Hey, I actually contributed to a line of thinking that was part of the actual solution for once!
If we assume (as darksurtur stated) that we're looking for a nine letter word (or phrase), then it's
BE XXX FUEL
and the XXX comes from Absolute Zero somehow
So far each word phrase has been a complete set (as in two words that make sense).
so what 5 letter word (since they add up to 9), goes with "fuel"?
What is "Fuel 4 AZ (Absolute zero)"
be the gate barcode= causation
So what is the purpose of the riddle inside the source code???
Keep in mind, the Riddle, near the end, states "be careful to take from only the end". That would lead me to think that "the" may not be correct, but rather just the 'e' from the word.
No clue… for fun? Or maybe it will pertain to the one in this new link?
probably matches up with "F—" from the next puzzle?
So... ColdWar is an alt version of AZ/Proletariat?
That cover looks like Setback leading a team of heroic versions of Ashabuta, Apostate, Kismet and Ermine at the least. I don't recognize the woman who is a Time Ranger (is it La Capitain?), and the woman in the background (Tachyon's nemeis?).
I think the D… E… F… G… is just The Harpy talking while she thumbs through the index. I'm not saying it's NOT a clue, but it doesn't feel like one to me.
It references the other comics so this might be where the bolded words come in to fill in the D, E, F, and G. Although maybe F is Fuel. So we have to check out the other comics we found.
So far in the next puzzle, we've got causation (barcode), space time (below barcode), and unflagging in the comic, which could be a reference to unflagging animation.
Am I the only one who is praying the last box has a stack of alternate reality heros (like promos).
Although it looks like the covers we discovered arent in the selection. So maybe the cards need to be referenced from their flavor text?
Wow...no idea about the next puzzle...but Promo Skyscraper? Team Leader Setback? Parse with Captain Cosmic Powers? Awesome!
Possibly ways to mix cards from different decks… 
It seems like we will be getting at least a few Heroic versions of current villian decks, and I do hope to see a lot of alt-heroes. Hopefully a proper Beacon deck, too.
It seems really unlikely to me that it would be random. Maybe a shift three letters forward (or backward) is involved somewhere?
I think that's Parse as Captain Cosmic. Notice the arrow.