What language is Raven using for her attack in the new 52?

Question

In the New 52 (Teen Titans #6, 2015) when Raven cast a spell, she uses some strange language, but I can't find out what this language means.

What is with the dialogue in this panel? Am I to understand that this is Raven, and she is casting a spell? — Russell Borogove, Jul 29 '19 at 19:11
@RussellBorogove It really does appear to me that this is the case. It's Raven, and, again, I say, it's Raven, and I say unto you a third time, It's Raven, and what I tell you three times, Mr. Borogrove, is true. Further point--we also know that the fact of the spell is true, by the same logic (incl gobbletygook). You have to wonder if the person that put this scene together has a sore inside his cheek from where he keeps his tongue. It screams "hey guess what--the solution to the problem was Raven, and a spell! I know I'm surprised, are you surprised? We're all super surprised here." — msouth, Jul 31 '19 at 17:38

Ryan Veeder · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-29T15:55:20.153

234

I don't think this is another language. The script doesn't look like any real writing system I've seen. It's more likely a custom magical-looking font, maybe disguising some English text. Usually four small words wouldn't be enough of a sample size to do any deciphering, but this panel gives us a clue: Someone on the far right points out (in case we couldn't figure it out?) that Raven is casting a spell!

The last word that Raven utters is five letters long, and all the letters are different, except for the last two. Just like the word spell! Let's see if this gets us anywhere.

If we assign arbitrary letters of our Roman alphabet to Raven's utterance, we can read it as:

ABCB DEFBG H GIBJJ

If we hypothesize that the last word is a cipher of "SPELL" then the whole thing looks like...

ABCB DEFBG H GIBJJ
 E E    ES   SPELL

If the single-letter word is English, it must be "I" or "A." And "I" doesn't really make sense in this context...

ABCB DEFBG H GIBJJ
 E E    ES A SPELL

This is actually looking really good. The "ES" at the end of the second word indicates a verb in a place where we'd expect a verb. The first word "_E_E" could be a lot of things, though. Let's see...

I used Nutrimatic to remind me of the most common English words that match that pattern. The second result is "here."

ABCB DEFBG H GIBJJ
HERE    ES A SPELL

And this matches a common English formation, yielding something that totally matches what Raven is doing in this context:

ABCB DEFBG H GIBJJ
HERE COMES A SPELL !!

Further evidence for this interpretation: The "S" glyph looks like an S. The "C" glyph looks like a C. The "P" glyph looks like an upside-down P!

After all that cryptographic analysis, @Moyli supplied some far more conclusive evidence by discovering the actual font used, "Gobbledygook," which you can test out here and confirm that the actual letters on the page are indeed "here comes a spell!!"

edited Jul 29 '19 at 15:55

answered Jul 28 '19 at 18:22

Ryan Veeder

6,533
4
34
31

1

Wow, this is an impressive answer! – Stormblessed Jul 28 '19 at 18:30
53

This is a you-win-the-Internet caliber answer. – Ernest Friedman-Hill Jul 28 '19 at 19:01
1

Wow... really thanks a lot – martina2003 Jul 28 '19 at 22:24
16

… or it could be "WERE JONES A SHELL!!" – Jan Ivan Jul 29 '19 at 08:52
17

It's a shame it's not 1940, you might have got a nice letter from Bletchley Park. – Paul D. Waite Jul 29 '19 at 09:52
81

Confirmed: the font is called Gobbledygook and if you type "here comes a spell" on this page you can see it matches what's on the comic. – Moyli Jul 29 '19 at 09:58
3

@Moyli: Nice job identifying the font itself! – Matthieu M. Jul 29 '19 at 10:45
9

@PaulD.Waite this simple substitution cipher is too simple even for 1940s. – user28434 Jul 29 '19 at 11:40
1

@Moyli Note, lower case is required; upper case is far less subtle. – Yakk Jul 29 '19 at 15:26
2

@ErnestFriedman-Hill This would be a standard calibre answer on [puzzling.se] SE. Check out that site if you want to be even more impressed :-) – Rand al'Thor Jul 30 '19 at 08:19
2

@Randal'Thor I disagree. The answer gets going by making a pretty big guess, which would make for a poor puzzle if necessary, and a sub-optimal answer if not. On top of that, on puzzling there's the precondition that the puzzle should be solvable, which wasn't the case here at all. – Jasper Jul 31 '19 at 10:07
1

I love this explanation, but I can't help feeling like you already knew what it said and then aimed to explain how one would go about solving it! – Gamora Jul 31 '19 at 15:44
1

@Bee I had a bunch of it worked put in my head before I began composing my answer. I thought it would be more helpful to recreate my thought process—sorry if it comes off as a fabrication! – Ryan Veeder Jul 31 '19 at 16:57
Was not a criticism at all! I love this answer – Gamora Jul 31 '19 at 16:59
This is the rightest wrong answer I've ever read – GordonBennett Aug 01 '19 at 12:09

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '19 at 15:39

0

I believe the made up font is just meant to indicate that she is speaking words in an actual language (not just gibberish), but its not words in a language you the reader, or anyone else present at the time, actually knows.

answered Jul 29 '19 at 15:39

T.E.D.

2,282
12
21

I love what the other answer took from that and ran with, but I think its likely reading way more into it than intended. – T.E.D. Jul 29 '19 at 15:40
2

"Reading way more into it than intended" - apparently not – Jenayah Jul 29 '19 at 15:53
3

In-universe, this is probably the correct explanation. I doubt the writer's intent was that the other Titans are actually hearing Raven say "HERE COMES A SPELL." – Ryan Veeder Jul 29 '19 at 16:00
4

@Jenayah - You have to admit I was correct that it wasn't gibberish though...its Gobbledygook! :-) – T.E.D. Jul 29 '19 at 16:03

What language is Raven using for her attack in the new 52?

2 Answers2