Broken Frontier

Welcome to Part 2 of Broken Frontier’s weekly issue by issue roundup of events from every corner of the DC Universe. For Part 1 click here. This is where to come to catch up on what’s been happening with your favorite DC characters and how events in their books affect the DCU’s recent "Bigger Picture". We also point out any interesting continuity tidbits, link to suggested background reading and examine any pertinent questions raised by events in the week’s releases.

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

Solomon Grundy #5

Android villain Amazo is set on Grundy as Professor Ivo unsuccessfully looks for revenge on his former partner-in-crime. Meanwhile, Green Lantern Alan Scott reassembles the Starheart, the source of his power, that Grundy destroyed last month while the Phantom Stranger seeks out The Spectre. Finally, in Slaughter Swamp, Frankenstein and S.H.A.D.E. capture a hallucinating Cyrus Gold.

The Bigger Picture: The Phantom Stranger meets The Spectre in Valhalla Cemetery. Something is blocking his knowledge about who will be involved in the Blackest Night and he asks for the Spectre’s aid. All he currently knows is that Grundy will somehow be a major player in proceedings.

Professor Ivo sets Amazo on Grundy after his failed partnership with the last incarnation of the swamp creature in Justice League of America #s 1-6. Ivo feels Grundy has reneged on his promise that if he helped the monster gain immortality then Grundy would end Ivo’s eternal life of suffering.

Frankenstein was recently seen in the Final Crisis series.

In Valhalla Cemetery the graves of a number of DC heroes can be seen including Phantom Lady, the Human Bomb, Black Condor, the Golden Age Atom, Dr. Fate and Jade. It should be noted that there are actually no longer any heroes buried in this cemetery. In Nightwing #146 Talia Al Ghul’s use of the bodies of fallen metahumans in her experiments led to new legislation that recognised the corpses of the super-powered were potential lethal weapons. The solution was to bury them in a vault under the JLA’s Hall of Justice.

Continuity Corner: Amazo’s absorption of Grundy’s abilities reveals his body is a "bio-fibrous human imitation" and possesses an "unknown bio-link" to the swamp. Grundy has been given many contradictory origins over the years but one aspect that could tie in here is the revelation that he was a failed plant elemental, as posited in Swamp Thing #67 (Dec 1987).

Questions: Of all the many origins given for Grundy over the years which is the true one? Why is the Phantom Stranger so concerned about Grundy’s potential participation in the Blackest Night and how is such a powerful entity being kept in the dark about the coming evil? Why are S.H.A.D.E. and Frankenstein so interested in Grundy? Will the JLA regret burying the bodies of their fallen peers in their own HQ when the Blackest Night arrives?

Green Lantern Corps #38

On Daxam Arisia leads the rebellion against the Sinestro Corps leading to Mongul giving the order to evacuate the planet. Over on Oa, to Kyle and Guy’s disgust, the Guardians sanction the execution of the prisoners who recently escaped from the sciencells. The only grudging exceptions are those villains who allied themselves with the Corps in the ensuing conflict. In darkest space the Black Lantern rings are released to find their potential bearers...

Crossovers: Prelude to Blackest Night

The Bigger Picture: Kanjar Ro has probably been in the sciencells on Oa since his capture by the Green Lantern Corps in Trinity #52.

The slaughtered prisoners will, no doubt, turn up again as Black Lanterns in Blackest Night. I would think it no coincidence that the Black Lantern-allied Guardian Scar is so keen on their execution as it will presumably give the Black Lanterns more footsoldiers when the Blackest Night arrives.

Continuity Corner: Alexander Nero is the most prominent character depicted as being executed here. Nero first appeared in an arc in Green Lantern #s 132-136 (Jan-June 2001) as an agent of the Qwardians, armed with a yellow power ring and sent to kill Kyle Rayner. He also notably impersonated Kyle Rayner and committed a series of atrocities in the Ion maxiseries. This was eventually revealed to have been on behalf of the Sinestro Corps in Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Ion #1.

Questions: Again, where is Despero who was supposedly imprisoned on Oa after Trinity #52? Are Guy and Kyle’s places within the Corps compromised after their defiance? What are the origins of the Black Rings and who will they seek out as wielders? Is there more to the Guardians’ cold and efficient brutality than it seems?

Strange Adventures #5

Synnar, Adam Strange, Comet, Starman and Eye attempt to stop the power-saturated Weird’s threat to the entire universe, resulting in Comet and Strange being sucked into The Weird’s subconscious. Elsewhere Lady Styx plots against Synnar and his allies.

The Bigger Picture: The Aberrant Six’s lineup, a plot begun in last year’s Hawkman Special #1, is now almost certainly revealed as Comet, Adam Strange, Prince Gavyn/Starman, Eye, Bizarro and The Weird. Synnar’s aim is to replace the DCU’s ultimate being and transcend to godhood. Synnar and the Weird were transformed following their conflict in Rann-Thanagar Holy War  #8 with Synnar’s consciousness ending up trapped in The Weird’s body and The Weird absorbing Synnar’s power and becoming a near-omnipotent, disembodied entity.

Questions: Events in Strange Adventures last month were implied to be concurrent with the Prelude to Blackest Night in the Green Lantern books which, again, is concurrent with events in Solomon Grundy. This raises the obvious question as to how Bizarro can be active both on Earth in Solomon Grundy and as a member of the Aberrant Six in deep space in such a limited window of time? Are there more than one Bizarros extant in the DCU at the moment? What is the ultimate role of the Aberrant Six and are they still to be considered anomalous beings tied to the pre-Crisis On Infinte Earths reality? What is the significance of the boxes Bizarro opens on the Terror Plane?

Rounding up... In Jonah Hex #45 El Diablo and Hex are on the vengeance trail and hunting down El Papagayo. Meanwhile Bat Lash and Tallulah Black’s attempt to escape from the Mexican bandit goes horribly awry. A quick mention, for those interested in El Diablo’s appearances here, that the spirit of vengeance’s recent contemporary adventures have just been collected in the El Diablo trade paperback.

In Batman Confidential #31 Peter Milligan begins a five-issue arc that sees the Russian Mob encroach on Gotham... And this week’s Earth-50 spotlight comes courtesy of The Authority #12...

Fanboy Moment of the Week

To quote from Highlander "there can be only one" and this week it just has to be the latest DC Nation page advertising next week’s Wednesday Comics #1. When you have been reading comics for as many decades as I have it’s easy to be jaded and feel you've seen it all. Without a doubt, though, this is one project that I have a sense of anticipation about that reminds me of being ten years old all over again!

That’s it until next weekend. Until then feel free to post your thoughts, discussion or corrections in the commentary space below. Thanks for reading!