Written by Darwyn Cooke
Art by Darwyn Cooke; Dave Stewart; & Jared K. Fletcher
Cover Art by Darwyn Cooke
SUMMARY:
Released by DC Comics in 2004, this first 208-page softcover volume packages DC: The New Frontier # 1-3 (from earlier that year).
On a remote Pacific Island in 1945, the elite Losers squad sacrifices itself against a man-eating dinosaur. Col. Rick Flagg is the mission’s sole survivor. 1948’s young Hal Jordan meets his late father’s colleague (and Hal’s personal idol), Chuck Yeager at Edwards Air Force Base. During the Cold War, the U.S. conducts nuclear testing while the era’s McCarthyism shames the Justice Society into reluctant retirement.
With super-heroes now deemed criminal vigilantes, one Golden Age legend falls resisting law enforcement in 1952. Only Batman and Barry Allen’s Flash remain active, as Superman, Wonder Woman, and the elite Task Force X are the U.S. Government’s top enforcers.
At the Korean War’s end, idealistic U.S. fighter pilot Hal Jordan makes a haunting decision in late July 1953. A dying astronomer urges the lone Martian he has met to carefully hide from human society. In Indo-China, Superman confronts Wonder Woman re: a shocking massacre. Rescuing a child from a bizarre religious cult, private eye ‘Slam Bradley’ and John Jones encounter Batman.
With numerous heroes in civilian garb attending boxer Ted Grant’s World title bout in Las Vegas, Barry Allen’s Flash steps up against Captain Cold. Jordan’s confidant, Ace Morgan, becomes one of the Challengers of the Unknown. Losing one of their own, Task Force X battles a pterodactyl. Rising from a horrific racist attack that kills his wife and child, new vigilante John Henry is the hammer-wielding worst nightmare of the Ku Klux Klan. Jordan accepts a mysterious new piloting gig under Flagg’s command while romancing his other boss, Carol Ferris.
Batman confronts the mysterious John Jones. Several months later, Jones realizes Earth is in peril from an ancient menace. Pushed aside by the U.S. Government, Wonder Woman senses that her progressive views are now deliberately stifled. Jordan discovers from surly secret agent King Faraday what top secret NASA mission he has really been recruited for.
Note: There is one scene where Faraday utters a racial slur.
REVIEW:
DC: The New Frontier, Volume 1 certainly proves an artistic masterpiece. Advancing a number of intriguing sub-plots, writer-artist Darwyn Cooke is at the top of his game. His stellar visuals convincingly deliver the old school approach this saga seeks to convey. Including subtle touches (i.e. Wonder Woman’s towering Amazonian height and accurate historical elements (Chuck Yeager’s cameo), Cooke imbues a mesmerizing degree of realism.
The depth attributed here to various DC heroes is perhaps one of the best Elseworlds concepts ever-devised. This first New Frontier volume is grand entertainment, making it irresistible to track down Volume Two.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Comprising seven pages, there is a cover gallery. DC writer Paul Levitz pens a two-page introduction.
BRIAN’S OOD MOON RATING: 9 Stars
Note: Volume Two was first released in 2005 (five months after this book).
