Threshold #1

History

Threshold was conceived by Keith Giffen — co-creator of The Omega Men and L.E.G.I.O.N. — as a vehicle to reintroduce 'dozens' of dormant DC space characters under New 52 continuity, with penciller Tom Raney on the main feature. Announced in October 2012 as part of DC's 'Fourth Wave,' the series replaced the cancelled G.I. Combat and spun its story directly out of plot threads established in Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1 and Blue Beetle #16 (both dated March 2013). In a pre-launch interview with CBR, Giffen credited DC editorial — specifically a suggestion from Dan DiDio — with proposing the 'Running Man'/'Hunger Games'-style competition at the core of 'The Hunted,' while Giffen shaped the mechanics and cast; he also acknowledged that the Larfleeze backup was assigned to him by editorial rather than sought out. The series was cancelled with issue #8 after poor sales, but its collected edition, Threshold Vol. 1: The Hunted (ISBN 978-1-4012-4333-3), gathers all eight issues plus Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published January 16, 2013 (cover date March 2013); written by Keith Giffen, main art by Tom Raney, backup art by Scott Kolins; cover by Howard Porter and John Dell; Kenneth Rocafort variant also issued.
• First New 52 / Prime Earth appearances of Jediah Caul (the series' protagonist, a disgraced deep-cover Green Lantern whose discharged power ring is embedded in his chest), Ember, Rikane 'Ric' Starr (a former Space Ranger), Stealth (L.E.G.I.O.N. veteran and long-running Hunted survivor), Star Hawkins, and villain Bleeding Adonis (host of The Hunted game show).
• The main story, 'The Hunted,' introduces the Tenebrian Dominion and its planet Tolerance, where political enemies of Lady Styx are forced onto a live glimmernet bounty-hunting game show — a concept Giffen described as 'Running Man by way of Battle Royale.'
• The backup story, 'Nine Tenths of the Law,' begins Larfleeze's first ongoing serial (drawn by Scott Kolins), in which Pulsar Stargrave is introduced in his New 52 form as a reluctant straight-man foil to Larfleeze — this backup ran issues #1–5 before Larfleeze spun off into a self-titled series co-written by J.M. DeMatteis.
• The series was announced as part of the New 52's 'Fourth Wave' and replaced the cancelled G.I. Combat (Vol. 3); it spun directly out of Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1.
• Giffen planned the book as a wide-ranging revival vehicle, intending to bring back the Omega Men, Space Ranger, Lady Styx, Space Cabbie, Tommy Tomorrow, the Star Rovers, and Star Hawkins into New 52 continuity across the run.
• The entire eight-issue run was collected in Threshold Vol. 1: The Hunted (DC Comics, 2014; ISBN 978-1-4012-4333-3), which also reprints Green Lantern: New Guardians Annual #1.
• Characters listed in our catalog as appearing — Green Arrow / Oliver Queen / Katana / Tatsu Yamashiro — do not appear in the DC Database or any other corroborated source for Threshold #1; these are almost certainly catalog-entry errors or crossover-index artifacts and should be flagged for review.

Cast · 12 characters

Full credits

Variants (1)