NMwtN: Old News

Old New Universe News

This is an archive of old news from the main page. Please see it for the latest news, which might include updates on stories below.

2005

18 Nov 2005: The site is brand new. Hopefully if you're reading this, you've also picked up Exiles #72, the first of a three part story set in something very much like the New Universe. Also, it has just been announced that Marvel will have a "New Universe event" in March 2006.
22 Nov 2005: A bit more news about March's New Universe event has leaked out on Newsarama. It's going to be called "Untold Tales of the New Universe." Also, following the Merc backup story in February's Amazing Fantasy, there will be a Spitfire backup.
30 Nov 2005: Out today is Exiles #73, part two of the three part New Universe leg of the Exiles' World Tour. It features Star Brand (Ken Connell), Justice, and Nightmask. In site news, I spent some of the Thanksgiving holiday adding some issues of Star Brand to the Timeline.
8 Dec 2005: Wow! Lots of New Universe news today. First, it sounds like March's New Universe event will be five one-shots (D.P. 7, Psi-Force, Star Brand, Nightmask and Justice). Second, they're going to issue trade paperbacks of all the New Universe titles. Last, and most mindblowing, Warren Ellis is going to write a new ongoing title reinventing the New Universe as if it had never existed: Newuniversal (working title). Thanks to Mark Davis for the pointer to CBGXtra. There's more details about it at Newsarama, Comic Book Resources and IGN.
There's one thing I'm confused about, though. It's been stated that "Untold Tales of the New Universe" will be in March. At today's Marvel press conference, however, they said that Newuniversal will launch in late summer and the New Universe event will be a month before that. Last time I checked, March wasn't in the summer. At least not in the northern hemisphere.
13 Dec 2005: Comic Book Resources has more news about the "Untold Tales of the New Universe" event. (Newsarama has some as well, but is more a primer for those unfamiliar with the New Universe.) Probably the most interesting things to long time fans is the wrap-up of a 20-year-old plot from Nightmask and the return of Peter David to Justice. More details on the Checklist page.
29 Dec 2005: Today saw the release of Exiles #74, the final chapter of the New Universe leg of that group's "World Tour." Spoilers ahead!

It features a surprise return appearance by D.P. 7. Also, it appears the New Universe completist will have to continue following Exiles into the 2099 leg of the "World Tour" in order to follow the fate of Justice. Will this be how he ends up as the Net Prophet in Spider-Man 2099?
30 Dec 2005: It's from just over a week ago, but I just came across an interview with Fred Van Lente, writer of the upcoming Nightmask one-shot, at Comic Book Resources. In it, he explains just where the issue fits in Nightmask continuity. Thank you, Google News, for including comic book news sites in your searches!

2006

18 Jan 2006: I forgot to mention that Exiles #75 was released last week. Spoilers ahead!

Proteus heads to 2099 in Justice's body. By the end of the issue he's jumped to another and it appears Justice is dead, but this is comics, so you never know.
19 Jan 2006: The Bibliography section has been completed. At least until people start sending me more information (hint, hint).
26 Jan 2006: Comic Book Resources has an interview with All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z head writer Jeff Christiansen. In it, he reveals, "there will be characters from MC-2, the New Universe, and other alternate Earths" appearing in the title, which runs 12 issues through 2006. Whenever a New Universe character appears, you'll read about it here!

In other news, Exiles #76 came out yesterday, but there was nary a New Universe face to be seen, so it looks like New U completists can stop following the title. (Although I'm interested in some of the upcoming stops on the World Tour, so I'll keep reading myself.)
31 Jan 2006: Once again, Comic Book Resources has the scoop on an upcoming Untold Tales of the New Universe issue. This times it's Jeff Parker on Kickers, Inc.
17 Feb 2006: Lots of news today. New Avengers #16 was released this week. It contains the first Untold Story of the New Universe. This one features Kickers, Inc.. And you might notice there's now a whole section on this event in the main menu.

In other news, there are new additions to the Bibliography section courtesy n8. And Chris Hill wrote in to point out that, not to be outdone by CBR, Newarama has articles on Van Lente on Nightmask, Jeff Parker on Star Brand, and a preview of the Kickers backup.
25 Feb 2006: Once again, thanks go to Chris Hill for pointing out two online news stories. First is Peter David (a.k.a. PAD) discussing going back to Justice. David is the only writer who originally worked on a New Universe title to also be writing the same character in one of the Untold Tales of the New Universe stories. Next we have Tony Lee (apparently it's Writers With Two First Names Day) giving the "director's commentary" for his eight-page Merc backup. That backup will appear in Wednesday's Amazing Fantasy #18, so if you don't want spoilers, come back and read this link after you buy and read it.
8 Mar 2006: My apologies for not posting anything last week, which marked the first Untold Tales one-shot. I had a sudden disruption in my personal life, but things are better now.

So, last week saw the release of three New Universe-related titles. First was the Star Brand one-shot. Next was Amazing Fantasy #18 featuring a Merc back-up. Unfortunately my local comic book store sold out of this issue before I could get one. Hopefully they'll have one for me soon. Last was Marvel Milestones: Star Brand & Quasar reprinting the first issue of each series. Or something like that. I haven't actually found a store that ordered any. At least not any to put out on the shelves.

This week brings the Nightmask one-shot.

Also, thanks once again to Chris Hill for pointing out Newarama's interview with C.B. Cebulski about D.P. 7, complete with six preview pages. You can also find those pages at Comic Book Resources, but without the Cebulski goodness.
9 Mar 2006: Okay, maybe I should just give this section over to Chris Hill. Once again, he points out Newsarama has a interview with Tony Bedard on the Psi-Force one-shot, complete with preview pages. Bedard also touches on his use of the New Unvierse recently in Exiles.
16 Mar 2006: Untold Tales of the New Universe continues with the Justice one-shot this week. If you don't want to read the review, I'll go ahead and tell you that this is the best story of the event to date. Also, my shop finally got in more copies of Amazing Fantasy #18, featuring Merc. Thanks very much to those of you who offered to help me get a copy, but I told you they'd come through.
26 Mar 2006: This week, the Untold Tales event gives us two stories. First is a Spitfire back-up in Amazing Fantasy #19. The other is the D.P. 7 one-shot. Both try, but I don't think either quite hits their mark.

In other news, Marvel's June soliciations have revealed that Justice will get an entry in The All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #6. Of course, the question is does that mean New Universe character John Tensen or Marvel Universe character Vance Astrovik (or both)?
2 Apr 2006: Well, this week saw the last Untold Tale: Psi-Force. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to write it up yet, but it's a decent tale, although it may be hard to reconcile with the original continuity. Also, today's posting on Warren Ellis' e-mail list spills the following about "newuniversal:"

"Started writing NEWUNIVERSAL 'properly' last night -- actual bits of script as opposed to notes and sketches. The stylistic choices for this one are kind of subliminal -- with the reduced lettering sizes now available, I'm attempting to fit in more words per panel without choking the artist out. The equivalent, in writing terms, is those very dense episodes of WEST WING where you can clearly hear the actors talking faster to fit Sorkin's volume of words into the time limit. Dunno how clunky it's going to look yet, but right now I'm building it as a slow dense read of a book. I'm going to let the characters talk a lot and move a lot of information around. Basically, I'm getting paid to experiment on something that doesn't belong to me, which is kind of interesting. If I break it, it's not mine. Ha ha."
19 Apr 2006: Okay, I've finally written the review for Psi-Force. Sorry for the delay.

In newuniversal news, Chris Hill points out that Joe Fridays - Week 46 at Newsarama reveals Salvador Larroca will be the artist.

So, you might ask, what's in the future for this site now that the Untold Tales event is over? Well, I'll continue to bring you newuniversal news as above. I also have some user-submitted items for the Memorbilia page. And there's always work to be done on the Timeline, although I make no promises of getting to that soon. Keep your eyes on the RSS feed and you'll be okay.
20 Apr 2006: The Memorbilia page has been updated and now has photos!

Also, coming in July is the Untold Tales of the New Universe trade paperback. It collects all the stories from the Untold Tales event.
29 Jun 2006: As promised back in January, I'm reporting that this week's All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #6 contains an entry for Justice (John Tensen). He's the first individual New Universe character to ever get the OHOTMU treatment. Also, last week Warren Ellis reported on his e-mail list that, "three issues of newuniversal are now written, and Salva's doing the design work right now."
13 Jul 2006: The Untold Tales of the New Universe trade paperback was released this week. It contains all five one-shots, the three back-ups, and it reprints the New Universe entry from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005. The book's cover is the same art used for Untold Tales of the New Universe: Star Brand. It costs $15.99, which is less than the total cover price of all eight comics containing these stories.
23 Jul 2006: Comic Book Resources has an interview with Warren Ellis about newuniversal, coming in January 2007. It also includes some sketches and art from Salvador Larocca. Check it out!
27 Aug 2006: There's now a photo of the second New Universe promotional poster up on the Memorbilia page. Thanks to Chris Hill for sending it. Also, Marvel's solicitations for November reveals that Marvel Legacy: The 1980's Handbook will have entries for D.P. 7 and Nightmask!
30 Aug 2006: Just a couple quick notes. Newsarama has an "It Came from the Quarter Bin" review of Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #4, as pointed out by Chris Hill. I've also discovered a site called Shooter's Work that includes pages about the New Universe and Shooter's part in its creation. You can find it on the Links page. (Along with a new link to Wikipedia's New Universe entry. Don't know why I didn't do that sooner.)
1 Sep 2006: A month goes by with no New U. news, but now it's one thing after another. Starting on August 30th, Marvel.com began posting one page of newuniversal #1 a day and will do so for eight days. It's just the art, meaning it's not lettered. It now has a release date of December. Thanks to Chris Hill for the pointer.
15 Sep 2006: Chris Hill points out that Comicon.com/Pulse has an interview with Salvador Larroca about newuniversal.
27 Sep 2006: Marvel's December solicitations include newuniversal #1 and Star Brand Classic Vol. 1 trade paperback (ISBN 0-7851-2352-0), reprinting Star Brand #1-7.
10 Nov 2006: Out this week is Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook, featuring Deluxe OHOTMU-style entries for D.P. 7, Nightmask, and Psi-Force. Check it out, but also check your copy before you buy it. Due to a printer error, mine is missing the Psi-Force entry. And while you're at your friendly, local comic book shop, see if they have any of the little cards advertising newuniversal. (Thanks to Mark Davis for the heads up on that.)

2007

5 Feb 2007: Recently released is the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #1 featuring an entry for Mark "Merc" Hazzard. (Once again, thanks to Mark Davis for the heads up.)
7 May 2007: All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z: Update #2 was released last week. It features an entry for Jack Magniconte (of Kickers, Inc.) as All-American. And for the absolute completist, the John Romita Jr. 30th Anniversary Special was released recently which briefly mentions JR Jr.'s time on Star Brand.
21 May 2007: I debated how much to cover newuniversal when it was released. In the end, I've decided not to cover it in detail. There's simply too much backlog for the original New Universe to worry about the, er, new one. (So if anyone wants to submit newuniversal sites for the Links page, go ahead.) This announcement, however, seemed important enough to mention.

Warren Ellis has announced on his mailing list that newuniversal is going on hiatus after #6. He assures fans that sales are fine, but "it's just that we have some internal stuff to reconfigure." No word on exactly how long the hiatus will be.
25 Jun 2007: Marvel's solicitations for August include D.P. 7 Classic, vol. 1, a trade paperback containing D.P. 7 #1-9.
26 Jul 2007: All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z: Update #3, released this week, includes a two-page entry for Chrome, a.k.a. Jennifer "Spitfire" Swensen.
2 Oct 2007: I mention this only because you probably won't see it elsewhere. Warren Ellis, in his latest mailing list post, says, "waiting on the new artist to get free to commence newuniversal, on which I'm thankfully a few full scripts ahead." That is all.
14 Dec 2007: Mark Davis points out a preview of the Exiles: Days of Then and Now one-shot at Newsarama that shows what looks like a version of Jenny Swensen in the Spitfire armor. We'll find out for sure when the issue comes out January 2nd.

Speaking of Mark Davis, back in May I asked for newuniversal sites, because I didn't plan to cover it much. Mark has started his own site, NewUniverseComics.com, where he's covering both the original NewU and newuniversal, so if you're a fan of the latter, keep an eye on it (and/or long-time NewU site The New Universe Handbook).

2008

10 Jan 2008: Out last week was Exiles: Days of Then and Now, a one-shot celebrating 100 issues of Exiles. Included in it is an appearance by Jenny Swensen and the MAX armor, presumably from the same version of the New Universe the Exiles went traipsing through during their World Tour.
13 May 2008: Shipping this week is the Psi-Force Classic trade paperback containing Psi-Force #1-9. You can also find newuniversal: shockfront #1 on the stands and you might want to check out Amazing Spider-Man #559. It contains a visual gag of "Starbrand Coffee," a parody of Starbucks with the Star Brand logo. Thanks to Dave Van Domelen for mentioning it in his weekly capsule comic reviews.

2010

20 Oct 2010: Wow, long time, no news. Such is the hazard of having a web site devoted to a defunct property. But shipping today is The Official Handbook Marvel Universe A To Z Update #4, which contains an entry for the Star Brand.