Justice League: The New Frontier Single-Disc Edition (2008).
© Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Mania Grade: A+
Rating: PG-13
Starring (voices): Neil Patrick Harris, Lucy Lawless, Miguel Ferrer, David Boreanaz, Brooke Sheilds, Kyra Sedgewick, Jeremy Sisto, Kyle MacLachlan, Keith David
Written By: Stan Berkowitz, Darwyn Cooke (original comic)
Directed By: Dave Bullock
Distributor: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 2008
Extras: Documentary "Super Heroes United! : The Complete Justice League History". Sneak Peek at DC Universe's "Batman Gotham Knight". Commentaries.
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JUSTICE LEAGUE:NEW FRONTIER

When Warner Brothers canceled “Justice League Unlimited” I wondered how long it would take for the League to return. It certainly didn’t take too long. Based on Darwyn Cooke's award-winning graphic novel, ‘Justice League the New Frontier’ is a re-imagined retro look at the origin of the Justice League. 

The film begins when the Earth was still a red ball of fire. A visitor from another world, who will call itself “The Center” (Keith David), makes the Earth its home. Watching the world as it evolves, “The Center” realizes that the there is an infestation. An infestation called man. From its opening moments with comic book like pages turning and a brush changing those very pages, you can tell that ‘Justice League The New Frontier’ is going to be different. 

There are several brief introductions and origins in the ‘Justice League the New Frontier’. Two stand out above all the rest: Hal Jordan’s a.k.a the Green Lantern (David Boreanaz) and J'onn J'onzz’s a.k.a. the Martian Manhunter (Miguel Ferrer). These two iconic characters take center stage in the story. This delivers a refreshing change of pace from your typical Superman and Batman Justice League story. Their personal stories help shape this retelling of Earth’s mightiest heroes’ first adventure.

Hal Jordan has been looking for an escape. Haunted by his final moments of the Korean War, probably the most graphic moment in animated Justice League history, he looks to the stars for an escape. Jordan is test pilot who is hired by a private firm to be an astronaut for a journey to Mars. The actual mission is kept from Jordan and its revelation reveals what we already know. That he is a hero that will cherish all life and sacrifice everything for what is right.

J'onn J'onzz, a Martian, is trapped on Earth with no means of escape. He is looking for a place to belong. Trying to understand Earthlings he walks the Earth helping them by being one of them. In case you didn’t know, one of J'onn J'onzz many abilities is to change shape. Knowing that Earthlings are inherently good, J'onn J'onzz believes he can make a difference by fighting for what is right. He really is the tragic hero in this story and much like in “Justice League Unlimited” the Manhunter has more humanity than any other character in the Justice League. 

Fear not. Batman (Jeremy Sisto), Superman (Kyle MacLachlan), Wonder Woman (Lucy Lawless) and the Flash (Neil Patrick Harris) all play important roles. Besides the Flash their roles are reduced in size compared to Darwyn Cooke's original story. In all honesty it was a great change of pace to have Batman be a side player and recapture some of his mystery. Superman and Wonder Woman have a relationship where they are at odds with one another. Two different perspectives of America are seen through their eyes. Superman believes in the American dream, where Wonder Woman only sees the American reality. Darwyn Cooke's perspective on American culture and these characters invigorates this story to a level and a place that the Justice League hasn’t gone before.

Even with its huge climatic battle between “The Center” and all of the newly formed Justice League the film is not heavy on action. Not a lot of POW and BAM going on in ‘Justice League the New Frontier’. This is a character piece. So much so I actually thought it was going to have a cliff hanger and another DVD would soon be in the works. This is the complete story of ‘Justice League the New Frontier’. Albeit shortened for time constraints ‘Justice League the New Frontier’ still delivers on the source materials iconic storytelling and magic.

What’s different from the Comic?

(Possible Spoilers)

Obviously the complete work was transformed into a seventy-five minute cartoon. It does come extremely close to the comic. However, there were a few things missing that stood out. The opening of the comic and its story with the Dinosaur Island is only briefly mentioned in news broadcasts. The McCarthy type witch hunts of the superheroes is also briefly mentioned. Gone is a lot of the public relation stunts with Superman and Wonder Woman. Ace Morgan (John Heard) and Hal Jordan’s relationship is shortened but it still accomplishes the same end result. As much as they focused on J'onn J'onzz they left out a lot of his detective work on the comic book about “The Center”. Everything still works in the story but that was my favorite part of Darwyn Cooke’s book.

Special Features:

“Super Heroes United! : The Complete Justice League History” is a forty-one minute documentary that dives deep into the history of the Justice League. For fans of comics it breaks down the history of the Justice League and how it changed. It starts with it’s beginnings in All Star Comics #3 1940, the Golden Age of Comics to every detail from what the country was going through and how comics were perceived. The documentary is also a complete back story on what the writers were doing and how the fans responded. Many D.C. Comic legends and one from Marvel chime in with their story and perspective. 

The sneak peek at DC Universe’s “Batman Gotham Knight” is a mini documentary told in nine minutes about a new Batman anime anthology. It is a prelude to the new Batman movie ‘The Dark Knight’ which promises to use different styles of anime bringing a look to Batman that hasn’t been seen yet.