Broken Frontier

The crisis takes form as villains are revealed and the threat to the Earth grows!

Elements of the five pre-Crisis miniseries (The OMAC Project, Day of Vengeance, Villains United, Rann/Thanagar War, and The Return of Donna Troy) continue to play out here as we see the scope of the crisis grow. Magical realms crumble, Amazons attempt to beat back a full-scale OMAC attack, and Donna Troy’s team of space-farers reaches the center of the Universe. In the middle of all this action, all of this destruction, the Earth-Two Superman makes Batman an offer of a "better world"; but can Batman accept it?

Geoff Johns promised that even new readers would be caught up on everything they needed to know by issue #2 and he kept that promise. Now he is blasting forward, breaking new ground, and increasing speed. Readers are going to have to pay attention and stay sharp in order to keep up with this series. This title has already changed the face of the DC Universe and vows more changes are to come.

There are multiple plots and sub-plots going on simultaneously here and the effect is dizzying. Geoff Johns does an amazing job at juggling all of this and keeping everything straight. There are positives and negatives to this, though. On the positive side, the breakneck pace and constant action makes the various threats true menaces. The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife as readers are left to wonder who may die and what may come of this. The story also lends a feeling of the realities of war since wars don’t happen in a truly organized fashion. While one battle may be raging on land, another may be carried on miles away at sea without either seeming to touch one another. On the negative side, though, the pace gives the reader very little chance to rest and to digest the events as action flies from one group to another. With all of these plots the reader also practically needs a scorecard to keep up with which characters are where and fighting what. There are many places where it would be easy to get lost and confused, something that is fatal to a series like this.

Adding to all of this hyperactivity is the ultra-detailed work of Phil Jimenez with guest artist work by the extraordinary, original Crisis on Infinite Earths penciler George Perez. It is a tribute to Jimenez that his work echoes that of Perez twenty years ago. With almost literally a cast of thousands and emotions ranging from raw anger to delight to despair, Jimenez has been given a daunting task and he rises to it with consummate professionalism. Three inkers and two colorists round out the art team and it is surprising that this many people can blend their styles to the point that they are indistinguishable.

An event series such as this is difficult to review simply because of its sheer size and scope. There is a difficulty as well in the fact that it is still near the beginning and stories like this cannot truly be evaluated until they are near or at the end. Still, if there is a comic out there almost guaranteed to make you gasp in shock and amazement it is this one. Be aware, however, that there is no quarter given here and Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez and company expect the reader to be sharp and stay alert. There are signs and portents everywhere.