DC Comics adds to the list of ongoing “big events” within the company with a new old threat returning with dreams of conquering the planet.
Justice League: Endless Winter 1
Written by Andy Lanning and Ron Marz
Pencils and Inks by Howard Porter and Marco Santucci
Colors by Hi-Fi and Arif Prianto
As if the DC Universe wasn’t going through enough with the threat of the entire multiverse collapsing in on itself and being remade by the Batman Who Laughs over in DEATH METAL, the publisher is now giving us a nine-part crossover through the month of December with a power-mad ice god returning to the world and trying to conquer.
Buried under the ice in the Antarctic for centuries, the Frost King took advantage of a confluence of events to escape his very cold prison. In an age of climate change, with a Stagg Industries heir trying to study the area, the very old god used the leftover Krypronian energy from the former location of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude to gather his wits and unleash a horde of ice monsters.
Oh, and Batman gets a very fashionable new Bat-snow suit.
The Frost King has a history with some of the older members of the DC Universe, including Black Adam and a different version of Swamp Thing, as we see in the book’s final pages. We’ll have to wait and see his history plays into the story as the crossover continues next week in the next issue of The Flash.
Speaking of the Flash, Barry Allen spends the issue seeking out moments with his fellow Justice League members to ask how they manage to balance their lives as a superhero with their personal lives. Barry and Iris West have been getting closer over the last few story arcs in Flash’s own book, and the conversations give the heroes an opportunity for a little bit of exposition as to what’s happening in their lives.
It was a storytelling device that was very reminiscent of the crossovers from the 1990s, where characters would show up and spend a couple of panels explaining what their deal was before advancing the plot at hand. It helped make the first issue of Endless Winter feel a bit more comfortable to a long-time reader like myself. Though I’m not sure it helped the quality of the story.
Of course, Barry’s questions may be foreshadowing some major events happening in the Flash’s life. Will Barry and Iris get engaged? Will it happen during this crossover? Hopefully, whatever is happening will keep Barry from his addiction to messing with the time stream.
Run, Barry. Run.