With the FUTURE STATE now out of the way, the DC Universe moves on to its new phase with a special introducing the current status quo.
Infinite Frontier 0
Written by Pretty Much Everyone
Art by All the Artists
Set to a framing sequence of Diana of Themyscira discussing her new role as a goddess with the Quintessence, Infinite Frontier is a collection of short stories meant to introduce readers to the new world the publisher is set to unleash on the world. Diana, who was chosen to ascend based on the way she saved the universe/multiverse/omniverse/whatever at the end of DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL, is wary of her new role, because it would take her away from the people she loves. So the Spectre takes her on a stroll through the new world to show Wonder Woman that everyone is going to be all right.
Of course, this is the DC Universe version of all right, so there’s likely a lot of drama around every corner.
The scenes Spectre shows Diana – much like he did to Wesley Dodds in the seminal 1996 miniseries Kingdom Come – are just teases of what to expect in the coming months. Some of the highlights the Spectre shows off to Diana includes:
- The Joker killing Bane and basically everyone at Arkham Asylum with a poison nerve gas while Batman was completely incapable of helping. Given how important Bane was to Rebirth’s Tom King BATMAN story, this seems like an overcorrection from the previous era. Bane is too good a villain to stay dead for too long, so we’ll see how long that lasts.
- Spectre tells Diana that Superman’s son Jon Kent, currently serving as Superboy and back from the 31st Century seemingly for good, must never become Superman. After his performance during FUTURE STATE, Spectre may have a point, but warning us that Jon Kent could be evil feels like a bit much.
- Stargirl Courtney Whitmore returns in a story written by her creator, Geoff Johns with art from Young Justice favorite Todd Nauck. Her stepfather, Pat Dugan, is letting her skip school to have a team-up with the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
- Black Adam – I’m really hoping the monicker Shazadam doesn’t stick – is helping people, so Superman starts to see him in a different light because he’s Superman and wants to see the best in everyone.
- Barry Allen joins the multiversal team Justice Incarnate, so he passes the Flash baton back to Wally West, who is still trying to atone for his actions during HEROES IN CRISIS. Wally isn’t sure that’s a good idea, but a little bit of Superman must have rubbed off on Barry, as he’s ready to believe in his former mentee. Barry and Justice Incarnate are looking into an odd Earth they’ve designated Earth-Omega.
- Speaking of Heroes in Crisis and Wally killing people, ROY HARPER is alive again! How? Well, that’s probably the most intriguing tease in all of Infinite Frontier.
The biggest event coming out of the extra-sized special issue is that Diana turns down the offer to become a member of the Quintessence. She would rather go off and explore the new multiverse that she helped birth into existence by defeating the Batman Who Laughs and Perpetua. Diana was concerned that there was a greater price to pay for her ascension, though the Quintessence hid the fact that they have already taken care of the threat.
They are, of course, wrong.
That odd Earth Justice Incarnate was tracking, Earth-Omega? The Quintessence wanted to use it as a prison. But a much greater threat emerged from the world. Shouldn’t be that hard to guess who. That little thread should be pulled at during the Infinite Frontier summer series, which kicks off in July.
We’ll see how everything else plays out – and how it may link up to what we saw in Future State – over the next few months. Should we start placing bets now on how long this particular continuity lasts?