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While the League battles the Synmar Utopica in Justice League #67, a connection is revealed to exist between a member of the United Order and a Titan.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Justice League #67, on sale now from DC Comics.
Earth’s heroes have been receiving help from the universe’s newest super-team, the United Order, in recent issues of Justice League. Acting as the defenders of law and order for the newly formed United Planets, this new team is comprised of a variety of the different species who populate the new intergalactic alliance. Out of all of those chosen to join the ranks of the United Order though, one has a special connection to the Teen Titans of Earth.
Justice League #67 (by Brian Michael Bendis, Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, Hi-Fi and Josh Reed) concludes the League and the United Order’s battle with the Synmar Utopica. As the fight carries on, the issue gives a rundown of each of the members of this new intergalactic team. Though all of the species present are familiar residents of the DC universe, the Tamaranean among them has a surprising family history.
It turns out that Prince Zerep is related to the Teen Titans’ Tamarean member, Starfire. As Zerep explains who he is, he mentions that Koriand’r is his cousin’s third aunt. Though this is a somewhat comically distant connection, it is a connection nonetheless and officially makes this member of the United Order a part of Starfire’s family.
To understand the significance of the connection as a whole, it’s important to understand some of Tamaran’s history. The planet of Tamaran is the second home of the Tamaranean species, colonized after they left their original home of Okaara long ago. When the Tamaraneans set up their new government, over time it transformed into a feudal system, with a number of different royal families at the top.
Each landmass on the planet has its own royal family. Starfire comes from the most prominent of these families while Prince Zerep comes from the royal family of the west. He’s the next in line to the throne of Witidel there, something which his distant relative Starfire also knows something about, considering that her own family skipped over her older sister Blackfire in favor of her becoming next in line for the throne.
The Tamaraneans were once a peaceful race and they let emotion dictate their actions rather than logic. However, repeated invasions and long-fought wars turned them into a fearsome warrior race. This can be seen in both Koriand’r and Zerep’s actions, as both are naturally happy and caring, yet fearsome in battle. That constantly cheery disposition is also because of their biology, not any distant family relation. Tamaraneans’ powers are intrinsically linked to their emotions and any negative feelings could cause their powers to fail, which isn’t great in battle.
All in all, Prince Zerep is a prime example of Tamaranean culture as well as being a distant relative to the planet’s most famous daughter. His relation to Starfire is a fun connection to delight fans and show that, despite the separation between Tamaran’s kingdoms, the royal families are still linked in distant ways. The United Order, and the United Planets as a whole, present an opportunity for DC to explore more of the DC Universe’s intergalactic connections in the future.
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