Infinity, Inc. #4
Issue #4 of the ten-part 'Generations' saga is the chapter where Roy and Dann Thomas finally pull back the curtain on the twin children of Alan Scott: Jade (Jennie-Lynn Hayden) and Obsidian (Todd Rice) receive their first proper origin treatment here, laying the emotional and genealogical foundation that would define both characters for decades. The issue also delivers the first detailed account of Northwind's backstory — rooting him in Feithera, the hidden bird-people civilization first glimpsed in a 1946 Hawkman story — which Thomas accomplished by reprinting that Golden Age tale wholesale inside a then-current DC ongoing, a bold editorial gesture that doubled as an act of continuity archaeology. On top of all that, the cliff-hanger revelation that several Justice Society members have apparently turned up dead raises the generational conflict at the series' core to its highest dramatic pitch yet.
In "Origins and Outcasts! Part IV of the 'Generations' Saga," Jade, Obsidian, and Northwind confront the lingering echoes of their pasts as they bring Solomon Grundy to the mystical island of Feithera. Back on the mainland, a shocking discovery awaits: several members of the Justice Society have vanished—lost to the sea. Written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, with dynamic art by Jerry Ordway and bold cover by Ordway, this 1984 issue deepens the mystery of legacy and loss in the DC Universe.
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The book grew directly out of Roy Thomas's Earth-Two stewardship on All-Star Squadron; he and his wife Dann Thomas co-plotted every issue of the parent series and carried that partnership into Infinity, Inc. from issue #1 onward. Thomas's affection for Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert's 1946 Hawkman story 'The Land of the Bird People' from Flash Comics #71 was the seed from which Northwind — and, by extension, Feithera's role in this issue — grew: Thomas stated explicitly that he and Dann created Northwind because he had 'been enraptured' by that tale and wanted a Hawkman-lineage character whose wings were biological rather than strapped-on Nth Metal. The regular art team of penciler Jerry Ordway and inker Mike Machlan handled both the new story pages and the cover, while the embedded reprint from Flash Comics #71 carried the original Joe Kubert art (though at least one fan-historian notes the pages may have been partially redrawn by Al Dellinges for reproduction). Editor Roy Thomas — who also wrote the book — was supported by associate editor Janice Race and managing editor Tom Condon.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover-dated July 1984; on-sale March 27, 1984 per Grand Comics Database; published by DC Comics as part of the Earth-Two continuity (Pre-Crisis).
- Story title: 'Generations Part Four: Origins and Outcasts!' — the fourth chapter of a ten-part mega-arc. Script by Roy Thomas, co-plot by Dann Thomas, pencils by Jerry Ordway, inks by Mike Machlan.
- First detailed origin of Jade (Jennie-Lynn Hayden) and Obsidian (Todd Rice) as the twin children of Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott and his villain/love interest Rose Canton (Thorn) — crucial backstory for both characters' subsequent decades-long histories.
- First detailed origin of Northwind (Norda Cantrell): his parentage (anthropologist Fred Cantrell and Feitheran woman Osoro, daughter of spiritual leader Worla) is established, tying him genealogically to Hawkman Carter Hall's legacy rather than by blood.
- Contains a 9-page reprint of the Gardner Fox/Joe Kubert Hawkman story 'The Land of the Bird People' from Flash Comics #71 (May 1946), embedded as a diegetic flashback — a notable example of Thomas using Golden Age source material as live continuity text within a contemporary story.
- First appearance of Jade's foster parents Julian and Myrna Hayden (in flashback), per the darkmark6 index; also includes the character Yakta in a sole appearance.
- The Monitor — harbinger of Crisis on Infinite Earths — makes a cameo appearance, one of his pre-Crisis seeding appearances across DC's line in 1984.
- Reprinted in Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga, Vol. 1 (DC, 2011; ISBN 978-1401231057), which collects Infinity Inc. #1–4 alongside the All-Star Squadron issues that preceded them.
Cast · 36 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Jade, Obsidian, and Northwind bring Solomon Grundy to Feithera while discussing their origins. Returning to the mainland United States, they discover that several members of the Justice Society have drowned.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).