New Warriors #1 Review By: John Garretson

I really liked the book. I thought Yost did a good job of providing clean introductions for all of the members. (Much better than Grevioux did with volume 4.) The dialogue seemed genuine. It had a nice timing and flow to it. (Particularly the exchanges between Hummingbird and Kane.) Nova actually made me laugh out loud during his battle with the ‘gross’ alien. (No small feat. NOTHING makes me laugh.)

I wasn’t too keen on the “I seek heroes!” line uttered by Watersnake. Cheesy and the timing of her appearance was too ridiculously coincidental in light of the preceding exchange. Other than that the writing felt fresh. The issue does nothing more than introduce the cast and hint at a future plot but it is done in a neat, concise fashion.

The art is good. I’d give it about a 7.5 out of 10. It is is colorful and bright and does a good job making you feel the atmosphere. The drawing of the characters is generally good but can be spotty at times. (I was spoiled by the amazing J. Scott Campbell variant cover.) Something about Justice’s hair seems off. I think he looked better in Avengers: Initiative.

It was somewhat surreal seeing Speedball and Justice back in action with Watersnake as a stand in Namorita, Sun Girl as a stand in (and upgrade on) Turbo and Sam Alexander as a stand in Nova. For a moment, it made me long to see a grown up Warriors team with Justice having honed his powers and leadership skills at Initiative, Speedball retaining the offensive kinetic capabilities of Penance (described in Thunderbolts as near Hulk levels) combined and used in conjunction with his absorption and redirection powers, a massively powered up post annihilation Richard Rider as Nova, Firestar returning from her stint with the X-Men and a resurrected Night Thrasher “The Living Weapon”!

They could have given the Avengers a run for their money. Oh, what could have been…. Instead, we get a slightly regressed team. Nevertheless, the new characters seem fresh and interesting. But make no mistake, I am ecstatic they are back at all! I love my New Warriors and I can’t wait to see them take it to their enemies or in the immortal words of Speedball, “Hit ’em fast. Hit ’em hard. Hit ’em ’till their mothers feel it!” Looking forward to next issue and hopefully a long, healthy run!