Annotations for “Leatherjack” written by Nick Margerrison with contributions gratefully accepted.

– Part 2 –
First published in 2000AD Prog 1451 Aug 10th 2005
Script by John Smith
Art by Paul Marshall
Colours by Chris Blythe

Page #1

Panel #4
A "pheromone" is a chemical secretion signal produced by a living animal. They are often associated with sex but can indicate other things such as fear. In this instance it's clearly a sexual pheromone.

Page #2

Panel#3
The idea of having sex as you fall through the sky is a perfect symbol of where Leatherjack's character is at the start of the narrative. It's not clear if this is a dream or a memory but the former fits a common pattern in the real world. A great number of people report having dreams about falling, this is a side effect of the rapid eye movement which occurs during deep sleep.

Panel#5.
This is a flashback from Leatherjack's earlier life. The symbolism of the apple is particluarly significant here. Firstly in our literary tradition it is synonymous with the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Although this is an innacurate link owing to a slightly over excited translation of the non-specific hebrew word for fruit in the original text. However it is generally accepted by most European cultures that the "forbidden fruit" with which Eve tempted Adam was an apple.

The concept of "original sin" and corruption of the innocent is further hammered home by the fact the picture is of a child's book covered in a thick splash of almost black red blood.

We know Leatherjack is illiterat,e so on one level you could argue that he has been 'forbidden' the right to read books. Furthermore his character is fleshed out even more here by the image of lost innocence as symbolised by a book. This is an important theme in the work. The idea that literature and ideas can corrupt a mind.

Panel #6
The juxtaposition of this panel with the above panel adds to the idea that books can hurt your head.

Panel #7
"Warrior Monks" is a phrase which was once used to describe the Knights Templar who were in their early history depicted as both. Their job was to protect a different holy artefact, The Holy Grail. In recent times speculation has mounted as to what exactly "The Holy Grail" was. It was traditionally depitced as a cup which contained the elixier of eternal life. This ties in with Lord Qwish's earlier motivation, the persuit of immortality.

More recently, in the past couple of decades, "the holy grail" has come to represent a secret idea or concept. This of course has culminated with the book and hollywood blockbuster, The Da Vinci Code. This reading of the reference gives an extra layer to the idea that what is actually being dissected in Leatherjack is the power of ideas and censorship.

Page #3

Panel #4
I love the idea that the inscription on this book means something. If you've any idea please get in touch.

Panel #6
"Cophet's Shroud" - King Cophet is an imaginary King of Africa who is alluded to a couple of times by Shakespeare. He fell in love with a beggar and the two were well respected in their time. So the fable goes. Why his shroud is of importance to his myth is not clear. It's a very apt expression though in that its roots appear to be very 'bookish'.

Page #4

Panel #2
The first time we see Leatherjack in his own right. A significant picture on many levels. It's interesting to note that his face clearly bares a scar. This already implies he has a damaged past.

Page #5

Panel #1
At a guess Farrar is a fictional planet.

Panel #2
Notice the full bowl of fruit and it's decedant implications.

Panel #3
Lord Qwish's greedy and excessive personna is implied in almost every frame. Notice here, even though he's only just in shot, there's still a trickle of excess liquid dribbling off his chin.

Panel #5
"Codex Suspiriorum" - A "codex" is a handwritten book, as opposed to a printed one, which came later. A "suspiriorum" is (I think) latin for a deep breath or heavy sigh. Thus "Codex Suspiriorum" means the handwritten book of sighs.

"The Book of Sighs" - I cannot to date locate the source for this book. It's possible that it has been created by the author.

Page #6

Panel #1 "Sufi" - the Sufi's are a sect of Islamic scholars who are often seen as representing the more mystical side of Islam. Highly respected in some corners of the world and denounced as heretical in others they are without doubt one of the most controversial references in the story.

"Prime Earth" - presumably our earth.

"Tenth Century Persia" - the 10th Century is actually when Sufi's produced their early books.

House of Usher* points out that this part of the story locates it as taking place around 3000AD in our timeline.

Panel #3 One of the ideas of Sufism is that everyone should be able to recieve the teachings of Islam, regardless of their intellectual level.

Panel #6 The fact Qwish here flicks a cherry is interesting in that on one level it recalls the saying "You can't have two bites of the cherry". A sentiment I'd imagine that Qwish would disagree with.

These notes are written to be used as a companion to the story. They’ve been written entirely for fun and are published here to encourage you to either contribute to them or start your own annotations to one of your own favourite 2000AD texts. I’ve gone for the ‘explain everything’ approach.

Thanks to House of Usher from the 2000adonline messageboards.