Ricky Church continues his countdown to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with DC: The New Frontier…
With a week to go until Batman v Superman is released in theatres, anticipation has been steadily building to see DC’s most famous heroes – Wonder Woman included – on the big screen. There’s a bit more to the Countdown to the film and the latest entry looks at Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier, examining the Trinity’s partnership in the 1950s during a time when social liberties and freedoms were threatened in America due to McCarthyism and the Red Scare.
In this timeline, vigilantism became outlawed because people could not trust those who wore a mask and refused to testify to Senator Joe McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee. As a result, the Justice Society of America disbanded and few heroes operated during this time at all. Superman and Wonder Woman were the only ones to work for the government while Batman impeded the system and still continued to fight crime in Gotham City. Even Wonder Woman eventually came to reject the government’s harsher policies as the story goes on.
As readers are caught up on this slightly altered history, we find out that, much like The Dark Knight Returns, the government ordered Superman to bring Batman down in an effort to curb vigilantism and force other rebellious heroes to heel. However, much like the aforementioned story, Batman narrowly defeats Superman in a public brawl and escapes, forcing the government to back off since a lone man defeated the Man of Steel. It is later revealed, though, that both Batman and Superman orchestrated the outcome of the battle. Superman didn’t want to bring Batman in, but also didn’t want to openly defy the government. Instead they concocted this plan so Batman could continue his operations and Superman could change the system from within.
In Cooke’s New Frontier Special, published after the original story in an effort to promote the animated adaptation and collected in the Deluxe Edition, one of the featured stories depicts the first meeting between Superman and Batman just after the former received his assignment. Wonder Woman was also asked to partake in this mission, but refused to hunt down a good man fighting for justice. As Superman and Batman came to blows, Wonder Woman stepped in and stopped the fight, forcing the two heroes to think about what they were doing. That’s when the three of them came together and made the plan to subvert the government’s will in the name of the greater good, forming an everlasting partnership and friendship.
Though the Trinity plays a part in The New Frontier, they’re mostly supporting players to the new generation of heroes like The Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. Batman has the smallest part out of the three, but is given a bit more to do in the animated film, particularly in the climax. Nevertheless, The New Frontier is a great story featuring a fairly big ensemble cast, examining themes of social justice, racial prejudice and self-doubt to name a few. Cooke’s writing is compelling and his artwork is beautiful to look at, perfectly exemplifying the style and feel of comics Golden Age. As already mentioned, the story was adapted as the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier in 2008, though it condensed much of the huge story so it would fit into a 75-minute film.
Ricky Church
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Originally published March 17, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
