This article centers around Warner Brothers direct to DVD animated adaptation of artist/writer Darwyn Cooke's 2003 six-issue series "DC: The New Frontier", mildly retitled "Justice League: The New Frontier". The "New Frontier" features a star marquee of actors providing the voices for these iconic figures. My only real complaint about the adaptation is that it runs a little short, coming in at something like 75 minutes. Naturally many corners were cut from novel to film, but there are many places where fifteen to twenty more minutes would have been nice to have.
But this is barely a criticism at all, more a merit in that I wished they had given us more. Not perfect, not the level of sublime that Cooke achieved in the comic series, but fun and thought provoking, and like its source material emotionally stirring, at points even inspiring. And with enough intriguing moments of symbol play to make me want to read the comic book again, this time with my esoteric eye wide open. This is maybe the highest function of any film adaptation, directing the viewer to the meatier, more complex meal on the printed page.
The premise of "The New Frontier" seems simple, but the concept and the way in which it is handled is really ground breaking. The story explores the time period between the Golden and Silver Ages of DC Comics, paralleling the transition to the political and cultural changes of America in the wake of World War II. Put simpler, this is the DC super heroes set in the fifties, the chronological context in which they were generated (in cases like the new Flash and Green Lantern) or developed (for continuous characters like Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman). It is a Raygun Gothic genre piece that returns the material to its original milieu. This is done quite successfully as Cooke applied loving attention to detail, allowing the publication history to (for the most part) determine that of the characters (for example, the Silver Age Flash was first published in 1956 so in "The New Frontier" he gains his super powers and starts his career that year).
There's a lot of things to say about these characters, and the structure of "The New Frontier" should allow for this in a tidy manner. My main focus, and source of images, is the comic, but the animation will be referred to as well, including the synchronistic connotations the voice actors bring to their roles and vice versa. At its core, often the case with the super hero genre, "The New Frontier" follows an Initiatory pattern, focusing on the origins of slightly less prominent DC luminaries Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter. But the story doesn't begin there. It starts by presenting the larger context these figures developed in, World War II and its immediate aftermath.
Issue #1 - "Our Fighting Forces"
Chapter One - "Analog Heroes"
While at times we might question whether or not the usage of esoteric symbolism is purposeful on the parts of the artists involved, or synchronistic/coincidental due to however we might personally wish to conceptualize this process, I feel fairly certain in the case of Cooke that it is the former. Indeed, the title of Chapter One (of a story told in Seventeen parts) really says it all. "Analog Heroes", Heroes that are Analogies. The War era is personified in the form of Robert Kanighter's Silver Age WWII heroes The Losers (all art in this article by or inspired by the work of Darwyn Cooke).
The Losers are four top soldiers brought together for special operations. It should come as no surprise that, despite being War rather then Super Heroes, we see an obvious allusion to the classic elements in this team. U.S. Air Force pilot Johnny Cloud, the "Navajo Ace", is Air, former PT Boat Navy Commander Captain William Storm is Water, rough and tumble career Marine Sarge Clay is Earth and young, red-headed Marine Gunner Mackay is Fire. An unofficial fifth member is Sarge's dog Pooch. "The New Frontier" opens with a presentation of the last mission of the team. It is 1945 and the OSS has sent the Losers to the South Pacific on a mission codenamed Operation Four Horsemen. If this was not ominous enough, the Loser's transport plane is called the Albatross. They've been sent to locate a missing military escort for an Axis scientist from the Nazi rocket program. The escort, led by OSS Squadron Leader Colonel Rick Flag (also created by Kanigher, indeed much of New Frontier can be seen as a love note to Kanigher's work), crashed on a remote Pacific Island before all communications were lost. Disaster strikes for the Losers, as "something big" capsizes their boat and they too are marooned. Shortly thereafter the fantastic nature of the island is made apparent when they are attacked by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. They manage to injure the creature, blowing off one of its arms, but Gunner is killed during the battle. He's described as having been 23 years old. This is Dinosaur Island (aka Monster Island or the Land That Time Forgot). Every self-respecting super hero universe has one (at least).
The three surviving Losers take shelter in a cave where they find Japanese, American and Australian military supplies, suggesting that many have been in the position of the Losers and Flag's team before them. Sarge, the most affected by the death of Gunner, goes off with Pooch while the others sleep. While searching for them Captain Storm is carried away by a pterodactyl or some similar creature. This leaves Johnny Cloud on his own, and leads to him expressing the special qualities of an elemental group of heroes, stating "Powerful forces come in groups of Four-", '-there is no Magic in One". Returning to his cave he's greeted by Pooch who has been found by Colonel Flag, the only survivor of his mission. Flag and Cloud can leave on a life raft, but Cloud opts to stay behind because he is "the Fourth" which he describes as meaning his "path is set". Flag protests but ultimately leaves alone. Cloud blocks up the cave, creates a sweat lodge, and has a vision of his Brothers (his fellow Losers) on the Other Side. The next day he and Pooch hunt, but he accidentally triggers a booby trap Flag had set up. Pooch is killed and Cloud is mortally wounded. But he persists, and locates his prey. He sees a vision of a mounted Indian warrior in the clouds, and then completes his mission in spectacular manner.
Three years later, in the Spring of 1948 at Edwards Airforce Base, young Hal Jordan goes to the "Fly Inn" in hopes of meeting his hero, test pilot Chuck Yeager. He does and we learn that Jordan's father was a pilot in Yeager's war time unit, flying with him over Europe.
Chapter Two- "State of the Union Suit"
We then move to Gotham City in 1952 where we witness super hero and Justice Society of America member Hourman being pursued by the police. This is followed by a news article written by Iris West (about whom we'll have more to say later in this article). West's story "Washington Declares War on the Mystery Men" states that Hourman, and four of the cops pursuing him, plummeted to their deaths in the rooftop chase. This occurred in the wake of congressional hearings by the House Un-American Activities Committee to "purge the subversive influence of masked vigilantes" and the Eisenhower administration's efforts to reveal and register the identities of "masked men". This is a well played device, utilizing the established DC continuity's use of McCarthy-era persecution tactics, and I believe eluding to the era's Congressional Inquiry toward the comic book industry that led to the establishment of the Comic Book Code Authority.
Hourman was one of the heroes who refused to register, despite vigilantism of this nature being declared a federal offense akin to treason. West's article indicates it was originally Richard Nixon's idea to go after "Masked Marvels", primarily for publicity purposes. The prominent Justice Society were targeted early on, ordered to unmask and take a loyalty oath to the current administration. They instead decided to retire and fade away, and most of the crime fighters followed suit. Only a half-dozen heroes are described as having registered, including Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman then assisted the government by rounding up the masked men operating in violation of the law. However, he was unable to apprehend the Bat-Man, who was able to hold Superman off using some form of "chemical explosive". This is a vocalized tribute by Cooke to the similar conflict in Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns".
To handle the still existent phenomena, crimes and occurrences typically handled by the masked heroes, the government established Task Force X under the command of Monster Island survivor Colonel Rick Flag, a revamped version of his Suicide Squad, utilizing highly trained personnel, state of the art technology and nearly unlimited resources to accomplish their missions. Postmortem Hourman's identity is revealed as pharmaceutical mogul Rex Tyler, described in the article as a federal criminal and a drug addict (his powers came from use of the physicality boosting drug Miralco), but credited as personally preventing (note these numbers) 17 murders, 23 rapes, 9 armed robberies and at least 5 acts that would have resulted in mass destruction. The use of Hourman in this role is of course a reference to Time running out for the Mystery Heroes, and this is itself emblematic of Age Shift.
Chapter Three - "Heavy Traffic in Mig Alley"
On July 27th, 1953 air force pilots Colonel Ace Morgan and Airman Hal Jordan fly over Seoul. It is 2 hours and 23 minutes after the armistice signing ending the Korean War. Unfortunately most of the North Korean soldiers are not aware of this fact yet. Over the Yalu River Jordan and Morgan are engaged by Mig fighters. Hal is described as a pilot with gifts to such a degree as to make up for his patent refusal to utilize lethal force in combat. He is however more than willing to place himself in jeopardy for the good of his teammates or mission. He is a man without fear.
He is voiced in the animation by David Boreanaz, most famous for his role as Angel, the vampire cursed with a human soul from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and his own series. He also played a Satanic cult leader in a 2005 Crow movie I didn't know existed. Also rumored to be in "Jurassic Park 4", which would simply be perfect. He was also an FBI agent on the forensics crime drama "Bones". Hal's jet is shot down. He manages to eject but is knocked unconscious in the process and unable to pull his rip cord. Morgan ejects himself, intercepts Jordan and opens his parachute for him. A helicopter is sent to retrieve the pilots shot down in Sector 9. Journalist Lois Lane and her photographer Jimmy Olsen manage to weasel their way on board.
Jordan comes to as he drops, and lands, literally on top of a North Korean soldier. As the Korean's squadron approaches Hal struggles to hold him at bay, trying to convince the man the war is over, unable to recall the words in Korean. Ultimately, to save his own life, Jordan is forced to shoot him. He is rescued from the field by the helicopter moments before the rest of the squadron reaches him. Lois Lane's voice is provided by Kyra Sedgwick, who I see also voiced a Batwoman in a 2003 cartoon, so a pair of bat people hiding in this scene. Sedgwick was also the inspiration personifying figure Donna in "Born on the Fourth of July", resonating more with this scene then is immediately apparent. She also played a super police interrogator on the cop drama "The Closer".
Issue #2 - "Strange Adventures"
Chapter Four - "Gods and Monsters"
It is 1955 and in an observatory near Gotham City astronomer Doctor Mark Erdel has accidentally teleported a Martian to Earth via a radio signal. The shock of this causes the elderly scientist to suffer a heart attack and he dies. This is J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter. Erdel dies warning J'onn to be wary of humankind. Luckily amongst his many powers is the (nearly Martian standard) ability to change his shape. J'onn is voiced by Miguel Ferrer, who played roles in "Star Trek III", "Robocop", and the Stephen King vampire/pilot flick "Night Flier". He played the Weather Wizard in an unsuccessful pilot for a "Justice League of America" tv show (which featured David Ogden "Major Winchester" Stiers as the Martian Manhunter). Ferrer also played a recurring character on David Lynch's "Twin Peaks", as FBI forensics expert Albert Rosenfield.
We follow Superman on a mission in Indo-China to locate Wonder Woman, who has gone without communication for two weeks. He finds her leading a Bacchanalia of released female prisoners of war.
Note the bamboo grid ceiling in this overtly Mystery Cult initiatory scene.
Wonder Woman explains how she was sent into Cambodia to retrieve the crew of a downed U.S. transport plane flying over the nation "unofficially". Flying back she spotted a small rebel camp in recently Southern territory, keeping female villagers in tiger cages, as Wonder Woman describes it, "sexual cattle". The Amazon princess disarmed the rebels, released the prisoners, and left them access to their former captors weapons, allowing them to dispense personal justice. Superman is shocked that Wonder Woman would stand by and even facilitate such an action.
I love the Fleisher-esque styling of Cooke's Superman, and the great touch of making Wonder Woman a half a head taller then him. Wonder Woman is voiced by Lucy Lawless, who more or less played the role for years on TV in the form of "Xena: Warrior Princess". Superman is portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, "Twin Peaks" FBI Agent Dale Cooper and Paul Atreides in David Lynch's adaptation of "Dune". Back in Gotham we see J'onn J'onzz adapting to American culture by watching television. This is, I believe, an allusion to a similar scene between Doctor Manhattan and the Comedian in Vietnam as these two key figures are introduced, and in an ambiguous light. Wonder Woman is a mythological warrior from a bygone culture, with an excessively polarized view of right and wrong, and a royal regard of herself as infallible arbitrator. Superman is presented as more then a little wide-eyed and naive in his loyalty to the administration and the letter of the law, the over grown boyscout.
Including Bugs Bunny and Groucho Marx complete with Shriner's fez. I like his Klee-like art pieces. Ultimately he adopts the persona of a TV detective, being a cop by inherent nature. His abilities of telepathy, shape shifting, invisibility, flight, intangibility, super strength and invulnerability naturally greatly assist him in this role. A single panel tells us that in 1956, Central City, lightning struck police chemist Barry Allen, transforming him into the Flash.
In 1957 the Soviet's speed ahead in the space race with the launching of Sputnik. Eisenhower is reelected, promising to stop the communist advance and fund a U.S. space program. John Jones is now a Gotham City police detective, the only honest cop on the force besides Jim Gordon according to private detective Slam Bradley. John and Slam are working to solve a kidnapping case the rest of the Gotham police are apathetic over. The son of a wealthy financier is described as having been held now for 5 days. Following one of his "hunches", John has located the boy in a city church, where he is about to be sacrificed by a group of cultists. Breaking in they discover they aren't the only individuals on the scene.
Unfortunately fire breaks out and this paralyzes John into a trance state, fire being the ultimate weakness of Martians, like Kryptonite, but with more of a psychological effect. Batman beats all the cultists, worshipers of some dark entity called The Centre.
I love that drawing of Batman in the bottom panel, perfection. Batman slips away unnoticed. John finds a locked book with no visible means of opening.
Chapter Five - "Fun City"
In Las Vegas we see a boxing match between the reigning champion, aging Ted "Wildcat" Grant versus young Cassius Clay. It's the seventh round and Clay knocks Grant out, but the round ends during the count, he's saved by the bell. In the audience we see characters named Selina (Cat Woman), Dinah (Black Canary), Ollie (the Green Arrow), Bruce (Batman) and Lois, all familiar with one another. Also in attendance are Hal Jordan and Ace Morgan. In the ring Grant realizes that Clay is more talented then he is, stronger and faster. But Ted Grant is Wildcat, a hero and member of the Justice Society of America, and he draws upon the inner power of this status one last time to retain his title. Wildcat is a Bill Finger creation with obvious Dionysian qualities. We note that at the victory party he is depicted being very cozy with Selina Kyle/Cat Woman, a fellow Finger made Dionysus resonator. Other interesting guests include Colonel Flag in attendance with Carol Ferris, and reporter Iris West, girlfriend of Barry Allen/The Flash.
Iris calls Barry, who is back in Central City watching a TV program on the newly formed Challengers of the Unknown. Suddenly the casino, called the Utopia, is attacked in a hold up by the Flash rogue Captain Cold (not to be confused with the highly similar Batman villain Mister Freeze). Cooke presents Cold as a kind of crooked Liberace. Cold spots Iris talking on the phone and encases her hand in ice with his freeze gun, knocking her out in the process. Flash instantly suits up and makes the scene in a heart beat.
Note the planetary trappings of the Utopia, including prominent Saturn, ruler of the Golden Age, as well as Wheel of Fortune and several six and eight point stars. Cold had hoped to avoid the Flash by operating in Las Vegas, but was prepared none the less for his intervention. Cold is wired with a cyrogenic bomb that will go off if he is touched. Further he states he has hidden six more throughout the city, timed to explode in thirty seconds unless the Flash can find them all. As Flash races off Cold's girl-goons pick him up in an escape helicopter. The Flash quickly locates Five of the bombs.
Note the use of hot air balloon. The Flash is fast but is not able to fly, so to reach the helicopter he races up the casino stairs to the 23rd floor, into room 2306 (=11), jumps through the window, pulling out Cold, and landing in the fountain. During the drop the Flash rewires Cold's gun, and when the villain tries to use it it overloads encasing Captain Cold in his own ice. Above the city Captain Cold's bombs explode and snow falls on Las Vegas.
Neil Patrick Harris brings interesting connotations to the Hermetic Flash. Not only was he the child Doctor Doogie Howser, but he currently is on a show that tells us "How I Met Your Mother". He also voiced Spider-Man in a 2003 cartoon. Iris West, the other super hero reporter girlfriend, is voiced by Vicki Lewis, best known as Beth from "Newsradio". We must note too that the significant other of the Flash is named Iris, the Rainbow personifying messenger goddess associated with both the Eye and the Flower. West is of course the direction and terminus point of the sun's travels.
Following the excitement at the casino Ace and Hal drive to Nellis Air Force Base where Ace shows Hal the custom B-47 he'll be piloting as one of the Challengers (more on later). We learn Hal has been working post-War as a test pilot. He describes how he was the 9th test pilot of an experimental TTX Dual Jet, the testing of which killed the first eight pilots. Despite the danger Hal felt no fear, and he wonders if there's something wrong with him. Ace then informs Hal that he's arranged an interview for Hal to work for state of the art Ferris Aircraft. This is an initiation. Ace Morgan is made here the elder generation mentor of Hal Jordan, and the old hero introduces/facilitates the younger up a step to his higher calling, in the case of Hal the clear enlightenment symbol of traveling to the stars.
Issue #3 - "The Brave and the Bold"
Chapter Six - "The Man Who Fell To Earth"
It is 1957 and at a traveling carnival currently camped near Montreal, Red Ryan, King of the Daredevils, suffers nightmares of the crash of jet AF772, crewed by him and his fellow Challengers of the Unknown. Something compels Ryan to revisit the crash site in the Colorado Rockies. In Coast City, California, Carol Ferris hires Hal Jordan during a dinner interview that becomes a date. Their deal is made with a handshake beneath a full moon.
Already there is obvious romantic chemistry between Hal and Carol. Carol is voiced by Brooke Shields, famous for her blue jeans and Lagoon, who was also once comic strip reporter Brenda Starr.
Red Ryan motorcycles to the Colorado crash site. By astronomical coincidence he arrives at the same time as the other Challengers, all of whom likewise were mysteriously compelled to revisit the scene. The fact that all four of them survived the crash unscathed is also described as miraculous. It seems Fate not only sanctions but demands the Challengers existence. Jack Kirby creations from the late fifties, there is certainly inherent qualities of the Challengers that translate into the Fantastic Four by Kirby a couple years later, in part due to both drawing inspiration from mutual sources, such as Doc Savage and the Fabulous Five. As we should expect with Kirby, and Cooke given his emphasis on the Magic of Four, there is an obvious elemental correspondences in the members of the Challengers. Pilot Ace Morgan is Air, red headed daredevil Red Ryan is Fire, self-made millionaire/explorer Rocky Davis is Earth and ex-Navy frogman/oceanographer Professor Walter Haley is Water. Later they are joined by a Fifth, sole female member June Robbins, a name indicating Spring and Birds, an expert on the abstract science of artificial intelligence.
The concept behind the Challengers is that, since they should have died in the crash, they are now living on borrowed time, and should spend it facing impossible hazards for the greater good. At one point they adopt an Hourglass symbol as a logo, meaning that Time is Running Out, the same symbolic meaning as the earlier death of Hourman. In Knoxville, Tennessee a black man survives a lynching by the Ku Klux Klan. Inspired by the legend of John Henry he begins creating an identity and weapons to fight this grave injustice. He wears a full hood, and a noose, clearly indicating the symbolism of the sacrificial Hanged Man. In New York City a pterodactyl is fought by Col. Flag and Task Force X, and member Hugh Evans is killed in the air battle. Shortly following we see that Flag is involved in whatever is up at Ferris Aircraft. Flag and Jordan take an instant disliking to one another, representing two generations of hero with diverging ideologies, Cooke describes them as John Wayne versus Paul Newman.
Two months later Hal is in the midst of a series of tests of his physical and psychological stamina, the full purpose of which he is still unaware of.
We can note how in this obvious initiatory scene Jordan is both symbolically entombed and baptized as the capsule is dropped into water, the rebirthing aspect made complete by his fetal position. From fellow Ferris employees Jordan learns Flag and his ever present Squad are all top security Brass, and all "certified", "short a brick or two" due to tragic events during their careers. Karin Grace was a nurse in Korea whose medical transport crashed into the ocean. She rescued as many men as she could, pulling them from the water onto some floating debris. Despite her efforts the men all died over ten days. Grace survived another six before finally being rescued. Jess Bright and the now deceased Hugh Evans were atomic scientists involved in tests in Nevada who accidentally killed five of their project coworkers. Flag is described as having buried more men then Stalin and as having lost his entire squadron over the Pacific in '44. This and other characteristics made him perfect material for the OSS who placed him in charge of a group of convicts and insubordinates, men with nothing to lose, the Suicide Squad who were then lost on Monster Island.
Chapter Seven - "Paranormal Paranoia"
J'onn J'onzz goes to the movies and enjoys a Superman cartoon and a newsreel on the Challengers. As a telepath, and an anthropologist, he enjoys the shared experience of the theater as he feels the reactions of his fellow viewers, especially liking Romantic Comedies and Horrors. But this evening he sees a film about an invasion of Mars so ridiculous he assumes it must be a comedy. He's disturbed to realize that his fellow theater-goers are taking it seriously. Note the black and white initiatory pattern disguised as Deco style building adjacent to J'onn J'onzz's apartment.
Note worthy as what follows is an important initiatory event in the career of the Martian Manhunter. Inside his apartment Batman is waiting for him.
Batman has deduced that J'onn is not human, and that he can reads minds, but somehow Batman is able to block his own thoughts. It has been eighteen months (9x2) since they rescued the child from the cult and Batman describes similar incidents worldwide and rising incidents of mass delusions. Batman has located an amulet from the cult and recalls the locked book J'onn had found, now in police evidence gathering dust.
Senior super hero Batman initiates the Martian Manhunter, charging him with a task he's not given the option of refusing. The parting exchange is priceless.
In Washington DC, President Eisenhower awards Wonder Woman with a Congressional Medal of Honor. When she begins to make anti-War sentiments (as she should, her mission being to stop the machinations of Aries) she is cut short by Nixon, while Superman literally looks the other way. Following the ceremony Eisenhower dismisses her from service to the Administration. In California, Carol Ferris inducts Hal Jordan into a second level of initiation, bringing him to the "real" Ferris Aircraft, an Underground complex for top secret projects.
Jordan is then taken by Flag to meet Kanigher's King Faraday (his name a pun, King For-A-Day), in "The New Frontier" a top-level U.S. spy and head of a group called Argent (also present though unnamed in Argent is Kanigher's Mademoiselle Marie). Faraday talks to Hal about the space race and the pending formation of NASA. Jordan however would not by considered NASA material. Faraday continues, however, discussing how Argent traced a radio signal from Mars three years earlier directed to Dr. Erdel's observatory near Gotham City. Erdel was found dead along with a foot print that obviously was inhuman. The government knows there is a Martian in America, but since it has eluded them for three years they came up with the ultra-secret Project Flying Cloud (named by Flag after the Loser John Cloud from Monster Island). It is a mission to Mars, and the only agents appropriate for the mission are Flag and the Suicide Squad. Following the death of Evans there's room on the mission for Jordan.
J'onn uses the amulet to open the book which turns out to be rather Necronomicom-esque, describing an omnipotent entity described by different cultures and eras, related to a far away place populated by dragons and other monsters. Included is a passage of a journey to Monster Island by Kanigher's Viking Prince, drawn in Joe Kubert style. The Mystery of Monster Island and the threat of the Centre are revealed as related. The astronomical connotations of this Lovecraftian menace are made easily apparent.
Touching the image J'onn has a Sauron-like moment of rapport with the entity, and his head is filled with images of fire, destruction and dread. That covers the first three issues of the series. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion, coming soon.
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