Posted in: Comics, DC Comics, Doomsday Clock | Tagged: 5g, 5g remains, dc comics, gary frank

The Gary Frank 5G Cover That Wasn't

Published Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:27:10 -0600

Last updated Thu, 12 Jan 2023 16:59:30 -0600

Gary Frank, artist of Batman: Earth One, Doomsday Clock and Geiger, with writer Geoff Johns, has tweeted information about one of his more mysterious projects. The Generation covers that weren't. But we start two years ago.

In February 2020, Gary Frank teased the following image on Twitter, showing a classic Golden Age Wonder Woman skirt, with the phrase "who likes the classics". It was soon revealed just what this was to be used for.

Generation One, the first of five one-shots that would lead up to Generation Five – or 5G. But then DC Comics Publisher Dan DiDio, the man behind this move that would have seen the DC Universe aged up and replaced with younger characters in familiar roles – was fired. And it all went away. But before that all happened, we got this preview of Gary Frank's artwork for Generation One – as well as design elements for subsequent Generations. But DC Comics are a waste not, want not, type of place. And Gary Frank's Generations covers was reused in December 2020 for Death Metal oneshots.

With a cover that would originally have been used for Generation One. This suggests that the following image would have been used for Generation Two.

And the one after that for Generation Three.

And then they were repurposed to be covers to three December 2020 Death Metal one-shot covers. And nothing to do with the contents of the comic books at all. Well, Gary Frank just tweeted what actually happened – and who was meant to be on the fourth and fifth covers. He writes;

"I suppose enough time has passed. There was to be a 4th (&5th!). The cape was Batwoman's. The central figure was to be Flash. The 5th cover was a new version of everyone but the project died with Dan Didio's departure. It was then repurposed as a wrap for a collected Doomsday Clock as four covers. In this form Doctor Manhattan would have be the central figure of the 4th. Then I was told that it was just going to be used as it was with no f4th cover needed."

The 5th cover, with a new version of everyone, would have been the 5G versions of various superheroes, Jace Fox as Batman, Jon Kent as Superman, Tara Flor as Wonder Woman, and the rest.

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