Broken Frontier

As regular readers of this feature will know, one of our main aims here is to pull together plot threads from across the DC line. Recently, though, I found myself trying perhaps a little too hard in that regard and concluding that sometimes it’s possible to find links between stories that probably aren’t really there!

Current events in both Trinity and Batman: Gotham After Midnight, for example, had me frantically attempting to piece together potential Bigger Picture tie-ins. Both books feature an upsurge of Bat-villains being sent to perpetrate the theft of mystical artifacts from museums and antiquary collections. Plus there was that pesky clue about Batman:GAM on Rip Hunter’s chalkboard in Booster Gold that seemed to imply Midnight’s machinations in Steve Niles and Kelley Jones’s highly recommended maxiseries may not be as self-contained as we would have originally believed.

Ultimately, however, I suspect it is probably pure coincidence. But you can be sure of one thing – if some kind of connection is revealed you can bet your life I’ll be taking credit for it here. And if none is forthcoming well, hey, I told you it was all something and nothing...

Spoiler Warning: Read no further if you’ve not had your DC fix this week and don’t want to read about key story elements.

Across the Universe
(A rundown of the week’s releases)

Matt Sturges comes on board as writer on Blue Beetle #29 as a mysterious new member of the supporting cast is introduced and more repercussions from Salvation Run are explored.

Selina’s questionable morality is explored as the events of the last few months take their toll in Catwoman #81.

It’s Cyborg versus Cyborg as a familiar villain steps out of the shadows in DC Special: Cyborg #3.

Revelations abound in Green Lantern #33 as we learn the truth behind the Empire of Tears.

Helena comes face to face with Omerta, the man who murdered her family, in the brutal conclusion in Huntress: Year One #6.

No kindness goes unpunished as we discover in the chilling pages of Joker’s Asylum: Two-Face #1.

Power Girl returns to Earth-2. But is everything really as it seems in Justice Society of America Annual #1?

Reign in Hell #1 sees the battle for control of the infernal realm begin as supernatural DC stars of past and present are pulled into the proceedings.

It’s the World’s Finest Senior as Thomas Wayne and Jor-El "team-up" in Superman/Batman #50.

There are big turning points for Kid Devil and Blue Beetle in Teen Titans #61 when Shockwave comes to town and the Titans gain two new members.

The friends and foes of the Trinity are being targeted as the layers of mystery are slowly unpeeled in Trinity #9.

And welcome to the bold new world of Earth-50 as Christos Gage reintroduces us to the team in WildCats #1.

The Bigger Picture
(All the developments, hints, clues and teasers for the overarching storylines)

The Tenth Age of Magic – War begins in Hell when Lord Satanus and Blaze seek to extend their realm by taking Neron’s territories. They offer the damned something unique: hope that their torment will not be eternal. The original Zatara and Zauriel are part of a resistance movement in Hell and send the ghostly Ralph and Sue Dibny to enlist Dr. Occult’s aid in limiting the war’s effect on the mortal plane. The effects on magic within the DCU could be dramatic. (Reign in Hell #1)

The Trinity – New bad guys Swashbuckler and the Trans-Volitional Man are collecting defining personal possessions for the Troika from those connected to the Trinity. This includes, quite disturbingly, the Joker’s laugh. These new villains are two of the subjects the dark Trinity experimented on with the energies from Krona’s egg last week. (Trinity #9)

In Blackest Night... – The Five Inversions of the Empire of Tears were the only survivors of Sector 666, destroyed by the Guardians of the Universe’s pre-Green Lantern Corps force the Manhunters. Swearing revenge on the Guardians they mystically peered into the future and saw a coming darkness that they could turn against their enemies. Atrocitus of the Five Inversions identified Earthman William Hand as the source of this darkness in the early days of Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern career. (Green Lantern #33)

Salvation Run – Blue Beetle encounters two new villains battling for the right to take on the name of Hellhound, after the death of the original on the Prison Planet. (Blue Beetle #29)

Selina’s personal upheavals and her experiences on the Hell Planet in Salvation Run lead her to a turning point and the promise of a change in her relationship with Batman. (Catwoman #81)

Rounding up... According to the villain Shockwave, Kord Industries is now a front for the criminal organization the 100. However, in the recent Gotham Underground maxiseries Kord Inc. was a front for Intergang. As the 100 were the forerunners of Intergang in Metropolis perhaps there’s scope for both? Intergang have control of the 100 and both are involved with the second Blue Beetle’s former company perhaps? (Teen Titans #61)

Intergang have also extended their operations to San Paterno, Mexico. (Blue Beetle #29)

Despite being on the run in current Birds of Prey issues the Calculator still has time to orchestrate the theft of a Hitler painting from the Nazi super-villain Ubermensch. (Catwoman #81)

The mysterious Mr. Orr, who first appeared in the Superman: For Tomorrow arc and was most recently seen colluding with Desaad in Countdown , is revealed as a prime mover in Project M. This makes sense given Orr’s previous involvement with potential super-soldier Equus and Project M’s decades of development in this area. (DC Special: Cyborg #3)

Earthwatch

Earth-2 – Power Girl was "returned" to Earth-2 by Gog in this month’s Justice Society of America but there are questions as to the exact nature of this world. It would appear, creatively or editorially, somebody has had a rethink since we were given our first glimpse of this Earth-2 in 52. From what little we saw of it that world appeared to be a reinterpretation of the concept whereas the place we see in Justice Society of America Annual #1 is a version very akin to the pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths Earth-2, albeit a few years later. The JSA and Infinity Inc., for example, have merged and become the Justice Society Infinity.

While Power Girl is initially given a hero’s greeting, by story’s end she is a fugitive from the Justice Society Infinity when the real Power Girl of this Earth-2 turns up. The obvious explanation would be that Power Girl remains an anomaly in the DCU as a survivor of the original Multiverse and that this Earth-2, therefore, cannot be the original. It would also open up the possibility that the Superman of Earth-2 could return, as an incarnation separate to the one who died battling Superboy-Prime should reside here.

What muddies the water a little is that Dr. Midnight appears to remember the original Crisis. Indeed she theorizes that New Earth was a byproduct of that event and not a merged Earth at all. Secondly, in conversation with Dr. Fate the Spectre speaks of Power Girl’s presence and the "blood of the Multiverse" being linked to it, continuing that he thought their universe was safe from it. This would seem to imply this world is somehow separate from the Multiverse. The original Earth-2 did survive for a short period as a unique reality when Mekanique held back the ravages of the original Crisis circa All-Star Squadron #60 (Aug 1986), so this would not be without precedent. (Justice Society of America Annual #1)

Earth-II – The Crime Syndicate from the Anti-Matter Universe’s Earth are behind the abduction of entire regions of people on New Earth. This also gives us another version of the Trinity appearing in these pages – Ultraman, Superwoman and Owlman. (Trinity #9)

Earth-50 – It’s worth mentioning that the first look at Earth-50 in its World’s End incarnation debuts this week – a post-apocalyptic WildStorm world where the remaining 10% of the population are preyed on by rogue Post-Humans. (WildCats #1)

Continuity Corner
(The whys and wherefores of some of this week's characters and events)

Superman/Batman #50: Father’s Day

This week we learn that many years ago Thomas and Martha Wayne encountered one of Jor-El’s Kryptonian probes when driving through Kansas. Thomas was psychically transported to Krypton where he spoke for some time with Superman’s father about the suitability of Earth as a safe haven from the doomed planet for Kal-El. This meeting has huge repercussions for both members of the World’s Finest team. It was only through later analyzing the Kryptonian probe that Thomas Wayne could make the technological breakthroughs that would save Wayne Enterprises from bankruptcy. Jor-El, in turn, may never have sent Kal-El to Earth had he not been so impressed by Thomas’s humanity.

Thomas speaks hypothetically this issue of how he would adopt Kal if he was the one who found him. An intriguing premise you may think for a series of stories? It most assuredly is and certainly one that's been examined before, with my favorite version being one from nearly 30 years ago that I remember reading as an eleven-year-old.

Way back in 1980 the regular DC line boosted its story page count from 17 pages to 25 a month. This meant most titles ran 8-page secondary tales spotlighting old faves (like Adam Strange in Green Lantern for example) or brand new creations (such as Nemesis in The Brave and the Bold). The main Superman title featured rotating related shorts including the World of Krypton, the Superman of 2020 and, of relevance here, the adventures of Bruce "Superman" Wayne.

Beginning in Superman #353 (Nov 1980) this very occasional backup series gave us a world where Superman’s rocketship crashed near Gotham and the baby Kal-El was adopted by the childless Wayne couple. Growing up, Bruce/Kal-El would still become Superman but the Waynes would survive their gruesome fate in other realities. The series continued in #358 and #363 wherein Bruce married Barbara "Batwoman" Gordon. According to the Crisis On Infinite Earths Absolute Edition Compendium this was Earth-353 of the pre-COIE Multiverse. Or for the old school readers amongst us, like my good self, it was simply an "Imaginary Story".

Reign in Hell #1: Bewitched

Dr. Occult, Andrew "I... Vampire" Bennett, the Demons Three, the Creeper, the Golden Age Zatara and even a demon who looked distinctly like Anton Arcane until he started speaking... the appearances of so many of DC’s supernatural characters in Reign in Hell will certainly give us lots of material to cover here in the coming months. This week, however, I’m going to turn the spotlight on the Enchantress, a character with a smaller role in the first issue but who is, nonetheless, one of my favorite ex-Suicide Squad members.

When a number of infernally-powered characters find themselves conscripted or depowered by events in the nether realm the Enchantress’s demonic half is one of those recalled to Hell. June Moone, or Moon as it’s also often spelt, first appeared in Strange Adventures #187 (April 1966). Discovering a secret passage during a party in the subtly named Terror Castle, she encountered a mystical entity called Dhazmor who gave her magical powers to fight the good fight as his champion.

In her original appearances she had the wonderfully camp nickname of the Switcheroo Witcheroo. This epithet referred to the manner of her transformation from plain blonde June to raven-haired heroine the Enchantress. After a mere handful of adventures the Enchantress disappeared to limbo until the early 1980s. When she eventually returned in Superman Family #s 204-205 she had been corrupted by her power and blamed Supergirl for her failure to rid the Earth of all evil.

She went on to become a member of the Forgotten Villains in DC Comics Presents #s 77-78 (Jan-Feb 1985) and was one of the founding lineup of Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad. June joined Task Force X in return for Waller’s promised help in ridding her of the increasingly malevolent Enchantress persona although the Enchantress’s erratic behavior would put more than one Squad mission in jeopardy. She served alongside former Charlton character Nightshade in the team – a relationship that would prove to be more intricate than at first suspected.

Nightshade also had a link to the supernatural, being of the Royal family of the Nightshade dimension as outlined in a handy retelling in Secret Origins #28 (July 1988). Exiled from her homeland she returned with the Squad in Suicide Squad #s 14-16 (June-Aug 1988) to free her brother from the hands of the Incubus, a demon who had usurped control of that plane of existence. It was on this mission that it was revealed that Dhazmor had bonded the Incubus’s female counterpart the Succubus to the Enchantress as the source of her powers, hoping to turn a force for evil into one for good.

The Incubus and the Succubus had intended on possessing Eve and her brother to conceive a child that would return their malevolent father the demon Azhmodeus, one of the Fallen, to the world in human form. The Succubus attempted to take control of Nightshade but was subsumed by the heroine. Squad member Deadshot killed Eve’s brother who had been completely consumed by the Incubus by this point. While this gave Eve supernatural powers it left June Moone powerless.

Despite achieving her freedom, June found life without the Enchantress hard. After shooting Nightshade in a vain attempt to regain her powers in Suicide Squad #21 she disappeared. She was apparently later murdered as a blood sacrifice by Felix Faust in the Day of Judgment crossover but was alive again by the time of 2001’s JLA: Black Baptism miniseries. Here she was reunited with the Succubus, now going by the name Anita Soulfeeda. During Day of Vengeance, in the lead-up to Infinite Crisis, the Spectre’s rampage led to the formation of the current Shadowpact of which both the Enchantress and Nightshade are members.

The lack of reference to Nightshade and Enchantress’s shared history in the pages of Shadowpact over the last couple of years has been a little jarring. I am not sure at which point the Succubus escaped from Eve Eden’s control nor how Eve feels she can serve as a member of a team alongside someone empowered by one of the demons that were responsible for the deaths of her entire family. Not to mention the devastation of the world she was born in. Similarly the darker part of the Enchantress should be holding a grudge as Eve was her "handler" in the Squad and played her part in the death of her brother/lover the Incubus. There’s certainly an untold story there somewhere. Perhaps Reign in Hell is where we’ll get the answers...?

Trading Places

Fans of Justice Society of America Annual #1 who want to find out more about the Huntress and her romantic interest D.A. Harry Sims should look to The Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter , the trade that reprints her origin plus her backup series from Wonder Woman.

Fanboy Moment of the Week

Infinity Inc. grows up! Seeing the Justice Society Infinity in this week’s Justice Society of America Annual #1 was a nostalgic treat for any fan of Roy Thomas’s second generation Earth-2 heroes. Those who have wondered online why DC has "got it in" for the Giffen/DeMatteis League or, more recently, the Teen Titans should know this is not a new phenomenon. Since the original Infinity Inc. closed for business in 1988 most of the team have been killed off in stories that did little to persuade me they were being used as anything more than easy cannon fodder. They deserved better and here, at least, we got a welcome look at what could have been.

That's it for another week. Until then feel free to post corrections, criticisms and commentary on the Broken Frontier ATDCU message board thread  here. See you in seven days and thanks for reading!