New Warriors #1 (Marvel)

Rating: 4/5 – New faces and New foes for this New team.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Jeff Bouchard.

Another wave of all new Marvel Now! titles are hitting the shelves and with that comes a new take on a popular book from the 90s – The New Warriors.  The original series written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Mark Bagley was a fun book that pitted some of the young heroes of the Marvel Universe against threats of all kinds.  Two of the original team members from that run, Speedball and Justice, anchor the new team with an interesting assortment of new team members.

The New Warriors (2014) #1 is written by Christopher Yost and drawn by Marcus To, who both worked together on DC’s Red Robin comic. Coloring on the book is handled by David Curiel and VC’s Joe Caramagna is the letterer.  As with most first issues, they fit the adage of “getting the band/team together” and this first issue is no different but it really goes one step further as you could even say its “letting you know what musicians are even in the band.” The New Warriors #1 jumps between three distinct storylines as we are introduced to the new team.  Some of the characters are new and some, such as Kaine (aka Scarlet Spider), have been part of the Marvel U and had their own title, but readers may not be too familiar with them.  As it has been hinted in the pages of Nova, the core team of Speedball, Justice and Nova all show up in the issue, with Nova making an appearance at the very end.  I really enjoyed the first double splash page of the book where Justice and Speedball are introduced because it sets a tone for me of what to expect.  To’s art has a strong, heavy line to it and he seems well suited to the younger characters that make up the team and Curiel’s color palate is bright and exuberant and fits To’s art and the feel of the book nicely.

Aside from Speedball and Justice, the first issue bounces around between several other characters including Kaine and his tagalong Aracely Penabla, who is known as Hummingbird.  The last character we are introduced to is Selah Burke who is known as Sun Girl and is located in New York City.  I mentioned earlier that this issue is akin to “knowing what musicians are even in the band” as Yost weaves a story introducing readers to multiple characters who are all currently in separate locations doing their own things.  At no point in the issue do they get together so I assume the “getting the band together” part will slowly take place over the first arc of the series.

Yost has added some interesting ideas and concepts to the first issue, the town of New Salem where Speedball and Justice are currently is an intriguing place and I am interested in learning more about what goes on there but I am not sure how much time will be dedicated to the town and its magical residents.  Also the back stories of some of these new characters will be fun to explore as will the interactions that unfold as these new team members meet each other.  You can’t get excited about the book without mentioning the teaser at the end that involves Nova and the implications from the appearances of the characters throughout the book that loosely tie most of the team members together.  One of the things I remember from the original series is that even though it was a team of younger heroes, they were heroes nonetheless and they did not shy away from any type of villain or situation and it looks like the creative team has set this new iteration of the New Warriors on a similar path.  There are some familiar faces and several new characters that have a big challenge ahead of them right out of the gate.  I look forward to seeing how this team comes together and represents the moniker of the New Warriors.

Reviewed by: Jeff Bouchard
(jeff@comicspectrum.com)
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