Spoilers ahead for Infinite Frontier #6!
For the duration of Infinite Frontier, Darkseid has been assumed to be the event’s main villain, but there may be an even greater evil on the horizon. In Infinite Frontier #6, Darkseid assembles both his family and a host of the Multiverse’s worst villains, telling them he now seeks to control a new power—a power that may be the Multiverse’s undoing, and it has its roots in Alan Moore’s acclaimed Swamp Thing run.
Infinite Frontier spins out of both Dark Nights: Death Metal and Future State. The Multiverse has been reborn, created again by the Hands, mysterious beings from the greater Omniverse. Darkseid has also been reborn, in a new and ultimate form. After murdering every member of the Quintessence, Darkseid sets out to crack the Omniverse, which he will harness to conquer the Multiverse. After giving the Psycho Pirate an upgrade, Darkseid makes his way to the mysterious Earth Omega, where he captures the Flash and forces him to run faster than ever, hoping to pierce the barrier. A team of heroes from across the multiverse, including the Justice Incarnate and the Justice Society, have engaged Darkseid in combat on Earth Omega. They are successful in freeing the Flash and temporarily thwarting Darkseid’s plans—and readers learn there may be worse things than Darkseid. Infinite Frontier #6 is written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Xermanico, colors by Romulo Farjado Jr and letters by Tom Napolitano.
After his humiliating defeat, Darkseid gathers at the edge of the Multiverse, his family and new acolyte Extract attending him; he is also addressing some of the worst cosmic beings from across creation, including the Upside-Down Man and the Empty Hands. He tells them that Earth Omega was a trap left over from the Crisis on Infinite Earths and they will find the Flash and crack the Omniverse. He then tells those assembled that he alone will control…the Great Darkness. Readers then see a black void beyond the Lord of Apokolips.
The issue ends there, with no explanation for what the Great Darkness is, yet the answer may lie in Alan Moore’s epic Swamp Thing run from the 1980s. In one of Moore’s key stories, the multi-issue epic “American Gothic,” Swamp Thing travels around the country, confronting the worst varieties of evil. As the storyline progresses, readers learn that a great evil is coming, unlike any seen before. In issue #50, this evil finally arrives, and Earth’s greatest mystics must band together to stop it. The evil, which predates creation, kills Zatara and Sargon, and seriously injures the Spectre, Etrigan and Deadman. Swamp Thing is successful in convincing the entity to abandon its plans, but it is never outright defeated.
This evil entity, called the “Primordial Darkness” by some, was never seen again. Could this “Primordial Darkness” be the “Great Darkness” Darkseid refers to? The Great Darkness seems to exist outside of the scope of creation—much like the Primordial Darkness. It was considered the ultimate embodiment of evil in the DC Universe, capable of tearing through their mystical heavyweights with ease. Considering this, it is easy to see why Darkseid would seek to control it for himself in Infinite Frontier. Yet, could this Primordial Darkness prove too much even for him?
