- There are a lot of people in the Multiverse who feel the same. And so, we came together knowing there must be sacrifice to correct a great... Injustice.
Infinite Frontier #4 is an issue of the series Infinite Frontier (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 2021. It was published on August 10, 2021.
Synopsis for "Infinite Betrayal"
Thomas Wayne and President Superman head to Earth 23 to track the origin of the Carrier Ark where Wayne was held. Superman believes that his arch-enemy Lex Luthor, who is obsessed with the Multiverse, must be involved and quickly tracks him to his hideout. As Superman and Batman fight their way through Luthor's defences they each question the other's personal choices: as Batman believes Superman's devotion to his roles as superhero and president have cost him a chance for a family; while Superman tells Batman he should attempt to reconcile with his son, but Thomas thinks he hurt Bruce too much for that to be possible. They break into Luthor's inner sanctum to find him dead with his heart ripped out, and the plans for the Carrier Ark.
On Earth 0, the DEO are loading Green Lantern and Obsidian into a Carrier Ark. X-Tract will take them and the ship to rendezvous with Hector Hammond at Earth Omega. They lost contact shortly after he reported that he had captured Roy Harper but are still able to track the Ark. It's revealed that X-Tract saved Cameron Chase from the alternate Captain Atom's explosion at the last second and Chase realises that Director Bones knew Atom was from another world and set it up to ensure she would be afraid of the Multiverse. When Bones tries to leave the Ark Chase shoots out his good leg and it shifts away with them both on board.
On Hammond's ship in The Bleed, the JSA attack Roy Harper, once again under the control of his Black Lantern Ring. Roy is able to resist the ring enough to ask Jade for help and she recognises him from their previous adventures together. Jade helps him overcome the ring and explains what happened to them. She called a meeting of the JSA after they were all restored to reality and X-Tract attacked, shooting them with guns that teleported them away. X-Tract's teleport beam somehow interacted with the Starheart and sent Jade into The Bleed. She broke the others out and they have been lost until they stumbled across Hammond's ship.
The Carrier Ark picks up a signal from X-Tract's ship and Jade decides to take it to it's planned destination so they can face the DEO. The ship shifts to Earth Omega and Roy realises this is where the Ring wanted to take him and that Darkseid is on the planet. They also see the Anti-Monitor's Shadow Demons and the Psycho-Pirate holding Barry Allen prisoner. They realise they are in trouble and plan to retreat back to Earth 0 for reinforcements, but before they can X-Tract's Ark materialises in the same space as theirs and both ships crash to the surface.
At the House of Heroes Harbinger picks up their distress signals but silences the alarms before Justice Incarnate hear them. Batman and Superman return from Earth 23 and meet Machinehead, who has been rebuilding the crashed Ark. Since Luthor had never been able to develop multiversal travel, Superman suspects he may have had help from another reality and asks Harbinger for details of any multiversal travel recently detected, but she refuses. Superman tries to hack into her and finds a hidden message from Barry Allen calling for help. Meanwhile, Thomas looks up the records of all the alternate versions of Batman and realises that being a hero is his son's destiny.
Superman calls the rest of Justice Incarnate to action and orders they call in all reinforcements for an expedition to Earth Omega, but Machinehead suddenly blasts them all. Earth 8 was invaded by an alternate reality years ago and its heroes lost the battle, leaving Machinehead disfigured. He has decided that all worlds in the multiverse must be kept separate and has assembled an interdimensional team of villains to ensure that there will be no more crossovers between worlds.
Appearing in "Infinite Betrayal"
Featured Characters:
- Batman/Thomas Wayne (Flashpoint Timeline) (Flashback and main story)
- Black Lantern/Roy Harper (Earth 0)
- Jade (Earth 0)
- President Superman/Calvin Ellis/Kalel (Earth 23)
Supporting Characters:
- Courtney (Earth 23)
- Green Lantern/Alan Scott (Earth 0)
- Harbinger A.I. (Hologram)
- Justice Incarnate
- Justice Society of America (Earth 0) (Flashback and main story)
- Kelex (Earth 23)
- Obsidian/Todd Rice (Earth 0)
Antagonists:
- Darkseid (Post-Flashpoint) (Behind the scenes)
- Captain Atom (Unknown Earth) (Dies in flashback)
- Psycho Pirate (Earth 0)
- Shadow Demons
- D.E.O. (Earth 0)
- Director Bones/Mister Bones
- Cameron Chase (Flashback and main story)
- Hector Hammond
- X-Tract (Flashback and main story)
- Injustice Incarnate (First appearance; unnamed) (Cameo)
- Dr. Sivana (Earth 5) (Cameo)
- Fate (Earth 13) (Cameo)
- Jokero (Earth 32) (First full appearance) (Cameo)
- Lady Quark (Earth 48) (Cameo)
- Machinehead (Earth 8)
- Magog (Earth 22) (Cameo)
- Super-Doomsday (Earth 45) (Cameo)
- Superwoman/Lois Lane (Earth 3) (Cameo)
Other Characters:
- Alexander Luthor Jr. (Earth-Three) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- The Anti-Monitor (Pre-Crisis) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Bat-Family (Earth 0) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne) (Flashback and main story) (Also as an hologram)
- Nightwing
- Orphan (Cassandra Cain)
- Red Hood
- Robin (Damian Wayne)
- The Batman Who Laughs/Bruce Wayne (Earth -22) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Batmen of the Multiverse
- Captain Leatherwing (Earth 31) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman (Earth 30) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth 1) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth 12) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth 17) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth 19) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth 22) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth 38) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth 43) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth-One) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (Earth-Two) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Batman/Bruce Wayne (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Booster Gold (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Brainiac (Futures End) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Doctor Manhattan (Watchmen Universe) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Dominus (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Mr. Ellis (Earth 23) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Mrs. Ellis (Earth 23) (On a TV or computer screen) (Cameo)
- Extant/Henry Hall (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- The Flash/Barry Allen (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Lex Luthor (Earth 23) (Appears only as a corpse)
- Mister Mind (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Monarch/Nathaniel Adam (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- The Monitor (Pre-Crisis) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Mister Mxyzptlk (Fifth Dimension) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Pandora (Earth 0) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Parallax/Hal Jordan (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Perpetua (Sixth Dimension) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Reverse-Flash/Eobard Thawne (Pre-Flashpoint) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Superboy-Prime (Earth-Prime) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Superman/Kal-El (Earth 0) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Superman/Kal-El (Earth-One) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Superman/Kal-El (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Superman/Kal-L (Earth-Two) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Telos (Earth 0) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Wonder Woman/Diana of Paradise Island (Earth-One) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Wonder Woman/Diana of Paradise Island (Earth-Two) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Wonder Woman/Diana of Themyscira (Earth 0) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Wonder Woman/Diana of Themyscira (New Earth) (Hologram) (Cameo)
- The Anti-Monitor (Sixth Dimension) (Mentioned only)
- Black Lantern Corps (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
- Bruce Wayne (Flashpoint Timeline) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Justice League (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
- Lian Harper (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
- Martha Kane (Flashpoint Timeline) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- The Outsiders (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
- Teen Titans (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
- Titans (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
- The Totality (Earth 0) (Mentioned only)
- Zombies (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Infinite Frontier
- Post-Flashpoint Multiverse
- The Bleed
- Earth 0
- Earth
- United States of America
- Bludhaven
- Gotham City
- JSA Headquarters (Flashback only)
- Metropolis
- Air Force Base (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Earth
- Earth 23
- Earth Omega
- Captain Atom's Earth (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Earth 8 (Mentioned only)
- Earth 26 (Mentioned only)
- Hypertime
- Flashpoint Timeline (Mentioned only)
- Timestream (Mentioned only)
- Pre-Crisis Multiverse
- Earth-Two (Mentioned only)
- Post-Flashpoint Multiverse
Items:
- The Batman Who Laughs' Visor (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Batsuits
- Black Lantern Ring
- Bracelets of Submission (Hologram) (Cameo)
- Lex Luthor's Warsuit
- Machinehead's Armor
- Medusa Mask (Cameo)
- Starheart
- Super-Computer
- Wonder Woman's Tiara (Hologram) (Cameo)
- X-Tract's Gun
Vehicles:
- Carrier Arks
- Thomas Wayne's Shuttle (Mentioned only)
Concepts:
- Crisis (Mentioned only)
- Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum
Notes
- As a consequence of the rebirth of the Multiverse, in the new continuity, Earth 8 was invaded in the past by an unknown reality that caused a conflict which left Machinehead disfigured.
- It is confirmed that Machinehead is actually a human being wearing a robotic suit.
- The original Superwoman of Earth 3, Lois Lane, is shown to have been resurrected after the rebirth of the Multiverse as well as the mighty Superdoom.
- Following the "unknotting" of the timeline, Jade and Roy apparently have had adventures together in the Teen Titans and the Outsiders, when previously there was no indication the two knew each other.
- Thomas Wayne asks Harbinger to show him every Bruce Wayne from the Multiverse. However, there are continuity errors as it is also shown the Batman of Earth 30 and Leatherwing of Earth 31.
Trivia
- There are multiple references to past events from the DC history:
- Thomas Wayne remembers once again the death of his family during the Flashpoint and himself betraying Batman during City of Bane.
- He also references asking his "son" to retire from being Batman.
- The JSA's return to the existence as a consequence of Doctor Manhattan restoring the original timeline of Earth 0.
- Damage mentions being turned into a Black Lantern during the Blackest Knight.
- Thomas Wayne remembers once again the death of his family during the Flashpoint and himself betraying Batman during City of Bane.
- During Director Bones' speech about the past Crises and other reality-changing events, they are shown holograms of many villains and other power players from each one of them:
- The Monitor and the Anti-Monitor for Crisis on Infinite Earths;
- Parallax/Hal Jordan and Extant/Hank Hall for Zero Hour;
- Alex Luthor and Superboy-Prime for Infinite Crisis;
- Mister Mind for the events of 52 #52;
- Monarch/Nathaniel Adam for Countdown as well as the Final Crisis;
- The Flash/Barry Allen and Reverse-Flash/Eobard Thawne for the Flashpoint;
- Pandora for Trinity of Sin;
- Telos and Futures End Brainiac for the Convergence;
- Mister Mxyzptlk for the Superman: Reborn storyline;
- The Batman Who Laughs for Dark Nights: Metal;
- Doctor Manhattan for The New 52, DC Rebirth and Doomsday Clock;
- Dominus for Generations;
- Perpetua for Dark Nights: Death Metal;
- Furthermore, they are also shown every Metaverse iteration of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
- Machinehead being a man in a robotic suit and his real appearance (eyes and moustaches) are all references to his character being inspired by the Marvel Comics character, Iron Man/Tony Stark.
- Machinehead claims that Earth 8 was attacked by invaders from another world and the heroes attempted to fight a "war in secret" against them. This is a nod to the Marvel Comics events, Secret Wars (1984) and Secret Wars (2015).
- Jade hugging Roy Harper mirrors Barry Allen and Wally West's iconing hug from DCU: Rebirth #1.
- After being shot by Cameron Chase, Director Bones' clothes briefly turn into his classic supervillain costume from the Earth-Two continuity.
- Earth 23 Lex Luthor's base vaguely resembles the Hall of Doom.
See Also