#i thought maybe rj brande might be involved but we don't know if rj brande of earth 247

[radioactive-earthshine]

Wait, is Dox the AI named after Braniac?

THIS is what I was aggressively researching last night but I was attacking another angle entirely and did not come up with any clear answers, because there is something very interesting about Dox the AI that I feel most readers would miss entirely.

Up until you actually SEE Dox the AI we have no idea what he was supposed to look like, but it is none-the-less interesting that Bart claims that his name is Dox which is synonymous to the Brainiac family line. When you finally see what Dox is supposed to look like he is friend-shaped and has a body built like Ti'Julk Mr'azz (Gates of Vyrga) and does not seem to look like any Coluan from which the name Dox is from.

His appearance I feel throws a lot of people off that his name has anything to do with the Doxes until you pay attention to one small detail and that's when things get interesting.

Impulse #64

Here's Dox! He's just a little guy. But he has a very iconic emblem on his abdomen, some of you might immediately recognize it but I feel it's fair that most readers have no idea what it is.

It's actually the L.E.G.I.O.N. emblem which is solely specific to Brainiac 2, Vril Dox II whose base of operations was in the 20th century.

L.E.G.I.O.N. and then R.E.B.E.L.S. (1994) are adult comics that follow Vril's story and they ended in 1996 prior to the publication of Impulse #64, which was published in 2000. There were couple specials where Vril showed up in between 1996 and 2000, most notably in Showcase '96 #12 where he saved Querl from his tyrannical and deranged father, but other than that the comic title was complete. Finished. The story was wrapped up and given an end in the 20th century.

Why does a 'nanny AI' with the name of Dox have the L.E.G.I.O.N. emblem on his abdomen?

Why are they linking two comics that are VASTLY different in target audience, content and rating? If Black Label printing was a thing back then, L.E.G.I.O.N. probably would have been released under it because it was pretty edgy containing some very violent themes that are difficult to talk about openly without people getting very upset (and it's part of the reason why I am hesitant to talk more about these comics).

I was desperately trying to find an in-world link between them that was firmer evidence other than speculation, and when I came up with nothing, I reached into looking through letters to editors to try to see if someone asked if there was some link between Dox the AI and Vril Dox II.

No one did, and if they did, it was not published in the comics I have physically (because internet archives often omit the letters which can sometimes contain some really insightful stuff). I also began looking into the artist for this issue (the awesome Eric Battle) to see if he had any link to either of Vril's comics and... nothing.

So we're left with speculation as to why this AI is named Dox and WHY he is linked specifically to L.E.G.I.O.N.

Just by having that L.E.G.I.O.N. emblem on his abdomen confirms at least by intent I believe that he was at least named for Vril Dox II.

It could be that this AI's creator, whoever they are, had a keen interest in L.E.G.I.O.N. and named him after Vril as a sort of fond homage to history and there is no other real link.

The facility that was holding Bart in his VR containment we know for sure could not be highly reputable and very likely was employed by morally dubious scientists at the heels of Thaddeus Thawne I, so that is another angle that can be speculated on as L.E.G.I.O.N. for all the good it did do in the galaxy was a morally dark grey entity. Vril, is morally dark grey teetering on solid grey. So you have two sketchy entities together on this and no real link to either of them.

It's fascinating and frustrating and I might return to this later.