10 Reasons Why 'The New Frontier' Will Always Be DC's Greatest Graphic Novel

2. Hal Jordan Is Handled Wonderfully

There's a lot to be said about Hal Jordan. He was the first human Green Lantern, the famed intergalactic enforcer of law in sector 2814, an embittered friend and enemy of Sinestro, and a resurrected hero that presided over the resurgence of the Green Lantern brand. The character is a bit of a bore though - a stereotypical male non-entity that has been rejigged as many times as the DCU has had crises. However, his plight in The New Frontier is both engaging and riveting, making new fans of the Air Force pilot at a time when he was unremittingly dull.

Darwyn Cooke's Hal Jordan is a veteran of the Korean War who spent his time above Pyongyang engaging in pacifistic aerial dogfights, until in a tragic turn of events he was forced to take a life on the day a ceasefire was agreed between the North and South.

Jordan carries this experience with him for the remainder of the book, seeing his murder as an act of senseless cruelty. This, along with his relationship with Carol Ferris and his eventual rise to prominence as a Lantern makes the character far more compelling than he has ever been before. Hal is very much the human voice throughout The New Frontier, and a character everyone can easily root for. It's an origin story worth revisiting, and it's wonderful Cooke did so.