DC: The New Frontier

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DC: The New Frontier
Front cover of Absolute DC: The New Frontier, with art by Darwyn Cooke.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	monthly
Format	Limited series
Publication date	2004
No. of issues	6
Main character(s)	Hal Jordan Martian Manhunter Superman Wonder Woman Flash Batman
Creative team
Created by	Darwyn Cooke

DC: The New Frontier is an

.

Setting

The New Frontier is set between 1945 and 1960, tracing the decline of the so-called

atomic testing, the civil rights movement and the Soviet Union provide historical context. The storyline is inspired by comic books and films of the period, including the novel and film versions of Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff. The series attempts to re-imagine and pay homage to the era of culture and political turmoil which ushered in the presidency of John F. Kennedy. The title of the comic evokes the Kennedy's iconic "New Frontier

" speech.

Plot

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In 1945, the

Tyrannosaurus rex

After the end of World War II, McCarthyism forces various Golden Age superheroes including the Justice Society of America into retirement, exile or branded as criminals. Heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman continue to operate as government agents while Batman manages to evade capture and further attention by staging a fight with Superman where he wins.

Hours after the end of the Korean War, fighter pilots Hal Jordan and Kyle "Ace" Morgan clash with North Korean forces unaware of the war's end. Hal is forced to kill a Korean soldier in self-defense, and his traumatized reaction to the ordeal gets him marked as a coward by his peers. Meanwhile, in the early years of the Vietnam War, Superman and Wonder Woman clash ideologies after Wonder Woman freed a prisoner camp full of captive women.

In 1955, Martian

Shortly after The Flash stops a Las Vegas robbery by Captain Cold, Ace tells Hal about a job offer from Ferris Aircraft, which Hal accepts. During his job interview with Carol Ferris, the two begin a relationship. Later, Ace, Matthew Ryan, Leslie "Rocky" Davis and Walter Mark "Prof" Haley survive a devastating plane crash, and are inspired by their survival to form the Challengers of the Unknown. In Knoxville, a black man named John Wilson survives a lynching by the Ku Klux Klan, and takes on the vigilante identity of "John Henry" to avenge his murdered family and launch a reign of terror against the Klan.

Hal goes through various grueling tests before being accepted by King Faraday to join a NASA expedition to Mars, a response to detection of Jones's arrival to Earth. Meanwhile, Jones is confronted by Batman, who gives him a medallion that the cult leader was wearing. Using the medallion to unlock the cult's book, Jones discovers to his horror the presence of an alien entity known as "The Centre", which is pulling humanity's psyche into its thrall. Jones later discovers from a rogue NASA scientist that a rocket to Mars is being constructed, and is tempted to return home after witnessing humanity's fear and hate towards different races. While testing in a flight simulator, Hal is forced into mission control after his reckless behavior angers Flagg.

Later, John Henry is captured, tortured, and murdered by the Klan. Soon after, the Flash, having survived an attempted capture by Faraday, publicly announces his retirement out of disillusionment. These events convinces Jones to accept that he will never have a place among humans and decides to return home using the rocket. Quitting the Gotham Police, Jones hands over all of his notes and investigation into the Centre to Batman.

As the rocket prepares launch, Jones is caught by Faraday when he attempts to board. Faraday is knocked unconscious in the struggle and Jones is forced to abandon his chance to return to Mars to save Faraday from the fire. On board the rocket, a crew member falls under the sway of the Centre and causes the rocket to malfunction. As Jones is captured by Faraday, Superman and the Challengers attempt to rescue Flagg and Karin Grace, but fail when the nuclear payload on board meant to attack any Martian enemies explode, killing Flagg and Grace.

Haunted by Flagg's death, Hal mingles around the simulator, only to be abducted by a green ring. He's taken to Abin Sur, who had been injured by the explosion that had killed Flagg. Abin declares Hal his replacement as Green Lantern, and dies from his injuries. Meanwhile, Batman meets up with Superman and informs him of Jones's notes about the Centre, and opts out on further involvement upon realizing the magnitude of the threat was beyond him.

Themyscira is soon attacked by the Centre, now revealed to be the island that Johnny Cloud had claimed to be sentient, in its path towards the American east coast. A heavily injured Wonder Woman flies in her invisible jet to warn of the attack just as Superman had finished dispatching a scout from the Centre. Lois Lane unveils the Centre to the world in a broadcast, prompting many to gather in an attempt to help defeat the creature, including Green Arrow, Adam Strange, Ray Palmer, the Blackhawks, the Sea Devils and Barry Allen who comes out of retirement. Powering an experimental saucer with his ring, Hal also joins the fight.

After stopping the heroes from in-fighting, Superman is presumed killed when he attempts to scout the Centre. Initially disheartened, the group formulate a plan to destroy the center using a nuclear payload and Ray Palmer's white dwarf lens. Hal, Ace, and Captain Nathaniel Adam launch the first stage of the attack. Adam is seemingly killed in the explosion while Hal uses the ring to save himself and Ace in the nick of time. Jones is overwhelmed by the psychic attack from the Centre and briefly falls under its control, but Faraday sacrifices himself by absorbing the mental strain and is killed. The Flash succeeds in using the white dwarf lens to shrink the Centre's mass, having run at the speed of light across its surface. As the Centre's structure destabilizes, it attempts to continue its rampage. Hal uses his Green Lantern ring to wrap the Centre into a bubble and throws it into orbit, where it is destroyed. As Hal flies off to enjoy outer space, Aquaman arrives with Superman, who has survived the Centre's attack.

The book ends with a montage of a new age of heroes narrated with the eponymous "

Continuity

New Frontier includes elements of the Golden and Silver Ages which did not appear until the 1970s. Many characters appeared as they did when they were created, and were not

Although Cooke said that New Frontier took place in the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, he did not use the period-accurate Earth-One and Earth-Two Multiverse concepts; he used a post-Crisis continuity variant, where Golden and Silver Age heroes exist in a unified timeline rather than separate realities.^{[original research?]} The New Frontier universe was one of the 52 Earths in the DC multiverse (Earth-21).^[2]

Style

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The New Frontier's style has several influences:

The story was adapted as a

As of February 2019, the series has been collected in two softcover collections, an Absolute Edition, a deluxe edition, and a DC Black Label Edition:

• DC: The New Frontier: Volume One (#1-3;
  ISBN 1401203507)^[3]
• DC: The New Frontier: Volume Two (#4-6;
  ISBN 1401204619)^[4]
• DC: The New Frontier:
  ISBN 1401210805)^[5]
• DC: The New Frontier: Deluxe Edition (#1-6, material from DC The New Frontier: Absolute Edition, and the Justice League: The New Frontier Special;
  ISBN 1401248888)^[6]
• DC: The New Frontier (DC Black Label Edition) (#1-6, behind-the-scenes material, and the Justice League: The New Frontier Special;
  ISBN 1401290922
  )