Infinity, Inc.
Infinity Inc. | |
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Creative team | |
Created by | Roy Thomas Jerry Ordway Mike Machlan |
Written by | Roy Thomas Dann Thomas |
Penciller(s) | Various |
Infinity, Inc. is a team of
The first incarnation is mostly composed of the children and heirs of the Justice Society of America (JSA), making them the Society's analogue to the Teen Titans. Created by Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, and Mike Machlan, Infinity, Inc. first appears in All-Star Squadron #25 (September 1983).[1] There is also an eponymous comics series starring the group[2] that ran from March 1984 through June 1988.
The second incarnation was formed by Lex Luthor.
The third incarnation was formed by Steel.
Publication history
Fictional team biography
Infinity, Inc. (vol. 1, 1984–1988)
Formation
Hector Hall, Lyta Trevor, Norda Cantrell, and Albert Rothstein decide to adopt identities of their own and apply for membership in the
Infinity, Inc. first faces the JSA, turned evil by the Ultra-Humanite's Stream of Ruthlessness. They defeat the JSA and the Ultra-Humanite.[6] In a press conference to garner media attention for the new team, the members publicly divulge their secret identities, and Hector announces his engagement to Lyta. Star-Spangled Kid forms a partnership with the city of Los Angeles to commission his team as for-hire protectors and purchases Stellar Studios to revitalize its production of movies.[7]
Clashes with Helix
Fury is kidnapped in an extortion attempt by the villain group known as
Later, the second Wildcat, Yolanda Montez, learns that she is a cousin of new Helix member Carcharo and that they are products of the same genetic experiments of Doctor Love as Helix. The two teams battle to a stalemate. Mister Bones is arrested, but the others escape.[9]
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Infinity, Inc. is involved in the
The Silver Scarab saga
Even with all of his friends at Infinity, Inc., Hector leaves the group after a fall out with Lyta. Shortly afterward the team learns that the JSA has disappeared. The other members notify people associated with JSA members of the society's disappearance.[11] Professor James Rock contacts Hector, though he is presumed to be long dead. Northwind travels to Hall Mansion to confront Hector, only to find him already under Hath-Set's manipulations, who used Rock's alias.[12]
Hector kidnaps Fury, and he and Hath-Set uncover the Eye of Ra, a powerful and ancient weapon. Northwind returns and leads Infinity, Inc. into a final confrontation with the Silver Scarab at Hall Mansion, which, when burned down, reveals a topless pyramid inside. While Northwind confronts the Silver Scarab in a duel, Nuklon saves Fury.
The Eye of Ra denies the Silver Scarab control and flies away. The Silver Scarab is not pure enough in the eyes of Seketh, the Egyptian god of Death, for the pureness of Hector's heart lives on in his unborn child with Lyta. Therefore, he is not fully cleansed of his goodness and the Silver Scarab is thrown away by the Eye's power. Northwind is able to close the Eye of Ra while Hath-Set escapes. Infinity, Inc. mourn the loss of Hector, and Northwind and Fury leave the team after his funeral.[13]
A pregnant Lyta goes home to spend time with her parents. When Nuklon goes to visit her to profess his love, she tells him she is not over Hector yet and that she only has friendly feelings for him. Disappointed, he discovers that there is a prowler sneaking around the property. Nuklon captures him and discovers him to be Hector Hall, the new Sandman. Hector reveals that his spirit wound up in the dream dimension after the scarab ejected it from his body. The former Sandman, Garrett Sanford, died after years of service and his assistants Brute and Glob conscripted Hector to replace him. They put Hector into Garrett's body and gave him a new life. He can only come out of the dream stream for one hour a day, but it is enough for him and Lyta to rekindle their relationship.
Death in the Family
During Hector and Lyta Trevor-Hall's wedding,
Infinite Crisis
A post-Infinite Crisis version of the original Infinity, Inc. appears in Justice Society of America (vol. 3) Annual #1 in 2008, and is known as the Justice Society Infinity after it merges with its world's Justice Society of America. The Earth-2 versions of Silver Scarab, Fury, Jade, and Northwind are members, but their Superman is missing, their Flash is retired, and their Green Lantern (Alan Scott) is dead.[15]
JSA: Black Reign
The closest that Infinity, Inc. has come to reforming is when Brainwave (under Mister Mind's thrall), Atom Smasher, Northwind, Nemesis, and Eclipso (who at the time was being controlled by the second Wildcat's cousin Alex Montez), were Black Adam's army in Khandaq. Black Adam mentions in an internal monologue that he had also thought of recruiting Power Girl for the group to further strengthen the Infinity, Inc. ties.[16][17]
52
In the aftermath of
Unbeknownst to the team, Luthor is able to "shut off" any of the team's powers at any time, as he does to Trajectory during a battle, causing her death at the hands of
A new version of
This version of Infinity, Inc. makes frequent appearances in the local media, acting both as a commercial stunt for the Everyman Project,[21] and as a control system against rogue metahumans spawned from the Project itself.[22]
Natasha begins to collect evidence against Luthor and the Everyman Project for Steel and enlists Skyman to help her. Skyman is later killed by Everyman, who then assumes his identity, and reveals Natasha's duplicity to Luthor.[23] Luthor captures Natasha as bait to lure Steel and reveals that he has used the exo-gene therapy on himself and now possesses the same powers as Superman. Recruiting the Teen Titans, John Henry storms LexCorp to rescue Natasha.
The Titans take on Nuklon and the others while Irons faces Everyman and Luthor. Luthor severely injures Irons and impales him with his own hammer before Natasha is able to destroy Lex's exo-gene with an electromagnetic pulse from Steel's hammer, allowing him to be knocked out easily. The remaining members of Infinity, Inc. are taken into custody while Natasha and John Henry reunite.[24]
In 52 Week 50, day six, Nuklon, Jade, Matrix, and Fury are seen among the heroes during World War III. Scott asks them to help in the final push against Black Adam. They refuse and flee the battlefield.
Infinity Inc. (vol. 2, 2007 – 2008)
Infinity Inc. (vol. 2) | |
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Creative team | |
Written by | Peter Milligan |
Artist(s) | Max Fiumara (#1–2) Matt Camp (#6–7) Pete Woods (#8–10) |
Penciller(s) | Max Fiumara (#3–5) Travel Foreman (#3) Javier Aranda (#11–12) |
Inker(s) | Matthew Southworth (#3–5) Dom Regan (#6–7) Javier Enebral (#11–12) |
Dan DiDio revealed at a DC Nation panel in Los Angeles that a new Infinity, Inc. ongoing series would debut in September 2007 with John Henry Irons as the main character. The book was written by Peter Milligan with art by Max Fiumara.[25]
The first issues focuses on Natasha Irons (formerly Starlight), Erik Strom (formerly Fury), and Gerome McKenna (formerly Nuklon), a year after the end of the Everyman Project. Natasha is living with her uncle John Henry Irons and is in
In issue #10, Mercy admits she is not ready to be on a team, and leaves. Issue #11 begins a two issue arc that ties into the Dark Side Club.
When the splintered McKenna personality is able to wrest control over the main body (as shown when McKenna's main personality is transported in Desaad's labs, while his duplicate attempts to force himself on Lucia), the Infinitors try to stop him. However, the plan is revealed to be a trap. The duplicate fatally wounds McKenna to possess his body, but disappears when McKenna's weakens. The other subjects are trapped in a machine that is designed to take away the powers of the remaining Everymen without activating their metagene. Desaad admits he was forced to this course of action because the Everymen, even after turning into metahumans, are undetectable from Darkseid's minions, and they could be a wild card during the planned Final Crisis.
As a side effect of the machine, the Infinitors vanish. Steel, who arrives too late, swears he will resume his search for Natasha.
Infinity, Inc. reappeared briefly in the third issue of the Terror Titans mini-series, imprisoned by Desaad. Towards the end of the miniseries, an undercover Miss Martian tips Irons off about their imprisonment in the Terror Titans' headquarters, leading to their release.
Membership
Infinity Inc.
Founding members
Proposed members
In the original pitch for the Infinity, Inc. series, creators Roy Thomas and
In an interview with Alter Ego, Ordway explains: "Northwind is shown—but at his side [...] is a new, young, male Harlequin, who Jerry's notes suggest might become comics' first gay character. Or we could just assume it. Not a bad idea, and maybe we should have played it that way; but we were already going to have two Green Lantern-derived heroes in Infinity, Inc."
In promotional material appearing in All-Star Squadron #28, a Catwoman-like figure, riding what is referred to as a cat-cycle, appears alongside the Infinity, Inc. group. A caption refers to her as "La Garro", but she never appears in any of the team's adventures, or its comics under this name. She was later developed into the future Infinitor, the second Wildcat (Yolanda Montez).
Sandy Hawkins, also known as Sandy the Golden Boy, sidekick to the Sandman, is also referred to as a member, but does not end up being a member of the team. Thomas briefly toyed with the idea of giving the character superpowers based on Sandy's time as a sand-monster, but it was dropped because Thomas and others felt he could have ended up as the DC equivalent to Marvel's Sandman, which could have further confused a situation that had been a minor irritant between DC and Marvel from time to time. It was ultimately decided that with the cast as large as it had become Sandy was one of the characters to be dropped.
Allies
- Pat Dugan - Formerly the hero Stripesy, he acted as team's mechanic.[26]
- Solomon Grundy - He acted as Jade's protector.[27]
- Jonni Thunder- A female private detective.
Collected editions
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga | Infinity Inc. (vol. 1) #1-4, All-Star Squadron #25-26, Annual #2 | September 2011 | 978-0857684325 |
Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Edition Vol. 2 | Infinity, Inc. (vol. 1) #18-25, Annual #1 and DC Comics Presents #86, Swamp Thing #44, Losers Special #1, Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, Justice League of America #244-245, New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #13-14 and material from Detective Comics #558 | May 2019 | 978-1401289218 |
Infinity Inc. Vol. 1: Luthor's Monsters | Infinity Inc. (vol. 2) #1-6 | July 2008 | 978-1845768836 |
Infinity Inc. Vol. 2: Bogeyman | Infinity Inc. (vol. 2) #7-12 | January 2009 | 978-1848560734 |
Convergence: Infinite Earths Book One | Convergence: Infinity Inc. #1-2 and Convergence: Action Comics #1-2, Convergence: Detective Comics #1-2, Convergence: Justice Society of America #1-2, Convergence: World's Finest #1-2 | November 2015 | 978-1401258375 |
In other media
- Lex Luthor's incarnation of Infinity, Inc. appears in Trajectory, Fury,[28] and Everyman.[29] This version of the team was created by Luthor to discredit the Outsiders and secretly assist the Light. After their connection to Luthor's criminal activities is exposed and their reputation is ruined, the Light reworks Infinity, Inc. into the Infinitors under Geo-Force's leadership and adds the size-shifting Kobold to the team.
- The Infinitors appear in the tie-in comic miniseries Young Justice: Targets, with the addition of Lizard Johnny and Jet.
- Stargirl executive producer Geoff Johns revealed that the two-part episode "Infinity Inc.", which sees Mister Bones becoming inspired by the Justice Society of America to create his own superhero team, was meant to serve as a backdoor pilot for a spin-off series based on Infinity Inc.[30]
References
- ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.)
The children of the original Justice Society of America made their smash debut in this issue by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Jerry Ordway... All-Star Squadron #25 marked the first appearances of future cult-favorite heroes Jade, Obsidian, Fury, Brainwave Jr., the Silver Scarab, Northwind, and Nuklon.
{{cite book}}
:|first2=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 207: "Written by DC's Golden Age guru Roy Thomas and drawn by Jerry Ordway, Infinity, Inc. was released in DC's new deluxe format on bright Baxter paper".
- ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Infinity, Inc". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #1 (March 1984). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #2–11 (May 1984 – February 1985). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #12 (March 1985). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #16–18 (July – September 1985). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #25–29 (April – August 1986). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #31 (October 1986). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #30 (September 1986). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #37 (April 1987). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #42–44 (September – November 1987). DC Comics.
- ^ Infinity Inc. #51–53 (June – August 1988). DC Comics.
- ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) Annual #1 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- ^ JSA #56–58 (March – April 2004). DC Comics.
- ^ Hawkman (vol. 4) #23–25 (March – April 2004). DC Comics.
- ^ 52 Week 21 (September 27, 2006). DC Comics.
- ^ 52 Week 25 (October 25, 2006). DC Comics.
- ^ 52 Week 29 (November 22, 2006). DC Comics.
- ^ Barnett, Lola (November 2, 2006). "Lola's Lair: Starlight has 'Star Quality'". Daily Planet 52 Week Special. DC Comics.com.
- ^ Schuman, Josef (November 9, 2006). "'Everyman' Subject Turns to Crime". Daily Planet 52 Week Special. DC Comics.com.
- ^ 52 Week 39 (January 31, 2007). DC Comics.
- ^ 52 Week 40 (February 7, 2007). DC Comics.
- ^ "DC NATION PANEL FROM WW:LA". Newsarama. 2007-03-16. Archived from the original on 2007-03-20. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
- ^ Infinity Inc #28
- ^ Infinity Inc #36
- ^ "Ask Greg". s8.org. 2021-08-07.
- ^ "Ask Greg". s8.org. 2021-08-07.
- ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (2022-12-11). "Stargirl's Geoff Johns: Yep, a New Team Was Assembling for Possible Spinoff". TVLine. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
Further reading
- Infinity Inc. (1984) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Infinity Inc. (2007) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
External links
- Infinity, Inc. at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016.
- DCU Guide: Infinity Inc.