newuniversal #1

by Warren Ellis and Salvador Larroca, according to the cover, for Marvel Comics

My first thought, after I finished reading newuniversal, was, "So, that's where the idea for Rising Stars came from." I don't know much about the original New Universe stuff, but I do know that it came out in the mid 80s, long before Rising Stars and I'm assuming that the flash from space was part of the original story. (I remember reading somewhere someone comparing this book to the TV show Heroes. Well, I've never seen Heroes, so I can't make that comparison. How accurate is that comparison?)

when I pick up a first issue, I always hope for something to happen. newuniversal sort of had something happen with the flash of light, but like so many number ones out there today there wasn't much beyond setup. (The ultimate example, in recent memory is the first issue of Justice League of America. Not much has actually happened in the first three issues (I don't have the fourth, yet). Hell, the team hasn't even been brought together, yet. But that has nothing to do with this issue.) The people who I assume are going to be the main characters are introduced.

There's the goth girl (Woman? She looks like she's in her mid to late twenties in the artwork. And maybe she's not really a goth and the coloring was off in that first picture. I don't know.) who lives in San Francisco who talks to, what looks like, Brother-Eye in her dreams. There's the guy from Oklahoma who, probably, put the newuniversal symbol in a field, and burned his girlfriend up. There's the cop that comes back from almost dead with the power to pull his penis into his body so the audience can't see it and won't be offended by it. And there are the scientists digging around in Latvia and discover a skeleton with the newuniversal symbol in its skull (which immediately made me think of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials books with the people who chiseled holes in their heads to gather more pixie dust, or whatever it was).

Salvador Larroca's line work is wonderful. I've always like the way he draws and it's interesting seeing how he inks his own work. The line doesn't look as crisp as it did the Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra or X-Men, but it's still nice. The coloring, though, doesn't work for me. I like, and I'm sure I'm in the minority here, the way his art looked with the flatter color that was used in those other comics mentioned. The digital painting (I assume Corel Painter is what's been used) is nice, but I think it would better serve the story if it was used to separate the moments of the woman's dream from the real world. How great would it be if her dreams were hyper real compared the real world? I think it would be wonderful, but I'm not in charge here and I don't work in the comic industry, what do I know?

Some mystery is set up: What was the flash or white event, which is what it's being called in the comic? Does the symbol that appeared on the woman's face create scanty magic armor or at least that tight black number in the real world? Should "Dueling Banjos" start playing in the jail scenes? How long before these people get together? And is Brother-Eye trying to create a new version of OMACs in this book?

I'm not sure if I'll be picking up the second issue because I wasn't excited at the end of the first issue. I like the art, I like Warren Ellis, and I trust that the story will get interesting, eventually, but I'm not sure if I want to wait for three or four issues before it does. I guess we'll see when the next issue comes out.