Broken Frontier

For reasons that will soon be obvious from below I’m going to jump immediately into 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.

This week saw the return of the universe of Earth-51 to the Multiverse after its seeming obliteration in the pages of Countdown to Final Crisis #13. Earth-Kamandi, it turns out, is neither an alternate timeline nor (as speculated across the Net) Earth-1. Instead it is Earth-51, the former "ideal" Earth where Ray Palmer had been hiding out these many months. This is a troubling revelation for a number of reasons, not least of which is that if an annihilated universe can just casually be restored to life where’s the dramatic tension? Why not just destroy it again post-Great Disaster and recreate it once more? And why was Ray Palmer so convinced this was definitely New Earth? Is this indicative of a plotline for the future or a last-minute creative change...?

Events this week…

In Countdown to Final Crisis #4: Back on Earth our heroes go their separate ways. Jason Todd hooks up with Harley and Holly as Gotham beckons. Mary Marvel is turned to the dark side by Darkseid and abducts Jimmy Olsen on his behalf. And the secret of Earth-Kamandi is revealed as Solomon gets the cold shoulder from his fellow Monitors...

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

It’s the conclusion to Superman’s adventure with the classic Legion of Super-Heroes in Action Comics #863.

The aftermath of Infinite Crisis continues to be felt as the deceased Psycho-Pirate’s Medusa Mask causes more chaos in DC Special: Raven #2.

That prime mover in the Salvation Run conspiracy, the Penguin, can be spotted in the pages of Detective Comics #843.

More timestream madness for our favorite robotic super-team in Metal Men #7.

The hunt for Talia is on as the mystery of the stolen super-corpses reaches a crucial point in Nightwing #143.

Kara’s recent trip to the future looks more ominous in Supergirl #28, guest-starring the Resurrection Man.

In this week’s CTFC Mary Marvel wonders about the current status of her family. Find out how they’re getting on in The Trials of Shazam! #12.

And there are some classic Great Disaster-related reprints in Countdown Special: Kamandi #1 also out this week.

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

The Temptation of Mary Marvel – Mary Marvel is offered her "evil" Black Adam powers back by Darkseid and accepts them with virtually no hesitation. In return she must deliver Jimmy Olsen, the repository for the powers of the dead New Gods, to the lord of Apokolips. (Countdown to Final Crisis #4)

The Mystery of the Legion – Superman and the Legion finally defeat Earth-Man’s "Justice League" and put an end to his anti-alien troublemaking. While answers as to what’s going on in the 31st century/centuries are still not forthcoming, a trailer tease for this summer’s Final Crisis!: Legion of Three Worlds miniseries implies we will finally find out more in a few short months. With Superman, three Legions, Superman-Prime, the Legion of Super-Villains, the Time Trapper, Lex Luthor and a tie-in to the Green Lantern Corps all involved this looks to be one of the most eagerly-anticipated DC events of the year. (Action Comics #863)

The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul – Check out a condensed retelling of Ra’s Al Ghul’s origin in this week’s CTFC. (Countdown to Final Crisis #4)

Believing Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter Talia to be behind the abduction of superhuman corpses, Nightwing and Robin make a journey to the African continent. There they come into conflict instead with the villainous Doctor Kendall and his genetic experiments. Kendall is the grandfather of the second Black Condor (who died in the massacre of the Freedom Fighters in Infinite Crisis #1) and the mad scientist-type who gave him his powers. For more on the character check out 1992-93’s short-lived Black Condor run. (Nightwing #143)

A Crisis in Time? – Supergirl’s determination to seek out a cure for cancer appears to be the first step in bringing about the dystopic future timeline of New Earth seen in the last couple of issues. She seeks out the long-missing hero Resurrection Man to naively persuade him to let her kill him again and again until he is reborn with the super-power to cure the condition. (Supergirl #28)

The Tenth Age of Magic – Freddy Freeman’s trials come to a close as Sabina (dressed remarkably like Mary Marvel) and the Council of Merlin are finally defeated. Freddy accepts Zeus’s offer to become the new Shazam watching over Earth and keeping this world safe from the dark forces of magic. According to Freeman magic had been broken (presumably since the Tenth Age began?) and has been trying to right itself. And for those wondering how Freddy could be interacting with the Olympian Gods at the same time they were imprisoned on Apokolips, this is because there are apparently two sets of Greek Gods in the DCU. The ones empowering the new Shazam being the "Gods of Magic" rather than the ones seen in books like Wonder Woman. (The Trials of Shazam! #12)

Earthwatch

Earth-51 – Earth-Kamandi is Earth-51, the same Earth destroyed by the battle between the Monitors, Monarch’s forces and Superman-Prime, having been miraculously "reconstituted". This is a little surprising given that when last we saw it all that was left was Nix Uotan, this universe’s Monitor, and a single flower growing on the planet’s surface. Did this happen naturally? Did Earth-51’s Monitor recreate this universe? And if the latter then just how powerful are the Monitors and why did they need to take on Monarch’s forces in hand to hand combat? And if Nix Uotan brought this world back to life then where was he when the Great Disaster took place? (Countdown to Final Crisis #4)

Join us next week for more OMACs, yet more chronal disruption, Selina’s final battle on the prison planet and another chapter in the mystery of the JSA’s Heartbreak Slayer. See you then...