DC: The New Frontier is the latest project from Darwyn Cooke.  It's a six-issue miniseries with each issue running to 64 pages, so we're looking at a pretty substantial undertaking here.

The one-line concept of New Frontier, in theory, is that it bridges the gap between DC's Golden Age and Silver Age.  However, it's a little more complicated than that.  After all, that makes it sound like a DC equivalent of Marvel: The Lost Generation.  But whereas that series attempted to plug a gap in continuity, this one has an entirely different agenda.

Rather than work by modern DC continuity, Cooke is doing this series as a period piece, and taking the actual DC publications as his template.  Issue #1 starts with the end of World War II, and runs up through to the end of the Korean War in 1953.  This allows him to reflect the way DC publication actually worked - most of the heroes disappear in the years following World War II, with a handful such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman clinging on through the barren years until superheroes came back into fashion in the early sixties.

By appearances, then, this isn't really a series about the dawn of the modern DC Universe.  Instead, it seems to be a series playing off the 1950s dead zone in the superhero genre.

At this stage, however, it's rather unclear quite what point Cooke is trying to make - if any.  We get a series of seemingly disconnected scenes with DC characters of the time.  The Losers fight dinosaurs on a remote island.  The superheroes are wiped out by McCarthyism, with a handful giving in and swearing allegiance to the government (and Batman just ignoring the whole thing and ploughing on regardless).  Hal Jordan serves as a pilot in Korea and meets Lois Lane.

Okay, fine... and?  I'm left wondering - is there actually a deeper point to all this, or is Cooke just playing around in a continuity gap that doesn't even exist?  Potentially, you can get something out of the superheroes' hiatus in the 1950s as some kind of symbol of the times, which would explain why Cooke has opted for a period approach.  But to be honest, I don't really see where this is headed, beyond playing around with the DC characters.  Admittedly, Cooke has another five issues (and long ones, at that) in which to make the point clear.

It's easy to see why so many people love Cooke's work - even if it's not clear how they fit together, these are wonderfully told stories.  The extended format allows Cooke to settle into a rhythm of three panels to a page, which gives the stories space to breathe.  The slightly retro quality of Cooke's art fits neatly with the time period.  And he's a wonderful visual storyteller.

Technically, it's excellent.  But as someone who isn't particularly a DC fan and doesn't have an immediate reaction to many of the characters, I do find myself wondering if there's any actual point to the whole thing.  Still, it's a well-told story with wonderful art - I'm prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt, to a degree.

Rating: B+

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