"Perfect, immaculate, pure...flight. The kind of flight that fills your spirit in a way only a dream can." - Hal JordanThat quote from Hal Jordan, in DC: The New Frontier, perfectly sums up the series. This is the kind of comic book that makes you believe heroes can be heroes again. They don't need to be the dark and gritty characters that are far too often depicted in comics today. They can be fun, heroic and someone to aspire to be like. This is why, when DC announced that The New Frontier would be adapted into a 70 minute animated movie for early 2008, I was ecstatic. Read on for my impressions and review of the original comic, DC: The New Frontier, and a quick preview of the upcoming movie Justice League: The New Frontier.
"This is my fight. These are my people. And tonight, for one last time, I am their champion." - Ted "Friggin' Wildcat" GrantDC: THE NEW FRONTIER
Written & Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
Written & Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
DC: The New Frontier is an epic DC Comics series that has won numerous awards, including an Eisner, Harvey and Shuster, since it was written in 2004. The story draws comparisons to The Golden Age as both books set out to bridge the gap between the Golden Age and Silver Age of comics. Re-imagining many of the DC contemporary heroes as if they had been active since before, and during, WWII, The New Frontier spans nearly 20 years of history, ending with the speech from President John F. Kennedy, a speech in which the book draws its title from.The series deconstructs the hero concept and depicts the various tones and political meanings behind each hero. The superheroes from the 30's grew out of a response to the Great Depression and represented hope and showed that people and things could get better. Those of the 40's were designed with the intent of inspiring and bolstering patriotism in the face of WWII. They showed that America and the world was right to fight against such unmitigated hatred. Finally, the new generation of heroes that sprung out of the post-WWII era in the 50's symbolized America's own self-image as the leader in scientific development and the defender of democracy against communism. These new heroes and the world they live in serve to tackle the paradigm shifts in thinking and life in post-war America and deal with various topics, such as the paranoia of a communist agenda, racism and the inability of America to protect the rights of its own people while they strove to lead the rest of the world and the changing perceptions of heroism and patriotism. These and more make up DC: The New Frontier.
The New Frontier, on top of the incredible story and deeper meanings, is a beautiful work of art. Combining the art styles of the legendary Jack Kirby, using his squared fingers, muscles and jaws art style, with the minimalist and clean lined style of other Golden Age artists and beautiful, yet classic, colouring techniques, Cooke has managed to create a timeless masterpiece that perfectly meshes with the style and tone of the story itself.
New Frontier is a sophisticated, adult story that deserves to be mentioned with such classics as Watchmen and A Contract With God. This book manages to blend its comic book heritage with US history to tell a riveting and emotional tale that is about people and their relationships, as well as the values of classical superheroes that serves to show us the different vantage points and philosophies behind each eras' heroes. Truly one of the best comics ever written and if the movie can be half as good as the actual comic book, it will go down as one of the greatest comic book movies ever made.
Justice League: The New Frontier
Set for release on January 28th, 2008, Justice League: The New Frontier is set to be one of the biggest and most ambitious comic book animated films of all time. Focusing on the journey of Hal Jordan, from the Korean War to his eventual becoming the new Green Lantern, the plot deals with the mounting concerns of an alien presence on Earth. Spanning almost two decades, the movie features many Golden and Silver Age superheroes, including Superman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter as well as many lesser known or under appreciated characters like King Faraday, the Losers, the Challengers of the Unknown and many more. One of the greatest comics ever written will surely become one of the greatest movies ever made.
“My America… Our America is an ideal, not an administration. During World War 2, we knew we were right, and we’ve always just assumed we were right ever since.” - Wonder Woman to SupermanCast
Director:
Dave Bullock
Writers:
Stan Berkowitz
Darwyn Cooke
With Voices By:
David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern
Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman
Neil Patrick Harris as Barry Allen / The Flash
Brooke Shields as Carol Ferris
Jeremy Sisto as Bruce Wayne / Batman
Kyle MacLachlan as Clark Kent / Superman
Phil Morris as King Faraday
Comic to Screen
"There's the door Spaceman." - Wonder Woman to SupermanAbove, in one of the few released shots from the upcoming movie, we can see the scene where Wonder Woman is celebrating with the female villagers she freed in Korea. Below is the comparison shot from issue 2 of DC: The New Frontier, which shows how faithful the movie has managed to stay to the original style and presentation of Darwyn Cooke. While Cooke has admitted they have had to cut many of his favourite scenes from the comic, he is still quite pleased with the direction of the movie and understands everything cannot be shown in the 70 minute feature. Most of those cut scenes will end up as news reels or background happenings that take place in various scenes with the heroes the movie does focus on.
Based on the interviews done with Cooke along with the 10 minute preview on the Superman: Doomsday DVD, which you can read all about here, this movie is set to potentially be one of the best comic-to-film adaptions in history and most likely will set the bar high for the planned live-action JLA movie that DC is planning. While not nearly as good as the Superman: Doomsday preview, I leave you with this previously released Justice League: The New Frontier preview, which is over 3 minutes long.
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