Negation (comics) explained
Negation is a comic book series published by CrossGen. Tony Bedard was the writer for the entire run. Paul Pelletier was the artist for most of the issues, with an occasional fill-in artist on some issues.
Publication history
The series started with the Negation Prequel in December 2001. 27 regular issues followed the prequel. The series concerned a group of different alien races that had been taken prisoner and brought to the Negation universe. A number of the prisoners had innate superhuman powers while many, like Obregon Kaine, were ordinary humans. His tactical military experience made him able to lead the prisoners. He masterminded the plan that allowed a number of his fellow prisoners to escape the prison planet all of them were being held in. The series details the adventures which Kaine and the rest had in Negation space. The series ended with issue #27. CrossGen tried to wrap up all the dangling storylines in the Negation: War mini-series. CrossGen had to declare bankruptcy before the series could be finished. Only two issues of Negation: War were published.
In October 2004, writer Tony Bedard was quoted laying out a design for the future of the characters in an interview.[1]
CrossGen released two trade paperback books which contained the first part of the series:
- Negation Volume 1: BOHICA
- Negation Volume 2: Baptism of Fire
Two more books were released on May 25, 2007:
- Negation Volume 3: Hounded
- Negation Volume 4: Shock and Awe
CrossGen Chronicles #7, Negation: Lawbringer, and the Mark of Charon mini-series were Negation-related books that CrossGen published. All stories were written by Tony Bedard and expand the universe created in the main Negation series.
Characters
Prisoners/Fugitives
- Obregon Kaine - AKA "The Pest". Occupation: Captain of the Paladins; 24th armored air cavalry. The de facto leader of the group of fugitives due to his military and tactical expertise.
- Evinlea - one of the race of gods known as The First from House Sinister. She eventually struck a deal with Charon, the god-emperor of the Negation Universe, to get back home and conquer it.
- Lizard Lady - a female reptilian/humanoid scout (from the Sigil worlds) who stayed with Kaine until the very end of the series. At the end of the Negation series she, Kaine and Zaida are alone on a spaceship; the others having left them on a different ship hoping to hide in some planet in Negation Space. She provides the key to unlock the power of Zaida and her baby. Real name: Khlystek (from Know Your Negation, a character guide found in Negation TPB, vol II: Baptism of Fire).
- Iress - halfbreed goddess. Born from a member of The First of House Dexter and a mortal. She hates Evinlea with good reason and she does not have nearly the power of Evinlea.
- Matua - Home Planet: Ciress. Of the Djinn Guild (from the Mystic world) Matua is a skilled sorcerer and a master of a number of "djinn" spirits. He died valiantly fighting Lawbringer LKQR, sacrificing himself with a deadly spell in order to kill the creature.
- Corrin - Origin: City/State of Atlantis, Earth. She believes that she sleeps in a stasis tube under the sea, and that being in the Negation universe is only a vivid dream. She is woken up to the reality of her life in Negation Space by Gammid (a fellow Atlantean).
- Gammid - member of the Atlantean Race from Earth. Gammid and his brother Galvan first appeared in the comic book series Crux. Gammid came to Negation Space to guide a tribe of humans to a higher plane of existence. He was imprisoned by Charon for some time before being freed by the group as they rescued Zaida's baby Memi. Gammid was able to return all the powers of all the Sigil bearers (plus Evinlea) and he woke Corrin up to the reality of her situation. Gammid helped to kill Javi (after he returned from the dead) but was in turn sliced in half by one of Charon's elite inverse Sigil bearers.
- Fluxor - native to Negation Space and a member of the near-extinct kremmin race. During the Negation occupation, seven worlds within the Kremmin Continuum were wiped out by Lawbringers. Occupation: Captain of the kremmin ship, the Outreach. Not very competent as a Captain, his character is very much a spoof of Captain Kirk/William Shatner from Star Trek.
- Exor - native to Negation Space. Occupation: First Officer to Captain Fluxor. Compensates for his captain's deficiencies as a leader and an officer. He is killed on planet Senkiem along with the rest of the crew of the Outreach.
- Calyx - Home: Torbel. Occupation: Seamstress. Pet: a vermin-like creature she calls "Foonie".
- Thustra - a silent elf-like beauty, she does little in the series.
- Thalia - mortal woman, she is given powers by Lord Kohm of The First, from House Dexter. She dies early.
- Monchito - a strange little creature that was part of the group that was abducted into Negation Space. He is called "Monchito" because that is all he seems to say. He grows to enormous size in one episode of the comic.
- Zaida - an orange-eyed modest young woman abducted from Lita City. She gave birth to a baby girl named Memi after being abducted into the Negation Universe and holds a secret.
- Memi - an inexplicably indestructible infant, she is a daughter of Zaida and a man named Cobi.
- Zamida - the combination of mother-daughter pair Zaida and Memi, Zamida is a part of a powerful entity living in the Crossgen Universe named Danik. This is the same entity who helped facilitate (through suggestion) the creation of the Sigil-bearers in order to fight the impending Negation invasion. She appears as a little girl in this state, resembling Zaida.
Sigil Bearers
It was revealed in the series that there were five Sigil-Bearers taken by the Negation, though apparently only four survived the "Extinction Wave", a weapon which rendered the prison planet into a burnt husk. The survivors are as follows:
- Javi Cobian - Sigil Bearer with the ability to empower others and repair any damage done to their bodies. Home Planet: Larrinaga in the Hatorei System. Occupation: Doctor. Cobian is a man of faith, a member of the church of Dedition. Thought to have been killed by Lawbringer QZTR, Javi later resurfaced and lead the first of Charon's inverse Sigil (LIGIS) bearers. He is killed by Gammid and Kaine working together.
- Mercer Drake - Sigil-bearer with the power to overcome any physical obstacle to attain a location or object. This power is immensely powerful though bizarre to contemplate. Occupation: self-proclaimed pirate. Mercer Drake is described as a "scourge of the skies... Most wanted man in the Kazrath System".
- Westin - Sigil-bearer with the ability to see how technology is operated. Later it is revealed that he can see backwards in time. Occupation: Thief/Con Artist. He is not the most trusted member of the group.
- Shassa - Sigil-bearer whose powers enable her to combat any enemy by feeding off portions of their strengths, though it only affects her and does not seem to weaken her opponents in any way. Her powers allowed her to hold her own in battle against both Evinlea and Lawbriner Qztr. Occupation: Constable
The fifth Sigil-bearer, a blue-skinned, blue-haired individual with the Sigil marked on the right side of his neck, was shown in the Negation Prequel, though his name and his abilities were never mentioned. He was apparently slain at the prison planet, possibly either by one of the warden's tests or during the deployment of the Extinction Wave weapon, which effectively annihilated the prison planet.
There was also a character in the prequel that bore a sigil on his shoulder.
Negation Military
- Charon - God Emperor of the Negation. Called the "Mad God", he occupied the "negation" universe in 10,000 years with the Core Negation. He is currently assembling armies to conquer the "bright" universe, the motive being to restore order, as he claims he did for his current universe.
- Qztr - said to be the first Lawbringer (the enforcer gods of Negation space) and Charon's most favored child.
- Kryzorr - Occupation: Military Regent General SectorCom G1 of the Negation Imperium. He is a member of Core Negation, the initial group who followed Charon during his occupation of the "negation" universe, and themselves acquired differing degrees of power; Kryzzor's power is recognized by the aquamarine energy taking up the top half of his head.
- Komptin - Occupation: High Castellan in the Negation Imperium, a position separate from the Core Negation. Home Planet: Kalima, native to Negation space. He becomes obsessed with capturing and destroying Obregon Kaine, much like Ahab obsesses over the white whale.
- Murquade - Occupation: Negation General of the Battle Group Clarion and of Core Negation. He fought off and hunted "Transitioned" humans who came, from Earth's continent of Australia, to Negation space via a portal machine, giving them a bit of power (not unlike Murquade's own), marked by the jagged, light green energy emitting from various parts of their bodies. He is eventually destroyed by the Australians.
External links
- Negation Space - contains Negation issue summaries, character guides, interviews, and a cover gallery
Notes and References
- Web site: Interview 2. https://web.archive.org/web/20091027120655/http://www.geocities.com/negationspace/interview2.html. GeoCities. October 2004. 27 October 2009.
