8FOLD: Mancers/Daylighters: Brave New World (Annotations)

[Tom Russell]

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           BRAVE      NEW      WORLD
                  ANNOTATIONS

I.

[1] The wound

A Hotspur-controlled Julie Ann Justice pushed her fingers into
Bethany's side in DAYLIGHTERS # 12.

[2] the necromancer

For more on this, see MANCERS # 11-12.

[3] It's you guys

Cal and Raidne "met" and assisted some members of the circle in
MANCERS # 13/DAYLIGHTERS # 11.

[4] Klutz

Secret surprise superhero not included in the roll call. This is Jonah
Jacobs, who we met in DAYLIGHTERS # 1, and made an appearance in
DAYLIGHTERS # 9. As alluded to in a hop and a skip, Jonah started
dating "Kate", who was in actuality Claire.

II.

[5] Dust Devil, Head Cannon, Vampiro

We met Dust Devil in DAYLIGHTERS # 8. Head Cannon is "new", in that
he's never appeared or been mentioned before, despite the fact that
I've been carrying this name around in my back pocket for years.

Vampiro, who we met in DAYLIGHTERS # 10, is not actually a vampire,
and doesn't pretend to be - in fact, he gets irritated that people
think he is, but not irritated enough to choose a better codename.

[6] Thanks, mom

This is just your periodic reminder that back in the very first-ever
Eightfold story, JOURNEY INTO # 1, Kate's abusive mother tried to
drown her in a bathtub. Kate was rescued by retired supervillain Dr.
Metronome, who killed Kate's mother and himself.

[7] Maddocks

This is the leader of a faction within The Company that controls FEVER
and was instrumental in the destruction of the Lullaby. He expected to
become a mancer as a result, but he didn't receive any magic of his
own, leading him to experiment with machine-magic hybrids.

[8] fire powers or is really into car decals

This is Fahrenheit Man.

[9] Century Man

We heard about a Century Man in passing way, way back in SPEAK!, and
heard about this newer iteration in DAYLIGHTERS # 5.

[10] Mimas

Mimas is new. He grows real big.

[11] something about Flintlock

Flintlock died trying to kill Claire (disguised as Kate) in DAYLIGHTERS # 9.

[12] the best version of myself

A callback to the final scene of DAYLIGHTERS # 9: this is something
Derek said to Claire, when asked to explain why he loved her.

III.

[13] FEVER punches a hole in time and space

The inciting incident of the Pulse War, as chronicled in JOLT CITY #
22-23 and MIGHTY MEDLEY # 1. This scene is the "important continuity"
bit that establishes the long-term planning of both the Pulse and The
Company.

One thing Eightfold continuity nerds (all two of them) might recall is
that when Anders's heel turn was revealed in JOLT CITY # 23, his
interior monologue mentioned that he was approached by the Order of
the Aedifex - the secret Catholic religious order named after a
time-traveling Derek Mason to help save the world from the
Dyzen'thari. Though Bethany won't connect those dots here, this would
mean of course that Maddocks and The Company had some influence or
secret faction within the Order and the Church.

[14] Bethany Two

Kate's other best friend named Bethany, civilian Bethany Proust
("Bethany One"), has been mentioned a couple of times in the past, as
well as the numbered naming convention Kate uses to distinguish them.

[15] shiny and black

Just so all y'all don't think I forgot the Paradox Heart.

[16] how'd you know it wasn't me

As touched on in DAYLIGHTERS # 11, Cal knew it wasn't really Kate
because Kate/Claire said she was proud of her.

[17] EPILOGUE

While the bulk of the story takes place between MANCERS # 13 and 14,
the remainder takes place after the Maile-Trini meeting in # 14. While
we didn't get into it in that story, this defeat of FEVER also helps
contribute to the isolation of Maddocks and his faction within The
Company. With the dirt that the circle gathered in MANCERS # 13, Trini
will be able to remove Maddocks and his supporters from the equation,
as alluded to in MANCERS # 14.

In that issue, there was a passing mention of Maile settling some
things for some "new friends" - and that's the stuff concerning the
Daylighters and the larger Pulse War mentioned in the first scene of
this epilogue. It made more sense to mention that here than in MANCERS
itself, just because the MANCERS series is more narrowly focused on
the Midnight War and dread Venus and all that, and not on space aliens
and superheroes.

[18] Strikeout

You guys, Strikeout is alive!

We last saw him in DAYLIGHTERS # 11, where his fate was uncertain. It
was Claire who broke his wrists. Since his powers revolve around
throwing things with high speed and accuracy, the broken wrists are
going to keep him out of active duty for a spell.

[19] the bravest thing I've ever seen

DARKHORSE # 8.