Because I had decided to do a spotlight on Darkhawk, I saw that his profile was very out dated. It had information only up to his time with the Loners (which was pretty brief in the bio) and did not include his two issue appearance in War of Kings: Darkhawk (2 issues) or even the four issue War of Kings: Ascension (4 issues) in which he was the main focus. These six appearances saw a very significant change in the character. In many respects, it changed his origin considerably and ignores some of what happened in his own original series. Understandably, some Darkhawk fans were not pleased with this. But these six issues also put Darkhawk in the middle of a major Marvel cross over and brought other significant changes to the character. It allowed Darkhawk to change his armor, at will, to have different “modes” – such as flying, weapons, and even allowed him to fly and breathe in space. This gave Darkhawk a more modern look and set of abilities, and even allowed him to return to his “default” look how he originally appeared. I expanded his bio considerably, to include all of this, and even changed his profile photo (seen here also) to the more up to date “flashier” version. These six issues did a lot for the character of Darkhawk. It’s no surprise once you put Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning on a book – the characters are going to do amazing things, and they’re going to tell amazing stories. It made the character far more versatile both in abilities and appearance. With any luck, future writers will see this and get more use out of the character one day. Check out the updated Darkhawk profile!

The issue opens up, having taken place several years in the past. The focus is a basketball, where the Houston Jets land a score and win the game. The announcer calls for the Houston Jets mascot – a large teddy bear that goes by the name of Choke. As the teddy bear mascot calls for the crowd to “bring the noise” – what appears to be a meteorite falls appears from what seems like a warp hole and strikes down Choke, the teddy bear mascot.

It switches to current day and time, where we see Scarlet Spider punching Justice and yelling at him to tell Mr. Whiskers and Jake Waffles to bring back the Wundagore Mountain because they were supposed to drop him off in Mexico, not Houston. Justice tries to figure out why Scarlet Spider wants to quit the New Warriors; while Scarlet Spider proclaims that one can not quit something that they never joined.

Read the about the rest of New Warriors #9 (V5) here!

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Once again, after the forgetful Tawmis (blame the old age!) finally remembered to record (having forgotten two previously scheduled sessions!), Corey, Doug, and Tawmis finally got a synchronized schedule that allowed the three of them to finally sit down for a moment and talk about The New Warriors, as well as Nova. In this issue of the podcast, they cover issues #6, 7, and 8 of the new series. They also cover issues 18, 19 and 20 of the new Nova series! In between all of that discussion there a lot of additional, well, discussion, of all things New Warriors! They discuss the writing, the characters, the personalities, likes and dislikes! All of it! This is what you have been waiting for! And this time – the dynamic trio (that’s not going work!) even disagree on some things (about characters, and story arcs!) This issue of the podcast was plagued with problems! (As previously noted with Tawmis’ attention span and memory of a gnat, we also encountered some recording issues with Doug’s mic – so you will hear bursts of static near the end!) Oh! And one thing. This issue of the Crashpod is like your typical Marvel movie these days! You SHOULD know what that means! And if you have got a comment, you can do so on the forum or on New Warriors Facebook page.

Music by – Adam WarRock – Twitter and Facebook. Music used with permission from Adam WarRock.

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am, as Nova, along side with Rocket Raccoon from the Guardians of the Galaxy, had tracked down Admomox on Oblitus; a space station pieced together abandoned space vessels. It was there that Adomox had poised both Nova and Rocket and forced them to work for him – with the idea of reprogramming Sam’s Nova Helmet so that Adomox could use it. On a distant alien planet, Sam found himself fighting off robotic Nova Guardians, while Rocket was in the medical area of Quainbo, trying to find a cure for the poison that Adomox had used on them.

On the planet, after dealing with the robotic Nova Guards, Sam manages to find and gain entrance to the secret Black Helm Nova Base. A hologram welcomes Sam as his father, Jesse Alexander. It asks Sam if it should update the Service Logs – and Sam realizes that all of his father’s actions were accessible.

Read the rest: here.

It’s been a long time since I have enjoyed a Marvel Comic book. It’s been even a longer time since I have enjoyed one as immensely as I have, with the current run of New Warriors, written by Christopher Yost. Christopher Yost confirmed the series cancellation today on Twitter and thanked everyone who gave it a shot.

The New Warriors have endured a lot since their creation. The New Warriors first appeared in Thor #411 and #412, in which Thor was fighting Juggernaut. Writer/Editor, Tom DeFalco created the team as Firestar, Marvel Boy, Namorita, Nova, and Speedball – and brought in an original character, Night Thrasher to serve as the team’s leader.

In 1990, Fabian Nicieza launched The New Warriors series, with then a fairly new artist, Mark Bagley. The first 25 issues of the New Warriors is, without a doubt, some of the best comic book writing in comics. Seemingly small, insignificant things all build up to an epic 25th issue of the series. Following that, the characters go on to endure some difficult choices – including getting involved in a war and choosing sides, both of which seem justified; a friend being raped, and how to deal with it; Marvel Boy endures physical abuse from his father, and accidentally kills him and decides to go to jail and not fight it; among an assortment of many other, very human, very deep, consequences and choices. This was not a book where Villain_A shows up and does battle with the heroes. This was a book about the heroes. And what they were going through.

Evan Skolnick picked up the series, after Fabian left with issue #53, and continued telling the story of the New Warriors, in a fashion that felt very smooth from Fabian’s run. The series went on to inspire a Night Thrasher limited series, then an ongoing series, as well as a second volume of the Nova series.

Jay Faerber brought us a second volume of The New Warriors, many years later. And while most fans of the series were torn, Jay gave us a unique spin on the New Warriors. Unfortunately, the series went through a number of different pencilers, and apparent battles with the editors behind closed doors, doomed the series, and it came to a short end after the 10th issue.

Zeb Wells later gave us the third volume, which most fans strongly disliked. Zeb made the New Warriors reality television heroes. The series was written with a heavy dose of comedic sense, that was further enhanced by Scottie Young’s cartoonish art. This series was used as the trigger point later, for Marvel’s massive event entitled “Civil War.” Unfortunately, in the process Night Thrasher, Namorita, and Microbe (who had been created for this volume’s version of the New Warriors), perished.

Kevin Grevioux was the next person to handle the New Warriors. He gave them a completely different spin, with only “Night Thrasher” returning as member of the New Warriors. Night Thrasher turned out to be Bandit. The rest of the New Warriors were former mutants who had lost their powers after the event of “No More Mutants” and used technology to “become super heroes.” The series suffered from pencils that made the character difficult to distinguish. The series, over all, was not one that was welcomed by New Warriors fans, and it wasn’t enough interest by the X-Fans (Mutants), who might have followed the book for the characters.

Then came Christopher Yost. For the first time, speaking for myself, I feel like I am reading the original volume of New Warriors. There is wonderful dialogue, plenty of action, amazing art. This has been the most enjoyable book I have read in years. This is why I read comics. And now Marvel wants to take this away.

And to thee, I say nay. We can make a difference. It’s near impossible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. I’d recommend purchasing extra copies every month, and handing them out to friends, family, co-workers. And keep buying it – for the next four issues. If enough people do this, Marvel may see a rise in sales, and better yet – you may end up recruiting some new fans of the New Warriors.

Fight the fight.

New Warriors #8 (V5)

The issue begins with Mark Sim, Haechi, recalling the day that the Inhuman City, Attilan, hung over New York City just moments before Black Bolt had apparently decided to detonate the entire city of Attilan, and thus release the Terrigen Mist upon the world.

The scene shifts to the present, where Haechi finds himself surrounded by humans, also changed into Inhumans, by the name of Lash, Nocculus, and Sheath. Sheath threatens to cut out Sun Girl’s tongue, because she keeps snapping back at the Inhumans, questioning why they have the right to see who deserves to be an Inhuman or not. However, Nocculus reports the arrival of others – which include a mutant, superhuman, and one dressed as a spider.

Read the rest of it here: New Warriors #8 (V5)

Nova #19 (V6)

The issue begins with Sam Alexander, with his mother and sister, looking at a new apartment to live in, since their home was foreclosing. His mother signs the contract, and Sam barks back angrily at the manager that they don’t need a moving company; that he was going to do it himself. Inside the car, Sam’s mother scolds him for his tone, and Sam thinks to himself that he realizes he’s not angry about moving; but because he had recently discovered that someone had murdered the Watcher; and not only that, Sam had a vision of his own father – and it turned out, if the vision was to believed – that Sam’s father was not the great hero that everyone made him out to be.

Read the rest of it here: Nova #19 (V6)

Approx. Retail $19.99

Product Description:

The Nova Force grants Richard Rider immense power, but without the stabilizing presence of the Xandrian Worldmind it would also shatter his sanity!
This 6-inch, comic-inspired Marvel’s Nova figure is ready for battle with armor to protect him from the enemy. Also included is the right arm part you need to build the plant-humanoid warrior Groot! The Guardians of the Galaxy need all the help they can get to save the cosmos from destruction, and this is your chance to build them a mighty ally! Collect all 6 parts (other figures sold separately) and complete your Groot figure!

Includes right arm part of Groot figure.

6-inch, comic-inspired Marvel’s Nova figure with detailed deco
Easily posable with 18 points of articulation
Part of the Groot Build-A-Figure Collection, includes right arm part of Groot figure
Collect other Build-A-Figure characters (sold separately) to complete Groot figure

Ages 4 and up

Marvel products are produced by Hasbro under license from Marvel Characters B.V.

More here: http://www.hasbro.com/marvel/en_US/shop/details.cfm?R=05D0962C-5056-9047-F50B-2C6D40B79170:en_US

Read about the updates to Haechi, New Warriors (v5) and Nova (v6)!

Is now live.