Broken Frontier

There’s a number of recurring themes I’m detecting as I scour each week’s DC releases for clues to the overall bigger picture and one word keeps coming back to me.

Hypertime.

Yes, I know it’s allegedly gone forever but the constant mention of alternate timelines across the DCU books, coupled with a number of Superman continuities apparently existing concurrently on New Earth, all point to something along the lines of this supposedly forgotten concept existing and perhaps even pointing in the direction of the Final Crisis. Time will tell.

A couple of major revelations, including one that gives away part of the upc oming ending of the Sinestro Corps arc, lead into our customary Spoiler Warning:Read no further if you’ve not had your DC fix this fortnight and don’t want to hear about key story elements

Events of late…

In Countdown #35: In the Palmerverse Donna, Jason, Ryan and Bob the Monitor become prisoners of the sorcerous Queen Belthera. Eclipso’s machinations lead to a parting of the ways between Zatanna and Mary Marvel. Jimmy Olsen fails to impress the Justice League but will Holly Robinson’s audition for Athena be more successful? Karate Kid finally meets the mysterious Mr. Orr and Kyle Rayner is marked for death by the Monitors…

In Countdown #34: Queen Belthera attempts to use Bob to escape the Great Disaster while Holly Robinson is selected as one of the new Amazons. Mary Marvel meets Klarion the Witch Boy and Teekl in China as Karate Kid’s problems take a sinister turn. Jimmy Olsen has a mind-expanding experience and Trickster and the Piper’s recent actions are about to catch up with them. Very, very quickly…

The Players
(this fortnight’s principal cast)

For more on the characters searching for Ray Palmer, move over to The All-New Atom #15 and then on into next week’s Countdown Presents the Search for Ray Palmer: WildStorm #1. John Henry Irons can also be seen in the pages of Infinity Inc. #1 this week. Holly Robinson’s acceptance as part of "Athena"’s new Amazons follows on from the revelations of Amazons Attack! #6. Klarion’s last DCU appearance, chronologically, was in Robin #158-159.

Karate Kid and Una’s quest continues into Supergirl #21 and with Mr. Orr’s mention of Buddy Blank it’s worth pointing out that the original Kirby OMAC appeared in cameo in the recent The Brave and the Bold #6. The Rogues’ revelations here will have major consequences in the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special but tune into the JLA Wedding Special #1 first to see the formation of Deathstroke’s new Injustice League.

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

For Ryan Choi, the hunt for Ray Palmer ends in The All-New Atom #15.

The war ends in Amazons Attack! #6 with epilogues in both Wonder W oman #12 and Outsiders: Five of a Kind: Wonder Woman and Grace #1 as we finally learn how this ties into the Countdown.

Batman Annual #26 is the opening part of the return of Ra’s al Ghul which we know has Countdown significance from the original house ad some months back.

As revealed in Countdown #34, the bad guys have something nasty planned for the wedding of the year. The buildup continues in Black Canary Wedding Planner #1.

Countdown to Adventure #1 sees the return of the space heroes from 52 and gives us the origin of Forerunner.

They’ve been weaving in and out of Countdown and this week the Suicide Squad, with some surprise new members, take on Batman’s new team in Outsiders #50.

Karate Kid teams up with the Maid of Might in a direct Countdown crossover in Supergirl #21.

Finally there appear to be more ructions in the timestream in the pages of both Teen Titans #50 and Metal Men #2.

Perhaps not directly related to Countdown , but following up from its predecessor 52, we have had both 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen and the new Infinity Inc. debuting in the last fortnight.

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

The Mystery of the Legion – Supergirl’s meeting with Karate Kid and Una restores her memories of her time with the Legion (pick up Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes for more details). Although they’re the classic version of the characters she also recognises them as the Threeboot Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl explaining that they’re them and yet not them. Do all three Legions exist concurrently in New Earth’s future(s)? (Supergirl #21)

The Death of the New Gods – Granny Goodness is revealed as the character masquerading as Athena and responsible for the Amazonian war (as we said a few columns back, there was a major hint in the pages of Countdown that "Athena" was an impostor). (Amazons Attack! #6) Mr. Orr is working for Darkseid, via Desaad. More New God pieces in our DCU jigsaw… (Countdown #34)

A Crisis in Time? – From the Titans of Tomorrow storyline the future Bart Allen and Conner Kent travel back to the present DCU. As both are categorically dead in our time it appears that this is yet another alternate timeline for New Earth. At what point do we stop playing semantics here because surely multiple timelines actually equals far more potential multiple Earths than just the 52? (Teen Titans #50)

The Anomalies – Kyle Rayner, as Parallax, is now a major threat to the Guardians. Had he died instead of Jade in The Rann-Thanagar War Special, as he was meant to, this would not have been an issue. (Countdown #35) After the yet-to-be-published Green Lantern #26 Kyle will no longer be Parallax. (The All-New Atom #15)

Chung Ling Soo Square – The name of the location where Klarion meets Mary Marvel. Chung Ling Soo was the stage name of the American magician William Ellsworth Robinson who died when his "bullet-catching" trick went horribly wrong. (Countdown #34)

The Wedding of the Year – Now we see how this is tying into the Countdown scenario! Deathstroke and a number of other villains plan to gatecrash the event and kill all the super-hero guests. Think of that broken green arrow in the Countdown house ad. The cover to the first issue of Green Arrow/Black Canary #1 shows Dinah and Connor Hawke in action. Is Ollie doomed or is that cover a red herring? Is it really Connor who is about to meet his maker? (Countdown #34)

Salvation Run – The Suicide Squad’s activities in recent months seem to be setting this miniseries up. They target a super-villain bar to capture more costumed bad guys with the aid of new members Bane and the General. Batman has heard rumors of their activities and seems to know more than he is letting on. (Outsiders #50)

Superman’s Continuity Conflicts – Countdown #34 provides a definitive New Earth origin for Lex Luthor. Pa Kent mentions events from the Superman: King of the World story arc meaning that this part of the Man of Steel’s confusing continuity is intact on New Earth. (Supergirl #21)

Jimmy Olsen’s Transformations – Jimmy is obviously inextricably linked to the Multiverse and the 52 with John Henry Irons’s experiment revealing visions of the other Earths and the Source Wall. What is the equation he speaks of that is "alive"? Something to do with Darkseid’s Anti-Life Equation perhaps? (Countdown #34)

Earthwatch

Confusingly, Forerunner’s Earth is identified as Earth-48 in Countdown to Adventure #1 when it was apparently classified as Earth-34 in Countdown. As we speculated here previously, Dark Angel is confirmed as the character that led the devastation of Forerunner’s world.

More Earths are identified in the DC Nation column #77:

Earth-18 – The world of Justice Riders (a one-shot Western-themed Elseworlds from 1997).

Earth-21 – The world of New Frontier (the critically-acclaimed 6-issue Darwyn Cooke series from 2004).

Earth-34 – The world of Amazonia. (From 1997’s Wonder Woman: Amazonia, another Elseworlds special)

That’s it for another roundup. Those looking for more background on characters and events related to the Countdown may want to check out the Tangent and Sword of the Atom trade paperbacks out now and don’t forget that the Suicide Squad return in their own miniseries next week!