BLACK ADAM versus JUSTICE SOCIETY

Thunderstruck (DC)
Where: JSA #27 When: October 2001
Why: Geoff Johns How: Rags Morales

The Story So Far...
In ancient times Teth-Adam was considered a champion, but the Black Marvel has a long road to walk if he's to undo centuries of damage and restore his reputation as a hero.

Submitting himself to the Justice Society of America, Black Adam begins probationary tenure with the heroic ensemble -- but not everyone is convinced he should be there.

As Captain Marvel pays a visit to vouch for his predecessor, tensions are boiling over with Atom Smasher, who believes Black Adam will inevitably turn on the group like every other villain who attempts to reform.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Black Adam 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Terrific 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Black Adam 6 (Generator)
Agility: Sand 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Black Adam 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Stargirl 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Black Adam 34 (Super)

Black Adam is the ancient champion of Shazam, who gains the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru, the strength of Amon, the power of Aten, and the courage of Mehen, when he speaks the wizard's name and receives his magic lightning!

The Justice Society are: Sand, Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Hawkgirl, Doctor Mid-Nite, Star-Spangled Kid, and Atom Smasher, with Captain Marvel.

The JSA have Black Adam outnumbered, but they don't particularly have him out-gunned. The Black Marvel has gone toe-to-toe with Superman and only Atom Smasher gets close to matching his incredible strength!

The enlarging strongman is generally in a lower class than Black Adam, but we saw him handle himself relatively well when Atom Smasher led the Suicide Squad against the Black Marvel Family, many years later, in 52 #34.

Fortunately for the JSA: Captain Marvel has come calling! With his own godly gifts supplied by SHAZAM, he's every bit Black Adam's equal, enduring his own battles with Superman, and besting the likes of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man, an all-star Monster Society of Evil, and Neron corrupted Justice League.

Black Adam had the help of Brainwave when he defeated Captain Marvel some years later in Hawkman #24. This time the dynamics are very different, and it's Captain Marvel who has the entire JSA to back him up! Will it be enough?

The Tape: Justice Society & Captain Marvel Ranking: Black Adam (#22)

What Went Down...

Black Adam has Atom Smasher by the throat as Captain Marvel makes his entrance into the JSA brownstone.

"I heard you were seeking salvation, Black Adam. That you were looking to prove to the world that you've changed your ways. I came to vouch for you[,] but a bit of advice -- Don't choke potential teammates."

The Black Marvel releases his grip, blaming his impulse on the temper of the mortal Theo Adam. He apologises to his teammate, who preemptively responds in kind -- delivering a giant-sized uppercut he'll be sorry for later!

Adam explodes through the glass ceiling as he's launched into the night sky!

Atom Smasher knows he's made a bigger mess of things as Captain Marvel takes flight to pursue his fellow. He meets an enraged Black Adam in mid-flight -- cutting off his furious path back to the JSA brownstone.

The powers of SHAZAM collide in spectacular fashion as the strength of Hercules meets the might of Amon-Ra!

The Captain maneuvers himself to wrap a mighty bicep around Black Adam's throat and hold him back. He compels his comrade to reject the influence of Theo, but the anger incited by Atom Smasher's insult is great!

The Justice Society arrive on the scene just in time to see Black Adam power through Captain Marvel's hold and torpedo dive Atom Smasher!

Team chairman, Sand, draws his sleep gun and orders Atom Smasher to subdue the probate, with Hawkgirl looming in support holding a spear.

Atom Smasher leans in to Black Adam and pins an arm over his shoulder, while shoving Captain Marvel out of the way.

In the ensuing chaos, Black Adam's out reaching hand grabs Sand's gun and crushes it -- unleashing a bursting cloud of sleep gas that stuns Atom Smasher and Hawkgirl!

Wildcat darts around the room, questioning Black Adam's loyalties, as Doctor Mid-Nite looms behind the peril. The query appears to snap Adam out of his rage and pause him in introspection, but the zipping of two of Terrific's T-Spheres around his face renew his aggravation.

Sand commends the tactical potential for beaming holograms directly into Adam's eyes, but Mister Terrific finds himself unable to command his T-Spheres to execute the strategem!

He can only speculate the lightning storm and rain raging overhead is disrupting communication channels. It leaves his T-Spheres autonomously whirring around Adam as he bats Wildcat and Mid-Nite away with each hand.

With imminent threats dealt with, Adam sets his scornful sights on Sand and Mister Terrific.

Slamming his hands together -- Black Adam unleashes a shockwave that launches Sand and Terrific flying through the air!

While Stargirl spurs Captain Marvel to rejoin the fray -- Adam looms over Sand, cast in shadow by the lightning cracking behind him.

Whatever the Black Marvel's intentions for the Chairman may've been, they go unfulfilled as a spiked mace smashes into the ground at his feet, and Hawkman descends from the storming skies to declare: "This fight is over."

The Hammer...

The authoritative word of Hawkman helps bring Black Adam out of his rampage, but the intervention of the former-chairman only creates further divisions as he appears to undermine the leadership of Sand.

Inter-personal dynamics are criss-crossed all over this battle, with Hawkman returning from a night's flight after witnessing Sand kissing Hawkgirl, and Black Adam's admission to the JSA creating tensions with Atom Smasher, and his well meaning old rival Captain Marvel.

Atom Smasher echoes the expectations of readers who'd doubt the long-term viability of Black Adam as a hero, but the twist in their relationship comes when Atom Smasher actually sees things Adam's way, joining him in his attack on Kobra, and subsequent conquest of Khandaq.

To the uninitiated: JSA might've seemed like an attempt to capitalize on the late-nineties magic of JLA, but the 1999 collaboration between David Goyer and Geoff Johns had so much more to offer, laying the groundwork for significant foundational storylines that continued under Johns throughout the next decade!

Black Adam arguably became a minor sensation with his nineties revamp in Power of Shazam, and lingering appearances in various nineties DC Comics events -- but it was his return in JSA that began the ascent to breakout superstar!

Stories running through JSA, 52, and a Black Adam mini-series, minted the once obscure Captain Marvel villain into a full-fledged icon destined for the big screen, but for a while there, JSA was also the best place to find Captain Marvel himself.

DC seemed to effectively lose confidence in Captain Marvel as a viable property throughout the 2000s, leaving JSA to carry the flag in the ensemble series after Power of SHAZAM was cancelled in early '99. It was then in issues like JSA #27, and the Black Reign crossover of Hawkman #24, that fans could again see the two Marvels renew their seemingly settled rivalry.

Issues like these highlight the absurdity of emerging reports that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson blocked Captain Marvel from appearing with the Justice Society on the big screen, but there's a lot more to the JSA than was seen in the movies.

Once everyone has calmed down, the team decides to resolve their leadership issues with a vote, which installs Mister Terrific as the new Chairman.

An exciting new role for the genius successor to Terry Sloane's legacy of fairplay, which at least sidelines any issues brewing between Sand and the returned Hawkman, but comes at a time when his trademark T-Spheres have been infiltrated by a similar device controlled by Roulette!

The infiltration was the real reason Terrific's devices weren't responding during today's featured fight! The mistress of competition sent her drone to whisk the team away for more adventures in the next issue.

I very much intend to take a closer look at that adventure some time in the future. There are a few different sessions with Roulette that are surely right up our combat-loving alley, and I look back upon this period of DC Comics, and its revival of classics like JSA and Hawkman with great fondness. A time when Geoff Johns mastered intuitively fusing the old with the new alongside artists like Rags Morales.

As for today's contest: Although Hawkman brought proceedings to a relatively peaceful conclusion, you can clearly see that Black Adam had the best of the Justice Society. A majority of the team was subdued. A win's a win.

If you'd like to see more from the characters featured in today's entry you can follow links throughout this post, or dive into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

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Winner: Black Adam
#19 (+3) Black Adam
#40 (--) Captain Marvel
#51 (-3) Hawkgirl
#369 (-186) Wildcat
#429 (-48) Atom Smasher
#430 (-23) Sand
#653 (-108) Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)
#654 (-110) Doctor Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross)
#27 (--) Hawkman [+1 assist]
#100 (+3) Stargirl [+1 assist]

JUSTICE SOCIETY versus MORGAUTH
"It was a Dark and Stormy Night..." (DC)
Where: JSA Strange Adventures #1 When: October 2004 Why: Kevin J Anderson How: Barry Kitson

The Story So Far...
In a world where the fantastic powers of the Justice Society of America make even the most bizarre science-fiction story appear pedestrian, the tastes of the masses are changing!

Circulation of the Amazing Stories pulp magazine is falling in a 1940's America concerned with the threat of Nazi violence, and the exploits of the nation's greatest super powered heroes. In an effort to save his business, budding editor, Hugo Gernsback, calls upon his most popular writer to work with a little-known author, whose submissions have been rejected for years.

As a member of the JSA; Johnny Thunder has had a ground zero vantage point of the team's greatest exploits, experiencing them from behind the might of his mystically charged Thunderbolt! His latest submission is yet another tale of personal triumph, when only he and his Thunderbolt have the keys to defeating the mysterious monster menace of Morgauth!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Wonder Woman 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Spectre 7 (Omnipotent)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Spectre 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Spectre 7 (Malleable)
Fighting Ability: Hawkman 6 (Warrior)
Energy Power: Spectre 7 (Cosmic)


- The JSA are: Green Lantern, Starman, Hawkwoman, The Spectre, Dr. Mid-Nite, Dr. Fate, Mr. Terrific, Hawkman, Atom, Flash, Wildcat, Hourman, Wonder Woman, Star-Spangled Kid, Sandman, Dr. Occult, Johnny Thunder, and The Thunderbolt.

During the Golden Age of superheroes in the forties, many of the heaviest hitting heroes united to form a powerful syndicate of heroism called the Justice Society.
Among the well-known founding members were; Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Sandman, the Spectre, Dr. Fate, Hourman, and the Atom.

Despite an ebb and flow through time that has seen the team maintain varying degrees of activity, they have endured to the modern day. Extending the JSA's lifespan is a new legacy policy which allows a new generation of new members inducted by relation to former members, be they by blood, or by spirit.

- Morgauth is a hellish tentacle beast from the darkest depths of occult imagination. The extent of the lovecraftian creature's powers are uncertain, but it's resistance to magic appears to extend even to the might of The Spectre, whose powers only appeared to make the monster grow larger in their only confrontation (in JSA: Strange Adventures).

Math: JSA Ranking: Hawkman (#31)

What Went Down...
"It was a dark and stormy night...," recounts the pencil of Johnny Thunder.
At the mysterious Hotel Necro the JSA are locked in mortal battle with an immortal creature of infernal origins! Dr. Fate and Starman do their best to stem the creature's writhing tentacles as it bursts from every orifice of the hotel!

The Spectre grows to towering proportions to bathe the Hotel Necro in the glow of his wrathful arcane energies! Dr. Mid-Nite delivers a grim prognosis, unable to sense any ill effects felt by the creature. To the contrary, Morgauth bursts from the bondage of the hotel architecture, seemingly invigorated by Spectre's blast!

The Green Lantern joins Starman in an aerial assault on the bustling monster, but their energies, founded in strange science, appear to have no effect on the creature raised from a runestone.

From the ground; the Sandman attempts to turn the tables to no avail, using his custom gas gun to try to give the nightmare creature a bad dream of it's own. All the while Hawkwoman, Hourman, the Star-Spangled Kid, Flash, Mr. Terrific, and Wonder Woman all grapple with the growing sprawl of animated tentacles!

Wildcat's blows bare a brutish charm as he battles the snarling tendrils with old fashioned fisticuffs. On the verge of running out of luck, the champion brawler finds himself surrounded, only to be saved by the pint-sized might of the Atom!

From the neighbouring rooftops above Dr. Occult clutches his mystic disc and compells it's energies to strike at the beast. Instead, the mortal man summons only the wrath of Morgauth, whose giant tentacle reduces his vantage point to firewood! Only the highflying intervention of Hawkgirl saves his life!

Meanwhile; Johnny Thunder was receiving a helping hand of his own from Wonder Woman and her indestructable golden lasso! Her rescue leaves Johnny Thunder able to cite the mystic command, "Cei-U," calling forth the mighty Thunderbolt!

Johnny directs his friend to the menacing monster, whose weak point proves to be it's gigantic central eye! The Thunderbolt streaks directly into he beast, reducing it to slop with his triumphant emergence!

The Hammer...
Well, of all the tangled tales to tie into... We're tempted to call this one a shared victory for the entire Justice Society, but it would be not without some contrivance. Technically Thunderbolt deserves the win, even though the story is told from Johnny Thunder's perspective, and we could assume the already admirable efforts of the JSA deserve more than a statistical assist credit. This isn't the only layer relevant to our on-going statistical tally, however...

The presence of characters like Dr. Occult and Star-Spangled Kid have raised certain questions about the situation of the story in DC history. With only the most unique exception, we analyse characters from alternate universes as part of the potential of their key-universe counterparts, so it's effectively a non-issue.
Strange Adventures could, however, very easily be interpreted as an untold tale from late in the pre-Crisis (or Earth-2) JSA; if not a stand-alone story.

Whew. If you found that paragraph utterly asinine, more power to you!

I like the Justice Society! I like the Golden Age!
I can't claim to be any kind of expert on the intricate histories of all these heroes, but there's an instant asthetic that makes them instantly recognisable, and delightful. It has come to my attention, however, that there are shade of ignorance that can radically change the interpretation of what these characters are.

If you've been reading the Infinite Wars of late you know that October is all about monsters and spooks, and that before that, we'd been paying quite a lot of attention to the meeting of Mortal Kombat and the DC Universe [ie; Dark Kahn]!

It's been an interesting interpretation that the T-rated departure for the blood soaked franchise is an admission that the appeal of the series skews toward a younger demographic. It's quite possibly true, but at the very least, I've found, the MK audience has a far less exposed palate with which they taste the fictional domain. For many, brightly coloured characters like Captain Marvel and Green Lantern were bitterly received, with no notion of the irony.

This trend might cast a lot of aspertions toward MK fans, but to look inward, it probably also reminds us how important perspective is to understanding, and appreciating, some of these most beloved relics of comics' Golden Age.

A regularly recurring subject has been the asthetics of "darkness" read as both adjective, and abstracted noun. The word's use as a buzzword in mass media has ensured fans of all walks of entertainment have their own shallow expectations of the word. It's fair to say even in comics there is a widespread misconception about what darkness might entail and how it applies to the DC Universe.

For the original heroes of the thirties and forties -- a certain amount of thematic darkness was retained from it's pulp predecessors, before being sanitized and reprocessed as post-Werthem goo. Heroes like Batman, Green Lantern, Sandman, and many others of JSA fame, all tackled macabre and horrific tales in their early adventures. While the debate is an evolving one, these World War II era characters also shared a moral compass that has come to accept certain extremes of violence, in the case of some, prosecution by murder.

In recent years DC comics has gone to great lengths to give it's characters and universe a hard edge of consequence. Despite being well recognised for their accessible materials for children, the publisher has managed to avoid being as conservative with it's sacred cows, placing violent stakes on the threats they face with a conceptual drive that has fairly justified them [see; the totem of justice].

Wonder Woman's penchant for swordplay and fatal brutality (breaking Maxwell Lord) garnered much more attention than the genocidal mass murder of three million undertaken by Black Adam. These hero-driven events say nothing of the controversy stirred by novelist Brad Meltzer's 2004 mini-series, Identity Crisis, which set the tone for the DCU with the rape of a beloved supporting character and a string of murders.

Attentive writing has really been on DC's side for the past decade as they've rebuilt the DC Universe as a cohesive entity. It's fair to say of most comics that they challenge the shallow nature of "darkness" as defined by gimmickery and trinkets, benefitting so from a language and precedent developed over seventy years. The emotional, psychological, conceptual, and ethical are all on display.

What is darkness? I think it's all these things.
I do hope, however, that fans of both Mortal Kombat and DC Universe can come to accept certain grounds of perspective. The DCU deserves full credit for the luxuries it is afforded by it's extensive network of titles, characters, writers, artists, and decades of history. This perspective is communicated through it's properties in ways the uninformed may not appreciate, but do not diminish.

I cannot communicate adequately the particulars of what it is about these antiquated heroes that is so charming and valuable. In meeting the much younger, less exposed audience it really has brought this home.
I suppose what I'm musing is that it's a misconception that does them the disservice. These characters in their long lives possess so much of the same make-up that their many descdents have - and then some!

At the same time, the great charm of a Sandman or Starman might just be the quaint simplicity that encompasses their character. They are the among the purest superhero concepts, summed up by their design and place in the world.
The popularity of retro-modern in the mid-00's really captured that and while it might have been better done in Detective Comics or JSA at the time, it's still very evident in Strange Adventures.

Suffice to say, there is still much to ponder, and more spooks and monsters to see as the month progresses. [EDIT: However, Mike fell ill after writing most of this entry, and consequently the month may be condensced upon his return.]

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4

To the best of our knowledge JSA: Strange Adventures has not been collected, but you'll find plenty more on offer in the Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe! Collections featuring most issues reviewed previously on the site are all on offer and by using purchase links provided you not only benefit from Amazon's services, but also help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars!

GRANT versus CLAY
Book Two: Strange Adventures
Chapter Five: Fun City (DC)
Where: DC: The New Frontier #2 When: April 2004
Why: Darwyn Cooke How: Darwyn Cooke

The Story so far...
It's a hot night in the desert, sports fans, as we bring you the title bout of the century live from Las Vegas! The champ faces an up and coming fighter with a natural ability that may not have been seen since Grant himself rose through the ranks to become champion!

Some critics claim Ted Grant is getting too old for the ring. At thirty-eight years of age, Grant stands twelve years the senior of the challenging Clay, but nobody can ever count out the fighting spirit of this man they call Wildcat.
This scrapper has survived against overwhelming odds, seemingly sharing the mythic nine lives of his feral counterparts!

Nobody can question the skills of this young challenger, but Wildcat Grant is known for drawing upon an almost superhuman reserve of strength, composed of little more than human grit and determination. Be he the underdog, or the Wildcat, one thing's for sure, it's going to be a great show as the champ defends his title in what seems like a meeting of the old and new guards in boxing!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Wildcat 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Wildcat 2 (Average)
Speed: Wildcat 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Wildcat 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Wildcat 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Wildcat 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Wildcat 1 (None)


- Though not specifically super powered, Ted Grant has risen through the ranks to become one of the most respected senior members of the Justice Society of America. As Wildcat, Grant for a time possessed a mystic nine lives which kept him in fighting condition and prevented the aging process, while also protecting him from several fatal accidents. Such accidents included the apparent final life, where he was killed by Jay Garrick in order to free him of mystic influence.

A former World Heavyweight boxing champion; Grant holds his own with his fellow superheroes by a combination of Olympian-grade speed, agility, fitness, and endurance. Though versed in boxing, Grant's legendary fighting skills are so broadly respected to have been sought out by a variety of students, including; Batman, Black Canary, Catwoman and Starman.

- Clay appears as an unnamed and relatively non-descript fighter in the pages of Darwyn Cooke's, DC: The New Frontier. Though fairly evasive, it's by no stretch of the imagination that the character represents 1960's up-and-comer, Cassius Clay, soon to be better known to the world as Muhammad Ali.

The character appears as a large, slick moving young fighter designed to be an obstacle to Ted Grant's crown as Heavyweight Champion. As such, he is shown to be a highly competent and powerful fighter, despite being set up for the fall.
This early glimpse at Ali likely lines up with Cooke's taste for factual period nostalgia throughout the series, casting allusions to the boxing great, without resulting in likeness legalities.

The Math: Wildcat Ranking: Draw (NR)

What Went Down...
The story takes an abrupt turn from action in Gotham [Men are from Mars!], to steer to a marquee boxing showdown in Las Vegas! Amidst the cheering crowd are wealthy socialites; Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen; accompanied by their glamorous dates, Dinah Drake and Selina Kyle.

Joining the fight in the seventh round; the champ is already feeling the pressure from his younger challenger. Grant suffers a knock-out blow which reaches the count of eight, before he's saved by the bell of the round's end.

Clay's blow sufficiently rocks Wildcat into next week, forcing his ringteam to bring out the smelling salts and a stern talking to. Grant's team manages to bring him out of his dreamstate daze, but things still look grim for the defending champion. Recognising his predicament, Grant sees about summoning a strength unique to a man who stands valiantly besides gods; shoulders above even the elite fighters of the mortal realm. For the next round he is the Wildcat.

To the shock of commentator and spectator alike; Grant launches himself into the eighth round with the gusto of a madman. Technique goes out the window as the Wildcat unleashes himself on an unsuspecting youngster, throwing punches with wanton regard for his own future in the match. This is do or die!

"Plan B" comes at Clay with all it stands for. All the heroic deeds, all the triumphs over adversity, and all the near-death experiences that have coloured Wildcat's career not only as a boxer, but as a member of the JSA as well.

Wildcat winds up and throws a devestating right! The challenger goes down!
Camera bulbs flash throughout the arena, capturing the moment of Wildcat Grant's victory over upstart challenger, Clay! The crowd goes wild for the aging defender, who is content to be their champion one last time.

The Hammer...
It's without hesitation that I boldly give to you, your winner by way of knock-out, Wildcat!

Sadly things on the Infintie Wars haven't been running as smoothly as they usually do, which means if you've been jonesing for more of our usual style of commentary and battle blogging, you've been starving. Fortunately for you, there are people who know exactly what you're going through, and by way of the cosmic meme, you can head over to the thoroughly suitable, Friday Night Fights: Knock-out Edition!

Even without the Infinite Wars representing, Bahlactus serves up a cosmic dose of flapjacks and fisticuffs combed from the entire blogosphere, which should more than make up for our slack!

I'd love to tell you delays have been rampant because I've been attending functions like movie premieres, but alas, it's nothing that glamorous.
Then again, that doesn't mean we can't talk about movie premieres, and it's a good thing too! The hotly anticipated DTV animated feature, inspired by this very Darwyn Cooke story, was released on DVD on the 26th!

Justice League: New Frontier has been in the works for quite some time, and as is typically the case, the fanboys were positively frothing at the mouth for a chance to see one of their favourite stories come to life. I don't know why I'm using such distancing terms here, because as jaded as I can sometimes be, I too am silly for the prospect of an animated New Frontier!

Emphasis should be placed on the new title. The inevitability of directorial decisions and editing means this mammoth graphic series is condensed down with the user-friendly conceit to guard the representating of the Justice League characters featured throughout the series. Given some of our other recent discussions [A League of their Own, An Apelaxian a Day...] this shift isn't at all inappropriate for our own ends, but may leave some of the niche audience attracted to the original minutia of New Frontier a little cold. Not that it isn't a little understandable, and maybe even expected.

The DVD boasts what I always look for in a purchase, and that's not just extras, but extras that really invest in the source material. I was recently bitterly disappointed by the purchase of Resident Evil: Extinction, among other things, for it's lack of extras connecting the film franchise to it's lengthy history in the video games. This is far from the case for New Frontier, boasting a range of documentaries (and cartoon episodes) relating to the history of the Justice League, and the production involved in taking the comic to the cartoon. Being quite a bit behind on purchases like these, I'll be keen to see if, amidst the Justice League history talk, there's any mention of the origin we've been discussing in the already mentioned Secret Origins features.

Talking about New Frontier again services a lot of things.
As always, our vague attempts to reflect the zeitgeist of the moment remains driven by all mediums, not the least of which is a New Frontier comic book special shipping this week, but also the film. Also contributing to this entry is another opportunity to rectify our mishandling, or lack of representation, of a good many DC heroes who deserve a ranking in the Infinite Wars!

Wildcat's a great character!
He isn't a [god damn] Batman, but those comparisons are obvious not just because of the dark, eared cowl, but the fact that he joins the elite few heroes without powers who can mix it up with the best of them. Wildcat's power, for lack of a better term, is that he's a great fighter, and in incredible condition.

In that respect the character, along with this story, really speaks to some of my favourite stories in comics starring The Phantom, another golden age character without powers. Actually, as I love to discuss with American fans, the Phantom predates a good many costumed heroes, despite being something of the forgotten son in the United States.

Nostalgia in comics is pretty rampant these days, and the Golden Age really manages to maintain a chic cool in the fanboy community. There's a status that goes along with having a perspective and knowledge of these classic stories and characters, I think that really goes to the heart of what makes comics great.
We've talked recently a bit about intimidation and fallacys in new reader culture [An Apelaxian a Day...], but I think that constant contingent of Golden Age characters, as much as they can be erroneously off-putting to some, really drive home the strength of comics as a beautifully perpetual medium.

Darwyn Cooke and his work, not just on New Frontier, but on many other instantly recognisable short stories and brief features, continues to push that point. His penchant for a bygone era of heroes is embodied not only in the overt visuals of his cartoon-influenced style, but even in the undertones of his themes and story telling techniques. Cooke really marries the ideals of classic comics, animation, and contemporary comics in a way that is undoubtedly worthy of the critical acclaim his work has begun to garner.

I'm pressed for time and in desperate need of a good sleep, so I can't really get into the kind of depthy conversation I might like to, but if you're one of the many diving into the DC Universe through New Frontier, drop a comment!
This story has really managed to have an effect, rightly or wrongly, on readers of all walks in comics, including the uninitiated. I would agree that it's a fantastic entry point for examining the origins of characters like Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, and even the holy Trinity; Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.

I'd love to hear how you feel about the story, in comic or film format, and if you have that vantage point, even how you feel about the deviations from one to the other. I think, as is typical of these animated features, you can see a lot of chef's keen to steer the broth, and there are going to be disappointments that you see in just about any corporately driven adaptation. I don't doubt New Frontier will be fantastic, but at the same time, nobody should feel guilty for noting these differences, or sharing them. So come one, come all!

Before I go, I will note, I've already spotted a few hiccups in the translation that I'm disappointed by. Batman's absolved of his role in triggering John Jones' pyrophobia during the Cult fight scene, likewise, Batman's ambush of the Martian Manhunter in his apartment puts the characters on more level footing. MM loses some of his trademark naivite, I think, while Batman's ambushing menace is also lost to the mutual exchange, fading to a now silly and unnecessary reaction from a disturbed Martian Manhunter.

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 7

As you might have gathered from the THREE seperate reviews focusing on this issue, it's easily my favourite. As fantastic as it is though, this is but a tiny focus on a much, much, much larger story. In fact, the New Frontier universe has become part of the DC Multiverse, which means we might even be able to hold out hope for even more specials revisiting the series! If you like what you've seen and what to dive in to the original, there are now several ways you can do it, all provided below! By using Amazon links for your purchases you help sponsor future features on the Infinite Wars, so if you're thinking about it, go for it!