It's Weird

So I was reading the Newsarama interview about the new New Warriors series and I was, what's the word?, shocked. Either I'm psychic or frighteningly unoriginal, but that is the exact direction I was suggesting for a new New Warriors title. If Lifeguard pops up in that book, I will demand at least a fill-in writer position at Marvel.

Anyway, I stayed longer than usual at Big Monkey last night (sometimes you just got to hang out at the store after buying your books), and, by the time I got home, I was done. Thus, no post. Also, with most of my collection in storage, I have no books to reference properly. Now that I think about it, this was really a bad time to do a New Warriors Week. But I don't back down.

So, I will ramble about some of my favorite New Warriors stories and hopefully Spencer Carnage can add any editorial details.

Remember Gideon, the 'X-Ternal' from X-Force with the green metal arm sleeves and the matching mile high ponytail? Most people don't, and if you do, you probably think he's lame. And in everything he was. But in New Warriors, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Looking into some treachery in his company, Night Thrasher tracks down Gideon in his Apen hideaway, looking to press him about shady deals. The Warriors converge on Gideon as he's soaking in his hot tub, buck naked. And man, Gideon justs starts handing them their asses. Gideon duplicates powers with the added bonus of having a sense of the capabilities of the powers he's duplicating. For example, whereas Speedball would have those kinetic spheres bouncing around haphazardly, Gideon has them spinning around like Saturn's rings and he focuses them around his fists to beat the piss out of Night Thrasher.

It was so cool, because Gideon was just this wannabe Lex Luthor in X-Force, making stupid ass plans and fighting robot drones, but in New Warriors, we got to see something.

Another favorite, maybe my favorite storyline, is when the Bengal attacked Silhouette after talking with her priest. Now, the Bengal was this assassin who rarely talked and used sai as weapons. He struck, saying only, "De da jungle breathe?" and was repelled by Night Thrasher who always kept a close eye on his woman.

Bengal strikes repeatedly, and Punisher shows up for good measure, forcing Night Thrasher into a corner. In a confrontation at the priest's church, Punisher reveals that Bengal is after Silhouette, he is. Bengal's after the priest. The priest was a soldier in Vietnam, the kind who was there for fun. After cutting a swath through villagers, his unit was evacuating when a Vietnamese kid jumped onto the skid of the helicopter. The soldier kicked the kid off, earning himself a dishonorable discharge and a prison conversion.

Punisher leaves off, confident that Sil is on the up and up, leaving Night Thrasher to face off with the Bengal one on one, forcing a confrontation between the priest and the Vietnamese boy who grew up to become the Bengal.

It was a compelling story for a book that could have been easily been for cheap thrills and brainless action. I hope this new writer understands that and learns from the mistakes of the last two New Warriors books.