With all the undeserved hype, derivitive drivel, and unsatisfying blockbuster crossovers that so many think make up the world of superhero comics today, the original DC: The New Frontier was a book that could remind you why you fell in love with comics in the first place.
With this one-shot, released alongside the arrival to DVD the animated adaptation of the original New Frontier, creator Darwyn Cooke revisits the era of "unbridled prosperity, Elvis, hula hoops, and raccoon sking hats" to tell three new tales of super heroes of the Silver Age.
The bulk of the book's 48 pages are made up of the story of how Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman first came to work together. The story here ties in nicely with the original NF, and while Cooke wrote all three stories found here, this is unfortunately the only one which he also did the art for. The second story involves the pairing of Robin and Kid Flash, hinting at a future possible New Frontier version of the Teen Titans. The third, the shortest and arguably weakest of the bunch, involves Wonder Woman and Black Canary teaching some men at a strip club some manners.
The book ends with a few pages of sketches and other bonus material for the New Frontier animated film. While this isn't the main draw here, it's a nice addition and probably enough to sway NF fans to check out the dvd, which, let's face it, is the whole reason this book came out in the first place.
As a fan, the only bad thing about this book was that I was left wanting more. Apparently the New Frontier continuity is now one of DC's 52 worlds. I'm sure I'm not the only fan would like to see DC take the success of this book and run with it, creating a line of ongoing series set in this world, not unlike Marvel's Ultimate universe.
All in all, Justice League: The New Frontier Special is a solid buy for the fans of DC super heroes in general, and a must-have for fans of the orginal New Frontier or other works of Darwyn Cooke.
