Issue(s): New Warriors #54, New Warriors #55, New Warriors #56
Cover Date: Dec 94 - Feb 95
Title: "Might makes wrong" / "Unacceptable losses" / "Payback's a real switch"
Credits:
Evan Skolnick - Writer
Richard Pace / Patrick Zircher - Penciler
Bruce D. Patterson / Mark McKenna & Aaron McClellan - Inker
Glenn Greenberg - Assistant Editor
Tom Brevoort - Editor

Review/plot:
Some leniency has to be given due to the fact that this new creative team came on with short notice, and the editorial team is new on the book too, but these are some bad issues. I think that any analysis of what worked and didn't work for the New Warriors series so far would conclude that Fabian Nicieza had a tendency to overcomplicate plots and inject too many social issues, which were subsequently dealt with superficially. Getting back to stories about the New Warriors being kids and maybe fighting a villain somewhat out of their league seems like a no-brainer for a new creative team. Instead, Evan Skolnick seem to double-down on the worst aspects of Nicieza's run. The backdrop - and that's all it is - for this story is the Rwandan Genocide, for crying out loud. And there are so many low quality characters running around.

"Air Force", the bird-themed team that the New Warriors have encountered a couple times, are attacked by a new group of villains led by, er, Admiral Protocol and General Obsidian.

Their goal has something to do with converting super-powered people to their cause. They have super-powered goons with names like Right and Wrong, and Cut and Dry. Cardinal escapes and goes to the New Warriors for help. But the New Warriors get overwhelmed by Dry, etc., too, so Hindsight Lad has to call in reserve members Turbo and Powerpax (and Alex Power once again steals his siblings' powers).

The other New Warriors are rescued, but Protocol escapes and Namorita is captured.

And that's what kind of makes this story inexcusable. If you need to crank out some nonsense to kill time for a few issues while you develop a plan for your run, fine. But don't set things up so that these characters have to appear again.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Night Thrasher and Rage are not around due to "current issues of Night Thrasher". Dagger and Darkhawk fail to respond to Hindsight Lad's call for back-up. "Five days" pass before an epilogue, while the New Warriors search for Namorita and distribute aid to Rwandan refugees. Namorita shouldn't appear elsewhere after this arc.

References:

• Air Force are good guys now thanks to Night Thrasher #5.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Note that Killer Shrike appears to die in issue 54 but the editors note in issue 56 identifies the dead Air Force members as Oriole and Tanager.
Skolnick has said that the reason why he had the Undertow kidnap Namorita was because he intended for Namorita to take over the Undertow by killing Protocol and using the Undertow's tech to make everyone think she was Protocol:
http://www.novaprimepage.com/evan.asp
But he let that plot drag on too long, so he had to wrap it up quickly in issue 74 by having Rage and Night Thrasher rescue her with help from the Mad Thinker. So the entire lengthy plot with Nita as a prisoner is pointless.