A Moment of Fringey, Comicy Goodness

 So the Fringe season 2 finale has aired, and I really liked it.

I'm still planning on doing an intro post to the series to invite people who want to try out the show so that they can catch up over the summer before season 3 starts this September (yes! it has been renewed!), so I'm not going to spoil anything in this post (please likewise don't in the combox).

At least, I'm not going to spoil anything significant. Just a minor moment that deals with something never even explicitly mentioned by the characters.

It displays the kind of creativity and subtlety that the show regularly displays. Unlike many shows, the creators of Fringe regularly load the show with easter eggs that will delight the sharp-eyed, attentive viewers–like the mysterious man who rarely has any dialog but who appears in every single episode, usually just walking through the shot or standing around in a crowd scene, allowing in-the-know viewers to have a live action version of Where's Waldo? every episode (and yes, this character does have a crucial role in the overall series arc).

Another easter egg appeared in the in the finale, where at one point we are in a hotel room in an alternate universe and the wall is decorated with framed comic book covers, which can be seen only out-of-focus in the background.

As I watched the scene, I said, "Hey, that's the cover of the first issue of the revived Justice League from the 1980s. I have that comic! And that one's The Dark Knight Returns #1! And on a show like this they've got to have a cover from Crisis on Infinite Earths. Do they? They do! Woo-hoo! I've got all of these!"

Except that I don't.

As became apparent when one of the covers came just enough into focus to make it recognizable as a famous Green Lantern/Green Arrow cover. Not that I don't have that issue (I think I've got it in a trade paperback edition), but because this is an alternate universe and it's actually a cover of Red Lantern/Red Arrow!

So now I knew that all of the covers were "alternate" in some way.

But what ways?

By happenstance, I found good-resolution versions of all of them on DC's blog.

YOU CAN LOOK AT THEM HERE.

DC made them up for the producers of Fringe, and they're all versions of comic covers that were famous in one way or another–in our universe.

I love the re-casting of Guy Gardner from the original cover as Jonah Hex! That works!

Also, the DC blog post is newbie-safe if you don't want to be spoiled on Fringe and just want to see the covers. They don't spoil anything in the blog post (I can't vouch for the comments because, y'know, always in motion the future is).

Now if I can just find a good-res version of the alternate map of the United States from the show.

I'm given to understand that Texas is two different states, and I want to see which one I (or the alternate me) was born in. (Since I was born in Corpus Christi, right down at the bottom of the point of Texas, I'm pretty sure I'm from South Texas, but I want to be see for myself.)

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live." View all posts by Jimmy Akin