New Warriors #4 Review

NEW WARRIORS #4
Written by Kevin Grevioux
Art by Paco Medina

Another good issue for this book. Lots of hints towards Night Thrasher's identity and another New Warrior identity revealed combined with some excellent action makes for a great read.

The issue begins with the cops that met with Night Thrasher last issue. They have both been shrunk down and, with the help of Hank Pym, returned to normal size. Pym reveals it was not done using Pym particles, but a derivative, similar to what Bill Foster used. I love how Pym reacts to this revelation and it is a real nice touch showing that he was actually upset with Bill's death in Civil War. There are clues to Thrasher's identity and implications it is tied to Wakanda and possibly Black Panther. After this brief scene, Tony Stark is shown dealing with political issues pertaining to the New Warriors and trying to convince Secretary Kooning not to overreact and use the Thunderbolts to take down these teenagers.

This leads into a training session at the New Warrior base where Night Thrasher single handedly defeats the entire team. While many are experienced combatants, they are all new to the powers they are using on this team. During this segment, we learn that Tempest is Angel, from Grant Morrison's New X-Men fame and Beak's girlfriend. She looks drastically different on this team and appears to have seen the same plastic surgeon as Jubilee, who is the big breasted Wondra on this team.

After assigning double training sessions for the team, Night Thrasher has a meeting with Wondra. More clues to his identity, as he has intimate knowledge of the X-Men and Fantastic Four. He wants Wondra to be a better and stricter leader. Jubilee complains about his putting the team together and never being there to help before questioning his identity. Just as she realizes she might know who he is, they are interrupted by a newscast of a team of villains called The Zodiac, who I am unfamiliar with, attacking downtown. They have already defeated the Initiative Avengers and the New Warriors decide to put a stop to them.

The fight takes place near Sophie's, who has declined the New Warriors' invitation to join them, work place and the battle ends up destroying the coffee shop. The New Warriors arrive and appear to be doing quite well against The Zodiac until the very end of the issue, when it appears Longstrike is killed by Cancer of The Zodiac.

It was an incredibly unexpected ending to this issue, and if publicized, would be a real killer to any credibility the untrained teen heroes had been trying to build and quite possibly serve to prove Tony Stark right with the SHRA. I was unsure of whether I was going to be sticking with this book, as while it was a good book, it was not impressing me enough to stay on long term. This issue changed all that. Lots of mystery as to who Night Thrasher is, an excellent ending that left me wanting more and chomping at the bit to see the next issue and this issue really hit one out of the park. Highly recommended issue.

Verdict - Must Read

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