Comic Book / DC Infinite Frontier

DC Infinite Frontier is a DC Comics relaunch initiative that began in March 2021. This initiative spins out of the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal and DC Future State and serves as both a relaunch and Soft Reboot for the DC Universe.

In the aftermath of Death Metal, the DC Multiverse has been reborn, with Wonder Woman and "the hands" watching over the brand new "Omniverse". With this rebirth comes the chance to build new stories, all the while trying to figure out the mysteries of the two centers of the Omniverse.

Unlike many other relaunches, Infinite Frontier actually continues many numberings and has very few new titles, instead putting other stories into backups, making for bigger books rather than more titles on the shelf. It does, however, have new creative teams on almost every title (with the biggest exception being Batman, which is still written by James Tynion IV), and noticeably draws on a lot of non-comic talent for its writers.

The initiative ran from March 2021 to February 2023, concluding with Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths and Lazarus Planet. In January 2023, a new initiative entitled Dawn of DC officially succeeded Infinite Frontier as the next chapter.

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DC Infinite Frontier

The Infinite Frontier Saga

• Infinite Frontier #0: Oversized one-shot that teases the Infinite Frontier line and establishes its new status quo. Written and drawn by various creators.
• Infinite Frontier: A six-issue miniseries picking up plot points started in the one-shot. Written by Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver, with art by various creators.
• Justice League Incarnate: A five-issue miniseries following on from the events of Infinite Frontier, featuring a new line-up of Justice Incarnate. Written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by various creators.
• Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths: The next part of the story of the Infinite Frontier. Parts include:
  • Justice League #75: The Death of the Justice League!
  • Dark Crisis #0 Free Comic Book Day: The Aftermath of the fall of the World's Greatest Superheroes.
  • Justice League: Road To Dark Crisis: The Justice League is dead. Who will carry the torch?
  • Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-7: Can the heroes of the DC Universe unite to stop Pariah and his mad quest to resurrect his multiverse? And is the Justice League still alive?!

Batman

• Batman: Batman and his new ally Ghost-Maker investigate the possible return of Scarecrow and a mysterious new group called the Unsanity Collective. Meanwhile, with Gotham on edge after what happened with Bane, the Joker and a new attack that destroyed Arkham Asylum, plans are in motion to implement the oppressive Magistrate regime seen in DC Future State. Written by James Tynion IV with art by Jorge Jimenez, resuming their run with issue 106. The run concluded with issue 117 and the Fear State crossover.
  • Writer Joshua Williamson and artists Jorge Molina and Mikel Janin take over the title with issue #118. The story begins with Batman investigating a supposed murder committed by members of Batman, Incorporated.
  • Williamson's run is followed by Chip Zdarsky's, with art by Jorge Jimenez. Their run begins with issue 125. Tim Drake will return to Batman's side as his partner once again, as Batman is haunted by dreams of a dark future and an old mistake coming back to haunt him.
  • Backup stories have various creative teams, featuring different main characters: Robin (one issue; first half of a prologue to the ongoing series), Ghost-Maker (five issues; story concluded in the 2021 annual and leads into Batman Incorporated), Clownhunter (three issues), Batgirls (three issues), and Maps Mizoguchi.
• Batgirls: Starring Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Barbara Gordon, this rebellious group of heroes team up to kick ass, and try to make it as normal teenagers in this pizza slumber party of a series, packed with energy, attitude, and friendship. Written by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad with art by Jorge Corona.
• Batman: Secret Files: A series of one-shots written and drawn by various creators exploring various characters in Gotham, including the Signal (Duke Thomas), the Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Clownhunter (Bao Pham), Miracle Molly, Peacekeeper-01 (Sean Mahoney), and the Gardener.
• Batman: The Detective: A six-issue mini-series. Batman goes on a harrowing, action packed adventure across Europe. Written by Tom Taylor, with art by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope.
• Batman: The Knight: Ten-issue miniseries. Follow Bruce Wayne in the days before he became Batman. Written by Chip Zdarsky, with art by Carmine di Giandomenico.
• Batman: Urban Legends: Anthology comic following different stories set in Gotham. Written and drawn by various creators.
• Batman Incorporated: Ghost-Maker leads Batman, Incorporated to the dismay of the heroes handpicked by Bruce Wayne. They're forced to overcome their squabbles when Batman and Ghost-Maker's past comes back to haunt them. Written by Ed Brisson with art by John Timms.
• Catwoman: Selina Kyle finds herself in the middle of a criminal riddle as she seeks to gain control of Alleytown. Written by Ram V and drawn by Fernando Blanco, starting with issue #29.
• Detective Comics: A murder mystery hits close to home as Bruce Wayne reconsiders his role as Batman in Gotham, where an anti-vigilante movement is gaining traction. Written by Mariko Tamaki and drawn by Dan Mora, starting with issue 1034.
• Flashpoint Beyond: Six-issue miniseries. Thomas Wayne of the Flashpoint universe returns to his native timeline... one that shouldn't exist anymore. So begins Flashpoint Batman's investigations into his world's revival, which leads him to hunting down the Clockwork Killer! Written by Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adams and Tim Sheridan. Art by Eduardo Risso and Xermanico.
• Harley Quinn (Infinite Frontier): Harley returns to Gotham to help it recover after the events of The Joker War. But going legit is easier said than done for someone like Harley. Written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Riley Rossmo.
• The Joker (2021): Starring in his first ongoing title since 1975, the Joker's found himself at the center of a manhunt by James Gordon, hoping to finally put the scoundrel away for good ahead of his retirement. Can the Clown Prince of Crime weasel his way out of this one like he always does? Or will luck favor his enemy for once? Written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Guillem March.
  • Punchline: Backups starring the Joker's newest sidekick. Can Bluebird and Leslie Tompkins keep it together as they dig into the wench's origins? Written by Tynion IV and Sam Johns and drawn by Mirka Andolfo.
  • Punchline: The Gotham Game: A spinoff of Joker, picking up Punchline's story following the conclusion of the backup feature. Written by Tini Howard and Blake Howard, with art by Gleb Melnikov.
• The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox: A seven-issue mini-series anthology. In police custody, the Joker tells tales of Gotham's villains, but what puzzle is he really making? Written by Matthew Rosenberg, with art by Jesús Merino, Joshua Hixon, Ulises Arreola, Keron Grant, Dani, Domo Stanton, Juni Ba, Vanesa Del Rey, Ricardo Ortiz, Christopher Mooneyham, and more.
• The Next Batman: Second Son: Meet Tim "Jace" Fox, estranged son of billionaire Lucius Fox and man of mystery... and the Batman of DC Future State's timeline. What has the eldest son of one Gotham's premier families been up to for these 'missing' years and how does he find himself getting shot at in the jungles of Vietnam? Written by John Ridley and drawn by Tony Atkins and Travel Foreman.
  • I Am Batman: A new solo series set directly after the events of Second Son. The streets of Gotham City cry for justice and Jace Fox answers the call! With a new and improved Bat-Suit, Jace hits the streets to inspire and protect... as he follows the trail of the voice of misinformation and violence—the anarchistic Anti-Oracle! Can the new Dark Knight counterbalance their plan to inspire armed rebellion in the citizens of Gotham?! Can one man inspire a city? Written by John Ridley, with art by Oliver Coipel.
• Nightwing: Dick Grayson teams up with Oracle to investigate the new mayor of Blüdhaven, who happens to bear the same surname of the man who killed his parents. Written by Tom Taylor and drawn by Bruno Redondo, starting with issue 78.
• Robin: Not-so-great events have caused the (former?) Boy Wonder, Damian Wayne, to disavow his father, Bruce. And now Damian has found out that his mother, Talia al Ghul, has kept yet another dark secret from him: the League of Lazarus. What even is it? To solve this mystery, Damian will have to put up his dukes and partake in the Tournament of Lazarus! Written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Gleb Melnikov.
• Sword of Azrael: Jean-Paul Valley has found a new life for himself in seclusion. However, when a girl shows on the steps of his monastery with the same programming as him, the former Azrael and one-time Batman is forced to emerge from the shadows once more. Six-issue miniseries written by Dan Waters, with art by Nikola Čižmešija.
• Tim Drake: Robin: Having newly found a new lease on life, Tim Drake returns as the star of the Robin series! Written by Meghan Fitzmartin, art by Riley Rossmo.

Superman

• Action Comics: Jon Kent contends with his father's mortality and possible demise when a new threat arises, and Clark Kent is forced to confront a threat beyond just supervillains. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and drawn by Phil Hester, followed by ongoing artist Daniel Sampere, starting with issue 1029.
  • Midnighter: Backups starring Midnighter. Written by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad, with art by Michael Avon Oeming.
• Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow - Supergirl and Krypto head into space to help a young alien girl get revenge on alien conquerors who destroyed the girl's world. Written by Tom King and drawn by Bilquis Evely.
• Superman: Jon Kent contends with his father's mortality and possible demise when a new threat arises. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and drawn by Phil Hester, followed by ongoing artist Scott Godlewski, starting with issue #29.
  • Tales of Metropolis: Backup starring Jimmy Olsen. Written by Sean Lewis and drawn by Eric Gapstur.
• Superman and the Authority: To save the prisoners of Warworld, Superman creates a new iteration of the Authority^note Manchester Black, Apollo, Midnighter, Lightray, OMAC, Enchantress, and Steel (Natasha Irons) to save them. Four issue mini-series written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Mikel Janín.
• Superman: Red and Blue: Anthology comic following different stories set in Metropolis. Written and drawn by various creators.
• Superman: Son of Kal-El: When Kal-El decides to expand his heroics into outer space, Jon steps up to become the new Superman of Earth. Replaces Superman in July 2021. Written by Tom Taylor and drawn by John Timms.

Wonder Woman

• Wonder Woman: Diana wakes up in Valhalla, unsure as to how (and why) she's there. Written by Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad and drawn by Travis Moore, starting with issue 770.
  • Adventures of Young Diana: Backups starring an adolescent Diana. Written by Jordie Bellaire and drawn by Paulina Ganucheau.
• Nubia and The Amazons: A mini-series following the adventures of the newly ascended Queen of Themyscira and Wonder Woman's sister, Nubia. Written by Vita Ayala and Stephanie Williams with art by Alitha Martinez.
  • Nubia: Queen of the Amazons: A new age has dawned for the Amazons as Nubia now finds herself the champion of all three Tribes. A four issue miniseries preceded by a Nubia: Coronation Special one-shot. Written by Stephanie Williams and art by Alitha Martinez and Mark Morales
• Sensational Wonder Woman: A Digital First Anthology Comic part of Wonder Woman's 80th Anniversary. The first story written by Stephanie Phillips and drawn by Meghan Hetrick.
• Wonder Girl: Raised in the far-off land of Boise, Idaho, Yara Flor has always felt something was missing from her life—and now she is headed to Brazil to find it. Little does she know her arrival will set off a series of events that will change the world of Wonder Woman forever. Written and drawn by Joelle Jones.
• Wonder Woman: Black and Gold: An anthology comic celebrating Wonder Woman's 80th Anniversary by a variety of artists and writers.
• Wonder Woman: Evolution: Whisked away from Earth by a distant cosmic entity, Wonder Woman is forced to navigate a series of perilous challenges that push her to the brink both mentally and physically. At stake is the fate of all humanity, with the alien entities casting Diana as Earth's proxy for a trial judging humankind's worthiness to exist in the universe. Can Diana stand trial to save humanity without losing her own? Written by Stephanie Philips and art by Mike Hawthorne.

Aquaman

• Aquaman: The Becoming: A six-issue mini-series about Jackson Hyde, Aqualad, as he tries to clear his name from an explosion in Atlantis. Written by Brandon Thomas, with art by Diego Olortegui.
• Aquamen: A new ongoing following the Aquamen of Arthur Curry and Jackson Hyde as they try to unravel a conspiracy that could rock Atlantis to its core. Written by Chuck Brown and Brandon Thomas with art by Sami Basri and Adriano Lucas.
• Black Manta: A six-issue mini-series. The scourge of the seven seas is chasing a rare metal with incredible powers. Written by Chuck Brown, with art by Valentine De Landro.

Shazam!

• Black Adam: Haunted by the specter of centuries of dark deeds, Black Adam transfers his powers to a worthy successor who will redeem Adam's legacy and defend their ancestral homeland of Kahndaq, only to subsequently become mystically "handcuffed" to him when Adam's sickness is cured, giving birth to perhaps the most volatile and dysfunctional super-team in DC history. Written by Christopher Priest and art by Rafa Sandoval.
• Shazam! (2021): Billy's powers are going out of control. Worse, his family is cut off from it, and both the Wizard and the Rock of Eternity are MIA — sounds like Billy's going through superhero puberty! Four issue mini-series written by Tim Sheridan and drawn by Clayton Henry.
• The New Champion of Shazam!: Following Billy Batson's mysterious disappearance, the powerless Mary Batson finds out she's the new champion of Shazam! Will she embrace the power or will it die alongside this world's hope of survival against the mysterious magical forces waiting to take control? Written by Josie Campbell and drawn by Evan "Doc" Shaner.

The New Golden Age

• The New Golden Age: Special one-shot spinning out of the events of Flashpoint Beyond, exploring the history of DC's heroes, from the Justice Society to the Legion of Super-Heroes. Written by Geoff Johns with various artists.
• Justice Society of America: Long lost heroine Helena Wayne (Huntress) returns just as a mysterious enemy invades the history of the JSA. To stop them, a new team needs to be formed, and the Time Masters may know more than they're letting on. Written by Geoff Johns, with art by Mikel Janin.
• Stargirl: The Lost Children: Six-issue miniseries. Spinning out of the Spring Break Special one-shot, Courtney Whitmore and Emiko Queen begin a search for the lost teenage heroes of the Golden Age. Written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Todd Nauck.

Other Solo Titles

• The Flash: After the events of Heroes in Crisis, Wally West considers quitting the superhero world, but a new threat has Barry Allen needing his help now more than ever. Written by Jeremy Adams and drawn by Brandon Peterson, starting with issue 768.
• Green Lantern: John Stewart and other Lanterns are joined by Sojourner Mulleir (of Far Sector) and Teen Lantern (of Young Justice (2019)) to figure out the mystery of the Central Power Battery's destruction and the Corps' place in the new galactic hierarchy. Written by Geoffrey Thorne and drawn by Dexter Soy.
• Monkey Prince: Marcus Sun learns that he's supposedly the son of the mythological figure known as the Monkey King. With guidance from Shifu Pigsy, the newly dubbed Monkey Prince is forced to learn about his famous father, all while balancing being a teenager in Gotham City. Written by Gene Luen Yang and drawn by Bernard Chang.
• Naomi Season Two: Naomi delves into the origin of her powers with the aid of the Justice League. Six issue miniseries.
• The Swamp Thing: The Guardian of the Green finds a new host in Levi Kamei in this 16-issue maxiseries^note originally intended to be 10 issues before the series was extended in December 2021. Written by Ram V and drawn by Mike Perkins.

Team Books and Team-Up Books

• Aquaman/Flash: Voidsong: A three-issue miniseries teaming up Aquaman and The Flash (Barry Allen) as they find themselves the only heroes left on Earth after the arrival of a mysterious alien race. By writers Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and artists Vasco Georgiev and Rain Beredo
• Aquaman/Green Arrow: Deep Target: A team-up seven-issue miniseries between the Emerald Archer and King of Atlantis celebrating the respective 80th anniversaries of each character. Written by Brandon Thomas with art by Ronan Cliquet and Ulises Arreola.
• Batman/Superman: Batman and Superman delve into strange new worlds of the DC Universe following the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal. Written by Gene Luen Yang and drawn by Ivan Reis, starting with issue 16.
• Batman/Superman: World's Finest: Taking place in the past, Superman's powers are overcharged by the villain Metallo. He turns to his friend, Batman, for help — and Batman takes extreme measures to help his friend. Written by Mark Waid, with art by Dan Mora.
• Blue & Gold: Booster Gold and the Ted Kord Blue Beetle reunite to take superheroics to the next level: social media! Eight issue mini-series written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Ryan Sook.
• Checkmate: A mini-series about the revived spy organization Checkmate taking on Leviathan. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Alex Maleev.
• Crime Syndicate: With the multiverse restored after Dark Nights: Death Metal, the villainous Justice League of Earth 3 is reborn. Written by Andy Schmidt and drawn by Kieran McKeown.
• Deathstroke Inc.: After suffering too many losses, Slade Wilson decides it's time for a change. Joining up with the secret organization T.R.U.S.T., Deathstroke will take on the biggest supervillains alongside his partner... Black Canary? Written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Howard Porter.
• Justice League: Superman assembles a new Justice League lineup consisting of himself, Batman, the Flash, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Hippolyta, Naomi, Green Arrow, Black Canary and...Black Adam?! And that's only the least weird conundrum. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by David Marquez, starting with issue 59.
  • Justice League Dark: Backups starring the Justice League Dark. Written by Ram V and drawn by Xermanico.
• Suicide Squad: Peacemaker joins the Squad as team leader when they're sent to recruit the deadly assassin Talon, while Amanda Waller seeks to recruit Superboy...whether the latter wants to or not. Written by Robbie Thompson and drawn by Eduardo Pansic.
  • Suicide Squad: King Shark: A six-issue mini-series about everyone's favorite shark demigod. King Shark gets swept up in a mystical tournament at the behest of his father, the god of sharks! Written by Tim Seeley, with art by Scott Kolins.
• Task Force Z: A mysterious benefactor is bringing together a new Task Force and has recruited the only person who could lead them, someone who knows what it's like to come back from a brutal death: Red Hood.
• Teen Titans Academy: Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy become mentors to the next generation of heroes with a class that includes the likes of Shazam! and the enigmatic Red X. Written by Tim Sheridan and drawn by Rafa Sandoval.
  • Crush & Lobo: An eight-issue mini-series spin-off of Teen Titans Academy exploring Crush after she leaves the academy and goes to see her father, Lobo, in space prison. Written by Mariko Tamaki, with art by Amancay Nahuelpan.
• Titans United: A seven-issue mini-series. The Titans face their greatest challenge — their own powers! Written by Cavan Scott, with art by Jose Luis.

Crossovers

• Fear State: 2021's Bat Family Crossover, and the culmination of James Tynion IV's Batman run. Simon Saint and the Magistrate are trying to enforce their rule on Gotham. However, their plans go awry when Scarecrow takes an interest and begins pushing his own agenda to make Gotham's citizens give into their fear. The crossover involves Batman, Detective Comics, I Am Batman and Nightwing.
• Shadow War: 2022's Bat Family Crossover. After Deathstroke assassinates Ra's al Ghul, his daughter Talia brings down the the might of the League of Shadows upon him. Batman and Robin are forced to team up once again to hunt him down and bring him to justice. The crossover involves Batman, Deathstroke, Inc. and Robin.
• Trial of the Amazons: 2022's Wonder Woman crossover. The danger's of Doom's Doorway have found their way to man's world, gaining the attention of all three Amazon tribes: the Themyscirans, Bana-Mighdall and Esquecida. However, when all three tribes meet on Themyscira, tempers are raised — and so are swords. The crossover includes Wonder Woman, Nubia & the Amazons and Wonder Girl.
• War for Earth-3: On the hunt for Amanda Waller, the combined forces of Wally West, the Teen Titans and the Suicide Squad end up on Earth-3, the evil alternate dimension and home to the Crime Syndicate. The crossover includes The Flash, Teen Titans Academy and Suicide Squad.
• Batman vs. Robin: Six-issue miniseries. Father and son reunite as Damian Wayne returns to Batman's life... with a vengeance. The Son of the Bat and the Demon wages war against his father as the true nature of the Lazarus Pits is laid bare. Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Mahmud Asrar.

One-Shots

• Are You Afraid of Darkseid: An anthology of spooky stories about the God of Tyranny himself. Writte by Elliott Kalan, Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Jeremy Haun, Kenny Porter, Calvin Kasulke, Terry Blas, Ed Brisson and more; with art by Max Dunbar, Mike Norton, Jesus Hervas, Chris Mitten, Garry Brown and more.

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Tropes appearing in this initiative:

• 10-Minute Retirement: In The Flash, Wally West wants to take a break to focus on just being a father, but The Call Knows Where You Live.
• The Atoner: Thomas Wayne from Flashpoint expresses remorse for his actions during Batman (Tom King) and now is helping President Superman solve the mystery of the Multiverse.
• Back for the Dead:
  • The Quintessence and the Spectre, who get murdered by Darkseid at the very end.
  • Suicide Squad #1 has Shrike, Bolt, and Film Freak, killed off as A-Day occurs.
  • The original Crimson Avenger finally passes away in Stargirl Spring Break Special, finally freeing him from a time loop that originally claimed his life.
• Back from the Dead:
  • Roy Harper, one of the people resurrected at the end of Death Metal.
  • The original Bloodsport, one of Superman's first post-Crisis villains who was unceremoniously killed off in the '90s, returns in The Flash #768. Probably helps he has a movie coming soon.
• Badass in Distress: Barry Allen and Roy Harper definitely count. By Issue 6, Roy is no longer in distress; Barry not so much.
• Bat Family Crossover:
  • The first big event of the relaunch is Fear State, the culmination of Batman (James Tynion IV) storyline spinning out of DC Future State.
  • March 2022 sees three beginning, and Wonder Woman receives her first after previously only helming events. Trial of the Amazons sees Diana, Nubia and Yara Flor's titles crossover.
  • In that same month, Shadow War takes place across the various titles that Joshua Williamson is writing (that take place on Earth 0 anyway) and sees Bruce and Damian Wayne reuniting.
  • War for Earth-3 is a strange case in that only one of the writers of the titles involved actually writes the crossover itself — Robbie Thompson.
• Beta Outfit: Cheshire Cat's costume looks exactly like what you would expect an impoverished street kid to put together: black hoodie, sweatpants, leather gloves, work boots and a homemade mask.
• Big Bad: The End, a.k.a. Darkseid looks set to be this.
• Brought Down to Badass: In Valhalla, Diana doesn't have her super strength, flight, invulnerability, and seemingly any other power besides her ability to talk to animals (though Ratatoskr might just be a Talking Animal who everyone understands, given they're sometimes depicted as in other depictions of mythology). She is still a badass with years of experience in combat, and is the mightiest of the Amazon warriors. Deconstructed though as despite her skill, the fact she's lost her powers throws off her instincts, so she's not blocking or dodging like she should because she still expects attacks to bounce off of her.
• Brought Down to Normal: While Wally is body-surfing, the other speedsters are disconnected from the Speed Force. They think it's reacting to Wally's decision to quit and pulling into itself.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Infinite Frontier #0 sees the return of Stargirl since before DC Rebirth. The cover also shows the Alan Scott Green Lantern flanked by his children Jade and Obsidian, who haven't been seen since Doomsday Clock. By extension the other members or the Justice Society and Infinity Inc. are also restored to continuity.
  • Connor Hawke reappears as a member of the League of Shadows and looks set to be a significant presence in Robin.
  • Stargirl Spring Break Special reunites the original members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, brings back the modern day Crimson Avenger and the original Shining Knight and Vigilante as well as Wing, the original Crimson Avenger's sidekick, and Secret of Young Justice, also repowered.
  • Infinite Frontier #3 reintroduces Infinity, Inc., composed of Jade, Atom Smasher, Power Girl, the Yolanda Montez Wildcat and Damage.
  • Infinite Frontier #6 features the return of Pariah and the revelation of a coming return for the Great Darkness.
  • Suicide Squad: King Shark brings back Shawn Tsang/Defacer and the rest of the Run-Offs, who hadn't been seen since their early appearances on Nightwing.
  • Arkham City: The Order of the World #1 brings back Ten-Eyed Man and Doctor Double-X, who hadn't been seen much in recent years.
  • One-Star Squadron features the return of several C-list heroes who hadn't been seen much even before Flashpoint, like Flying Fox, Heckler, Gangbuster and Jack O'Lantern.
  • Flashpoint Beyond #0 brings back Marcos Maez/Mime and Erika Mason/Marionette, who hadn't been seen since the end of Doomsday Clock.
  • DC Pride 2022 features the return of Aviva Metula, the other Shadow Thief, who hadn't appeared in seven years, plus the very first post-Flashpoint appearance of lesser known rogues of Tim Drake Micro and Macro.
• But Now I Must Go: Barry Allen decides to join Justice Incarnate in exploring the new multiverse, leaving Wally West as Earth 0's sole Flash.
• Body Surf: The first arc of The Flash has this happening to Wally West, throwing him into the place of various members of the Flash Family, starting with Impulse and an early human.
• The Cameo: Infinite Frontier #6 has the brief appearance of Steppenwolf, Kalibak, Grail, Granny Goodness and Desaad. Plus The Empty Hand, Eclipso, Upside-Down Man and Nekron are all glimpsed.
• Canon Immigrant:
  • Yara Flor, Red X, Gold Beetle, and the Magistrate are all brought over from Future State to the main continuity. Word of God has indicated that the plan is to do this for several other Future State characters as well.
  • Jess Chambers is also planned to come into the main line of comics, but they technically don't count as this because they appeared in DC’s Merry Multiverse, released before Future State.
  • To a similar extent to Jess Chambers, Timothy "Jace" Fox has already appeared in several Bronze Age issues of Batman before his reintroduction in late 2020. However, Word of God says that Jace's destiny in Future State as Bruce's latest successor is being reincorporated into the main continuity and that his enigmatic debut in Batman (James Tynion IV) was basically done in preparation for it.
  • Devil Ray, Black Manta's Suspiciously Similar Substitute from the DCAU, shows up as the antagonist of Manta's miniseries.
  • Red Claw, the very first antagonist of the DC Animated Universe, finally makes the jump to the comics scene over in Catwoman #43.
  • DC Pride 2022 marks the very first appearance of Nia Nal/Dreamer on the mainline comics, plus the first canon appearance of Music Meister from Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
• Composite Character: Many characters have reconnected themselves to their past iterations for good or ill. For instance, Spectre points out that Jonathan Samuel Kent is now a broken boy ready to go down a terrible path as he has his previous connections to Convergence, Superman: Lois and Clark, and the pre-Superman Reborn restored. Then, there's Darkseid, who is restored in full and is much stronger than he ever was pre-Crisis.
• Continuity Snarl:
  • Minor case, but the whole concept of Barry Passing the Torch back to Wally, as it's presented as if Barry was giving Wally a promotion. While meta-wise, Barry had been treated as the "real" Flash by DC's editorial, and Wally had been Demoted to Extra with his return (and had suffered a major Heroic BSoD in the last few years thanks to being a Cosmic Plaything), in-universe the two were meant to be about equal, in the same manner as Hal Jordan and John Stewart, so this shouldn't be a case of Wally 'taking Barry's role so much as Barry leaving Wally to handle their shared duties on his own, something they both know he's more than capable of doing. It is a minor case however, as this somewhat makes sense with their respective flaws; Wally has cripplingly low self-esteem despite his greater power level^note even putting aside his recent Mobius Chair powers which elevated him to Godhood, Wally is a cosmic powerhouse, while Barry has had It's All About Me tendencies in recent years. This gets further snarled in the New Frontier Flash title, which opens with Wally announcing his retirement (although he's still the main character of the series), with no mention of the fact Barry just asked him to be the Flash while he was off studying the multiverse.
  • In Infinite Frontier Secret Files, the Totality encounter their Earth-23 counterparts, which consist of exactly the same characters, including Mr Terrific. The problem is The Terrifics previously established that on Earth-23, Michael Holt is dead, and was his wife Paula who became Ms Terrific. Of course, Crime Syndicate establishes that several of the multiversal worlds have been "rewritten" following Death Metal, but this seems to be the only change to Earth-23.
• Death Is Cheap: The Flash annual features a fairly poignant Heroic Sacrifice by Roy Harper at the end of the events of Heroes in Crisis, slightly undermined by the fact that he is alive and a featured character in another comic released that same day.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Roy Harper has a Black Lantern Ring now. Unfortunately, issue two reveals that he is also under the control of Darkseid. He's able to gain control, but realizes that using the ring will turn him into a zombie. At the end of Issue 6, he is no longer has the ring and is better for it.
• Evil Versus Evil: It's hinted in Issue 6 that Eclipso, the Upside-Down Man, Nekron, and the Empty Hand will be competing with Darkseid and his forces for control of the Great Darkness.
  • Evil Versus Oblivion: The Great Darkness wants to destroy the Multiverse, but Darkseid merely wants to rule it.
• Face–Heel Turn: Issue 4 of Infinite Frontier reveals Machinehead has betrayed Justice Incarnate and joined a multiversal version of the Injustice League.
• Feeling Their Age: A major part of the stuff with Superman and Batman going forward from this is DC giving up the ghost of the idea of them being in their 30s at most, instead acknowledging that they're in their 40s at the least and having them dealing with their age now.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Wally West experiences a bit of this when he tries to return to civilian life. He isn't new to the modern era but it's his first time trying to do something other than be a superhero since The Noughties. For example, he finds that the garage he used to work at is now a gentrified coffee shop and in order to get a mechanic job he needs computer skills that he didn't before.
• Fourth-Wall Observer: Psycho Pirate spent some time as a figure people sought out for power, but he rejected because none of them realized that their reality was only recently created from a Crisis reboot. To demonstrate his displeasure he rips the panel apart to drop them both into the Blank White Void of the panel gutters.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Harley Quinn's series deals with her wanting to be good but having a hard time doing so.
• Heel Realization: Barry gets one delivering a What the Hell, Hero? to Green Arrow, pointing out that Wally wanting to quit was because everyone treating him as a pariah and ignoring him at his lowest when they should have helped him instead.
• Heroic Sacrifice: By the end of Issue five, Roy uses the ring to free Justice Incarnate and Infinity, Inc. at the cost of his humanity. Thanks to Obsidian, he gets better.
• He's Back!: It had been slowly developing during Death Metal, but Wally West is officially back as the main Flash of the DCU; Barry even notes that Wally suffered a lot recently, but now he's ready to handle the job on his own again.
• Hulking Out: Director Bones tests to find out that Captain Boomerang still has the ability to transform into his hulking mutant form that he acquired from being in a radioactive wasteland during Death Metal.
• Instant Costume Change: Diana does the classic "Wonder-Spin", created by Lynda Carter in the '70s TV show, to change from the all-white getup she'd been wearing in the one-shot special to the Viking-esque look she'll be wearing in the first arc of the new creative team in her solo book.
• Internal Reveal: Roy Harper 'talks' to the Black Lantern ring and it shows him that Barry Allen is the prisoner of Psycho Pirate, the presence of Flashpoint!Batman and the very much alive and teenaged Lian Harper, the former two having been known to readers since issue one and the latter since May's Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration.
• I Will Find You: Roy Harper's goal after Infinite Frontier is to find his daughter Lian.
• Kick the Dog: Oliver Queen really does what he can to make Wally West feel as miserable as possible when he sees him in Flash #768, outright telling him You Should Have Died Instead of Roy. What makes it all the crueller is it's well known that Wally has been suicidally depressed since then, and he wasn't even really to blame for the deaths in the first place, never mind he's done a lot to clean the slate since. On top of all this, Oliver has accidentally killed plenty of people himself (never mind intentionally killed even more), and it was his own neglectful treatment of Roy that led to him going to Sanctuary himself, so Ollie really has no room to throw accusations. It gets worse as it's revealed in the arc that Savitar was the one who responsible for the explosion, meaning Ollie was being cruel to an innocent man.
• Late Coming Out: Alan Scott. Doesn't come much later than someone who's pushing one hundred years old.
• Long-Lost Relative: A lot of characters have had previously unknown or unrevealed family members retconned into their history. Lois Lane's brother, Nightwing's half-sister, Jackson Hyde's sister, etc..
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Because of Barry Allen's frequent messing with the fabric of the multiverse, cracks throughout the omniverse started appearing, resulting in worlds being destroyed and drawing Darkseid's attention to a power potentially more devastating than the Anti-life Equation.
• Not Me This Time: In The Joker #3, the Clown Prince of Crime tells Jim Gordon that he isn't responsible for A-Day.
• Passing the Torch:
  • Barry explicitly hands the mantle of the primary Flash back over to Wally.
  • Barbara Gordon has voluntarily returned to being Oracle, stepping away from being Batgirl and handing the mantle over to Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.
• The Peeping Tom: Not intentionally, but Diana somewhat critiques the Spectre for showing her what Oliver and Dinah are up to at the moment — which is, them naked under a sheet, their clothes tossed around with Dinah's bra prominently hanging in view, making it pretty clear the two were busy. The Spectre was trying to just show Diana that Roy Harper was alive, but they came at the wrong time to do so.
• Prequel: Several of the runs tell stories that were teased in the background of various Future State books, and even feature many of the same creative team.
• Relationship Upgrade: DC Pride shows that the Future State Flash and Aquawoman are a couple, when it was previously only suggested that they were really close friends.
• Resurrection/Death Loop: Wonder Woman wakes up to find herself in Valhalla. Naturally, this is in play, and the mysterious entity trying to get her to leave acknowledges that it's probably super fun to be able to fight without consequence all day, but she has to figure out why she's in Valhalla.
• Ret-Canon:
  • Teen Titans Academy establishes the Red X storyline from Teen Titans (2003) is now canon to the comic lore. Red X was a Canon Foreigner in the show, but the first issue of Academy exposits that this was a well-known chapter of the Titans' team history and one that is unusually fascinating to the new generation of heroes, despite it never being mentioned beforehand^note it even receives Adaptation Expansion treatment, establishing that Dick was followed by two successors, not just the one, and that both met tragic ends. Though it was already known that Infinite Frontier was seeing the merger of all past DC histories, this is the first sign that this includes out-of-comics history, too.
  • The line-up of Titans United is clearly heavily inspired by the cast of the Titans TV series.
• Retcon:
  • During The Joker War, James Gordon blamed Batgirl for James Gordon Jr.'s death. Joker #1 suggests that the events of the War led to his death, the next issue revealing he blamed Batgirl out of anger and grief despite knowing the Joker's hand in it. The first issue also retcons that Jim still has white hair, only he's been dying it red on the suggestion of Barbara.
  • Roy Harper's issue in Infinite Frontier: Secret Files retcons Lian Harper and Justice League: Cry for Justice back into continuity.
  • Nightwing retcons the nineties comic back into continuity, as Dick owns the apartment building from that series and his career as a former Bludhaven police officer is mentioned. That said, the retcon seems to be acknowledged in-universe when Obsidian and Alan Scott head to the now restored Command-D with Obsidian commenting on how the city was altered with the latest reality revision.
  • The first arc of The Flash (Infinite Frontier) reveals that Wally didn't kill anyone in Heroes in Crisis at all — the explosion was due to Savitar attempting to steal the Speed Force for himself.
  • A flashback to Roy Harper's childhood in Infinite Frontier #2 shows Green Arrow and Speedy hanging out with Black Canary and Hal Jordan, when previously in the New 52/Rebirth continuity there was no indication that Hal and Ollie had a pre-existing friendship and Arrow and Canary didn't get together until Roy had grown up and parted ways with Ollie.
  • In issue 4, Jade claims she and Roy had adventures together in the Titans and the Outsiders.
• The Reveal:
  • A-Day, hinted at throughout Future State, is revealed to be Joker gassing Arkham Asylum, murdering everyone there, including Bane.
    • Joker #12 reveals the truth - It was a Joker plot, but not with the Joker - it was pulled off by clones. Also, Bane, one of the victims, was behind it, Faking the Dead.
  • The second Earth created at the end of Death Metal is revealed to be called "Earth-Omega". It was Darkseid's prison, but he easily broke out, so now it's his new base.
  • Shoes, one of Catwoman's Baker Street Regulars is Lian Harper, apparently suffering from amnesia.
  • The "Superboy" who was drafted into the Suicide Squad is actually Match, his Bizarro clone.
  • The last page of Infinite Frontier #1 shows Roy Harper as a Black Lantern, surrounded by four of his past incarnations (Speedy, The Titans' Arsenal, Pre-Flashpoint's Red Arrow, and Outlaws' Arsenal).
    • Issue Two shows Roy is under the control of Darkseid as "his Black Lantern".
  • Infinite Frontier #3 is a doozy, revealing that the bounty hunter X-Tract is working for D.E.O.; Pyscho Pirate has Barry Allen hooked up to a generator; and Jade is with Infinity, Inc. and storming the D.E.O. spaceship that picked up Roy Harper.
  • Infinite Frontier #4 revealed that Director Bones knew that Captain Atom in issue 2 was an imposter, is sending the prisonships to Earth Omega, and is implied to have made a deal with Darkseid in order to protect the Multiverse from threats. Machinehead of Justice Incarnate has formed a rival team to sabotage their mission.
  • Issue Five reveals why the Black Lantern Ring chose Roy. It zeroed in on his suffering (his ongoing battle with addiction, his relationship with Cheshire, the 'death' of Lian). X-tract is also revealed to be the original Earth-2's Cameron Chase.
• Samus Is a Girl: Deluge, Aqualad's new villain is revealed to be a woman and his long-lost sister. Like the Trope Namer she wears a bulky suit of armour that gives her a male silhouette.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Psycho-Pirate pulls this in Issue #6 after Darkseid fails to get the power he's after.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift:
  • The opening arc under the new Wonder Woman creative team sees Diana trade in her Greco-Roman skirted hoplite look introduced by the movies for a more Medieval-inspired attire befitting the Norse setting.
  • With him becoming the main character again in the Flash title, Wally ditches the DC Rebirth suit and returns to his Flash suit from the 90s, the one most associated with his time as the Flash, with a three-pronged lightning bolt, white lenses and a full cowl.
• Snap Back: Renee Montoya returned to being the Question in Lois Lane just prior to Infinite Frontier, a move that was itself a Snap Back and one that involved her turning in her badge. Here, she's back to being a detective (and soon after, the GCPD Commissioner) with no reason given for her return. Additionally, she's developed (seemingly from nowhere) a dislike of vigilantes despite having been a loyal ally to them, having been one herself, and even having dated one as recently as DC Rebirth.
• Soft Reboot: Kind of. The timeline has been altered as a result of Death Metal, such as Cyborg being a Teen Titan once again and, well, all of the history of the Flashes, but it also keeps some things untouched from their prior states and others incorporate bits of pieces of prior history was was removed with the New 52. The Aquaman mythos remains untouched from its post-Flashpoint state, the Batman mythos seems to take things from before Flashpoint and reincorporate them (Dick's time in Bludhaven, Cass and Steph's history as Batgirls) and some characters directly tackle conflicting histories and resurrections as well.
• Status Quo Is God: As shown in Suicide Squad: King Shark, King Shark is restored to his anthropomorphic great white appearance — as opposed to his humanoid hammerhead appearance from the New 52 reboot — and is once again part of Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad.
• Superhero School: The premise of Teen Titans Academy as Nightwing and the other Titans wants to break the cycle of Titan teams that just fall apart in disarray or death.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • The In-Universe reason for why Barbara Gordon has gone into semi-retirement from her role as Batgirl and returned to being Oracle. Back during the New 52 relaunch, it got retconned that Barbara received a special spinal implant to regain her ability to walk and become Batgirl again. This subsequently didn't get mentioned much since. Infinite Frontier brings this back to the forefront, with Barbara acknowledging that her activity as Batgirl has put a massive strain on this implant, and in order to preserve it, she now has to be selective when she actually goes out into the field.
  • Shoes, an average-sized teenage girl with a little martial arts training and no actual combat experience, tries to become a vigilante and picks a fight with five much larger adults. It doesn't go well for her. Fortunately Catwoman shows up to bail her out.
  • Wally, Jai, and Irey have all been restored to continuity and the Park-West family is reunited. Great, except a family of four can't survive with only one parent having a job. So Wally goes job-hunting, only to have difficulty doing so because his skills are years out of date and he has a massive unexplainable gap in his résumé.
• Take That!:
  • Wonder Woman gives a speech which is a pretty pointed takedown of the post-Flashpoint era.
    "For years, our lives were infected with despair. An omnipotent force from another world manipulated us as part of some grand experiment. It stole away so much. Our sense of legacy, our connections and faith in ourselves... We believed its lies for too long. It let worse aspects of the multiverse hurt us. But it's easy to see among my allies that its influence is gone. We're free to embrace the best parts of ourselves. More than the multiverse has changed, we have too. Our lives have. We can move forward in exciting new ways. Start new chapters."
  • A subtle one, but as Roy Harper walks off, he's shown tossing his trucker hat into a trash can. Considering the largely negative response to Roy's Post-Flashpoint depiction, which is where the hat came from, it can be read as a jab to his entire character treatment these last few years. At the very least, it's an obvious jab at the design choice. When the hat reappeared on a cover for Infinite Frontier #1, Joshua Williamson tweeted in response he simply didn't mention it to artist Mitch Gerads but assured everyone the hat's gone for good.
  • The fact that Bane in Arkham was one of the biggest casualties of A-Day could be interpreted as one last dig against Tom King's divisive run in Batman (Tom King).
  • Nightwing takes a nice dig at the whole "Ric Grayson" debacle when a thug tries to shoot a poor puppy in the head by having him say that if he did that, the dog would get amnesia and drive a cab and dogs should not drive.
  • A subtle one in The Flash #772, where Wally West goes looking for a job and finds it difficult to get hired because he has no computer skills. This seems like a dig at Heroes in Crisis, where he was depicted as suddenly having a previously unheard-of mastery of computers that surpassed Oracle.
• Tempting Fate: The Quintessence gloat that they had already captured the darkness Diana was warned about and that she should have stayed around... until Darkseid shows up and murders them all.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Suicide Squad Annual #1 reveals that the Superboy that Waller drafted to the team is actually Match, given a serum that allows him to speak normally and gives him a normal skin-tone. Being shocked at the revelation is an understatement. The very next issue continues with Ambush Bug revealing that the Nocturna that's with the Squad comes from an alternate Earth, kidnapped by Bloodsport and brainwashed by Waller.
• Token Evil Teammate: Black Adam becomes this to the Justice League. They let him join because they worry they've become too comfortable with each other and need dissenting voices, and because Superman thinks he may be genuinely trying to reform and wants to give him a chance.
• Truer to the Text: When Wonder Woman sees Thor in battle at Valhalla, rather than look like he does in Marvel's take on the character, he's depicted as a stout red-headed man with a beard, which is how he was said to look in the original mythology. Mjolnir is also designed to look more like it does in Norse symbology, rather than the block-on-a-stick design Jack Kirby gave it.
• Villain Has a Point: Once again, someone rightfully points out that Barry Allen was responsible for unleashing untold devastation across time and the Multiverse, and once again the point is raised by a villain. In this case, Machinehead screams at President Superman that Barry caused Flashpoint and ruined all of their worlds, including Earth-8, and the concern's brushed aside by President Superman because Machinehead's currently acting antagonistic towards the other characters.
• Villain Protagonist: Although Infinite Frontier is Lighter and Softer than a lot of DC's output in recent years, it still has quite a few villain-lead books, with the Joker, Black Manta, Deathstroke and the Crime Syndicate all getting ongoing or limited series.
• The Watcher: Spectre and the Quintessence try to convince Diana to stay with them and watch over the new multiverse, but she ends up refusing as there's a new multiverse out there and that mysterious threat is still out there.
• Wham Episode: #6, especially the ending.
  • Barry Allen crashes into the remains of Multiverse-2, first mentioned during The Multiversity and now clarified to be the remains of the Multiverse the Anti-Monitor destroyed in the original Crisis. Here, Barry encounters Pariah who demonstrates the power of creating brand new worlds tailored to individuals. Barry's sent to an Earth called "Earth-Flash.1" where his mother is alive and he has a Flash Family consisting of Iris, Wally as Kid Flash, Jay Garrick as Flash, a younger version of Wallace West, and younger versions of Don and Dawn (the Tornado Twins). Pariah ominously implies he plans to do this to everyone. Meanwhile, Darkseid notes that the energy that created Earth Omega was the Great Darkness.
• Wham Shot: Darkseid looming over the dead bodies of the Quintessence and the Spectre.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In Voidsong Barry finds out that Arthur secretly stole data about the Speed Force from him to give the Atlanteans a space program and that's why the current crisis is happening. Aquaman justifies himself but he has a Heel Realization after the genocidal, conquering Big Bad of the story gives him a "Not So Different" Remark and offers to spare him over it.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Jon learns of the day of Superman's death and is absolutely terrified as he feels he isn't ready to take up the name yet.

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