DC: The New Frontier 5
September 2004

Book Five
"My Greatest Adventure"

Writer and Illustrator: Darwyn Cooke
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Assistant Editor: Valerie D'Orazio
Editor: Mark Chiarello
64 pages
$6.95

Synopsis: The mysterious Centre arrives threatens the entire human race. Heroes from across America and elsewhere race to the coast of Florida. The Challengers are in the thick.

Our story opens in Challenger Mountain. Drafting a pictorial article on the Challs, Lois Lane takes a tour. Jimmy Olsen takes photographs.

Lois Lane remarks, "I must say, Rocky, I was expecting some kind of barracks... but this is breathtaking." Rocky smiles. "The entire place was designed by a reclusive genius named Kurtzburg, mad as a hatter." And asks her to join him for cocktails on the heliport at two. Rocky has his own designs in mind, and they involve Lois. June looks on and smiles.

A sharp fan on the DC website remembered that "Jakob Kurtzberg" was the real name of Jack Kirby.

Ace is on the phone to Hal Jordan. Rocky and Red have recovered from their non-rescue of the Flying Cloud, half-wrapped in bandages, but Red's "beautiful hair miraculously survived." Red grins, "Up yours, flattop." Ace continues, "So give. What's on your mind? Don't tell me Carol Ferris has you thinking about getting a ring."

Hal's got a ring, all right, and decides not to share the secret. He's got a dead alien, a few vague instructions - beware yellow - and a magic ring that generates a uniform. Soon he SOARS through the sky, the happiest man alive!

Lois and Jimmy meet Prof Haley in "The Shop". Prof has a spiffy machine that analyzes tissue samples that have been appearing along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts -

An alarm woops, a national security code. It's another dinosaur off Cape Canaveral. Rocky and Red should stay behind. Rocky pulls his uniform over bandages. "Nice try. But if you think I'm going to let you fly off with Lois Lane, you've got rocks in your head." Prof returns, "She can HEAR you..."

Laughing, Prof grabs Lois by the hand. "C'mon, Lois! I'll show you what we do for excitement!" June punches a button marked LAUNCH SCRAMBLE. "Let's go, Ace! Shake it, don't brea k it!"

No way is he letting anyone run off with Lois Lane!

Ace, Rocky, Prof, June, Lois, and Jimmy fly to Florida. They find the menace - a giant flying dinosaur crouching atop a building. Ace pilots Challenger Five dangerously close for a look. June squeaks, "You can turn any time now."

Almost annoying as the creature is a vast buzzing noise that makes it hard to concentrate. Everyone fights headaches and confusion.

Never daunted, the Challengers wonder how to tackle this monster. The radio cuts in. Captain Nathaniel Adam (Captain Atom to-be) orders the Challs to clear the area. "After that nonsense in space last week [their abortive rescue of the Flying Cloud], my orders are to have you blown out of the sky if you interfere! Bishop Six will handle this!"

Who? Oh, Superman! "That showoff?" complains Rocky. "Who pulled your fat out of the fire last week?" asks June.

Superman sweeps from the sky, wraps a mile of cable about the dinosaur, and flips it like a kitten to the beach, breaking its back. Jimmy explains, "Jeez, Rocky! He's Superman!"

Prof lands to check the monster out. Rocky speculates. "... If dino steaks caught on, you'd only have to catch one a year. Could have a whole chain..."

There's a woman hanging in the sky. Ace bleats, "What THE HELL am I looking at?" Bloody in an invisible plane, Wonder Woman crashes to warn Superman of disaster.

In the South Pacific, Red has been sent to locate Dinosaur Island - except it's gone.

Red is still bandaged from the burning non-resuce of the Flying Cloud. Note the eyepatch. That eye will give him more trouble later on.

Ace orders him to proceed to the Cape - with his baby in one piece, hot dog. Red laughs. "Aye aye, Captain Bligh."

The Centre, it turns out, IS Dinosaur Island, a sentient reptilian of "biblical proportions" millions of years old that plunked down in the Pacific. It spawns dinosaurs like fleas, which is why GIs kept running into an inexhaustible army of them during WWII.

Now The Centre has decided to cleanse the Earth of Man. It lifts from the seabed and soars toward population centers. It looses dinosaurs on Navy jets like a plague. And either discharges energy blasts or vacuums to lift Naval carriers in the air and drops them. Lois Lane, illicitly in a Navy chopper, is the first to report the menace. It's 25 miles across and unstoppable.

Wonder Women reports that Paradise Island was attacked by The Centre as if flew over. Hordes of dino-monsters assailed the Amazons, too many to stop.

Superman rushes his "best friend" to the hospital. Diana kisses him. "Go get 'em, Spaceman."

Jonn Jonzz, meanwhile, has been liberated by King Faraday. The Army will need super-help to fight this monster. Jonn adopts a Superman-esque uniform. And they're off.

Black-and-white TVs broadcast Lois's grainy footage of The Centre. Anyone can see mere humans will be helpless before it.

And just like that, heroes race from all over, an incredible mustering of pre-super might. The Sea Devils roar across the waves in a racy red-white striped power boat. The Blackhawks fly in, as does Green Arrow (with Speedy? He's not seen.) Flash, who'd give up superheroics, is handed his uniform by his wife Iris. Beneath the Atlantic, a young Aquaman without a uniform brings a mighty army of fish. But it's the land that will be attacked.

The heroes rally - and immediately start bickering. Captain (Captain Atom) Adam objects to vigilantes. Green Arrow objects to authority. Many heroes object to fighting among themselves. Superman swoops and scatters them like leaves.

His speech is terrific, and ends in, "It's up to us to stop it, whatever it takes. Who's with me?!!" The heroes cheer. Superman rushes off to reconnoiter the floating island - and gets blasted from the sky to crash in flames in the ocean.

Then nothing. Nothing but darkness.

Reaching for the stars and wrapping it up in Book 6!