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Warning : looter for Batman / Superman : World ’s Finest # 25 ahead !
Summary
There are few spot in DC persistence more mysterious than the Rock of Eternity , the seat of thaumaturgy and on - and - off headquarters for the allies ofShazamand the Wizard . When the Rock is offend by some of DC ’s unsound scoundrel , it gives up one of these mysteries : an artefact cognize as " the Heart of Eternium , " whose very existence seems to advise a connection between the Rock andSandman’sEndless .
The first narration , " Joker - Luthor : World ’s Vilest " by Mark Waid and Steve Pugh , inBatman / Superman : World ’s Finest#25 seesLex Luthor go up the Jokerwith a map that drives the reader harebrained , promising to share the treasure it reveals if the Joker can interpret it . The map leads to the Rock of Eternity and the treasure at its centre : a watch crystal heart known as the " Heart of Eternium " that can grant any desire .
When the Joker of necessity tell on Luthor and attempt to take the Heart for himself , Luthor is forced to destroy it to block up the Joker from using the Heart to overwhelm the mankind in madness . These scenes suggest an intriguing connectedness between Shazam and Endless traditional knowledge .
Constantine has been involve with all manner of immortal and monsters , but now he let in that one member of the Endless in truth scares him .
Does the Rock of Eternity Hold the Secrets of the Endless?
A Major Shazam Object Seems to Connect to Sandman Lore
If the Endless were to hold their arcanum within the confines of the DC Universe , there is arguably no safer burial vault than the Rock of Eternity . Not only is it one of DC ’s old set up locales , debut back in 1940 with the quietus of the Shazam mythos , it is the face through which all magic menses , sitting at the cosmological heart of the DCU . While the Endless are not explicitly magic beings , the Rock would sure as shooting be an appropriate repository for the kind of power they wield .
The Heart of Eternium seems specifically emblematical of Desire , the Endless in charge of want . Given how strongly someone are beat back by desire , the eponymic Endless often see deathly ethnic music as their plaything , and the wry fate that befallboth Luthor and the Jokerin this proceeds are typical of mortals who run afoul of Desire ’s games . As for the Heart of Eternium , not only does it fulfil desires , but it is also carve from the Rock itself into the chassis of a pellucid heart — the same frame and substance that represents Desire in the galleries through which the Endless communicate .
Perhaps the Rock of Eternity is huge enough to contain references to the Endless , too .
The map to the Rock driving its lector to madness could suggest a playful or protective effort on the part of Delirium , while the Rock being " the passage to all thing Past , Present , and Future " implies it may be a part of Destiny ’s domain . On the other hand , the Heart also hard resemble the destructive Dream Vortex that repel the secret plan of the Sandman volumeThe Doll ’s House;since the Vortex in that story is the result ofDesire meddle with Dream , the Heart taking the same form may suggest at another such combining of Dream and Desire ’s powers .
The Sandman : The Doll ’s Houseby Neil Gaiman , Mike Dringenberg , Malcolm Jones III , Chris Bachalo , Michael Zulli , Steve Parkhouse , and others is available in collected editions from DC Comics .
The Rock of Eternity Connects All of the DC Multiverse
Panel fromShazam!#1 by Waid, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sánchez, and Troy Peteri
Batman / Superman : World ’s Finest#25 is full of references to both Shazam and other DC properties , include the train that need the Joker and Luthor to the Rock and brief cameos by Jonah Hex and the villainous Abra Kadabra ; perhapsthe Rock of Eternity is vast enough to contain references to the Endless , too . While these connections currently rest in the land of hypothesis — ticker iconography , after all , is a fairly universal symbolic representation of want — there are just enough seed sown in this issue to suggest that there may be some connection betweenShazam’sRock of Eternity andSandman’sEndless .
Batman / Superman : World ’s Finest#25is available now from DC Comics .
BATMAN / SUPERMAN : WORLD ‘S FINEST # 25 ( 2024 )
