DC: The New Frontier Paperback – June 28, 2016

I couldn't resist buying this when I could get it for a good deal! This instant classic is a love letter to the Silver Age of comics, which I'm not too familiar with, but the roots of many DC heroes are to be found there. I had heard a million and one great things about this and wanted to check it out for a long time. Thank God I finally got it and it was so worth it....The Story: I LOVED how Darwyn Cooke decided to structure his story in having events happen in the story in the same year as they happened in real life. For example, in the story Barry Allen is struck by lightning and becomes the Flash in 1956, the year in real life that that character debuted marking the dawn of the Silver Age. I thought the span of the story going from WWII to 1960 when the Justice League forms gave the story an epic scope that few comics can match. I have to admit that I would have never guessed at the beginning of the story how important the setting was to the overall plot! There were many interesting characters throughout the whole book. My only gripe about the story is that I feel they underutilized Superman toward the end just so they could shine light on the other Leaguers, and certainly Flash and Jordan were super cool in this story, but I wasn't happy that Supes was taken out so easily! I was also super disappointed that Aquaman wasn't really used at all. He's in this book, but I would have liked to see him summon a host of aquatic creatures to help take on the Centre. He's more so relegated to C lister in this book and that just doesn't do it for me as he's one of my favorite heroes and certainly one of DC's A listers. It was cool to see Cooke's rendition of Wonder Woman and judging by his large splash pages, double page spreads, and the story itself, it looks as though Wonder Woman might have been Cooke's favorite character. I think he once said that he enjoyed designing WW more than any other character. This story has some subplots like that of John Henry Irons which I thought was good, but sad. I really felt the suspense and drama building as the whole world of heroes prepared to face the Centre, and the final battle was pretty cool, but I would have liked to see it come down to the original seven taking on the Centre to save the world. After reading the finale, of coarse, you realize why Cooke didn't go with that. There are some parts toward the end of the story where I was asking myself where the heck is so and so? What are they doing right now? It's almost like Cooke forgot some characters existed in the story.The Art: Cooke's art is one of a kind. NO ONE else's art is anything like it, so that's gotta be a nice feather in the cap for legacy and all. The only other person in today's age who's art style comes close is Bruce Timm's. Both of these guys worked as artists on the DCAU. Cooke's art is iconic and perfectly reflects the tone and atmosphere of the time (mid 40's to 1960). He has some great character designs and I LOVE the colors in this book. It's VERY vibrant and lively and really is a masterwork of true comic art!Overall: I enjoyed this. I've heard many people refer to this as the greatest Justice League story EVER, which is kinda weird because the Justice League only officially comes together in the epilogue. Perhaps, however, this is one of DC's greatest stories about their iconic characters and how they met, their relationships, and how they came together to form the greatest team in all of fiction! This book has more extras in the back than any other collected edition of any comic I've got. I think it has all the supplemental material from the Absolute Edition, and it has a good bit about the animated adaptation. The story is considered a classic (even though it's not that old) and I'm kinda surprised the price of this isn't higher considering that Darwyn Cooke died several months before me typing this. I'd say get this while you can get it relatively cheap. Try and get it for less than $50 if you can. It's a nice piece about a simpler time with a lighter tone among all the dark and gritty DC stories that most fans know about. To quote Batman from "Justice League"....you showed me that justice doesn't always have to come from the dark. Or something like that. Yes! Definitely get this! It'll be a great addition to any comic collection!

This review is dedicated to the memory of this book's creator, Darwyn Cooke, a true artist who, more than most, now embodies the overused saw of "gone too soon".While I was around for the first release of "New Frontier", it would take 20 years, a late-night reading cram session at the rack of a local comic shop that had the two separate collected editions and I suspect maturity as a person to truly appreciate it. Comparisons to "Watchmen" are the knee-jerk response to reading this sweeping work, but a better point of comparison (cited in the appendix) is James Robinson and Paul Smith's "The Golden Age". Just as the latter used the metaphor of WWII mystery men to dissect the brutal political and psychological realities of America in the late 1940s to early 1950s, "New Frontier" uses its various heroes (human, super and, in several cases, pre-super) as a crowbar into the 1950s mixture of wide-eyed optimism and barely-acknowledged fears.Even if I were inclined to disclose the nature of the Big Bad of this story (all I'll say is that it is a uniquely Lovecraftian take on an old DC concept), summarizing this story seems downright impossible. It's not just because of the vast scope of its story ranging from a forgotten mission in 1945 to the public debut of the Justice League of America in 1960 (encompassing historical figures as diverse as Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Walter Cronkite and Edmund R. Murrow along the way). But so many characters cross this stage, adding new perspectives,filling in previously obscured details and drawing connections between long-time DC heroes that even the most diehard DC Comics scholar may not have suspected could be conceivable.Still, some of these characters stand out more than others. There's Hal Jordan, whom we see probably the most of all of our heroes, following him from boyhood to Green Lantern as he learns the true meaning of courage. There's John Jones, the alien from Mars turned private detective whose ongoing culture clash with 1950s America is a source of both humor and pathos. There's Colonel Rick Flagg, a vicious, unrelenting killer ofmen who is convinced that he has to be that way in order for the world to remain a place worth defending. But the unexpected breakout character for me, in spite of her relatively short screen time, is Wonder Woman. More than any other writer in the modern era, Cooke managed to strike the perfect balance of comics' most famous Amazon, portraying her as just as uncompromising as a warrior as she is compassionate of all people and things she protects (a point made even more apparent in the New Frontier special story "The Greater Good", also included in this volume). It will always be one of my greatest regrets that Mr. Cooke never got a chance to write the mainstream DC Universe Wonder Woman...it would have been extraordinary.Mr. Cooke's art style is a deceptively simple looking blend of 1950s style illustration mixed with Batman: The Animated Series (Cooke worked on the latter, by the way). The lines of it are clean, unshowy and always let you see what you need to see. The most impressive part about the art is how it is able to convey the sparkling idealism of places like Vegas and car shows just as well as it highlights the inner and outer darkness of Jim Crow-era Tennessee and the last moments of a creative writer as he leaves behind a warning for the world.It is said that creative individuals live on after their death through the body of their works. Several artists like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, C.C. Beck, and, of course, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster have managed that feat of immortality well into this century. My fondest wish is that "New Frontier", arguably the crowning achievement in the life of a career that was long and yet not long enough, ultimately stands up to the same test of time.

My fave Absolute Edition of the 29 my wife and I own currently.

Esta é a melhor descrição que poderia traçar acerca este livro. O autor consegue capturar os principais elementos que compõe cada personagem e desenvolvê-los dentro do contexto histórico da história. O foco é a introdução dos personagens da Era de Prata (Lanterna Verde, Martian Manhunter, Flash, etc), e seu encontro com os já estabelecidos heróis da Era de Ouro (a trindade Superman, Mulher Maravilha e Batman).A história é situada no período do pós-guerra, com o início da era nuclear, da Guerra Fria, a perseguição política do Macartismo e o movimento de direitos civis; posicionando os personagens de acordo seu caráter. Por exemplo, o Superman é um instrumento do establishment, Wonder Woman é um símbolo para o feminismo, Hal Jordan é um piloto de testes militar com uma veia pacifista, Steel acaba sofrendo a perseguição de supremacistas brancos.Em relação à edição, a edição é muito bem produzida, com papel de ótima qualidade, impressão impecável e um boa quantidade de conteúdo extra. Altamente recomendado.

A brilliant book but only a 3 star because of a tear. Not happy. Otherwise a 5 STAR no problem.Ugh, I have been hanging out to get this book for a while, and when I heard about a reprint of this but in Absolute form, I pre-ordered it right away. Unfortunately when I opened the box and peeled back the plastic wrap carefully I noticed a tear in the front cover of all places. I figured I must have done, but when I rechecked the plastic wrap there was nothing to show that it had stuck on the front cover and there is no tell tale signs of a floating piece of ripped paper. Damn! Its a shame, because the book is wonderful. The front cover is a matte but slightly textured finish - I love it, and the internal paper is super thick and glossy - brilliant quality. And the binding is absolutely perfect.Im just pissed that the cover has a tear in it. Clearly it had been done before the plastic wrap was put on.So a word of warning - before you peel the plastic wrap off - recheck it and send it back if its ripped or not perfect. Its a book that should be free from all blemishes/tears, its a Darwyn Cooke book for God sake.A great book, but been marred by this tear - on the front cover of all places. Ggrrr!!!

Esta genial la neta vale cada centavo gastado , el dibujo realizado por darwyn cooke es de mis favoritos , esta edición de lujo es sublime y altamente recomendable para todo aquel verdadero amante y fan de los cómics y mas aun si es seguidor de DC

È un capolavoro di narrazione e arte sequenziale. Forse non c'è da dire altro, se non che è terribilmente intelligente, rispettoso della tradizione quanto innovativo, maturo, complesso e profondo come le più grandi opere del fumetto mondiale. Vi regalerà immagini, sequenze e parole che non scorderete tanto presto. Insomma, l'ho detto, è un capolavoro.L'american english che usa è adeguato al periodo che narra (anni '50-'60), quindi valutate l'acquisto di questa versione (davvero superba, visto il prezzo; magnifica la carta, un po' porosa eppure leggerissima).