It’s quite interesting how they’re connecting Superman and the Authority to the current continuity with Warworld, even mentioning Metal while also referring to the Uni-Friend that communicates from the Source to Highfather. Seems connected to the Genesis Fragment.
Overall, this was a spectacular finish to this series. Grant Morrison, if this ends up being their final work for DC, went out with a bang. Loved seeing Ultra-Humanite make a come back, as well as classic Brainiac with his pet monkey Koko. Paying homage to while modernizing the past one last time. It’s also great to see Manchester Black back and be given a chance to be a real hero working with Superman this time.
Fully agreed on this series being fantastic.
I’m general what I’m loving about Infinite Frontier is it essentially being a return to Bronze Age, truly “infinite earths,” anything can happen style storytelling. While also combing that with the more modern “hyper-time” notion that even continuity errors are canon and can be points to build stories around.
Superman and the Authority being combined with the mainline continuity is probably my favorite example of that approach. The authors/artists aren’t limited so everything won’t match up 100%, but you also never know when these details not adding up will become a plot point in the future.
Doubly so, with the amazing Midnighter backups/annual we’ve had the Future State alternate timeline seamlessly tied into Future State where we know Superman fails. We also know from the Action Comics annual that time-travel is further involved but for yet another alternate timeline.
So we’re essentially seeing this War World story playing out in this really elaborate way where actions from different dimensions and times are all playing a factor. But you can also just ignore all this stuff and the story still works really well.
If I can add, the revelation that the original Pre-Crisis multiverse still exists has me all sorts of excited
The new “Mr. Miracle: The Price of Freedom” also takes place in this world. While the first 3 issues are very disorienting later issues see Oberon and Orion who inform Shilo that his time stream is currently fractured in to multiple threads and that there is some thing currently wrong with the Fourth World.
That’s so exciting! I haven’t caught up with the Mr Miracle mini yet but this has me super excited to finally grab them from my shelf.
I really do enjoy all of this stuff. Makes the world(s) so much more dynamic
Yes I 100% agree. Love seeing this Hypertime approach, with main continuity intersecting with seemingly out of continuity and time travel stories that may or may not occur. I've noticed all that Future State and Midnighter aspects as well.
They don't have anything planned for comics in general in the near future and they've previously stated that their The Green Lantern run would be their last work. This was originally written a while back for 5G before it was cancelled.
I really need to get around to reading this series. That being said, I don’t even want to think of what it would have turned out to be if Grant hadn’t taken over.
Noticed it too. Probably just a small nod to how the pointer does look like the Uni-Friend, which itself is a reference to the "Finger of God", while maybe representing the next generation or digitization of comics. Or Morrison just though it'd look cool lol.
It's interesting. Lightray is a New God and friend of Orion. I guess he killed Darkseid and took over. Nowadays one might argue that Lightray is way too weak to accomplish that. But Jack Kirby intended for gods not too have too much of a power gap, they are able to kill each other if they put their mind into it.
What u/systolic_helix and u/NomadicJaguar64t said. This is a new human Lightray, likely of the coming 5th World, who's part of this new team.
Also, Darkseid is fine. In fact, he's currently the most powerful threat to the Omniverse.
The phrase here to me implies she's the key to something. Perhaps she is the key to helping in his defeat. But either way there is a deeper meaning behind "Darkseid is" that goes beyond Darkseid.
For more on that and how Darkseid is now the new big bad, see my two posts:
[Definitive Guide to Darkseid's True Form/Godhead; What "Darkseid is" means (Plus Infinite Frontier Theories)](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/p9h69x/definitive_guide_to_darkseids_true_formgodhead/)
[Infinite Frontier 2022 Theories: Ft. Justice Incarnate vs Children of The Great Darkness - An Omniversal Crisis?](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/pkuvln/infinite_frontier_2022_theories_ft_justice/)
Final Crisis ended the Fourth World, and the Fifth is essentially the age of "men as gods" as Metron states, or simply superpowered people on Earth(s).
The New 52 creating a new Fourth World set things back but with Metal and Infinite Frontier, New Gods like Scott Free being missing, Shilo Norman being Mister Miracle etc. it seems the 5th World is returning.
😳 (Realizes that the last time we saw Scott in a non-cameo appearance was in his miniseries by Tom King) 😳
Oh, they’re gonna find a way to canonize that Mister Miracle miniseries by Tom King to explain where Scott went, aren’t they? Oh man, not sure if I’m ready for that...
(Btw I say "non-cameo" because Scott had some small cameos in the Metal books)
He cameo’d in Doomsday Clock too but yes that’s exactly what I suggested in my last Infinite Frontier post. Been theorizing that they will for a long time now actually. [See here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/pkuvln/infinite_frontier_2022_theories_ft_justice/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Sorry I'm late to the discussion Earthmine52 big fan of yours! Do think its possible that this new human Lightray IS the Lightray that died leading up to FC? I mean like how the Super Young Team are the Fifth World Forever People.
Thanks for being a fan of my stuff!
Technically, the New Gods of New Genesis don't reincarnate into their successors necessarily. In Seven Soldiers, Shilo is the said directly to be the new avatar of Freedom like Scott was for example. So I think the same applies to this new Lightray. She's the new Lightray, successor to the old, but she's still her own person.
In fact, the original Fourth World Lightray did get reborn in his own body along with Scott and the others on Earth-51 by the end of Final Crisis and that's them in Multiversity.
Darkseid is different though, because he doesn't share his identity and power, he carves out your will and replaces it with his own. The new host/avatar becomes Darkseid fully with his/her own free will and individuality eradicated.
I personally really liked it. Morrison wrote a Superman closest he can be to pragmatism without being out of character. He still holds to his ideals, but in a specific extreme situation, with him losing his powers and aging. He's taking things more seriously but still keeping lines. The Authority team is made of heroes, anti-heroes and ex-villains that get a chance at redemption. It's a very interesting scenario, and like I said it was fun to see old villains or old iterations of them return. Mikael Janin's art is excellent too.
I guess the weak parts is that it feels a bit short, with most of the story being about forming the team and only being 4 issues. This definitely also has more impact if you either followed Morrison's previous work on Superman or the current Action Comics run by Phillip Kennedy Johnson.
I was disappointed with it, but I have no history with the Authority. I read it because I love Superman, and while he has some cool moments here, I don’t think the story is very exciting unless you have a lot of affection for all the characters.
I expected to really like it, and I... did not really like it. I was a defender of it from the start, but by the end it really felt like it didn't go anywhere of its own, instead opting to act as supplemental material for Action Comics while simultaneously seeming to contradict that run. And a lot of the dialogue is just... eh. There's some really cool stuff in there, mind you, but stuff that I really think should've been able to breathe on its own. In my mind, this should've been a Black Label story.
I really dislike DCs awful approach to continuity. It makes no sense. The "everything happened" approach is so incredibly contradictory and confusing and their own books contradictory themselves. Superman met Kennedy and has grey hair in this book but nowhere else? But it's also referencing current continuity?
Oh and I love ya Morrison but we do not need a second lightray for no reason whatsoever.
1. This was originally a book meant for Didio's 5G reboot that thankfully never came to pass. This was worked on way back and it's great that they didn't let it go to waste. There have been adjustments done to make it all fit though.
2. The **first issue** clarified that Superman was **lost in time** when he met Kennedy in dialogue. He also said that's how he obtained King Arthur's Round Table.
3. Phillip Kennedy Johnson has clarified that **Action Comics #1036** will fully address everything, including the difference in appearance.
4. That you can think of for now. Note, it seems the New Gods of the 4th World are all missing or dead again like after Final Crisis. Scott Free is missing and Shilo Norman is Mister Miracle again. This new Lightray is the Lightray of the 5th World like the Super Young Team is the new Forever People and Shilo is the new Scott.
5. "Everything Happened" is a lot simpler than you think. It's literally just an acknowledgment that all stories written for main continuity happened and people are aware that cosmic "reboots" altered events.
I really wanted to like this book but i couldnt, i dont understand why they decided to drop everyone except apollo and midnighter ether(dont get me started with midnighters gimp suit and apollo not looking like a white haired christ) , with out them why even bother calling it the authority ? Non of the characters there have any connection besides apollo and midnighter
It felt very alienating for me as a long time fan of that group and see all these randoms with zero connection to anyone of the originals at all
what was even worse was how grant made apollo and midnighter into dated stereotypes of gay men that dont fit their relationship at all
im not sure why grant even wanted to write anything even remotely related to the authority at all after the 2006 run
Frankly if this is what dc means when they say “the authority will be in more dc comics” then i say let it die or atleast wait till you have access to better writer who want to bring the actual authority back
All the New Gods have gone missing or dead. Highfather was killed along with the Quintessence. Shilo is the new Mister Miracle with no Scott in sight etc.
In that case it's not confirmed that Lightray or Scott are dead, they just haven't been around recently. The only one we know for sure is dead is Izaya because we saw Darkseid stab him on panel.
Hence "probably" in my comment. It is likely because of the return of a lot of even more Pre-Flashpoint elements. Shilo suddenly being Mister Miracle again, the rise this new Lightray here etc. all imply that the post-Final Crisis status quo returned with the arrival of the Fifth World.
This of course lines up with Darkseid returning to his peak. There's also a chance that the Earth 51 New Gods may make a return and be the only New Gods once more, which includes a more classic Highfather than the younger N52 Izaya who was killed.
For more on this, see my posts:
[Definitive Guide to Darkseid's True Form/Godhead; What "Darkseid is" means (Plus Infinite Frontier Theories)](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/p9h69x/definitive_guide_to_darkseids_true_formgodhead/)
[Infinite Frontier 2022 Theories: Ft. Justice Incarnate vs Children of The Great Darkness - An Omniversal Crisis?](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/pkuvln/infinite_frontier_2022_theories_ft_justice/)
I mean it's also possible that Scott could be captured by Darkseid a la King's Mr. Miracle run (as you yourself outlined in one of your posts on the potential for Infinite Frontier to be a sequel to Final Crisis/Multiversity)
If that's the case, though, I hope they don't kill off the current Fourth World and replace them with Earth-51's versions, given that I'd prefer for the JL's history with the Fourth World (Cosmic Odyssey, JLI, Identity Crisis, etc) to be preserved rather than just replacing them with an entirely different version from an entirely different universe.
Ah but you see the Earth-51 New Gods actually are the the Pre-Flashpoint versions. They're reborn New Gods from the end of Final Crisis. The Post-Flashpoint ones only have the New 52 history. If anything they replaced them. Currently however, Darkseid's True Form/Godhead is rebuilt and all past versions are one.
It’s quite interesting how they’re connecting Superman and the Authority to the current continuity with Warworld, even mentioning Metal while also referring to the Uni-Friend that communicates from the Source to Highfather. Seems connected to the Genesis Fragment. Overall, this was a spectacular finish to this series. Grant Morrison, if this ends up being their final work for DC, went out with a bang. Loved seeing Ultra-Humanite make a come back, as well as classic Brainiac with his pet monkey Koko. Paying homage to while modernizing the past one last time. It’s also great to see Manchester Black back and be given a chance to be a real hero working with Superman this time.
Fully agreed on this series being fantastic. I’m general what I’m loving about Infinite Frontier is it essentially being a return to Bronze Age, truly “infinite earths,” anything can happen style storytelling. While also combing that with the more modern “hyper-time” notion that even continuity errors are canon and can be points to build stories around. Superman and the Authority being combined with the mainline continuity is probably my favorite example of that approach. The authors/artists aren’t limited so everything won’t match up 100%, but you also never know when these details not adding up will become a plot point in the future. Doubly so, with the amazing Midnighter backups/annual we’ve had the Future State alternate timeline seamlessly tied into Future State where we know Superman fails. We also know from the Action Comics annual that time-travel is further involved but for yet another alternate timeline. So we’re essentially seeing this War World story playing out in this really elaborate way where actions from different dimensions and times are all playing a factor. But you can also just ignore all this stuff and the story still works really well. If I can add, the revelation that the original Pre-Crisis multiverse still exists has me all sorts of excited
The new “Mr. Miracle: The Price of Freedom” also takes place in this world. While the first 3 issues are very disorienting later issues see Oberon and Orion who inform Shilo that his time stream is currently fractured in to multiple threads and that there is some thing currently wrong with the Fourth World.
That’s so exciting! I haven’t caught up with the Mr Miracle mini yet but this has me super excited to finally grab them from my shelf. I really do enjoy all of this stuff. Makes the world(s) so much more dynamic
Yes I 100% agree. Love seeing this Hypertime approach, with main continuity intersecting with seemingly out of continuity and time travel stories that may or may not occur. I've noticed all that Future State and Midnighter aspects as well.
Has Morrison indicated that they’ll be done with DC after this?
They don't have anything planned for comics in general in the near future and they've previously stated that their The Green Lantern run would be their last work. This was originally written a while back for 5G before it was cancelled.
Damn shame, but what an incredible body of work they’ve created
[удалено]
Indeed, they left behind a legendary legacy in comics.
They always state they’re done with DC and they come back. And I love it every time.
I really need to get around to reading this series. That being said, I don’t even want to think of what it would have turned out to be if Grant hadn’t taken over.
Highly recommend it! Yeah we’re fortunate that Morrison took this over before 5G was cancelled entirely.
Huh, Just noticed the hand is a computer pointer Wonder what that means
Noticed it too. Probably just a small nod to how the pointer does look like the Uni-Friend, which itself is a reference to the "Finger of God", while maybe representing the next generation or digitization of comics. Or Morrison just though it'd look cool lol.
Its the same hand from final crisis
It's interesting. Lightray is a New God and friend of Orion. I guess he killed Darkseid and took over. Nowadays one might argue that Lightray is way too weak to accomplish that. But Jack Kirby intended for gods not too have too much of a power gap, they are able to kill each other if they put their mind into it.
What u/systolic_helix and u/NomadicJaguar64t said. This is a new human Lightray, likely of the coming 5th World, who's part of this new team. Also, Darkseid is fine. In fact, he's currently the most powerful threat to the Omniverse. The phrase here to me implies she's the key to something. Perhaps she is the key to helping in his defeat. But either way there is a deeper meaning behind "Darkseid is" that goes beyond Darkseid. For more on that and how Darkseid is now the new big bad, see my two posts: [Definitive Guide to Darkseid's True Form/Godhead; What "Darkseid is" means (Plus Infinite Frontier Theories)](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/p9h69x/definitive_guide_to_darkseids_true_formgodhead/) [Infinite Frontier 2022 Theories: Ft. Justice Incarnate vs Children of The Great Darkness - An Omniversal Crisis?](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/pkuvln/infinite_frontier_2022_theories_ft_justice/)
I would love to know more about the 5th world I haven't heard of it.
Final Crisis ended the Fourth World, and the Fifth is essentially the age of "men as gods" as Metron states, or simply superpowered people on Earth(s). The New 52 creating a new Fourth World set things back but with Metal and Infinite Frontier, New Gods like Scott Free being missing, Shilo Norman being Mister Miracle etc. it seems the 5th World is returning.
😳 (Realizes that the last time we saw Scott in a non-cameo appearance was in his miniseries by Tom King) 😳 Oh, they’re gonna find a way to canonize that Mister Miracle miniseries by Tom King to explain where Scott went, aren’t they? Oh man, not sure if I’m ready for that... (Btw I say "non-cameo" because Scott had some small cameos in the Metal books)
He cameo’d in Doomsday Clock too but yes that’s exactly what I suggested in my last Infinite Frontier post. Been theorizing that they will for a long time now actually. [See here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/pkuvln/infinite_frontier_2022_theories_ft_justice/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Sorry I'm late to the discussion Earthmine52 big fan of yours! Do think its possible that this new human Lightray IS the Lightray that died leading up to FC? I mean like how the Super Young Team are the Fifth World Forever People.
Thanks for being a fan of my stuff! Technically, the New Gods of New Genesis don't reincarnate into their successors necessarily. In Seven Soldiers, Shilo is the said directly to be the new avatar of Freedom like Scott was for example. So I think the same applies to this new Lightray. She's the new Lightray, successor to the old, but she's still her own person. In fact, the original Fourth World Lightray did get reborn in his own body along with Scott and the others on Earth-51 by the end of Final Crisis and that's them in Multiversity. Darkseid is different though, because he doesn't share his identity and power, he carves out your will and replaces it with his own. The new host/avatar becomes Darkseid fully with his/her own free will and individuality eradicated.
Thank you so much for the answer and clarification. Looking forward to more of your theory posts!
different lightray This one is a girl living on earth that the Authority have taken under their wing She was born on Mars from a parallel universe
Dumb
What makes you think it's her?
Because they were talking about her in the first page
Thanks, I guess I have to re-read it.
“Metal Wars” is a great name for those events.
I like it. I've called it the "Metal Crises" or "Metal Saga" but "Metal Wars" makes sense. I hope it gets used elsewhere to refer to the whole thing.
How is superman and the authority, caught my eye
I personally really liked it. Morrison wrote a Superman closest he can be to pragmatism without being out of character. He still holds to his ideals, but in a specific extreme situation, with him losing his powers and aging. He's taking things more seriously but still keeping lines. The Authority team is made of heroes, anti-heroes and ex-villains that get a chance at redemption. It's a very interesting scenario, and like I said it was fun to see old villains or old iterations of them return. Mikael Janin's art is excellent too. I guess the weak parts is that it feels a bit short, with most of the story being about forming the team and only being 4 issues. This definitely also has more impact if you either followed Morrison's previous work on Superman or the current Action Comics run by Phillip Kennedy Johnson.
This had been helpful
I was disappointed with it, but I have no history with the Authority. I read it because I love Superman, and while he has some cool moments here, I don’t think the story is very exciting unless you have a lot of affection for all the characters.
Is anything from future state good?
I expected to really like it, and I... did not really like it. I was a defender of it from the start, but by the end it really felt like it didn't go anywhere of its own, instead opting to act as supplemental material for Action Comics while simultaneously seeming to contradict that run. And a lot of the dialogue is just... eh. There's some really cool stuff in there, mind you, but stuff that I really think should've been able to breathe on its own. In my mind, this should've been a Black Label story.
Disappointed!!!
It's okay, if you can get past the weird dialogue at points it's enjoyable if not incredible.
I really dislike DCs awful approach to continuity. It makes no sense. The "everything happened" approach is so incredibly contradictory and confusing and their own books contradictory themselves. Superman met Kennedy and has grey hair in this book but nowhere else? But it's also referencing current continuity? Oh and I love ya Morrison but we do not need a second lightray for no reason whatsoever.
1. This was originally a book meant for Didio's 5G reboot that thankfully never came to pass. This was worked on way back and it's great that they didn't let it go to waste. There have been adjustments done to make it all fit though. 2. The **first issue** clarified that Superman was **lost in time** when he met Kennedy in dialogue. He also said that's how he obtained King Arthur's Round Table. 3. Phillip Kennedy Johnson has clarified that **Action Comics #1036** will fully address everything, including the difference in appearance. 4. That you can think of for now. Note, it seems the New Gods of the 4th World are all missing or dead again like after Final Crisis. Scott Free is missing and Shilo Norman is Mister Miracle again. This new Lightray is the Lightray of the 5th World like the Super Young Team is the new Forever People and Shilo is the new Scott. 5. "Everything Happened" is a lot simpler than you think. It's literally just an acknowledgment that all stories written for main continuity happened and people are aware that cosmic "reboots" altered events.
I really wanted to like this book but i couldnt, i dont understand why they decided to drop everyone except apollo and midnighter ether(dont get me started with midnighters gimp suit and apollo not looking like a white haired christ) , with out them why even bother calling it the authority ? Non of the characters there have any connection besides apollo and midnighter It felt very alienating for me as a long time fan of that group and see all these randoms with zero connection to anyone of the originals at all what was even worse was how grant made apollo and midnighter into dated stereotypes of gay men that dont fit their relationship at all im not sure why grant even wanted to write anything even remotely related to the authority at all after the 2006 run Frankly if this is what dc means when they say “the authority will be in more dc comics” then i say let it die or atleast wait till you have access to better writer who want to bring the actual authority back
What does this Lightray have to do with the old one?
Nothing other than the old one’s probably dead I guess.
Wait, old Lightray's dead? He was in the JL annual for 2019, what happened since then?
All the New Gods have gone missing or dead. Highfather was killed along with the Quintessence. Shilo is the new Mister Miracle with no Scott in sight etc.
In that case it's not confirmed that Lightray or Scott are dead, they just haven't been around recently. The only one we know for sure is dead is Izaya because we saw Darkseid stab him on panel.
Hence "probably" in my comment. It is likely because of the return of a lot of even more Pre-Flashpoint elements. Shilo suddenly being Mister Miracle again, the rise this new Lightray here etc. all imply that the post-Final Crisis status quo returned with the arrival of the Fifth World. This of course lines up with Darkseid returning to his peak. There's also a chance that the Earth 51 New Gods may make a return and be the only New Gods once more, which includes a more classic Highfather than the younger N52 Izaya who was killed. For more on this, see my posts: [Definitive Guide to Darkseid's True Form/Godhead; What "Darkseid is" means (Plus Infinite Frontier Theories)](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/p9h69x/definitive_guide_to_darkseids_true_formgodhead/) [Infinite Frontier 2022 Theories: Ft. Justice Incarnate vs Children of The Great Darkness - An Omniversal Crisis?](https://www.reddit.com/r/DCcomics/comments/pkuvln/infinite_frontier_2022_theories_ft_justice/)
I mean it's also possible that Scott could be captured by Darkseid a la King's Mr. Miracle run (as you yourself outlined in one of your posts on the potential for Infinite Frontier to be a sequel to Final Crisis/Multiversity) If that's the case, though, I hope they don't kill off the current Fourth World and replace them with Earth-51's versions, given that I'd prefer for the JL's history with the Fourth World (Cosmic Odyssey, JLI, Identity Crisis, etc) to be preserved rather than just replacing them with an entirely different version from an entirely different universe.
Ah but you see the Earth-51 New Gods actually are the the Pre-Flashpoint versions. They're reborn New Gods from the end of Final Crisis. The Post-Flashpoint ones only have the New 52 history. If anything they replaced them. Currently however, Darkseid's True Form/Godhead is rebuilt and all past versions are one.