Justice League #6 Preview Sheds Light on Darkseid's Endgame [Updated]

Over at USA Today, DC Comics has an exclusive preview of Justice League #6 (out Wednesday), which appears to shed some light on Darkseid's objective in invading earth--and seems likely to have solved at least one element of The New 52's most notorious mystery. Spoilers are on for the duration of this story, including all pieces of art on the page, so if you want to read the story fresh, please exit stage left. Now.

In the opening pages of Justice League #6, Wonder Woman grills Darkseid as to what it is he's hoping to achieve on Earth. He tells the League that he's looking for "her," which seems nicely vague until, only a page or two later, Batman discovers that the hordes of Apokolips are out in force looking for Darkseid's daughter. And the Lord of Apokolips somehow believes that Superman's Kryptonian genetics will help him in the search. It's a safe bet that the cover of Earth Two, recently solicited and showing that world's Trinity facing off against Parademons, will see not an alternate-reality take on Darkseid's search for his daughter but a continuation of this one; as a god, Darkseid can almost certainly traverse time, space and the Multiverse more easily than almost any other character in the DC canon. Just like Pandora, the mysterious hooded woman who appeared in all of the New 52 #1 issues back in September. It seems pretty likely that she--who has been oddly present throughout time and in different universes--will turn out to be on the run from her New God daddy, doesn't it? Super Podcasto Magnifico! apparently agrees, as they posted on the same theory just a little while ago. Back before the New 52 began, Darkseid was never depicted as having had a daughter, but his relationship with his two sons--both the evil Kalibak and the uneasily-good Orion--was strained to say the least. It appears that even in a reinvented universe some things don't change. Johns and Lee will next work together on May's Free Comic Book Day issue, DC Comics: The New 52 #1, where Lee will tell a Justice League story and some details about Pandora will be revealed. Will there be a connection? Maybe readers will see more on Wednesday. UPDATE: Geoff Johns tweeted, when asked by a fan whether other New Gods would be appearing in Justice League, "Yes, Darkseid's Daughter... though it is NOT Pandora. Pandora has her own story and mythology coming up soon." So, barring a bald-faced lie by a creator who's not known for them, there's one theory out the window.