History ComicBook / DCTheNewFrontier

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: It's the 1950s, when [=McCarthyism=] is at its height. Hal Jordan is treated like a coward because he doesn't want to kill people, and Flagg thinks this makes him a Communist sympathiser.
** Not to mention all the smoking Carol Feriss does. Or Hal making a wrong step when he meets her because she's a woman running a company (he claims he was just going to say she was young).

* DeliberatateValuesDissonance: It's the 1950s, when [=McCarthyism=] is at its height. Hal Jordan is treated like a coward because he doesn't want to kill people, and Flagg thinks this makes him a Communist sympathiser.

---> "''My instincts tell me that you're to be trusted. But make no mistake: I have a $70000 sliver of radioactive meteor to stop [[{{Superman}} the one from Metropolis]]... all I would need with you is a penny for a book of matches''."

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:King Faraday (in the movie)/John Cloud (in the comic) jumps into a T-Rex's mouth with a pair of live hand grenades]].

* EldritchAbomination: The Center, a living island with the ability to spawn an army of even more eldritch-looking dinosaurs. [[spoiler:And is mentally linked to them, which is what does it in-the death of the T-Rex mentioned in DyingMomentOfAwesome disrupts its focus for a minute, leaving it open to a fatal strike.]]

Instead of reimagining the classic superheroes as they would be today, Cooke created a story firmly set in the [[TheFifties 1950s]] and took the superheroes as they were in TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks and made them believable. Even the art work itself is very similar to comics of that era, with only the layout being modernized. The plotline is broad-ranging, featuring dozens of characters in the {{DC Universe}} including Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/WonderWoman, GreenLantern, TheFlash, MartianManhunter and many more.

Part of this experiment was Cooke trying to figure out a reason why various characters changed in the switch between TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks and TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks. It was easy enough with {{Legacy Character}}s like GreenLantern, but Batman went from a dark and menacing figure who wore grey and black into someone more kid-friendly with blue and yellow highlights. In the story, Batman changes it after frightening a child he was trying to help, rather than the criminals he wants to scare.

The comic was given an animated DirectToVideo film adaptation titled ''Justice League: The New Frontier'' in 2008, with the voices of [[Series/{{Angel}} David Boreanaz]] as Hal Jordan, Kyle [=MacLachlan=] as Superman, [[Series/LawAndOrder Jeremy Sisto]] as Batman, Creator/LucyLawless as Wonder Woman and Creator/NeilPatrickHarris as The Flash. Creator/KeithDavid's baritone voiced the omninous and faceless Center. The film was produced by veteran {{DCAU}} man BruceTimm and paid strict attention to the comic, lifting the majority of dialogue and scenes from the comic straight into the film.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Try as he might, John Henry can't beat the Klan]].
* BadassBoast: "You really think you can hit me? It's been tried before." -- The Flash, to a soldier pointing a rifle at his head, ''from point blank range''.

* CassandraTruth: AdamStrange tries to warn Earth about the Center, but is locked up in [[BedlamHouse Arkham]]. The government is still afraid of him, though.
* ClicheStorm[=/=]{{Troperiffic}}: {{In-Universe}}; MartianManhunter bases his human identity of John Jones on detective shows. As a result, John Jones is the single most over-the-top detective you have ever seen. Slam Bradley thinks he's ridiculous, but likes him since he's one of the few good cops in Gotham.

* CowboyCop: Wonder Woman. Superman, too. He's just discreet about it.

* DeathSeeker: Task Force X, hence the nickname "Suicide Squad." Also Hal Jordan and John Cloud, though Hal gets over it.
** The trope is deconstructed, as the problems with relying on such unstable individuals are addressed. [[spoiler: Jess Bright loses it, sabotages the spacecraft in mid-mission, and causes an international crisis]].

* DoWithHimAsYouWill: WonderWoman frees a group of sex slaves, disarms their captors, [[TheDogBitesBack and lets them decide what to do next.]]

* GoodIsNotNice: King Faraday and pre-Robin Batman. Wonder Woman is a relatively mild case.

* IronicEcho: "There's the door, [[{{Superman}} spaceman]]."

* MyFistForgivesYou: Flash is able to work with Faraday despite Faraday trying to arrest him. You know, after Flash [[CrowningMomentOfFunny punches him in the face]].
* MythologyGag: Captain Nathaniel Adam sacrifices himself by detonating the atomic bomb he's carrying. Don't worry, [[CaptainAtom he'll get better]], eventually.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: JohnFKennedy is never named, even in the credits, but the voice at the end of the movie sounds just like him, and gives a modified version of JFK's [[MeaningfulName New Frontier speech]]
** Ted Grant defends his title against a [[MuhammadAli young black fighter named Clay]] but we never learn Clay's first name or see his face and he's also at least eight years older than Ali. In the movie he ''looks'' like Ali but is renamed [[CreatorCameo "Cooke."]]

* ShoutOut: The bar that Hal goes to after getting the ring (in the film) is very similar to the bar at the beginning of TheRightStuff. In the comic book, Hal actually goes to the Happy Bottom Riding Club as a child and meets Chuck Yeager and Pancho Barnes there.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: It ''actually'' slides during the course of the story. It starts pretty cynical, but slowly gets more idealistic as the story progresses. How idealistic? The story ends with ''the friggin' formation of the '''{{Justice League of America}}''''', that's how much.

* SupportingProtagonist: Subverted. Hal Jordan doesn't have a huge impact on the story at first. But then, he is [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]].

* [[spoiler: DyingMomentOfAwesome: King Faraday (in the movie)/John Cloud (in the comic) jumps into a T-Rex's mouth with a pair of live hand grenades]]. Notably, the comic scene is the current page image for the trope.

A scientist's experiment results in a alien being teleported from Mars. The scientist suffers from a heart attack and dies, and the Martian gradually assimilates himself into human culture using his shapeshifting abilities but is ever aware of his desire to return home.

* ShoutOut: The bar that Hal goes to after getting the ring is very similar to the bar at the beginning of TheRightStuff

A high concept comic book series written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, later adapted as an animated film. It ran from 2003 to 2004.

* EnemyMine: Somewhat subverted, at first. The superheroes came to help the military, but they want nothing to do with them. A soldier even threatens to shoot Flash if they don't leave. Fortunately, Superman arrives to stop it and calls them out for continuing their petty hatred with one another while the world is in danger.

* ColdWar: Hence the SuperRegistrationAct

* EldritchAbomination

Hal Jordan is a fighter pilot for TheKoreanWar who gets shot down, then recruited for a mystery space program. He is soon contacted by a dying alien and given the Green Lantern ring.

The story took the paranoia associated with [=McCarthyism=] and how it would affect the costumed heroes. "Idealistic" heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman were forced to sign loyalty pacts, while Batman remained underground and outside any government control. Even Wonder Woman started to ignore "Man's World" and returned to Paradise Island.

Hal Jordan is a fighter pilot for TheKoreanWar who was shot down, then recruited for a mystery space program. He is soon contacted by a dying alien and given the Green Lantern ring.

The Flash found himself struggling to remain doing his super-heroics without bending to the will of the government, so he announced his intention to stop being a hero altogether on television.

While all these internal struggles continued, a monster slowly descends upon civilization. It has psychic powers that leaves miscelleneous people (and the Martian) aware of its existence. As the threat grows in intensity everyone, both superhero and the government, set aside their problems to confront this menace as a united League.

The comic was given an animated DirectToVideo film adaptation titled ''Justice League: The New Frontier'' in 2008, with the voices of [[Series/{{Angel}} David Boreanaz]] as Hal Jordan, Kyle [=MacLachlan=] as Superman, [[Series/LawAndOrder Jeremy Sisto]] as Batman, [[XenaWarriorPrincess Lucy Lawless]] as Wonder Woman and Creator/NeilPatrickHarris as The Flash. KeithDavid's baritone voiced the omninous and faceless Center. The film was produced by veteran {{DCAU}} man Bruce Timm and paid strict attention to the comic, lifting the majority of dialogue and scenes from the comic straight into the film. Unfortunately the film was only 70 minutes long and many story points had to be cut out.

The comic was given an animated DirectToVideo film adaptation titled ''Justice League: The New Frontier'' in 2008, with the voices of [[Series/{{Angel}} David Boreanaz]] as Hal Jordan, Kyle [=MacLachlan=] as Superman, [[LawAndOrder Jeremy Sisto]] as Batman, [[XenaWarriorPrincess Lucy Lawless]] as Wonder Woman and Creator/NeilPatrickHarris as The Flash. KeithDavid's baritone voiced the omninous and faceless Center. The film was produced by veteran {{DCAU}} man Bruce Timm and paid strict attention to the comic, lifting the majority of dialogue and scenes from the comic straight into the film. Unfortunately the film was only 70 minutes long and many story points had to be cut out.

* PoorCommunicationKills: The whole reason Hal had to kill in self-defense was because the North Korean jet pilots and ground soldiers hadn't learned that the Korean War had ended.

* TearJerker: [[spoiler: As the two remaining members of Task Force X blow up a spaceship full of nuclear warheads, they share a passionate kiss]]

* EnemyMine: Somewhat subverted. The superheroes came to help the military, but they want nothing to do with them. A soldier even threatens to shoot Flash if they don't leave. Fortunately, Superman arrives to stop it and calls them out for continuing their petty hatred with one another while the world is in danger.

Instead of reimagining the classic superheroes as they would be today, Cooke created a story firmly set in the [[TheFifties 1950s]] and took the superheroes as they were in TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks and made them believable. Even the art work itself is very similar to comics of that era, with only the layout being modernized. The plotline is broad-ranging, featuring dozens of characters in the {{DC Universe}} including {{Superman}}, {{Batman}}, WonderWoman, GreenLantern, TheFlash, MartianManhunter and many more.

* BadassNormal: The American government has started recruiting these to make up for the lack of superheroes, so these show up a lot. Let's see, there's the Challengers Of The Unknown, The Blackhawks, The Suicide Squad, The Losers, King Faraday, The Sea Devils, GreenArrow... and Batman, of course.

* DeathSeeker: The entirety of Task Force X, hence the nickname "Suicide Squad." Also Hal Jordan and John Cloud, though Hal gets over it.

* NoSympathy: After Flash's public retirement, some people don't care or glad he quit. This was the last straw for Martian Manhunter in his decision to return to Mars.

* {{Ungrateful Bastard}}s: When Flash announce his retirement due to distrust from the public and the government, most people in the restaurant J'onn's eating at either don't care or glad.

* UngratefulBastard: When Flash announce his retirement due to distrust from the public and the government, most people in the restaurant J'onn's eating at either don't care or glad.

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http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/newfrontier_cover_9101.jpg