arc, which he regarded as a wholly out-of-place gimmick for Jordan to merely boost sales. To be accurate regarding Jordan's role as a United States Air Force pilot, Cooke spoke with two fighter pilots as well as fellow comic writer & artist Mike Allred, who had previously been stationed in Germany while serving in the Air Force. While clarifying that he did not approve of John F. Kennedy's personal flaws, Cooke cited Kennedy's 1960 "New Frontier" speech—which both inspired the title and concluded the book—as "the first time [the promise of modern America] was ever properly articulated." For 2006's collected Absolute Edition of the series, Cooke proposed including up to 48 additional pages, later negotiated down to 13 in order to hit a 400-page page count. The additional material provided more backstory for The Flash and J'onn J'onnz, as well as the Suicide Squad on Dinosaur Island. Cooke admitted surprise at this deluxe edition being released so soon after the original release due to retailer demand, citing a three-year wait for an Absolute Edition of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In a 2014 interview, New Frontier co-editor Chiarello named the book as the work he was the most proud of his involvement in, calling it "as pure a comic-reading experience as any comic that's ever been published." Other projects In 2004, Cooke also contributed to DC's artist-centric anthology project Solo. His issue (#5, Aug. 2005) featured several different stories in different styles with a framing sequence featuring Slam Bradley, and was originally intended by Cooke to be his final mainstream comic before other palatable DC projects pulled him back. In 2006, Solo #5 won an Eisner Award for "Best Single Issue." In November 2006, Cooke and writer Jeph Loeb produced a Batman/The Spirit intercompany crossover. This was followed in December by an ongoing Spirit series written and drawn by Cooke. At the time, Cooke considered The Spirit "the most exciting and horrifying offer I'd been made in my career," and later described himself as "incredibly reluctant to step into [Spirit creator Will] Eisner's shoes," despite it "paining him" when he was younger that he might never professionally draw the character. Cooke also expressed regret that he—while having met Will Eisner in the past—never got to consult with Eisner specifically for The Spirit; Eisner had died in 2005. Along with adding new characters such as Ginger Coffee and Hussein