I received a complimentary copy of the Justice League: The New Frontier DVD in yesterday’s mail. I watched the animated movie earlier this afternoon and I was greatly impressed. I have been a fan of the Justice League since the mid-1970s when I first starting reading the Justice League of America comic book. I used to watch the Super Friends cartoon series with a bowl of cereal on early Saturday morning. I caught most of the Justice League animated series and the follow up series, Justice League Unlimited.
Justice League: The New Frontier is set in the 1950s when America was dealing with the Korean War, the McCarthy hearings and rise of the Civil Rights Movement. Wonder Woman speaks of the horrors of war to Superman in 1952 in a village in Indo-China where only the women survived. Hal Jordan is shown as a jet pilot on July 27, 1953, which is the day that the Korean War ended. One of the headlines at the beginning of the animated movie states that Washington declared war on the mystery men. Later, there is a report on the mob beating of a black man named John Wilson. The title itself is from John F. Kennedy’s acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention in 1960.
While Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman appear throughout Justice League: The New Frontier, the animated movie is more about the Hal Jordan, Martian Manhunter and the Flash. After the Korean War, Hal becomes a test pilot for Carol Ferris. The Martian Manhunter arrives on earth and becomes a plainclothes policeman. Barry Allen dons his Flash uniform and runs from Central City to Las Vegas after hearing the attack of Captain Cold while talking to Iris West on the telephone. Other characters in the DC Universe that appear are Ace Morgan from Challengers of the Unknown (the graphic novel by Darwyn Cooke has more with them), King Faraday, Rick Flag, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Robin, Green Arrow, the Blackhawks, Adam Strange, Aquaman and Ray Palmer before he becomes the Atom.
I won’t bore you with a scene by scene description of Justice League: The New Frontier because I want you to enjoy some of the same surprises that I did. Those who have read the six-issue mini-series, DC: The New Frontier will know the basics anyway. The animated movie has tons of surprises that a DC Comics fan like me will enjoy. One of my favorite surprises is Batman’s costume change and the explanation for it. The basic plot is about an alien threat and the mystery men team up to combat. Part of the movie’s fun is when the Martian Manhunter and Batman finds that a mysterious force is growing stronger.
Justice League: The New Frontier had fluid animation and coloration. The voice actors were great especially David Boreanaz as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Miquel Ferrer as J’onn J’onz/Martian Manhunter, Neal Patrick Harris as Barry Allen/The Flash and Lucy Lawless as Wonder Woman. The animated movie is rated PG13 for some violent scenes and adult situations.
Fans of the Justice League animated series may be disappointed by Justice League: The New Frontier and the “retro” look. However, fans that still remember Hal Jordan and Barry Allen in their early days will greatly enjoy this animated movie. I watched the widescreen version that lasted for seventy-five minutes. The bonus features included Super Heroes United: The Complete Justice League History, an exclusive sneak peak at DC Universe’s Batman Gotham Knight, an audio commentary featuring the filmmakers of the animated movie (Bruce Timm among others) and an audio commentary featuring Darwyn Cooke. I greatly enjoyed watching Justice League: The New Frontier and the feature is now one of my favorite animated movies.
A special thank you for the person that sent me the DVD to review.
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