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 LIAM MCNALLEY flies high with JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER – a retro-styled revisionist take on the origin of the world’s most famous superhero team.
With his DC: The New Frontier comic book mini-series in 2003-04, writer/artist Darwyn Cooke set out the explore the period between the end of the ‘Golden Age’ of comic books (1938-1950s) and the beginning of the ‘Silver Age’(1956-1970), when a batch of new heroes joined the ranks of icons like Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. Basing his story heavily in the politics and historical events of the time (McCarthyism, the Korean War), The New Frontier begins at a point where the American government is hostile to masked vigilantes; the first superhero team – the Justice Society Of America – has been forced to disband, Batman is a fugitive and Superman is the only state-sanctioned superhero. It is a bleak time for costumed adventurers, but major change is coming, brought about by the emergence of a threat that only a co-operative effort can defeat.
Cooke’s sprawling, complex and genuinely engrossing story is now the basis of a new Original Animated Movie directed by Dave Bullock – Justice League: The New Frontier. A much darker and violent tale than what viewers of the televised cartoon Justice League might expect, it presents heroes in conflict with each other, themselves, prejudice, militarism and a government afraid of what it can’t control. That said, it’s also a rollicking good tale of the origins of what would become known as the Justice League of America, perhaps the most widely recognised of all super-teams.
Beginning with an ominous statement of intent to cleanse the earth of the blight of humanity by an unseen author who then mysteriously shoots himself, we are introduced to pilot Hal Jordan. In the skies over Korea, the daredevil fighter pilot – who refuses to shoot down enemy planes as he doesn’t believe the war is worth killing for – finds himself shot down and then forced, to his horror, to kill a Korean soldier post-ceasefire to save his own life.
Elsewhere in Indochina, Superman discovers Wonder Woman celebrating with women she has freed from rebels, only to learn that Wonder Woman stood by while the women slaughtered their captors. Superman, essentially now a US government lackey (an idea Cooke has admitted to borrowing from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns), is horrified by Wonder Woman’s inaction, but she points out to him some different viewpoints on the notion of freedom.
If you haven’t gathered already, it’s heavy stuff for a superhero tale using the big names of the DC comics universe, and while comic book readers these days are used to more mature handling of characters like this, viewers of Saturday morning cartoons are probably in for a surprise.
As the tale continues we meet J’onn J’onnz – the last martian, and soon to be known at The Martian Manhunter – accidentally brought to earth by a well-meaning scientist who has a heart attack at the sight of him. Trapped on Earth, the shapeshifting martian immerses himself in the culture, deciding to become a cop. This brings him into contact with Batman, who at this point is a fearsome and solitary figure, unafraid to let J’onn know he has the resources to stop him or even Superman (just another alien as far as Bats is concerned) at any time.
We also meet Barry Allen – the Flash – a super-speedster who has an inferiority complex despite his amazing abilities, and a host of well-known supporting characters like Lois Lane, Carol Ferris and Ray Palmer (who eventually becomes The Atom). As the story progresses, the threat referred to in the introduction becomes apparent – an ancient entity known as The Centre, in fact an immense living island covered in dinosaur-like beasts – is infiltrating humanity using psychic means before then attempting to destroy it in a frontal attack. In the meantime the ‘fearless pacifist’ Jordan has been enlisted to take part in a Mars mission that unbeknownst to him has a sinister intent, but instead of completing it, he instead finds himself bequeathed a special ‘power ring’ by a dying alien (another one) – thus we also get the origin of Green Lantern, perhaps the most popular of the Silver Age heroes.
Essentially all the heroes – old, new and the military – must put aside their differences to defeat The Centre (there’s a jingoistic speech by Supes here that should probably be avoided). This apocalyptic battle, which also seems to usher in the ‘60s during a hallucinogenic sequence in which Jordan attacks the creature from the inside, hammers home the necessity for teamwork and collective thinking – exactly the types of things that would get you labelled a pinko in the McCarthy years. Unsurprisingly then, the film’s ending is framed with a still-resonant speech by deified Democrat John F. Kennedy – one that introduces a new age of challenges, for which new types of heroes will be needed.
If it all sounds a bit cluttered, it is. Cooke’s extended narrative has been shrunk to 72-minute summary more-or-less, and while voice talents like Kyle Mclachlan, Brooke Shields, Lucy Lawless and David Boreanz will get curious fans in, the action moves so fast each character is on screen for only seconds at a time. The beautiful retro’50s-style of Cooke’s original artwork has also been diluted considerably, with many of the male characters now having interchangeable features (a failing of much mainstream American animation). That said, there are some genuinely impressive visual moments – the first sighting of The Centre in a news report by Lois Lane, and an injured Wonder Woman crash-landing her blood-spattered invisible jet – but overall the animated artwork is a tad lacklustre by today’s standards.
Nonetheless, as a feature it presents an unusual type of superhero story; one that should impress casual viewers with its setting, action and depth, and, thanks to its faith to the original plot, satisfy fans of Cooke’s comic. It’s a positive example of an original animated feature with a more sophisticated bent, something the Japanese having been doing in anime for decades; plus there’s the nostalgia bonus – if you’re old enough to remember the Super Friends, you’ll definitely get a kick out of this grown-up version.
 JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER (DVD) is available in wide rental and limited retail release from Warner Home Video. Look for the collected graphic novel of DC: THE NEW FRONTIER at your comics specialty retailer and better bookstores.
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