THE NEW FRONTIER - A Love Letter to DC Comics
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video, Owen explains the history of Darwyn Cooke's 2004 comic book, The New Frontier, and how it serves as an ultimate love letter to the Silver Age of DC Comics and the entire DC universe.
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▶ Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:53 - Before the Frontier
6:19 - Darkness Before Dawn
8:10 - A New Age of Heroes
14:30 - Conclusion
18:24 - Outro
▶ Music Used:
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#TheNewFrontier #DC #ComicBooks - บันเทิง
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James Gunn posted that The New Frontier is his inspiration for his first Justice League movie!
Watchmen deconstructs heroes. The new frontier builds them back up. Both are great comics and they definitely complement each other.
Alan Moore broke it down so Darwyn Cooke can build it stronger
@@slothbaby2104 And Kurt Busiek as well on the building back. His Astro City remains one of the finest superhero series ever written by applying the correct lessons of the Dark Age of Comics.
@@johnathonhaney8291 Yup Astro city is awesome as well and the story with G-Dog made me cry
@@slothbaby2104 right now we need more creators willing to build up Superheroes and not tear them down.
@@slothbaby2104 I cannot recommend enough to pick up Before Watchmen: Minute Men by Darwin Cooke.
This is my favourite story out of all of the stories. It doesn't apologise for what it is. I think the more grim and gritty stories can be rooted in being ashamed of these properties. The New Frontier embraces some of the goofier and funner elements of the DCU and it holds it all in such great reverence. I was really devastated when Darwyn Cooke passed away. He was truly iconic. Nobody had a style like him or a creative eye.
I truly think a lot of that sensibility also informs the MCU.
"By the way, I don't know who you are or what your intentions are but know this, I have a $50,000 sliver of radioactive rock to stop the one in metropolis. But for you...all I need is a book of matches."
I just got issue 2 and 3 today and I’ve gotta say that was pretty cool when Batman said that. The shock on Manhunters face.
This is my favorite comic of all time. This is also what I consider as the origin of the Justice League. This comes off as the opposite of Watchmen. Where Watchmen is pessimistic the New Frontier is optimistic.
Consider that it was the mid-1980s when Watchmen came out. As a Cold War kid who grew up in that decade, the subliminal message I got was "Enjoy while it lasts. The nukes are coming regardless and no one is going to stop them." That apocalyptic undertone informs that whole book.
@@johnathonhaney82911980s … 1950s … its like if war sells! … it’s almost like if military industrial complex Ike warned us about this at the DAWN OF IT ALL: 1960 😀
The end of the John Henry subplot with the little girl is so chilling and will haunt me forever
As it should. I actually live about sixty miles southwest of where he set that story...and yeah, it's accurate for the period. The sendoff he gets by the likes of Edmund R Murrow puts it all in proper perspective.
Imagine if this was the movie we got and not that zack snyder crap
Normally, I'm against hurting children...
...But in this case...
I really like Darwyn Cooke’s storytelling abilities, both writing and drawing. Yet i haven’t read the New Frontier. I gotta get caught up.
Highly recommend that you read New Frontier when you get the chance. It's my personal favorite Justice League comic.
The movie based off this comic was my first exposure to the team, and always holds a special place in my heart, and honestly is what I see as a classic super-hero community.
One of the most underrated Batman lines out there!
The New Frontier is a treasure. Darwyn Cooke was an amazing storyteller.
I always felt like that it is an antithesis to Watchmen and books influenced by Watchmen, but I never knew it was intentional. Rest in Peace Darwyn Cooke, your artwork will always remain the first thing that comes to my mind, when I think of the silver age.
The best version of Barry Allen ever. My favourite Flash. I love the fact that he's not just a depressed "boohoo mom die" character. He has real thoughts and feelings and his concerns, worries and fears are all warranted. But in true Flash fashion, he pushes through and saves the world. Loved him and of course, his relationship with Iris.
Crazy that Darwyn Cooke did with him in a miniseries shared with DC's entire early Silver Age, that so many writers have failed to on his main series with multiple arcs and issues, and have inadvertently caused another great character in Wally West to be sidelined.
Best Western comic ever, in my personal opinion.
Yeah. Wally West is my favorite Flash but Barry Allen is also really cool. I don't hate his drama with his mother but I do believe it's overdone storyline and Barry has many other aspect that can provide great stories like his relationship with Iris and Wally or the fact he is a nerdy scientist who constantly deals with this wacky sci-fy concepts like talking gorillas or villains from the future .
The Illinois Flash is cool
@@alexandrefrauches132 facts
In fairness, the "Barry's mother died when he was a child" plot hadn't been created yet when The New Frontier was written.
@@OverlyPositiveFanboy Yeah, but the problem is that, after its creation, Barry's mother death was overused by writers, focusing only on Barry dealing with her death and ignoring all his other aspects that could be explore in his stories, like his relationship with Iris and Wally West.
Three points:
1) To me, this was always more of a Hal Jordan story than a Green Lantern story. You forgot to mention young Jordan's encounter with Chuck Yeager, one of many historical cameos.
2) Cooke is the ONLY writer who ever perfectly balanced the warrior ethos and compassionate outlook of Wonder Woman in my view. And he made her taller than Supes too! This gets a hell of a spotlight in the New Frontier epilogue "The Greater Good".
3) One other body of Cooke's work that doesn't get enough love, his adaptations of Donald Westlake's Parker novels. He was working on at least one more of those when he died.
Definitely.
My favorite superhero comic along with All Star Superman. Timeless and easily recommended to anyone wanting to know a distilled version of these characters. 3 of my best friends got into DC comics thanks to my rugged, overread New Frontier trade.
One of my favorite things about the comic is Batman using the blue costume and getting Robin
and when Superman asks about Robin Batman says
"I guess we're just two lost souls who found each other"
RIP Mr Cooke one of my favorite artists of all time. I wish he would’ve did more DC stuff he was perfect for those characters. His Catwoman run and the Parker graphic novels are great.
I first learned about Darwyn Cooke through Batman: Ego, which I absolutely love and strongly recommend to anyone who wants to get into Batman comics, and when this book popped up in one of only 2 dedicated comic book stores in my state, I had to grab it.
Darwyn Cooke was a one of a kind talent
He was, his art style is often variated (Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, Javier Pulido, Veronica Fish, to name a few) but never duplicated. Don’t take this comment as a slam to the listed artists, those artists and Darwin Cooke got me back into reading and loving comics again.
The parallels between New Frontier and the relatively forgotten JSA The Golden Age by James Robinson and Paul Smith have always interested me. At some point I need to go back and read them side by side. Might be a title worth looking at for your series.
You would do well to hunt down the other major influence on this series too, the completely forgotten Martian Manhunter: American Secrets by Gerard Jones and Eduardo Baretto. New Frontier's historical cameos and dark undertones spring from this prestige three-parter.
@@johnathonhaney8291 I have a feeling I read that in my past life when I worked in a comic shop. Interesting that DC haven’t even put it on Comixology.
@@JamesGraham1974 I had to get my copies off Ebay to read it myself. Been fine with a digital copy if I could get it but that's how the cards fell.
@@JamesGraham1974 I would be shocked if it ever appears on Comixology or in trade form considering the author. I remember it being a good story though.
JSA The Golden Age is fantastic and deserves to be remembered more than it is. Truly a sequel to All-Star Squadron (my favorite 80s series) and Young All-Stars. I never thought to read New Frontier after it, but I'm going to give it a try. I love both works dearly.
What makes this series great is because Darwyn Cooke actually lived through this time period in comics. So it's no surprise why he made New Frontier with much love!
I love the New Frontier. I saw the movie first and loved it, then I read the comic and it completely blows away the movie. I couldn't watch it again.
@@kulturkriget - I was going to post the same thing. You beat me to it. 👍🏻
I fell in love with Cooke’s art with Catwoman and his work on The New Frontier cemented him as one of my favorites of all time. It was incredibly sad that one day after his wife announced he had cancer he died.
Darwyn art is on another level, and his skills in paneling. It’s simplified but done so well, mastered comic illustration.
His cat woman book with brubacker is one of my faves ever
I love new frontier such a awesome and amazing story and great origin story for the justice league.
Who do you think did Earth-2 better: Arrowverse or Smallville ?
@@savagedarksider5934 honestly probably smallville earth 2 but I don’t really remember
@@TevyaSmolka I respectful disagree wuth you.
@@savagedarksider5934 i can understand that and honestly like I said its been a very long time since I watched smallville so I don't remember if they did do earth 2 on that show.
@@TevyaSmolka I have another question: What do you think would happen if Red Son Superman would meet New frontier Superman ?
16:46 That's the part I remember the most about The New Frontier. The backup story of Steel ..and that little girl.
The book, much like Cooke is so incredibly underrated. The art and story is incredible. I would've loved more stories in this world or style. Excellent video and thank you for shining a greater light on this
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@OwenLikesComics James Gunn posted that The New Frontier is his inspiration for his first Justice League movie!
Some readers tend to think that complex/detailed stories like Watchmen are the best, given that degree of complexity and its respective coherence, their approach to certain circumstances and the way they stick to or resemble reality, and is ok. On the other hand, some readers admire also the talent of writers that are capable to deliver great content with less pages (simple stories), yet remarkable as those other well known (rewarded) nowadays, insightful as a love letter that you crave to hold and to read over and over again. Such is the case of The New Frontier. Speaking about the animated movie, from the (current) 49 movies that started with Superman Doomsday, The New Frontier still remains as my very favorite, I simply enjoy every minute.
This is one of my favorite JLA movies I watched! It showed how everyone was divided and then Superman was the one who bought them all together showing another example of how great of a leader and inspiration he's always been in DC for years.
New frontier is my favorite comic of all time so thanks for making this
I just recently read through this and was just so inspired and uplifted. It's just a masterpiece in every sense of the word. And the art should be in a museum. New Frontier reminded me what I love so much about superheroes.
To be honest I love New Frontier more than Kingdom Come. It’s by far one of the best DC stories ever yet very underrated. Great story, beautiful art, a tribute to the past with mature but hopeful themes. This is like the Anti-Watchmen.
Kinda wish this was the DCEU it's vintage, stylish, just right amount of violent this would make one hell of a splash that would make it different from Disney's MCU.
This is such a perfect analysis of why the New Frontier is so special and I couldn't help but smile throughout the entire video. Fantastic work, Owen!
Thanks so much!
@@OwenLikesComics Do you hate Doomsday clock. The reason why I am asking you this question is because I am doing a petition to retcon Doomsday clock. I really need some names for my petition.
If don't hate Doomsday clock then can you help me find some people who do. So that I can put their names on my petition.
Please and thank you
All I want to do is save comics.
@@OwenLikesComics Alexander babicz is a really nice guy but he can get aggressive at times and he really hates Doomsday clock so much. Sooooo please don't say anything that will upset him because he can get very angry and depressed
This is how DC is supposed to be represented. Not this extra dark stuff from the DCEU.
There is no correct " supposed to be this way " for these characters and stories. If it did, then these icons would have been dead years ago
@@rajarshisantra8203 I disagree. People like a character because they fell in love with the original ideal of who that character is supposed to be. Sure, you can have evil alternative versions of Superman but he has a original status quo.The big blue boy scout who likes to smile and help people, that's Superman.
Same with Batman...the first version of Batman you see is not supposed to be Bruce Wayne from The Dark Knight Returns. You haven't even seen what led him up to be that way.
To be honest, WB has not shown DC hero's in their classic form. They introduced a alternative Justice League team before the classic.
The reason Marvel is better with the movies is because they are not deviating so much from the comic books.
This is what they call a sweeping generalization.
Agree. DC can have dark stories with mature and serious themes and still keep the hopefull and optimistic spirit of the classic characters and stories, what made them so appealing, as showcased by many exemples such as the DCAU and animated movies like New Frontier, Crisis on Two Worlds, Mask of the Phantasm and, my favorite Superman movie of all, Superman vs the Elite.
@@mr.dccomics9018 so you will reject everything at the first sight who even dares to challenge the original status quo? A Superman that doesn't smile and inspire, a Batman that doesn't have faith ,all these mistakes were redeemed in the Synder cut. Maybe not in a way that you like, but they were. It was never about loving them unconditionally, it's about accepting them
This truly a seminal celebration of DC's legacy
I got the entire series after watching the DC animated adaptation. No regrets.
Caught a clip of the animated movie on TH-cam. Got me curious enough to look up the book. Never regretted it.
I never read New Frontier but after this I might check it out.
Me too. It’s high ranking on my list of comics I want to read.
I can't recommend it enough, it's one of my all time favourites.
If I could never read a single comic book ever again except one, it would be New Frontier. Always.
James Gunn posted that The New Frontier is his inspiration for his first Justice League movie!
Darwyn Cooke is just incredible
Great review Owen. I'm really sick of every hero being conflicted and morally Gray. I'd like my heroes to be like this 1. Have morals stick with your morals no matter what. 2. Have powers use powers for good. love being a hero. have tons of action doesn't have to be brutal. 3 be a good guy who is also a good person. Basically Captain America and Spiderman. Superhero story without having dower "mentally broken" hero who acts purely out of fear, anger, Vengeance, or out of necessity only when the harm of crime directly affects said hero or their way of life. What happened to the classic optimistic altruistic hero or heroine who acted out not purely out of a sense of Vengeance or self-preservation but Heroes who do good acts simply because it's the right thing to do? A hero whose ideals according to seemingly a good number of audience members in the general population would have us all believe are redundant and silly. Someone who takes action for the betterment of society as a whole. Someone who's seen their personal commitment to the safety and protection of others as their moral obligation to do so. People who fight for upholding a higher moral standard than what Society accepts not to uphold the idea of what's "realistic" and manageable but to uphold the principle that we can be better than we think we are. To be better in spite of the world telling us "we aren't capable of being better". And that is the main problem I see with more and more superhero films nowadays is the intentional blurring of the moral lines between Good and Evil. Like we need to be reminded of the corruption in horror going on in real life? People have seen and heard plenty of the bad let them talk about the non-cynical Earnest good and sincere Heroes. I don't mind Marvel benefiting greatly from telling more emotionally mature an in-depth character based stories. I don't believe that going in and explicitly darker route where the stories focus on darker grittier route where ONLY the darker grittier elements is the way to go. If anything we need a mix of those elements and tones carried across all of future films (in separate films or even having films that evenly blend said elements)
Funny you bring up Grant Morrison’s JLA run because I just picked it up in omnibus format! Hope I can grab a copy of New Frontier soon too
More like a great tribute to the non-super powered characters. Along with Hal and J'onn.
New Frontier is still one of my favorites even though I watched the animated version first. I highly recommend it to anybody who likes superheroes.
This guy handled the caraters SO well! I loved every part with Batman and Martian Manhunter and Flash.
This is my favorite Justice League story ever. It truly is a masterpiece!
I loved Darwyn Cooke's work on this and his other projects. I bought this as the single issues came out and later bought the hardback collection when I was stationed in Iraq. Well worth it. I agree with Cooke on the this version being the reason most got interested in superhero comics. Anyone who hasn't read it should give his book, "Selina's Big Score" a look. It's a great heist book with Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. Also check out Cooke's adaptation of the Parker books by Richard Stark. Really miss seeing new work from this guy after his death, but I'm grateful for the material he produced.
Boy, imagine a comic that actually presents the characters as heroic, inspiring and hopeful, vs a “real” take on super heroes. It’s so sad that people think things need to be gritty or real for these characters to be interesting, cause if you really think that than you really don’t understand the point of these characters.
This channel is so underrated!
You're too kind.
We need more comics and stories like these across the medium
If you haven't already, hunt down every collection of Astro City you can find. It's got EXACTLY the same sensibilities and tone.
@@johnathonhaney8291 what about art work?
@@Seasonal-Shadow_4674 Brent Andersen handles that and is very atypical for superhero comics. He excels at showing ordinary people that look like it with a variety of body types. That he manages this trick no matter what time period (which can range from the Old West to various late 20th Century decades to a variety of futures both utopian and apocalyptic) or alien worlds the story takes place is even more remarkable.
@@johnathonhaney8291 I’ll check it out, thx for the recommended
The New Frontier is favorite book of all time and Darwyn Cooke is one of my heroes and I think you did both the book and Darwyn jusitce with this video. Incredible work as always.
Thanks so much, Antonio.
Great look at easily one of my favorite comics of all time. I miss Darwyn Cook so much.
Darwyn Cooke is one of my favorite artist and, in my opinion New Frontier is one his best works, showing his love and appreciation to the silver age. Sure, I can see why some people judge the silver age stories as cheesy, silly and campy but I really enjoy some them and the way it introduce alot of sci-fy adventures to super hero comics
The New Frontier is so underrated that it makes me sad. So glad to see people in the comment section praising this comic.
I love The New Frontier, one of the best Justice League comics ever, Barry Allen's Flash and Martian Manhunter were the standout characters in that story for me.
I've only seen the movie adaptation... I love it, but I'm sure it differs from the original, so I really want to read it.
Great video, always great to dive into stories good or bad it's always interesting.
Oh man. I've read this story hundred times and just here in your video I discovered that you can see Larry Trainor (Negative Man) with other heroes... Man I love this story
Hell yes, Larry is one of my favourite DC characters!
I just noticed that the center, when firing its laser deal downwards looks like a mushroom cloud, idk if that was intended but for the story being placed in the 50's-60's its a great allegory for the true center villain war and hatred
Another great video as always, I like when you cover books you seem to genuinely love. They have a much different feel than your videos where you talk about something like Ultimatum.
I really love the New Frontier, it’s one of those books that I read as a kid and thought was just fine, but now I consider it one of the best series DC ever put out. Can’t wait to see what you end up covering next.
Great stuff Owen, I had never made the connection between Watchmen and New Frontier both being there historically set pieces that contrast their views on the heroic ideal!
Anytime I see his art I’m floored, how does he do it with just a few lines. So much energy and style
A nice companion piece to THE NEW FRONTIER is James Robinson's and Paul Smith's THE GOLDEN AGE. Can't recommend it enough! Even though it was an Elseworlds book, bits of it found their way into Robinson's STARMAN (most importantly, Ted Knight's nervous breakdown and the cosmic staff).
ALSO I have to recommend to anyone who digs Cooke's work that they seek out and try his graphic novel adaptations of Donald Westlake;s hardboiled PARKER books. Absolutely beautiful stuff!
Great job on the video, btw!
This could easily be a movie. Holy shit.
Honestly the New Frontier is my gold standard for comics period
They should adapt this into a live action movie, show Snyder how it’s done
New Frontier is where they came from.
Infinite Frontier is where they are now.
“It’s like poetry it rhymes.”
Wonderful review, Owen. New Frontier is in a class all its own. It's greatest feat is bringing a genuine sense of wonder and innocence to a time where we think we've seen it all.
I really need to read this comic, I remember the movie being so good and from the looks of it it was pretty faithful but still gonna check out the original!
Video was awesome as always man!
My favorite justice league story of all time
New Frontier is such a love letter. RIP Darwin Cooke, you idealistic bastard
Tome this is the definitive Justice League story.
Boy have I been waiting for this one.
As of 4:15 AM EST this video has no dislikes. If that changes I'll be furious.
New Frontier is my favorite comic book and nothing really comes close to it.
So happy to have found this channel. Loving the content so far. Thank you for covering one of the greatest comic book stories of all time. RIP Darwyn Cooke.
I really appreciate that, thank you!
The animated movie of this is really great.
the production of your videos is very high compared to most channels even larger than you. respect 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻💯
Finished volume one a couple of weeks ago! Couldn't agree more!
Another great video Owen!
Thank you, Alex.
Great video. This is probably my favorite Justice League story and one of your best stuff yet.
Thanks!
Darwyn cooks art is just mesmerizing
i miss this type of Love Letters comics, sadly some people within comics have taken the fun out of it.
I just realized. This would've been a good justice league movie. It's pretty much an origin story for characters. It's a solid story. Long and movie perfect. And it's what justice league pretty much stands for.
The New Frontier represents everything Snyder didn't get about DC and the Justice League.
@@pious83 but I like MOS and ZSJL...
@@projekttaku1 That's fine? If you haven't, I'd recommend reading/watching New Frontier.
@@pious83 oh yeah, I watched the movie.
Pretty great, loved the artstyle and classic suits.
This was really good I got the new frontier recently for a really good price worth every cent this was fantastic keep up the good work
im so glad they made new frontier a movie
Could you make videos about your favorite complete stories about certain characters?
Great video 👍👍👍👍one of my favorite comic runs
Do you review independent book series
I just watched the animated movie for the first time the other day. This video makes me really want to read the comic it's based off of. Loving your channel
Thanks! I definitely recommend checking the book out, there's a lot the animated film skims over that's worth reading.
@@OwenLikesComics yeah I noticed that some plot points you mentioned from the comic didn't make it into the actual movie. Likely due to run time sadly usually necessary for adaptions
A great video about a great book, what else more could you want!
I thought it owed a small debt to The Golden Age by James Robinson & Paul Smith. There had been plans for a Silver Age sequel by Robinson & Howard Chaykin, and I don’t think we’ll see that now. The New Frontier ticks all the same boxes that story would have to. New Frontier also reminded me of Steve Englehart’s reworking of the JLA origin during his run on the Justice League in the ‘70s. All that said, Cooke’s reimagining of the era was brilliant. I’d never been a fan of the Challengers of the Unknown, but when this came out, DC was suffering in the fallout of the George Clooney “Batman & Robin” movie, and I thought Warner execs should take a break from Superman & Batman projects & give us a solid Challengers flick.
I would love the see a silver age sequel.
One of the best graphic novel, I’ve ever read
Miniseries is the accurate term.
Excellent Comic. Excellent Video.
I seen this on DVD the movie it was So Awesome. The live action movie should have been like this
Oh, this is gonna be a good one.
Another Owen?
@@B8V88 indeed. I’m the Owen from Earth 2, and have crossed over into your reality.
You should do an Invincible retrospective.
Truly inspiring
Good video dude
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
I've heard that James is doing something like that.
I want to check this one out now
Zero dislikes.
*Good.*
The new frontier is a classic. 😀👍
Time for a reread!