Broken Frontier

Ah those little "Earth" icons... They seemed such a good idea when they first appeared to clue readers in that an issue had greater Multiverse significance. But their inconsistent use on covers has rendered the idea largely pointless (why no Earth-8 icon on Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists or Earth-9 on Tangent: Superman’s Reign for example?). 

This week though, it’s their use on interior pages that’s raising eyebrows. Check out our Earthwatch section where we wonder if we’ve just seen a startling revelation in the pages of Tangent: Superman’s Reign or a major continuity error...

Time for our 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.

Events of late…

In Countdown to Final Crisis #6: The Morticoccus virus breaks out on the mystery Earth our heroes were transported to by Solomon. The Great Disaster is upon us! What more can we say...

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

Those ubiquitous OMACs make their presence felt again and a couple of surprise old favorites reappear in Batman and the Outsiders #5.

Superman meets his villainous counterpart Ultraman in the penultimate part of the year-long Megistus arc in The Brave and the Bold #11.

Selina battles to survive the prison planet in Catwoman #77.

The climax approaches as more heroes perish in The Death of the New Gods #7.

The JLA seek to end the Salvation Run conspiracy once and for all in Justice League of America #19.

And speaking of said conspiracy, the machinations of one its prime players continue in Robin #172.

The Tenth Age of Magic becomes a threat to the Multiverse in Shadowpact #23.

Fancy a trip to Earth-9? Tangent: Superman’s Reign #1 is the first part of your travel guide to this reality.

For those wanting some background info on one of the Big Bads of the Countdown storylines then there’s also some classic reprint material available in Countdown Special: Eclipso 80-Page Giant #1.

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

The Great Disaster – The Morticoccus virus breaks out and is spread to space by Green Lantern. See our Earthwatch section for more theories on what is going on here... (Countdown to Final Crisis #6)

The Coming Crisis – The sorcerous alchemist Megistus pulling all the strings in B&B is using the stolen artifacts he has acquired to pull the "red storm" across the universe, as part of his planet-wide bioalchemy experiments. Almost certainly a coincidence but the storm looks very much like the "red skies" of Crisis On Infinite Earths. (The Brave and the Bold #11)

Brother Eye-Spy – Lots of unanswered questions about Jardine Enterprises and its connections to Brother Eye and the OMACs. Why is the company creating lifeforms that can survive massive radiation? What are they hoping to launch into space? What is Brother Eye’s masterplan here and at what point in Countdown to Final Crisis continuity does this story take place? The Outsiders’ attempt to stop Jardine and his OMAC allies is aided this week by two body-hopping spirits who are revealed to be none other than Ralph and Sue Dibny... (Batman and the Outsiders #5)

The Death of the New Gods – Himon is not the killer. In a case of bluff and double-bluff it was the Infinity Man all along (as the Source’s agent) and he was using Himon’s form as a disguise. In battle with the Infinity Man, Mr. Miracle uses his Anti-Life Equation powers in a big blow-out that breaches the Source Wall, allowing the two halves of the Source to finally reunite. Realizing the extent of his manipulation Scott Free requests the Source kills him.

Even Metron decides that, in the light of the revelations of the Source’s callous disregard for the New Gods, he has "seen enough" and invites his own demise. Using the fruits of his Soulfire Project Darkseid, the last of the Fourth World characters, prepares for the final showdown with the Source. This should be interesting as both Darkseid and the Source have claimed to be using the powers and souls of the dead New Gods (via the receptacles of Jimmy Olsen and the second Source Wall respectively). (The Death of the New Gods #7)

Salvation Run – We saw her free and betraying the Martian Manhunter seven days ago, but the story of how Catwoman freed herself from the alien mind-control device on the prison planet is revealed a week later. It makes her actions in selling him out to the villains all the more surprising given that J’Onn J’Onzz is the one who saves her life when she is trapped in the machine’s fantasy world. Is it a ploy or could it be that her experiences trapped in the technology have actually undone her heroic personality and she is reverting to villainy? Upcoming solicitations for Catwoman reveal the possibility than Selina’s time on the side of the angels may have come to an end after all... (Catwoman #77)

The prison planet is revealed to be Cygnus 4019... or at least it should have been! The peaceful world they would have been sent to was not the one they ended up on. Kanjar Ro tells the League that someone (Desaad!) diverted the Suicide Squad's transporter to another unknown planet for their own purposes. (Justice League of America #19)

Salvation Run’s prime profiteer, the Penguin, continues to consolidate the power base he’s been building up in Gotham Underground when Maxie Zeus is taken out of the Gotham crime scene. And it looks like Stephanie Brown may just be the face behind the Spoiler’s mask.... (Robin #172)

The Tenth Age of Magic – The Phantom Stranger assembles a team of Shadowpacts from across time when he announces that the soul-consuming Sun God will emerge through a hole in the fabric of reality, threatening the Multiverse. (Shadowpact #23)

Earthwatch

Earth-Kamandi ? – Or the Earth formerly known as Earth-?... This Earth’s Buddy Blank notes that Morticoccus is scrambling the DNA of its victims before moving on. Are we seeing the beginnings of the world of Jack Kirby’s Kamandi series here? Thanks to the virus humans are becoming more feral while animals are taking on human characteristics. Sound familiar in terms of the animal people of that book? And, with Buddy Blank and Una on a mission to save his grandson, it seems very likely this is The Great Disaster in a very faithful Kirbyesque manner. (Countdown to Final Crisis #6)

Earth-1 – New Earth is revealed to be Earth-1 in captions. Is this a mistake or something more telling? Particularly given that Earth-Kamandi should also be New Earth according to Ray Palmer. (Tangent: Superman’s Reign #1)

Earth-2 – Not the 52’s Earth-2 but the version from Grant Morrison’s 1998 JLA: Earth-2 hardback is confirmed as existing in the post-Infinite Crisis DCU. The Ultraman of the Anti-Matter Universe’s Earth teams with New Earth’s Superman this week at the behest of that reality’s version of Mr. Mxyzptlk (Mixyezpitelik) to stop the threat of Megistus. Does this mean the 52 are really the 53? And given that Earth C-Minus’s existence in Captain Carrot and the Final Ark! #3 will almost certainly never be mentioned again, are the 53 actually the 54? (The Brave and the Bold #11)

Earth-9 – The Tangent Earth gets its own series as we discover that Tangent Superman has taken this world down a totalitarian path since last we saw the characters. There are lots of references here to recent Tangent incursions into New Earth reality. For a start the Tangent Green Lantern is feeling the repercussions of her lost Lantern (which fell to New Earth in Infinite Crisis and has been seen in Ion and Justice League of America).

Elsewhere the Tangent Flash aids our Flash on New Earth/Earth-1 (see above!) in battling a new Mirror Master who can transport characters from other parallel Earths (a variety of Flashes are seen including possibly the Justice Riders version and Earth-3’s scarlet speedster makes a brief visit). Tangent Flash has been stranded on New Earth since Justice League of America #16 and also participated in the Countdown: Arena. One would imagine this new Mirror Master would be of interest to the Monitors but they seem to have stopped worrying about dimension-breaching anomalies of late... (Tangent: Superman’s Reign #1)

That's it for a week of revelations, maybe-revelations and almost-revelations. Join us in seven days for the finale to events on Earth-8 and the conclusion to Forerunner’s adventures... See you then.