DC: The New Frontier #4 is an issue of the series DC: The New Frontier (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 2004. It was published on May 26, 2004.
Synopsis for "Mystery in Space"
Chapter Eight: Government Issues
It is now the year 1958 in Central City. Barry Allen overhears the radio at work about Gorilla Grodd running loose in the city. As the Flash, he finds Gorilla Grodd, but Grodd is revealed to be a robot, releasing a loud vibrational sound that stuns the speedster. Then, government agents, led by King Faraday, appear and trap Flash in a net. After ordering his agents to create a smokescreen in the area, Faraday approaches Flash, stating that he is now the "property" of the American government and shoots a tranquilizer dart at Flash. However, Flash escapes by phasing through the net before being hit by the dart.
In Coast City, Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris are at an auto show to meet with Ace Morgan and June Robbins, who is introduced by Ace to Hal and Carol as the newest member of the Challengers of the Unknown.
Meanwhile in Gotham City Police Department, John Jones looks at his personal wall of article clippings consisting of UFO sightings and civil rights issues, including the vigilante that has plagued the Ku Klux Klan, John Henry, as called by the press; John sees Henry as a true American hero. John is then needed by his fellow officers in interrogating a crazed man named Harry Lieter for shooting a police officer and "saving" his mother (it is heavily implied that Lieter killed her). During his interrogation, John learns via his mind-reading ability and spoken interview that Lieter was formerly an engineer at Ferris Aircraft in California and that he went crazy and paranoid after learning about hidden Martians "taking over the Earth" from Task Force X's. After several hours, the interrogation is interrupted by King Faraday and his agents who are there to retrieve Lieter. After the former engineer is taken away, Faraday, Commissioner Gordon, and John then discuss about signing Lieter's release. Faraday takes notice of John's interest in aliens and UFOs, and speaks further with him before signing the release papers. After shaking Faraday's hand, John reads Faraday's mind, confirming that his presence on Earth is known by the government and that they are actually building a rocket to Mars.
Meanwhile at Ferris Aircraft, Hal Jordan and Task Force X are practicing in a space flight simulator. During the simulation involving a meteor field, Rick Flagg speaks out his concerns over Hal's risky actions, to which Hal replies that he has it under control. However, the simulation fails, leaving Flagg frustrated over Hal's "showboating."
As Hal sits outside of Ferris' office, he can hear Carol, Flagg and Faraday arguing over Hal's involvement in Operation Flying Cloud. Flagg demands Carol to reassign Hal from the operation to a simple control operator overseeing the operation's control center, thus shooting down Hal's chance to be in space.
In Tennessee, John Henry is wounded in the leg by the Klan as he flees into an alley. Weakened, he falls into a backyard and is discovered by a young white girl. Henry begs her to help him, but she reveals his whereabouts to the Klans.
Three days later, on the television show call The Big Picture that is broadcast across the nation, the show's host reveals that John Henry was murdered by the Klan. Despite his death, the host praises Henry's stance against the serious issue of racial violence in America, and heavily criticizes the American government for its ineptness and hypocrisy of fighting for freedom when it couldn't even guarantee civil basic liberties and safety to its own citizens. Among those watching the show is John Jones, who is left in shocked and greatly dismayed of John Henry's death.
J'onn J'onzz's findings.
Meanwhile, in the skies over Paradise Island, Superman meets with Wonder Woman. He asks her why she has retired from her super-heroine duties and why she left the United States. Wonder Woman corrects him that the reason she left was because of the U.S. government was forcing her to betray her ideals, and that the nation that they know is not the same when they fought for during World War Two. She finally states to Superman that America needs compassion and spirit, not an administration, before returning to the island and leaving a dispirited Superman.
Back in Gotham, J'onn J'onzz sits in his darkened apartment, perturbed over John Henry's death and bigotry in general, which he also reflects on how his new adopted home would treat him differently if he revealed his identity. He then finds comfort for his problems by watching television. While watching a news report, the Flash suddenly appears. Flash states that after three years of being a hero and saving people, he is treated more as a criminal while mentioning his incident with Faraday. Believing that his country thinks less of him, Flash decides to retire. After watching Flash's announcement, J'onn is convinced to leave Earth.
That night, appearing as John Jones, he and Commissioner Gordon awaits for Batman on the rooftop of the GCPD. The Dark Knight soon meets them, and John privately talks with him about the Centre situation. He briefs Batman of his findings on the Centre cult's book and that all his compiled research in his apartment are now Batman's to solve. After Batman left, Gordon expresses his pleasure to John for working with him.
Batman investigates John's findings, then calls someone, saying that person needs to look at the evidence, and meet Batman the next Tuesday.
Chapter Nine: Flying Cloud
At Ferris Aircraft, Operation Flying Cloud is in preparation for lift-off. Hal apologizes to Rick Flagg for his reckless actions in the simulator and wishes him luck on the flight. Flagg accepts his apology and tells Hal that it wasn't his ride yet.
The entire base is preparing for the launch and, with the help of Doctor Will Magnus and his team, cloaking Soviet radar from the launch. However, Faraday then notices from his TV monitors that shows J'onn J'onzz appearing near the base of the rocket.
Beneath Flying Cloud, J'onn plans to board the hull of the ship. However, his plan is dashed, and he is held at gunpoint by Faraday, who believes that J'onn intends on sabotaging the rocket. J'onn quickly subdues Faraday, knocking him unconscious. The countdown for the ship starts, but J'onn realizes that Faraday will be killed by the launch blast, forcing him to save Faraday and abandon his chance to leave for Mars. In the process, he is weakened by the ensuing rocket blast.
Thirty hours later, at Nellis Air Force Base, Faraday visits an imprisoned J'onn. He explains to the Martian that after they were safely away from Flying Cloud's launch, they were founded by the Military Police, and that J'onn had passed out for a day. Faraday wants to know why J'onn saved him given that he had the chance to leave Earth. J'onn explains that he couldn't let another living being to die unnecessarily. He also states that, after knocking out Faraday, he looked into the agent's mind and discovers that Faraday is pure and good, and believes that one day the world won't be living in fear and hate. This filled J'onn with renewed hope for humanity, much to Faraday's astonishment. Faraday is broken from his self-discovery when he is informed that he is needed at Ferris Aircraft.
Faraday soon learns from Carol that once Flying Cloud reached space, Jess Bright went insane due to his trauma and tried to sabotage the rocket, after which he was plunged into space to his death. Flagg and Karin Grace are safe within Flying Cloud's forward hatch, but they lack fuel and that within four hours they will burn up when they re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Faraday contacts Flagg and wants to know about "the cargo." Flagg states that he couldn't eject it and wants to talk with Hal.
Flagg admits to Hal that during the war he had served with Ace Morgan, Faraday and Hal's father, Martin "Martini" Jordan. They bonded together throughout the conflict. Before Martin's death, his friends favored him the most because he was the only one to have a family among them, and since Martin's passing, Hal's involvement in the Korean War drove Flagg and the others to look out for him. Now, it is Flagg's turn to watch Hal, and has to make the decision to use the "cargo" and the survival odds of the people he served with convinced him that Hal wasn't likely to have lived through the operation.
Hal then receives contact from Ace Morgan and the Challengers that they know about Flying Cloud's re-entry and are heading up to the rocket in their ship to help. Faraday warns Ace to immediately abort their rescue, but the Challengers ignores him. Frustrated, Faraday decides to call in "Bishop Six", Superman, for help. However, Superman is in the middle of a hard battle against a giant robot in Tokyo. Faraday then reveals to Hal and Carol that the "cargo" that Flying Cloud carries are weapons of mass destruction, which are to be used in a scenario should the Martians become a serious threat to Earth. Now Flying Cloud's re-entry to the planet would release the warheads and rain destruction over Earth, and Flagg knows that he has to destroy the ship along with everyone on board. The Challengers are unaware that if they were to "save" Flying Cloud, everything would be lost.
In space, the Challengers' ship approaches Flying Cloud, jettisoning its twin missiles piloted by Red Ryan and Rocky Davis. The missiles reach Flying Cloud, and Rocky and Red attach tow cables to the rocket's wings in an attempt to adjust the angle of its entry. Back Earth, Superman defeats the robot and contacts Faraday.
Red and Rocky are able to adjust Flying Cloud's entry but are themselves facing death in the entry. In the rocket, Flagg's life flashes before him and, knowing that the warheads cannot be jettison, he and Karin embrace and activates the rocket's self-destruct button. Outside, Superman is able to save Rocky and Red.
Sometime later, Flagg and Karin's funeral is held at Arlington National Cemetery and were given a 21 gun salute (which was usually reserved for Memorial Day and dead presidents) by President Eisenhower. Faraday sadly sits near their graves where he had set up a portrait of Flagg and Karin painted by the latter.
At Ferris Aircraft, Hal, with permission from engineer Tom "Pieface" Kalmaku, has a moment with the Flying Cloud simulator that is about to be disassembled to mope over his chance in space. Suddenly a green light stirs around him. Directly after, Carol hears a rocking sound coming from the simulator room. Upon checking, she finds the simulator and Hal are gone and there is now a large gaping hole in the ceiling.
Appearing in "Mystery in Space"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- The Flash
- King Faraday
- Carol Ferris
- Task Force X
- Richard Flagg, Sr.
- Karin Grace
- Jess Bright
- James Gordon
- Slam Bradley
- Wonder Woman
- Superman
- Batman
- Challengers of the Unknown
- Thomas "Pieface" Kalmaku
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Jay Garrick
- Detective Fleetwood
- Harvey Bullock
- Harry Lieter
- Mademoiselle Marie
- Adam Strange
- William Magnus
- Vandal Savage
- Amazons
Locations:
- Earth-21
- Central City
- Coast City, California
- Metropolis
- Gotham City
- Paradise Island
- Ferris Aircraft
- Nellis Air Force Base
Items:
Vehicles:
- Flying Cloud
Notes
- This issue was dedicated to John Broome, Will Eisner, Frank Frazetta, and Wally Wood.
- Faraday's statement to Flash of being placed "next to Rex Tyler (Hourman)" reveals that Rex survived his near fatal fall in issue #1 and has been kept imprisoned and under watch by Task Force X's Argent and that his "death" was part of a cover-up. This is evident in Chapter Nine, as Tyler's name is imprinted under a security TV monitor that observes his cell at Nellis Air Force Base, which is being used as a prison for "mystery men." Also among the prisoners is Captain Cold (albeit in name only) and Vandal Savage.
- This issue is reprinted in DC: The New Frontier Vol. 2 and DC: The New Frontier Deluxe Edition.
Trivia
- "Mystery in Space" is named after a science fiction anthology that was published by National Comics before being bought under DC Comics.
- June Robbins' induction into the Challengers team due to helping the team with a "giant robot thing" is a reference to the mainstream June Robbins' creation of the robot Ultivac, which causes her to join the Challengers.
- Among the newspaper clippings on J'onn J'onzz's office walls is an article on Rosa Parks' arrest.
- The unnamed host of The Big Picture bears a striking resemblance to journalist Edward R. Murrow, who was best known for leading the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy and regarded as one of journalism's greatest figures.
- The reporter that Flash interrupted for his announcement was Walter Cronkite.
See Also