CBR PREVIEW: newuniversal #2

[Expletive Deleted]

There's a nine page preview here (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9117).

Be warned, though. There're some pretty clear spoilers, even with no dialogue.

[seeso]

Spoileriffic!

[Cayman]

There's a nine page preview here (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9117).

Be warned, though. There're some pretty clear spoilers, even with no dialogue.

It looks pretty good. The first issue wasn't quite as imaginative as I had hoped, but I'm expecting to enjoy the book.

[steve2275]

not enuff color

[larroca fan]

looks amazing. wow but the only page i dont like is the one with the red haired women she looks abit deformed but maybe that is caused by the whit event who knows.

but larroca is doing some great work there.

Is starbrand a hero or are they villians. i'm confused. maybe we would act the same than if we had these strange powers we couldnt control.
will justice starbrand and nightmask be a kinda a team or will they be facing the world alone?
will they meet up at all?

[sgt pepper]

Big Pussy gets whacked again!

And James Cromwell makes an appearance. He's even got a photo of Babe on his desk--pretty funny.

Call this the all exposition except for some cops getting shot issue.

And still no pro footballers in neckerchiefs. I'm gettin impatient.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Read it all now. It was a good issue. I'm actually liking the celebrity face art reference. It gives it a very movie style to it. And Larocca is even making it obvious here. When you pick up the issue just observe one of the panels as Starbrand is moving. There's an object hanging in the air that even gives away who the reference for the character is, as a not so subtle nod for those who are looking for them...;)

[Powerboy]

WARNING: There are spoilers for issue #2 in what I say here.

I don't want to be one of these "original version vs. new version" people who view the original through rose-colored glasses. To those people, the original is always better even when it was garbage compared to the new version (check out a Battlestar Galactica debate if you think otherwise). But it is impossible to not draw comparisons. Obviously, because the original was eight different comics, there was far more characterization faster. There was ten times the amount of getting to know Kenneth Connell in the first two issues of Starbrand than there has been in the first two issues of NewUniversal, for example. Its going to take a lot more time to develop the characters if Warren Ellis is going to be using eight different characters or sets of characters in one comic.

I'm not crazy about the whole "The government has known about this for 50 years" thing as that smacks of "Supreme Power" and we already have "Supreme Power". Also (and here I go drawing comparisons again), it makes it feel once again like it was never the real world, as opposed to the basic NU concept that it was the real world until the instant the White Event occurred (however badly the hacks Shooter had to hire ignored that). The whole thing of Nightmask talking to the floating thing that she perceives as a machine should turn my crank because I'm really into 2001/ grand philosophical concept stories but it only mildly interests me so far.

I like the idea that there is a purpose behind this and that each person who gets powers has a specific purpose. There must be a Starbrand and a Nightmask and a Justice for example. Mayhaps there must be a Psi Hawk? This could be real interesting.

I also like how realistic he is about the powers manifesting. If people really started manifesting powers like that and could not control them at first, people around them would get killed. Ellis also eliminates what I think was the most unrealistic element of the original NU (oh, okay, Kickers in general was the most unrealistic thing but I mean conceptually unrealistic): the whole idea that powers like that could manifest and stay secret from the general public for a year or even a day was patently ridiculous. Ellis eliminates that absurdity immediately.

As to the artwork, it mostly bugs me with Justice, not so much with the others. Makes me think of him as Bruce Willis playing Tensen rather than as Tensen.

Bottom line is that I like it so far. With all the characters he has to deal with, it needs several issues, maybe a lot of issues, to get going. Surprisingly it sold out at the comics store I go to on Day One and issue two did the same. Luckily, I had it saved for me. They drastically underestimated how big it would sell and it seems it wasn't just at the local level either. Ellis has implied that not many people remember the original NU but I think the sales are partly because of his selling power as a writer but also because far more people remember the original NU than he would believe and are buying it partly because it is a remake of the NU.

I'll be honest, I like it but had there never been a New Universe before this and were I judging it completely on its own merits, I would find it too event driven, way too padded with a whole bunch of stuff thrown at the audience all at once and way too skimpy on development of character. I would probably not buy it after the first issue were it not that its a remake of the New Universe that I remember fondly. This is as opposed to things like "Supreme Power" that drew me in completely on their own merits because it had huge character development and didn't lose that in a kaleidoscope of events.

[garin]

I'm not crazy about the whole "The government has known about this for 50 years" thing as that smacks of "Supreme Power" and we already have "Supreme Power". Also (and here I go drawing comparisons again), it makes it feel once again like it was never the real world, as opposed to the basic NU concept that it was the real world until the instant the White Event occurred (however badly the hacks Shooter had to hire ignored that). It's quite explicitly not supposed to be our world. The first issue almost went out of its way to point that out, with all the references to their completely different geopolitical situation. I can see how that might be disappointing if it's one of the things you liked about the original incarnation, but it doesn't seem a fair criticism (any more than criticising Spider-Man for not taking place in the "real world" would be.)

I suppose I'm looking at it from the complete opposite direction from you (having only read a couple of issues of DP7 from the old New Universe) and I really like this series. It's high-concept science fiction mixed with superheroes, which Ellis has historically done well at, and he hasn't disappointed me here. It's also the best art I've seen from Larroca, so I'm pretty happy with the overall package.

[Powerboy]

I agree 100% that is it not a fair criticism. While I tried my best to not draw comparisons, it is inevitable that a few will slip through just as it is unavoidable that some parts of how I think about this will be influenced by my reaction to the original.

When you really get down to it, if one is looking for a true successor to the original New Universe, Supreme Power fits the bill. It fulfills the "real world" story and how that world is changed by super powers. We don't need NewUniversal to do that.

You are right that it is totally unfair to judge NewUniversal by saying "That's not like the original so therefore its bad". I think he wanted to establish that it was different from the previous NU settings in big ways to immediately get past most of the inevitable comparisons. Also, he can justifiably do things that really made no sense at all in the original NU. For instance, the Spitfire armor and the guy that had technology to travel in dreams and they existed BEFORE the White Event in the original NU? But in this one, they are more technologically advanced in 2006-2007 than our world is so it is justified.

I am not all that familiar with Warren Ellis and he has a huge task simply because of the number of characters he has to deal with in one comic. I do like his concept of how the powers come into existence and was rather surprised he just gave it to us right away. It may be he wanted to establsih it is a totally different explanation than the one from the original NU. I also like that he is willing to make the characters different. I don't think Starbrand is really above everyone else in power although maybe has more sheer destructive capability, for instance.

It's quite explicitly not supposed to be our world. The first issue almost went out of its way to point that out, with all the references to their completely different geopolitical situation. I can see how that might be disappointing if it's one of the things you liked about the original incarnation, but it doesn't seem a fair criticism (any more than criticising Spider-Man for not taking place in the "real world" would be.)

I suppose I'm looking at it from the complete opposite direction from you (having only read a couple of issues of DP7 from the old New Universe) and I really like this series. It's high-concept science fiction mixed with superheroes, which Ellis has historically done well at, and he hasn't disappointed me here. It's also the best art I've seen from Larroca, so I'm pretty happy with the overall package.

[Jack]

Actually, it probably was our world before the White Event. It's just that in this version, this wasn't the first White Event.