DC Comics has been having an amazing time in 2025 and 2026, and it had its genesis in the Absolute line of comics. No, not the oversized omnibuses the publisher has been putting out for years (although they are awesome and you should buy them), but the Absolute line of comics. This new DC Universe is under the control of Darkseid, creating a twisted Earth where the planet’s heroes are under the thumb of the worst people imaginable. Absolute DC has been amazing, with A-list creators working on fantastic new versions of the best heroes ever. Most fans probably think that it only has its origin in the excellent DC All-In #1, but it actually started being laid out years before in two maligned yet underrated stories.
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The DC All-In publishing initiative spun out of Absolute Power, which was the culmination of the previous publishing initiative Dawn of DC. The publisher went into overdrive salvaging their characters after the underrated Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, which brought back the old infinite multiverse. That story (I swear I’m not doing a Bible “who begat who” joke here) was set up by two miniseries without which we’d have no Absolute Universe at all – Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate. Fans went hard criticizing these series, but not only are they pretty good, they are also integral to building the Absolute Universe.
Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate Built the Destiny of the DC Multiverse
Infinite Frontier spun out of Dark Knights: Death Metal (I swear, I’m done with what begat what this time). That story ended with the beginning of the return of the infinite multiverse (basically, the worlds were re-created, but the multiverse didn’t have enough energy for them and it was having disastrous consequences). Infinite Frontier picked up on that by focusing on a coterie of lower level heroes, like Barry Allen, Superman of Earth-23, Flashpoint Batman, Agent Cameron Chase, Alan Scott and his kids Jade and Obsidian, the resurrected Roy Harper and many more.
The book had two main plots – Darkseid trying to create his own partition of universes in order to summon the power of the Great Darkness and the heroes on Earth unraveling the DEO’s plans for the heroic community and how it relates to Darkseid. It’s basically like a much shorter 52, but it’s honestly a well-paced, exciting story that gets its character right and builds an interesting plot (also, it contains the best Psycho-Pirate costume ever, which is very important to my Psycho-Pirate-loving self), but it was only the beginning.
Justice League Incarnate starred Justice Incarnate, a multiversal team of heroes introduced in The Multiversity, as they tried to stop Darkseid’s plans. However, the whole thing becomes more complicated when the Earth-23 Superman and Doctor Multiverse learn that Darkseid is actually on their side, to an extent – he wants the Great Darkness so a mysterious other enemy won’t get it. This is a failure, Crisis on Infinite Earths alum Pariah is revealed to be the one in control of the Great Darkness, ensnaring Darkseid in his web and setting his fights on the main Earth, leading to the “death” of the Justice League in. Justice League (Vol. 4) #75.
These two stories came at time when faith in DC was at its lowest ebb. The Infinite Frontier publishing initiative was light on everything that wasn’t Batman, with few ongoing series that weren’t Bat-related, and loads of miniseries that came and went with little attention. Most fans weren’t happy with the publisher and these two books became the reason why. However, they were crucial building blocks in where we are now. The blank Earth that Darkseid made into the Absolute Earth plays a role and it’s plain that his plan in these books was part of the one that would come to fruition in DC All-In #1 – co-writer of that comic Joshua Williamson wrote these two miniseries. Reading them today reveal just how important they were and honestly makes their stories way better.
What do you think about Infinite Frontier and Justice League Incarnate? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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