Cover of the first issue.

INFINITY INC.

Medium: Comic books
Published by: DC Comics
First Appeared: 1983
Creators: Roy Thomas (writer) and Jerry Ordway (artist)
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When Roy Thomas, one of the first superhero fans to become a professional comic book writer and editor, achieved a position of authority at Marvel Comics, among his earliest acts was to launch a couple of series, The Invaders and The Liberty Legion, based on Marvel's 1940s characters. When he switched over to the other major comics publisher, DC, he …

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… did it again — among his most prominent early DC titles were All-Star Squadron (a conglomeration of DC's entire '40s roster) and Infinity Inc.

The latter was a group of second generation superheroes, whose roots lay in The Justice Society of America. Jade and Obsidian were the daughter and son, respectively, of the JSA's Green Lantern. Fury was the daughter of Wonder Woman. Northwind was the godson of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and The Silver Scarab (no relation) was their natural son. Nuklon was a protegé of The Atom and grandson of one of his villains. Brainwave Jr.'s father was one of the JSA's major bad guys, and his mother was Merry, Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks. The Star-Spangled Kid (later re-named after the old Skyman), who had been an actual '40s superhero kept young through time travel, served as the group's leader. Unofficial regular associates and later additions included Power Girl (cousin of the 1940s version of Superman), The Huntress (daughter of the '40s Batman and Catwoman), and new versions of Wildcat, Dr. Mid-Nite and Hourman. Unlike DC's first second-generation superhero group, The Inferior Five, these guys were intended to be taken seriously.

The new characters' first attempt at superherodom was to apply for JSA membership, but they were turned down for lack of experience. They promptly acquired that asset by being swept up in a time-traveling adventure with the majority of DC's World War II heroes, which occurred in All-Star Squadron #s 25-26 (Sept-Oct 1983). After that, they decided to form a team of their own. Infinity Inc. #1 was dated March, 1984. Thomas (who also co-created DC's Arak, Son of Thunder and Marvel's Man-Thing) wrote all of the early appearances, and they were drawn by Jerry Ordway (who was also behind a 1990s revival of Captain Marvel).

The series took place on DC's Earth-Two, which had been created in 1961 to house the publisher's '40s superheroes, so as to avoid contradictions between those and the "modern" versions of the same characters. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 1985-86 company-wide crossover series, Earths One, Two and Whatever were consolidated, to make the DC Universe back-story less confusing for newer readers. This necessitated considerable adjustment to the backgrounds of several Infinitors (as members were called), resulting, in many cases, in more confusion than ever.

This may be why the series lasted only a couple more years. The group was disbanded in the 53rd issue (August, 1988). Some of the members have been seen elsewhere in the years since, while others appear to have been forgotten.

— DDM

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Text ©2003-10 Donald D. Markstein. Art © DC Comics.