The Peace-keepers
Extraterrestrial, Peacekeeping Organization
Late 20th Century
The extraterrestrial Peace-Keepers are appointed representatives for “the thousand worlds,” patrolling the galaxy to maintain peace between inhabited planets.
Their mission requires “beings from many different worlds—worlds with different gravities and atmospheres to work together.” For this reason, those that volunteer abandon their original biological forms to adopt a common “cybernetic body,” which enables them to exist and work together in the same environment. In these bodies it is presumed they can live indefinitely—some having served in this capacity for 500 years or more.
When they discovered that the inhabitants of Earth had used nuclear weapons—in an act that left humans nearly extinct—the Peace-Keepers deemed Earth such a threat to galactic peace that the total destruction of our planet was required and justified. With some convincing, the Peace-Keepers eventually saw error in their judgement and placed the Earth off-limits for 100 years, to allow humanity a chance to rebuild their world and learn from the mistakes that nearly wiped them from existence.
Visual Identity Overview
Figure 1.1 The Peace-Keepers logo as it appears on two types of spacecraft—centered under the front view port of their main spacecraft, and on the tail of a smaller scoutship.
Figure 1.2 The Peace-Keepers logo as it appears on the chest of the Prime Director’s gold cybernetic body. The logo is absent on the lower ranking silver Peace-Keepers.
Figure 1.3 The Peace-Keepers logo consists of two parts, the smaller being a shape that could have fit within the larger—like a puzzle piece removed.
Analysis: The Logo Design
When the Peace-Keepers show up on the scene in the third issue of Doomsday +1—their patrol ship zooming into view on the first page after the prologue—their logo is one of the first things we are introduced to.
It’s small, but if you’re looking for it, you’ll see the logo in two places (Figure 1.1). One is on the front of the Peace-Keepers’ main spacefaring ship, centered just below the observation deck’s glass. The other is on the tail end of its smaller “scoutship.”
In a few more pages, we get a look at the alien beings themselves, and a clearer view of the logo. In this usage, it is worn on the right side of the chest, on a Peace-Keeper’s gold cybernetic body (Figure 1.2). Scenes including multiple Peace-Keepers, all others in silver, reveal the gold figure to be the only one adorned with the mark. Through the course of the story we learn that this character is the commanding officer, with a title of “Prime Director,” so it can be assumed that this use of the logo on the body is an indication of higher rank—worn like a badge or insignia.
To my eyes, it is a completely abstract design, although this is tough to say due to its alien nature. For all I know, it could be a word or character in their written language.
One thing that strikes me, is how the logo’s parts relate to each other—it appears that they could have fit together as one at some point (Figure 1.3). Like the smaller triangle that is now nested within the larger shape, separated by a narrow river of negative space, could have once been part of the top-left portion of the larger form. I’m not sure what this might mean or how significant it is. Perhaps it is an abstract way of showing how the Peace-Keepers separate or eliminate smaller threats to their expansive galactic organization? Probably reading into things a bit much there.
In the section that follows, I provide a look at full-page images for a bit more context. There weren’t any more views of the spacecraft where the logo was visible, but the Prime Director makes a few more appearances with it that are worth seeing, while also offering an explanation of their mission.
The Peace-Keepers: Representatives of the Thousand Worlds
