Barry Allen was the first hero to travel from Earth-Prime to another Earth in the Multiverse in 1961's landmark 'A Flash of Two Worlds.' So it makes perfect sense he'll be leading the charge into DC's new Omniverse.
Spoilers for Infinite Frontier #0 follow.
As seen in the pages of Infinite Frontier #0, Barry Allen has accepted an invitation from Justice Incarnate to join their team as Earth-Prime's representative to the Omniverse-exploring all-star super-team.
Calling it a "dream come true," Barry accepts the offer but not before making sure Wally West knows Barry expects him to take over as Central City's The Flash, which he'll do as star of the monthly Flash series.
The now-former Flash writer Joshua Williamson wrote the Infinite Frontier #0 story setting up the next phase in both Flash's careers, and while he's ready to pass the monthly series baton to new writer Jeremy Adams, he'll continue to tell new Barry Allen stories in the pages of Infinite Frontier, a new six-issue limited series beginning in May, drawn by Xermanico with covers by Mitch Gerad.
"In this summer event, Alan Scott, the Green Lantern from the Justice Society of America, has noticed some of his allies are still missing in action, and he's determined to find them," reads DC's description of the new series. "There are others, though, that would rather remain hidden than explain themselves, like Roy Harper, a.k.a. Arsenal, a man who should be dead now is not. Plus, what does all this mean for the DCU's place in the Multiverse?
"On opposite sides of a dimensional divide, both Barry Allen and President Superman ponder this question. Not to mention the Darkseid of it all! Or a team of Multiversal heroes called Justice Incarnate!"
While there's a lot going on in Infinite Frontier, Williamson fielded a few of our questions about Barry Allen's role in the series, specifically.
While the Infinite Frontier #0 story by Williamson and Howard Porter story sets up the new roles for Barry and Wally, Williamson tells Newsarama the long-time mentor-protégé have one more adventure together in the pages of March's The Flash #768, "before they fully go their separate ways again in the summer."
"I've written a lot of Barry Allen, so I wanted to write more Wally in the Infinite Frontier mini-series this summer. But that wouldn't be true to the characters," Williamson explains. "Barry is in a place where traveling the Multiverse is more his thing, at least right now. Wally just did that last year, and frankly, it's Wally's turn to run the main ongoing Flash title. To spend time as the Flash on Earth-0.
"I'll miss Wally again this year, but I know I'll get him again in the future."
Williamson says he felt like he and DC needed to "finish off the promise of Rebirth," meaning the 2016 special similar to Infinite Frontier #0 and the start of DC's editorial era that restored many aspects of the Multiverse and DC legacy lost during 2011's 'The New 52.'
"Part of the start of Rebirth was restoring Wally and Barry," the writer explains. "That relationship, and their roles. And we 100% put them through hell since then. It's been a rough roller coaster at times. So here, we needed to wrap up that era on a good note. It was important to me that I wrote that scene because of that. To pass the torch to Wally."
Williamson says the summer Infinite Frontier series will be the "heart of the DCU and crucial to the major events in the DCU this year and next."
"It's going to get pretty crazy. It's a different kind of event than we've seen in the past, but leads to something really really major for the DC characters," he promises.
"Flash, Alan Scott, and a few other heroes have to deal with the ever-growing new Multiverse. There is a conspiracy brewing in the Multiverse after the events of Death Metal. And Darkseid is back and has his own plans for its future.
"Barry is actually the person who discovers the crime scene left behind by Darkseid."
Crime scene meaning the apparent murder of the Quintessence - Hera, Highfather, the Wizard, Ganthet, Phantom Stranger, and the Spectre by Darkseid, just moments after Wonder Woman turned down membership in the group of higher beings who watch over the Omniverse.
"And then Barry comes into contact with an enemy he hasn't run into in a very long time. I actually couldn't believe they hadn't seen each other in nearly 30 years," says Williamson, giving readers a little bit of a hint.
"Again, aside from Barry, you'll see a few heroes and the Totality in Infinite Frontier. Actually, Barry isn't even the main character of that mini-series.
Since Williamson mentioned the Totality - DC's new supergroup made of Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific, Martian Manhunter, Talia ah Ghul, Vandal Savage, and Lex Luthor, along with the original Green Lantern Alan Scott as its 'Sentinel,' we asked the writer to define the roles of that group plus the Justice Incarnate, the superteam Barry is joining.
"The Totality are the watchers on the wall," explained Williamson. "They watch out for Earth-0 and its position in the Multiverse. They are less of a team and more of a think tank. A group of DC's smartest and with experience in the history of the DCU that can analyze the weirdness of the DCU.
"The Justice Incarnate team represents multiple worlds within the Multiverse and looks out for the interests of the Multiverse. They were formed because of the events of Multiversity and now work together to contain threats to the Multiverse.
"They function differently, but they do communicate and work together, as readers will see as we explore the story in Infinite Frontier's main miniseries and its specials."
"The Flash family, Justice Incarnate, and the Totality will play a big role in the DCU this next year. Barry and Wally will be separated for a bit, but something unexpected will happen that brings them back together."
Infinite Frontier is bringing about a lot of changes to the DCU. Check out Newsarama's field guide to the new DC Universe.
