February 26th marks the day DC Comics and Warner Brothers Animation present JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER on DVD. In preparation for that event, POINT of ORIGIN is going to catch you up to speed on Darwyn Cooke’s six-issue love letter to the Silver Age of DC. Today we’ll be looking at the first two issues in this first part of a three part series detailing DC: THE NEW FRONTIER.

As always, click on a picture to view it in a larger state.
Moderate Spoilers Ahead.

“This is the story of the Losers…”
The story opens with a secret government mission where the Losers, an O.S.S. special-forces group, must recover a scientist who went missing in the Pacific during the last days of WWII. Page 3 reveals the outcome. The next 27 pages inform us of how this mission ended up being the last for the Losers. It was a bold move to be handed the keys to Cadillac (Cooke was given carte blanche with the DC Universe with the only major caveat being to not contradict established continuity), and then write 30 pages of story before the mere sight of a super-hero. But it pays off.
Darwyn Cooke is a phenomenal storyteller. Working predominantly in animation (MEN IN BLACK, BATMAN: The Animated Series) before coming to comics, you can see the influence Bruce Timm and Alex Toth have had on Darwyn. His panels command your eyes and imagination. Take this example: With the scientist’s notes safely on their way back home, the mission is complete. John Cloud, the final Loser, takes fate in his own hands.

The story jumps rapidly in the first issue from where the Losers meet their fate in 1945, to meeting a young Hal Jordan in 1948, to 1952 where Iris Allen delivers a news article depicting the decline of the Golden Age heroes. We then catch back up to Hal Jordan in 1953 as a pilot during the Korean War. The treaty has been signed, only not everyone on active duty is aware of this fact. Hal’s plane is shot down, and Cooke delivers a sobering moment between Hal and a Korean soldier, which makes all too real the more disturbing parts of war.

“There’s the door spaceman…”
Where issue one set up the world our heroes occupy, issue two is a whirlwind of catching up with what our heroes are doing. Beginning with Superman and Wonder Woman’s relief efforts in Indo-China. I’ll just let Cooke’s work speak for itself here.

By his reaction, you can tell Superman is still the “Gosh, shucks,” farm-boy as NEW FRONTIER takes place so early in his career. Wonder Woman is fresh off the Amazon island Themyscira, and frighteningly misanthropic. We’re also introduced to a green alien who is transported here by mistake from his home planet, Mars. Using his abilities (shape-shifting, telepathy), he melds with our society very easily, and even takes up police work as Detective John Jones.
Through John Jones, we meet up with the Batman. While investigating a kidnapping, Detective Jones happens upon a cult worshipping the Center, which plans to sacrifice the boy. Only Batman and Jones have a different idea. Here we get to see a bit of an awakening for Batman, who realizes he’s not only striking fear into the hearts of men.

From Gotham City, we jump to Las Vegas, and one of my favorite sequences in the entire story.
Reporter Iris Allen is covering the heavyweight-boxing match post-fight when Captain Cold appears to hold up the festivities. Lucky for Iris, she’s on the phone with her husband, Barry Allen, when Cold attacks. Lucky for Barry, he’s the fastest man alive, the Flash, and nobody messes with his Iris. The action kicks into high gear as the Flash rushes to Iris’ side in Vegas.

The way Cooke details how the Flash deals with Captain Cold is impressive. The sense of speed is never in question, and the art is never muddied. This is in part due to J. Bone’s terrific inks and Dave Stewart’s amazing colors throughout NEW FRONTIER. From the Vegas strip, Cooke rushes us off to see Hal Jordan getting another chance to prove himself with Ferris Aircraft as a test pilot.

That’s where issue two ends, but all the fun is just starting kids. Be here when we dip into issues 3 and 4. We’ll meet the Challengers of the Unknown, the Suicide Squad and John Henry. We’ll witness a trip back to the island where the Losers still lie. Hell, it’s only 1957 in NEW FRONTIER, we’ve still got 3 whole years to get through in just 4 issues.

Here’s the schedule for the week:
Wednesday: POINT of ORIGIN: DC: The New Frontier, Part 2: Issues 3 and 4
Saturday: POINT of ORIGIN: DC: The New Frontier, Part 3: Issues 5 and 6

Previous POINTS of ORIGIN:

Issue #1

Issue #2  & Issue #2: Variant

Issue #3

Issue #4

Issue #5