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Information about New Universe

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Promotional Advertisement for The New Universe, Marvel Comics Group, circa 1986.


The New Universe is a comic book imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989. It was created by Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Eliot R. Brown, John Morelli, Mark Gruenwald, Tom DeFalco and edited by Michael Higgins.

In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics' 25th anniversary, Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter launched the New Universe line of comics. Shooter's vision of a suitable twenty-fifth celebration of the launch of the Fantastic Four was to go back to the roots of the works of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. This was to be a distinctly separate world, fully divorced from the mainstream continuity of the Marvel Universe, consisting of its own continuing characters and stories in a more realistic setting.

There would be no aliens, hidden races, gods, mythological beings, magic or supertechnology. Superhuman characters and powers would be limited and thus more subdued in their activities, yet their actions would have more realistic consequences. This served to act in direct contrast to the traditional Marvel Universe, which always purported to take place in a mirror of the real world where public knowledge of superheroes, supervillains and their activities had little effect on normal "day-to-day" business.

Adding to the sense of realism, the New Universe titles were designed to operate in "real-time"; roughly a year would lapse in the universe for each year that passed in reality. The limitation of fantasy elements and the low-key nature of the characters' activities in the New Universe gave the imprint verisimilitude, to seem like "the world outside your window".

The New Universe was the first line produced by Marvel Comics utilizing a pre-conceived shared universe concept. The central concept tied all of the titles together, allowing them to serve as one unified crossover. The line could either be read as individual title(s) or the entire line of titles could tell a much broader story when read together chronologically, following a timeline that appeared in the back of the comics.

Original Era

Premise

The premise behind the New Universe line of comics was the question "What would happen if normal people became superhuman overnight?" The event that started it all was known as the White Event. It was a strange astronomical phenomenon that occurred on July 22, 1986, 4:22 a.m., EST, and lasted for mere moments. It bathed the earth in a bright white light and caused genetic anomalies in two out of every one million humans, which led to them developing certain powers. Many looked completely normal, but for others, the anomaly resulted in a physical manifestation which led to horrible disfigurations. Human beings who developed a reaction to the White Event were referred to as "Paranormals".

Eventually, the true nature of the White Event was revealed - it was caused when The Old Man tried to rid himself of the Star Brand, the most powerful energy source in the known universe, by transferring its power onto an asteroid. In many ways, the New Universe was the first time concepts of advanced human potential (such as in the current television show Heroes) were explored in popular media.

Titles

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The New Universe initially launched with eight monthly titles:
DP7 focuses on a therapy group of seven paranormals at a special medical facility put together to deal with the blooming paranormal population.
The titular hero Justice is a delusional former-DEA agent named John Tensen who believes himself to be an alien police officer.
Kickers, Inc, are heroes-for-hire, all former pro-football players, leads by Jack Magniconte, who gains super-human strength, speed, and invulnerability after the White Event.
Mark Hazzard is a Vietnam veteran turned soldier of fortune whose merceneary lifestyle has cost him the love of his family.
Keith Remsen is a counseler who uses his ability to enter people's dreams to help them recover from trauma and mental illness.
Psi-Force is a group of paranormals on the run from the government. Together they can meld their abilities into a psionic being called Psi-Hawk.
  • Spitfire and the Troubleshooters (created by Eliot R. Brown and John Morelli) (13 issues; renamed Spitfire from issue #8; renamed Codename: Spitfire from issue #10)
Jenny Swensen steals her father's Man Amplified Construction Suit (a type of cumbersome Iron man-like armor to pursue the man she believes responsible for her father's death.
Ken Connell is given a special tattoo called the star Brand that gives him unlimited power, but Connell himself proves to be less than an ideal super-hero.

Problems

The New Universe was heavily marketed, but faced substantial problems. Jim Shooter had planned to recruit top creators, but this became unfeasible when Marvel's corporate owners unexpectedly reduced his available budget. As a result, many of the pitches were handled by others and certain books lacked focus as creative teams were swapped. Shooter was also involved with complex politics at Marvel Comics (which eventually led to him resigning his position), and thus could not give the line as much attention as he would have liked. Eventually, four of the titles, Kickers, Inc., Merc, Nightmask and Spitfire, were cancelled.

Parody

  • Failed Universe (Blackthorne Publishing, 1986)
  • Legends #5 (DC, Mar 1987)

Second Era - from The Black Event to The War

In an effort to save the line, then Editor-In-Chief Tom DeFalco and Editor Howard Mackie ended up removing some of the more fantastic elements from it and in a few cases doing radical revamps - John Byrne was enlisted to write and do breakdowns on Star Brand, altering the title so that it focused less on Ken Connell and more on the power of the Star Brand itself. This began initially with the idea of having Ken Connell go public with his identity as Star Brand. Similarly, the premise of Justice was revealed to be a hallucination which had been artificially induced in the title's protagonist by another Paranormal. From this point on, Justice becomes judge, jury, and executioner of Paranormals who abuse their powers. The writers also allowed for major catastrophic events which could not have occurred in the Marvel Universe - such as the sudden obliteration of the city of Pittsburgh (the Black Event) in The Pitt (one-shot), and the war with South Africa in The Draft (one-shot) and The War (four-issue limited series).

Despite all of this, sales were poor and the imprint was abruptly discontinued in late 1989 after a total of 174 comics had been published.

Reintroduction

Despite the original decision to keep the New Universe entirely separate from Marvel's other comics, it was later incorporated into the Marvel Multiverse, allowing crossovers with other Marvel titles. Writer Mark Gruenwald brought the New Universe characters into the Marvel Universe proper, first via appearances in Quasar #31-53, then later in the Starblast limited series/crossover.

At the end of Starblast, the Stranger used the Star Brand to move the Earth of the New Universe into orbit around his Labworld. The Living Tribunal then judges the Star Brand to be a threat to the hierarchy of the greater powers of the Marvel Multiverse. The New Universe's earth is quarantined, surrounded by an impenetrable energy barrier so that no one can enter or leave it, and none of the greater powers are ever allowed to observe it again.

Spider-Man 2099 (1993 - 1996)

Writer Peter David introduced an amnesiac character known as the Net Prophet into Spider-Man 2099. He eventually revealed that Net Prophet was actually the New Universe character Justice, who slowly regained his memories during the course of the storyline.

Cameos (1990 - 2000)

2005 Reintroduction

Wha...Huh? #1

In early 2005, writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Jim Mahfood created a three-page story entitled "What If Galactus Got Food Poisoning?" for inclusion in Marvel's Wha...Huh? comedy one-shot. It explains, in a very fun (but gross) way, the origins of The New Universe.

The Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005

This issue of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 feature a two page entry on The New Universe wherein New Universe Earth is designated Earth-148611.

Exiles #72 - 74 "World Tour: New Universe"

In late 2005, the Exiles find a Proteus-possessed Mimic in an approximation of New Universe era Pittsburgh. After observing this world, Proteus becomes determined to retrieve the most powerful weapon in the known universe, The Star Brand, by attempting to take the body of Ken Connell. He also encounters Justice, D.P. 7, and Nightmask. This arc runs through Exiles #72 - 74 and is the second of six stops on their "World Tour".

This alternate universe has the Marvel Multiverse designation Earth-15731 and exists circa 1986, shortly after The White Event. Because of the results of Proteus' actions, including the premature death of Justice, it is completely divorced from the original New Universe continuity. Other notable differences include Connell, Nightmask and Lenore Fenzl of the D.P. 7 becoming aware of each other's existence and abilities long before the characters did so in the "original" continuity (due to the Exiles gathering them to combat Proteus), and Connell beginning to develop a greater sense of responsibility towards the Star Brand after Proteus threatens his life and the lives of people he cares for.

The 20th Anniversary of the New Universe

In 2006, Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada and Editor Mark Paniccia set in motion events to celebrate Marvel Comics' 20th Anniversary of the New Universe. Below is a listing of the various titles which celebrated this anniversary.

Untold Tales of the New Universe

In late February and early March, Marvel launched the Untold Tales of the New Universe, a five week comic event that takes place in a pre-Pitt timeframe in the original continuity. These were released as a lead-in to Warren Ellis' forthcoming ongoing title, newuniversal, which would re-introduce The New Universe Saga to the world.

The line of Untold Tales of the New Universe titles included:

All - New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A - Z #6 (of 12) "Justice To Marvel"

This issue features a biography of John Tensen (Justice).

All - New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A - Z #10 (of 12) "Shadowoman to Tara"

This issue features a biography of the Starblasters, who were instrumental in Quasar : Prelude to Starblast (1992 - 1994) and Starblast (1994). The Starblasters had frequent interactions with many of The New Universe characters throughout these storylines.

Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook

In November of 2006, Marvel released a 1980s version of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. The profiles within cover everything published by Marvel Comics in that decade and feature D.P. 7, Nightmask, and Psi-Force.

newuniversal

(See Alternate Versions: newuniversal).

Recent Appearances

All - New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A - Z: Update #1 (of 4)

January 2007 issue which features an updated biography of , Quasar, and Spider-Man 2099.

All - New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A - Z: Update #2 (of 4)

March 2007 issue which features an updated biography of Jack Magniconte, the All-American (see Kickers, Inc. ).

All - New Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A - Z: Update #3 (of 4)

July 2007 issue which features an updated biography of Chrome (see Spitfire and the Troubleshooters ).

Alternate versions

newuniversal

Main article: newuniversal


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Promotional Advertisement & Cover to newuniversal #1, Marvel Publishing, 2006.
In 2006, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the New Universe, Marvel launched newuniversal - a single title re-imagining of the New Universe concepts by writer Warren Ellis and artist Salvador Larroca. The series is ongoing.

Ellis has stated that "I don't think the original creators and editors realized until it was too late — it was all a single story. It shouldn't have been eight books (or whatever) that were eventually consolidated into ensemble miniseries. It was a single story that should have spun new series and serials off of it."[1] Ellis has taken this approach to newuniversal, with his first storyline intentionally revolving around the four "lead" books of the original New Universe[1] — Justice, Nightmask, Star Brand and Spitfire and the Troubleshooters.

On December 14, 2006 Marvel announced that newuniversal #1 had sold out through Diamond Comic Distributors and that a second printing would be released, with a new variant cover by artist Esad Ribic.[2] Marvel later reported[3] that newuniversal #2 had sold out and would also be reissued as a second printing — again, with a variant cover by Esad Ribic.

As of issue #6, newuniversal is currently on hiatus, with writer Warren Ellis stating that the "second season" will begin in early 2008.

Universe-2

In 1996, DC and Marvel Comics created a five-week event known as the Amalgam Universe, mixing and merging the characters and settings used by the two companies. The Challengers of the Fantastic Amalgam one-shot, published in 1997, introduced Universe-2. This second universe was the home to Spitfire and The Blackhawks, Infinite Kickers, Inc. and other characters that combined elements of Marvel's New Universe with characters from the various universes of DC's Pre-Crisis multiverse.

There is also speculation that the Human Lantern (seen in the Super-Soldier: Man of War one-shot) came from this Universe-2 dimension.

Collections

  • Star Brand Classic Volume 1 Trade Paperback
    Contains material originally published in magazine form as Star Brand #1 - 7. First printing: December 6th, 2006. ISBN 0-7851-2352-0.
  • D.P. 7 Classic Volume 1 Trade Paperback
    Contains material originally published in magazine form as D.P. 7 #1 - 9. First Printing: August 15, 2007. ISBN 0-7851-2859-X.
  • Exiles Volume 12: World Tour Book 1 Trade Paperback
    Contains material originally published in magazine form as Exiles #69 - 74. First Printing: March 15, 2006. ISBN 0-7851-1854-3.
  • Untold Tales Of The New Universe Trade Paperback
    Contains material originally published in magazine form as Untold Tales Of The New Universe: Nightmask, Star Brand, Psi-Force, Justice, and D.P. 7; and stories from Amazing Fantasy #18 - 19 and New Avengers #16. First Printing: July 26, 2006. ISBN 0-7851-2185-4.
  • newuniversal Volume 1: Everything Went White Premiere Hardcover
    Contains material originally published in magazine form as newuniversal #1 - 6. First Printing: August 15, 2007. ISBN 0-7851-2858-1.

Further reading

Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age Annual #2 "The Coming of The New Universe", Marvel Comics Group, Jun. 1986
Ed. David Smay, Amazing Heroes #101 "The New Universe Tour", Fantagraphics Books, Aug. 15 1986
Ed. Hal Schuster, Comics Feature #48 "Marvel's New Universe", Medialand Publishing, Oct. 1986
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #44 "Behold...The New Universe", Marvel Comics Group, Nov. 1986
Ed. David Anthony Kraft, Comics Interview #36 "Archie Goodwin: The Real Story of The New Universe", Fictioneer Publications, 1986
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #47 "New Universe Part I", Marvel Comics Group, Feb. 1987
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #48 "New Universe Part II", Marvel Comics Group, Mar. 1987
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #50 "Exploring The New Universe" & "New Universe Part III", Marvel Comics Group, May 1987
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age Annual #3 "Marvel A to Z", Marvel Comics Group, Jun. 1987
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #58 "John Byrne Takes on The Star Brand", Marvel Comics Group, Jan. 1988
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #59 "The New New Universe", Marvel Comics Group, Feb. 1988
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age Annual #4 "New Universe A to Z", Marvel Comics Group, Jun. 1988
Ed. David Anthony Kraft, Comics Interview #54 "Mark Gruenwald: From Captain America to The New Universe", Fictioneer Publications, 1988
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #74 "The War", Marvel Comics Group, May 1989
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #76 "Mark's Remarks", Marvel Comics Group, Jul. 1989
Ed. Jim Salicrup, Marvel Age #77 "Mark's Remarks", Marvel Comics Group, Aug. 1989
Ed. Steve Saffel, Marvel Age #131 "Mark's Remarks" & "Starblast", Marvel Comics Group, Dec. 1993

External links

New Universe

Untold Tales of the New Universe

References

A comic book is a magazine or book containing sequential art in the form of a narrative. Comic books are often called comics for short. Although the term implies otherwise, the subject matter in comic books is not necessarily humorous, and in fact it is often serious and
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imprint is a brand name under which a work is published. One single publishing company may have multiple imprints; the different imprints are used by the publisher to market the work to different demographic consumer segments.
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Marvel Comics

A subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment
Founded 1939 by Martin Goodman, as Timely Comics
Headquarters 417 5th Avenue, New York City, New York

Key people Joe Quesada, Editor-in-chief
Dan Buckley, Publisher, C.O.O.
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The novelty of research or terms used in this article is disputed.
This is a dispute over the novelty of research/terminology introduced in this article or title. Wikipedia is not the place to publish original research.

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Archie Goodwin

Archie Goodwin (left)
Born September 8 1937(1937--)
Kansas City, Missouri
Died May 1 1998 (aged 62)

Nationality American
Area(s)
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Mark Gruenwald

Born May 18 1953(1953--)

Died July 12 1996 (aged 43)

Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Penciller, Editor

Mark Gruenwald
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Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comics writer and editor.

Biography

DeFalco was born in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The DeFalco family owned a supermarket.
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Marvel Universe is the fictional shared universe where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place.

The Marvel Universe actually exists within a multiverse consisting of thousands of separate universes, all of which are the creations of Marvel Comics and
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There are several different extraterrestrial races in the Marvel Comics' universe. The vast majority are humanoid in structure.

Major Races

A few alien races have had considerable "air time" in various Marvel Comics publications over the years, having a near-constant
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The Earth of Marvel Comics' main continuity (or, "Marvel-Earth") has contained a number of fictional hidden native humanoid races. A list of these includes:
  • The Alpha Primitives (now on the moon)
  • Atlanteans
  • Bird-People (see Inhumans, Red Raven)

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Thor Annual # 10.)

New Gods

The second kind of gods are human-like beings from other dimensions who are immortal and super-strong, and usually have individual magical powers as well, but are not as powerful as the Elder Gods.
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A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature). Some creatures, such as the dragon or the griffin, have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures.
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Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a complete conceptual system of thought, belief, and knowledge that asserts human ability to control the natural world (events, objects, people, and physical phenomena ) through mystical, paranormal or supernatural means.
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A superhuman is an entity with intelligence or abilities exceeding normal human standards.

Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the distant future.
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Marvel Universe is the fictional shared universe where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place.

The Marvel Universe actually exists within a multiverse consisting of thousands of separate universes, all of which are the creations of Marvel Comics and
..... Click the link for more information.
superhero (also known as a super hero) is fictional character "of unprecedented, physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest.” [1]
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A supervillain, or supervillainess, is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various mediums. Supervillains typically concoct complex and ambitious schemes to accumulate power.
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Real time within the media is a a method of narratology within a motion picture, television series, radio program, computer game, comic book, or comic strip wherein events being represented or portrayed exactly as it occurs.
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Verisimilitude (from Latin verisimilitudo, from verus true + similitudo similitude) is the state or quality of something that exhibits the appearance of truth or reality.
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Marvel Comics

A subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment
Founded 1939 by Martin Goodman, as Timely Comics
Headquarters 417 5th Avenue, New York City, New York

Key people Joe Quesada, Editor-in-chief
Dan Buckley, Publisher, C.O.O.
..... Click the link for more information.
A shared universe is a literary technique in which several different authors create works of fiction that share aspects such as settings or characters and that are intended to be read as taking place in a single universe.
..... Click the link for more information.
A superhuman is an entity with intelligence or abilities exceeding normal human standards.

Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the distant future.
..... Click the link for more information.
The White Event was a fictional occurrence which played a key role in Marvel Comics' New Universe line.

New Universe

The White Event was the name given to a mysterious blinding flash of light which bathed the Earth on July 22, 1986.
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Paranormal is an umbrella term used to describe a wide variety of reported anomalous phenomena. According to the Journal of Parapsychology, the term paranormal describes "any phenomenon that in one or more respects exceeds the limits of what is deemed physically possible according
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The Star Brand is a fictional star-shaped tattoo-like mark that first appeared in the comic book series Star Brand, published by Marvel Comics under their New Universe imprint.

The Star Brand gave its bearer god-like powers, limited only by the wielder's imagination.
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Asteroids, also called minor planets or planetoids, are a class of astronomical objects. The term asteroid is generally used to indicate a diverse group of small celestial bodies in the solar system that orbit around the Sun.
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Heroes is an American science fiction drama television series created by Tim Kring. It premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. The show tells the story of several people who "thought they were like everyone else... until they realized they have incredible abilities.
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D.P. 7 was a 32-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics under their New Universe imprint from 1986 to 1989. Along with Justice and Psi-Force, it was one of the few New Universe titles to last for 32 issues.
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Mark Gruenwald

Born May 18 1953(1953--)

Died July 12 1996 (aged 43)

Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Penciller, Editor

Mark Gruenwald
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Justice (John Tensen) is a character from the New Universe imprint of Marvel Comics, the protagonist of a 32-issue comic book series of the same name published from 1986 to 1989.
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