The 1960s are known affectionately as the Silver Age of comic books.

Back then, superhero comics were all but dead and gone. The Silver Age was, in its essence, a wave of new comic books and characters that saved superhero comics from obscurity and possibly oblivion.

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So it figures, then, that there should be a story explaining how and why this all happened in the actual DC universe comic books, right? That’s The New Frontier.

Created in the early 2000s, The New Frontier is a story that gives the new wave of superheroes a focal point and a common enemy to unite them together to signal the beginning of the new era of heroes.

While Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — Golden Age characters from the 1930s and 1940s — are present in the story, they quickly take a backseat to the new heroes, with a particular focus on the new Green Lantern, the new Flash, and the alien Martian Manhunter.

What the story does best is that it avoids merely repeating old origin stories and instead weaves an epic story in between the spaces of the old.

As the new heroes come into their own, discovering their powers and the new world they live in, a massive unknown threat gradually brings them all together for the first time. Sure, everyone loves Aquaman now, but imagine meeting an underwater king and his army of fish for the first time unsure of where his loyalties lie, all the while trying to figure out why a lightning bolt and chemicals have turned you into the Flash.

Not only that, but secret government agencies are trying to capture you to get some answers to their own questions.

That can’t be easy.

New Frontier is like a love letter to the Silver Age. The retro animated art style suits the book perfectly and the writing does an amazing job of capturing each character’s voice.

The book begins in darkness, the ashes of the Golden Age, and ends as a bright, brand new day, with a new path illuminated for the heroes of the Silver Age.

Plus, how often do you get to read a cool story with the Challengers of the Unknown? Not very often. It’s almost worth it for that alone.

Nick Klie is manager of High Octane Comics. Visit 250 Third Ave. or call 250-377-8444.