Fabian Nicieza has been memorialized as one of the better X-Architects of the troublesome 1990s period of Marvel’s X-Men. His eye for snappy dialogue and high stakes soap opera led to some super fun comics, and he’s continued to work in the industry to this day to reasonable acclaim. Before all that, however, he kicked off one of the lesser-saturated books of the 90s, “New Warriors”, with artist and collaborator Mark Bagley. For my Summer Comics Binge, I opted to investigate this run. I want to see if Nicieza and Bagley’s series truly did encapsulate this lost dream of the 90s, a dream that held onto the fantastic worldbuilding and serialized storytelling of the 80s with all the rebellious, slacker attitude and MTV references of the decade to come. In this first installment, I’ll be looking at what I consider the first arc, covering issues #1-4, as well as the team’s first appearance in “Thor” #412-413.
What I perceive to be the mission statement for the New Warriors is that they are a group of literally outcast heroes depicted as having ‘no experience’ or ‘not being old enough’. In response to this, the team acts as an anti-authoritarian force, going after threats that fall out of the jurisdiction or are ignored by larger groups like the Avengers or X-Men, and saying that they can do things better than their out-of-touch peers.
Written by Fabien Nicieza and Tom DeFalco
Illustrated by Mark Bagley, Ron Frenz, and Joe Sinnott
Inked by Al Williamson and Larry Mahlstead
Colored by Mike Rockwitz, Nel Yomtov, and Andy Yanchus
Lettered by Michael Heisler, Joe Rosen and Jack MorelliA new band of heroes emerge! With an impressive roster and even more impressive threat, what adventures will the team get themselves into?
The debut issue establishes this statement well and introduces each character in a way that connects them to this ideal. The first character we get is the fierce nineties, Night Thrasher. Nicieza writes him as an MTV-era Batman, as Dwayne Taylor too lost his parents at an early age and now acts out as a vigilante. Bagley draws him with a constantly disapproving scowl and positions him in menacing poses and fighting with high-level dramatics. However, there are subtle changes that make him era-appropriate. He’s younger, and so we see Batman’s aggression channeled through youthful angst. He’s encouraged into vigilante activity by his guardians, stoking the fires of Taylor’s misguided fantasy. He also rides and uses a skateboard in battle.
Like his inspiration, Taylor recruits most of the other members of the New Warriors, giving us a neat little profile for each of them. Nova is something of an air-headed jock yet is aimless and bored like a university-era Peter Parker. Marvel Boy almost works as a focal point character for readers, being amazed by the wonders of the MU and wanting to use his powers to participate in them – however, his rejection from Captain America leads to him being skeptical of authority and using the New Warriors to prove himself to the world. Everyone else gets a decent framework that leaves seeds to be developed in later stories. Namorita is more of an environmental warrior, questioning the status quo with provocative dialogue and Firestar is passionate and appropriately hot-headed yet remains fragile in her fear for her father’s safety as shown. Speedball is delightful in the way he’s cast. He’s recruited himself to the team, he’s the definition of a slacker, and his dialogue is tinged with heavy sarcasm, exclaiming “Mom, I don’t want to go to another art gallery opening! I mean, just shoot me in the head now, you know?”.
The rest of the issue is stock standard as far as Marvel debuts go, but Nicieza at least imbues it with as much flair as possible. The New Warriors go up against none other than Terrax, former Galactus Herald, showing that they can swing with the best of them. It’s a satisfying takedown where everyone feels like they have a part, and the only angst isn’t directed at each other, rather at the status quo which each of them vehemently contends with.
Continued belowThen we have the crossover with Thor in what is the team’s first on-page appearance. This story is written by Tom DeFalco, and while it still has the same rebellious tone, the dialogue and pacing feel noticeable more clunky than Nicieza’s. The art is handled by Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott, and both bring a very classical style to the story, which might be befitting of Thor but makes the Warriors look oddly stuffy. Ultimately, the pair of issues pairs Thor and the New Warriors against the Juggernaut, which goes again to show that the group can hold their own against major level Marvel threats. The Juggernaut feels a little too conscious at times and not flippant enough to be charming, and visually isn’t as menacing as he should be in a story like this. On top of this, I’m not a fan of how Frenz and Sinnott draw Nova using his powers, choosing to stop drawing him from the waist down and instead slap on a couple of speed lines. The story is a decent romp showing how well the Warriors can work as a team, but ultimately unnecessary.
The next issue, we take a dive into Night Thrasher’s backstory and psyche. What I love about Nicieza’s take on this character is that he’s so obviously a teenaged Batman: he has all the angst and rage whilst still being pumped up with hormones to the point where his struggle with anger management bubbles to the surface. We see two vigilantes from his past, the delightfully named Midnight’s Fire and Silhouette, come back into his life to drag the New Warriors into a street-level gang war. The two dredges up enough emotion in our boy Dwayne to the point wherein the climax of the issue, his anger causes him to nearly beat Midnight’s Fire to death. This is some important character building and will influence how the other members see Dwayne for issues to come. Visually, Bagley is starting to settle into his more distinctive style that defined characters like Carnage and Ultimate Spider-Man, however in this issue specifically, there’s a much more rough-edged, street-level tone. The fighting is very Bruce Lee-informed and has that same kinetic energy, and the streets are dark, dirty and filled with claustrophobic back alleys.
Finally, we come to our first multiple issue story arc with #3, the story of The Mad Thinker and Genetech. I’d like to first point out the fantastic EC Comics-influenced cover, with a giant Thinker holding the Warriors in his trembling, shadowy hands, props to Bagley on that front. Nicieza has been cleverly seeding the involvement of Genetech in the backends of the last two issues, with them having a representative at the Terrax fight, and having them spy on the Midnight’s Fire encounter, leading to some very interwoven and cohesive storytelling. This first issue is more of a build-up to the Genetech encounter, with the Thinker bringing readers up to speed on each character with his trademark dense research habits. What this does lead to is some more of each character’s personal stories and dramas being built upon, which happens very organically and gradually. Dwayne is still hanging around with Silhouette, who keeps his anger in check, Namorita is still very actively engaged with the world around her. What I love, however, is Speedball’s discourse with his divorced parents. Robbie uses his super-heroics to block out the tension in his home, and while his parents are very much at odds, they do band together for the sake and worry of their child, giving this family dynamic a realistic and contemporary feel.
Then we get to the meat of the crossover. Genetech, a generic evil corporation, has made a New Warriors team of their own, the Image Comics-esque Psionex. The team is full of some uncomfortable metaphors, especially the former sex worker-turned-superhero Pretty Persuasions, who can deliver powerful psychic attacks when she’s… aroused. Psionex works as a solid cautionary tale for what would become stock standard nineties super-teams, also appearing before a lot of these books would hit the stands or be thought up.
Bagley has become more comfortable in his cleaner, more on-brand art style now, and that makes for some great action sequences and passable emotional drama. I still can’t get enough of how buoyant and energetic his Speedball is, as he cartwheels and fly-kicks his way through every action sequence with an almost-maniacal grin on his face. His Night Thrasher also works for me here, as we see him violently beat up on Psionex with dynamic kung-fu posing whilst getting prepped up remembering his own parents’ tragic deaths. Ultimately, Psionex proves to be incapable to work as a team or as individual superheroes, to which Genetech promises they’ll try hard next time, presumably rubbing their collective hands together and chuckling in low tones. The New Warriors are still rough around the edges themselves, especially considering their own personal drama, but Nicieza scribes each character with enough good motivations that they want to stick together, if not for the good of the team, then purely just to show the adults that they can do it better.
That wraps up the formative arc of “New Warriors”, as we see the team’s first appearance in continuity and publishing, and watch them grow as interesting unique characters, with Bagley’s own art developing big time as we run through each issue. Next up, we have some delightfully Jack Kirby-esque characters, and the three-issue storyline about adulting, “Hard Choices”. Stay tuned!
