New Frontier questions

[shaxper]

I just read New Frontier vol. 1 tonight, so please don't make reference to the events of volume two without spoiler tags. I haven't read it.


Anyway, there were a few things I didn't quite understand:

1. How does John Cloud write the story of his own death in the begining? My original explanation for this was that he foresaw it in the sweat lodge visions, but then how would he make the same mistake of tripping over the landmine after he foresaw it? Even if he was ready to die, it's hard to imagine how or why someone would make himself intentionally trip a landmine. This doesn't sit right with me.

2. Flagg names his space program "Flying Cloud," but how does Flagg know about John Cloud "taking flight" if he left before Cloud had the vision and recorded his story? I guess Flagg could have revisited the island at some point and read the story. I guess. And is there some sort of relationship between the Cold War and John Cloud's death, or was it just an arbitrary tribute?

3. Who's the John Henry guy? I recognized virtually every other character to appear in this volume, but I don't know who this is. He closely resembles Hooded Justice from Alan Moore's Watchmen, and I know The Watchmen were based upon the Charlton characters DC had just acquired. Was this John Henry guy a Charlton hero?

[Loren]

2. Flagg names his space program "Flying Cloud," but how does Flagg know about John Cloud "taking flight" if he left before Cloud had the vision and recorded his story? I guess Flagg could have revisited the island at some point and read the story. I guess. And is there some sort of relationship between the Cold War and John Cloud's death, or was it just an arbitrary tribute?

It was just a tribute to a man he admired, but the tribute had nothing ot do with Cloud "taking flight." Rather, it's because prior to joining the Losers, John Cloud was an Air Force pilot: Johnny Cloud, Navajo Ace (http://www.toonopedia.com/j-cloud.htm).


3. Who's the John Henry guy? I recognized virtually every other character to appear in this volume, but I don't know who this is. He closely resembles Hooded Justice from Alan Moore's Watchmen, and I know The Watchmen were based upon the Charlton characters DC had just acquired. Was this John Henry guy a Charlton hero?

John Henry is more or less an original character created by Darwyn Cooke, though he was inspired by Steel. Cooke wanted an African-American character for his story, and since the Silver Age DC didn't offer an adequate existing one, he used Steel as a springboard for creating one.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

1. How does John Cloud write the story of his own death in the begining? My original explanation for this was that he foresaw it in the sweat lodge visions, but then how would he make the same mistake of tripping over the landmine after he foresaw it? Even if he was ready to die, it's hard to imagine how or why someone would make himself intentionally trip a landmine. This doesn't sit right with me.


The story John Cloud is writing on the cave wall and his naration overlap but they aren't the same thing. In other words, he started the story on the cave wall but the last part of the story was only John's inner-dialogue. I suppose Cooke could have made the break between the two more clear, but if he had it would have ruined the ending of John's tale.

[Nintendite]

3. Who's the John Henry guy? I recognized virtually every other character to appear in this volume, but I don't know who this is. He closely resembles Hooded Justice from Alan Moore's Watchmen, and I know The Watchmen were based upon the Charlton characters DC had just acquired. Was this John Henry guy a Charlton hero?

As Loren said, it is for the most part a original character made by Cooke, but is based off of Steel. Those scenes with him in it were great, BTW, and I think it'd be kinda cool if they put a character like that in mainstream continuity, maybe acting as another inspiration for John Henry Irons to become a hero (the main inspiration, of course, being Superman).