The recently released Justice League: The New Frontier stirred up excitement among WonderCon attendees. Unless noted, all images © Warner Bros. Home Video.

This past week saw the release of Warner Bros. Animation’s direct-to-video feature Justice League: The New Frontier, based on the highly acclaimed best-selling DC Comics graphic novel The New Frontier by writer/artist Darwyn Cooke. On Saturday, February 23, WonderCon attendees were given an advance look at the feature, and nearly every seat in the massive convention center screening room was filled with comic book and animation fans eager to get their first look at this long-awaited production. Warner Bros. also provided the audience with a sneak peek at the upcoming anime-influenced direct-to-video feature Batman: Gotham Knight, which is previewed on the New Frontier DVD.

And the film was worth the wait. Adapting one of the most popular comic books of the past decade into a 75-minute feature is no easy task, but the veteran crew, helmed by Cooke, Executive Producer Bruce Timm, Director David Bullock, Writer Stan Berkowitz and Voice Director Andrea Romano, successfully translated the 300-page graphic novel into a fun, action-packed look back at the Silver Age of superhero comics. Fans of the original series may be dismayed to discover that certain characters wound up on the cutting room floor (the Losers and Suicide Squad were M.I.A., and the Challengers of the Unknown, with the exception of Ace Morgan, play a much smaller role in the film than in the comic), but high production values and attention to detail make this essential viewing for any fan of the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini-era of Warner Bros. superhero animation.

Darwyn Cooke's career has come full circle. He got his start working on DC's animated properties and now his highly acclaimed, best-selling DC Comics graphic novel is the basis for the New Frontier movie.

Darwyn Cooke fans can also take solace in the just-released Justice League: The New Frontier Special, which hit comic shops on Wednesday, March 5. Cooke writes and illustrates the lead story, the knockdown, drag-out battle between Superman and Batman that was only hinted at in the original series. The backup stories feature artwork by New Frontier director David Bullock, who illustrates “Dragstrip Riot,” a fun story teaming up the Silver Age Robin and Kid Flash, plus a collaboration with artist J. Bone, who draws the madcap Wonder Woman and Black Canary vs. Hugh Hefner story that... well, let’s just say that words won’t do the story justice. An eight-page bonus section includes storyboard artwork from Cooke, Bullock and Butch Lukic, and a gallery of the stunning Saul Bass-inspired artwork from the New Frontier opening credit sequence. This 48-page special from DC Comics is very reasonably priced at $4.99, and makes a fine, fun-filled supplement to the DVD feature.

Prior to the February 23 screening, I was given the opportunity to interview several members of the production team, including series creator Darwyn Cooke and Voice Director Andrea Romano.

Interview with Darwyn Cooke

Andrew Farago: I first met you at WonderCon four years ago, actually, when just one or two issues of The New Frontier comic book had been released. How does it feel to be back under these circumstances?

Darwyn Cooke: It's very amazing to consider... There's absolutely no way that I could have imagined that the little book I was putting together for DC was going to get picked up and turned into a film, or to have garnered the kind of attention it has. It's really brilliant to be back here for this. I'm glad we're doing it here at WonderCon, because it's really the convention that supported the book right out of the gate.

AF: And it's full-circle -- or maybe going around in circles -- because before you broke into comics, you got your start working on DC's animated properties. Can you talk a bit about that period in your career?

DC: It is funny... I had worked at Warners with Bruce Timm, and most of the guys who worked on this film, before I got involved in comics as heavily as I have. It was really funny when we all ended up back together, to put my comic book together as a movie. [laughs] And it was a lot of fun, as well, to get back together with these guys and work with them.

This whole thing about the guys at the Warner studio -- it's all about the quality. There's a lot of love for the work, and it's a real thrill to be able to work with people like that.