Bill Sienkiewicz - Marvel New Universe Cover Promotional Painting Original Art, 1986, Mixed Media, 27 x 39 Inches, Signed. Copyright Bill Sienkiewicz.
Easily one of my favorite pieces by one of my favorite artists...and featuring my favorite characters! A tip-of-the-hat to all involved in creating this wonderful saga - Geniuses All!
In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics' 25th Anniversary, Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter launched the New Universe line of comics. This was to be a distinctly separate world - fully divorced from the mainstream Marvel Universe, consisting of its own continuing characters and stories in a more realistic setting. There would be no aliens, gods, mythological beings, magic, or supertechnology. Superhuman characters and powers would be limited, and thus more subdued in their activities. 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, and where public knowledge of superheroes, supervillains and their activities had little effect on normal "day-to-day" business. The limitation of fantasy elements and the low-key nature of the characters' activities in the New Universe made the imprint seem like "the world outside our window".
The original line of New Universe titles included:
* D.P. 7 (Displaced Paranormals 7) (32 issues, one annual)
* Justice (32 issues)
* Kickers, Inc. (12 issues)
* Marc Hazzard, Merc (12 issues, one annual)
* Nightmask (12 issues)
* Psi-Force (32 issues, one annual)
* Spitfire and the Troubleshooters (13 issues; renamed Spitfire from issue #8; renamed Codename: Spitfire from issue #10)
* Star Brand (19 issues, one annual; renamed The Star Brand from issue #11)
The New Universe was heavily marketed, but faced substantial problems. 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 his firing), and thus could not give the line as much attention as he would have liked. Eventually, four of the titles were cancelled: Kickers, Inc., Merc, Nightmask, and Spitfire.
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. Similarly, the premise of Justice was revealed to be a hallucination which had been artificially induced in the title's protagonist. 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 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, the imprint was abruptly discontinued in late 1989 after a total of 174 comics had been published. There was talk of releasing one-shots, but nothing came of it.
In subsequent years, Mark Gruenwald brought the New Universe characters into the Marvel Universe proper, first via appearances in Quasar, then in the Starblast miniseries; technically, these characters still exist in the Marvel Universe.
In 2005, The New Universe once again finds itself a part of the mainstream Marvel Universe when The Exiles find a Proteus-possessed Mimic in New Universe era Pittsburgh. This arc runs through Exiles #72 - 74. Then, in March 2006, The 20th Anniversary of the New Universe imprint was celebrated in a monthly event known as The Untold Tales of the New Universe. This was followed closely by the brand new title, newuniversal, a reimagined update of the entire saga by Author Warren Ellis. It features both old and new characters in one cohesive storyline. Marvel even reprinted many of the older issues in Trade Paperback format. Subsequently, Author Jonathan Hickman radically revamped The Avengers using many of the key concepts initiated by Warren Ellis. These concepts were instrumental in Marvels company-wide crossover, Infinity, which featured Thanos, & served as a jumping on point for new readers who had just experienced The Marvel Cinematic Universe Infinity Saga. The Marvel New Universe continues to be an integral part of the Marvel Universe as we know it.
For the record, it is my belief that this line of comics was well ahead of its time...and suffered unduly for it. It is my assertion that the Wachowski Brothers' Neo owes a great deal to the character of Ken Connell | Star Brand.
