Infinite Frontier #1 – Joshua Williamson, Writer; Xermanico, Artist; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Infinite Frontier so far has been a unique mix of fresh starts and ongoing runs as the DCU gets used to a new reality where everything is possible. What it hasn’t been is an event—until now. This new miniseries by Williamson and Xermanico isn’t a traditional event comic—there’s no earth-shattering threat yet—but it feels like the spine of everything that’s been going on in the DCU and will feature a huge cast of characters trying to unravel its mysteries. And some of those characters aren’t where they belong—starting with the older Batman, Thomas Wayne, who crash-lands on the Earth of President Superman and winds up in the hands of the Justice League of the Multiverse—reacting with his trademark conflict resolution skills.
Is this Flashpoint Batman, somehow retconning the events of the King Bat-run that saw him become a villain? Or is it the Earth-2 Batman, who became Batman in his later years after the death of his estranged son? Not sure yet, but it’s great to see the popular antihero again. There are a lot of characters running through this book, and I was glad to see Alan Scott take a central role. He and his son are tentatively bonding after their return to continuity and Alan’s coming-out, but when Jade goes missing after an explosion at the old JSA headquarters, their meet-up takes on a lot more urgency. Meanwhile, Barry Allen goes searching the multiverse for the mysterious Earth-Omega and finds more than he was expecting—in the form of an old enemy that’s been powered up.
One of the most interesting things about this new status quo is that for the first time, the casual person on the street is aware of things like the Multiverse. That leads to some timely commentary about multiverse-deniers—something the newly-returned Roy Harper has no tolerance for. It seems like Roy might be the point-of-view character for this series, coming back from limbo and targeted by mysterious forces due to his return from the dead. The ending cliffhanger comes out of nowhere and is a huge callback to one of the biggest events in DC history—that’s how you get people talking about a new #1 issue. Can’t wait to see where Williamson takes this story next.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
