Customer Reviews

DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 1

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very well done story. Particularly John Jones adapting to his new world and Hal Jordan's post war dealings.

There were a few reasons this didn't get a 5 star rating and none of them relate to story.

This could all have been collected in ONE book! You heard me DC. ONE BOOK! Crisis, The Return of Superman, Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory were all as long or longer stories and they were collected under ONE COVER. $20.00 for each volume?!

I notice DC has been doing this lately with Batman: Hush and Superman: For Tomorrow. Only it's worse with those volumes! First they come out in 2 hardcovers then 2 tpbs! ONE VOLUME DC! ONE!!!!!!!!!!

If you wanted to milk us on this series you should have released all the parts in ONE hardcover then ONE trade paperback. ONE! Get it DC?! It was that worthy of a story. Not worthy of being broken up cheaply. ONE!!!!!!

This book is another high quality effort from Darwyn Cooke. It reminds me of the intelligent and mature tone of his previous effort, "Catwoman: Selina's Big Score" (which is also highly recommended by me).

"The New Frontier" is not as intense as "Selina's Big Score," but Frontier has a much larger all-encompassing story scope to cover.

Like "Selina's Big Score," Frontier is heavy on engrossing storyline, but light on costumed heroics, (Big Score had zero costumes, but cool street clothes). Frontier can go dozens and dozens of pages inbetween having conventional superhero scenes, in costumes. When the costume scenes do happen, (most notably in a great piece with the Flash!), then it is very entertaining.

Batman does some interesting sleuthing detective work, and though Wonder Woman and Superman are low on action, they are high on good character chemistry and tension. I especially enjoy the Darwyn Cooke version of an AMAZON-sized Wonder Woman who is taller than Superman.

What this book lacks in costumed action, it more than makes up for with heartfelt and sincere character development and motivation. There IS action in this book, but mostly involving characters in real world clothing and uniforms, not costumes.

This book is great for adult fans of the DC universe, who will enjoy all of the insider references, but young comic book readers may not comprehend the more subtle aspects of Darwyn Cooke's comic book writing for grownups, which occupies most of this book.

Me being more of a Marvel fan since childhood, I learned a few things about a few characters that I had not known about before, though, I think that is the whole point of this overall storyline, to fill in unknown gaps of what these superheroes were up to during the 1950's, before the Silver Age of comics began in the early 1960's.

Cooke's wonderful distillation of the Silver Age heroes, with a nod to the Golden Age and timely references about empty-headed patriotism deserves either the big screen treatment, or even better, a mini-series on one of the better cable stations.

The heroes here -- Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc. -- have a darkness that owes a lot to Frank Miller's seminal Dark Knight Returns series, but also to the tortured navel-gazing of Marvel's mutant heroes. Cooke's Dick Tracy-esque art style is warm and inviting, like a Norman Rockwell painting that captures a long forgotten America that probably didn't exist but we seem to miss anyway.

That said, his attempt to juggle so many characters means we lose out on a lot of well-needed character development, which stunts some of the story arcs. The proto-feminist Wonder Woman who encourages Vietnamese women to take revenge on their male captors is sent to the sidelines early on in the story; we are introduced to Aquaman with a great spread, but then he does nothing until the last few pages.

Ultimately, this is the story of three characters, Hal Jordan, The Flash and the Martian Manhunter, but in attempting to tell a giant story that encompasses the whole DC Universe, they too get short shrift.

By all means purchase both volumes, read them, put them in your library and, if possible, buy them repeatedly as gifts for the children of friends and relatives who read comics.

Darwyn Cooke's bold plan with his 2003/04 "New Frontier" miniseries was to provide a uniting storyline for all the major DC characters from the late 1950s, including not only such classic "Silver Age" characters as the Barry Allen Flash and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern but also such B-list adventure stars as the Challengers of the Unknown and the Suicide Squad, in their proper Cold War context. Superman and Wonder Woman thus become spearheads for the Eisenhower foreign policy in Indochina; Lois Lane is portrayed -- somewhat jarringly -- as a hawkish redbaiter, while Hal Jordan's employer Ferris Aircraft becomes positioned at the very heart of the 1950s American military/industrial complex.

In narrative terms, Cooke has some trouble keeping his pace going. There are too many repeated tense encounters between government agents and the series' central heroes, and in his attempts to bring in every DC-National comic character from the period Cooke allows too many boring langours (especially in the opening sequence involving the Losers and a later episode involving the Viking Prince). And the basic plot structure of the miniseries (collected in paperback in a two-part series), like so many recent comics miniseries of the last twenty years, owes perhaps too much to Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu." But when he really gets going, as in the prize fight in Las Vegas sequence (spotlighting a battle between Flash and Captain Cold) in the first of the two-part collected miniseries, Cooke can really cook with gas. Best of all, he's an absolutely marvelous visual artist, and his compositional sense is superb on almost every page and panel. He does a splendid job evoking the famous "Googie" design of buildings, furniture, and signage from the period, and his cartoonish approach to drawing characters seems simultaneously reminiscent of the animation from the period while also doing a very strong job conveying facial expression and emotion (particularly with the characters of Barry Allen, Ace Morgan, and Carol Ferris). Buying this series either in hardcover or in paperback is an expensive proposition, but it is one of the finest and most visually inventive works DC has produced in years, and thus worth the cost.

Marvel's new summer crossover event, Civil War, surprisingly has a lot in common with New Frontier, and that's a complement. Both dealing with political issues; Frontier tackles the McCarthy era's communist outcry, only it's against the superheroes who won't unmask themselves; Civil War on the other hand is a war between those who register with the government and reveal their identity, and those who fight for their ideals and personal freedom. What Civil War lacks though is the nostalgic 50's feel Frontier possesses, and reads with a sense of urgency that only the God like heroes of the DCU can give.

New Fronteir should not be missed, and as an avid reader ot original graphic novels and more mainstream books, this is by far one of the best of any I've read so far. The art and writing mesh so perfectly it could only be compared to the perfect union of Invicible, anything by Doug Tennapel, and Box Office Poisen.

The only downfall of New Frontier is the fact you HAVE to read the second book to enjoy the amazing story it possesses. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you and your wallet to decide. Either way you'll get a real bang for your buck.

Note: This review refers to DC: The New Frontier Volumes I and II.

If you are a DC fan-I mean a hard core, DC or bust fan-you will love, and I mean LOVE DC: The New Frontier Volumes I and II.

I remember seeing the first issue of this series when it came out in single-issue format and thinking that it seemed a bit remedial. Overly simplistic. I made this deduction based off of looking at the art alone, not by reading any of it. However, I later discovered this book had been receiving critical acclaim from many established publications such as the New York Times, so I had to give the trade paperbacks a shot. I'm glad I did.

You see, the art is supposed to look a bit unpretentious because the story is set during the Silver Age of comics. For you non-comic book people, that means it takes place basically in the late fifties, early sixties. The Silver Age was when old characters from the thirties and forties received major revamps, such as the Flash, the Atom, and Green Lantern. It also introduced new characters such Adam Strange. DC: The New Frontier takes this Silver Age era and delivers a story with modern day sensibilities. For instance, Superman and Wonder Woman are trying to clean up Korea while maintaining some sort of autonomy from the US Government for whom they work. The space program is in full swing with Hal Jordan desperately wanting to be a part of it so he can reach the stars. A horrifying Batman realizes he may need to lighten up a bit after a disheartening experience with a child. J'onn J'onzz is unexpectedly transported to Earth and must acclimate or perish. We get traditional appearances from Hour Man, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. We see the Challengers of the Unknown, the Sea Devils, the Suicide Squad, and other favorites from the sixties, as well as re-imagined characters like Steel.

You see, in the comics, originally, all these things were spread out over decades, but now, the author and illustrator, Darwyn Cooke, has blended them all together into one cohesive plot line that culminates with all the heroes joining forces in a very non-traditional manner against a foe that could destroy the world.

This collection honestly feels like if heroes were real, this is how they would act with each other and how our government would react to them. DC: The New Frontier is a captivating read and I urge you to give it a try immediately. It will quickly become one of your favorites.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Wow, I couldn't put this book down, the story is so rich & entertaining!! In vol. 1, Darwyn Cooke focused primarily on characters that are not necessarily on today's DC's most exposed titles (such Green Lantern's Hal Jordan, Challengers of the Unknown, Suicide Squad, etc.) Although I'm sure that most DC Comics characters have exciting histories & personalities, I am only mostly familiar with Batman, Superman & JLA members. This book puts together the background story of all characters very nicely & without any unnecessary focus on any one of them. After reading this book, I gained a lot of knowledge for these characters & a lot of new respect for Hal Jordan =).

4.5 stars. It's been a long time since I was so enthralled with a graphic novel (perhaps since "1602"). I won't bore you with the details, so allow me to summarize:

If you're a fan of silver age comics, the artwork, the writing, then pick it up. And if you're a fan of superhero stories with a semi-realistic, human angle to them, then pick this one up.

I still can't get over the artwork in this book, and the writing is second to none. Not to offend, but I've never found the Flash to be a very interesting character. This book however, will have you cheering for him.

You'll be reminded again just why you love the rogue that is Batman, and your suspense will be peaked as to just what will happen to young Hal Jordan (who doesn't quite become Green Latern in volume 1).

My ONLY problem with the book is that it ended, and I don't have volume 2 yet. My body's actually going into shock because of this...

I have no idea why there isn't more hype surrounding this book. Wizard should be ashamed for not plugging this more.

I knew basically the Justice League when I started this book. I felt a little left out during some parts, but the introductions were good enough for me. I understand how big of an effect this book could have if you are completely familiar with the characters. Just so you know the main character of both volumes is definately the Green Lantern. It is a very well thought out series, with everyone playing a part, but the primary spotlight is on Hal Jordan. I am mostly a Batman and Flash fan so their appearances were short lived.

I managed to fall in love with John Jonezz while reading this book. I had no previous knowledge on the character, and I felt like Darwyn gave me a great origin. Wizard called this the top graphic novel of all time, and I can see why. The New Frontier allows superheroes to exist and be legitimate by anyones standards. They take place in the real world throughout the series and I think of it as the Watchmen of the JLA, but without the tragically broken down heroes.

I wouldn't call this my favorite graphic novel, but Wizard is on to something. It is a profound piece of graphic novel literature, no doubt.

If this isn't art nothing is worth the name of art. If this isn't art nothing is worth the name of art. If this isn't art nothing is worth the name of art.
Aye verily, for sooth! Excelsior!