DC: The New Frontier #3

March 13, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: The Brave and the Bold

As the Challengers of the Unknown are born, Hal Jordan finds a new purpose.

Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Cover Art: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics

The various plotlines woven into the first two issues of The New Frontier finally start to converge, albeit tangentially, in this issue. Four brave men band together as the Challengers of the Unknown. Meanwhile, J’onn J’onzz finds his secret jeopardized and Hal Jordan signs up with Ferris Aircraft, unaware of the fate that awaits him.

Darwyn Cooke’s story gets a bit more interesting this issue as some of the various plotlines from the first two issues begin to connect. He has done a good job generating a feel for the silver age incarnations of these characters, with the exception of the “big three” of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, each of whom seems like more of a holdover of their golden age selves and who are, in fact, painted as something of an “old guard” in this series. Cooke also adds in a new character in this issue, a black man who sets out to take revenge on white supremacists that assaulted him. The story isn’t entirely original, of course, but I find myself curious about it mostly because, DC geek that I am, I can’t seem to figure out what character he is supposed to be a corollary for.

If there’s any problem with this book, it’s that so much of it seems like retreaded territory. While the classic versions of the characters are welcome, the red scare story and the reactionary Commie-hunter story are both somewhat worn out, and Cooke’s storyline doesn’t feel like it’s adding much to it, at least not yet.

As usual, his artwork is fantastic. Cooke’s iconic style is absolutely perfect for an old-fashioned comic book story, or a story that tries to take old fashioned elements and cast them in a new light. He draws the best classic versions of Superman and Batman that I’ve seen since the creators themselves put down their pencils, and the otherworldly form he gives the Martian Manhunter is spot-on.

So far, this series is more remarkable for the artwork than the storyline, but the storyline is okay. And it’s still got plenty to potential to grow – Cooke just needs to find the new paths that are available with such great source material and stop going down the old ones so much.

Rating: 7/10

DC: The New Frontier #2

February 18, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Strange Adventures

A newcomer comes to Earth and more heroes are born

Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Cover Art: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics

After the first issue of Darwyn Cooke’s “not-an-Elseworlds-but-not-in-continuity” miniseries, I couldn’t quite figure out what he was trying to create. With this issue I think I’ve got it – we’re seeing the DC Universe as it may have unfolded had the characters of the Silver Age appeared on the same world as the Golden Age characters instead of creating the Earth-1/Earth-2 concept. He mixes this in, of course, with liberal amounts of commentary on the Cold War and the Korean Conflict, and it comes together in a pretty good tapestry, even if all the pieces don’t seem to connect as of yet.

We follow several heroes in this book – the early career of Barry Allen as the Flash, the end of the career of Ted “Wildcat” Grant, and a take on the Martian Manhunter’s exile on Earth that both fits the time period and slips in some needed comic relief in the process. (I always knew he was a Looney Tunes fan.)

One thing about consolidating the worlds, however, is that some of the big characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman come across as Golden Age holdovers rather than contemporaries of the new characters. In and of itself, this isn’t a problem, but I find I do have to take issue with Cooke’s portrayal of Wonder Woman. Even out-of-continuity, like this is, Wonder Woman has always been a reluctant warrior, someone who fought while she yearned for peace. In this book she is painted as a very different, almost bloodthirsty character, and that doesn’t sit well at all.

Cooke’s artwork, however, is above reproach. This is one great-looking comic book. He takes the classic designs of these characters and incorporates them into an art style many people would dismiss as being “cartoonish,” and yet it all looks stunningly real. His Batman is a truer Dark Knight than we’ve seen in many an age, and his Superman has a fantastic style clearly and wonderfully inspired by the Max Fleischer animated shorts of the 1940s.

This title has a lot of plot threads, however, and even in the double-sized format the reader is left marking time, waiting for them to come together. I’m more confident now that they eventually will, but the question is, will they converge before the reader’s patience wears out?

Rating: 8/10

DC: The New Frontier #1

January 18, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Our Fighting Forces

In the 1950s, the DC Universe begins to change.

Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Letters: Dave Stewart
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Cover Art: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics

This is not an easy comic book to categorize. It’s been suggested that it’s a thematic sequel to James Robinson’s The Golden Age. It’s called a new beginning for the DCU. The only thing I can say for sure is that it’s a few interesting Silver Age stories set in the DCU, and we’ve yet to see how they link together.

In the first chapter, the group of American warriors called the Losers (the original group, not the ones running around the Vertigo imprint), are sent to rescue Rick Flagg, commander of the first Suicide Squad, from an island populated with dinosaurs. Chapter two reveals the final fate of the golden age heroes, focusing mainly on Hourman, and chapter three focuses on a young Korean War fighter pilot named Hal Jordan.

Cooke, both in writing and artwork, displays a real love for the silver age characters and style. Jack Kirby would be proud of how it looks, and the climax of chapter one is absolutely spellbinding. I can honestly say it’s the best Losers story I’ve ever read.

The problem is that the book seems disjointed. You get the sense that everything you’re reading is supposed to come together, to link, to mean something, but it doesn’t. Cooke is a good enough storyteller that it will almost certainly come together in future issues, but that does weaken this debut. As so many comic books these days go, it will probably read much better in a collected edition.

The other problem is the Cold War setting. Cooke uses it well, but the parallels to McCarthyism have been done and done and done again, and if he doesn’t find a new way to tell the story, this entire series runs a very high risk of being clichéd and boring.

Still, I love old-school superheroes, and Cooke has tapped into one of my favorite eras of the DC Universe, so I’m pre-inclined to be forgiving of bumps in the road. He uses the pre-Green Lantern Hal Jordan well, has a great scene with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, and as I said, the climax to chapter one was fantastic. This is a title that, when all is said and done, could go either way – it may be another classic, or it may be another footnote. Let’s hope for the former.

Rating: 7/10