Broken Frontier

In the late nineties, DC tried this experiment. It was called the Tangent Universe and the names of the heroes were the same but the powers, origins and secret identities were changed to protect the innocent. Since then, there have been scant references in The Kingdom, Infinite Crisis, Ion, and eventually 52 reveled that the Tangent Universe's new home was Earth-9. A decade later and the spotlight is again on DC's sister universe where things are not quite what you expect.

In the main story, Dan Jurgens brings us a Blade Runner type world, except the tabs are kept on the superheroes, not androids. In due course, we are introduced to the main players. There is The Joker who is freshly out of prison and on her way to see her parole officer, The Green Lantern who seems to be lost, and the Spectre & Manhunter are working together on a sinister mystery. Meanwhile, in a rare appearance of Earth-1, the Flash meets the Flash through an appropriate adventure with the Mirror Master.

Jurgens sets up a mystery. It is well told and all is quite easy to follow. The story is very new reader friendly. I can say this with a definitive tone, because other than Ion and Justice League #18, I have no first hand knowledge of this universe. It is nice to see that the Ion story had impact later on. While Jurgens does a good job of making this new reader friendly, all that is here is mystery. One does have to wonder what is up with Earth-1, the appearance of the Hall of Justice is odd, but then we know next to nothing about this world. In the end, much of what happens is set up, and none of it is particularly compelling.

Clark’s pencils are very nice. There are a few awkward poses here and there, but overall it is very confident which is important given the varied localities and the reader’s unfamiliarity with any of it. Do it bold or not at all is as decent a motto as any for a penciller these days. The art team produces a solid attractive package that conveys the script well.

The History Lesson backup by Marz is a history of the Tangent Universe set up in a spy intrigue frame. This allows for new readers to become more familiar with this decade old playing field and leaves the story open-ended enough to be combined with the main story down the line. Pasarin’s pencils give it a Bourne Identity feel which works with this story, while Delperdang’s inks on both stories give the book a unified feel.

Unfortunately, in the end, as a package I cannot whole-heartedly recommend this title. It is an amusing side story, but contains nothing Earth shattering in the first issue. I am afraid that it will cater to its intended audience only, that of the die hard DC faithful. However, it will be interesting to see the theories start to take over message boards. This is one the fanboys will have a field day with. The reason for this maxi-series’ existence may be uncertain; but at 12 issues in length, it is an indication that the Multiverse will be in play after Final Crisis comes to a close.