Broken Frontier

Welcome to Broken Frontier’s weekly book-by-book roundup of events from every corner of the DC Universe. This is where to come to catch up on what’s been happening with your favorite DC heroes, details of crossovers, how each issue affects the DCU’s "Bigger Picture", continuity pointers to look for and any pertinent questions raised. 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.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon #1

Following Batman’s "death" Gotham descends into chaos and there’s a major confrontation with Mr. Freeze for the city’s top cop James Gordon.

Crossovers: Battle for the Cowl

The Bigger Picture: At story’s end Mr. Freeze is sent to Iron Heights, the super-villain containment center housed in the Flash’s Central City, which makes sense given that Arkham Asylum was blown up by Black Mask in Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1. Off-panel, the ultra-violent Batman stand-in, one of the mystery claimants to the Dark Knight’s legacy, murders members of the "Butchers of Gotham" Street Gang.

Continuity Corner: Mr. Freeze refers to Barbara Gordon as Jim Gordon’s "adopted daughter". Although this was the case in post-Crisis On Infinite Earths continuity Batman: Gotham Knights #6 (Aug 2000) established that Jim Gordon was Barbara’s father, following an extra-marital affair with his brother’s wife. Whether this is indicative of another change in continuity or that Barbara’s true parentage is unknown in the greater DCU is unclear.

Justice League of America #31

The JLA deals with the aftermath of the Final Crisis and Black Canary decides to disband this incarnation of the League as a response to recent events and a much diminished membership.

Crossovers: Final Crisis (unofficial)

The Bigger Picture: In a series yet to even be officially solicited, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Green Arrow have formed their own League for an as yet undisclosed mission. Black Canary feels this splinter group has undermined the official JLA even further. Look to the Justice League: A Cry for Justice miniseries in July for more on this.

Red Arrow tells Black Canary that Hawkman and Hawkgirl are recovering in hospital. This means they survived the events of Final Crisis after all! In turn, Dinah tells Roy that Black Lightning has left the team for good now that he is part of the newest incarnation of the Outsiders and Wally West’s commitments in Flash and Titans lead to his departure from the roster. Also leaving are Superman, to deal with events in the "New Krypton" arc in the Super-books, and Wonder Woman to deal with concerns on Themyscira.

A flashback scene shows Batman consoling Superman after the death of his father Jonathan Kent back in Action Comics #870.

Continuity Corner: Hal and Ollie refer to their time on the road discovering America circa Green Lantern/Green Arrow #s 76-87 in the early 1970s collected in the Hard Travellin’ Heroes trade paperbacks volume 1 and volume 2.

Questions: So why were the Hawks apparently listed as amongst the fallen in the final pages of Final Crisis #7? Were they always supposed to have survived Lord Eye’s attack or has that death scene been retconned in the same way that last year’s continuity-crushing Hawkman Special #1 seems to have been?

Oracle: The Cure #1

A frantic search for the last traces of the Anti-Life Equation brings Oracle and the Calculator into a deadly conflict.

Crossovers: Battle for the Cowl

The Bigger Picture: Barbara Gordon has moved back to Gotham City after disbanding her team in the final issue of Birds of Prey.

The Calculator is seeking the remnants of the Anti-Life Equation, spread across the world wide web in Final Crisis, to use in the treatment of Wendy, his daughter. Wendy and her brother Marvin, based on the sidekicks from the 1970s Super Friends cartoon, were attacked by "Wonder Dog" as part of Lycus’s revenge on Wonder Girl in Teen Titans #62. Marvin died of his injuries. Oracle’s online ally "Cheese Fiend" is killed by the Calculator in his Anti-Life quest. This answers the question as to whose decapitated body it was that we saw in the "Origins and Omens" section in Birds of Prey #127.

Questions: Is the titular cure one for Wendy or will the Anti-Life Equation be the means to ending the paralysis Barbara Gordon suffered after the Joker’s attack in Batman: The Killing Joke some twenty or so years ago?

Superman #686

Mon-El, the Guardian and Steel step up to fill the Man of Steel’s boots as Metropolis finds itself without its resident super-hero. Mon-El, in his secret identity of Jonathan Kent, joins the Science Police while Atlas continues to skulk in the background.

Crossovers: World Without Superman

The Bigger Picture: Detective Jamie Harper, former Robin supporting player, appears here after events in the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline. At some point in the near future she will transfer from the Gotham City PD and join the Metropolis Science Police. As I previously speculated, back in ATDCU #26, Jamie wants to know more about Science Police commanding officer Guardian who is the clone of her great uncle. She is currently going by her middle name of Billi to conceal her identity.

Continuity Corner: Mon-El is no stranger to his own solo adventures having had his own 23-issue series Valor between 1992 and 1994. Although it's no longer "in continuity", as such, it's an interesting run in that the last seven issues provided a prologue to the major 1990s continuity-changing series Zero Hour.

The War That Time Forgot #11

The Elders, the evolved future humans of New Earth, have been attempting to eradicate their war-ravaged dystopian world by studying key individuals from conflicts throughout Earth’s history. Although their intentions have been revealed as ultimately benign, the combination of DC’s historical heroes striking back at their captors and the island volcano erupting look set to put an end to their efforts to save their era.

Continuity Corner: We know from the 1998 Guns of the Dragon miniseries that Enemy Ace will return to Dinosaur Island later in his life. He showed no recognition of the locale in that story so let’s speculate that, whatever happens in the final issue next month, all the characters in this book will eventually be returned to their own timelines with no memory of recent events.

Questions: Again the question can be asked why, if the greatest warriors from history’s wars were summoned to the island, where are the likes of WWII's Sgt. Rock or the Civil War’s Jonah Hex? And just how much of the island’s environment is down to the Elders? As evidenced in Guns of the Dragon the dinosaurs, at least, have been there since the 1920s.

Wonder Woman #30

Diana’s desperate search for the Society’s inhuman assassin Genocide and her missing friend leads to the discovery of Etta Candy’s prone body. The extent of Cheetah’s manipulations and her use of Genocide to destroy Wonder Woman’s world is revealed. Elsewhere, the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall repopulate Themyscira while Zeus resurrects Achilles as the leader of his "Manazons" the Olympians.

Crossovers: Rise of the Olympian

Continuity Corner: Steve Trevor’s love for Diana is a surprise revelation this issue. Of course Steve was Diana’s love interest for some decades pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths before George Perez’s revamp of the character began in Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #1.

Questions: Is Etta Candy dead? Is Steve Trevor set to become a romantic competitor for Diana’s affections alongside Tom Tresser, Nemesis?

Rounding up... There’s more pre-Final Crisis Bruce Wayne in the eerie maxiseries Batman: Gotham After Midnight #11... The god-like Trinity resume their work in restoring New Earth’s reality in Trinity #43 as their friends and family attempt to restore them to humanity. And, seeking revenge on the Troika for his rejection, Kanjar Ro leads Despero and the Crime Syndicate against them...

In Madame Xanadu #9 the dawn of the age of heroes is upon the DCU as we witness Madame X’s relationship with Zatara in the 1930s, the Phantom Stranger’s approach to DC’s early magical heroes and the origin of the Jim Corrigan incarnation of The Spectre...

If you’re a fan of The War That Time Forgot then don’t forget that another of DC’s wartime heroes is currently being reinterpreted over at Vertigo. Unknown Soldier #6 is the conclusion to that title’s first arc... There may be a moratorium on the Multiverse for the moment but you can still take a trip to the post-Apocalyptic world of Earth-50 in Wildcats #9...

Fanboy Moment of the Week

While it’s tempting to select Atlas and Bibbo Bibbowski’s bar room conversation about the state of Metropolis’s sewage system in Superman #686 I’m going to go with a less frivolous selection this time around.

I’m no fan of Joe Quesada’s ban on the depiction of tobacco use over at Marvel. Although well-intentioned I find it a naive and unrealistic approach to the issue and I’ve always felt that a better solution is stories that underline the dangers of smoking.

Now, to their credit, DC have done just that in the past with major supporting cast players. Superman’s Perry White developed lung cancer and Commissioner Gordon’s years of smoking led to a heart attack. In fact for a long while in the early '90s there was a question mark over Gordon’s survival. DC even teamed up with the American Heart Association in a series of in-house ads that focused on the policeman’s plight (see right click to enlarge).

A little bit disturbing then to see Jim Gordon with a cigarette in his mouth again this week and his smoking habit inadvertently saving his life in Batman: Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon #1. Doubled up with Perry White, a lung cancer survivor, lighting up his big fat cigars in the Superman books again and I’m beginning to wonder if Joe Q doesn’t have a point...

On that note we’ll be back again in seven days when Barry Allen’s return to life will no doubt be in the spotlight. See you then and thanks for reading!