Cooke's New Frontier

This mini series came out a little while ago now, but sadly I only recently got to reading it, too bad too because it was really good. I enjoyed it immensely. I have a major soft spot for the golden age, simpler times, and superhero story lines. I’m not sure why, I’m too young to have lived through anything that would be considered “simpler times.” Perhaps that’s exactly the reason why? I like stories about bad guys being bad guys, and heroes being good guys. I’m not so fond of the blurred line we’ve got going on today. I think I’ve made that feeling extremely clear already on this website so lets move on the details of the book shall we…

 

 

You can tell Cooke really got his start working with Bruce Timm on Batman: The Animated Series. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just evident. Simple lines, sharp angles, and exaggerated proportions are a few of the major traits of his work, and Timm’s. I like it a lot though. It’s a good format for comics and animation. I also imagine that when you’re writing and illustrating on a deadline by yourself, you can’t take the time someone like Jim Lee does with rendering and line work. This format is still a unique and effective style that looks great, but may not require quite the same time investment.

 

Dave Stewart’s colors are amazing as always. This guy has a sensitivity for tone and hue that is just fantastic. His color adds an amazing richness and strength to the book that just brings characters to life. It suits the style and time line of the book beautifully. The backgrounds and clothing colors all seem to suit the 50’s style the book has, of course much of that has to do with Cooke’s illustration as well, but a bad coloring job can quickly kill any artist’s effort for authenticity or mood.  

 

40’s and 50’s story lines with “advanced” technology are fun. While still being action packed and exciting, basing the story in the past ads and air of simplicity and nostalgia to the whole thing. A lot of this book was based around Hal Jordan and his struggle to find his way through the army and into the space program, while still retaining his moral compass that forbids him from taking human life. As one can imagine a soldier who has no desire to kill is not to highly respected, especially at a time when the Vietnam War is weighing heavily on them, and the Cold War is just beginning. Jordan gets held back quite a bit in his career due to his philosophies. It isn’t until he joins up with Ferris Air that he gets a break.

 

J’onn J’onzz is the other major character in this book. I’ve always found it amazing how he and Superman – these aliens – can be such a great representation of the greatest human qualities: bravery, honor, kindness and self sacrifice. J’onzz spends most of the book trying to discover what the ancient force is that 's threatening the earth. Disguised as Det. John Jones of the GCPD he starts to notice odd behavior, even for humans, and when prehistoric creatures begin terrorizing the world the mystery becomes even more dire.

 

The whole story has an overall theme about the strength of the human spirit, and the power of teamwork. It’s quite impressive and inspirational. With the vast array of characters featured in this story and the personality differences each one of those characters represents, Cooke does and incredible job of pacing at keeping the story interesting and understandable. This is an amazing epic that definitely deserves a read by old and new fans alike.