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

8. Cooke Meshed Light And Dark Together Wonderfully

Over the past decade or so, an apparent consensus appears to have been reached in superhero literature: lightness and darkness are mutually exclusive; plot, character and action cannot account for those two opposites concurrently.

First of all, this is a fairly ridiculous concept. Though the medium may have developed a reputation for all things dark and gritty, let us not forget that at the end of the day these are stories revolving around fantastical beings - characters who don bright and colourful costumes, explore the universe, and carry out death-defying feats on a regular basis. Of course this does not limit the potential for creators to explore dark or complex narratives, but there is always a danger of a tale becoming comically serious if it seems to shy away from the crazy and wonderful tenets that their creative properties were founded upon. If anything, The New Frontier proves that you really can have the best of both.

The text is light and funny, yet dark and mysterious. It's unrelentingly fierce in its social-commentary, yet joyful and mystical all in one. The thought of any creator dealing with the rampant racial violence of Jim Crow in a book that also features Dinosaur Island would seem overly ambitious and antithetical at first, but trust me, it's a testament to Cooke's story-telling talent that he could approach both with unreserved nuance and analogous creativity.