Interlac is a fictional language used by characters of the
United Planets
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st cent ...
in stories set in the 30th century of the
DC Comics universe
The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
, especially stories about the
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...
. Although the characters are said to be conversing in this language, dialog is presented to the reader in English (or whatever local language the comic has been translated to). Interlac text is sometimes depicted visually using the Interlac alphabet as a simple one-to-one
substitution cipher
In cryptography, a substitution cipher is a method of encrypting in which units of plaintext are replaced with the ciphertext, in a defined manner, with the help of a key; the "units" may be single letters (the most common), pairs of letters, trip ...
for the 26 letters of the English alphabet and 10 numerals.
It is also the name of a similarly-used language in the TV series ''
Babylon 5
''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...
''.
DC Universe
The first reference to Interlac as the "intergalactic universal language of the 30th century" was in ''
Adventure Comics
''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...
'' #379 published in March 1969. It was also frequently referred to in the ''Super Friends'' comic book series to explain how the Super Friends could understand the language of visiting and/or invading extraterrestrials. The Interlac alphabet was codified years later by writer
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz (; born October 21, 1956) is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Along with publisher Jenette Kahn ...
and artist
Keith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen (born November 30, 1952) is an American comics artist and writer. He is known for his work for DC Comics on their ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''Justice League'' titles as well as for being the co-creator of Lobo.
Biography
K ...
in ''
Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...
'' (vol. 2) #312 (June 1984).
Interlac is also shown to be the language in which the
Guardians of the Universe
The Guardians of the Universe are a race of extraterrestrial superhero characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Green Lantern. They first appeared in ''Green Lantern'' (vol. 2) #1 (July 19 ...
write the
Book of Oa
Oa is a fictional planet that lies at the center of the DC Comics universe. Since its inception, Oa has been the planetary citadel of the Guardians of the Universe and headquarters of the Green Lantern Corps. It first appeared in ''Green Lantern' ...
.
Interlac is also spoken by
Lobo in ''
Young Justice: Outsiders''.
Babylon 5
In the universe of the TV series ''
Babylon 5
''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...
'', Interlac is a universal language most often used in first contact situations because it is easily translated. It is easily translated because it is a language based on pure mathematics.
JMSNews
/ref> In this context, it is normally used only in first contact situations until such a time as a more common understanding between two new species becomes available. Unlike the DC Comics "Interlac", the common trade language in the Babylon 5 universe is English.
See also
*Legion of Super-Heroes
The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...
*DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
*''Babylon 5
''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...
''
References
External links
INTERLAC - Interlac, the Intergalactic Language
{{Babylon 5
Alphabets
Artistic languages
DC Comics
Fictional languages
Legion of Super-Heroes
Babylon 5