The New Frontier

Welcome to a world somewhat like our own but significantly different. In Cherkas and Sabilj's recreation of recent history Fidel Castro pitches in a World Series; the U.S. H-bombs North Korea and the present moment is a hardboiled, cartoonish noir 1950s complete with flying cars--equal parts George Jetson and Mickey Spillane. In this parallel fictional reality America's love of movie star Rubi Fields--a surrogate Marilyn Monroe--is hysterically obsessive. After her mysterious death, she becomes even more of a popular fixation with annual nationwide look-alike contests (a very funny subplot) , alien abductions and a morbid, apocalyptic cult church devoted to her memory. Reporter Ace Bailey of the Beacon City Globe , retells the sordid story surrounding both her death and the shady politics of Beacon City in a comically jaded tale of political corruption, murder and pop culture hysteria. Sabljic's story, his first comics work, is a pulp sendup of the JFK era mythology, an unholy alliance of politicians, mobsters and exploited movie stars that ends on a note of amusing and inevitable cynicism. Cherkas ( The Silent Invasion) uses a boldly cartoonish line to produce an imaginary period flair and once again shows himself to be a brilliant stylist of 50's and '60s tough-guy ambience in this beautifully illustrated political/cultural satire. (Aug.)