Marvel Comics
New Warriors #8
By Zak Edwards
January 19, 2008 - 19:56

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Kevin Grevioux
Penciller(s): Jon Malin
Cover Artist(s): Nic Klein



The eighth issue of the New Warriors is carrying on much in the way of the last issue, displaying both its strengths and weaknesses.  The title is of lesser quality than the other teenage super-hero books Marvel Comics has been publishing, such as Young Avengers and New X-Men, but is still worth a read if you are interested in how the United States in the Marvel universe is from a more political stand-point.  Grevioux is not as successful this issue, making many of the political standpoints of his characters and the world they live in too obvious, and some serious issues discussed are passed off too easily.  Overall, the issue has problems in a few areas, not helped by Jon Malin’s art, but remains an okay read for anyone not too young to understand some basic politics.

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Grevioux attempts to play his strengths, but takes the New Warriors out of their headquarters and into the home of team members Barry and Angel, which leads to a strange realization: two members of this ‘teenage’ super-hero are actually married with children.  This was a point I personally knew already, but through Grevioux’s choice in both diction and action for these characters makes them out to be in their teens rather than adults with responsibilities.  This does not create a believable reaction for these characters, who are all of a sudden using the excuse of “I have my family to consider,” as they have not been acting as such up to this point.  The scenes of the team gathering together for dinner does not play out as well as Grevioux would probably have hoped.  The question of whether or not the New Warriors are terrorists is dealt with and solved in a very happy ending.  The conclusion is a justification of their actions due to the feeling of family the team has, hardly a decent justification for such a serious topic.  Feeling part of a community obviously does not separate terrorists from heroes, neither in the real world or in the Marvel Universe.  Another recurring problem arises with the subplot involving Night Thrasher and his discussion with his possible former nemesis, Midnight’s Fire.  The old problem of Grevioux expecting for his readers to know everything about these characters is still present.  Much of the history can be picked up, but not enough for the ending to possess any sort of weight or significance.  Grevioux attempted to bring some serious issues into this issue, both with the main team justifying their actions and with Night Thrasher employing the help of criminals to help his fight, but allowed for these issues to be dealt with too easily and too quickly.

Jon Malin’s art continues to be over-sexualized, especially concerning the female characters.  How many people wear skin tight, glorified sports bras or school girl outfits to a family dinner with small children present?  The female characters also all possess the same face, only coloured differently to distinguish between them.  The male characters are depicted with more variation, but are still seen wandering around shirtless with pants leaving little to the imagination.  Once again, Malin uses the close-up on a character’s face much too often, up to three times on a single page, which causes the effect to lose any meaning.  The art simply does not enhance the story-line, but rather distracts and brings down the quality of the book.

5/10    The attempts at some serious material is lost.  The art continues to bring down this title.

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