Broken Frontier

It’s a catch-up week for Out for the Count this time around so I’ll keep my introductory comments to a minimum. Suffice to say this week’s events leave me hoping for some clarification when The Death of the New Gods #8 hits the shelves next week...

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.

Events this fortnight…

In Countdown to Final Crisis #s 3-2: It’s the big smackdown you’ve waited all your comics-reading lives for! Bigger than Hulk versus Thing! More awesome than that 1970s tabloid edition of Superman versus Muhammad Ali! Yes... it’s Darkseid versus Turtle Boy. And, strangely enough, the DCU really will never be the same again...

Elsewhere in the DCU
(stories this fortnight that may, or may not, tie into the Bigger Picture)

The Jardine/OMAC/Brother Eye conspiracy rumbles on in Batman and the Outsiders #6.

Booster and company are faced with a timeline where Max Lord won in Booster Gold #8.

The Brave and the Bold #12 is a multi-hero team-up that reveals Megistus’s link to the Final Crisis...

The Cheetah hunts down Selina on the hell planet in Catwoman #78.

The Penguin comes face to face with Tobias Whale as the gang war reaches a turning point in Gotham Underground #7.

The Sinestro Corps reborn? Check out Green Lantern Corps #23 for more on the new force behind the yellow rings.

Earth-22’s history continues to impact on the JSA in Justice Society of America #14.

Yet more Penguin business in Robin #173 as the mystery of the Spoiler deepens.

The Joker-Luthor war comes to its climax in Salvation Run #6 as the forces of Apokolips gather around the hell planet.

The Squad’s latest mission comes to a brutal end in the pages of Suicide Squad #8. Prepare to say farewell to a few familiar faces...

The Man of Steel fights for the life of Mon-El in Superman #675 as the Mystery of the Legion deepens.

Learn more about the recent history of Earth-9 in Tangent: Superman’s Reign #2.

There’s the return of an old team with a new look in Titans #1.

And over on Earth-50 we have an incursion of DCU characters in DC/WildStorm: Dreamwar #1 and Number of the Beast #1 promises that a "world will die screaming" as the WildStorm Universe looks set for yet more big changes...

Continuity Corner
(interesting tidbits from this fortnight’s issues! )

The Death of the New Gods – Gog sees off the Infinity Man (the Source’s instrument in killing off the New Gods) and muses on their similar missions of deicide. Once again, the "true" Gog that Gog the Heartbreak-Slayer serves is referred to as the last surviving God of the Third World. The status of the Gods in the DCU is now becoming even more confusing than that of the Legion! Gog is the last survivor of the Third World Gods? Yet we know from The Death of the New Gods #5 that two of the Third World Gods who split the Source in half were, apparently, Zeus and Odin (who both survive in the DCU to this day). And even more confusingly, we have a different Zeus in the Wonder Woman mythos to the Zeus in The Trials of Shazam!. (explained by there being Gods of Myth and Gods of Magic...) (Justice Society of America #14)

Little Barda is said to be seriously injured but alive after the events of Titans East Special #1 where the new Titans team were cut down by a mysterious force (now revealed as Trigon). Again we must assume that the Infinity Man finishes off the job that Trigon started at some point after this issue. (Titans #1)

Darkseid attempts to regain the powers of the New Gods that he deposited in Jimmy Olsen. He is opposed by the JLA and, in a surprise twist, by the supposedly dead Orion who emerges from a Boom Tube to take on his father. Orion rips out Darkseid’s heart, apparently killing him... (Countdown to Final Crisis #s 3-2)

The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul – Ollie and Dinah learn that Ra’s Al Ghul’s League of Assassins were behind the attempted murder of Connor Hawke. (Green Arrow/Black Canary #7)

The Coming Crisis – He may have been the villain of the piece for the last year but the alchemist Megistus claims his machinations have been about preparing New Earth for the "Crisis where everything changes. Everything." Words to watch... (The Brave and the Bold #12)

After defeating the Priest-Elders of Daxam, Superman wonders about the next great threat in his never-ending battle. Unbeknownst to him, in a spot of ominous foreshadowing, a huge celestial hand is seen grasping at the New Earth universe. (Superman #675)

The Mystery of the Legion – As mentioned above, Superman sees off the Priest-Elders of the Protonic Flame, Daxamite religious extremists, who have journeyed to New Earth to return the heretic Lar Gand (Mon-El) to Daxam for punishment. I hold my hands up and admit total confusion now (along with probably everyone else!) as to which Mon-El this is. Presumably this Mon-El, who "debuted" in Action Comics Annual #10 and has teamed with the Man of Steel in the unfinished (as yet) Last Son storyline, is not the same Mon-El who turned up in the Threeboot Legion’s future in Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes a little while back. His interactions with Superman would suggest he is the Mon-El of the pseudo-Classic Legion. That Legion of Three Worlds storyline can’t come quickly enough.... (Superman #675)

Starman says that if Magog comes to New Earth then all will die in a war between the heroes, just like the history books on Xanthu say. Does that mean that the events of Kingdom Come happened for the Classic Legion. Could their 30th Century be that of Earth-22’s then? (Justice Society of America #14)

Two members of the Classic Legion show up on Earth-50. This almost certainly has no bearing on the Bigger Picture at all but I flag it up to be complete in our Legion coverage. (DC/WildStorm: Dreamwar #1)

A Crisis in Time? – The Time Stealers (Per Degaton, Ultra-Humanite, Black Beetle, Despero and Supernova), who have been popping up ever since the Lightning Saga, elaborate further on their plans. Their schemes center on erasing Booster’s influence on history before he realizes his (and his line’s) true destiny. The Time Masters are an obstacle they seek to remove permanently... (Booster Gold #8)

In Blackest Night... – Mongul continues to build up his version of the "Sinestro Corps". It would seem the Black Mercy plants from Superman Annual #11 (1985) look set to play a huge part in Mongul’s plans in the next few months. (Green Lantern Corps #23)

Salvation Run – The Squad’s bloody mission to take out the Haake-Bruton Corporation comes to an end leading into their recent appearances in Countdown, Salvation Run, Gotham Underground and across the DCU. (Suicide Squad #8)

Catwoman teams up with Hammer and Sickle to try and find a way off the hell planet. Her efforts are interrupted by a murderous revenge-seeking Cheetah. Meanwhile on New Earth, Slam Bradley uncovers evidence of the Salvation Run Conspiracy. (Catwoman #78)

The Joker takes out Lex Luthor as the war between the villains comes to its conclusion. Personal enmities are put aside, though, when Desaad’s Parademons appear ready to use the hell planet and its inhabitants as their own personal training ground. (Salvation Run #6)

The Penguin reaches a truce with Tobias Whale as the greater threat of Intergang rears its head. And where Intergang are can an Apokoliptian influence be far behind? (Gotham Underground #7)

Earthwatch

Earth -9 – In a new take on The Flash of Two Worlds you can see Wally West (along with Green Lantern John Stewart) follow Lia Nelson, the Flash of the Tangent Universe back to her homeworld. Quite when Lia’s appearances in Countdown: Arena take place in her own personal continuity is still unclear. (Tangent: Superman’s Reign #2)

Earth-50 – While this is a standalone story its worth pointing out that a number of DC characters from earlier (and future!) points in the timestream find their way to the WildStorm Universe this week. (DC/WildStorm: Dreamwar #1)

Earth-50 also looks set for another possible reboot or major restart as the end begins... (Number of the Beast #1)

Join us next week for the conclusion and the penultimate Out for the Count...