DC: The New Frontier 4
July, 2004

Book Four
"Mystery in Space"

Writer and Illustrator: Darwyn Cooke
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Assistant Editor: Valerie D'Orazio
Editor: Mark Chiarello
64 pages (All story! No ads!)
$6.95

Synopsis: A secret government flight to Mars goes awry. The Challengers race to save the mission, but need Superman to bail them out.

Paranoia reigns supreme in 1950s America. The Flash zooms downtown to nab Gorilla Grodd. Except the gorilla is a decoy. King Faraday and his sinister Feds try to capture Flash in a net and a trank gun. He vanishes.

Elsewhere, consumerism rules. In Coast City, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris attend a car show. They meet Ace Morgan and June Morgan. Ace explains, "June helped us with that giant robot thing... One thing led to another..." And they all admire this year's Firebird.

Detective John Jones (Martian Manhunter) keeps a wall of "crazy news". As the resident expert in nutbars, he's introduced to a spazzy prisoner, a scientist who knows Martians walk among us - but he gets hauled away by King Faraday and gang. As John learns there really IS a rocket bound for Mars!

Hal Jordan is scrubbed from the Mars crew. John Henry, the black vigilante, gets wounded, caught, and burned alive by the KKK. The Flash breaks onto CBS news to announce he's quitting. Wonder Woman has already retired to Paradise Island. John decides it's time to go - home to Mars. He meets Batman and hands over his weirdo file.

Cults all over the world await "The Centre" and dream of dinosaurs and reptiles. Suicides, murder, and general unhappiness are on the rise. What's causing it?

The Flying Cloud is prepped for Mars. Martian Manhunter tries to climb aboard at the last second, but King Faraday gets the drop. And they'd both fry - except MM flies them out in time. He awakes in a holding cell. And oddly enough, by reading King's thoughts, which are sincere, finds hope for mankind.

Trouble. The Cloud never clears the Moon. A crewman went nuts and sabotaged the mission. The rocket drifts in space - and they can't jettison their mysterious "cargo".

Enter the Challengers, soaring off Challenger Mountain. Their jet carries two missiles. Ace calls Ferris Aircraft with a big grin. They're bound to "intercept and redirect the rocket - to facilitate re-entry. Just don't ask me how, because you'd never believe it."

(For this mission, at least, June gets a uniform.)

Hal Jordan at Mission Control is thrilled. Until King Faraday grabs the mike. "Abort rescue immediately!" Ace fakes static. "Did not copy..." King bawls, "Morgan, you son of a bitch!"

King explains the mission's secret protocol. Flying Cloud carries three warheads: one viral, one nerve agent, and one hydrogen bomb. "A final solution if the Martians were a serious threat." Carol Ferris is shocked. "You bastard!"

(Is this a perfect picture of Republican paranoia? The government believes Martians have visited Earth. So, rather than deal with them, they spend millions on a rocket and weaponry to go to Mars to blast the bejeezus out of an entire race!)

The spaceship has to be destroyed before it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. "If the Challengers save the Flying Cloud (bring it to Earth), we can all kiss our sorry asses goodbye."

Believing in the basic goodness of everything, the Challengers push ahead with their plan. Reaching the lip of space, Ace fires the missiles and turns back.

Inside one missile, Red jives, "Wham. Bam. Body slam. Followed by a five G thank you ma'am." Rocky is ready to puke.

Nearing the spaceship, the missiles blow open. Rocky and Red fire pitons on cables and latch onto the spaceship. Under Prof's radioed instructions, they activate jets to to drop the rocket's nose toward Earth.

Red hollers, "How about this ride, Rocky? The Challengers rule the skies!" Rocky gives a rebel yell. "We are agents of fortune!"

King Faraday calls in "the big guy." Superman is busy battling a giant robot in Tokyo. He's trashed but takes the call. "This better be good, Faraday."

He's needed. The Challs are failing - and burning up. Rocky yells, "We aren't going to make it! But at least we saved the rocket! Adios, Re--"

Aboard the spaceship, Colonel Rick Flagg of the Suicide Squad does the right thing. He detonates the H Bomb - just as Superman whisks away the Challs.

Later, Rick Flagg gets a hero's funeral at Arlington Cemetary. King Faraday weeps.

Hal Jordan, moping over his miss at the Mars mission, sits down in a simulator - and is bathed in green and carried off...

Rooting for Challengers in Book 5!