Issue(s): New Warriors #26
Cover Date: Aug 92
Title: "The next step"
Credits:
Fabian Nicieza - Writer
Darick Robertson - Penciler
Larry Mahlstedt - Inker
Danny Fingeroth - Editor

Review/plot:
This issue begins the run of Darick Robertson, who is replacing Mark Bagley.

The main story focuses on three of the New Warriors trying to "rescue" Marvel Boy while he's being transported to the Vault after his trial last issue. But we do check in on the other Warriors, too, and i'll cover them first.

First there is Rage and Speedball. Rage has gone to the Avengers to face the consequences of stealing the Quinjet in the previous arc. Consequences that include getting punched by a super-strong god.

The Avengers are all aware that Rage is just a kid at this point, but no one seems too concerned about Herc's actions. I guess that really includes Rage, too. I guess everyone is aware of what Rage is capable of handling, and they know it's not as bad as it looks.

Captain America says that they aren't going to press charges because of "our relationship with both you and the New Warriors". He also says that they haven't yet located and recovered the Quinjet because Nova disabled the homing beacon. And then it's decided that Rage has been kicked out of the Avengers.

Speedball (who is doing his best to make Peter Parker's fashion choices in the 1970s look sensible) has been waiting around outside to find out what the Avengers do to Rage. And he offers Rage membership in the New Warriors.

He also gives Rage a new costume (that's the "one condition"), although we don't really get to see it this issue.

Now for Silhouette and Night Thrasher. Silhouette goes to Night Thrasher's building. She is wearing a set of civilian clothes that Mr. Fantastic made for her out of unstable molecules.

Night Thrasher is working on a new outfit for himself. Silhoutte wants Night Thrasher to visit Chord in the hospital, but he says that he's not ready for that.

Ok, now on to the main plot. The issue opens with Marvel Boy fighting the Vault Guardsmen that are transporting him, but it turns out that they are just engaged in a little ad hoc training.

It's pretty clear at this point that the idea that the Guardsmen armor is powered by a broadcast in the Vault itself, as established in Avengers Spotlight #29, has been forgotten at this point. We can assume that the government has found some way to work around that. Maybe something in their truck broadcasts power, or maybe they have different armor for when they're on the road, or maybe they've just convinced Stark that the limitation wasn't practical. I'll stop mentioning it now unless i see a story bring it up again.

One of the Guardsmen, named Scott, takes his helmet off during the fight. This is Scott Washington, who will later become Hybrid.

Later, we see Namorita, Nova, and Firestar planning to rescue Vance.

I'll note that we don't see the deliberations that led the Warriors to decide to do this. Namorita is the organizer, and probably the instigator.

If it were just a matter of defeating the Guardsmen, the Warriors would have been successful. But they're actually stopped by Marvel Boy (note Namorita using her "true Sub-Mariner" power to channel electricity again; i'm still waiting for her to blow up like a puffer fish).

Marvel Boy says that he does not want to be rescued. He was convicted and he wants to serve out his sentence. But the Guardsmen let Marvel Boy and Firestar go off into the woods together.

I chuckled at Firestar thinking that if they agreed that they loved each other, they had better do it, right here and right now in the woods while everyone is waiting just over the hill. But this is a book about teenagers, and that's probably exactly how they think. Vance is a 'true love waits for marriage' guy, though.

The New Warriors don't get in trouble for trying to break out Marvel Boy as long as they help the Guardsmen put the doors back on their truck.

This was a nice downtime (more or less) issue.

Quality Rating: B

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The debate here is about how soon this story takes place after New Warriors #25, and whether or not it makes sense to place the New Warriors' appearance in the Hero Killers annual event (including their own New Warriors annual #2) prior to this story. Whenever possible, i try to keep back-up stories with the main story in an issue. And the Silhouette back-up in that annual definitely takes place prior to this. In her back-up, she goes to Mr. Fantastic and confesses that the New Warriors have been illegally using his unstable molecules. In this story, it's already been established that Mr. Fantastic doesn't hold a grudge for that, and not only that but he has (at a minimum) created some civilian clothes for Silhouette. So at a minimum, enough time passes between issues #25 and #26 for the Silhouette back-up to take place, and, depending on how long it takes for Mr. Fantastic to create costumes, probably at least a day beyond that. And since the annual back-ups were all presented under a single title ("Days and Knights"), i assume that they were all meant to take place at the same time. That may raise the question of why Firestar was participating in the attempted rescue of Marvel Boy after getting assurances from her father that he'll wait for her, but as i noted above, Namorita seems to have been a bit of an instigator ("Vance was being railroaded!"). You could just as easily flip it around and ask why Firestar needed reassurance from her father after the romantic scene with Marvel Boy in this issue. Either way, the answer is that this is a difficult time for her. It seems to me that Namorita has been stewing about this and/or waiting for the prison transport as the best time to break him out. Possibly her experience in her own back-up in the annual, which resulted in a lack of faith in the justice system, was a factor.

The biggest question around putting space between #25 and #26 is Rage going to the Avengers regarding the stolen Quinjet. But the scene seems almost designed to be ambiguous regarding the timing. We don't see Rage actually confessing that he's stolen the Quinjet; the Avengers are already well aware of that. And we don't see Rage and the Warriors returning from #25. It's a lot like the Avengers have already done some deliberations and have now called in Rage to issue their verdict. Sure, Hercules throws his punch, but he's Hercules (or, possibly, Herc is only hearing about the incident for the first time, while Cap has been deliberating for a while). Or Rage needed some time to work up the courage to go to the Avengers, or the Avengers weren't available until now. In any event, we know that the Avengers' verdict doesn't happen right away, because in this issue Silhouette says that she hasn't seen Night Thrasher for "two days" (which isn't necessarily only two days since their last appearance that we've seen, but it does mean that even if i were to put this after issue #25, it would have to take place at least two days later). So since there has to be space between the end of #25 and the beginning of #26, i don't see a problem with allowing for enough space for the Warriors to be involved in the Hero Killers incident. The fact that Rage doesn't participate in Hero Killers is also potentially a clue, although it would be easy enough to say that he wasn't available that day.

References:

• Silhouette told Mr. Fantastic that the New Warriors were using unstable molecule costumes illegally based on his patent in the back-up in New Warriors annual #2.
  
• Chord was hospitalized in New Warriors #18.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A