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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Infinite Frontier #5, available now from DC.
The conclusion of Dark Nights: Death Metal reintegrated every DC timeline that ever existed back into continuity. Up until this point, it’s been unclear which characters and storylines that were previously removed by a cosmic reset have been reinstated, which has been the focal point of Infinite Frontier. Throughout the storyline, new alliances like The Totality and Justice Incarnate have formed to protect the new multiverse from threats while new enemies have come together with their own plans for the multiverse, such as Darkseid on Earth-Omega and Injustice Incarnate. In Infinite Frontier #5 (by Joshua Williamson, Paul Pelletier, Jesus Merino, Tom Derenick, Norm Rapmund, Raul Fernandez, Hi-Fi and Tom Napolitano), answers to some of the new multiverse’s burning questions finally arrive.
One of the major questions that gets answered is why Director Bones of the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO) has been removing select heroes from Earth-0. In his own words, he made a deal with Darkseid to sacrifice heroes who retained multiversal energy in exchange for keeping Earth-0 safe from an upcoming Crisis. Among the heroes he chose to sacrifice included the members of the Justice Society who originated on the pre-Crisis Earth-2. He reasoned that because they’ve been erased before no one would notice their absence again, seemingly confirming a long-standing pattern with the Justice Society always disappearing following a major multiversal reset. The Psycho-Pirate similarly confirms that travel between parallel realities weakens the multiverse. This has significant implications for multiverse alums like the Justice Society, especially the members with ties to Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman such as Huntress, Power Girl and Fury.
The Huntress Has A Complicated History
The first legacy Justice Society hero that was a casualty of Crisis on Infinite Earths was the daughter of Earth-2’s Batman and Catwoman, Helena Wayne. As the Huntress, Helena operated as Gotham’s sole protector following her father’s death and frequently battled threats to the multiverse with both the Justice Society and Justice League. In fact, she was a frequent partner of the Earth-1 Batman, whom she often referred to as “Uncle Bruce.” After Crisis merged the multiverse into the single Earth that is now Earth-0, the new world had no place for her in a universe where her parents were starting over from scratch. She was therefore killed off in a battle against the Anti-Monitor’s shadow demons and was “reborn” three years later as Helena Bertinelli on the new Earth.
As Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress retained her original Helena Wayne appearance but got a completely new origin as the daughter of a crime family. Post-Crisis, she frequently tried to establish a familial relationship with Batman but was oftentimes rejected by the man who was her father in another life. The events of Infinite Crisis reconfirmed Helena Wayne’s existence but the Huntress continued identifying as Helena Bertinelli. When Barry Allen rewrote history in Flashpoint, the post-Crisis Huntress began identifying as Helena Wayne again but was now a former resident of a new Earth-2. Around this time, a new Helena Bertinelli emerged, who later took over the Huntress identity when Wayne returned to Earth-2.
In Infinite Frontier, the post-Flashpoint Helena Bertinelli continues to exist on Earth-0 but seemingly inherited the memories of her post-Crisis counterpart. On that note, the Stargirl: Spring Break Special acknowledges that the original Helena Wayne Huntress is now a part of Earth-0 history but is now seemingly missing as a result of temporal manipulation by the Justice Society villain, Per Degaton. It’ll be interesting to see how Infinite Frontier streamlines the Huntress’s complicated history, especially considering how frequently she alternates between being Helena Wayne and Helena Bertinelli whenever there’s a cosmic reset.
Power Girl Continues Being The Multiverse’s Favorite Victim
While Power Girl wasn’t killed off and reborn as a completely new person the way her best friend the Huntress was, she has nonetheless suffered her fair share of multiversal retoolings. Prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, she was Kara Zor-L, the Earth-2 counterpart of Earth-1’s Supergirl. She was still the cousin of her world’s Superman, but unlike her Earth-1 counterpart, she had a completely different personality and opted to have her own identity to avoid being compared to her more famous cousin. She was also born in the City of Kandor instead of Argo City like her Earth-1 counterpart and she operated in Gotham where she frequently teamed up with the Huntress.
Post-Crisis, she mourned the loss of her best friend and had her memories erased shortly thereafter. She was then given false memories as an Atlantean before Infinite Crisis reinstated her Earth-2 identity and history. Getting her original memories back, however, did Power Girl no favors as she still lost everyone she was close to and the Huntress and Justice Society still didn’t remember their Earth-2 origins. When she found herself on the new Earth-2 that was born out of the events of Infinite Crisis, she reunited with the Helena Wayne Huntress that was native to that world, only to find out it wasn’t her Helena Wayne or her world. She was then forced to return to Earth-0 and make the most of her life there.
Post-Flashpoint, Power Girl retained her Earth-2 origins and got the Huntress back as her best friend, but ended up with a whole new personality and history that was radically different from her pre-Flashpoint past. During the Rebirth era, she was seemingly stuck in the void between realities known as Innerverse, and post-Death Metal, she was abducted by the DEO as a sacrifice to Darkseid. It will be interesting to see how Power Girl will — once again — remake her life on Earth-0 during the Infinite Frontier era, and how her reunion with Helena Wayne’s Huntress will work out once the whole temporal mess with Per Degaton gets sorted.
Fury Is Once Again Missing In Action
The last casualty of Crisis on Infinite Earths that’s overdue to make a comeback is the original Fury who was a co-founder of Infinity Inc. On Pre-Crisis Earth-2, she was Hippolyta “Lyta” Trevor, the daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor who originally wanted to take over her mother’s place in the Justice Society. After being denied both the mantle and JSA membership by her mother, she helped form her own team with her boyfriend Hector Hall (Hawkman and Hawkgirl’s son) and a few other JSA kids who were also denied membership due to a lack of experience. They operated out of Los Angeles, California as Infinity Inc and became the JSA’s first true legacy team.
Post-Crisis, Fury lost Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor as her parents but kept the rest of her history and relationships intact. She also didn’t last long. Sometime after she married Hector and bore him a son named Daniel — who is the current Lord of the Dreaming — she passed away and joined her son in his realm. While Daniel has made appearances during the Rebirth and Infinite Frontier eras, his mother has yet to be seen again outside of photographs at the JSA headquarters. Exactly what the future holds for Fury now is a mystery yet to be revealed, although a return to her original roots may be in order.
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