Read the first issue. I actually found myself liking the first 3/4ths of the issue. Now, I'll be honest, I'm not all that familiar with Night Thrasher's past events and continuity, but I could sense that the writer was using these elements. There was enough to make me want to reread Dwayne's past adventures and find out for myself.
In terms of characterization, I liked Dwayne's. Here was a character caught in a crossroads. I liked the tension between his desire and reluctance to leave the past.
The last 1/4th of the issue, I'll agree with others, I was on the fence. Seeing spoilers:end of spoilers as the OG made me sigh. Over the past couple of years, this character has been just a punching bag of sorts. He's used to highlight societal issues of the day (indeed, the whole store robbery scene reminds me of these post-Covid reports of increasing crime rates in cities across America.) The character has been used to bring to light relevant themes, but he's always been on the losing end character wise. A couple of months ago, I wrote how I could see this character leaving the past behind, going to ESU or NYU, getting a degree, and becoming a key member of Luke Cage's administration.
Rage
What happened in the issue was the complete opposite of that.
I'm still interested in the story though. The OG could be used as a means of redeeming and building Dwayne up. My only hope is that the OG is built up along with him as well. By the end of the series, he should be in a better place characterwise.
"I am a man of peace."
"A man of peace...who fights like ten tigers."
The artist needs to read more New Warriors. There's a photo that shows a five member roster - including Microbe and Firestar. But Angelica wasn't on the team that Microbe was on - the one that died in Civil War. They should've used Nova, Justice, or Speedball instead, who all aren't shown.
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That was a weird team to reference, but it may have happened off-panel, who knows? Thrash name checks them, and only Namorita and Bandit aren't in the pic. Firestar being there in place of Namorita may have been a mistake, but that might be it.
The writer has acknowledged some pretty obscure bits of Dwayne's past, including Bandit. I think he deserves a chance
Neither do I.
As someone who liked the characterization and indicated character-growth he had in Nick Spencer's Captain America: Sam Wilson, this heel-turn comes off very frustrating and cliche to me, no matter how "thematically appropriate" it may seem.
I'd have much preferred they used a new, original character or even the other person to hold the mantle of Night Thrasher.
More of a general grievance, but I've never been a fan of the tendency for writers of superheroes in a shared universe to characterize superheroes who haven't been written in a long time (usually due to character neglect) as being "retired" or something. As if they have to be actively written about to have superhero lives/careers of their own. It'd make more sense that most of them were being active when not written, including during events, but that said activity just hadn't been "chronicled" like those in active print are.
As well, I wish we weren't still in the "hate the 90's" phase. I love the aesthetics that came from 90's heroes and anti-heroes. And Night Thrasher's was pretty unique in practice, I'd even argue. But this push to distance 90's heroes from their roots often ends up being a turn-off for me.
Again, these two things are more general and less specific to this comic. It just sucks, in my opinion, that Night Thrasher is being subjected to both of them.
Last edited by J. D. Guy; 02-18-2024 at 07:52 AM.
And the New Warriors are that. They were Marvel's first teen team. For the first 24 years of the Teen Titans existence (they debuted in 1965) Marvel had no equivalent.
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It's especially weird, given that Dwayne has actually shown up a bit. He teamed up with Punisher, did some detective work with Blue Marvel and was part of the collection of crimefighrers looking into 'Ronin' in Hawkeye's mini.
And kinda dumb, as he has no powers. Without a training regiment and experience, he would become a liability in the field.