Monitors (comics)
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| The Monitors | |
 Five of the Monitors. Art by Ariel Olivetti |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | DCU: Brave New World |
| Created by | Marv Wolfman George Pérez |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | The Monitors |
| Abilities | Not well-defined, but if comparable to The Monitor: Vast cosmic powers; Energy and matter manipulation, Incalculable strength and durability. |
The Monitors are a group of fictional characters, owned by DC Comics who exist in that company's DC Universe.
They are based on The Monitor, a character created by comic book writer Marv Wolfman and comics artist George Pérez as one of the main characters of DC Comics' Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. They are a group that watches all aspects of the multiverse, past and present. Most importantly, they seek to prevent any more crossovers between the universes, as was common before "The Crisis". The Monitors first appeared in Brave New World.
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[edit] Fictional history
[edit] Origins
One of the Monitors appears in shadow on the cover of the DCU: Brave New World Special; the first few pages show the Monitors' satellite appearing over earth. In the final pages of the comic, five Monitors are revealed. One of them names the group the "Monitors." One of the five is noticeably different from the others; although his back is turned, he resembles the Anti-Monitor. This Monitor is later shown in Supergirl to only dress like the Anti-Monitor. In Ion #9, the Monitors are shown to be a society of many different Monitors. There are 52 in total, one from each of the new universes.[1] In Countdown #48, when a large group of Monitors gather together, it is shown that each of them is physically different from the others in at least a small way. The most extreme example, apart from the one dressed like the Anti-Monitor, is one who appears to be a humanoid giraffe, suggesting he is the Monitor of a modern equivalent of Captain Carrot's Earth-26.
[edit] Monitor sightings
The Monitors have made the following additional appearances:
- In the opening issue of the 2007 series Countdown and are expected to make appearances in later issues.
- In the final installment of the History of the DCU (52 #11; July 2006), one of the Monitors confronts Donna Troy and informs her that she should have died during the Crisis. Jade, a member of the team of heroes that Donna recruited to operate in deep space, was killed during Infinite Crisis in her place.
- In Nightwing #125, a Monitor stalks Dick Grayson, informing him that he is supposed to be dead, and the Monitors will fix the fact that he is not.
- A Monitor makes a cameo appearance in "The Secret Origin of Nightwing" backup in 52 #25.
- In Ion #6, a Monitor appears in Kyle Rayner's apartment and tells him that "[he's] supposed to be dead."
- In Ion #7, the Monitor indicates that "[Kyle] will require continued monitoring...[Kyle] and the others".
- In Ion #8, the Monitors decide that "it remains unclear...whether Kyle Rayner must live or die."
- In Ion #9, after the Green Lantern of the Tangent Universe breaches the boundaries of the Multiverse to the New Earth of the DCU, the Monitors conclude that "for the survival of the universe...Kyle Rayner must be eliminated."
- In Ion #10, Monarch indicates that the Monitors have been keeping tabs on him as well, necessitating his use of a region known as the Bleed to conduct activities away from their reach.
- In Ion #11, the Monitors plan an intervention after two of their quarries—Kyle Rayner and Donna Troy—team up.
- In World War III #4: United We Stand, the Monitors make an appearance at the end and state that although the war is over, the superheroes need to evolve for upcoming events.
- In Supergirl #18, one of the 52 Monitors stops Dark Angel from erasing Supergirl. It is revealed here that Dark Angel is now an agent of the Monitors, sent to poke and prod certain anomalies in New Earth to see if they belong.
[edit] Countdown: The Monitor factions
In Countdown, one of the storylines follows the Monitors in their headquarters. One Monitor has taken it upon himself to eradicate inconsistencies within the universes, characters such as Duela Dent, whom he kills.[2]. At first, the other 51 Monitors are more devoted to merely watching the multiverse and intervening only when truly necessary.
[edit] "Bob"
The Monitors begin to debate over being reactive and proactive regarding the world jumpers and death cheaters. The proactive Monitor (in favor of killing the anomalies), manages to sway sentiment towards his side. He dispatches a Forerunner, a member of an experimental race of warriors bred by the Monitors, to kill Jason Todd and Donna Troy. They are stopped by one of the reactive Monitors only because the Forerunners must obey a Monitor due to their genetic breeding.[3] The reactive Monitor, Jason Todd, and Donna Troy meet with current-Atom Ryan Choi to search for Ray Palmer in the Nanoverse (or "Palmerverse").[4] Here, Donna Troy realizes that, while this Monitor has done so much for the Multiverse already, no one knows his name. The Monitor claims to not have a name, and Jason Todd takes it upon himself to name him "Bob."[5] Interestingly, it is this benevolent Monitor who bears the closest resemblance to the original Monitor, being of New Earth and that world being the combined total of all the universes the original Monitor watched over. It has also been stated recently in Countdown the Monitors believe they were all once the same individual monitor, divided and slowly drifting into more different forms as their universes have been differentiated while Bob and New Earth have been harkening back to many attributes shown of their forebearers. When the Challengers find Ray Palmer, Bob reveals his acts of assistance to be a ruse, and attempts to kill Ray. After Ray and the Challengers escape, Bob is confronted by his fellow Monitors. Solomon attempts to absorb Bob into his being, but ends up killing him instead.
[edit] Solomon
As a result of Bob's actions, the other Monitors take a more aggressive approach to maintaining the multiverse. Seeing it as a necessity under the circumstances, they all take on names as Bob has. Rallying behind the Monitor of Earth-8, now calling himself Solomon, they begin to fear that it is not only the anomalies that they must face, but also the virus infecting Karate Kid, Monarch's growing army, whoever is responsible for Jimmy Olsen's powers, and the possibility that a single individual may be behind all of these events. With the help of a female monitor, Solomon convinces the others to prepare for war. After Solomon's attempt to absorb Bob, the other Monitors voice their disapproval. Solomon reveals that he planned to join with his fellow Monitors and become the Source. The Monitors are then interrupted by Monarch. As the Monitors battle his army, Monarch reveals to Solomon that his actions were the catalyst to the creation of his army. Solomon, greatly distressed, flees to the Monitor satellite, where he is snubbed by the remaining Monitors. Solomon is then approached by Superman-Prime. Solomon tells Prime that Monarch is destroying the perfect universe, and Prime flies off to fight him. Darkseid then appears and offers Solomon assistance. They go to Apokolips, where they watch events unfold. While the planet is assimilated by Brother Eye, and a large part of it is destroyed by Pied Piper, Darkseid reveals that it was Solomon who attacked Captain Atom in Bludhaven, triggering his transformation into Monarch. When Darkseid reveals his plans to control the Fifth World, Solomon appears to the heroes still on Apokolips, warning them of the danger, and teleporting them back to earth. It is later revealed that the Earth he sent them to was the reconstituted Earth-51, as a way of stopping part of Darkseid's plan. Solomon is then seen on the Monitors' satellite, patiently awaiting Darkseid's next move. After Darkseid's death, Solomon creates a small monument to him on the Source Wall, and patiently begins planning anew.
[edit] Nix Uotan
First encountered on Earth-12 where he confronts Bob, Nix Uotan is the youngest of his kind and the benevolent Monitor of Earth-51. When the Challengers (Donna, Jason and Kyle) are brought to his Earth, at last finding Ray Palmer there, Bob and Solomon bring the Monitors to this Earth in hopes of destroying Ray. The Monarch uses this opportunity to put his Multiversal army at war against the Monitors, decimating their ranks, and ultimately all of Earth-51. Nix Uotan sends the Challengers to Apokolips where they may confront Darkseid. Nix Uotan is left alone on a desolate universe, and begins its rebirth. After witnessing its chaos and near-destruction, the Challengers are sent to the reborn Earth-51 by Solomon who seeks to destroy yet another one of Nix Uotan's peaceful Utopias, this time by infecting it with Karate Kid's Morticoccus virus, causing the "Great Disaster". In the final issue of Countdown, the Challengers (now Donna, Kyle, Ray and Forager) confront the Monitors with the promise they will be watching them and protecting the Multiverse; Nix Uotan defends their choice, and joins their ranks in a reconstituted group of Challengers. He is punished and banished into the Multiverse by the other Monitors for this.[6]
