Remake & Reboot: Marvel’s NEW WARRIORS Series

When they were first revealed, the New Warriors were trumpeted as “Heroes For the 90’s–!”; if you don’t believe me, look at the cover to their first issue on the right. But as heroes of the 90s, they were quick to go out of fashion and despite multiple attempts to revive the title, Marvel has come up short. But I think there is a way to buck the trend.

The Concept:

In the Marvel Universe you currently have three schools for superheroes — the school featured in Avengers Academy, the Jean Grey School in Wolverine & The X-Men and the Future Foundation in FF. While the Avengers Academy might be temporarily closed due to Avengers Vs. X-Men, there’s still a lot of would-be heroes floating around there. We have the schools — but what do they do after they graduate? Think about all the “young heroes in training” series like New Mutants, Young Avengers and even the original New Warriors; how many of them managed to make the jump to the big leagues teams like the Avengers or the X-Men and stay?

That’s where a new New Warriors book could fit in.

We already know the X-Men and the Avengers are going to be working hand-in-hand post-AvX, so in a storyline sense why not create a unified squad of heroes from both sides to be tasked on their first field missions? There’s more than a handful of recruits to cull from, from existing superhero students to former ones from The Initiative and even books like The Runaways. The key is to build it off the high concept of superheroes in their first year on the job, and filter it with both well-known heroes (as mentors and possibly students) with characters that have a high potential for success.

Some people might ask why I’m recommending using the “New Warriors” name and not doing the classic line-up, and not just using another name entirely? The “New Warriors” name holds a lot of built-in awareness among comic fans, and the unwritten tenant of the original series was it being about heroes in that gap between being students and being ready enough for the Avengers. The New Warriors has a legacy that’s stronger than any one line-up (look at the X-Men for a similar example), and doing this could modernize the team and fit it in today’s world. And after all, the door’s always open for former New Warriors to come back into the fold.

The Creators:

The Writer – Paul Dini: Dini’s done some minor work in Marvel Comics, but he still remains best known for his DC work — particularly on Batman. But Dini was recently brought into the House of Ideas fold to write the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, so imagine if they brought him into the comics division to chart this coming-of-age hero story. Dini’s already done it somewhat in the live-action show Tower Prep on Cartoon Network.

The Artist – Amy Reeder: Reeder’s been steadily rising through the ranks with the OEL manga Fool’s Gold, the Vertigo series Madame Xanadu and then tapped to be rotating with J.H. Williams 3 on Batwoman. That last gig was pulled out from under her however, and while she’s adjusted course and been developing her own independent series Halloween Eve I wouldn’t think she’s out of the superhero (or work-for-hire) game completely. Reeder would be an inspired recruit for this book, and her art style would fit in easily in the relatively more dynamic Marvel fold. And imagine Reeder on New Warriors — designing characters, creating an overall look, and setting itself apart from the Bagley, Robertson and Young -eras on the title.