Newuniversal Shockfront #1 (OF 6)

So, after a long hiatus, Warren Ellis returns with "Season Two" of Newuniversal, otherwise known as "Shockfront" or "If Warren Ellis was writing Heroes."  Like the Kring/Loeb birthed TV series, Newuniversal is all about how some strange phenomenon (an eclipse there, a "white out" here) has somehow triggered superhuman abilities in select people.  Obviously, this has been done before in New Universe (the original Shooter-birthed comic line of the late 80's that serves as the base of this adaptation), Rising Stars, the 4400, and so on.  So, what's the difference between Newuniversal and all this other strange-phenomenon-has-somehow-triggered-superhuman-abilities-in-select-people stories?  Well, this one is written by Warren Ellis!  Duh!

In all honesty (and I know I speak heresy here), I'm a little mixed on my opinion on Warren Ellis.  I don't quite feel as thrilled as others to see him take over pre-existing books (Thunderbolts, Iron Man) because I find he'll completely disregard the tone or continuity of what has gone down before or just not know things about the character/characters, pen a story based around some randomly odd idea he picked up, and then depart quickly because he got bored or something.  Now when it's his own characters or when continuity simply isn't an issue (Planetary, Fell, the Authority, Nextwave). he really shines.  With Newuniversal, it's definitely the  latter.

As Shockfront begins, it's been two weeks since the White Event.  In that time, some tensions between the US and China have risen.  Izanami Randall, aka Nightmask, is working at a San Francisco comic book store that sells manhua (Chinese comics).  As she departs, a man bumps by her, mumbling about how he hates the city and wishes he was in Vancouver instead.  Without warning, the man disappears followed by a huge explosion that leaves the entire city block in ruins as a shocked Izanami looks on in horror.  For those not familiar with New Universe, this guy is Harlon Mook aka Blowout whose power is to teleport and make things explode... if you didn't tell by the fact that he teleported and made things explode.

Elsewhere in NYC, the police are meeting to discuss the Justice Killer, whom they've discovered is former cop (and coma patient) John Tensen.  Of course, what's interesting is that the police are forming a secret task force to take him alive.  Of course, what's REALLY interesting are the names in attendance: Captain (George) Stacy from Spider-Man, Detective (Nick) Manolis from Daredevil, Detective (Jean) De Wolff from Spider-Man AND Daredevil, Detective Flint from Moon Knight, and Detective (Misty) Knight from Heroes for Hire.  Is this anymore than simple homage or something deeper to the story?  Woooo...

Anyways, in a pro-football game, Jack Magniconte (All-American in the original New Universe books) is heading for the end zone when he manages to find out he has superpowers at the worst time: swatting away a defensive player, disemboweling the poor guy with a single hit.  Between this and Mook's dismemberment-inducing explosion, it's clear Ellis is following the Star Brand massacre of last series and is trying to be brutally realistic in his portrayal of people with powers (sometimes ignorantly) setting them off with disastrous results.  It works well... but it isn't for the squeamish.

Meanwhile the Claire and Peter of the book, Izzy and Ken, investigate the Mook crater and realize through Ken's powers that the explosion was caused by a man, not a bomb.  Elsewhere, John Tensen is in New York, realizing he needs to think of better ways to kill people.  Elsewhere still, Mook shows up in a giant crater in Vancouver.

This was an interesting start to the new series.  We got plot progression, character forming, and the starting up of plot threads that will obviously be intriguing to see.  Izzy and Ken feel like the type of people you could really root for while John's "Boondock Saint meets Sylar" villainy is sinister and creepy.  My only disappointment is the absence of Jenny Swann who was my favorite character of the last series.  I hope she pops up later as her "female Tony Stark" persona really interests me.  Still, what we did see here was some nice, quiet character set-ups amid wild and insane moments of abject violence and terror.  I'd be amiss if I didn't mention Steve Kurth's art, which was fantastic in its realism without looking traced and really dynamic in its brutality.  I haven't caught any of his other work, but he seems to be very polished and sharp like J.G. Jones or Bryan Hitch combined with a John Totleben-type sense of realist violence and I'm hoping he sticks around for a spell.  All around, this book really has my attention.  I hope Ellis and Kurth can keep this up and many, unlike last series, we could get some nice plot resolution.  Cheers to Shockfront.