31 Days of Scans: My Favourite Elseworld - DC: the New Frontier

[espanolbot]

Possibly not just my favourite Elseworld, but also my favourite superhero comic of all time, New Frontier is a book both written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke which covers a lot of things, but mainly it's about the shift from the Golden Age of heroes to the Silver Age as a metaphor for the social progress and the like that happened in the Kennedy years.

It's a mature work that doesn't rely on the gratuitous content of the likes of Alan Moore or Mark Millar to BE a mature work. It's idealistic despite dealing with a lot of heavy stuff, and it's about the importance of retaining your idealism even when things are starting to look their bleakest...

Here's a part from the first issue, where minutes after the end of the Korean War is declared, young pilot Hal Jordan (the only interesting version of the character in my opinion) gets shot down over No Man's Land by North Korean pilots that evidently didn't get the message. Parachuting to safety, Jordan accidentally lands on former enemy soldier and signals for someone to pick him up.

Comments

[lego_joker]

There's something I've always wondered about this one... most of the fans of it I know are from this generation, or maybe the one right before. Even Cooke himself wasn't that old when he wrote this, if I remember correctly.

Have any of the Golden/Silver Age's original fans weighed in on how they feel about The New Frontier?

[espanolbot]

I rec'ed it to my gf's dad when he was wondering what to start reading on Comixology, and he seemed to like it by all accounts.

[q99]

Wow, this is too interesting to be Hal Jordan!

[alschroeder3]

I was born in 1953, too late for the Korean War, but I enjoyed the New Frontier thoroughly.

[apintrix]

Wondy was so awesome in this book.

[jaybee3]

It's one of the greatest comics ever (with really pretty art) and one of the greatest love letters (you know the term Brad Meltzer used to refer to Identity Crisis) to the JLA and the DCU. Hal wasn't GL again yet when New Frontier came out and this I really believe was one of the reasons DC Editorial were convinced it was time. Too bad it wasn't THIS Hal characterization that we got. I bought this when it came out (even though it took all my comic allowance) but it was so worth it to have been one of the first to experience it.

[pyynk]

I'm so beyond thankful that DC adapted this into one of their animated features. It was due to that adaptation that I discovered the New Frontier books and Darwyn's other work.

[zapbiffpow]

I liked the New Frontier mostly because of Flash and Martian Manhunter, but I was surprised how much I came to feel for the rest of the non-costumed, especially the Challengers and the Losers.

This deserves a live action movie, or at least an HBO mini.

[bradygirl_12]

One of my all-time favorite comics! I bought the deluxe super-sized version years ago. It's the only comic I would consider doing that for in this life! :) Beautiful art, interesting story, and the retro vibes are really, really good.

[silverhammerman]

I think I enjoy the Martian Manhunter stuff a quite a bit more than the broader DCU stuff in New Frontier, and I still wish someone had picked up the Martian Manhunter concepts that Darwyn Cook lay down here. Undeniably a very good book.