15 DC Comics Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die
4. DC: The New Frontier
If All Star Superman is a love letter to the Silver Age then DC: The New Frontier is Darwyn Cooke taking the Silver Age out to a drive-in movie and a couple of malt shakes at the diner.
Framed by a story about the superheroes of the world coming together to fight a sentient island, The New Frontier is a sprawling epic that stretches from the end of the 1940's and the disbanding of the Justice Society, through the 50's and to the 1960's and the formation of the Justice League.
The comic gives in-story explanations for changes made to characters at the time, such as Superman's decision to stand for the rights of the American people rather than the will of its government and Batman's attempts to stop scaring innocents by adopting a sidekick We also see origin stories for the Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter, who stand side-by-side with obscure non-superhero teams like the Challengers of the Unknown and the original Suicide Squad (to reflect their popularity during that decade).
Like All Star Superman, it's a bright and colourful tale that helps to disprove the myth that comics can only be good if they're dark and gritty. This is helped along by Cooke's art which deliberately invokes the style of 50's comics.