In 2011, Marvel Comics partnered with Visa for a custom branded comic Avengers: Saving the Day #1 featuring Sam Alexander as Nova teaming up with the Avengers. The comic was released online and in print in 8 different languages as part of Visa’s Practical Money Skills financial education program. Over 100,000 copies were published and distributed for free in anticipation of the first Avengers movie released the following Spring. The comic features artwork by Andrea Di Vito, who took over as regular artist on Richard Rider’s Nova series in 2009. In 2014, Marvel Comics released the comic book again through their digital comics subscription service Marvel Unlimited.
At the time of this issue’s original release, the Sam Alexander version of Nova was still a brand new character, having just debuted in Point One #1. It may even pre-date his television debut in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man.
In Avengers: Saving the Day #1, Nova appeared on 15 pages. Nova teamed up with the Avengers to stop a mysterious series of bank robberies. To avoid detection at the next bank to be targeted, Giant-Man used his Pym Particles to shrink the entire team down. As they waited, Nova asked the Avengers for advice on what to get his sister for her birthday. Their conversation was interrupted by the Mole Man and a group of subterranean monsters attacking the bank. Nova and the Avengers sprung into action while also telling Nova about banking and budgeting. Nova used a still-shrunken Hulk to knock the last of Mole Man’s monsters out. Some months later, after budgeting and saving up money, Sam took his sister out to dinner for her birthday.
Intentionally using versions of the Avengers similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Saving the Day #1 didn’t fit into the comic book 616 universe of the time. So this will be added to a future overhaul of the Alternate Realities section.
Many thanks to Doug Smith at the excellent Nova Prime Page for tipping me off to this appearance.
After years upon years of rumors of Nova getting adapted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the first official word from a named source within Marvel Studios was released today.
Brad Winderbaum is the Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios. While talking with Brandon Davis of Comic.Book.com‘s Phase Zero to promote the March 20th debut of the animated X-Men ’97 on Disney+, Winderbaum confessed to loving Richard Rider and hoping to see his eventual debut.
“We love Nova. We are in really early development on Nova,” said Winderbaum.
However, he went on to give some context to what that means for the character’s chances at getting a released adaptation.
“We have a new system at Marvel Studios behind the scenes, where we’re more like a traditional studio,” Winderbaum explained. “We’re developing more than we will actually produce.”
“I love Nova, too. I love Rich Rider,” he added. “I hope it gets to the screen.”
It’s also worth noting that the interviewer Brandon Davis included the younger Nova, Sam Alexander, in his question. Winderbaum’s answer specifically mentioned Richard Rider but not Sam Alexander, suggesting that the development plans as they stand now are only focused on the original Nova.
Previous unsubstantiated rumors around some kind of Nova project from Marvel Studios have popped up like clockwork almost from the debut of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Various rumors have ranged from a feature film starring Nova to a supporting role in one of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and his own Disney+ series. Recent rumors theorized a Nova special presentation, a one-shot episode similar to Werewolf By Night and Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. As a policy, our site doesn’t report on rumors.
Elsewhere in the interview, Winderbaum explained how the initial directive from Disney was to make as much content as quickly as possible for the then-new Disney+ streaming platform. But as time has passed, that edict has shifted, resulting in release dates getting pushed back. This impacted another project mentioned in the interview, Ironheart. The original Ironheart comic book series included extensive guest appearances by Silhouette, although it remains to be seen if she will be part of the Disney+ adaptation.
Here is the interview which should start at around the 5:38 mark where they begin talking about Nova:
Thanks to David Blackburn in the New Nova Message Board Facebook group for bringing this to my attention.
In late 2022, Marvel Comics began publishing the 5-issue anthology mini-series Wakanda, a spin-off that featured various characters from Black Panther. Wakanda #2 included a cameo by the original Nova, Richard Rider. The mini-series was reprinted in the collected edition Wakanda.
The single-panel appearance of Nova was a flashback to SWORD vol. 2 #6 where the Galactic Council met to discuss the creation of the planet Arakko. The Wakanda #2 panel was a recreation of a panel from SWORD vol. 2 #6.
Since this issue was not a new moment in the life of Richard Rider, it was not added to the site’s recommended reading order lists.
In late 2022, Marvel Comics released the one-shot Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind #1. The issue featured a cameo by Nova and a version of Worldmind, the Xandarian super-computer. The comic book was released to promote the rollercoaster ride of the same name at Walt Disney World’s Epcot. At the time of this writing, the issue has not been reprinted in a collected edition.
The Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride opened in May 2022. In late November 2022, a few weeks after this one-shot was released, the ride got a temporary Christmas-themed remake coordinated with the release of the Disney+ special Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which stars the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
The issue’s story appeared to be set in an alternate reality separate from Marvel’s main comic book universe. The story was set right before the events depicted in the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride experience.
In Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind #1, Nova appeared on 1 page. It wasn’t explicitly stated to be Richard Rider, who has yet to be introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The helmet design was distinct from the MCU design of the Nova Corps. There have been differences between the MCU and Disney rides version of the MCU, which has suggested a third reality. Further evidence of this story not being set in the comic book Earth-616 reality was the depiction of the Worldmind, which was distinct from the version depicted in most comic books.
Based on the above, this issue will be added to a revamped Alternate Realities section at some point in the future.
On October 31, 2022, Marvel Comics released issue 59 of the digital exclusive X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic. The short story included brief appearances by Beak and Angel, both former members of the New Warriors vol. 4 team when they used the names Blackwing and Tempest respectively. At the time of this writing, the issue has not yet been released in print and remains exclusive to Marvel’s digital subscription service Marvel Unlimited.
Both Beak and Angel had last been seen earlier in 2022 for another X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic story, The Cryptolect.
In X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #59, Beak appeared in 2 panels and Angel appeared in 1. One of their sons also appeared in 2 panels, although which one was not made clear. For Halloween, a number of mutants had gathered around a campfire on Krakoa. Beak, Angel, and their son listened along with Leech, Artie and others as Cypher told a story of a mutant from the 1800s who built the first House of X on Krakoa.
This issue was released as the event A.X.E.: Judgment Day was wrapping up but considering the devastation and relocation of many mutants in that event, it probably works better for this story to take place before the attack on Krakoa. So this issue was placed at the end of Phase Nine of Limbo Part 6 right before A.X.E.: Judgment Day kicks off.
The Years in Review for 2021 and 2022 have been updated to include the issues from the last few updates.
Just when we thought 2022 was in the can! I realized I missed a few appearances while doing some double checking. In Summer 2022, the Marvel Unlimited exclusive digital comic X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic had a 2-part story starring Cypher that included guest appearances by Beak and Angel Salvadore. The stories have yet to appear in print and remain exclusive to Marvel’s digital comics subscription service Marvel Unlimited.
In X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #42, Beak appeared in 12 panels and Angel appeared in 3 panels. Their six children, half of them perpetually unnamed, appeared in 1 panel. Beak went to one of the beaches of Krakoa in search of a seashell for his children. He found a good one near a Krakoan gateway when an older man came through the portal. Beak helped the man, who looked to be injured by energies coming from his eyes and mouth. The dying man whispered something to Beak in an unknown language and the energies seemed to transfer to him. Beak then walked off muttering in the same language. Some time later, Angel and her children were visited by Cypher and Warlock. She explained how Beak had arrived home burning up and repeating the motto of the defunct Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, “Mutatis Mutandis.” He wouldn’t let Angel touch him as he stifled another voice inside of him. Beak and eventually made his way to oceanside cliffs on Krakoa, where he attacked Banshee. Cypher and Warlock caught up to Beak but were too late to stop Banshee being infected by what they found out was a living mutant language. The encounter left Beak dead, a burned out husk from serving as a host to the mutant language.
X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic #43, Beak appeared in 8 panels. Beak’s body was brought to Dr. Cecilia Reyes but there was nothing she could do for him. Later, Cypher found a way to turn Etienne into a written language so he wouldn’t continue to burn through hosts. Weeks later, a resurrected Beak met with Cypher on Krakoa’s seaside cliffs at the site of his battle with Banshee. At Beak’s request, Krakoa agreed to not grow back the grass where Beak’s body burnt up. Beak wanted an indelible marker of his own death. Beak then read a poem Cypher wrote in Etienne’s language. Beak cried at the beauty of the language, despite Cypher’s bad poetry. Beak then shared how his kids were so excited about hearing the ocean in the seashell, even though they were really just hearing echoes. But the lie was worth it to have his kids ask to go to the beach.
Both issues were added to the beginning of Phase Nine of Limbo Part 6.
Another one from 2021 that I missed! In 2021, Al Ewing and Joe Bennett were wrapping up their 3-year run on the acclaimed Immortal Hulk. The original Nova, Richard Rider, had a guest-appearance in Immortal Hulk #49, the lead-up to the big finale. The issue was reprinted in the collected editions Immortal Hulk Vol. 10: Of Hell and Of Death as well as Immortal Hulk Book Five and Immortal Hulk Omnibus.
At the time of this issue’s release, Nova was appearing in The Last Annihilation, the concluding story arc of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 6, also written by Al Ewing.
In Immortal Hulk #49, Nova appeared on 4 pages. The Hulk, She-Hulk and Jackie McGee arrived at the Baxter Building to find the Avengers and Nova waiting for them. A tense standoff soon broke out into all-out battle with the Hulk. Then the Fantastic Four arrived and successfully stopped the fight. Nova and the Avengers stayed behind as the Fantastic Four, Hulk, She-Hulk and Jackie McGee went up to Mr. Fantastic’s lab to help the Hulk locate Bruce Banner.
At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 6 #18, Nova talked about taking some time for himself, which set him up nicely for returning to Earth and perhaps being invited to join the Avengers in their plan to intercept the Hulk. So this issue was added to Phase Six of Limbo Part 6.
I could’ve sworn I covered this before but apparently not! In September 2021, Marvel Comics began releasing weekly digital comics they called Infinity Comics. Borrowing from popular sites like Webtoon and Tapas, the digital comics are formatted for vertical scrolling on mobile devices. Debuting alongside X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic was It’s Jeff Infinity Comic by Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru. Starring Gwenpool’s Jeff the Land Shark, the first issue included cameo appearances by Alex Power and his siblings, Power Pack. The story was eventually reformatted for a print comic book and reprinted in the 2023 one-shot It’s Jeff #1.
As a reminder, due to the weekly production schedule, Infinity Comic stories tend to be shorter than standard 22-page print comic book stories. Since they are designed for scrolling, there are no apparent pages. So for the sake of indicating how much a character appears in a given Infinity Comic issue, I count how many panels they appear in, rather than pages.
In It’s Jeff Infinity Comic #1, Alex Power appeared in 2 panels. Power Pack attended a pool party along with many other heroes. During the party, a shark fin was spotted in the water. There was a temporary panic as everyone fled the pool, only for them to discover it was the friendly Jeff the Land Shark in the pool and not a dangerous shark.
While adorable, there’s basically no way to really justify all of the cameo appearances based on costumes, status quos and apparent ages. Power Pack’s inclusion seems to be a reference to Gurihiru’s wonderful series of all-ages Power Pack miniseries published in the 2000s. Perhaps this is set in that reality. Regardless, we are declaring the It’s Jeff stories to be set in a similar but alternate reality rather than taking place in the main Earth-616 reality.
However, if you wanted to place it in Marvel’s main reality, this would occur after Alex and Julie Power return to Earth in Fantastic Four vol. 6 #26 and shortly after the subsequent Power Pack: The Powers That Be miniseries that tied in to the Outlawed event.
In case you missed it, Night Thrasher vol. 2 #1 by J. Holtham and Nelson Daniel is on-sale now! It features Dwayne Taylor back in the role of Night Thrasher, as well as guest appearances and references to Silhouette and other former New Warriors members and supporting characters. We’ll wait until the entire 4-issue limited series is released before formally adding it to our site’s recommended reading order lists. But if you’re looking to chat with other New Warriors fans about the comic, be sure to join the New Warriors Dot Com Facebook Group, which I co-moderate with my friend at New Warriors Dot Com.
In the meantime, Marvel Comics has been releasing information about the remaining 3 issues of Night Thrasher vol. 2 in their monthly solicitation reveals. Due to the 3-month ordering cycle of publishers and distributors to the direct market of comic book stores, covers and summaries of issues are revealed well in advance of a comic’s release, giving us a sneak peak at what’s to come. As such, BEWARE, SPOILERS FOLLOW!
With our much-delayed last update, all known comic book appearances of New Warriors released with cover dates in 2022 have been added to the site. So that can only mean it’s time for another Year in Review retrospective.
2022 mostly saw Marvel return to pre-pandemic levels of production. However, the comic book industry as a whole saw sluggish sales that may have impacted how the year’s planned releases actually rolled out.
There were 95 comic book stories containing at least 1 panel of at least 1 New Warrior set in Marvel’s main 616 comic book universe. That is an increase from 2021, which saw 87 New Warriors appearances. That’s not quite back to pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, the New Warriors had 97 appearances, and averaged almost 107 appearances from 2016 to 2019. The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 created an outlier year with only 49 appearances, as all comic book production paused for about 2 months and then returned with a diminished release schedule.
2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the very first canon New Warriors appearance. In 1972, Namorita debuted in Sub-Mariner #50 by Bill Everett, 17 years before she would be placed on a new team called the New Warriors in Thor #411-412 by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz. Since then, about 40 characters have been added to at least one iteration of a team using the New Warriors name. In total, 2,725 comic book stories containing at least 1 New Warrior have been released across those 50 years. That’s not counting alternate reality tales and other appearances we typically don’t count as in-universe character appearances.
In 2022, Ben Reilly had the most comic book appearances set in Earth-616 among the New Warriors. Thanks to his return to starring in Amazing Spider-Man, which was published three times a month for much of the year, plus starring in his own retro miniseries Ben Reilly: Spider-Man, and various guest appearances during the Beyond era of Spider-Man, he appeared 29 times. It’s the most appearances a single New Warrior has made in a single year since Jubilee’s 30 appearances in 2019. Speaking of Jubilee, Ben Reilly topping the list breaks Jubilee’s 3-year streak she held from 2019 to 2021. This is Ben’s fourth time topping the Most Appearances list. Ben Reilly last topped the list during the Clone Saga; he had a staggering 83 appearances in 1996 and 70 appearances in 1995. He first topped the list in 1975 when he had a three-way tie with Namorita and Vance Astrovik; all three had a meager 2 appearances each.
In second place for most appearances in 2022 was Firestar thanks to her getting voted onto the X-Men in the one-shot, X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1. She began appearing in X-Men vol. 6 just as the A.X.E.: Judgment Day event began. She also had several appearances in mutant-related Infinity Comics on Marvel Unlimited. In total she appeared 15 times.
Close behind was Jubilee in third place with 13 appearances. Her drop from top place was likely due to the end of Excalibur vol. 4, although she did have appearances in that title’s continuation, Knights of X. She also co-starred in the X-Terminators miniseries that began in 2022.
Here are the top 10 New Warriors with the most appearances in 2022:
Comics included in the totals for the year 2022 are based on cover dates, which are typically about 3 months ahead of actual release dates for print comics. Any comic books with a cover date from January to December 2022 are included regardless of where it was ultimately placed in our recommended reading lists and chronological order. Cover appearances and appearances set in alternate realities were not included.
In late 2022 and into early 2023, Marvel Comics released the second and final story arc of the second Savage Avengers series. Cloak and Dagger remained on the team lineup alongside Elektra as Daredevil, Black Knight, Anti-Venom, and Weapon H. They were joined by a future Miles Morales as Deathlok and Punisher of Marvel’s 2099 timeline. Savage Avengers vol. 2 #6-10 were reprinted in the collected edition Savage Avengers Vol. 2: Escape From Neuva York.
As with the previous story arc, these issues of Savage Avengers have not been released on Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s subscription-based digital comics service. However, digital copies of the individual issues and collected edition are available for purchase for Amazon’s Kindle.
In Savage Avengers vol. 2 #6, Dagger appeared on 7 pages and Cloak appeared on 6 pages. Arriving from Deathlok’s jump through time, Cloak and Dagger and the rest of the ad hoc Avengers team found themselves immediately under fire in a futuristic city. Cloak was able to teleport the group to safety, where they stumbled upon an artificial intelligence that informed them the year was 2099 and their pursuer was Jake Gallows, that era’s Punisher. With Deathlok’s temporal circuits depleted, Black Knight brought the group to the remains of Avengers Mansion, where they hoped to find something in the mansion’s fortified vaults that might bring them back to their own time. Instead they were attacked by a squadron of Deathloks. The Punisher arrived and realized that if the Deathloks were targeting them, they were on the same side. While the others fought off the Deathloks, Black Knight and Dagger accessed the Avengers Mansion vaults to find various weapons and devices, which they distributed to the others. Cloak used a set of Doctor Octopus arms. Dagger rode with Anti-Venom in the Spider-Mobile, and she used a Power Prism to augment her light powers. As the last of the Deathloks fell, Punisher explained that they were led by Ultron.
In Savage Avengers vol 2 #7, Cloak appeared on 11 pages and Dagger appeared on 9 pages. In the city of Valhalla, the Black Knight hooked up Miles Morales to computers and had him broadcast their minds into cyberspace. There they broke into the computer systems of Nueva York run by Ultron and stole a data packet they hoped would help them return to their own time. Once the team regrouped out of cyber-space, Elektra warned Dagger that she would soon have to decide between Anti-Venom and Cloak. Reviewing the data packet, Black Knight learned that Ultron’s empire was created by a company called Alchemax finding Miles Morales’s cybernetic arm from his first encounter with the team in the present. Elektra noticed another name in the data packet that could help them. The group traveled to Hellrock Prison, where Miles Morales acted as a Deathlok bringing Cloak, Elektra and Black Knight in as prisoners. Their cover was soon blown as they found themselves fighting another swarm of Deathloks. Cloak teleported in Punisher for help. Meanwhile, Dagger snuck herself, Anti-Venom and Weapon H inside the prison by bending light around them to make them invisible. Anti-Venom and Weapon H attacked the prison’s warden, D.E.A.T.H.D.O.K. (once known as M.O.D.O.K.) while Dagger made her way to a heavily-secured dungeon. While D.E.A.T.H.D.O.K. defeated both groups, Dagger bent superheated lasers out of her way to free Doctor Doom.
In Savage Avengers vol. 2 #8, Dagger appeared on 10 pages and Cloak appeared on 9 pages. With Doctor Doom, the group of heroes flew into Latveria with a Quinjet. Someone asked why they didn’t use Cloak to teleport in, but Cloak explained the years long war between Doom’s Doombots and Deathlok units made the risk of blindly teleporting into enemy fire too great. They planned to retrieve Doom’s time-array gauntlet, but the Qinjet was shot down over Latveria. Cloak was injured in the attack, and after the crash landing, attempted to finally express his feelings for Dagger when they were attacked by more Deathloks. They then made their way to the Fortress of Tiger Wylde, a previous dictator of Latveria, where the gauntlet had been hidden, but they were greeted by Ultron and more Deathloks. Ultron had long ago placed tracers in the imprisoned Doom’s armor, and had learned about their plans. He arrived before them and retrieved the time-array gauntlet. A final desperate battle followed but Ultron killed nearly everyone present, including Cloak and Dagger. Cloak sacrificed himself to save Dagger from a spear thrown at her. As he died, he finally professed his love for Dagger. Enraged and without Cloak’s Darkforce energies to balance out her light, she burst with blinding fury while simultaneously bonding with Anti-Venom’s symbiote. Ultron called an Alchemax tactical satellite to fire a microwave blast down on Dagger. A short time later, the remains of Cloak, Dagger and most of the others was bonded with Deathlok technology using nanotech solution Formula-D to resurrect them in service to Ultron.
In Savage Avengers vol. 2 #9, Cloak and Dagger appeared on 13 pages. Miles Morales and Jake Gallows were detected sneaking into Ultron’s citadel, and the transformed Avengers team was sent by Ultron to stop them. Cloak and Dagger were now a conjoined duo merged into a single Deathlok unit. Doctor Doom arrived to help Miles and Jake. The Avengers eventually overpowered Doctor Doom but Miles entered cyberspace to communicate directly with the team. He eventually won them over one by one freeing them of Ultron’s control. The group returned to the vats of Formula-D and were restored to their former selves. Free of the Deathlok influence, they prepared for the final battle with Ultron.
In Savage Avengers vol. 2 #10, Cloak and Dagger appeared on 9 pages. With Ultron in possession of Doom’s time-array gauntlet, the Avengers had to stop him from spreading his machine empire throughout time. During the battle with Ultron and his legion of Deathlok units, Cloak and Dagger finally admitted their love for each other. Anti-Venom supported Dagger’s decision. Doom’s time-array gauntlet was activated and opened a portal to the present day where the arm of the Miles Morales Deathlok was in an Alchemax lab. Miles Morales was able to retrieve his arm and bring it to 2099, where a time paradox created a feedback loop. The Avengers were at last returned to their own time. While debating whether to stay together as a team, Fin Fang Foom burst out of New York Harbor threatening the human race, and they agreed to one more adventure together.
It wasn’t clear how much time had passed since they left into the time stream in Savage Avengers vol. 2 #1 and their return in Savage Avengers vol. 2 #10, but least enough time had passed for madbomb riot in issue #1 to apparently be over.
Dagger ends this story with a power boost and a step forward in her relationship with Cloak. However, it’s possible her power boost from her time in the Hyborian Age was temporary.
These issues were added to Phase Eleven of Limbo Part 6.
As announced last week, a new Night Thrasher mini-series by J. Holtham and Nelson Dániel is planned to debut on February 14, 2024, as part of Marvel’s Black History Month celebration. Now Marvel Comics has unveiled three of the variant covers to be published for the first issue, which will be an extra-sized 40 pages with a cover price of $4.99.
Night Thrasher vol. 2 #1 (of 4) is scheduled to come in a total of six covers. The original announcement revealed the main cover by Alan Quah. Marvel has now revealed 3 of the variant covers.
First up is an homage cover by Tradd Moore:
This was originally planned as a variant cover for the aborted New Warriors vol. 6 mini-series but was unseen until shared by Moore on his Tumblr in January 2022. This will be its first official release. The cover references the Night Thrasher trading card by Bret Blevins from the 1993 Marvel Masterpieces series (left). Moore is a stylized artist who has designed and illustrated acclaimed comics like The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, All-New Ghost Rider, Silver Surfer: Black, The New World, and the recent Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise.
Next is a Marvel ’97 cover by Luciano Vecchio:
To promote the upcoming X-Men ’97 animated series on Disney+, a sequel to the popular X-Men animated series that originally aired on Fox from 1992 to 1997, Marvel Comics is running the Marvel ’97 variant cover program throughout February 2024. Night Thrasher vol. 2 #1 will be among the 23 issues in February to feature a Marvel ’97 variant. The cover is drawn by Luciano Vecchio, who has previously drawn Firestar in a Marvel’s Voices: Iceman digital comic, Silhouette in Ironheart, and Sam Alexander in Champions, and was slated to be the artist on the aborted New Warriors vol. 6 miniseries. He’s currently drawing the mini-series Resurrection of Magneto. The published cover will include a corner box featuring Night Thrasher reminiscent of Marvel’s trade dress of the ’90s, as seen above. However, Marvel’s February 2024 solicitations provided a textless version (left).
And then there’s the variant cover by Mark Bagley:
Likely to be most anticipated by New Warriors fans, Mark Bagley’s variant cover features Night Thrasher standing over a pile of criminals. Mark Bagley was the original interior artist for the first two years of the original New Warriors, and stayed on as cover artist for an additional 6 months. He was also the cover artist for the spinoff mini-series Night Thrasher: Four Control. Mark Bagley is most well-known for his lengthy runs on Amazing Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man and co-creating Thunderbolts with Kurt Busiek.
Also planned but not yet revealed: a Black History Month variant cover by Davi Go and a variant cover by Ken Lashley, who was an artist on the original Night Thrasher ongoing series.
Marvel’s comics distributor Penguin Random House also lists a variant cover by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. Titled as Marvel Masterpieces III, there is also a second listing for a virgin version of the cover (meaning no trade dress). This may be a continuation of the Marvel Masterpieces Variant Covers program running in January but it has not yet been officially announced or confirmed that it’s continuing in February or will include Night Thrasher vol. 2 #1. If these come to fruition that will bring the number of covers for Night Thrasher vol. 2 #1 to eight. However, Marvel did not include them in their solicitation information for comics releasing in February 2024.
The full solicitation copy reads as follows:
NIGHT THRASHER #1 (OF 4)
J. HOLTHAM • NELSON DÁNIEL (a) • Cover by ALAN QUAH
HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY TRADD MOORE
BLACK HISTORY MONTH VARIANT COVER BY DAVI GO
VARIANT COVER BY MARK BAGLEY • VARIANT COVER BY KEN LASHLEY
MARVEL 97 VARIANT COVER BY LUCIANO VECCHIO
It’s time to thrash the night!
The death of a loved one draws Dwayne Taylor back to New York City, though his days as NIGHT THRASHER are long over. But Dwayne finds the past difficult to outrun when SILHOUETTE, his ex-teammate from the NEW WARRIORS, seeks his help against a new criminal called THE O.G. And the mystery of the O.G.’s true identity and what’s to come will change Night Thrasher’s legacy forever! Don’t miss this bold new direction for a cult classic character who is leaving the ’90s behind him!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
Night Thrasher vol. 2 #1 goes on-sale February 14, 2024.
Announced on today’s episode of This Week in Marvel (at the 10:45 mark) and confirmed by an announcement on Marvel.com, a new Night Thrasher 4-issue series will launch in print and digitally on February 14, 2024.
The series will be set in the present and star Dwayne Taylor as Night Thrasher. It will also include appearances by Silhouette, where the former couple will be reunited for the first time in years.
The creative team was announced as writer J. Holtham and artist Nelson Dániel. The cover art seen here is by Alan Quah.
J. Holtham is best known as a television writer who has written episodes for Cloak and Dagger, Jessica Jones, Supergirl, and The Handmaid’s Tale. He’s no stranger to comics. Earlier this year, he wrote the mini-series Bishop: War College, and has contributed to the Marvel’s Voices anthologies and IDW’s Star Trek comics. He also wrote Marvel’s dramatic podcast series Wastelanders: Hawkeye.
Nelson Dániel was nominated for an Eisner for Best Colorist for his work on Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland. He was the artist and colorist for Road Rage, written by Stephen King and Joe Hill, The Cape: 1969, and issues of Dungeons & Dragons, Clue, IDW’s American Judge Dredd series and more. In his home country of Chile, he has published his graphic novels Lucca and 1899 & 1959.
Alan Quah is primarily known as a cover artist. He has provided covers for Judge Dredd, Red Sonja, The Marvels, Moon Knight, Nightwing, Superman: Son of Kal-El, and many more.
This will be the third comic book series starring Night Thrasher. In 1992, the character spun out of the pages of the original New Warriors series for the 4-issue mini-series, Night Thrasher: Four Control by Fabian Nicieza and Dave Hoover. That sold well enough to merit an ongoing series the following year. Night Thrasher was initially launched with Nicieza and artist Javier Saltares. Over its 21 issues, the series saw contributions by Kurt Busiek, Dan Slott, Ken Lashley, David Boller, Richard Pace, and Art Nichols.
The new series, which we’ll likely title here as Night Thrasher vol. 2, will feature Night Thrasher coming out of retirement after someone close to him dies. He’ll be pulled back into the superhero world and team up with Silhouette to face a new villain called The O.G.
Who will be the one to die remains unclear, but Holtham made clear on the podcast it would not be Silhouette. Fan speculation has already centered on Dwayne’s mentor Andrew Chord, who hasn’t been seen since 1994’s Night Thrasher #16.
Here’s Marvel’s official listing for the first issue:
NIGHT THRASHER #1 (OF 4) Written by J. HOLTHAM Art by NELSON DÁNIEL Cover by ALAN QUAH On Sale 2/14
It’s time to thrash the night! The death of a loved one draws Dwayne Taylor back to New York City, though his days as Night Thrasher are long over. But Dwayne finds the past difficult to outrun when Silhouette, his ex-teammate from the New Warriors, seeks his help against a new criminal called the O.G. And the mystery of the O.G.’s true identity and what’s to come will change Night Thrasher’s legacy forever!
Something I see often among fans of the original New Warriors comics who may not be up to date with modern comics is a curiosity of whatever happened to character X. This can be tricky because depending on when that person happened to stop reading or paying attention, a lot or a little could have happened. I’ve launched the start of a new feature on this site that I hope will address those questions.
We’ll continue to roll out similar pages for all of the New Warriors.
Each page is topped with a new social media friendly banner giving a quick overview of the character. You’ll also see our new character navigation buttons to easily get you to that character’s recommended reading order list, checklist and back to the Where Are They Now (or Last Seen) page. Then we feature the most recent appearance of that character and where it’s been reprinted. And then we summarize the major moments for the character since their ’90s heyday.
If you’d like to see something else from these pages, feel free to leave a comment here or on social media.
Speaking of social media, we can now be found on Threads. For a complete list of our social media presence (which seems to be evolving on a weekly basis, as does the larger social media landscape), check out our Linktree.
In late 2022, Marvel Comics began publishing Namor: Conquered Shores, a 5-issue mini-series celebrating the long legacy of Namor the Sub-Mariner. The mni-series included appearances by Namorita. The entire story was reprinted in the collected edition Namor: Conquered Shores.
Namorita appeared on 2 pages in issue 1, on 1 page in issue 2, and on 3 pages in issue 5. However, the story was set in a variant timeline possibly 30-50 years into the future, so the issues were not added to the site’s tracking of New Warriors appearances set on Marvel’s Earth-616 comic book universe.
The issues will be added to a revamped Alternate Realities section at some point in the future.
• NELSON DÁNIEL (a) • Cover by ALAN QUAH
Nevets Faulkner Presents: The New Warriors Continuity Conundrum 