DC - The New Frontier

[The_Adventurer]

And.... it's over, one of the GREATEST classic heroes mini series to come down the pipe in a LONG time. This is EXACTLY how I wish ALL super hero comics could be.

This issue brings everything to head, the Silver Agers rally to stop an unstopable monster in such a way that totaly captivated me. Now THESE are heroes, heroes I want to read about.


That 2 page splash in the middle, which everyone walking on the flight deck, that needs to be made a Poster ASAP, that was inspiring, I want it on my wall.


This series is Tier 1 material, I'm talking Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns levels. If you havn't read it yet, do so. Don't wait for the TPB.

[Zadillo]

Man, I can't wait to get this last issue...

And I agree........ I think this is definitely something that rightly deserves to be up there in the upper echelon of great comics work. This and Superman: Secret Identity were two of the greatest miniseries to come out of the comics world in a long time.

-Zadillo

[dollman]

This is probably the sleeper series of the year! Great art, great story....it feels like you're reading a book from the 50s.

[The_Adventurer]

That's another thing, Cookie got the Era exactly right, he didn't try to Futurise it (like Marvel's Earth Mightiest Heroes is) instead he embraced it, utilizing the era to it's full capacity and really setting the tone of the entire story.

To me it didn't read like a book from the 50s or 60s, it read like a book you remember as reading that way in the 50s or 60s. (Because, saddly, comic writing was never really an art until the 80s, old comics you remeber fondly can be painful to read these days, at least to me)

[Ryan Grant]

I absolutely agree. New Frontier is easily one of the greatest reads ever, and Cooke deserves all the praise in the world for putting it together. The price is off-putting, but now that I've been through it it's been worth every cent.

--Ryan--

**Edited because of dumb, glaring error**

[JimHughs4]

Originally posted by Ryan Grant
I absolutely agree. Identity Crisis is easily one of the greatest reads ever, and Cooke deserves all the praise in the world for putting it together. The price is off-putting, but now that I've been through it it's been worth every cent.

--Ryan--

DC: The New Frontier.

Not ID Crisis.

[Flyingsock04]

Loved this whole series, I just wish it were Prestige format. Other than that no complaints, no bashing, just teriffic work on the part of Darwyn Cooke.

[The_Adventurer]

Ah, but if it was Prestige format I would never have been able to scan this for my desk top...

[WolverineX]

Lol I only know like 10% of those guys. Someone list them lol I know the Flash and I think Green Arrow and maybe Martian Manhunter.

[MatthewSmith]

I loved New Frontier. Before this book, I thought Darwyn Cooke was just all fun and games because all I knew him from was some X-Statix fill-ins and those holiday Spider-man books from Tangled Web.

But this...

This stuff is awe inspiring.

[thingone]

And while we're dishing out much-deserved praise, let's not forget the sublime coloring by Dave Stewart. His deft touch is the perfect complement to Cooke's art and is absolutely perfect for the tone of the story.

[Big Grim]

this mini was simply awesome. I remember Cooke expressing interest in doing a follow-up, any idea what the sequel will be about?

[The_Adventurer]

I'm not sure, perhaps the Dawning of the Golden Age. That would be cool, at least give Cooke an era to let his art work shine (because the 20s and 30s are nearly as fasinating artisticly to me, as the 50s). Though to be honest, I fear a sequal woun't ever top New Frontier, it runs the risk of being formulatic.

[CountD]

I liked this series a lot.

Cooke (plot and pencils) and Stewart (colors) did a fine job with this nostalgic piece.

Highlights (Spoilers)


....


...

..

Flash's right hook.

Green Lantern's one-liners.

Aquaman bringing Superman to shore.

This had all the feel of a silver age comic with none of the hokiness!

GREAT STUFF!!!!!

not to mention the snazzy back cover..!

[Ryan Grant]

Originally posted by JimHughs4
DC: The New Frontier.

Not ID Crisis.

D'oh!

Yes, New Frontier. Really really good. Better than Identity Crisis.

--Ryan--

[MatthewSmith]

Originally posted by Ryan Grant
Better than Identity Crisis.

There's an understatement if I ever heard one.

DC can have their summer blockbusters and their surprise endings and their status quo changes. But it doesn't compare to what Cooke was doing here.

And I don't mean to knock Identity Crisis too much. I'm reading it and enjoying it.

But New Frontier was just magical, man. You finish it and it makes you feel good. It makes you glad that you spend so much time in this imaginary world where people can fly and beat up monsters. And when you read that last page you know that even though the real world that you live in sucks sometimes, there's still hope, because even though you don't have a superhero who's going to come save you, you can still know that everything's "going to be ok."






I need some tissue now...

[Zadillo]

One other thing I'll say for the New Frontier. If I recall correctly, when this project was first announced, I recall a lot of the discussion centering around continuity (was this supposed to be "in continuity" or an elseworlds or something else? If it was "real", how could the timelines still fit with this set in the 50's? that kind of thing)

I think the end result of this though is a good illustration of how much none of this matters if the story is good. I am glad that they didn't feel the need to try and explain the timelines, etc. involved.

And I have to say that I think this series was also a great illustration of the best of the Silver Age........ I think that as modern fans especially it's easy for us to look back on a lot of Silver Age comics and just think of them as ridiculous...... and it's easy to make fun of them.

But I think what Darwyn Cooke has laid out here was a great love letter to everything that made the Silver Age great............... it embraces everything about it while not trying to be embarrassed by it or poke fun at it.

-Zadillo

[CountD]

did anyone catch the 'Dedication to Jack Kirby' on the inside rear cover?

Nice touch for DC to pay homage to him.

[JimHughs4]

Originally posted by Zadillo
One other thing I'll say for the New Frontier. If I recall correctly, when this project was first announced, I recall a lot of the discussion centering around continuity (was this supposed to be "in continuity" or an elseworlds or something else? If it was "real", how could the timelines still fit with this set in the 50's? that kind of thing)

I think the end result of this though is a good illustration of how much none of this matters if the story is good. I am glad that they didn't feel the need to try and explain the timelines, etc. involved.

And I have to say that I think this series was also a great illustration of the best of the Silver Age........ I think that as modern fans especially it's easy for us to look back on a lot of Silver Age comics and just think of them as ridiculous...... and it's easy to make fun of them.

But I think what Darwyn Cooke has laid out here was a great love letter to everything that made the Silver Age great............... it embraces everything about it while not trying to be embarrassed by it or poke fun at it.

-Zadillo

The timeline was "real" in the sense that if the character's appeared in the thirties, they were at the appropriate ages. Real-world real, not continuity real.

And I don't have words for how much I loved this story. Think about it... It's the DC heroes fighting a giant monster. It doesn't get much more basic or Silver Age (MOTA, are you listening? ) than that. It doesn't need to be cutting edge or realistic or dark or filled with mutants to be good.