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

– Part 1 –
First published in 2000AD Prog 1450 Aug 3rd 2005
Script by John Smith
Art by Paul Marshall
Colours by Chris Blythe
Page #1

Panel #1
“The eye is the window to the soul” – an often quoted cliché which features in essence in this first panel as we look into Dr Hedren’s eyes. His are the only eyes we see on this page and as such we are drawn to trust him. A reviewer on the 2000adreview.co.uk website described him as looking somewhat like Dr Snuggles. He is certainly drawn as a cuddly archetype.
Furthermore he asks the same question we do: “W-WHAT’S HAPPENING?”

In my opinion he looks like a pre-Lord of The Rings Film Hobbit and/or a garden gnome.

The author John Smith confirms on the 2000adreview.co.uk website that "Dr. Hedren was based on Uncle Bulgaria from 'The Wombles'".

Emperor* goes on to add: There aren't that many famous Hedrens - Tippi "The Birds" Hedren being the most famous. Although the reference might be more obscure than that.

Panel #2
"A.I" - stands for Artificial Intelligence. It’s possible that the craft is entirely driven with an Artificial Intelligence unit. However the role of the Dr’s other traveller becomes a little confused with this reading so I’d suggest the A.I unit is only in use for certain areas of the ship.

The temporal lobes are thought to be involved in memory funtion.

Panel #3
The original city of Joppa is thought to be one of the oldest of Israel, although it has now been combined with Tel-Aviv-Yafo. It could also be a reference to an area in Scotland or one of the places in America which uses the name. However given that the Joppa in the middle east was known to be near the sea I’d suggest that the original city fits best.

Panel #4
A spinster is an unmarried woman who in order to make extra money would spin cloth on their spinning wheel at home. The image of a spinster is of a woman who has not had marital relations because she is in some way prudish.

Panel #5
The co-piolet's mirror glasses re-empasises the original point, that on this page we are only allowed to connect with the eyes of Dr Hedren.

Pages #2-3

Panel #1
Following on with the same profile shot of some eyes with mirrored specs but this time the barrier is dropped and we see an angry spinster. It’s a twisted complex face which we are apparently not ment to sympathise with.

938CE – This has given me a real headache. It’s possible that this is just a politically sensitive way of saying 983AD. “CE” standing for Common Era. This would explain the affix of “In The Year of Our Lord” which the spinster uses. Suggesting the spinsters are Christians? The issue of dates is covered in more detail later.

The “Scold’s Bridle” was a punishment used specifically for women who spoke out of turn. Acting as a sort of cross between a muzzle and a helmet it would attach to the victim's head and
from it an iron metal spike would be stuck into their mouth, literally holdinging their tongue in place. To move one's tongue would be painful but if you kept it still you’d be okay.
The fact that they were in use around the 1600’s suggests the story is set later than 938AD.

Panel #2
Splash panel onto the next page (#3)
The image of the “Censorships” as scissors is a reference censors and the process of "cutting a scene" from a film. This in the past would literally mean the offending frames had been cut from the finished reel of a film although in actual fact they would be removed with a sharp razor most people think of someone using scissors.
Scissors are of course entirely destructive devices which would be useful to a spinster who was spinning cloth. Unlike a razor.

Panel #3
G-Force is the force of acceleration caused by a planet's gravity.

Panel #4
The Chapel Perilous was a place visited by Lancelot in Arthurian legend during the quest for the holy grail.

The eye of a hurricane is a paradoxically calm place. It is used here to represent an oasis of unnatural peace at the centre of incredible danger. A worrying place to be given that all around you a storm is waiting to close in.

Panel #5
A reference to the phrase “bring them down to earth” which means to make someone carry on in a less fanciful fashion.

Also this places the tale into a universe where either our planet, or at least one like it, exists.

Page #4

Panel #1
"Kommodo" - the kommodo dragon is a type of lizard (House of Usher*). It's a type of monitor lizard (adds Emperor*). Kommodo = monitor lizard;
monitor = moral guardian keeping an eye on media output;
comprehensive monitoring = necessary for effective censorship... (concludes House of Usher*).

NAV-SATS could perhaps be the satellites used in SAT-NAVs? The satellite navigation devices currently popular here in the real world.

Panel #2
All three women here are archetypes who are best embodied by Mary Whitehouse who represented the National Viewers and Listeners association. They had a campaign to clean up television and radio in the 80’s and early 90’s which seemed to end with Whitehouse’s death. (although... House of Usher adds: Mary Whitehouse's campaign didn't end with her death. Her National Viewers and Listeners Association now calls itself Mediawatch-UK.)

These women all have a fondness for tea and appear to be sat in giant teapots.

I’m not sure as to the historical period from which their costume design is taken. The ruffs which cover their necks are unusual. Ruffs generally were phased out in the 1600’s but most of their dress seems more modern than that.

A “Dowager” is an unmarried woman who holds a title or property which they have received from either their father or a deceased husband.

Dowager Khan could be a relation of Genghis Khan the father of the Mongol nation who waged war on behalf of that Empire and is seen as a brutal, aggressive, historical figure.

The cutting room is traditionally the room in which a film would be cut and censored. Bits of film left “on the cutting room floor” would of course become history.

Panel #3
“Khmer Noir” - we learn more about this later. Are they possibly named after the Khmer Rouge? (writes House of Usher*). The Khmer Rouge were a communist regime who are mainly remembered for the murder of almost 2 million people. Their anti-intellectual policies even extended to killing people who mearly looked a bit scholarly. People who wore glasses for instance! The association between the two provides a neat commentary on the anti-intellectual and facistic leanings of any form of censorship.

Carlsborg Export* adds: The Khmer Rouge considered education to be a dangerous tool against power and their authority. It was clamped down on in the most hideous ways.

The Year zero was what their leader Pol Pot wanted to work to. The day when he took complete control would be the first day of year zero.

Check " The Killing Fields" for further info on the Khmer and Pol Pot. The book or the film are amazing eyeopeners.

Page #5

Panel #4
Notice the Doctor’s Fez laid out on top of his clothes. The red hat was popularised in Turkey in the 1800’s although in India to many, it represents Islamic identity or sympathy with Islamic causes. This is interesting in light of his previous memories of Joppa.

Page #6

Panel #1
The first time we see Leatherjack. He’s pictured upside down and underwater, an image which is picked up and enlarged at the end of this prog.

A “Leatherjack” is a type of fish. It’s latin name is ‘Oligoplites sauru’. It’s desribed as bluish above and silvery below. It’s worth noticing the imagery used throughout the story related to fishes.

It’s therefore apposite that he should be featured for the first time in a tank of water.

House of Usher* writes: okay, a leatherjacket is a marine fish of the families Carangidae and Balistidae, or the larva of the crane-fly; but doesn't it also suggest a leather binding for a book?

Emperor* writes: Leatherjacket - I had always gone with the insect interpretation. There are also insect themes running through the story and he starts off in armour and as he transforms he sheds it, paralleling the metamorphosis of the crane fly itself. Obviously one interpretation doesn't rule out the other and it may be both are hinted at.

Panel #2
A “war of attrition” is a term which was coined to describe a tactic whereby two sides aim to wear each other down with neither usually able to penetrate the other’s defences.

Panel #5
"Shibboleth" - "a custom, doctrine, phrase, etc., distinguishing a particular class or group of people." (thanks to House of Usher* who consulted The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

Page #7

Panels #1-2

"Braille" - is language which has been written down using a series of bumps to denote the words. Braille is used by people who are blind, the bumps are felt with the fingertips.

"Cuneiform" - Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of writing. It was developed by the Sumerians in the 4th Century BC. Initially starting off as pictural representations the images became more sylised and refined until becoming what look like cuts and scrapes to the untrained eye.

"quantals" - quantal is actually an adjective, pertaining to discrete units, and not a noun. If a quantal is used as a unit of text, then it may be translated as 'part', 'chapter' or 'volume'. (House of Usher*)

Amazing Stories (left hand side) was the first science fiction anthology magazine devoted entirely to the genre. Its progenitor Hugo Gernsback (1884-1967), is seen by many as a man who both popularized the genre and coined the term ‘science fiction’. The annual Hugo Awards, which respect achievement in the genre, were named in his honor in 1953.
The reference here appears to be a slightly inaccurate depiction of the August 1927 issue which was illustrated by Frank R. Paul which featured a reprint of HG Wells’s classic “War Of The Worlds”.
This cover nicely ties in with the theme of censorship. Although not particularly ‘controversial’ in itself this issue pre-dates the infamous 1938 live broadcast of a play inspired by the same story. Featuring Orson Welles this radio play was marred by censorship when it caused panic and confusion in the streets of America. This forced the broadcasters to interrupt the drama and make it clear that it was in fact only a fiction. Orson Welles was said to be very annoyed at this reaction and censorship.
A link to the cover: http://www.frankwu.com/Paul-2.html

The Rupert Annual featured here is without doubt the single most controversial cover ever to have featured in the little bear’s long and distinguished history. It was not in my opinion chosen by accident. The controversy surrounds the fact that the majority of the copies of this 1973 annual were sold with Rupert sporting a bright white face as opposed to his usual brown furry features. Reportedly Alfred Bestall, the renowned illustrator, was so consumed with anger that he resigned on the spot when he saw the white faced Rupert. The image triggered an enormous amount of complaints from readers who were apoplectic with rage. As a consequence this is the last ever cover to be designed by the near mythic Mr Bestall.
Accounts vary as to why Rupert lost his colour, some claiming it was just a simple mistake, others implying something more sinister. There are, in existence, some copies of the annual where Rupert is shown with a brown face. It’s not clear if these were printed before or after Mr Bestall’s resignation. It’s hard to tell but it looks to me like The Mrish Nom Thay Hives may actually be in possession of one of these near mythic ‘brown face’ prints. Notice the shading on Rupert’s face. It looks very dissimilar to the flat white unshaded version which appeared on the ‘normal’ 1973 release. That said it’s not entirely consistent with the shading on the brown faced Rupert cover either. Some accounts suggest the ‘brown face’ versions were printed as an olive branch gesture to Mr Bestall. If this is the case it is potentially significant which version resides in The Mrish Nom Thay Hives.
(Christine on the comments section adds:) Rupert The Bear also has an immediate association in the minds of most UK readers with the "Oz Magazine" obsecenity trial of 1971, one of the most celebrated examples of the debate in which "Leatherjack" directly engages.

Panel #3
Olfactory literature would presumably be a book that you read by smelling it.

Page #8

Panel #3
Near the bottom left hand corner of this panel you can see a book labelled “DODGES VOL XI”. This is a reference to a character in the DC Thompson publication “The Beano” called Roger The Dodger who used his many ‘Dodge Books’ to avoid typical childhood chores. All of his books were labelled using roman numerals. The significance of ‘Book 11’ may become clear later in the story.

Panel #5
“there is no greater sin than the destruction of books”

It feels to me like this is a reference to the infamous and confusing quote “Where one burns books, one eventually burns people”. The origin of this quote is a little muddy. On the one hand it is attributed by various sources to Bertold Brecht a writer and thinker who lived in the time of Adolf Hitler. In this context it is seen as a prescient critique of Nazi Germany’s well publicised habit of burning books which were seen as “un-German”. This happened most famously on May 10, 1933 in Berlin where the works of Jewish authors, and the library of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft were publicly torched.

Others place the quote (or at least a similar one) in the earlier work of Heinrich Heine. He was an author whose books were actually burned on that day and as a result his version of the quote is now engraved at the grounds of the site where the attacks took place; "Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too" (Almansor, 1821)

The happy relationship between censorship and fascism is explored throughout Leatherjack.

Emperor adds: This scene also recalls Fahrenheit 451 in which the hero is a fireman sent to burn books but comes to love and appreciate them.

Page #9

Panel #1
This is to some extent a working document and here I’d like to appeal to you personally. Who are those faces on the monitors of the Spinster’s ships? I feel like I recognise them but can’t place them.

Pages #10-11

Panel #1
I’m pretty confident that the two different mushroom types on display here are the Fly Ageric and Liberty Cap “Magic Mushroom” types, the former type being the larger of the two. Both of them are found growing naturally in the UK. They’ve been the subject of much controversy recently after a loophole in the law was closed. It had allowed them (and other equally potent fungi) to be sold legally in this country as it was thought that it was impractical to prosecute someone for owning something which can grow in their back garden without any human interference whatsoever.

Emperor* adds: I'm unsure if the mushrooms are Fly Agaric (which have distinctive white dots on them and are very similar to other fungus like Death Cap mushrooms - the key factor in differentiating them is their stickiness, hence the Fly part) or Liberty Cap (it has a much taller top like a pixies hat). Most of them look unidentifiable, some on the extreme left look like spores and by the tree on the right is one which looks like a puffball. In the left by the lakeside and in the second panel there is a more spherical one with a texture very much like a Morel mushroom which is quite distinctive (although the shape is wrong). It might be that specific types aren't really referenced but there are some good guides to mushrooms you could dig out at the library if you wanted to check.

The connection is interesting though, especially as panel 1 page 9 refers to "mycoviruses" - myco being from the Greek word "mykes" meaning "fungus" (hence mycology - the stupid of fungi).

Also notice the fish being eaten alive by a bird like creature in the bottom left hand corner. As previously stated a leatherjack is a type of fish. It’s therefore fitting that this double page spread which introduces us to Lord Qwish should feature fish being so obviously brutalised and toyed with. This image is of course continued with the floating fish bubbles.

Panel #2
“Quintember” – this could be a reference to Quintillis which was the 5th month of the Roman Calendar, later renamed July in honour of Julius Caesar. This could place Lord Qwish’s dating system at odds with the sisters who seem to be using the Christian Calendar.

“xenotoxins” – (Scutfink* writes): I presume xeno as in xenophobe or xenomorph (or the post Zero Hour DC miniseries Xenobrood) meaning alien, IIRC derived from the Greek (or possibly Latin) for outside. Toxin as in toxicity, Toxic, toxicology, Tox.- screen, toxosis meaning poison, IIRC derived from the Latin (possibly Greek) for poisinous. Put them together and you get a compound word ostensibly meaning 'alien poison'.

Notice the significance, for later on, of Lord Qwish eating fruit – what looks to me like an apple.

Panel #5

"Sawbones" - slang term for a Doctor (points out House of Usher).

“Cryofreeze” – this is a reference to the science of cryogenics, something only tentatively explored in our world. You freeze a body and then when it is required at a later date you re-animate it.

Page #12

Panel #2
Cuckoos lay their eggs in the nest of any bird they can find. The resulting offspring is then raised by an ignorant adoptive parent at the expense of its natural progeny. This reference becomes clearer as the story progresses.

Panel #3
The Trojan Horse reference plays along similar lines and goes back to the well worn story concerning the war of Troy. In this conflict it is said that the Greeks who were besieging the city of Troy duped the residents into accepting their gift of a large wooden horse. Unfortunately for the people of Troy this horse is said to have contained the Greek army which, once wheeled inside the city proceeded to win the war.

--

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 "Scutfink" "House of Usher" "Emperor" and "Carlsborg Export" off the 2000adonline messageboards. Further thanks to the writer, who even braved the messageboards to give his thoughts.