Crossed Plus One Hundred 07
Crossed Plus One Hundred No.7 regular cover, art by Gabriel Andrade
Below are annotations for Crossed Plus One Hundred, No. 7 “I Am Legend” (22 pages, Cover date July 2015, released 12 August 2015)
Writer: Simon Spurrier, Artist: Fernando Heinz, Series Outline: Alan Moore
>Go to CPOH annotations index
>Go to CPOH timeline
>Go to CPOH language/glossary
>Go to CPOH background, cast of characters
Note: some of this stuff is obvious, but you never know who’s reading this and what their exposure is to any given reference. If there’s stuff I missed or got wrong, let me know in comments, or email linton.joe [at] gmail.com
General: Si Spurrier’s first issue takes place a full year after the conclusion of CPOH6. It portrays two days in the life of Future Taylor, now settled in Mufreesboro, TN. Taylor helps rehearse anti-Crossed defenses. With a crew, she rescues Gapple balloon riders from a Crossed attack.
Cover
- The woman is Future Taylor. (See cast of characters on introduction page)
- The green flag with moon and star make it clear that Taylor in the Islamic human settlement at Murfreesboro, TN, which appears in CPOH4.
Page 1
panel 1
- The woman is Future Taylor. (See cast of characters on introduction page) The mixed case captions are her journal.
- This is a dream sequence. Similar to the dream depicted at the start of CPOH5, there are no panel cues to designate that it’s a dream.
- The Hollywood Sign and palm trees put this dream sequence in Los Angeles. This is true to the setting of the book I Am Legend – see P2 and P22 below.
- July 27, 2109, is exactly 101 years since the initial Crossed outbreak of 2008 and a year to date since the events of CPOH6.
- “Christer-shapes” are crosses. “Believe-water” is holy water. Both of these, and garlic, are said to repel vampires.
Page 2
panel 1
- The “story” Taylor can’t remember the title of is revealed on the last page below. It is I am Legend a 1954 book by Richard Matheson made into multiple movies including one of the same title in 2007. It’s sort of the grandfather of the zombie genre which Crossed, of course, is part of. Each issue of CPOH to date includes a title and loose theme based on a specific work of science fiction literature.
panel 2
- Left to right are Archie Keller, Hope Giancoma, Taylor, Forward Dietrich, and Cautious Optimism Kriswyczki, all prominent characters in the initial CPOH1-6 story arc.
panel 3
- Right is Robbie Greer/Jokemercy.
- “In-filled traitors” is a mangled version of “infiltrator” which Greer was in CPOH1-6.
Page 3
panel 1
- The two women on the far right are Future Taylor’s mother Laura Taylor and Laura’s partner Oldwoman George.
panel 3
- The man is Beau Salt, serial killer villain Crossed patriarch of the initial CPOH1-6 story arc.
panel 4
- This is now the 2109 present. The location is Murfreesboro, TN. Cautious Optimism Kriswyczki is visible lying down next to Taylor
- “A new superstition entering the unassailable fortress of forever” is a line from the conclusion of the novel I Am Legend.
Page 4
panel 1
- Visible through the open door is the Rutherford County Courthouse, an actual historic building in Murfreesboro, seen in CPOH4. Based on the location of the Courthouse, this appears to be a practice gate, not Murfreesboro’s actual perimeter.
- “Not every fortress is unassailable” though written by Spurrier, is a very Alan Moore style transition, where the text from one narrative applies to the image of another. See for example, CPOH1 P4,p4 (and throughout Watchmen, Promethea, etc.)
panel 2
- On the right, with purple headscarf, is Ima’am Fajr last seen in CPOH4.
Page 5
panel 2
- On the left is Mustaqba, who appeared in CPOH4. On the right is Bukrah, appearing for the first time.
- Mustaqba is pulling his pants up because he has just received oral sex from Bukrah, explained on P11,p4 below.
panel 4
- “Defilade” is a military term denoting an attack from a concealed or hidden position.
Page 6,7 – no specific annotations
Page 8
panel 2
- This is the first mention of 2109 human settlements other than Chooga, Murfreesboro, and Gapple:
– “Kingstenn” (shown in CPOH8) is the present day city of Kingston, TN.
– “Fok-Nox” sounds like Fort Knox (in Kentucky) but is likely the present day Knoxville, TN. - The map in the background shows western Tennessee, including Memphis, where CPOH2 took place. More map is shown on P10 below.
panel 3
- “W… What’s your m–” is likely completed as “What’s your mean?” (See ‘mean’ in glossary page.)
Page 9
panel 5
- Depicts and describes the events of CPOH6.
Page 10
panels 1 and 3
- The map is of Tennessee and adjacent states. From top to bottom, locations marked by dots look appear to be:
– Sikeston, Missouri (red dot in panels 1 and 3)
– Murfreesboro, TN
– Fayetteville, TN
– Athens, GA (yellow dot in panel 3)
Page 11
panel 4
- “Face sexing…” refers back to the events of P5,p2 above.
Page 12
panels 1-2
- “Ballsheet” first used here, sounds like “bullshit” meaning “nonsense, lies.”
- Panels 1 and 2 form a fixed-camera sequence.
Page 13
panel 1
- The drawing of the elephant on the wall perhaps harkens back to earlier, happier times during CPOH2 (P4) when the crew encountered elephants.
Page 14-15
panel 2
- The balloon from Gapple (derived from “Big Apple” meaning New York City) appeared at the start and end of CPOH3. These balloon riders appear to be different individuals than the two that appeared briefly in CPOH3. First appearance of Mister McBlarney and his son Oneway McBlarney.
Page 16
- Panelwise, the comics gutters go from teal (Pages 1-13) to black. Apparently the black gutter indicates night time. There’s no precedent for this in earlier issues of CPOH, though in CPOH1, the gutter color shifts to indicate different days.
Page 17
panel 1
- “Alp!” is “help!” Gapple eastpeoples speak with a Brooklyn accent.
panel 4
- “Fudda” is ‘father’; “M’fudda” is ‘my father.’ Both with Brooklyn accent.
panel 5
- “Baful” is Bashful, the Crossed leader appearing in CPOH6. “Fobaful” is probably “for Bashful.”
Page 18
panel 2
- The Crossed archer-woman has one breast. This is likely a reference to the myth that Amazon warrior women were said to have cut off one breast, in order to be able to fire a bow and arrow more effectively.
- The Crossed wears a necklace of human penises.
Page 19
panel 2
- “Halfwog” isn’t clear. It may be some kind of reference to Taylor being mixed-race. Suggestions?
panel 3
- This panel shows the clearest view of the “girl bits” hat; her hat is made from a human vagina.
- The Crossed think that Taylor is dead due to Archie Keller’s strategic lie in CPOH6 P21,p3.
panel 5
- “Samadda wicha? Sommudy alp m’fudda!” is a Brooklyn accented “What is the matter with you? Somebody help my father!”
Page 20
panel 1
- Panelwise, the teal comics gutter resumes, indicating daytime.
panel 4
- “Senthirdy” is from the slang term “730” meaning crazy, hence it is a Gapple term for Crossed. The origin of this term is apparently a Rikers Island jail (The Bronx, NYC) form 730A that determines the mental competency of convicts. (Thanks commenter Gapple Sheet-talker)
- “Sabigwhoop” is “What’s the big whoop?” meaning “what’s the big deal?” or “why is that important?”
Page 21
panel 3
- The building in the background appears to be the new mosque, shown under construction in CPOH4 P4.
- “Youse even gudda ask? Gaddabout! Ehnything. Pizzacake!” is a Brooklyn accented “You even have to ask? Forget about it! Anything. Piece of cake.” “Gaddabout” appears in CPOH3 P5,p3 (though spelled “gaddaboud.”) Pizza is, of course, a New York City food tradition; here it is conflated with “piece of cake” an expression meaning “something easy to do.” (Thanks commenter nemuihp.)
Page 22
panel 1
- “I Am Legend” is the issue’s title. Each issue of CPOH is based on a work of science fiction literature – see explanation on Pages 1-2 above.
- “AKAWK” is perhaps a typo for Taylor’s more common “AFAWK” – as far as we know. (See glossary and nitpicks pages.)
THE END
>Go to Crossed Plus One Hundred No. 8 annotations
>Go to Crossed Plus One Hundred Annotation Index
Carrie Lincourt
Joe Linton
THE PERIODIC FABLE 
14 August 2015 at 2:54pm |
gotta say I wasn’t that impressed with this one. a noticeable falling-off from Moore (which I suppose is inevitable) with a weird cartoonishness about things. I really don’t get why everyone from Murfreesboro is so blase about the fact that there are intelligent Crossed tribes out there likely planning to kill and torture them all.
And turning Future into a Crossed-world Ripley from “Alien” (as seems to be the trajectory) is kind of predictable
15 August 2015 at 2:28am |
I agree, the subtle and understated details that make CPOH so compelling are kind of forced upon the reader in a distracting way now, which BTW it’s Si Spurrier not Moore writing this arc. And although Heinz is better at conveying action and movement in his scenes, the characters are presented in such a exaggerated fashion that the reader loses a lot of the connection to the individuals and overall immersion in the struggle.
15 August 2015 at 7:31am
oh, no I certainly knew Moore wasn’t writing this—i clumsily phrased that line. Meant to say Spurrier’s writing is a major falling-off from Moore’s
19 August 2015 at 4:45pm |
Just more-or-less finished annotations. I had to get used to the more cartoonish-anime style faces… not my favorite, but OK. I think Spurrier is riffing enough in the same vein as Moore was that it’s still enjoyable. It’s not Moore (nothing else is!) but I like these characters and this world enough to enjoy seeing where Spurrier takes them.
25 August 2015 at 1:05pm |
Yeah, the artwork felt like more of a departure than the writing- just a bit too cartoony at times for me.
Then again I think the first six issues were excellent so it was always going to be a tough follow-up. But Spurrier did a great job with “Crossed : Wish You Were Here” and I honestly can’t think of anyone else I’d rather was following in Moore’s big footsteps on this one, so fingers crossed. It’s very much an introductory issue as well, and I’m still keen to see what Spurrier has lined up.
The annotations are, as always, much appreciated.
No idea either what “senthirdy” – unless it’s meant to be “sentry”- as in the “churchface sentry”..?
17 October 2015 at 4:50pm |
“Gaddabout” is Gapple-talk for “Forget about it”. The expression was previously used in the same context back in CPOH3, by a different balloonist.
11 November 2015 at 10:40pm |
yes – I think you’re correct – and I just fixed it in multiple places (though CPOH3 spells it slightly differently “gaddaboud” vs “gaddabout”)
26 December 2015 at 3:58am |
Senthirdy is Gapple talk for the New York slang, “Seven-thirty” meaning crazy/psycho, a reference to the psychological evaluation form at Rikers Island
26 December 2015 at 2:24pm |
Aha!
5 April 2016 at 2:49am |
What does AKAWK – with two K’s – mean (instead of the usual AFAWK at the bottom of last page) ?
5 April 2016 at 9:37am |
Hmmm…. another thing I didn’t notice! But I just looked and it’s definitely there. My guess is that it’s an unfortunate typo… I’ll add it to the nitpicks page.