How did the Silver Age DC Heroes came to be? That has always been a question for me for a long time in my days of reading comic books until I read Darwyn Cooke's DC: The New Frontier. I have always been fascinated wanting to read this comic mini-series and waited until a collected edition was available and finally, since its released in 2004 and now its 2018, after 12 years I finally read it. Its a seamless transition from the Golden Age superheroes paving way to the Silver Age of superheroes of a new era. And it was all done by the late Darwyn Cooke's story masterpiece.

It is the 1950s where paranoia is a government business, where glamour and glittering lights is the new trendy and superheroes who fought for freedom during the World War II are outlawed by the government - a new enemy emerge from the depths of the unknown. There are still icon heroes fighting on, working with the government - Superman and Wonder Woman. But when bigotry and racism is on the high, are there any heroes left to believe the American Dream or is it all about control? With a new dangerous enemy approaches on a path of destruction, the world needs its superheroes more than ever to save mankind once more.

The love the opening of DC: The New Frontier and soon I knew I am going to read a classic of its own. The way the Silver Age superheroes are introduce is just at the right moment for comic fans or new readers to enjoy every moment of the artwork itself. It is so well-balance that not a single superhero was done unjustly of its attention. The battles, the panels and its colors draws riches of its tale and fulfill me with a reading I knew I won't regret much at all. This trade paperback not only includes the entire mini-series but also includes behind the scenes in more than 50 pages of artwork, sketches and designs plus a one-shot special Justice League: The New Frontier that is a companion to the animated movie. To me, this is at its best I have ever read since Kingdom Come. Although can't be compared, on its own it has the same level of epic reading that is decent and beautiful on its own. I highly recommend for any who love DC heroes to read this.

I was really disappointed in Mystery Girl by Paul Tobin, having read some of his work in the past and been very impressed, such as with Bandette.  

And I really wanted to like Mystery Girl.  I liked the idea, I liked the first few pages I read, but everything went downhill pretty fast.  16% of this 100 page comic book featured nudity, stripping or character postures that looked straight out of porn.  Sure you could argue about that 5 page fight sequence when one of the police detectives, discovered passed out naked on his bed (with porn visible on his computer screen) and a fight ensues.  However, there was a narrative reason created in that scene for why the man was naked (how much sense it makes is up to the reader to decide), but in scene after scene women are depicted naked for only the reason that they're sex workers, so they're always naked.

Which brings up another interesting point.  Of the prominent characters in the comic who were women, half of them were sex workers.  And only background characters (often older women) did not conform to the body type of a model sports illustrated model.  Why were so many of the characters not only strippers, but also sex workers?

Ok, so let's just say that Trine has ties in that industry and so friends, but don't they ever just wear casual clothes?  Apparently not.  In another scene one of these women is drawn in a shirt in one panel, but in the next panel where she's sticking her body out a window to yell down at another character she has taken her shirt off.  The only conclusion is that the artist wanted to draw big pointy boobs and pander to the male gaze, while alienating and devaluing/dehumanizing women.

Add to that a ridiculous plot involving sociopath hitman (how original), a clueless scientist girl, and a plot to hide a secret diamond mine that was discovered when an expedition uncovered mammoth remains in Russia. (The diamonds were apparently discovered buried in snow, already cut and glowing).  The whole thing culminates with a woolly mammoth ride.  I'm being serious here.  Yeah.

So, I'm left feeling confused and kind of conflicted. I finished this first volume with a ton of questions, and a kind of "What did I just read?" vibe about the whole thing. Here's the skinny: the art is wonderful, the characters are charming, the storyline is where things seem to fall apart. I'm all for a slow build up, but honestly? I'm not even sure where this is headed.

If I had to guess, I'd say that Gilbert Hernandez was using this first volume as a means of introducing the "world" that's being built. The characters are fairly built up, going so far as to peek into their backstories and see why they are the way they are. I was smitten with the art style too. It seemed to fit this story just perfectly, with it's careful sense of whimsy. As far as the build up goes, that completely made sense.

It's the series of events that occur that really had me scratching my head. I fully support vague panels, and working up to something epic. Still, if I'm left wondering what on Earth (or possibly not on Earth) is even going on, it takes some of the magic away. None of my questions were answered. Nothing made sense. I admit, it all drove me a little mad.

Would I read the next volume? Probably. If only to find out what is actually happening to this village. I only wish this first volume had drawn me in a little more.

Darwyn Cooke is one of my favorite comic book artists. His style has elements of Alex Toth, Jack Kirby, and even Will Eisner. He worked as a storyboard artist for Bruce Timm back in the days of Batman the Animated Series, and you can see the evolution of that style in his work. I read Richard Stark's novel The Hunter a few years ago and enjoyed it for what it was, a brutal revenge fantasy. Sometimes two good things don't add up to a better thing though. I think I prefer my crime noir fiction and my comic books as two separate treats.