Broken Frontier

Today we’re catching up with the rest of this week’s DC releases including the Superman-related books and more on the Milestone characters’ return in Justice League of America. Watch out for the links guiding you to suggested trade paperback reading and we’ll jump right in after 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.

Superman Confidential

I’m still holding onto the vague possibility that Supergirl could be having some form of "identity crisis" that might mean Superwoman is far closer to her than even she realises! Supergirl #38’s Kara/Superwoman punch-up again takes place when the characters are unseen by others after all. However, with Superwoman implying to Reactron this issue that she is not Kryptonian, and Gold K having no effect on her, that’s looking more and more unlikely.

In the "Origins and Omens" short in the same book things look rather bad for Lana Lang in the long term. In the main story there are signs that Lana may be seriously ill which are borne out in the imagery of her in a hospital bed in the shorter tale. It also looks like another encounter with Silver Banshee is on the cards, as Sterling Gates continues to establish a viable Rogues Gallery for the Maid of Might. And could that be an upcoming potential love interest for Supergirl...?

I’m not sure quite what to make of Superman/Batman #55. I know this book has a relaxed approach to continuity but I always understood that to mean that the placement of its stories in the DC timeline was nebulous. This SuperBat arc actually totally contradicts a key element of Bane’s current characterization in Secret Six when we learn he survived Batman’s recent attack because he was so pumped full of Venom. Except, as we all know, he renounced his dependency on that drug a long while back – it’s an integral part of his recent depiction. This story takes place after Supergirl adopted her Linda Lang identity in Supergirl #34, though, which means it has to occur contemporaneously to Bane’s membership of the Six. Whoops!

Ignoring that point, SM/BM #55 sees the ramifications of Silver Banshee switching Superman’s powers to Batman’s body extrapolated. With the Man of Steel's abilities at his disposal Batman takes his Gotham crusade onto a global level, alienating his friends and family and, apparently, losing his grip on his sanity at the same time. Enough is enough for Superman and the Batman Family as they set themselves up to rescue their friend from himself next issue.

Super-Team Family

We have been told to expect something of a respite in big Multiversal epics for a while so if that kind of thing is your bag then pick up Tangent: Superman’s Reign #12 for the bold, brash, in-yer-face finale to this New Earth/Earth-9 team-up tale. The Tangent Universe Superman’s attempt to bring his own idea of "paradise" to New Earth is finally stopped by the heroes of two worlds. But not without a cost, as the Tangent Batman pays for the victory with his life. If the Tangent Green Lantern is to be believed the gulf between the universes will be almost impossible to cross again. However, with Earth-9 needing rebuilding, after its Superman’s "benevolent" dictatorship, surely there are more stories yet to be told with these characters?

Starbreaker’s thrall, the Shadow Thief, resumes his assault on the League and Milestone’s the Shadow Cabinet in Justice League of America #30. Carl Sands, manipulating the power of the Cabinet’s Shadowslide, attempts to destroy the Earth in sacrifice to his "god". It’s not just developments with Starbreaker that are intriguing here however; we also have the Cabinet’s (aptly) shadowy member Dharma using the JLA as pawns in his schemes and revealing his plans for them in the future.

Events here segue with Final Crisis as Batman’s "death" is apparent to Dharma, although I’m unsure as to whether that means it has actually happened or whether it was a manifestation of his power to see into the future. I suspect, from the context, it is the latter. In the "Origins and Omens" backup Red Arrow and Hawkgirl’s relationship comes to a close as Kendra and Roy split up. The Hawks current status is, as we are all aware, extremely confusing at the moment. Hawkman Special #1 seemed to predict the death that Hawkman and Hawkgirl appeared to suffer in Final Crisis #7 but the rest of the DCU is yet to catch up with this.

And finally this week, another "out of continuity" arc comes to a close in The Brave and the Bold #22 when Green Lantern, Green Arrow and the Phantom Stranger put an end to the threat of the planet-destroying Purge.

Fanboy Moment of the Week

The ‘90s is a much-maligned decade in comics history, admittedly not entirely without reason. But amongst its lows there were a number of highs as well. Girlfriends in refrigerators aside, it was a time when a number of strong female characters either debuted or established themselves as prominent players in the DCU – Amanda Waller, the Birds of Prey, Anima, Hawkworld’s Hawkwoman Shayera Thal are all good examples of powerful female leads taking key roles in their respective books.

While not strictly a DCU book, Milestone’s Icon did sport the DC bullet on its cover and Icon’s streetwise "sidekick" Raquel Ervin, aka Rocket, was a similarly memorable female protagonist. How wonderful, then, to see her giving the grim and gritty Dark Knight a decent dressing down, just as she used to do to Augustus Freeman back in the pages of Icon, in JLA #30 this week. I still would have much preferred to see the Milestone characters inhabit their own Earth in the 52 but scenes like the one above right almost make up for it. Priceless!

And on that note that’s a wrap for another seven days. Feel free to join in the DCU discussion on the ATDCU message board thread and, until next time, thanks for reading!