New Warriors #4 (Spoilers)

[Den]

While I saw a New Warriors Appreciation thread, I didn't see a thread regarding this specific issue. If I missed it, many apologies to the mods. Still, I've enjoyed this series so far and thought it needed a bit more love.

A (Not so) brief sum up
spoilers:

We open with a flashback that explains how the High Evolutionary and an Evolutionary met, both being summoned and set on a path by the 'gods', well, space gods it seems. It's brief and frankly the 'god' in question has me raising a brow. I have to wonder if there's not some fakeout going here. Not that this helps our heroes in the 'now' where having been imprisoned are working on getting the hell to safety. Sam is about to be snuffed out when Justice, Speedball, Sungirl, and Mark (I have the hardest time remembering his 'hero' name, and I'm not sure he's used it yet anyway) come to the rescue. Cue BIG fight splash page which looks pretty awesome, especially with Hummingbird/Arcee announcing "We're gonna be superheroes!" . Seriously, she's adorable. Snappy Patter and violence abounds, with Scarlet Spider pointing out that they REALLY need to get out of here. Mark is drinking up energy right and left, when uhm.. we see an odd 'power' we haven't before because he turns into a cross between a bull, a rhino, and a rottweiler, only MUCH bigger. As he's an inhuman, my first thought went back to Lockjaw who, at one time, was thought to be an inhuman changed too much until Slott retconned that. Watersnake is confused as Speedball calls her Nita, and Sam, the only guy with any clue of what is going on exactly gets knocked out before he can explain what Herbert aka "Jerkwad" is up to! Amusingly enough, Scarlet Spider informs Justice that yelling at Sam while he's out cold isn't going to do any good, and then (of course) proceeds to wake Sam/Kid Nova up by ..you guessed it, yelling at him. I can't tell if that was done for deliberate humor or what High Evolutionary's device, meant to kill people with powers, starts up, and one by one the various Warriors go down, except, of course, for Sun Girl who listens to the villain's pitch of the needs of the many, greater good, yadda yadda for about ... oh, two seconds tops before blowing up his machine and saving the day! The bad guys retreat, leaving our heroes to hear Justice declare that the New Warriors will stop them if they try again, a clear call to heroism or at least team membership... which half of them immediately decline God bless Hummingbird, she'll bring Scarlet Spider around yet I'm sure. Sun Girl does volunteer, and I'm pretty sure we know Speedball will sign up. Let's hope the others don't dawdle too long...besides, it turns out their fates are going to be intertwined whether they like it or not. You see, the bad guys need 'new samples' to recreate the bomb that will kill all non pure humans... and the High Evolutionary points out that the heroes ARE just the samples they need. Dun Dun Dun

end of spoilers

Ok, very little here is going to make or break the marvel universe, and it doesn't scream 'groundbreaking' either, but I continue to enjoy it partially because of the old school vibes I pick up from it. I'm tickled to see Justice and Speedball in action again, of course, but the characters I'm less familiar with are growing on me for the most part. Sure, Scarlet Spider is too darn cranky, but Hummingbird balances him out. Even Sam, who I really can't get into, has some moments. While Water Snake seems to be developing too slowly as a character, I must say Sun Girl has come in strong and I like her. I get the feeling she's going to be the Lancer to Vance's leader role, but her heart is in the right place. Mark? Mark has some weird powers but I feel for the poor guy.

Like I said, so far, Yost isn't breaking new ground here, and if you're looking for that, probably best to look elsewhere. However he is making a team I think I can cheer for, and each one of them seems to be a hero, even if a few are in denial about it. Yeah, I can get behind that.

3.5 stars out of 5 from me.

[sifighter]

I have to say that I'm fairly enjoying this series, mostly based on the characters alone. The plot may not be original but I enjoy the humor and the team. I already know a lot of these characters, but when they are interacting and accidentally calling themselves other heroes names. Kaine, Hummingbird, Sam, and Robbie are all my favorites on this team, although Sungirl isn't to far behind. I'm a little confused on what the Two Evolutionaries are up to, but as long as this series is fun I'm up for it.

I just hope that this series is still around come Spider-verse, because one a lot of these characters feel spiderman related and I want the members of the team who have a problem with Spidey post Superior to meet him again. Plus I also really want a Kaine story.

[Mr MajestiK]

Four issues in and I'm still trying to get a feel for this book.

Chris Yost is a top notch writer but as Den pointed out, he's not exactly re-inventing the wheel here with this by the numbers approach to storytelling.

I'm really feeling the absence of Night Thrasher. :frown:

[Shadow]

Scarlet Spider and Hummingbird remain my favorite part of this series. They're the reason I started to read the series.

[Loulou]

I started this series because it looked fun, and I enjoyed YA so I thought I'd try another young team. I didn't know any of these characters, but I gave it a try anyway.

I'm really glad I did! I've enjoyed the storyline so far, but mostly I'be really fallen in love with characters and just how much fun this book is. I'm really excited to see them become more of a team in the upcoming issues, and I want to find out what the High Evolutionary is up to!

It might not be the most original storyline for the first arc, but overall the book is a lot of fun, its funny, and I'm really loving the characters! :-)

[Den]

Four issues in and I'm still trying to get a feel for this book.

Chris Yost is a top notch writer but as Den pointed out, he's not exactly re-inventing the wheel here with this by the numbers approach to storytelling.

I'm really feeling the absence of Night Thrasher. :frown:

Oh, I prefer tested and true to 'hey lets be original and who cares if it sucks? We'll just call it 'edgy' that we often get. I miss Dwayne too, though I think I miss Rich even more (overpowered for this team or not). Still, I fear we aren't going to get either of them any time soon.

Aside from that though, I DO like most of the characters in the line up. Indeed, it's the characters and the way they bounce against each other that I'm enjoying the most. If I could get over my bias against Sam, I might even enjoy him more but thats not likely to happen. He just fills too much like he's occupying the nova slot rather than really serving a purpose to me. But again, I think my pro rich bias is showing there.

Mark and Water Snake both need a little more fleshing out, but I imagine that will happen in down time issues. I rather like Sun Girl, and as I said somewhere before, Justice and Speedball being together again brings a smile to my face.

If I had to rank the current group, it would probably be:
1) Speedball (Yay, Robbie is allowed to SMILE again)
2) Justice (If you can't have Night Thrasher, at least you have their OTHER good leader)
3) Sun Girl (Who may disagree with Vance sometimes, but I like her grit)
4) Hummingbird/Arcee (Because she's genuinely happy to be doing good)
5) Scarlet Spider (He needs to turn that frown upside down...which I'm sure he'd threaten someone who said that)
6) Mark (Definitely an interesting set of powers)
7) Water Snake (Who's main personality facet seems to be she doesn't like being touched..kind of bland so far)
and last... Sam. He has his moments, but I keep waiting for the "REAL" Nova to show up .

Others will disagree, and that's cool, but I think there's at least one or two characters in the book anyone can cheer for, and that's a good thing. Hopefully Yost will spread the limelight evenly more or less.

[scribbleMind]

Simple, yes, but VERY enjoyable. Definitely my favorite book this week (Moon Knight, as cool and inspired as it is, still takes 1 minute to read, and Green Arrow was a better start to an arc than a finish). I would love to see this team animated.

[FrogMan]

This book is great so far. I do however, find myself anxious for the "Meet the Team" story to end and for the Warriors to get into their further adventures. (Opening arcs where we are introduced to a bunch of characters have never been my thing. I guess I long for the days when all that would be taken care of in the first issue.)

Needs more Frog-Man, though. I've been waiting since the 90s for Frog-Man to try and join this team, as if this were the real world, you KNOW he would. But still nothing. Come on, Yost!! Give me the Yellow Claw/Nova/Frog-Man storyline I've been waiting for since New Warriors Vol. 1, #1.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Excellent dialogue and plotting, but honestly I'm not that sold on the main plot. The Evolutionary War was/is hardly an epic that needs a sequel

[marvelousmetalmouse]

I think I might read it just for Hummingbird, Scarlet Spider, and Sun Girl. Hummingbird and Scarlet Spider contrast each other perfectly and I like Sun Girl's determination. Plus I'm wondering what Yost is gonna do with Haechi and Watersnake. They're still mostly blank slates and I'm curious about what they can do.

[Bslythegamerguy]

I'm going to be reading this tomorrow along with the rest of my weekly stack, and as always I'm really pumped to follow the adventures of my new favorite comic book team (Amazing X-Men aside). I flipped through the issue at the store and it looks like it'll be a fun one.

[THANOSRULES]

This book is excellent...really wish more folks were checking it out because its just a good old fashion comic book.

and as for the OP..what part of the "2nd evolutionary war" doesnt sound significant?

Heachi looks a bit cooler after this issue...and Sun girl was a weak link for me, but now seems to be one of the most competant and moral members of the team...really good roster here folks...my only complaint is no Night Thrasher again (which I will always mention)

[CartooN]

I did wonder why the evolutionaries, who had previously protected all forms of human life under threat (mutants etc), would suddenly hate everything that isnt standard human. I guess the start somewhat cleared that up, I was happy they acknowledged that and it wasnt me just missing something xD.

[Chobbly]

This book is excellent...really wish more folks were checking it out because its just a good old fashion comic book.

It definitely is, and has that real old-school feel which I really like. I thought the art (on all fronts) was outstanding in this issue and visually it was a delight to read. For someone who only had a periphery knowledge of the New Warriors before I think Chris Yost has done a great job introducing them (or the members that are in it at least).

Agree on Mark/Haechi, who was one of the stand-outs for me in this issue, and it will be interesting to find more about his character. Given that his powers have non-Western thematic elements to them, public reaction to him and his powers would certainly be interesting if the New Warriors ended up in Korea or China at some point. There wasn't much on Water Snake, but I suspect what Speedball said to her will be expanded upon in later issues.

The team feels like it's got a great balance, from light to dark and youth to experience. I know some people wanted more of the original characters, but too many could make it harder for new readers to pick up. I think it's pitched right myself.

[Bslythegamerguy]

I absolutely loved this issue and felt it was probably the best issue to date. It's nice to finally have the team united together, I can't wait to see the team all together in the next arc and what kind of mischief they get into.