Reviewer: Iain Burnside
Story Title: The Brave & The Bold
Written by: Darwyn Cooke
Penciled by: Darwyn Cooke
Inked by: Darwyn Cooke
Colored by: Dave Stewart
Lettered by: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Publisher: DC
DC: The New Frontier #3 was actually reviewed by 411Mania’s newest reviewer, the highly talented Iain Burnside. However, a few weeks ago our server crashed and we’re still finding all the after effects. Apparently, one of them is the loss of our ability to add any new writers to the writer database, which is why this review appears under my name and not his. We will hopefully get this straightened out ASAP, but I don’t want Iain’s wonderful reviews to go unread, so until the problem is resolved his reviews will appear under my name. Do me a big favor though…send all comments to at Iain Burnside, and not to me. Enjoy everyone, and welcome to 411Mania, Iain!
Given that this is my first official review for 411 Comics, I probably shouldn’t be trying to write it whilst in a strange state of mind that seems to somehow encompass being both drunk and hung-over simultaneously, but let’s give it a bash. For the record, I have next to no knowledge of Silver Age DC comics besides the fact that they stemmed from Barry Allen running really, really quickly. Still, I have been on a bit of a nostalgia kick lately, as have the publishers themselves apparently. With all the talk of DC having another Crisis, bringing back Kara Zor-El, possibly Hal Jordan, and the successful return of the Teen Titans, things have had a decidedly ‘old school’ feel to them as of late. Not to mention Marvel essentially turning the clock back on the X-Men after the highly successful and innovative Grant Morrison run, but that’s an entirely separate matter. The bottom line is – I became intrigued. I read several back issues of Superman, Spider-Man and X-Men titles, picked up some of the Batman and New Teen Titans Archives, and thoroughly enjoyed them in an entirely separate sense from how I enjoy modern comics. So, when New Frontier hit the shelves, I was certainly interested enough to pay the rather hefty price and see what it was like. I’m certainly glad I did!
Now, bearing in mind that I am not as emotionally attached to these characters as many of you will be, I am probably approaching this from an entirely different angle than most other readers. It doesn’t bother me if Hal Jordan, Bruce Wayne, J’onn J’onzz et al are truly reflective of how they were written at the time. It doesn’t bother me if events here contradict later events in continuity. All that I am looking for is a well-written book with interesting characters and a unique hook to draw my interest. Given how hard it is to find something like that without starting to worry about continuity, this book is a little gem.
The most immediate reaction of mine is to the art. For all the hoopla there has been about the likes of Jim Lee, Michael Silvestri and Michael Turner as of late, it is easy for Cooke’s work here to be overlooked and dismissed out of hand. Well, don’t believe the hype people! As any readers of Catwoman will tell you, Cooke’s art is deceptively impressive. At first glance the simplistic style may look unimpressive and even cheap but he makes it work within the context of the story. For Catwoman the art reflects the gritty, film-noir vibe. Here it works even better. The period setting accentuates rather than hinders his work, truly drawing the reader into the world of these characters. And look at that shot of the Statue of Liberty. Look at the final reveal of the Mars space rocket. Look at the closing final pages of the mysterious book. Hell, look at any panel on any page of this book and you can feel the love Cooke holds for this story and these people. His art is so very different from the current superhero standards and thank goodness for that. Here we have a piece of work that truly looks and feels special, capturing perfectly the decades of blood, sweat and tears New Frontier aims to honour. Not re-imagine, but honour. As a comic fan who usually pays little attention to art standards in lieu of the actual story, it is very unusual for me to harp on about the artwork making the book. This time it is a little hard to ignore as it really is that damn good.
As for the story itself, well, there are several ongoing tales this time around so let’s take them one at a time. The central figure in this issue is Hal Jordan, one half of “The Brave & The Bold†mentioned in the book’s title. Currently working at the air base of one Carol Ferris and undergoing a number of what seem like increasingly inane tests, Hal is still suffering from the guilt of killing a Korean soldier during his war duty. The pair’s opening encounter at a secluded restaurant on the coast simply oozes the kind of class and sexiness Hollywood wishes it could capture these days. Whilst knowing the eventual outcome of this relationship makes reading a new take on the early days poignant, I am pretty sure this would pique my interest anyway as aside from the Ultimate Spider-Man title’s Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson romance it has been a long time since any comic book couple appealed to me whatsoever. The chemistry between these two is so strong I had to bag and board the book twice. Once again I have to go back to how well the art compliments the narrative here. The knowing looks and the body language of Hal and Carol say more about their feelings for one another than I could ever hope to capture with words.
In addition to this we have the welcome return of The Batman, who has managed to track down our favourite Martian tourist, J’onn J’onzz, to his apartment in order to follow up the mysterious increase in cult activity since the pair met at the Paris Street Church in the previous issue. At this point it would be remiss of me not to point out that the line “It took a seventy-thousand dollar sliver of meteor to stop the one in Metropolis. With you, all I need is a penny for a book of matches†is quite possibly the greatest Batman line I have ever read? Seriously, Azzarello and Loeb ought to be weeping from their green eyes at how pathetically flat their takes on the character seem in comparison to this one. He may only be in the book for a handful of pages but he sure left an impression on me, just like he did on J’onzz if those petrified peepers of his are anything to go by.
Heh… peepers… Sorry, that does seem like a rather old-fashioned term to use, doesn’t it? It must be the effect of the excellent writing here, which uses these terms perfectly. We have Hal Jordan exclaiming “Sufferin’ Suzie!†We have Disgruntled Cinema Go-er hissing “Pipe down†at J’onzz after he just can’t stop laughing at the Invasion from Mars movie (a scene so good I fear it may have been the peak of the series!). We have the disgruntled Colonel Flagg addressing Jordan as a “Pudknocker.†Then there is my personal favourite – the repeated use of the word “scuttlebutt.†I have since tried to repeatedly drop this into my everyday conversations and I highly recommend you do the same. Tremendous fun for all the family! Ahem… Like I said, it’s the drink… Anyway, the dialogue here certainly works fantastically well for the story. It would have been easy to lapse into over-excitable Stan Lee mode here and be done with it, regardless of how irritating that would have made things for the reader. This way the dialogue actually compliments rather than condescends and I applaud Cooke for making it work.
There are countless other instances of why this book demands your attention, in particular the tremendous White House scenes with Wonder Woman, or the ending to this issue that comes out of nowhere and already has me sold on book four, but I think I have made my feelings clear already. Darwyn Cooke has crafted a superb world of charm, intrigue, horror and, above all else, dynamic characters that I care about a great deal more than their modern counter-parts. Are they truly the same as the original stories made them out to be? I don’t think I am qualified to answer that one accurately but I would hazard a guess that they aren’t. Times change, people change, and rose-tinted glasses are a hindrance to crafting a worthy tale rather than a weak fan-fic. While Cooke’s love for this era is clear to see, he is not out to make everyone infallible or to stamp his own seal all over them. He is simply letting us take a peek back at the perfectly captured essences of what made so many people get into comics in the first place, what inspired practically everyone working in the industry today, and what made it possible for us to be reading the books we are today. Whether you buy the individual issues or wait for the trade, as a comic book fan you owe it to yourself to read New Frontier.
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