear throughout the previous nine pages depicting Zatanna's battle with Zor.
The rules of magic:
1. Nothing is what is seems. (Misdirection.)
2. Learn to fool the experts.
3. If you can’t keep it down, don’t bring it up.
4. Preparation. (Always keep at least one card up your sleeve.)
5. (The Last Rule: ) The magician has to vanish along with his trick. |
