It took a seventy-thousand dollar sliver of meteor to stop the one in Metropolis. With you, all I need is a penny for a book of matches. 
- — Batman
DC: The New Frontier #3 is an issue of the series DC: The New Frontier (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 2004. It was published on March 17, 2004.
Synopsis for "The Brave and the Bold"
Chapter Six: The Men Who Fell to Earth
The issue begins with the B-47 prototype suffering a major technical malfunction which is piloted by Kyle 'Ace' Morgan and along with passengers Matthew 'Red' Ryan, Professor Walter Haley, and Rocky Davis. Kyle tries to keep the experimental jet from crashing into the Colorado Rocky Mountains, in the process of leaving a fallen trail of trees and wreckage, and narrowly flying over a mountain. However, the jet spirals out of control and causing the aircraft's cockpit to tear open, sending its passengers and pilot flying into the sky...
In the present in Montreal, Canada, Matthew 'Red' Ryan wakes up from a nightmare of that plane accident. Ryan, having been working as a daredevil for a traveling circus following his incident and suffering from an apparent case of survivor's guilt, decides to leave his current career.
Meanwhile in Coast City, while having dinner at seaside restaurant, Carol Ferris agrees to hire Hal Jordan to work for Ferris Aircraft in which the two celebrate over glasses of champagne.
In the Colorado Rockies, Red Ryan returns to the site of the B-47 crash site. According to Red, it is revealed that he and the others miraculously survived the crash. Red then unexpectedly meets with the other survivors in which Ace Morgan welcomes him to the "fraternity of Flight 772." The four admits to each other that they have the same urge and feeling that Red has, and are left wondering if it was fate or destiny that decided their survival. Haley then suggests that they should start getting beers.
In the rural south of Knoxville, Tennessee a group of Ku Klux Klansmen burn down the home of John Wilson along with his family. Wilson is lynched while his family died in the fire. After the Klansmen left, Wilson survives his lynching. Left in distraught by the loss of his family, Wilson seeks revenge on the "white triangles."
In New York City, Task Force X frantically runs across the top of the Statue of Liberty to a helicopter piloted by Rick Flagg. After Jess Bright and Karin Grace are onboard, Flagg orders Jess to draw "that nightmare" out over the city's bay in order to fire a missile at the creature: a giant pterodactyl. Unfortunately, the pterodactyl bites Hugh Evans and carries him away. Evans dies but the dinosaur saw into the thermite grenades on Evans' body and causing them to explode, killing it and its prey. After attending Evans' funeral and paying their respect to their fallen comrade, the surviving members of Task Force X reflect on the pterodactyl encounter. Flagg is reminded of his previous experience on Dinosaur Island in 1945.
Back in Tennessee, John Wilson works in a shack house to forge a steel hammer...
In California, Hal drives to Ferris Aircraft and finds Rick Flagg, who is flagging Hal for a pick up as his car had broken down. After picking up Flagg, the colonel tells Jordan that the U.S. Air Force contracted Ferris Aircraft for a classified project.
Two months later, Hal is at a water impact training session. It is revealed in writing to his brother Jimmy that, for eight grueling weeks, he has been going through many exercises with "no discernible pattern" such as being buried alive for two days while being monitored with wires. Hal guesses that he is being inducted into a space flight mission. Furthermore, Hal admits of thinking more about Carol Ferris, and is having a rocky relationship with Rick Flagg who oversees Hal's training.
John Henry.
In a break room with his friends, Hal learns more about Flagg and the members of Task Force X: Karin Grace was formerly a nurse during the Korean War and was shot down in her medical plane. She rescued her surviving crew onto the plane's debris but unfortunately she and the survivors were without supplies or food. After drifting for two weeks, Karin became the sole survivor and was left with a psychological toll before she was rescued six days later. Jess Bright and the deceased Hugh Evans were atomic scientists attached to the Nevada Test Site. During a test where they and five others were in a blockhouse a quarter mile from ground zero, Bright and Evans abandoned the other five and made it to the minimum safe zone before the nuclear bomb exploded. This incident left the two as be the only ones alive, but likewise they suffered mental problems. Lastly, Flagg was formerly commissioned during the Second World War and beyond to lead convicts and insubordinates in his Suicide Squad who has "nothing to lose" for suicide missions. Rick was left guilt-ridden for sending these broken men to their graves in the name of freedom.
Back in Tennessee, the same Klansmen that killed John Wilson's family burn down a black church and kill the survivors. Wilson arrives and confronts the Klansmen in a costume and armed with steel hammers as John Henry.
Chapter Seven: Paranormal Paranoia
In Gotham City, John Jones goes a to movie theater to see the science-fiction movie Invasion from Mars as he had hope that the film would help him to understand what humans think about Mars. Before watching the movie, John watches a Superman cartoon in which he notes how the Man of Steel, an alien, is easily accepted into human society due to his more human appearance. Afterwards, a newsreel shows a new team of heroes, The Challengers of the Unknown. The Challengers are the survivors of Flight 772 who have dedicated their efforts and abilities "to help protect the people and the planet." After being very impressed with the bravery of the Challengers, John watches Invasion from Mars. But after almost seeing the entirety of the movie, John is left bemused and unimpressed with the movie's B-rated depiction of the "Martian" and its alien invasion story, causing him to laugh out loud.
John walks back to his apartment as he realizes that despite humanity lacking knowledge about Mars and its people, they fear the unknown and thus they hate things that they can't control or understand. This left him to decide to continue to hide his alien identity from humanity. After entering his apartment, John finds the Batman waiting for him. Batman wants to talk. He states that during the eighteen months after their bust on the cult that worshiped "The Centre" there has been a steady number of similar incidents happening all over the world: mass delusions and people hearing violent voices in their head. John concurs with his investigations. Batman then gives John a medallion that he retrieved from the cult's leader. From his research, Batman believes that his findings are lacking and John is ideally suitable to pursue the investigation, but that it is not a request. Before he leaves through John's window, Batman tells John that he knows that he isn't human as he had been spying him and warns that even though he can be trusted he will use his weakness (fire) against him if he ever betrays him.
In Washington D.C., President Eisenhower presents Wonder Woman the Congressional Medal of Diplomatic Citizenship in a press conference in front of the White House with Superman. Wonder Woman gives her speech to the press, expressing her thanks for the honor she received, and begins to talk about her experience in Vietnam. However, Eisenhower's vice-president Richard Nixon quickly ends her speech and the conference. Wonder Woman is ushered inside the White House's Red Room and receives advice from Eisenhower about deserving to take a vacation. Wonder Woman wants to talk to him about her experiences in Asia but Ike couldn't stay to hear her and only gives her a parable: "old soldiers never die they just fade away."
Meanwhile, Hal is escorted by Carol to a bunker. Hal wants to know why government agents such as Rick Flagg are involved with her company. Carol tells him he will find out soon. The two climb down the bunker's hatch and, to Hal's surprise, into a large underground research hangar. Carol leads Hal to Flagg to a debriefing with King Faraday, the head of the Air Force's space project. Faraday briefs with Hal at length about the project...
Following the end of World War II, the Allies extracted German scientists who worked with Germany's rocket programs. The scientists either ended up in the United States or in the Soviet Union, where they contributed their research into Russia's space program such as Sputnik and sending dogs into space. This made the U.S. government to realize the possibility of communist expansion into space and thus they had initiated their space program. Starting the next day, the U.S. government planned to to disband the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and announce the formation of NASA. Furthermore, Congress approved the funding for a manned space program. This program will use Wernher von Braun's three stage rocket prototype in an attempt to put a human into orbit before the Soviets do. NASA will select seven astronauts to train for the mission.
Hal is left excited and eager to sign up in the U.S. space program. Faraday cools down Hal's excitement in which he explains that the NASA need heroes. Faraday further explains about Rick Flagg and Task Force X.
During World War II, Faraday was appointed by the O.S.S. to be in charge of strategy and tactical behind Flagg's Suicide Squad. The Squad's final mission on Dinosaur Island was to extract Dr. Deiter Teschner but they were wiped out. Flagg salvaged the mission by retrieving Teschner's notes which held a world of scientific riches. After the war, the O.S.S. was split into separate entities, such as the C.I.A. and Task Force X. Task Force X was structured with two divisions: Argent and the Suicide Squad. Argent was tasked in covert ops, quietly arresting mystery men, super-villains, communist terrorists, and other elements that threatened America. While the Suicide Squad fills the void left by the more effective mystery men when America was threatened by the paranormal.
Faraday then briefs Hal about an event that happened in 1955 that involved a Martian (J'onn J'onzz) who was brought to Earth by Erdel after the government noticed the sudden overload of radar equipment throughout the eastern seaboard caused by Erdel's experiment in receiving radio signals from Mars. The government became aware of life on Mars after they discovered a footprint left by J'onn at Erdel's observatory. For the past three years Task Force X were unable to find J'onn and the government began to consider the threat that Mars represented. This led to the government to decide to create a secret space program using Ferris Aircraft as a front for Argent's operation. Argent and the USAF used Teschner's radical research to create an advanced rocket made out of the plastic alloy graphite. By today, Argent had received permission to initiate the project dubbed Flying Cloud, named after the last member of the Losers on Flagg's insistence. Flagg, Grace, and Bright are Flying Cloud's primary team. Hal was brought as a backup for the project, but last month's untimely death of Dr. Evan has moved Hal into the primary team.
Hal is left discontented, believing that he is only testing equipment for NASA while the real astronauts will go into space. But Faraday correctly points out that this isn't Flying Cloud's goal. NASA is a long term initiative to get man into space. Flying Cloud on the other hand is a bold attempt to leapfrog current technologies: its real goal is to travel to Mars.
Meanwhile, John Jones has found the Centre cult's locked book in the GCPD's evidence room. He figured out how to unlock the book as the talisman given by Batman is none other than the key for it. Though some of the texts are varied and mostly unreadable, John recognize the images describing an ominous, omnipotent presence and great suffering. The back half of the tome contains a collection of essays and drawings that seems to describe the same basic legend, through the eyes of different cultures and eras. These content speak about a mysterious island (Dinosaur Island) populated by "dragons and monsters." John then reads a recognizable pictograph...
In the ancient past, a young Vyking Prince had led an expedition to map the "great land of the south." However, after two years he fell victim to a mutinous crew. He was cast adrift on his ship's figurehead and left to perish in the sea. For days the Prince was adrift in the sea until he awoke one day to find a mysterious island shrouded in mist. Though relieved to be on land his joy was lessened when he was attacked by a dragon (a triceratops). Fortunately the 'dragon' is attacked by another (a tyrannosaurus rex) giving the Prince the opportunity to escape. Despite being trapped the Prince was resourceful. He kills a sea beast (a giant prehistoric sea turtle) in order to use its shell for the base of his raft. With the sea beast's meat for sustenance and the raft ready, the Prince escaped the island and began his long voyage home.
After finishing the Prince's story, John notices an ornate illustration in the book resembling a "large dark force, so dark it blocked the sun." As John touches the image, he receives an electrical shock. With a fearful face, John realizes that the entity is already here on Earth.
Appearing in "The Brave and the Bold"
Featured Characters:
- Challengers of the Unknown
- John Henry/John Wilson (First appearance)
- Hal Jordan
- Wonder Woman
- Martian Manhunter/John Jones
Supporting Characters:
- Task Force X
- Richard Flagg, Sr.
- Karin Grace
- Hugh Evans (Dies)
- Jess Bright
- Carol Ferris
- King Faraday
- Batman
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Richard Nixon
- Superman
- Vyking Prince
Locations:
- Earth-21
- Montreal, Quebec
- Coast City, California
- Colorado Rockies
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- New York City, New York
- Gotham City
- Washington, D.C.
- Dinosaur Island (Flashback only)
Notes
- This issue was dedicated to Bill Finger, Dick Sprang, Joe Simon, and Jack Davis.
- This issue is reprinted in DC: The New Frontier Vol. 1 and DC: The New Frontier Deluxe Edition.
Trivia
- "The Brave and the Bold" is named after DC's long running series featuring common team-ups of characters from across the DC Universe.
Scene from The Magnetic Telescope as watched by John Jones.
- The short Superman cartoon film J'onn sees is The Magnetic Telescope, the sixth Superman short films developed by Fleischer Studios.
- The B-rated movie Invasion from Mars is a reference to the 1953 film Invaders from Mars.
- The Challengers' debut in 1957 is also the same year that the mainstream Challengers of the Unknown debuted in Showcase #6 (February 1957).
- Among the soldiers in Hal Jordan's bunk room is reading I, the Jury, the very first novel starring Detective Mike Hammer.
See Also