From the Archives: Favourite Comic Series — The New Warriors

(This article was first published on the Enniskillen Comic Fest Facebook page, 18 April 2017 — reprinted here with a few corrections and tweaks! I’ve previously listed The New Warriors as one of my favourite superhero series in Desert Island Comics.)

Howdy there, Festians! Another week, another Favourite Story! This week’s choice comes from none other than star Judge Dredd writer and Comic Fest veteran and returning guest Michael Carroll!

I’m going to skip anything 2000AD-related (because I’ve written about my love for Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and The Stainless Steel Rat – among the comic’s many awesome stories – so often that, to be honest, I’m running the risk of boring even myself!), and instead take you back to a Marvel comic that before it was launched was treated as something of joke by the media, yet it turned out to be utterly awesomely awesome and was extremely influential to me…

The New Warriors, vol. 1
75 issues, July 1990 to September 1996
Writers: Fabian Nicieza, Evan Skolnick
Pencillers: Mark Bagley, Darick Robertson, Patrick Zircher
Inkers: Larry Mahlstedt, Bruce Patterson, Andrew Pepoy

Favourite Arc:

Probably “Time and Time Again” (issues #47 – #50, crossing over with the then ongoing spin-off series Nova and Night Thrasher)

Why:

The New Warriors were created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz and were introduced (that is: given a test-outing) in The Mighty Thor #411-#412 (Dec 1989). The reader response to this new team of teenage heroes — all but one of whom had been seen before — was encouraging enough for Marvel to give them their own series.

Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley were tasked with bringing the series to life, which they did half-way through 1990. Prior to the launch, the series was dismissed by many in the trades as Marvel’s “teen Avengers,” especially because the established characters were decidedly second-string. Firestar had first appeared on a Spider-Man cartoon show, Speedball was one of Steve Ditko’s least-regarded creations for Marvel, Namorita was the Sub-Mariner’s cousin, Marvel Boy was an alternate time-line version of Vance Astro, the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Nova… well, even at Marvel they never seemed to quite know what to do with Nova. In fact, they didn’t really know what to do with any of them, which is one of the reasons Tom DeFalco decided to put them in their own team. Added to the roster was the new creation, Night Thrasher, who at first comes across as a Bruce Wayne knock-off (inherits his parent’s wealth after they’re killed, decides to fight crime to avenge them).

Even I wasn’t much drawn to that line-up, and I’d been a fan of Nova for years, ever since his adventures had been reprinted in Marvel UK’s Rampage in 1977. But I thought, what the heck, I’ll give issue 1 a shot. I liked that first issue a lot. Liked the second one even more. By about issue six, I found myself running to the comic shop on the day it was out. It had been a long time since an American comic had me running to get the latest issue!

I could go on for pages and pages about the first volume of The New Warriors (even longer if I drift onto the subject of how unfairly and shamefully the characters were treated in the run-up to Marvel’s first Civil War event… Grr!), but I’ll spare you — this time — and give you the shortened version instead…

That mismatched collection of not-tremendously successful superheroes worked brilliantly, all thanks to the massively talented creators. The compelling characters, inventive stories and sheer fun of the original series has rarely been matched since. Throughout the entire run there are plenty of cracking ideas and absolutely breathtaking moments, and scenes were you just want to stand up and shout, “Yes! This is the stuff we want! This is what truly great comics look like!”

Though it’s been twenty years since the volume 1 ended (which probably wouldn’t have happened if Marvel hadn’t decided to bundle all their titles into “groups”: The New Warriors was lumped into the Spider-Man group, where it didn’t really fit, and thus readership declined), the impact of the series is evident from the vibrant fan-communities on-line, and from its influence on other creators… There are scenes that even now give me goose-bumps just thinking about them.

And my own New Heroes series of superhero novels would certainly have never come about had I not been such a fan of The New Warriors and wanted to create something of my own that had the same impact that The New Warriors had on me. I’m not saying I succeeded, though! (BTW: I promise that the similarity of the series’ names is not me ripping off Marvel… I’d initially called the series Heroes but the publishers didn’t think that was a strong enough title and insisted on The New Heroes. I wasn’t confident enough to stick to my guns!)

There are many great arcs in the series, but the “Time and Time Again” story is probably my favourite: it ties up a lot of ongoing events and introduces a lot of fascinating new twists. To say anything more would risk spoiling the story for you, and I’d hate myself if I did that.

Unfortunately, not all of The New Warriors volume 1 has been collected into trade paperbacks – and I don’t think they’re all available on Marvel Unlimited, either – so your best bet is to track down the original issues. I urge you to do so right now!

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Bonus:

I’m the lucky owner of two original consecutive pages from issue #19 The New Warriors‘ first series, drawn by Mark Bagley and inked by Larry Mahlsted…

Extra bonus:

Nova, by Chris Giarrusso — a Christmas present commissioned by Mrs Rusty!