5.7/10I expected something a bit different. Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t care much about what I was reading. At least 60% of this is about Hal Jordan and some other characters ( like Colonel Flag ) that I don’t know and after this I don’t care to know. The biggest problem was that after I got to the middle, I forced myself to go through the entire thing. I simply got tired and didn’t care whatsoever about what is going to happen.Not everything is bad though, there are some nice moments and t...

Only 3 stars u might ask? I love it for the beautiful artstyle and the intention which bordered on being nationalistic, but impressed me with huge ambition and effort. Where it falls apart is the writing style. It got it right with the pacing / layout but it just grinded to a near halt with all the exposition in description boxes or unnecessary recaps that not only took away my enjoyment from the art and also had me scratching my head multiple times. It all came down to one rule that was ignored...

4 3/4 stars

The first time I read DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 1 and DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 2 I was in college and it was because everyone I was listening to at the time said that it was world-changing, one of the best comics ever written, certainly the best contemporary DC story. And I read it. I thought it was really pretty, but it didn't do what I wanted or expected it to do. I thought it was overhyped. I shelved it for basically ever, never recommended it to anyone (I would always point them to Identi...

The New Frontier presents a refreshing and modern take on the superhero origin story. Darwyn Cooke foregoes the obvious route of updating the old stories by having them take place in the contemporary. The superheroes live in the World War Two and Cold War era, around the same time of the Golden Age of comics and when superheroes started appearing in comics. When thinking of modern interpretations, it has the connotations of somehow becoming darker, grittier (the lasting influence of Alan Moore)....

I had originally read this a few years ago as well as watching the animated film, but this new hardcover collection was too good to pass up. Darwyn Cooke does an excellent job of pulling everything from the various nooks and crannies of DC's Silver Age into an origin story that perfectly captures both the period and the superheroes involved. But the real star of this collection is Cooke's art. This just may be my favorite art for any comic I have ever read. The supplemental material in this delu...

DC: The New Frontier covers a lot of the same ground as prior acclaimed superhero comics. Like Marvels, it takes events from a convoluted comic book continuity and puts them into a coherent chronology, tied to the period in which the stories were originally published. Like Watchmen, it considers how superheroes would relate to real-world social ills and historical events. Also like Watchmen – as well as the likes of The Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come and Superman: Secret Identity – it explore...

Cooke's masterpiece is, simply put, one of the best comics I have ever read... A transcendent study of 1950's America and the relevance of its heroes.

Look, I’m a nigh-40-year-old man who reads superhero comics. (How nigh, you ask? T-minus 7 months and counting, so please get your grim reaper cakes and hilarious “over the hill” cards (with a picture of a hill) ready now.) I also have a shirt that says “Dungeon Master” that I proudly wear (even if my wife refuses to be seen in public with me when I do). So, I get that I’m particularly awesome, and that my opinion on a book like this has to be taken with a fanboy grain of salt.But, I’ve been rea...

“If we’re talking about mainstream comics, I think there have been a lot of real tactical errors made in this century. I can’t really read superhero comics anymore because they’re not about superheroes. They’ve become so dark and violent and sexualized. I think it’s a real wrong turn. I don’t know how a company like Warner Bros. or Disney is able to rationalize characters raping and murdering and taking drugs and swearing and carrying on the way they do, and those same characters are on sheet se...

For some reason, I have *never* heard anyone talk about this epic graphic novel-style DC story by Darwyn Cooke (who died two years ago this week). Not on any lists, referenced as inspiration, nothing. I randomly found the adapted feature length animated version of it in my library's catalog while searching for DC Lego DVDs. I checked it out on a whim and was blown away by the quality. I would put it up there with Batman: Under the Hood in my Top DCAU movies list. Finding the book itself proved t...

You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.Some stories need to be told despite being outside the canonical events set forth within a fictional universe. These stories have the liberty to explore ideas and themes outside those restricted by the ongoing story arcs. At DC Comics, it is a beloved, if not sometimes dreaded, practice to have writers and artists work on what-if stories for fans to quietly indulge away from any judgemental glare from comic book purists. While there’s no denying...

By grounding the DC heroes in a particular time and place (1945-1960) we are able to look at the problems such heroes would have to deal with had they influenced America during this critical 15 year period.

Cooke is one of my favorite comic book artists; he's got a gorgeous retro style that perfectly captures the time period depicted in this book--the 1940s & 1950s. The story covers the "changing of the guard" as heroes of the JSA made way for those of the JLA. In this sweeping adventure, however, we see them all pull together to stop a force that threatens to destroy the world (well, what else would they join forces for?). Cooke's writing is every bit as sharp as his line.

An alien menace threatens the earth in the late 1950's and it'll take every hero humanity has to stop it.Confession time: While I'd heard of The New Frontier, I didn't pick it up until after Darwyn Cooke's death. Now that I've read it, I wish I'd picked it up sooner.The New Frontier is the story of the transition of the DC universe from the Justice Society era through the 1950s to the formation of the Justice League. Pretty much every DC character from pre-1960 is in it. Unlike how things origin...

DC: The New Frontier was a comic that has long been on my to-read list, but for some reason always slipped out of my stack when I came around to the counter at the comic shop. The lads at the counter were surprised I hadn't read it, and with good reason. The late Darwin Cooke's miniseries is lauded as a modern retelling of the Gold to Silver Age transition that is filled to the brim with nostalgic punch. For a comic junkie like myself, it finally seemed like it was time to take the series down w...

I read this a few years ago, but it was digitally on my iPad. I was happy to see a new printing of the series in the deluxe format. It reads so much better in print. When I read it on my iPad, parts of it seemed to drag a little, but in print it flows much better. I think it's cause at times it can be a little dense with everything that's going on. But it is a good book that has a great take on the 50s/60s era. There's also some cool back matter, but this might have appeared in earlier editions

It's been noted that it seems we can't escape the legacy of Alan Moore and his more cynical, deconstructive take on superheroes. Either everyone's trying to replicate the success of Watchmen, or trying to move away from it to varying levels of success.Certainly, there have been attempts to invert Moore's approach too and some of them have proven to be interesting. Grant Morrison's All Star Superman brings his signature wild imagination to the center, while also giving a heartfelt love letter to

The next time DC tries to decide what new direction to head in, they should remember how awesome New Frontier was and ask Darwyn Cooke for some advice.

Perhaps i don't know enough about Golden and Silver Age characters to really care about this... most of the time i felt lost trying to understand who was who. Really like Cooke's drawings but some characters (to me) looked almost the same.Non related but related, was this the book that inspired Batman Vs Superman? Seems that some of the plot lines are similar, and it looks like Justice League new movie will also borrow from this.