This review covers some general plot points, but doesn't spoil any surprises.

The Story

DC: The New Frontier is a story that covers the gap between the Golden Age of comics and the Silver Age of comics, approximately 1945-1958. It opens up in 1945 with the final mission of the Losers, a DC comics World War II band of soldiers, as they search for Colonel Richard Flagg on a Pacific Island. Their story runs about 30 pages and is one of the longer stories in the book. From there we jump to the dissolution of the Justice Society of America, the disappearance of other Golden Age heroes, and then to the introduction of Hal Jordan, the man who would be Green Lantern, still a young lad in 1948.

This sets the focus for the book. It bridges the Golden Age and the Silver Age, as we watch many of the older heroes fade away--and a few like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman adapt--while a panoply of new stars appear on the stage. But, it also bridges the superhero stories of DC, at their height in the 1940s, then reemerging in the 1960s, with the non-super stories which were more common in the 1950s. Thus we start off with the Losers, but also meet Slam Bradley, the Challengers of the Unknown, the Blackhawks, and others before it's all over--all mixed with the superheroes more familiar to many of us.

The majority of the book is set in the years 1956-1958, the true emergence of the Silver Age. However, in sticking with this idea of mixing the real world and the superheroics, we also see for the first time, the superheroes of this era interacting with the real events of that time. Hal Jordan is piloting a plane in Korea, while Superman and Wonder Woman are fighting a secret Cold War. The extreme racism just before the Civil Rights movement plays a role before all is done, as does the Space Race. The combination of these real and heroic events, of these realistic and heroic protagonists, is all well done, and much of the beauty of this book. Against this background we touch upon many of the earliest Silver Age heroes, but the most important are Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Barry West (The Flash), John Jones (The Martian Manhunter), and The Challengers of the Unknown.

The story is told in chapters, 17 in all, plus an epilogue, and most focus upon an individual story of one of these major protagonists. So we have the story of the Losers on Monster Island, and the Flash battling Captain Cold, and Hal Jordon learning about Ferris Aircraft ... and much more.

In the first volume, the stories are pretty scattered. We have great character pieces which interrelate the real world with the emergence of the aforementioned heroes, and we really get an impression of them as people, not just the heroes they'll eventually become. We also get an idea of how the world is changing in the wake of World War II. However, on its own the first volume of DC: The New Frontier fails to satisfy, as it feels mainly like a collection of historical vignettes. Only at the very end of Volume One, and more clearly throughout Volume Two do we get to see a big picture, how everything we've seen actually pulls together into a larger canvas. It's not spoiling much to say that there's a big evil to be fought by the end, tieing together many of the plot threads from earlier stories.

By the end there are some things that don't feel like they entirely cohere because the canvas is so big. But the many ideas present--the darkening of the world, the emergence of the Silver Age heroes, the societal problems of the time, and more--do tell an interesting story that's worth reading, and which shines an interesting light on what world the DC Silver Age heroes emerged from, a world not really seen within the comics of the time.

The Continuity

In some ways DC: The New Frontier is entirely a book about continuity because it strives to fill two huge gaps in the DC Universe: the gap between the Golden Age and the Silver Age, and the gap between the more humanistic stories of the 1950s and the new superheroes that follow. In these goals it succeeds admirably, but it also means that these books will only be truly appreciated by people familiar with the DC continuity of the time.

These books don't bear the "Elsewheres" label which would mark them as being outside of current DC continuity, but at the same time they can't possibly fit within it either, because they portray a Golden Age Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, as well as a group of Silver Age heroes who emerged in the 1950s--rather than about 10 years ago, as current DC continuity would have it. I've heard some people say this is a pre-crisis Earth-2 book, but if anything, this is a story that fits into the Post-crisis continuity that existed for a few months at DC, before they decided to start rebooting their comics--a world where the heroic age did extend back fifty years (at the time) and where the Golden and Silver Age heroes lived side-by-side. If that means anything to you, you've got all the continuity you need to truly appreciate this work.

Finally, this work shares some fair similarities with The Golden Age, a book put out a number of years ago which also tried to bridge the Golden and Silver Ages. That one placed more focus on the old heroes, this on the new. That one paid no attention to the non-superhero comics, this one does. Each is a different beast.

The Story Telling

Darwyn Cooke, the author of this book, excels in characterization; I really feel like I've come to know the people in his books, especially the couple of major protagonists. He also manages a large scope in his stories, helped by the cinematic nature of his artwork (which I'll get to presently). Finally he works hard to write a book about serious issues, rising about the superhero comics of the day (and now), without it being ovewrought or preachy. Issues of racism, bigotry, facism, national pride, and hope all rise to the forefront, resulting in a book that's really a piece of literature, not just another punch-them-in-the-mouth comic.

On the downside Cooke's writing is a bit slow. (Perhaps it just wasn't intended to be read in the 200+ chunks that trade paperbacks enforce.) In addition, it feels a bit scattered, particularly in the first volume. By the end most things come together (though I don't entirely understand how one of the story threads, concerning a black hero facing racism, ties to everything else), but I do feel like going half the book and only seeing the story as vignettes was a bit much.

Nonetheless, I think DC: The New Frontier is an important book, and one that I'm going to be reading again. For the comic fan it brings together a few disconnected eras of DC comics history. In addition, for anyone, it uses superheroes to explore interesting concepts about what heroes are and how they reflect, and can change, the society around them. For Substance I give it a "4" out of "5".

The Artwork

The artwork is also by Darwyn Cooke, and after reading these two volumes I'm amazed that I've never heard his name before. To be succinct: it's gorgeous. Cooke uses a very simple drawing style, full of bold lines and bright colors (with coloring by Dave Stewart). It fits the Silver Age beautifully, but beside that it looks great.

Overall the book is laid out on a standard 9-panel grid, but Cooke seems to favor using the grid to present 3 long panels stacked on top of each other. The result is entirely cinematic, which I expect was the intention. Cooke's artistic skills, good directing, and occasional pull out to a full panel shot all aid this, making the story as a whole visually stunning.

The Presentation

The story is published as two trade paperbacks, each printed on semi-glossy, very bright white pages. Each volume presents three 64-page issues of the original story, presented back-to-back; you can't tell where each issue ends, nor do you need to. The front (and I'd guess back) covers of each issue appear in a gallery at the back of each volume, but without any issue numbers, or even the title of the comic on some of the covers, which I think causes them to lose something.

Overall, thanks to Darwyn Cooke's beautiful, period-appropriate, and generally cinematic artwork, DC: The New Frontier earns a full "5" out of "5" on Style.

Usage in RPGs

Honestly, this is a set of books that's going to be most interesting to comic readers, and most specifically long-time fans of the DC heroes, not roleplayers.

However, as a gamemaster it might give you some interesting insights into combining superheroics with real-world history, and definitely will give some fun ideas for anyone wanting to run a superhero game in the late 1950s.

Conclusion

DC: The New Frontier features beautiful artwork and an interesting look at superheroes in the 1950s, bridging several eras of DC comics publishing. The storytelling isn't necessarily the most polished that I've ever seen, but it is definitely some of the most thoughtful & literate work I've seen done in superheroes--work that rises above the genre--and that's from someone who's read The Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and most of the other classics.