New Warriors (Vol. 5) #5

Background

The New Warriors have their first victory in hand, but things don’t seem settled yet. The High Evolutionary escaped and he still has the means to complete his plan. Furthermore, the team doesn’t quite seem convinced they even are a team yet. What new adventures await them now…

Story Details

We open to two figures playing a game of chess: one of the High Evolutionary’s Ani-men (Caninus) and some demonic figure. The figure promises to stop the Celestials, once he is freed from his prison.

In Wundagore Mountain, the Justice, Water Snake, and Scarlet Spider are finishing securing the former base. Kaine and Justice begin to argue, but Water Snake comes to Kaine’s defense. When Justice questions whether she’s actually Namorita, she becomes more upset. The two begin fighting and Water Snake storms off. In the next room, she sees s group of slain Atlanteans being hung from the ceiling, but neither of her companions see it.

In the village below, Sun Girl, Speedball, Hummingbird, and Haechi find nothing of interest or anyone in need of rescue. Aracely reads the minds of the residents and discovers that while the villagers saw the explosion, none of them were that concerned, given the frequency that happens. With their work done, Speedball decides they stop and eat.

Back in the mountain, Justice tries to convince Kaine to join them, but Kaine displays his typical surly attitude. Before they can discuss further, something begins to attack them, causing Justice to…sneeze?

In the village, the other members of the team get acquainted with each other. For those unfamiliar with Sun Girl, she reveals that her technology comes from her father; Mark/Haechi reveals he doesn’t know much about his powers and that he lives with his grandmother; and Aracely gives a concise retelling of her past adventures with Kaine. When Speeball begins to just breeze past his story, Aracely begins to question his involvement in Stamford and his time as Penance. We then see Speedball for what Aracely sees- he is still Penance. Outwardly he tells the others that he’s healing, but mentally he tells Aracely to stay out of his head and to not speak of what she’s seen.

In the mountain, it soon becomes apparent that the new threat isn’t a robot, but another of the ani-men. The creature is revealed to be a cat-man and before Scarlet Spider can finish him off, a dog-man appears begging for them to spare his friend. The dog reveals that with some “help”, they escaped being killed by the High Evolutionary. The creatures reveal themselves to be Caninus (from earlier) and Felinatus. This revelation of course immediately results in comments about their ridiculous names.

As the rest of the team arrives, the creatures have given themselves new names: Jake Waffles and Mister Whiskers. Having spent his life there, Jake Waffles is able to help the team and deliver them wherever they want. Sun Girl and Haechi request New York, Kaine suggests Mexico, and Aracely wants Disney Land. She also reveals she has a crush on Speedball because of his broody nature, confusing Sun Girl. Meanwhile, Water Snake continues to hallucinate more upsetting visions. When Justice begins to question how the transport works, Jake activates it…teleporting the entire mountain to New York City…but only because he didn’t know where Disney Land was.

General Comments

This was a ridiculous, goofy read….and I really liked it. This was a filler issue, for sure, but I can’t help but be intrigued AND entertained.

As far as I knew, Speedball was immune to telepaths, so I’m not sure if Aracely would be able to read his mind, but besides that, I loved his reveal. I thought it was a little too neat for him to be completely over Stamford and being Penance, so I am VERY interested to see what his story will be.

The New Men, Jake Waffles and Mister Whiskers are a completely ridiculous addition, but they bring a good humor to things as well. The last panel still gets a smile out of me and it’s been awhile since the comic was released (my bad). I kind of like them as the comic relief, especially with how grumpy and “cat-like” Mister Whiskers is.

I’m also hoping we get some more info on this mysterious figure from the first page, but that’s not always turned out well with Yost’s stories. I also wonder how Jake will play into that, as he seemed to know the creature, who I also assume is responsible for their survival thus far.

More mysteries, more humor, and some great potential…let’s hope this keeps up.

Overall Rating

Maybe I’m crazy, but it’s issues like this they balance out the dramatic, story-heavy, emotional power houses that I also love. So while this isn’t world changing stuff here, it’s still an entertaining read for people interested in the series.