I came to The New Warriors in a somewhat roundabout fashion (even for me). The team was introduced in Thor #411-412 at a time (1989) when I was buying more comic books than I was actually reading. I gave those issues a cursory flip-through, determined I wasn’t interested, and gave a pass to the ongoing series when it began. But recent dissatisfaction with the direction current comics have taken has led me to reexamine comics of the past, especially those I’ve never read. Two years ago, reading collections of Marvel’s recent “cosmic” titles (Annihilation and the like) led me backwards to the various incarnations of the character Nova, but I stopped short of following him into The New Warriors. Now I’m ready, though, and the early issues are readily available in three trade paperbacks of “Classics.”
By the time they made their first appearance in Thor, the various members of the New Warriors (Marvel Boy, Firestar, Nova, Namorita, speedball and Night Thrasher) had already come together as a team, and the first issue of their eponymous series told the story of how the team was formed. (The tpb handily inserts the Thor issues where they fit chronologically, between the first two issues.) I prepared for this project by re-reading the four-issue Firestar limited series and certain issues of The Thing which featured key appearances of Vance Astro. It’s interesting to trace the development of these two heroes in particular from the humblest of beginnings up through their tenure as Avengers.
Issue #8 (Classics, Vol. 2) introduces a new super-team , the Force of Nature, composed of former super-villains: Terraformer is the former Plantman, Skybreaker is the Inhuman Aireo, Aquaduct was WaterWizard, and Firewall is a new villain. This is interesting because, several years later Mark Bagley would draw the adventures of a much more successful team of former villains, the Thunderbolts. Also interesting is that Firestar is reunited with her former teacher, Emma Frost, when the New Warriors go up against the Massachusetts Academy’s Hellions. In the Firestar limited series, the White Queen tried to train Angelica to be her own personal assassin.
KINGS OF PAIN: The second volume concludes with the story which ran through 1991 mutant annuals. I find I have the most to say about this crossover of annuals, but most of it is negative and I am reluctant to belabor a story from 20 years ago I would be surprised if anyone here read more than once. It’s formulaic and suffers from a lack of editorial direction, despite the fact that the entire thing is written by the same writer, Fabian Nicieza. It is little more than an excuse for the teams of the New Warriors, X-Force and X-Factor to meet. Don’t be fooled that the story crosses into the New Mutants and X-Men annuals; neither of those teams appear. There is a nice scene (one panel, really) in which Firestar is reunited with Cannonball, who was her first kiss (in the Firestar limited series). The New Warriors annual was drawn by Mark Bagley and could have been part of the regular series, but even though Nicieza was scripting X-Force, the entire thin is pretty pointless.
I’ve already said more than I intended to, more than the story itself deserves.
Replies
No love for the New Warriors, eh? That’s okay. I have just this one last post before I move on to my next project.
FOREVER YESTERDAY: Fabian Nicieza did such a “fab” job fleshing out this alternate reality tale that I almost feel guilty for dismissing #11-13 so easily, but these types of stories don’t appeal to me at all. At least it was entirely self-contained and not a line-wide crossover such as “House of M.”
ISSUE #14: This issue spotlights Speedball and Namorita (because they played such a limited role in “Forever Yesterday,” no doubt.) It also features Darkhawk, and to tell you the truth, this is the first time I ever realized that Dark Hawk and Night Thrasher are two different characters. (In my own defense, it’s the first time I ever thought about it.)
ISSUES #15-17: In issue #15, Richard Rider is back in his original Nova uniform (as opposed to the short-sleeved red costume he had sported in this series up to this point), and the “Kid Nova” identity is left behind. Terrax the Tamer is the villain, here, in a battle which eventually draws in the Fantastic Four (#16) and the silver Surfer (#17).
AVENGERS #341-342: This is the first appearance of the New Warriors I actually read in real time. (Come to think of it, after I did, I went back and read Thor #411-412 at that time and bought a “gold edition” of New Warriors #1.) The Harras/Epting/Palmer Avengers was pretty good at a time when most of Marvel’s output was, IMO, pretty bad. This two-parter was guest-written by Fabian Nicieza, though, so the characterization of the New Warriors is spot-on. In this story, Rage’s secret is revealed (no spoilers here if you haven’t read it), and he leaves the Avengers to join the New Warriors.
I read these post, but I never collected the series. I probably own less that 5 issues. Some of the worst dressed heroes.