Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke, Dave Stewart(c)
Publisher: DC
The super-heroes face Gamera, who is revealed to be the ultimate evil in Darwyn Cooke's The New Frontier. Now, of course, I do not mean that literally. Gamera is the Guardian of the Universe and "the friend to all children." However, Lois Lane mentions the thing that hovers above the ocean is "reptilian" in appearance, and damned if the thing doesn't look like Gamera in flight. Whether Darwyn Cooke meant for this likeness or simply created an unwitting picture is anybody's guess.
Darwyn did mean to give another guardian of the universe some star coverage. Now, I hate Hal Jordan. I will always hate Hal Jordan, and even had Geoff Johns not been writing the new Green Lantern series, I would have skipped it anyway. That said, Cooke's Hal Jordan is almost tolerable. What I certainly find appealing is the way in which Cooke characterizes Jordan's affinity with flight, and how flying without aircraft gives Jordan a high. That feeling easily comes through in a character I loathe. So, this exemplifies the level of skill in Cooke's writing. For a brief moment, he had me caring about how Hal Jordan felt.
Jordan's sensation of flight in a way sets the theme. This issue of New Frontier is the peppiest and the most optimistic. We discover the relationships we watched unfold in the previous four books were in fact deeper than first led to believe. We discover that all the heroes have been acting like heroes all the time. We discover that we've been royally had, and we see a political madness dissolve in the face of a greater threat.
One of the more interesting turn of events involves the children’s author Theodore Smiesel, the DCU version of Dr. Seuss. I'm not exactly sure why Mr. Cooke felt it was necessary to include Smiesel, but somehow it fits into the period nature of the story as well as the plot.
Artistically speaking, Cooke is at his usual peak performance, and his deceptively simple style becomes most noticeable with the entrance of Wonder Woman and in the scene where Superman orates. It probably also happens to be nice when he's detailing Jordan, but I really hate Hal Jordan. So, his ability to illustrate Hal Jordan well or not is just a little lost on me. Cooke actually impresses more with the depiction of the Gamera in question. There's just something very malevolent about the creature that he imbues to the artwork. This is doubly impressive given that the thing at the moment bears no facial features.
In summary, New Frontier tricky and pretty.
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