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| Written By Doug Frattallone, Monday,
February 25th, 2008 One can argue that Darwyn Cooke is perhaps the best comic book writer/illustrator on planet Earth. Before his recent stint as the creative force behind "The Spirit," a few years back he penned and drew a fantastic Justice League of America tale entitled "DC: The New Frontier." That story has been adapted into an equally handsome direct-to-DVD adventure from Warner Bros. Animation, starring the voice talents of David Boreanaz (Green Lantern), Miguel Ferrer (Martian Manhunter), Neil Patrick Harris (The Flash), Lucy Lawless (Wonder Woman), Kyle MacLachlan (Superman) and Jeremy Sisto (Batman). The plot is your basic superhero fare: The good guys take on an otherwordly threat called The Centre – a being bent on destroying humanity. The twist is this is all set in the 1950s at the height of the Cold
War, when tolerance often took a back seat to conformity. Fearful Americans
and their government give the boot to the old Justice Society of America,
masked men and women hailed as heroes in the 1940s. With the Society
banished, U.S. government agents handle uber-crises. Superman is still
around as a federal super-agent, but Batman -- the non-conformist vigilante
-- works from the shadows in Gotham City. The New Frontier, then, represents the new wave of DC heroes (it's called the Silver Age in comic book circles) who actually hit the comic pages in that era. The notables in this story include: J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, Barry Allen as The Flash and Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. More than anything, The New Frontier is Jordan's story – how a test pilot who saw the worst of the Korean War transforms into a galactic hero with no fear. His courage helps bring together a new team, The Justice League of America – a team that not only fights the good fight, but works together to dial down the paranoia of the day. As for the look of the movie, it's old school, art-deco beautiful – just like Cooke's drawings in The New Frontier graphic novel. Drawings this clean are rare in today's cartoon wastelands. Special features on the disc include a detailed history of the Justice League as well as Cooke's narration. He's the force behind this project, and was heavily involved in its keen translation from printed page to moving picture. As for which version is better, the graphic novel gets the edge simply
because it offers more depth to the story than a 75-minute movie. Hey,
the book is always better! But in this case, the animated version is
almost as super. |
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