A good start. Some friends of mine had highly recommended this book to me, and in trusting their opinions, I ordered my hardcover immediately. I read Newuniversal: Everything Went White in one sitting. The plot is great, I love the idea of a normal world changing (as opposed to one where new superheroes emerge all the time, and each city has some guy running around preventing catastrophes.) The art was extremely well-done, with some pieces blending natural photography with the colorful art. My only complaint is the very abrupt ending. I buy graphic novels for whole, collected stories. This book feels like the entire story was truncated around 30 percent in.
I know there is more to come, I just can't wait for it. Good stuff overall.
Graphic SF Reader A reimagining of Marvel New Universe from a couple of decades ago.
A event reminiscent of Rising Stars gives four people superhuman abilities. We see that on this Earth (a universe in the 500s, as opposed to the standard Marvel Universe 616, we find out from one of the superhumans) such things have happened more.
In the 1950s, and in the late 19th century. A man who has written a report and protocol on how to deal with superhumans knows what has happened, and soon various military agencies are tripping over each other trying to deal with it.
The four people themselves have to work out what has happened, particularly the scarily powerful new Starbrand.
The right way to do a re-imagining. I was thirteen years old in 1986, when Marvel Comics decided to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary by creating an entire new Universe. Seriously, that's what they called it, The New Universe, and it was designed to be the world outside you window. But a world that suddenly, had people developing super-powers (not necessarily outside your window, but you get the point). Sound like a familiar concept? It's almost the exact concept of the tv series heroes, done twenty years (and, some would say, more creatively successfully) earlier. The New Universe was not destined for long-termed success. The first batch of titles was cancelled a year in. The rest made it another year and a half, but most people agreed there were some damn good stories in their, told by creators at the top of their game. And it was a world, refreshingly, with no reset button. When the most actual "super-heroic" of the characters accidentally blew up his home town of Pittsburg (not to mention himself), no one came along and fixed it. Instead, the event propelled the New Univers into a war between governments using civilian, super-powered, pawns. It really did see the situation to a believable (if not a very satisfying) conclusion. So, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this event, in 2006 Marvel assigned brilliant, gonzo writer of conceptual and super-heroic science fiction, Warren Ellis, to reboot the property. To assist, they gave him the services of fan favorite artist Salvador LaRocca. Instead of an entire line of inter-related titles, the New Universe was reborn as one book, newuniversal, and the entire story will be told in one title. The first story arc has been collected as the hardcover Everything Went White.
Story: As he usually does, Warren Ellis has delivered in rethinking the concept of the New Universe. In the original version, there was an explosion in the sky of white light, which gave a couple of hundred people world-wide super-powers. In this new version, Ellis has re-thought what that "white event" was and come up with an explanation that has real implications for the future of the planet, tying it in with quantum mechanics and multiple-worlds theories. Ellis loves his gonzo science (as do I) and this provides a layer to the story that was absent in the original. He also culls the cast down a bit too. There are four super-humans the white event has awakened, and each has his or her own specific purpose.
As usual, Ellis creates interesting, believable characters and writes dialogue that accomplishes expositional tasks but also sounds like something that people would actually say, peppered with humor and pathos throughout. He avoids using some of his stock characters (no chain-smoking, sarcastic, bitter Brit investigator here. yet.) This first volume doesn't delve as deeply into character as some would like, but this is clearly a story working off of the EVENT structure, and that takes precedence. There are some nice bits, though.
This is but the first volume, and as such, the ending is a little weak. It does not so much end as it does stop. This would not be so alarming except that Ellis and Marvel been coy about when and where the story will continue. It has been announced that the series will return early in 2008, but so far it has not yet appeared. I am invested enough in the story at this point that I almost want to seek out the actual issues as they come out. (Don't worry honey, I know that's how it all starts ...)
Art: Salvador Larroca's work is gorgeous here. In some places it is almost photo-realistic. It succeeds in being both a fantastic place and "the world outside your window." His character work is particularly strong. But there is one thing about the piece that some people will find distracting, at that's his obvious modeling of certain characters on famous people, at least in their appearance. Basically, we have Josh Hollaway (Sawyer from Lost) as Oklahoma football player Ken Connell; A red-haired, green-eyed Angelina Jolie as robotics expert Jenny Swann; Johnyy Depp (circa his Ninth Gate days) as historian Len Carson; James Cromwell as government agent Phillip Voight; and, bizarrely, some weird hybrid of Hillary Clinton and Dr. Laura as the president. This practice of "spot the reference" can distract a little from the story. Some people like it, others don't. I'm on the fence.
Bottom line: A promising start to a great story. I just hope it continues. It certainly does more with the concept than Heroes ever thought of doing.
"This is a paradigm shift. Everything you know has changed. Please remain calm." "The universe sends a Justice to maintain order. A Cipher, for the technological leap. A Nightmask, for the consciousness shift. And a Starbrand, for defense."
WARNING: Various SPOILERS scattered about here.
Back in 1986 Marvel Comics, to celebrate its then 25th anniversary, created the New Universe brand, a short-lived line consisting of 8 titles which shared its own universe and was linked by the White Event, a singular phenomenon which gave rise to several superhuman beings. Separate from the Marvel universe, this New Universe espoused a more "realistic" approach to superheroes and their settings and situations. For whatever reason, it didn't really catch on and lasted only three years. But, now (or, rather, in 2006) superstar comic book writer Warren Ellis takes his crack at it. He re-imagines the core characters from four of the original New Universe titles (Starbrand Classic Volume 1 TPB, NIGHTMASK, JUSTICE, and SPITFIRE AND THE TROUBLESHOOTERS) and sets about his widescreen rebooting and world building. The result, 6 issues in all, is collected in NEWUNIVERSAL: EVERYTHING WENT WHITE.
This is an alternative Earth, and doesn't quite mirror our own world. In this universe, John Lennon is alive and Paul McCartney was shot to death 19 years ago. The World Trade Center still stands. And Soviet Russia crumbled early. And then the cosmic White Event happens, triggering a shift in reality. The effects are immediately felt by four strangers. A young Midwesterner wakes up in a field to find his girlfriend horribly charred to death. He then discovers a strange brand on his right palm. A hospitalized NYPD detective, shot with a bullet to the head, abruptly wakes up and is now able to visualize other people's past sins. A government technician, toiling away on something called Project Spitfire, finds machinery directly communicating with her. And a sassy Japanese-American Goth girl from Frisco ventures into a weird place called the Superflow, where "sentients go when they dream...where ideas come from...the space through which telepathy operates." These are four strangers ascending to superhumanity, but they are closely connected. And then, in the latter stages of this collection, Warren Ellis's representative from the old PSI-FORCE title surfaces.
A fifth story arc centers around an archaelogical dig in Latvia, wherein a lost city is unearthed, this find believed to pre-date the earliest human city. Factor in the fact that a government watch dog agency gets its hands grimy, so paranoid that it has certain protocols put aside in the event of a superhuman manifestation. Because, you see, this emergence of superbeings, it's happened before.
Warren Ellis can always be counted on to produce big and ambitious storytelling. His usage of jawdropping, very cool sci-fi concepts here hearkens back to his time with THE AUTHORITY and PLANETARY series. Yet he keeps the mind-boggling goings-on grounded with his relatable characters (with the exception of NYPD cop John Tensen, who's very extreme; think Punisher with super powers). Now I'll admit that it all makes better reading when compiled in one trade paperback. It killed me, having to wait for the individual issues to come out. I'd always had to re-read the stories to catch up all over again. If you're expecting typical superhero fare, this is the wrong place. No diabolical supervillains here, plotting to take over the world. Ellis takes his time and does a good job exploring each story arc. Let's call the pace "leisurely." But I really got into the story. Six issues definitely aren't enough, but, apparently, we'll have to wait in '08 for the series to continue.
So what does happen in these issues? I don't want to spoil it too much, so I'll just say that the most action-oriented arcs revolve around the Starbrand (perhaps the most powerful weapon in the universe) and around the implacable, grotesque-scalped John Tensen. Tensen's activities as he metes out his own brand of justice, in particular, are rife with graphic viciousness. On the other hand, technician/engineer Jenny Swann, seeking to perfect her father's armored suit, sees the least action. The most altered character may be Nightmask, now rendered a Goth girl instead of the original teenage boy version. I must say, though, that Izanimi Randall promises to be an intriguing character. And the new playground which Ellis chooses for her to play in, the Superflow, is utterly fascinating. And I just cannot wait for all the core characters to start interacting (two of 'em have already begun to do just that) and to see where Ellis is taking this story. The way the last issue ended has really whetted my appetite for more.
But it's not all about Warren Ellis's intelligent and enthralling storytelling. Salvador Larroca (FANTASTIC FOUR, X-TREME X-MEN), whose art continues to evolve, comes thru yet again with his dynamic visuals. The vivid colors are courtesy of Jason Keith, who does marvelous work depicting the Superflow. Hopefully, when NEWUNIVERSAL picks up again, it'll keep this same creative team. Speaking of when this series returns, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ellis re-introduces the folks from the three remaining titles not as yet featured. I wouldn't mind a reincarnation of D.P.7 (D.P. 7 Classic Volume 1 TPB). However, I'm a bit dubious about reincarnating MARK HAZZARD: MERC or KICKERS, INC. But, probably, Ellis and Larroca'll be able to sway me.
Enjoyable Restart I found this to be a good restart to an old series. I certainly hope that the writing quality holds. I am really interested to see where this story goes.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
