The Superman Family is poised to face a bold, new direction at the start of the DC Universe's upcoming era Infinite Frontier. Helmed by incoming writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson in the pages of both Superman and Action Comics, DC released a variant cover to Superman #29, kicking off the title's entry into Infinite Frontier, illustrated by artist John Timms. The cover showcases Superman alongside his friends and family, but also among several of his classic antagonists that are poised to play a major role when Johnson's run begins this March. And among the most interesting familiar faces to make a return on the variant cover is the murderous Red Cloud.
Red Cloud was introduced at the start of Brian Michael Bendis' run on Superman, created by Bendis and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez in 2018's DC Nation #0 (vol. 2). An enforcer for a Metropolis-based crime syndicate known as the Invisible Mafia, Red Cloud killed anyone who stood in her or her organization's way towards dominating the Metropolis underworld. To help keep her ear to the ground, Red Cloud worked as an investigative reporter at The Daily Planet under her civilian alter ego Robinson Goode, leading her to cross paths with Superman on multiple occasions, with her abilities to transform into a toxic cloud allowing her to elude capture and nearly kill the Man of Steel.
By the end of Bendis' run, Red Cloud went on a rampage, allying herself with an upgraded Parasite to menace the entire Superman Family. The Man of Tomorrow and his allies eventually defeated the villainous pair, exiling Parasite in the Phantom Zone while issuing an ultimatum to Red Cloud: Stand down, answer for her crimes and accept rehabilitation or join her partner in the Phantom Zone for good. Faced with little option, Red Cloud agreed to be taken into the authorities, fitted with a power dampener and imprisoned for all the evil she had committed, including the murder of Metropolis Deputy Fire Chief and Superman's friend Melody Moore.
Red Cloud is the most recent villain seen on the Infinite Frontier variant cover but her positioning is one of the more intriguing elements of her appearance: In contrast to many of the other villains looming in the background, Red Cloud is positioned closely to Jonathan and Martha Kent. This could be a simple matter of artistic layout but it could either indicate that Red Cloud could be targeting Clark Kent for revenge through his parents. Another possibility is that while the other villains are positioned above most of the heroic cast, Red Cloud is on the same level as the heroes. Given Superman's stern warning to Robinson, perhaps the former Invisible Mafia enforcer will opt to reform like Toyman, who is also seen in the background in a playful pose on the variant cover lest she faces the possibility of a Phantom Zone exile.
Plenty of big things are coming for the Superman Family, with some informed directly by the two-month event Future State. All of the Man of Steel's major allies and enemies appear assembled to usher in a new era but the biggest wild card of them all could be Red Cloud when she inevitably leaves prison, either escaping before completing her sentence or having embraced Superman's offer for redemption. Either way, the villain is guaranteed to play an important role in the months to come.
Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and illustrated by Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur, with a back-up story by Sean Lewis and Sami Basri, Superman #29 goes on sale March 9 from DC.