The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke

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After reading the Darwyn Cooke’s Superman book the other day, it brought be back to want to re-read his masterpeice, The NewFrontier. This book not only made Cooke’s name, but also spawned an animated feature. I hadn’t read Cooke before reading The New Frontier,  but afterwords I was a fan. Cooke not only captured the superheroes, but also the 50s zeitgeist. So, what is The New Frontier?

The book starts with introducing our heroes. The Losers (along with Col. Flagg) are on an island that has dinosaurs and they take out as many as they can until they can finish their mission. Over in Gotham, the police are chasing Hourman and he dies. The tide of public opinion is turning against superheroes due to the communist concerns. Superman and Wonder Woman work with the government and join the war effort in Korea. J’onn J’onzz is accidentally brought over from Mars by an astronomer who promptly dies from the shock. Hal Jordan survives the Korean war and goes to work for Ferriss aircraft. J’onn J’onzz becomes a police detective and joins in a fight with the Batman. And the Flash is on the scene as well.

The story is split into two graphic novels. The first sets up the characters and the scenario. Our main characters are Superman, Flash, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern. Wonder Woman, Batman and the Atom pop in from time to time. The second book starts on the plot where a mysterious cult known as The Centre leads to an alien invasion or a giant mysterious floating monster island. The heroes gather together to fight off the threat and this is what leads to the beginning of the Justice League.

The Centre is their for the threat only. It plays very little part in the novel. It’s just there to set up the characters and put them into motion. Cooke (who does the art and the writing) does a masterful job of juggling the characters and the real life situations (McCarthy, Korean War, etc.) into an interesting and fun superhero stories. The art is reminiscent of the Fleischer Superman cartoons.

As you can see, the art looks like a mix of Fleischer Cartoon and Art Deco. It’s a perfect complement to the story and works well with the setting and the characters. The writing is crisp and has a great sense of fun, but the worries of the characters about their lives and their country comes through as well. The title comes from JFK’s 1960 acceptance speech and sums up the story perfectly.
We stand on the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams, a frontier of unknown opportunities and beliefs in peril. Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.
Darwyn Cooke does a wonderful job on telling a story of 50s America and the pre-history of the Justice League. I would have preferred that the collection was in a single book, rather than in two, but that’s the only complaint I have. Highly Recommended.