Danny Donovan (writer) and Jeremy Rock (artist) teamed up in hopes of bringing about a New Warriors Volume Three!
Return of the New Warriors?
By: Eric J. Moreels, Editor of X-Fan.
If all goes well for writer Danny Donovan, he could soon find himself at the helm of a third New Warriors series for Marvel Comics. But why should news of such a project be of interest to X-fans? For two very good reasons – Skids and Bolt. Bolt, a.k.a. Chris Bradley, is a member of the current second incarnation of the New Warriors as created by writer Jay Faerber. Skids, on the other hand, has never been a Warrior before, but has instead been a long-time ally/some-time enemy of X-Force.
For the proposed third series, Donovan told X-Fan that it’s currently still in the pitch stage, but will be “be making the rounds to Marvel tables soon.” Self-taught artist Jeremy Rock – whose “clean and crisp” style exudes influence by the likes of Terry Dodson, Art Adams, and Ron Lim – has been hard at work on character sketches and costume redesigns to assist in the selling of the pitch. “The first [series] was great, although toward the end when there were more characters then needed and it became an early 90’s villain-a-thon and then turned into a Spider-Man spin-off you ran into problems,” Donovan said. “You took away from its essence by making it more of a card-carrying team. With the second series it died before its time. It was a wonderful shot, but then again it’s hard to sell an almost totally new cast in the market it was in. The third incarnation, and what we’re trying to do is recapture the magic of the teen heroes. Tell the stories so that people really care about them. Make them more then the costume. Also we’re making more of a unified connection with matching costumes and whatnot.
“The Warriors, when done right, have always made for great stories. Very accessible to the younger teen audience. I think something we learned from the success of the WB’s Smallville is that stories focusing on young heroes can prove really interesting and hold an audience as long as you stay focused on what makes it great. New Warriors is about a group of kids, not really a team per-se but a group. They’re really just trying to make it in the world and do what they can with the gifts they’ve been given. They’re different than say the Avengers or the X-Men. It’s more then just a club to them but really it’s just a group of friends hanging out and doing right.” If approved, Donovan’s New Warriors roster would consist of Speedball, Rage, Turbo, Bolt, and Skids. Notably absent would be long-time Warriors mainstays such as Nova, Namorita, and Night Thrasher. “Everyone should have a certain role on the team,” Donovan said. “No one is there because ‘it was owed them’ or it was tradition to have them on the team. If the character was redundant to another’s personal reason for being there then they had to go. I really like how this group meshes and hopefully if it gets picked up others will too.”
“Skids is a great character that never really had a reason to be. Jumping sides, hanging with the Mutant Liberation Front, etc. They never looked at her as this young girl, with a rather lame power, that’s been drug into this war she never really had much of a stake in. In this series, she’s starting a new life. She’s not with Rusty Collins anymore and she’s making a go of trying to have a normal life without the drama of super-heroics. Of course with the current temperature of human/mutant relations once she’s ‘outed’ in this new life she’s going to have to seek some kind of protection.” The new New Warriors wouldn’t be without their fair share of enemies, either. Donovan told X-Fan that his intent would be to revamp old Warrior foes the Folding Circle. “Basically with Kingpin now dead, New York is open to any low rent organization looking to cash in,” Donovan explained. “What you have is almost a ‘family franchise’ with each member of the Folding Circle taking a borough and working it. They work together to capitalize on the amassing of power. But success can go to people’s heads. So you might see the Folding Circle plotting against the others just as much as they are against the New Warriors.” “For the most part this potential series focuses on the lives of super college kids and how you adjust to life in that situation,” Donovan added in closing. “It’ll be more of a street level book than before. No cosmic Thanos arcs or Infinity Watches. Just New York justice.”
About the New Warriors in Action….
Jeremy Comments, “I’ve redesigned turbo yet again though. I’ve also made adjustments to some of the other outfits. I do some weird designs sometimes but i try to stick with a realistic approach. Outfits have zippers, buckles, button etc. Some outfits consist of looser clothing and things that are just more comfortable to move in. With Bolt, I do draw bolt with electricity all around him but i really want to get a good colorist to add a nice realistic effect to it. Here’s hoping.”
About The New Warriors Hanging out…
Danny comments, “Everyone should have a certain role on the team. No one is there because ‘it was owed them’ or it was tradition to have them on the team. If the character was redundant to another’s personal reason for being there then they had to go. I really like how this group meshes and hopefully if it gets picked up others will too.”
Jeremy added, “Having only 5 characters on the team was my idea so go easy on Danny folks. I felt it would be easier to develop the characters with only 5 on the team. Danny feels the same.”
On Rage’s new look, Jeremy commented, “Well those colors were done by a friend of mine and aren’t the exact colors being used (Rages are more black and red). He colored it more for fun.”
On Skid’s unused design, Danny commented, “Skids is a great character that never really had a reason to be. Jumping sides, hanging with the Mutant Liberation Front, etc. They never looked at her as this young girl, with a rather lame power, that’s been drug into this war she never really had much of a stake in. In this series, she’s starting a new life. She’s not with Rusty Collins anymore and she’s making a go of trying to have a normal life without the drama of super-heroics. Of course with the current temperature of human/mutant relations once she’s ‘outed’ in this new life she’s going to have to seek some kind of protection. Rusty got blown up real good. I just wanted to specify that he’s no longer around and part of her life. Skids has moved on. By the time NW starts there’s been a good long grieving period so she really won’t have cause to bring it up. Not to say that Rusty will go as forgotten But would you want to talk about the love of your life being killed? It’s something I think something that intimate, she needs to keep private.”
About Diego, formerly known as The Left Hand, Danny commented, “With Kingpin now dead, New York is open to any low rent organization looking to cash in. What you have is almost a ‘family franchise’ with each member of the Folding Circle taking a borough and working it. They work together to capitalize on the amassing of power. But success can go to people’s heads. So you might see the Folding Circle plotting against the others just as much as they are against the New Warriors. Yes, Deigo did survive and he’s a little worse for wear, more mentally then physically (see his scar on his face) but like Bolt, it’s something that will take awhile to uncover.” Jeremy added, “There will be alot of different villians appearing while the underlineing Folding Circle plot…unfolds. The Folding Circle are ten times more hardcore then they use to be. No spandex. There are only 4 folding circle memebers now. And no goofy names like “The left Hand” or “The Smiling Tiger”. Picture the Mafia mixed with the occult creating an imense power. Sounds odd I know but trust me its cool. If you think it sucks…then it was all Danny’s idea! They won’t be using those old names is what i meant. Sorry though. No Midnights fire. The rest are there though. Midnights Fire really didnt fit with our Folding circle. We’ll mention what happened to him.”
When asked about the other Warriors, they commented, “Sorry man… no NOVA at all. See, some of the New Warriors have just moved on in life (I’ve seen some other people on this board touch on that topic). Nova being one of them. Its not that they aren’t good enough for New Warriors. Its that they have bigger and better things to do(we will show that in the book). BUT! Nova and pretty much every former member of the New Warriors will eventually make an appearance in the this series(if marvel takes it). I don’t want to really give anything way….well here is the role call in this pitch. It may sound odd but it works well…RAGE, SKIDS, SPEEDBALL, TURBO, BOLT. I’ve said to much!”
As for Thrasher…no plans with him just yet. Though I would like to have him appear later on in the story. I would also like to have 2 other members “eventually” join the team. Oh and Jubilee was one character I wanted on the team in the beginning but Marvel is already using her for something else. The story arcs wont drag on in this series. I’ll have to knock Danny around a bit if they do ;)”
Danny added, “The series was cancelled in 1999. I think we’re far enough out of the last series not to worry about retailers misconceptions. And I don’t think that the series was a failure. Just came at the wrong time. No new series was lasting at the time and the red line for cancelation was thinner and thinner. Nowadays there’s a little more leeway to find your audience due to the great bookkeeping by the marvel staff.”
Jeremy went on to say, “There is a whole webpage of design art online that I used to show editor Mike Marts. I may show it around to others sometime soon. Maybe if we get another article I’d show different stuff. Danny is a great writer. Be on the look out for his X-Men Unlimited story coming out soon.”
Danny commented further by saying, “There is a colored team shot on the webpage now, and Jeremy is currently drawing a 6 page story I wrote for him to show his skills at the conventions. It’s a great Warriors vs. the Folding Circle thing with some interesting twists for 6 pages. Maybe if you ask him nicely he’ll share once he’s done. 😉 I know that my works have been shrouded in secrecy and in poor distribution and failed company start ups. A majority of my first work on my and D.C White’s webcomic Hardcore can be seen at: http://www.htcowcomics.com”
“The first [series] was great, although toward the end when there were more characters then needed and it became an early 90’s villain-a-thon and then turned into a Spider-Man spin-off you ran into problems. You took away from its essence by making it more of a card-carrying team. With the second series it died before its time. It was a wonderful shot, but then again it’s hard to sell an almost totally new cast in the market it was in. The third incarnation, and what we’re trying to do is recapture the magic of the teen heroes. Tell the stories so that people really care about them. Make them more then the costume. Also we’re making more of a unified connection with matching costumes and whatnot. The Warriors, when done right, have always made for great stories. Very accessible to the younger teen audience. I think something we learned from the success of the WB’s Smallville is that stories focusing on young heroes can prove really interesting and hold an audience as long as you stay focused on what makes it great. New Warriors is about a group of kids, not really a team per-se but a group. They’re really just trying to make it in the world and do what they can with the gifts they’ve been given. They’re different than say the Avengers or the X-Men. It’s more then just a club to them but really it’s just a group of friends hanging out and doing right. For the most part this potential series focuses on the lives of super college kids and how you adjust to life in that situation. It’ll be more of a street level book than before. No cosmic Thanos arcs or Infinity Watches. Just New York justice.”
Danny Donavan and Jeremy Rock proposed their version of what would have been a volume 3 of the New Warriors back in (near the end of?) 2001. A recent discussion on the New Warriors group reminded me of it – and I finally found the files. Figured I’d share for those that never saw this.
So what happened?
From: https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/danny-donnovan-dancing-in-the-dark/
1st: At Marvel you had two projects reported heavily in the fan press; New Warriors with art by Jeremy Rock, and Cloak & Dagger with art by Tom Derenick. What happened with New Warriors?
Danny: Things just kind of fell through, as they are wont to do in this business. Jeremy got a great offer at Avatar and couldn’t wait anymore. So he went on to do some amazing things you’ll see very soon! (Check out jeremyrock.com now!)
1st: What happened with Cloak & Dagger?
Danny: Another one of those things about missing the right time right place. Tom is doing incredible things over at DC,Smallville is just a great book. And fans of the show, and of Superman should pick it up if they aren’t already
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