DC fans we have been through so much in the past few months. The events of Death Metal unraveled the multiverse, and then for the past two months, we jumped into the future to see what is (or could be) in the DC Universe. Where do we go from here? Back to normal? What is normal now? Infinite Frontier 0 is the beginning of the end, the end of the beginning the here and now that will be some point in the future that already happened. Confused yet? It will make sense as you read this issue.

Infinite Frontier 0 serves as the end to the Death Metal saga, the bridge to the Future Verse, and then reset to the current state of the multiverse…and where we are headed. This 64-page issue does a masterful job summing all of this into an amazing story. It’s essentially a 64-page exposition that entertains while it informs without going to Game of Thrones levels to avoid boredom.

Infinite Frontier 0 – Lets Back Up

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is dead. If we back up the events of Future State, The Immortal Wonder Woman title showed us Diana exists while the rest of the universe died. She wanders space alone and lost, both in place and purpose. In the end, she remembers her true calling – to fight, to hope, to strive. Summoning her powers, Diana’s hope restarts the universe with light once more.

Instead of Diana’s end, this merely begins her new journey, You see Diana ascended or at least is on the verge of ascending and joining The Quintessence. The Quintessence is a group of five beings, plus Spectre, that exists beyond space and time (think overseers). They see all Diana is and think it is time she joins them to oversee this new multiverse.

These first few pages do an amazing job setting up the state of the universe and how things are. Not to mention Diana looks amazing in her new white ‘ethereal’ outfit. Diana hesitates to join the Quintessence because she senses an evil, a great price, that must be paid for such an honor. The Quintessence does not know of any price for such an ascension, so they (Spectre) offer to walk Diana through the new existence to show her this.

Infinite Frontier 0 – Walking Through the Here and Now

Spectre and Diana walk through the DC existence together. Through this we see the current state of almost every corner of the DC universe to see how our heroes are doing post-Death Metal. We see our Gotham Heroes, the Amazons, Superman, Black Atom, Alan Scott the first Green Lantern, the Teen Titans, Jonathan Kent, Oliver Queen, and Black Canary, Roy Harper, Stargirl, the Green Lanterns (especially the new Teen Lantern, Keli), and The Flashes (Barry and Wally).

The short version is – all is good. Diana speaks of a dark taint that no longer affects the universe. Things seem fresh and new for the first time in ages. The universe moves forward with hope once more. Diana sees things can move on without her – that they will be fine if she does not return. So she moves on and joins the Quintessence right? Nope. Diana reminds her of the steps she took to leave Themyscira with Steve Trevor. It was a hard choice, but it was a choice that started the wonderful life to come.

Writers do a cool thing here. As Diana chooses not to join the Quintessence and rejoin the real world, she does a pirouette in the same style as Lynda Carter. Diana morphs into the new Wonder Woman outfit that looks incredible (not too dissimilar from her New 52 outfit) and heads out into the Infinite Frontier!

Infinite Frontier 0 – Epilogue

Then we reach what we all knew was coming. The Quintessence did in fact know about the darkness Diana sensed. They are the big boys on the block and have everything under control. The dark threat is safely contained on Earth Omega away from prying eyes. We will just forget the fact Barry Allen found it and headed off to explore the new Earth.

With all overpowered hubris, things go wrong – very wrong. The Dark-ness kills the members of the Quintessence. The Dark rises – Darkseid rises! The story continues this summer in Infinite Frontier 1.

Infinite Frontier 0 – Gotham

This issue does a great job setting up Gotham. It may be in the here and now, but it points directly to the events that unfolded in the Future State issues. Bruce Wayne is still Batman. The Magistrate does not exist yet, but we get insight for the very first time into the man behind the Magistrate and how things form the way they did in the future.

We see the beginnings of the masked hatred coming from the cops that try to catch Batman. We see the broad spectrum of actors in the Gotham play. Infinite Frontier 0 gives us glimpses of not only the main characters but Clownhunter, Ghostmaker, Punchline, Red Hood, the Batgirls (with Huntress), and more.

We see a very brief scene with the Fox family, now the richest family in Gotham. ‘Jace’ (the future Batman) and dad, Lucius, play a game of chess and seem to be on the verge of discussing future possibilities when Grifter barges in, insisting the Fox’s get to cover immediately. We never see the Joker per se, but evidence suggests he’s starting something once more.

Then we see ‘them’. Scarecrow and a man named Simon Saint, the man behind the Magistrate!

Infinite Frontier 0 – Amazons

How could Diana look in on the universe and not check in on the Amazons? Not only do the warrior women want to be Diana, but they literally beat each other up to see who’s worthy. Hippolyta comes up with a nice little test. The one who opens the box containing Medusa’s head and does not turn to stone can inherit the mantle. Of course, at this point, they all back down save Nubia (of course since we know she features in future events), but when Nubia opens the box it does not contain what she expects.

Instead of the Gorgon head, a crown sits. Nubia inherits the crown and leadership of the Amazons. Hippolyta will join the world as the new “Wonder Woman”. She showed up in the Justice League Future State, but given Nubia was running around as well, I did not see this coming.

Then we have the All-star stand out of the Future state titles – Yara Flor! In her typical stubbornness, she fights with her auntie. The frown from Auntie dealing with Yara and the smile on Yara’s face during the picture is trademark Yara. Then she bounces down the corridor ready for adventure. I can’t wait for her title in May.

Infinite Frontier 0 – Truly A Must Read

This really is a great issue. It sets up the entire DCU and gives it its new direction. It almost feels like the Star Wars prequels since we know where everything is headed. Infinite Frontier injects a new sense of energy into the forthcoming DC titles, and best of all, its story will continue.

What did you think of Infinite Frontier 0? Head over to DC Fanatics on Facebook and let us know what you thought of this fresh new direction.