On The Shelf: DC's Infinite Frontier isn't the last......

 "Space. The final frontier."---Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Star Trek, 1966-69, 1973-5.

Not in DC Comics' corporate eyes, it isn't. Not anymore.

Spinning out of the Future State mini-event that kept most of the regular DC line on ice for the last two months, Infinite Frontier isn't just the name of a 64 page 1-off that was released last week, but the umbrella title of DC's latest soft reboot. You know, like The New 52 (2011-6) and Rebirth (2016-7).

With more and more readers gravitating to digital platforms, and consumers choosing to wait for trade paperback collections of certain books of interest (ye scribe recently became a trade-waiter to an extent), DC stubbornly marches forward in an effort to try to keep longtime fans interested.

Problem is, some of the core titles have been upgraded to 40 pages per issue, ads included, and a price increase to $4.99 per issue, up from $3.99. The extra pages are for backup features. Ye scribe can remember when DC did this back in 1980, when the price increase was a mere dime, from 40 cents to 50 cents. Increases in everything, including paper costs, have brought us to the present day price points ranging from $3 (Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo) to $5 (Batman, Superman, Strange Adventures, Justice League, et al) or higher (Black Label prestige format books). Success is predicated not so much on sales, which will level off after a curiosity period of a month or two, it always does, especially if certain books aren't performing up to standards predicated by editorial and/or corporate parent WarnerMedia. If you are interested in the backup features appearing in, say for example, Detective Comics or Wonder Woman, then I recommend trade-waiting if the price is not for you.

Now, let's move on to the reviews, all having to do with selected titles in this soft reboot.

Infinite Frontier itself is a 0 issue, acting as a primer for key storylines that will unfold over the next few months. Some good, some bad, some in the middle. Seeing Jack Kirby's legendary New Gods arch-villain, Darkseid, rendered by John Romita, Jr., though, might turn some people off. Nobody did Darkseid like Kirby did 50 years ago. Keith Giffen's rendering a decade later comes close.

And as Darkseid appears, we're told there will be a 6 issue Infinite Frontier miniseries, debuting in July. Whee.

Rating: A-.

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A few years ago, Scottish writer Grant Morrison gave the Crime Syndicate, the evil Earth-3 dopplegangers of the Justice League, a graphic novel showcase. Now, the villains of Earth-3 are back in their own book, a 6-issue miniseries that makes the characters even more unlikable than before. Overman (a Superman knockoff) talking like street trash? Sorry. Not digging. Johnny Quick of Earth-3, a bald punk rocker? No sale. Waste of $4 and my time.

Rating: C-.

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Late last year, Marvel decided to tweak Werewolf by Night by essentially retiring Jack Russell, though he didn't appear in the book, and replace him with a Native American.

DC took a look at that series, written by Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas, and decided, yo, let's do the same thing. Sort of.

The result is Ram V's introduction of a Swamp Thing from India, who has the same kind of Jekyll-Hyde issue that werewolves traditionally have, but not normally associated with the swamp man-monster that Alan Moore and friends turned into an earth elemental more than 3 decades ago. Moore might be indifferent to the new iteration, but I think the late Len Wein would be proud. Still, the jury's out for now.

Rating: Incomplete.

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With a new feature film directed by James Gunn due later this year, the Suicide Squad gets a new #1 just three months after the last series ended. Peacemaker, the former Charlton comics hero, and Connor Kent, the 90's reboot of Superboy, are among the new faces, both conscripted by an even more corrupt than ever Amanda Waller, over the objections of Rick Flag. Harley Quinn is off the team after being part of the last two Squad series, and off on her own, which will take her fans away. However, the idea here is to get used to seeing Peacemaker (Christopher Smith), who will be played by John Cena in the movie, before said film hits theatres and HBO Max later this year.

The direction of the series is a few notches above where John Ostrander took the book back in the late 80's, and that was great reading. So is this.

Rating: A.

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In the mid-70's, DC experimented with giving the Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker, his own series. It didn't last very long, just 8 issues or so. Back then, though, it was standard issue cheese for the times.

Fast forward to 2021. Spinning out of Infinite Frontier issue 0, the Joker initiated a massacre of Arkham Asylum clients, staff, and guards to cover his latest escape. Former police commissioner James Gordon is tasked by a mysterious client to hunt down and kill the Joker. The incentive, of course, is to avenge the death of his son, James, Jr., killed off recently, and daughter Barbara (Batgirl/Oracle), who was paralyzed in Alan Moore's The Killing Joke years earlier.

What writer James Tynion IV has crafted will recall Les Miserables, which also inspired the TV series, The Fugitive (1963-7) and The Incredible Hulk (1977-82). You have Gordon on a lone crusade to hunt down the Joker, for however long it takes.

The Joker's new protege, Punchline, gets the backup feature, and I get the feeling that she'll eventually move into the main story in due course, or, get her own limited series after a 1-off last fall. Keep an eye open for an Easter egg in the first issue, paying tribute to some earlier Joker works. You'll see what I mean.

Rating: A.