Broken Frontier

After yesterday’s focus on the Bat-related books we’re turning our attention to the rest of the DCU today and bringing you up to speed on all the developments, subplots and intrigue from over the Holiday season. Before we plunge in though, please remember our 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.

From her black ops operations in Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag to creating Kryptonite-powered super-soldiers in Superman/Batman through to her masterminding the Salvation Run conspiracy - Amanda Waller has been a very busy lady of late! One of her recent projects to tap into interdimensional energy accidentally created a device that acts as a conduit to the Speed Force. In The Flash #247 JLA villainess the Queen Bee has stolen the device, kidnapped Jai and Iris West to act as focal points for her manipulation of time and left Linda Park West fighting for her life as a consequence.

Although Zazzala is defeated, and the Flash’s family saved, the issue ends with Wally determining to put his loved ones first in the future. Cue an upcoming retirement for the third Flash, I suspect, as the field is left open for Barry Allen’s return to the role following his controversial resurrection. Let's hope that's all it is anyway and that the shadow of the Grim Reaper standing over Wally's shoulder on the cover (see above right) is symbolic and not literal! There is a Crisis still to play out after all and we shouldn't forget Barry also got a similar happy ending in the last issue of his Flash series back in 1985..

In Supergirl #36 Metallo and Reactron’s infiltration of New Krypton has left Kara’s father Zor-El dying and put the relations between the Kryptonians and humanity at breaking point ...just as General Lane and his shadowy conspiracy had hoped. We also have a mysterious new Superwoman befriending Supergirl whose identity seems set to be a subplot mystery in the months to come. Presumably this is not the version of the character (Karsta Wor-Ul) introduced in the Third Kryptonian arc in Superman #s 668-670 last year. An outside bet could be Supergirl’s mother Alura as part of her ongoing scheming.

Following up on Amazons Attack! the Amazons are freed from their spiritual exile in Wonder Woman #27 and offered the gift of death from Zeus. Intriguingly he has created a new version of Themyscira which he will populate with inhabitants that will take on the Amazons’ duties. Presumably these are the so-called "Manazons" who will be playing a major part in the book’s upcoming storylines.

But of greater interest to me were the machinations of the Society in the wake of Genocide’s trouncing of Diana last month. We learn that Felix Faust had a hand in creating the creature, along with T.O. Morrow, meaning its origins are a union of science and sorcery. There’s also another appearance by the new Crime Doctor who surgically attaches Wonder Woman’s lasso to Genocide. With page time in Manhunter and Blue Beetle recently, this revamped incarnation of the old Batman villain is certainly making her presence felt. Sent by the Society to free Dr. Psycho from the Department of Metahuman Affairs, Genocide makes short shrift of the JLA’s opposition further highlighting the formidable menace it represents.

Weird War Tales

There’s a surprise twist in Reign in Hell #6 as we learn of Lord Satanus’s true strategy: his army have been rampaging across Hell carrying a mystical virus that depowers demons and turns them human. He uses this selfsame infection to render Neron helpless and slay him though whether, with two issues to go, this is truly the end of the DCU’s Satan stand-in remains to be seen.

Elsewhere this issue Lobo’s imprisonment in the underworld remains unexplained but, having destroyed Zatara’s soul last month, his mortal enmity with Zatanna has been well and truly established. Those wondering about the canonicity of the Linda Danvers version of Supergirl in current continuity need worry no longer as she makes her long-awaited return to the DC Universe in the Dr. Occult backup.

While it may seem unlikely, Rann-Thanagar Holy War #8 is not without its links to the current events in Hell. Back in R-THW #6 we learnt that the being now calling himself Synnar/the Demiurge was actually the first consciousness God created as the architect of his universe and the Fallen Angels who founded Hell were his "children". Whether there will ever be more than a thematic overlap between these storylines remains to be seen but given Synnar seeks to displace God in the DCU you would imagine he would probably come to the attention of the netherworld’s denizens eventually. Especially as they once betrayed him in an alliance with God and the angelic host.

Getting back to the more cosmic themes of the conflict between Rann and Thanagar, the conclusion of the miniseries sees the apparent defeat of Synnar and Lady Styx and the end of their religious manipulations of the Rannians and the Thanagarians. However, events have been cleverly controlled by Synnar as part of his quest for ultimate power and in the epilogue he appears to have merged with the Weird. Look to the upcoming Strange Adventures for further developments. The major casualty of the series is Rann which is consumed in the conflict. Its natives, however, are transported to Starman’s Throneworld which Prince Gavyn renames New Rann. Geographically separated, and with the Rannians’ survival a secret, one would assume the conflict between the two races is at a standstill. For the moment at least...

Rounding Up...

There seems to have been a backtracking on tales set across the Multiverse of late but Tangent: Superman’s Reign #10 sees an incursion from Earth-9 as that reality’s Superman seeks to bring his "benevolent dictatorship" to New Earth. In order to see said plans come to fruition he enlists an army of super-villains to do his bidding as the maxiseries builds up to what should be a cracking conclusion.

Shimmer and Mammoth, apparently unaware of Gizmo’s return from the grave in Birds of Prey, coming looking for revenge on Dr. Light as the only surviving members of the Fearsome Five in the DC Universe Holiday Special #1. Given how much the members of the F5 despised Arthur Light I have to say I find it a touch unlikely they would be so concerned with taking out his successor in his name. Continuity is a bit of a mess here as well with Kimiyo’s powers having returned stronger than ever following the original Light’s death, contradicting her appearance in Justice League of America this month where they have been erratic and intermittent.

Manhunter #37 jumps several years into the future as the title reaches its penultimate issue and we discover what the future holds for the book’s cast. With Kate’s son Ramsey wanting to continue her super-heroic legacy this may not be the most apt time for Sweeney Todd to come looking for revenge. In The Brave and the Bold #20 Green Lantern, the Guardians of the Universe and the Phantom Stranger are faced with planet-destroying entity known as The Purge. Finally, in Terra #4 the origins of Terra’s underworld homeland Strata are recounted as we learn how her people evolved within the body of a gigantic "space god" that crashed to Earth millions of years in the past.