The New Frontier

AUTHOR: Cooke, Darwyn

ARTIST: Darwyn Cooke (illustrator); Dave Stewart (colorist); Jared K. Fletcher (letterer)

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 2004

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2004

Publication History

The New Frontier is author Darwyn Cooke’s homage to the transformative powers of the Golden Age and the Silver Age in American comics, contextualized within the social and cultural activities of American society between the post-World War II generation of the 1950’s and the youthful idealism of the early 1960’s. Originally published out of continuity as a six-issue limited miniseries, The New Frontier showcases nearly all of DC’s pantheon of heroes, both the top-tier characters and the obscure, from various military and war-themed titles of the 1950’s and 1960’s. The series was first collected in two separate volumes in 2004 and 2005, then released as a single-volume premier edition (Absolute DC: The New Frontier) in 2006. With the film adaptation, Justice League: The New Frontier (2008), DC also published a one-shot single issue in 2008, entitled Justice League: The New Frontier Special, which contains original stories connected to the limited series.

Plot

A play on President John F. Kennedy’s famous “new frontier” speech, Cooke’s The New Frontier focuses on multiple stories that are interwoven and connected by a single threat facing Earth. Set against the backgrounds of Joseph McCarthy-era America, the Korean War, the internal strife in Vietnam, the atomic age and the space race, and the challenges of racial segregation, The New Frontier is not a typical superhero drama, despite its major cast of characters. Instead, Cooke utilizes key DC Comics figures as vehicles for and windows into the social, political, and cultural issues that were in flux during the 1950’s and the first years of the 1960’s.

Another key facet of the narrative is the generational conflict between the old guard of heroes, who have become part of the “establishment,” and the more youthful heroes coming of age. There is also a conflict between heroes defined by their superabilities and those nonmetahumans who fight solely for a political or an ideological agenda. At the core, however, is a story of unity, as heroes of different generations and origins must come together and put aside past strife to combat the threat destroying the planet. Cooke treats the Golden and Silver Ages and the appearances of specific superheroes as key historical events in The New Frontier. By showcasing and presenting these heroes against the larger cultural landscape of both domestic and international events, Cooke treats them with respect and reverence, while simultaneously analyzing and critiquing their mythic values within the society that produced them.

Volumes

•DC: The New Frontier, Volume 1 (2004). Collects issues 1-3 of the limited series. Features the origins of Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern, the political persecution of superheroes such as Batman, the arrival of the Martian Manhunter, the dilemmas facing establishment heroes Wonder Woman and Superman, and the emergence of Barry Allen as the Flash.

•DC: The New Frontier, Volume 2 (2005). Collects issues 4-6 of the limited series. Features the unification of superheroes and nonmetahuman fighters against the extraterrestrial threat destroying Earth.

•Absolute DC: The New Frontier (2006). A hardcover, slipcased prestige edition collecting all six issues of the limited series, plus special features such as annotations, promotional art, and more.

Characters

•The Losers are a select group of American soldiers fighting in World War II. In Cooke’s story, they are the last great nonmetahuman heroes.

•Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern, is a fighter pilot serving in the Korean War who, after being shot down during aerial combat and killing a Korean soldier to survive, leaves the Air Force to become a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft. His brash and rebellious style causes him to be removed from a mission into space. However, upon receiving a fantastical ring from a dying alien, he is inducted into the intergalactic force known as the Green Lantern Corps, serving as the Green Lantern of Earth.

•Barry Allen, a.k.a. the Flash, is endowed with the ability of superspeed. He lives in seclusion, fearing persecution under the Joseph McCarthy-instituted law that requires superheroes to register with the federal government. When his girlfriend, Iris, is threatened, he breaks his silence as a hero and an outlaw to stop Captain Cold and rescue her. Later, as the Flash, he unites with the other superheroes to stop the alien crisis.

•Superman and Wonder Woman are the only superheroes to survive the persecution of metahumans in the aftermath of World War II, as they agree to register with the federal government and become official agents of the United States. While Superman upholds the agenda of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Wonder Woman defies the official decree and helps captured women in Indochina fight against their male aggressors. Although their roles in The New Frontier are largely symbolic, the characters serve as iconic leaders of the Golden Age who must work alongside younger Silver Age superheroes such as the Green Lantern, the Flash, and the Martian Manhunter.

•Batman is the only Golden Age hero who refuses to sign a loyalty oath to the federal government, and thus remains a renegade and an outlaw. A minor figure, he must adapt to the changing environment and transform from the Dark Knight into the supervisory patron of his new sidekick, Robin.

•Martian Manhunter, a.k.a. John Jones, comes to Earth as the result of an experiment to send radio waves into deep space. Fearing persecution and capture, he assumes the identity of police detective John Jones in order to utilize his powers and abilities to help earthlings. After he is captured by the U.S. government, he unites with Superman and the other heroes against the alien invasion.

Artistic Style

Cooke’s style harks back to the square, angular “block” approach found in the works of Jack Kirby, Dick Sprang, Wayne Boring, and Alex Toth during the Golden and Silver Ages of American comics, as well as to the designs utilized in the Fleischer brothers’ Superman cartoons of the 1930’s. At the same time, in order to capture the vintage look of 1950’s American art, Cooke incorporates and modifies the clear-line and flat-color styles found in British illustrator Rian Hughes’s work from the 1980’s and 1990’s. A master of neonoir and the chiaroscuro technique, Cooke developed his facility with black, white, and grayscale tones as an artist on DC’s Batman the Animated Series in the 1990’s and on earlier comic projects such as Batman: Ego (2000), Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street (2002), and other Batman-related titles of the 1990’s and early 2000’s. This retro visualization gives The New Frontier a classic, vintage atmosphere that recalls the comic book styling of the 1950’s and 1960’s without appearing dated or exaggerated. Additionally, as part of the neoclassic revivalism in comics that emerged in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, in which many writers returned to the older heroes of the Golden and Silver Ages and reinvigorated them with modern sensibilities, Cooke’s art reflects the bold, clean, and definitive colors of the superheroes he is designing. Similar artistic approaches are found in the work of Cooke’s contemporaries, including Bruce Timm, Mike Allred, and Cameron Stewart.

Themes

Cooke contextualizes the central superhero narrative against the larger canvas of the social, cultural, and political issues facing Cold War America, allowing The New Frontier to explore several key themes throughout the six-issue limited series. One of the most significant of these is captured by the title itself. “The New Frontier” represents the passing of the torch between generations of leaders and forms a central component of the book. From the first issue, which deals with the Losers as the last great “analog heroes” who, as nonmetahuman superheroes, fight beasts beyond their capabilities, to the transition between Golden Age and Silver Age leaders such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman at one end of the spectrum and Green Lantern, Flash, and the Martian Manhunter at the other, Cooke utilizes Kennedy’s words from his famous speech to illustrate that every successive generation requires its own heroes to face the challenges that arise over time.

Cooke also explores the efforts to create consensus and conformity among American citizens during the Cold War. Using the Justice Society of America (JSA) as a lens, he shows how fear and hysteria about Communist subversion lead to the persecution of members of the JSA, as they are investigated and blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In turn, this drive to root out difference underlies the efforts of the Martian Manhunter to disguise himself as a human and illustrates why Barry Allen keeps his identity as the Flash a secret, rarely involving himself in heroic endeavors.

Although not as strong or blatant as the prior two themes, racism and racial segregation are also touched on. Through the character of John Wilson, Cooke examines the violence and terrorism employed against African Americans by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Although targeted as an agitator and marked for death by the Klan, Wilson survives the group’s brutal attack and returns anew as a Cold War-era “John Henry,” wielding sledgehammers against those who would promote segregation and racism. When Henry is eventually captured, beaten, and lynched by the Klan, his story receives national attention thanks to reporter Edward R. Murrow, who brings the struggle for civil rights into the homes and businesses of the nation. Through Murrow, Cooke questions how the United States can claim to defend freedom abroad against the perceived threat of communist expansion when it cannot champion that same freedom domestically, in the form of the Civil Rights movement.

Lastly, The New Frontier is also a reaction to what Cooke saw as a largely negative tone in superhero comics during the 1990’s and early 2000’s. He highlighted instead the original incarnations of the characters and contextualized them appropriately to their historic eras. Neither a deconstruction of the superhero motif and genre nor a glorified romanticism, The New Frontier finds a delicate balance between the two that resonates with comic fans and new readers alike.

Impact

Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier is one of the more notable reactionary comics published in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Largely as a result of Frank Miller’s seminal reinterpretation Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in 1986 and Alan Moore’s Watchmen in 1986 and 1987, comics and the superhero genre had become increasingly darker, with little resemblance to the previous decades in which heroes inspired hope and reflected humanity’s greatest strengths. After many years of dark, psychologically disturbed villains and heroes who could no longer be defined by their good deeds, and in fact were becoming increasingly similar to their evil counterparts, some writers and artists, particularly at DC Comics, began working against the antihero mold that dominated comics of the era.

The first challenge to this dominant paradigm was Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come with DC Comics in 1996. Following suit, Grant Morrison’s JLA in 1997, James Robinson’s and Geoff Johns’s JSA in 1999 and 2000, respectively, and numerous other Johns-crafted projects during this period reintroduced cleaner, more heroic portrayals of DC’s pantheon of heroes. At the same time, this reversion to more redeemable heroes maintained the characters’ new complexity, keeping them interesting for readers who had been reared on the post-Miller and post-Moore narratives.

Cooke’s contribution to this revivalism cemented the notion that classic heroes could still be relevant for modern audiences. The numerous awards he received for The New Frontier garnered him even greater attention in mainstream comics, leading to numerous cover-artist assignments, the opportunity to relaunch Will Eisner’s The Spirit in 2007, and the debut of his graphic adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker novels in 2009.

Films

Justice League: The New Frontier. Directed by Dave Bullock. Warner Bros., 2008. This is a direct-to-DVD animated film based on Cooke’s limited series. Although Cooke served as a consultant on the project, the animated film reduces the series’ thematic explorations of racism and segregation. Even so, Justice League: The New Frontier is remarkable for its ability to emulate and mirror Cooke’s visual style in tone, color, and atmosphere, unlike other Warner Bros. animated features based on DC Comics publications. Starring the voice talents of David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan, Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman, Neil Patrick Harris as the Flash, Kyle MacLachlan as Superman, Kyra Sedgwick as Lois Lane, and Brooke Shields as Carol Ferris, Justice League: The New Frontier has been hailed as Warner Bros.’ best animated adaptation. The film received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program in 2008.

Further Reading

Cooke, Darwyn. Batman: Ego and Other Tails (2005).

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter (2009).

Gaiman, Neil, et al. Wednesday Comics (2010).

Morrison, Grant. All-Star Superman (2007).

Bibliography

Levitz, Paul. Seventy-Five Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. New York: Taschen, 2010.

Singh, Arune. “To Boldly Go: Darwyn Cooke Discusses New Frontier.” Comic Book Resources, December 12, 2002. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=1666.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Where No One Has Gone Before: Darwyn Cooke Talks DCU: The New Frontier.” Comic Book Resources, July 14, 2003. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=2382.