The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its
own tail. It comes from the Greek words oura (Greek οὐρά) meaning "tail"
and boros (Greek βόρος) meaning "eating", thus "he who eats the tail". The
Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense
of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things
perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (the mythical phoenix
has a similar symbolism). It can also represent the idea of primordial unity related
to something existing in or persisting before any beginning with such force or
qualities it cannot be extinguished. The ouroboros has been important in religious
and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in Alchemical
illustrations, where it symbolizes the circular nature of the Alchemist's opus. As
well, it is also often associated with Gnosticism, and Hermeticism. In alchemical
texts dating as far back as the 2nd Century such as 'The Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra',
Alexandria encloses the words 'hen to pan', ie; "one is the all" in it's black and white
halves that represent the Gnostic duality of existence. As such, the Ouroboros could
be interpreted as the Western equivalent of the Taoist Yin-Yang symbol. The
Chrysopoeia Ouroboros of Cleopatra is one of the oldest images of the Ouroboros
to be linked with the legendary opus of the Alchemists, the 'Philosopher’s Stone'.
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung saw the Ouroboros as an archetype and the basic
mandala of alchemy. Jung also defined the relationship of the Ouroboros to
alchemy: "The alchemists, who in their own way knew more about the nature
of the individuation process than we moderns do, expressed this paradox through
the symbol of the Ouroboros, the snake that eats its own tail. The Ouroboros has
been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the
Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a
circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima
materia (or Philosopher's Stone) of the art was man himself. The Ouroboros is a
dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the
shadow. This 'feed-back' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality,
since it is said of the Ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life,
fertilizes himself and gives birth to himself. He symbolizes the One, who proceeds
from the clash of opposites, and he therefore constitutes the secret of the prima
materia which unquestionably stems from man's unconscious."
But enough with the ontological history lesson. And here, discussing a comic book,
you ask? Certainly! If that comic is written by Grant Morrison. So, it should be
iterated at this point, this is a post for the readers. If you've not done the reading
on Morrison's run on Batman Incorporated, do not proceed with this post.
SPOILERS - SPOILERS - SPOILERS - SPOILERS - SPOILERS - SPOILERS.
That said, and warning given, year 5 in his ongoing Bat-tale has met with a lot of
hiccups along the way, namely editorial and publishing-based. Subsequently he's
had to do re-writes and issues have been narrative-crushingly late, but the big picture
is starting to form on this, Morrison's final 'season' (as he's been calling it) or book, in
his 6 year tale. Where the first book was about, in-part, a meta-premise: "The entire
written history of the character as the extraordinary and surreal life of one man. What
kind of toll would such a life take on his mind, and what if there was an ultimate villain
who knew and exploited that history?" the second was based on the larger mythological
theme: "Man's primordial battle with evil; the tyrannical monarch, the wolf, the dragon
- and the creation of his own myth in the face of such evil. A myth where Ultimate Evil
turns it's gaze on humanity and humanity gazes right back and says... gotcha." The
overarching concept of the third and final book is finally beginning to coalesce as the
meeting of two factions; one a crimefighting Global Corporation of finance, know-how
and technology as it prepares itself for the other; a dark Cabala of Druidic Magick,
Arcane 'superscience' Cults and the fallout of Shadow Organizations like Department
Zero and Spyral under the employ of post-WWII western governments. The first
obviously being Bruce Wayne's global crimefighting organization; Batman Incorporated
and the latter, like a ultimate-evil version of 'Operation Paperclip'; that spawned it and
sheltered the 'mad scientists' and 'wizards' of DC Comics Cold War history at it's core;
the international shadow-cult Leviathan.
Of Leviathan's prominent antagonists, the Ouroboros has particular significance to
one Doctor Dedalus. Shown early on in issue #5 as being initially under the guiding
hand of the Reich, discovering and employing various arcane Magicks and artifacts
to the Axis cause, later on, preempting the War's conclusion and under the guise of
researching and excavation of pre-Celtic Arcanum in a tomb in Scotland, (where we
see that he gains his 'powers' and 'Cloak of Smoke' as it were), then surrendering
himself to the British. In his surrender to the Brits he reveals his research into a "fifth
form of matter," "lost to prehistory and the fall of primordial, unknown empires." To
reference primordial, unknown, pre-Celtic empires in Grant Morrison's version of the
DC Universe, you need look no further than the origin of Arthurian culture as was
depicted in his Seven Soldiers. A book which intertwined Welsh and Jack Kirby
mythology with a time-spanning epic fight against the Sheeda/Sidhe, fairies who
turned out to be not from a 'other' dimension but rather, the far future (the Celts
called it "Annwyn"; Morrison terms it "Unwhen"). Dedalus then in their employ,
forming the UK espionage and supersceince organization Department Zero, which
later became Spyral and was deemed 'too dangerous' for the modern world and
disbanded (with force) by the UN para-military with aid from their existing roster
of metahumans. Of significance, the metahuman's job as depicted in issue #3
is to lock Dedalus in a tower, echoing the actual myth of Daedalus in which he
was locked away in a tower to protect his knowledge of the Minotaur's Labyrinth.
The Minotaur and the Labyrinth being themes we will be seeing again shortly.
Dedalus for decades after (still dressed in his 'Cloak of Smoke') imprisoned on
the Falkland isles, by a metaphysical weapon of his own devising. Yet even
here, in oration to/with himself, it's shown that he's far from powerless;
(it's no coincidence that Morrison chose to have Dedalus' semblance resemble
that of the 'Magician' card in the Tarot) in the midst of his rambling about the
ultimate superweapon of his conception, "the ring around the world": Oroboro
- we're then witness to his uncanny weather-changing abilities, out of a blue sky,
right on cue.
Which brings us to dualism and back again, to the Ouroboros. As themes of
aspect and counter-aspect arise in the book, the serpent and "it's black and white
halves that represent the Gnostic duality of existence" become the repeated image
over a narrative that spans decades, where Kathy Kane the Silver Age Batwoman
and her legacy tie into Department Zero and connections with modern-day events
in Argentina. It's revealed that the intelligence organization the then 'Agent-33'
(who is the modern day hero of Argentina, Gaucho), has worked for is none other
than Otto Netz aka Doctor Dedalus' twin-shadow organization; Spyral. Gaucho,
having done no small amount of investigation into the post-Spyral underworld
has discovered a (again) decades long conspiracy and secret organization operating
out of Argentina. An organization who's doctrine and fictional 'history' are lifted
almost directly from the works of Jorge Luis Borges - himself a real-world author
who's darkly florid fiction, explored the fluid 'between' states of mind, perception,
and experience, most well known for his plumbing of the subconscious though the
metaphor of the Labyrinth and as one of the progenitors of the literary genre which
came to be known as 'magic realism'. So there's the Labyrinth again, and there he is;
Jorge Borges. First with the Daedalus and the Minotaur reference and now quite
literally quoted structurally in issue #3, from Borges story "Death and the Compass"
...not to mention, you knew it was coming; "El Oroboro" - the name of a fictional
book written by the Florida Group (of which Jorge Luis Borges was a collaborator
and contributor) under the collective pseudonym Espartaco Extrano (ie; 'Strange
Spartacus'). Much like Extrano's life, the Florida Group was itself an artifice, the
product of a literary feud between itself and their ficto-literary adversaries, the
Boedo Group. Again with the duality. Again with the mirrored-self, the mirrored
-fiction, the mirrored-organization. The fictions reflecting reality, reflecting fictions.
The reflected-selves together comprising the whole. The Yin-Yang. The Ouroboros.
This theme also informs Morrison's obvious dualistic, mirror, positive/negative
critique of Capitalism; Batman Incorporated represents a example of a ‘good’
business form, where profit can be equated with helping others and the
company’s gross worth with the net result of its ability to save - or in real-world
terms ‘better’ - society. Leviathan is the ‘bad’ model, the old post-Colonial/
Military Industrial Complex model, where Capitalism is a blind machine that
finds its moral base only within the whim of the market and exists not for the
betterment of society or the human condition - but singularly for the reproduction
of itself. Both simultaneously mirroring one another in the establishment of
factions/representatives from each organization, geographically creating a
ring around the world and in doing so, strategically targeting Argentina, Japan,
Hong Kong, Australia, England, France and the Great Plains of the United States.
There's also a curious, secondary interpretation to these two approaches; where
Incorporated is about building that legacy and continuing the work beyond Bruce's
own investment/participation/lifespan as the enduring 'concept' of Batman -
the idea of immortality as living on through others, where knowledge, skills,
values are passed from one generation to another - the benefits of which belong
to all of society. Leviathan by contrast is the old bromidic Capitalist 'material'
solution, the single-minded attachment to the physical world, the hiding behind
the accumulation of 'things'; life as objects, power, money, influence. Like
Leviathan's brainwashed consumers, as vehicles for their drug/virus, far from
ensuring immortality, this attachment serves only to substantiate those very
fears and anxieties about the world. And in-particular about mortality and death.
It's revealing then, that Leviathan's logo development described by Grant in the
commentary pages of Batman: The Return is that it should resemble the sigil of
Kali's Yantra. Kali, the Hindu goddess who's name is derived from Kala, literally
translates in various interpretations as "black, time, death". The correspondence
between the logo, and the Tantric sigil is striking, and no happenstance in their
shared symbolism. As a further reduction of the Capitalism metaphor; in the
end with Incorporated vs. Leviathan, it’s down to competing products and their
marketing being the divide between exploitation or appealing to a beneficial
need. And don't overlook the fact that it's predominantly children who are getting
hooked on Leviathan (note the significance), children, and teenagers in 3rd World
cultural and economic crisis; the drug cartels of Argentina, the gangs of Native
American reservations in North America, the armed 'tribal purging' of South Africa.
These are all of the places that Leviathan is offering their 'product'... at the cost of
life-enrollment in the World Serpent.
Link to DC Comics: "Batman Incorporated" - Grant Morrison's Batman Vol.9
So at the conclusion of the first 'season' as Grant Morrison is calling it, we've seen
these two forces embodied by the Incorporated and the Arcanum - each with their
own agenda to create a 'ring around the world' in the establishing of their influence,
reach, and even as it could be called, branding. Where Bruce Wayne's motivation
was gained in a (yet undisclosed, but often referred to) future-vision from his time
traveling Fourth World jaunt that was last year's The Return of Bruce Wayne.
Leviathan, other than what's been discussed here, has yet to play or even fully
reveal their hand. Or their identity. Some of the villainous cast we know; we have
the Operation Paperclip ex-Nazi superscientist and spy Doctor Dedalus, we've seen
the product of one of Leviathan's Middle East meta-human enhancement facilities
in the form of The Heretic in Batman: The Return, yet, who is this white-cloaked,
monk-like mastermind that is directing the 'magic spell' that will change the world
with the creation of the Oroboro? Who (or what) is Leviathan him/itself? Two
significant clues have been laid down by Morrison; the first being in The Heretic's
confrontation with Damian Wayne in the issue noted above, he states "I know you...
but... that day has yet to come. When it does...You will know me. But not... yet."
implying a specific tense that alludes to Leviathan's knowledge of future events.
Heretic bearing a striking resemblance to Michael Lane, the 'Satanic' Batman of
issue #666 who, if you'll recall, not only is depicted in that future-flash-forward as
having developed metahuman abilities, but referenced closely in the possible death
/sacrifice of Bruce Wayne and Damian's ultimate decision in making a deal with
the 'Devil'. (or, with Grant there's always an or; is The Heretic instead Talia Al-
Ghul's genetically engineered 'perfect' version of her son, last seen in "Batman &
Robin" issue #12 in an embryonic state, given metahuman abilities and born from
the carcass of a dead whale, again in "Batman: The Return", who was after all,
referred to as 'he who is called "Fatherless"). Corresponding with this, Leviathan
has spoken in confidence with Doctor Dadelus of Bruce's time traveling and his
ordeal at the hands of Darkseid and the Omega Sanction. In referencing these
events, (largely only known to those close to Bruce Wayne) Leviathan dispels
the rumor that in returning from such a cross-cosmos quest, that Bruce Wayne
has returned a 'god'. The Second major clue, also lies in matters of time. This
one in the hands of Incorporated; we see in issue #1 that in his first mission
under the Incorporated banner, Bruce seeks out a object "more precious than
diamond" which he then infiltrates and steals from the laboratory of one
superscience mastermind Doctor Sivana. This object? The Suspendium Gem
which last time we saw in the DC Universe, was in the hands of Sivana to the
purpose of performing experiments on another DC science-villain; the larval
Mister Mind in the DC event book "52". Experiments that, you guessed it,
imbued Mister Mind with a time-altering, quantum consciousness that warped
the nature of the 4th Dimension itself. Of note, the original appearance of
Suspendium - which was designed by Doctor Sivana in the 1950's Golden Age
comic of the Marvel Family - was to create a Stasis Bubble in which events
were frozen, unaltered, untouched, trapped in time.
In riddling out all of that, with yet another whole year until the tale's conclusion,
where do we stand? Right in the fray of a sprawling time-warping puzzle of 'tenses',
labyrinths, historic political intrigue, superscience, global Magick spells, international
conglomerates vying for markets, metahuman manufacturing, building of armies and
a baffling, new, inscrutable 'unknowable villain'. A villain who's massive Machiavellian
aspirations are being cast on the world as though he were the very architect of the story
itself... or someone who has certain knowledge of it's outcome. And where might that
knowledge come, if not... from the future? (or is Leviathan simply an old nemesis in the
form of Ras Al-Ghul's Sensei, the believed-deceased leader of the League of Assassins? -
I can't decide which, but the latter seems just far too literal considering this story's tone).
And with that half-educated stab in the dark, I'm going to part with words from the one
individual who knows with certainty the future of this tale; the author himself. It's all
you from here on out Grant: "[Batman Incorporated] is the return of Bruce Wayne to
the Batman persona, and so I thought; 'what would Bruce bring to that'? It took off again,
and I got really into the notion of doing [Incorporated] as a team-up book... in doing ten
issues of these super-intricate stories, in the midst of which I noticed all the threads I'd
left untouched. As I decided to tie up and pay off every thread from my Batman run, I
realized there was still one big, final story to tell and it goes right back to the beginning
of my time on the book. I wanted to bring them all together and do this absolute grand
finale, a 12-issue rollercoaster ride through Hell, the biggest Batman story I could think
of to wrap up my six years on the book. That's what the second 'season' if you will,
became -- these twelve issues that will finish everything, dotting all the I's and crossing
all the T's, and leaving no stone unturned. I'd found the epic finale for my whole run
and I can't wait to write it..."
Link to DC Comics solicitation for "Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes!"
Link to DC Comics solicitation for "Batman Incorporated: Leviathan"
Link to Comics Alliance 'Grant Morrison Talks About Action Comics, His Batman Mega-Story and Mothers'
Link to Rolling Stone's 'Grant Morrison: Psychedelic Superhero' article
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