The New Frontier!

Darwyn Cooke's 2004 epic DC: The New Frontier is truly that, a mighty and lasting epic. It is at once of its time and timeless, it is simultaneously historical and mythic, and it tells a story we all know but which is fresh and new and compelling. And that doesn't for a moment consider that Cooke's artwork is fetching beyond words and his storytelling itself is eloquent and grand and brazen and nigh flawless. I heap a lot of praise on this "Elseworlds" effort (does DC still use this phrase) which relates how the Golden Age of heroes fell before the paranoia of the Red Scare and how new heroes were still able nonetheless to come from the shadows when a startling menace appears. This story has touches of H.P. Lovecraft with a eldritch monster from the depths of both outer space and of Earth's prehistory, a malevolent intelligence that communicates with certain humans in their dreams, driving them mad and often to their death. This story evokes time and again the shining heroism of The Right Stuff, the opulent romance about America's earliest space program.

We get to see some of the greatest of the DC heroes in fresh lights that makes them feel more real to me and not just characters in yet another yarn about saving the planet, though that's just what this is. The heroes in focus in this story are not necessarily the ones you'd first expect given that this is a stealth origin of the Justice League story. We focus on the tragic WWII outfit The Losers, the relentless Cold War Suicide Squad, and the complex Challengers of the Unknown, with types like Slam Bradley and King Faraday getting substantial roles.  We meet and follow novice heroes like Hal Jordan as Green Lantern and Barry Allen as The Flash. A significant effort is spent making Martian Manhunter a compelling character, as much a cinematic creation as a comic book one. And finally there is the grim American fable of John Henry, a tormented black man who takes the fight to the Klu Klux Klan in the bowels of the South. Loved the treatment of DC's big three with Wonder Woman in particular coming across as a warrior born, Superman as truly the greatest of heroes and Batman as the wily schemer and tactician at which he excels.  

I read the story in the "Black Label" edition which puts the story together into one tome and doesn't divide the sections by anything other than the chapters Cooke used internally throughout the series. It reads and feels like a true "graphic novel", a complex tale of inspiring heroism in a time fraught with danger and menace. It's one of those stories in which you probably know the good guys will win, but until they do it holds you by the throat. Also this one is filled with loads of extras such as the copious annotations to each installment and lots of anticipatory art and such. 

Here are the covers for the original series and the subsequent JLA one-shot specials. 

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