Newuniversal

Publication history

Newuniversal imagine concepts and characters were introduced originally as part of Marvel's New Universe series during the 1980s. The New Universe was a set of eight linked titles launched in 1986 to celebrate Marvel's 25th anniversary, and championed by Marvel's editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. However, the New Universe comics were not a long-term success, with four titles canceled after a year, and the entire line canceled by the end of 1989.

The original New Universe initially had no links to the Marvel Universe shared setting and did not present traditional superheroes. Instead, it offered "the world outside your window," a world that was identical to the real world in every respect until it was suddenly changed by the mysterious White Event, an incident which gifted some humans with inexplicable powers.

Ellis has stated that he doesn'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." Ellis has taken this approach to newuniversal, with his first storyline intentionally revolving around the four lead books of the original New Universe—Justice, Nightmask, Star Brand and Spitfire and the Troubleshooters. Among the many changes that newuniversal presents is that the four main characters all possess extra-dimensional glyphs that grant them their powers. Also, the character Spitfire (Professor Jenny Swensen, later known as Chrome), becomes Cipher (Dr. Jennifer Swann).

Artist Salvador Larroca has stated that he "wasn't a big fan" of the original New Universe, while Ellis has mentioned that he "paid little or no attention" to the New Universe books when they were first published.

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. Marvel later reported that newuniversal #2 had sold out and would also be reissued as a second printing—again, with a variant cover by Esad Ribic.

After issue #6, newuniversal went on hiatus and Salvador Larroca left the project.

In 2008, the story was continued with a mini-series written by Ellis, newuniversal: shockfront, which was illustrated by Steve Kurth (penciller) and Andrew Hennessy (inker). The shockfront series was accompanied by two one-shot stories exploring the past of the newuniversal universe: newuniversal: conqueror and newuniversal: 1959.

From the first issue of newuniversal: shockfront onwards, all newuniversal comics included a statement acknowledging that the series is based on original concepts by Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Eliot R. Brown, John Morelli, Mark Gruenwald and Tom DeFalco, creators who worked on the original New Universe comics.

In 2009, Warren Ellis lost his story files in a computer accident; he subsequently announced that the project is "basically dead".

In 2013, concepts introduced in newuniversal - such as the White Event, the Superflow, and the Starbrand symbol, among others - were used in Jonathan Hickman's work on the re-launched Avengers series.

Setting

Writer Warren Ellis describes the setting of newuniversal as "an alternate world where America is somewhat isolationist, Soviet Russia fell apart early and China took the lead in spaceflight" (newuniversal #1 mentions Chinese moonbases, as well as hundreds of flights by Chinese spaceplanes). There are also other, smaller changes to the world's history; for example, Paul McCartney is dead and John Lennon is still alive. Chinese manhua comics have all the market penetration that manga does in the real world. The September 11, 2001 attacks never happened, and the World Trade Center towers are still standing in 2006, as seen in newuniversal #1. Hillary Clinton is President of the United States. In Newuniversal: Shockfront #2, Charlotte Yolanda Beck shows how history changed after Richard Nixon won the 1960 election.

Aspects of the wider universe also play a direct role in the setting. The sudden changes to the world are triggered by the Earth's contact with the "newuniversal structure", an artificial web of strange matter. Each strand of the web is several light years across. The structure, assembled by a long-gone race, is mechanical in nature and deliberately alters several sentient beings on each world entering its strands, modifying them to perform specific roles.

Ellis has confirmed that the alternate universe of newuniversal is also part of the larger Marvel Multiverse, designated as Earth-555. This is briefly touched upon in newuniversal #2, with a passing reference to the "Superflow for Universe 555".

The first few issues of newuniversal state specific dates and times for their events, something which is in keeping with the original New Universe concept—and quite different from the established Marvel Universe, where characters do not age in 'real time' and their histories are sometimes updated.

Characters

The main characters of newuniversal are based on the main characters from the original New Universe imprint, although Ellis felt that the New Universe "featured an awful lot of people with similar names, which I found odd -- Swensen, Remsen, Tensen" and some of the newuniversal characters have been renamed to avoid this.

Some of the newuniversal characters are alternate versions of existing Marvel Universe characters, such as Tony Stark, who apparently was among the first to receive hyperscientific powers and built an armored suit to escape Vietnam. Mostly, these are characters who appear as main or supporting characters in other Marvel titles, but fulfill relatively minor roles in the newuniversal plot.

Major characters

Other characters

Creators

Collected editions

The initial newuniversal series has been collected into individual volumes: