Highlight Reel: Pioneers of a New Frontier (Win a DVD!)

The chronology is a familiar one to most of us comic book fans. 

First came Superman in Action Comics #1 (1938), a "Big Bang" event that gave rise to the first generation, or "Golden Age" of comic book superheroes.  Following World War II, superhero comics lost their appeal and disappeared from newsstands...with only a handful of the most popular remaining (among them Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman).

Nearing the end of the 1950's, as Cold War adversaries began their race into space, a new age of daring, trail-blazing science dawned...making test pilots, scientists, and astronauts America's new celebrity class.  Patterned after these "science super- stars", a second generation...or "Silver Age" of superheroes burst onto the scene.

It's within this era that Darwyn Cooke's incredible DC: The New Frontier takes place.  Set during the actual years of the Silver Age, Cooke traces the emergence of the Space Age superheroes against a backdrop of Cold War tension and an encroaching alien invasion.  Although Cooke flirted with some shopworn liberal tropes (1950's paranoia and hypocrisy, the Dark Underbelly of America, yada, yada, yada), he thankfully devoted most of the page count to a gritty, full-throttle adventure that constantly reminded me why I love these characters so much.  Adding to the joy was Cooke's amazing artwork, blending a sophisticated retro design with streamlined figures that recall the animation styles of the era and comic book masters like Alex Toth and Jack Kirby.

Although it's tough to encapsulate the New Frontier experience into a single clip for the Highlight Reel, something that comes close is an "epilogue" sequence from the final issue.  As Cooke takes us on a farewell "flyover" of DC's Silver Age pantheon, portions of John F. Kennedy's 1960 acceptance speech are used to great effect, elegantly bringing together the heroic themes of history and imagination.

(click on the pages for super-sized views)

You know, after JFK's inspiring message of civic responsibility and can-do optimism, I feel like giving something away!  How about this: The first person to correctly identify all 70 characters on these pages will win a Justice League: The New Frontier DVD!  Although it's not officially on sale until Tuesday, February 26th, the good folks at Warner Home Video and M80 Promotions have sent me a copy to review (which I'll post next week) and one to give away to a lucky reader!

Okay, here's how I'm going to do it.  To make identifying and submitting your guesses easier (which, in turn, makes MY life easier), I've created monochromatic versions of each page with numbers by each character, so when you submit your list, your guesses will correspond to the 70 numbered characters. 

(click on each page to see the numbered characters)

For example, if you see the number "1" next to Widget-Man, you'll type "1. Widget-Man" on your list.

The first person to correctly identify every character will be announced as soon as I can post your name...or, if nobody nails them all, whoever identifies the most characters correctly by 7:00 PM on Friday, Feb. 22nd will win the DVD (the winner will be announced on Saturday).

Got it?  Great.  Have fun and good luck. In the meantime, how about a New Frontier trailer (complete with the JFK speech) to inspire you?

UPDATE: Wow! That sure didn't take long! We've already got a winner, and it's George Chambers from New South Wales, Australia! Congratulations, George....you nailed them all! Your copy of Justice League: The New Frontier will soon be winging its way Down Under! For those of you who are curious about the answers, I'll be re-opening the comments section and posting George's answers for you to see.

Comments

[Mark Engblom]

Okay, here's the answers from our pal George Chambers. Take it away George....

1. The Flash
2. Alanna
3. Adam Strange
4. Green Lantern
5. Dr. Will Magnus
6. Tin
7. Mercury
8. Lead
9. Platinum ("Tina")
10. Gold
11. Iron
12. Negative Man
13. Robotman
14. Elasti-Girl
15. The Chief (Niles Caulder)
16. Robin
17. Supergirl
18. Wonder Girl
19. Kid Flash
20. Black Canary
21. Speedy
22. Aqualad
23. Wonder Woman
24. Aquaman
25. Green Lantern
26. The Flash
27. J'onn J'onnzz, Manhunter From Mars
28. Sinestro
29. Brainiac
30. Solomon Grundy
31. Mr. Mxyzptlk
32. Grodd*
33. Star Sapphire
34. Darkseid
35. Dr. Thaddeus Bodog Sivana
36. Two-Face
37. Black Manta
38. Cheetah
39. Dr. Light
40. The Gentleman Ghost
41. Superman
42. Supergirl
43. J'onn J'onnzz, Manhunter from Mars
44. Black Canary
45. Animal Man*
46. Metamorpho
47. Captain Marvel
48. Hawkgirl
49. Hawkman
50. Green Lantern
51. Speedy
52. Green Arrow
53. The Atom
54. Platinum
55. Gold
56. Lead
57. Iron
58. Mercury
59. Wonder Woman
60. Batman
61. Vigilante
62. The Flash
63. Plastic Man
64. Robin
65. Red Ryan
66. June Robbins
67. Rocky Davis
68. Prof Haley
69. Ace Morgan
70. Aquaman

* - Denotes the only two I was not certain of. #32 COULD be Ultra-Humanite, I suppose. I don't know who #45 could be other than Animal Man.

Mark here again: Yeah, #45 can really only be Animal Man, and I could have accepted Ultra-Humanite for #32. I also would have accepted "Brainwave" for #35 (though it's most likely Sivana), and a Golden Age villainess named "The Huntress" could have also passed for #38 (Cheetah).

[Kyle]

Wow, congrats George! I think I got all of them on first round except for #45 (I foolishly jotted down Booster Gold without noting the significance of the nearby bird) and the Champions of the Unknown, whose names I never seem to be able to recall correctly.

Great contest, Mark. I'm looking forward to getting to watch the new movie next month (my son has already requested it for his birthday).

[Kyle]

Er, that of course would be the Challengers of the Unknown. Lunch-induced brainfog is in full force this afternoon...

[Z Ryan]

I was going to give this one a shot... but then I couldn't get #1. I don't think I even KNOW a lot of those characters.

[Mark Engblom]

Ryan-

Well, then it's kind of a fun learning experience, right? Now you know at least 70 DC Silver Age characters!

Kyle- Yeah, Animal Man was kinda tricky. Someone else emailed me thinking it could have been Captain Atom in one of his earlier costumes....but like you said, the nearby bird really seems to point to Animal Man (who's "borrowing" the bird's ability to fly). Glad you liked the contest (as short as it was), and I hope you enjoy the movie when you get a chance to see it. Personally, I'm looking forward to it more than I usually do for these direct-to-video releases....although I was very impressed with the most recent Iron-Man DVD I watched over the weekend.

[John C]

Oh well. I won't argue. I concede defeat. :)

I didn't think it was Animal Man because of how Postmodern (and not-so-Silver Age) the character was under writer, Grant Morrison. I can't imagine him very well in New Frontier.

I ordered a copy of Absolute New Frontier a few weeks ago but Amazon.com has yet to ship it to me. I was able to figure out most of them but was stumped at the names of Alenna, The Metal Men, Doom Patrol, Challengers--I did at least an hours worth of digging to find the exact names and members for those three teams--and of course the identity of the flying individual on the last page until I found This Page at The Grand Comics Database Project and found Captain Atom's name listed under appearances. If I'd looked a little further, I might've also noticed Buddy's name was listed as well. Oh well. I'll buy/watch it eventually. :\

And thank you for the compliment on my also listing the characters Secret Identities. I couldn't remember all of them and some of them I had to check for spelling (J'onn J'onnzz is a hard one to remember) but all the ones I could I posted. I just thought I'd add a little bit of pizzazz. :)

[Pat Curley]

I have to admit that #32 had me stumped. It does not appear to be Grodd, and I'm not sure the Ultra-Humanite qualifies as a Silver Age character; did he appear in the 1960s? And what's Black Canary doing with the Titans? Supergirl doesn't belong there either, although at least she was a teenager. I will have to read the New Frontier series; looks very cool from the pages shown.

[Z Ryan]

The Flash should have been an easy one. Maybe I just over analyzed an abstract head shot. Once it was actually posted I just went DUH!

Well, now I've memorized those 70 characters, but it shoved out of my head the 50 states.

[Brian]

Great post! Not only a fun contest, but also one which reminded me of why I loved this series-- because it introduced me to a lot of characters I didn't know, or only knew vaguely. I was mostly a Marvel reader as a kid, and so figures like Martian Manhunter (to name only one favorite from Darywn Cooke's series) were introduced to me for the first time. And you're right-- his "old school" art style is the perfect form to meet these characters in-- it really does make you feel like you're back in 1956!

Interestingly, Stan Lee says in the documentary COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL (which is excellent, btw, if you haven't seen it) that he thought JFK was the reason superheroes made a comeback- that Kennedy created an envrionmnet where we could believe in heroes again. Believe that or not, I guess, but it makes Cooke's use of the JFK speech a hat-tip to both DC and Marvel, I think.

Good to know there's a film coming out, too-- I had no idea!

Oh, and I used to post here under "Cinephile"-- finally decided to go with my real name! (:

[Mark Engblom]

"I have to admit that #32 had me stumped. It does not appear to be Grodd, and I'm not sure the Ultra-Humanite qualifies as a Silver Age character; did he appear in the 1960s? And what's Black Canary doing with the Titans? Supergirl doesn't belong there either, although at least she was a teenager. I will have to read the New Frontier series; looks very cool from the pages shown."

Pat-

Your comments give me a chance for some clarification. I think the intent of New Frontier wasn't so much to fit exactly into the chronologies and chracter groupings most Silver Age nuts like us are aware of. Rather, the way I see it, Cooke was writing a sort of "love letter" to the comic books of the mid-20th century (give or take a decade) and the heroic ideal they promoted. Although many of the characters were not published before 1960, their identification with DC's Silver Age (even later additions like Animal Man) made them a logical and thematic fit for Cooke's take on that general time period.

So, all of this is to say that when you get around to reading New Frontier, view it as its own unique "animal" and don't try reconciling it with the actual chronologies or histories of the characters as you know them (and I know you know a heck of alot about them).

This is why Golden Age characters like Solomon Grundy and Cheeta make cameo appearances....or Black Canary ends up in the Teen Titans (which was a neat idea, actually). It certainly strays outside of the lines we're familiar with, but the changes are so thematically sound, I don't have a problem with them.

Trust me, you'll like New Frontier (despite those stale old tropes I mentioned in my initial post).

[Mark Engblom]

Great post! Not only a fun contest, but also one which reminded me of why I loved this series-- because it introduced me to a lot of characters I didn't know, or only knew vaguely.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the post and the (short-lived) contest. It took a little more work than usual, so I'm happy it connected with you and others.

I was mostly a Marvel reader as a kid, and so figures like Martian Manhunter (to name only one favorite from Darywn Cooke's series) were introduced to me for the first time.

I started out as a Marvel guy, too...and got into DC "lore" several years later.

And you're right-- his "old school" art style is the perfect form to meet these characters in-- it really does make you feel like you're back in 1956!

That's one of the most impressive elements of New Frontier for me. The character design, the backgrounds, the graphic elements, and even the typography are pure Atomic Age. It seems simultaneously youthful (the somewhat cartoony art style) and sophisticated (the jazzy, adult and "loungy" feel of the graphic design).

Interestingly, Stan Lee says in the documentary COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL (which is excellent, btw, if you haven't seen it) that he thought JFK was the reason superheroes made a comeback- that Kennedy created an envrionmnet where we could believe in heroes again. Believe that or not, I guess, but it makes Cooke's use of the JFK speech a hat-tip to both DC and Marvel, I think.

That's an interesting take, though I'm not sure I agree with Stan on that one. God bless 'im, most guys of Stan's generation think JFK walked on water, so every positive thing of that era tends to get attributed to him. Like I posited in the opening paragraphs of my post, I think the larger context of the Space Race (fueled by the Cold War) and the resulting enthusiasm for a gritty kind of "adventure science" is what sparked the comeback of superheroes, and not the junior Senator from Massachusetts.

Good to know there's a film coming out, too-- I had no idea!

I'll be reviewing after I get my review copy, so I'll let you know what I thought of if (hopefully some time next week).

Oh, and I used to post here under "Cinephile"-- finally decided to go with my real name! (:

Glad to "meet" you, Brian! I always enjoy hearing from you (whether as "Cinephile" or "Brian").

[Mark Engblom]

"Well, now I've memorized those 70 characters, but it shoved out of my head the 50 states."

LOL! My plan is now complete! Complete geographical ignorance through comic book trivia saturation!

Don't feel bad about missing the Flash likeness. Cooke's art style makes it a little tough to identify certain characters, especially when he melds it with cinematic effects like the lightning, earpiece thing on the Flash head.

[Mark Engblom]

By the way, I was tempted to put a number next to the Guardians of the Universe. Can anybody tell me on which page/panel they appear?

[George Chambers]

I'm stunned. I don't usually win competitions!

I'm thinking there might be a problem with sending me the DVD. Australia is in Region 4 for DVD coding, so the prize may not be compatible. If so, please send the prize to another deserving person rather than have it gather dust on my shelf.

[Mark Engblom]

I'm checking into it now with the folks at M80 (the promotion company), and I'll let you know what I find out. If you're not able to receive the DVD afterall, you're a stand up guy for letting someone else get it!

UPDATE: I heard back from M80, and they've already sent the DVD out (zippy service!) so let's see if it works for George!

[Pat Curley]

Reading the series now and quite enjoying it as a stand-alone take on the whole Silver Age. It succeeds on that level (so far), but I see what you mean by the shopworn liberal tropes. I had read somewhere in a Batman book (a guide to Gotham City) that the take on the JSA characters was now that they'd quit in disgust over McCarthy and HUAC.

I don't mind that Roy Raymond loses his show because he refuses to "name names", but the continuing attempt to graft liberal or even leftist sensibilities on the superheroes, who are at their core right-wing vigilantes, seems doomed to failure. There have been a couple of ill-fated runs at this in Batman, which have served little purpose but to allow the writers to express their worldview at the expense of realistic characterization.

That aside, there are some terrific bits, particularly the scene with Chuck Yeager and the young Hal Jordan. Now that's characterization done right!

[Kyle]

By the way, I was tempted to put a number next to the Guardians of the Universe. Can anybody tell me on which page/panel they appear?

I assume they are the background ionic blobs behind Green Lantern (#4) in your first panel? My first thought pegged those as the Watchers (as in "What If ... the Watchers Showed Up in a DC Comic Book?"), but I suppose they also semi-resemble the Guardians. ;)

[Mark Engblom]

"Reading the series now and quite enjoying it as a stand-alone take on the whole Silver Age."

Glad you're liking it so far, Pat...and it only gets better! I guarantee you'll be smiling ear to ear the entire last chapter. It's just glorious.

"I had read somewhere in a Batman book (a guide to Gotham City) that the take on the JSA characters was now that they'd quit in disgust over McCarthy and HUAC."

Yeah, that's a good example of the herd mentality writing comics. I think it all started with a Paul Levitz story, then Roy Thomas ran with it, so now it's canon that the JSA all quit over a philosophical hissy-fit. What nonsense.

"That aside, there are some terrific bits, particularly the scene with Chuck Yeager and the young Hal Jordan. Now that's characterization done right!"

I'd forgotten about that scene...thanks for the reminder. Let me know what you thought when you're done!

[Pat Curley]

Wow. Thank you so much for recommending this series; I was thoroughly blown away by the final chapter, as you predicted. Great writing, great characterization, terrific artwork, and it tied a large portion of the Silver Age into a neat package. I'm floored by how perfect the series was.

The Guardians appear on page 47 of book six. The #32 character was indeed Grodd; he appears on the first page of book four.

If I can recommend something to you, see if you can find the Dirk Maggs' BBC radio series which were done in the 1990s; I've heard Batman: Knightfall, Spiderman (early arc including much of ASM 1-19), and the Death of Superman. These had extremely high production values and are all top-notch entertainment.

Thanks again for recommending this; I will have to post something on SA Comics about the series.

[Mark Engblom]

Hey, I'm glad you liked it so much, Pat...especially that sweeping final chapter. It was such a celebration of all I've ever loved about the Silver Age era, as well as the bold "real life" spirit of that age. Those were big, courageous times...and hardly the antiseptic conformity zone everyone caricatures it as (which, ironically, Cooke half-heartedly parrots earlier in the story).

It's interesting, because I just got done watching the New Frontier DVD a few hours ago, and I will be writing up my impressions and posting them early next week. There were many similarities with the comic book version, but also many differences (mostly due to the condensed nature of animated features). On balance, it was a very positive experience, but like the comic book version itself, it had its problems as well. I'll go into more detail in the review (after it all kinda gels in my mind), but in general, I'd recommend any fans of the comic book to give the DVD a try.

Thanks for the radio show recommendations! I'll definitely give 'em a try. Any tips on where to find them/download them? The Spider-Man arcs seem especially intriguing.