As the initial wave of Infinite Frontier titles settle into what direction they are going under the new DC Comics banner we are going to see the beginning of the first big event in said direction. The newest DC Comics event will be titled Infinite Frontier. Along with that DC Comics June 2021 will see the launch of Tom King’s Supergirl, Event Leviathan follow-up, Superman revisiting Future State, and much more. Let’s take a look at all the future plans that DC Comics revealed from their June 2021 solicitations.
ROY HARPER JOINS JUSTICE INCARNATE FOR INFINITE FRONTIER
Infinite Frontier #0 set the groundwork for what the new DC Universe and how all stories in the company’s history are back in play. Along with that Infinite Frontier #0 ended with the revitalized and powered up Darkseid reappearing and killing all the members of The Quintessence, a group made up Ganthet, Hera, Highfather, Phantom Stranger, Spectre, and The Wizard, after Wonder Woman left them to return to the DC Universe. Now it looks like DC Comics isn’t going to waste any time in getting back to addressing the fallout of Infinite Frontier #0 on a universal scale.
Making the Infinite Frontier event something that is even more must have is the fact that Joshua Williamson is writing the series with Xermanico handling the artwork. Williamson has proved with his work on The Flash, Future State: Justice League, and many other DC Comics titles that he knows how to write large scale stories. He also has worked tie-in for previous big events led by Scott Snyder, Geoff Johns, Tom King, and other DC writers that has made him ready to lead a big event.
Having the Justice Incarnate team be the ones that will be starring in this new DC Comics event is also another exciting thing to see. From the cover it looks like the roster for this Justice Incarnate team will be Earth-23’s Superman (Calvin Ellis/Kalel), Barry Allen’s Flash, Roy Harper, Alan Scott, Jade, and Oblivion. We know from Barry’s talk with Wally West that the Justice Incarnate team have already started dealing with confronting various Crises in the new DC Multiverse. How they end up finding out about what Darkseid did and deal with the newly powered up villain will be interesting to see.
It’s also interesting to note that after appearing in Infinite Frontier #0 that Roy Harper is part of the Justice Incarnate team. This could explain why after returning to life in that one-shot his status is still seen as “dead” in the current DC Universe. Joining the Justice Incarnate instead of reuniting with Green Arrow or the Titans creates more questions around the return of Roy Harper. It seems that will be one of the mysteries that Infinite Frontier will address since Roy’s death in Heroes In Crisis is shown to have still taken place, as seen with how the Teen Titans Academy is named after him.
DC CELEBRATES PRIDE MONTH
As DC Comics has been doing more of lately, June 2021 will see the company spotlight another group of characters with a special one-shot dedicated to their LGBTQIA+ in honor of Pride Month. Along with the one-shot we will see many comic books have special Pride Month variant covers. DC Comics hasn’t said if proceeds of these LGBTQIA+ organizations but given that they and Marvel have been getting some mainstream attention from their Pride celebrations, as seen from this article on NBC News, that would be a good move by both companies.
From a DC Universe perspective, it is good to see from the covers how DC has grown in having more LGBTQIA+. Like Marvel, DC has struggled with representation in their comics as they still largely focus on their iconic characters from 80 years ago. Giving a spotlight on how the DCU has grown beyond what many think as the core iconic characters is a good continuation to show that there is this representation. Hopefully this isn’t just another case of DC taking opportunity of whatever special celebration is going on in a month because that can backfire as not actually showing progression as a company.
BATMAN RECRUITS A NEW ROBIN
In the aftermath of Joker War the Batman Family are working more as a united group once again. This hasn’t been something we have seen for the Batman Family unit since Batman Inc. that took place before New 52. But one thing that hasn’t changed is Batman still doing his own thing without an official Robin by his side. Though you could possibly say that Ghost-Maker as a pseudo-Robin given how he is working with Batman in James Tynion run.
But now it looks like that may change with Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert look to be introducing a new partner for the Dark Knight in Batman: The Detective series. The connection of Batman: The Detective to the main DC Universe is still nebulous as it could very well be a story that takes place in some other continuity in the Multiverse. It’ll be interesting to see how Bruce works with another Robin-type partner since we haven’t seen him work with Damian Wayne or Tim Drake since Flashpoint took place.
TOM KING SUPERGIRL SERIES LAUNCH
Supergirl is one of the characters that has been noticeably absent from Infinite Frontier. Especially with how other members of the Superman Family have been given titles already in Infinite Frontier, Supergirl was someone you had questions of where she is at. Now we know that Supergirl will be getting her own mini-series with Tom King writing it. As we’ve seen with King’s run at DC Comics his strength has been working on mini-series. He works best when he is able to tell self-contained stories without worrying about how it ties into the greater DCU.
Getting a mini-series is also a great thing for Supergirl as she will be able to get a story that is focused around her and where she stands in the DCU. Especially after going through being one Batman Who Laughs Infected characters this new series can be an opportunity for Supergirl to get a fresh start. This can also be a chance to define what Supergirl’s role is in as the Superman Family has been getting involved in heading more into uniting the planets of the DCU.
CHECKMATE RISE OUT OF EVENT LEVIATHAN
Event Leviathan was the first big event that Brian Bendis wrote for DC Comics. The event as a whole did not come across as a conclusion of a big story arc. Instead it ended feeling like it was the first chapter of a story that Bendis is telling. But since Event Leviathan ended in early 2020 we have not heard anything about what is next for this story that Bendis has started. That is until June 2021 where we will be seeing the relaunch of Checkmate that will deal with the direct fallout of what Leviathan is doing in the DC Universe.
The first thing that stood out was the roster. Having a Checkmate roster of Lois Lane, The Question, Robin (who may be Tim Drake), Steve Trevor, Manhunter, Bones, and Talia Al Ghul is a strong and unique team. Each character will get a chance to shine as Checkmate is the sole title they are all a part of.
It’s also interesting to note that Green Arrow will be the one funding this Checkmate team. Given that Green Arrow is also leading the current Justice League this puts him in a unique position. Will funding Checkmate contradict Green Arrow’s attitude of having the Justice League be more open to being public? That could lead to an even bigger story that Bendis is working around Green Arrow since he is writing both Justice League and Checkmate.
SUPERMAN GOES BACK TO HIS FUTURE STATE
Future State is sticking around as several Infinite Frontier comics are taking place in that continuity or are using elements from what we saw in that possible DC Universe future. Superman is going to be the next character that will be going back to what was established for his franchise. It will specifically be done in the upcoming Action Comics 2021 Annual as we will see the return of the House of El. The House of El are all descendants of Clark Kent/Kal-El.
The last we saw them Clark said goodbye to them as he left them in charge of protecting the DC Universe as they’ve done their entire lives. Hopefully we will get more details of the members of the House of El as the Future State one-shot only was able to spotlight certain characters in the page count it had. Action Comics 2021 Annual is a chance to dive deeper into the family dynamic and individuals in the House of El.
BATMAN VS PEACEKEEPER-01 COMES TO THE PRESENT DCU
One of the big things that was emphasized in Future State was how Peacekeeper-01 was the one that took out Bruce Wayne/Batman to kickstart the Magistrate full takeover of Gotham City. The way that story was told it did come across as Peacekeeper-01 was able to get the jump on Bruce in their first meeting. But now in the main DC Universe continuity that does not look like it will be the case as Peacekeeper-01 will be debuting by going straight to Batman. This is honestly a good thing as it further pushes how while we will see elements from Future State come into the current DC Universe.
Making things more interesting is the connection that is being teased between Harley Quinn and the person who has become Peacekeeper-01, Sean Mahoney. Sean Mahoney is the GCPD officer that survived the events of A-Day even as he risked his life to save as many people as he could during Arkham Asylum’s destruction. That gives plenty of reason for Sean Mahoney to become Peacekeeper-01 and go directly after Batman without fear. How Harley Quinn ties into this will be interesting to see how that furthers the shadow of Joker that seems to loom over Gotham City.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS HAVE NO HOME
The Green Lantern Corps never have the best luck when it comes to the start of a big new direction for the DC Universe. That looks to still be the case as Infinite Frontier will see the Green Lantern Corps be left without their Central Power Battery to help power their rings. This definitely puts all the Green Lanterns in a tough spot as they have to conserve the power that they were able to recharge their rings with before the death of the Central Power Battery. While a tough spot it does open the opportunity to spotlight all of the members of the Green Lantern Corps rather than just one or two as has been the case in the last few years.
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