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.

The Brave and the Bold #25

Blue Beetle teams with Hardware to help track down Alva Technologies equipment illegally appropriated by the criminal conspiracy known as The System. The heroes disrupt what they think is simply a weapons trade of Systematic armoured suits between The System and Intergang in El Paso. In reality the incident is a setup for long-time DC villain Gizmo to analyse Hardware’s technology for The System in order to upgrade their Systematic armor. They now have a Systematic Mark X upgrade that can take out their greatest foe...

The Bigger Picture: Hardware was last seen teaming up with the JLA and the Shadow Cabinet between Justice League of America #s 27-34. The secret behind the merging of New Earth/Earth-0 and the Milestone Earth was revealed in Justice League of America #34.

The original Gizmo was recently resurrected by the Manitech company in Birds of Prey #120 and, as a member of the Silicon Syndicate, was a thorn in the team’s side until the book concluded with #127.

Concurrent to the corpse-like original’s appearances in that title a new Gizmo, allegedly the son of the first one, debuted as a member of the Cyborg Revenge Squad in the DC Special: Cyborg miniseries. The Gizmo in this month’s B&B resembles neither of these two versions of the character but does speak of his "family" business...

Intergang have made recent attempts to gain a foothold in El Paso during the "Boundaries" arc in Blue Beetle #s 29-34 so their involvement here is no surprise.

Continuity Corner: Alva Technologies are the company that Hardware worked for in his civilian identity of Curtis Metcalf. The initial premise of the 1993 debuting Milestone series Hardware series saw Metcalf attempt to take down the corrupt boss of the company, Edwin Alva. The Systematic armor debuted in Hardware #s 3-4 (July-Aug 1993) with Hardware discovering Alva’s involvement with the secret organization known as The System in Hardware #4.

Questions: Which Gizmo is this? Are both corpse-father and son still active in the DCU at the same time? What are the reasons for the many changes in Gizmo’s appearance? What are the System’s plans for Hardware and when will we see the Systematic Mark X in action?

Batman: Streets of Gotham #2

Hush uses Firefly’s attack on the citizens of Gotham to engineer his own escape from his confinement in Wayne Tower. Batman and Robin encounter the new vigilante known as Abuse. Crime boss Black Mask confronts Firefly over his unsanctioned operations in the city and nearly dies in the process. Finally, an escaped Tommy Elliot begins his masquerade as Bruce Wayne...

Manhunter co-feature: Manhunter continues her investigation into the mysterious assassin known as Jane Doe only to find the villainess is just as interested in her...

Crossovers: Batman: Reborn

The Bigger Picture: Hush has been imprisoned in Wayne Tower since Batman #685.

Manhunter co-feature: Jane Doe murdered Linus Hampton, Kate Spencer’s predecessor as Gotham D.A. in Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2. This was done on Black Mask’s orders.

Continuity Corner: Jane Doe first appeared in the 2003 Arkham Asylum: Living Hell miniseries.

Questions: Abuse implies he should be known to Batman... is he a character we have met before? What is the truth behind the new Black Mask?

Action Comics #879

The three-way battle between Nightwing & Flamebird, Codename: Assassin and Kryptonian criminals Nadira and Az-Rel concludes in stalemate. General Lane’s agent Mirabai ends up capturing Nadira and Az-Rel herself. In Metropolis, with Mon-El’s aid, Lois Lane confirms that the body in her father’s grave is not his.

Captain Atom co-feature: On a magical fantasy world a withdrawn and violent Captain Atom attacks a fortress of warriors. A sudden flashback to his time with Justice League Europe causes a physical collapse that leaves him at the mercy of his enemies.

The Bigger Picture: When the Assassin psychically probes Flamebird’s mind another entity lashes out at him and she screams "Get out of our mind". This is presumably the spiritual Flamebird, the avatar of the Kryptonian god Rao, that Thara was linked to in Action Comics Annual #12.

Captain Atom co-feature: Captain Atom was last seen as the villainous Monarch in Countdown to Final Crisis where his schemes of multiversal domination included his mass-murder of every other Captain Atom from the 52 Earths in the Countdown: Arena miniseries. When last seen in Countdown to Final Crisis #13 the explosion caused by his ruptured armor set off the destruction of the universe of Earth-51.

Questions: What is the extent of the mysterious Mirabai’s powers?

Captain Atom co-feature: Where has Captain Atom been since Countdown? Does he remember his time as Monarch? Will he be brought to justice for the brutal crimes he committed in that identity? What is the nature of the reality he finds himself in now?

Rounding up… The Prisoner-style madness continues in Final Crisis: Escape #3 as DC’s espionage characters’ strange psychedelic imprisonment in the Global Peace Agency’s Electric City takes more twists and turns. Is that really the long-dead original Blackhawk who is incarcerated with Nemesis, Fire, Cameron Chase, Peacemaker, Spysmasher, the Atomic Knight and Amanda Waller?

Robin and Supergirl recall their first team-up putting an end to an Arkham Asylum riot in Superman/Batman #62... In Vigilante #8 our anti-hero feels the pressure as both the F.B.I. and Tobias Whale’s thugs close in on him. We also learn more of his past and that his deceased wife was the daughter of Solomon Bennett, one of New York’s premier crimelords... And, finally, in JSA Vs. Kobra #2 the Justice Society and Checkmate are thoroughly manipulated by the all-new Kobra. As the team rushes around seeking to stop Kobra’s terrorist attacks little do they realise Kobra operative Ariadne Persakis is securing their real objective from Lexcorp – the details of the Everyman Project from the pages of 52 and Infinity Inc. ...

Fanboy Moment of the Week

Speech balloons on covers! I miss this one-time staple of the medium and I’m slightly disappointed that on the odd occasion we do see it it’s largely used as a humorous device. Still, it’s pleasing to see Hardware and Blue Beetle having a chat on the front of this week’s B&B #25. Now if only we could see some of those classic dramatic uses of dialogue on covers that we used to see in the 1970s...

Join us next weekend for our next foray into the DCU. Until then please feel free to post commentary, criticism and corrections below and thanks for reading!