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Thursday, June 24, 2004
An essay on the New Frontier
Well, this will be my first real essay on this blog. I don’t know how well it will look when any of you folks can read comic blogs by guys who know a hell lot more than I do. But I can’t say I didn’t try. Here’s my praise of Darwyn Cooke’s mini-series New Frontier and the latest issue in particular. I hope it’s not too insipid.
Cooke's portrayal of the DC Silver Age against the backdrops of the social happenings of the late-50s is a great idea and the way Cooke executes it is a testament to his talent. Not the least bit because Cooke doesn’t just use a simpler, cleaner line in drawing the characters but because the former magazine art director is creating a whole look for the book that perfectly matches the era and ideas he wants to convey. Just look at the inside cover of issue four, “Mystery In Space,” and you'll see an exciting space-age design and in the forefront a 45 RPM record on the ballad of John Henry. He just summed up two themes in this book brilliantly with just one page.
Cooke really indulges himself (and the lucky readers) when later on in the same issue the Silver Age Green Lantern Hal Jordan and his friends go to a car show. Who can resist big signs with smart fonts on them telling the world about the latest spine-tinglers? Maybe it's because my Dad took my brother and I to a lot of car shows when we were kids, but something about seeing a lot of cars with fins on them reminds me of the 1950’s, even though I wasn’t around for them (I’m 21). A few pages before this we got to see the Silver Age Flash in action. The great Carmine Infantino designed the character’s costume to look like the automobiles of the day. In fact all those Silver Age DC books were products of their time (aren’t all great superheroes?). They were filled with optimism about science and space technology as well as just bursting with bright colors and sleek designs for the characters (Flash has fins! Green Lantern has no cape!). I think Cooke gets this perfectly and seamlessly adds personalities to the characters.
We’ve had a lot of writers like Mark Waid, Jeph Loeb and Grant Morrison actively try to bring back the sensibilities of reading Silver Age comics. While I feel they were successful for the most part, most of the artwork for the respective books those writers were doing still had a modern feel to them. Nothing wrong with that, unlike some I like Ed McGuinness’ manga-influenced Superman. But Cooke is not just content to remind readers of the days when Gardner Fox and John Broome were coming up with tales of the enthralling fantastic, he wants to remind people of why Gil Kane and the aforementioned Infantino are held in such high regard. Not only that, Cooke wants to remind people of what the world was like outside of DC’s office at the time.
In contrast to the actual DC books of the late-50s and early-60s, Cooke doesn’t gloss over the realties of those times. The John Henry in this book is more than just someone in a song; he’s a wronged African-American who decides to fight back with as much heroism and bravery as the super powered beings we’re familiar with. The news report on the character’s death sparks something in J’onn J’onzz as a minority of one in the 50s. The way Cooke writes this character is the best I’ve seen yet. J’onzz is known by many comic readers as “the green guy who is always on the Justice League” but Cooke knows that if he’s going to tell a story about the era that brought about Joe McCarthy as well as Chuck Yeager, the Martian Manhunter is just the right superhero for the job.
This is a book by a great artist who clearly loves superheroes and telling their stories. It’s a real pleasure to read.
Permanent Link: 4:24 PM |
2 comments
Comments:
This book just doesn't grab me the way it does you. I can KIND of see the appeal of Cooke's art, for example, but I'm just not wild about it. I bought the first two issues, though, on everyone's wild praise of it, and I wasn't going to get the third, but now I'm tempted to because of this.
# posted by tomthedog : 12:00 AM
Well, they've got a TPB of the first three issues coming out.
Keep in mind, the fourth issue is different from the first three in the fact that it speeds up the story a lot more. It's a rewarding read after reading the set-ups in the first three.
# posted by Ian : 12:28 AM
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