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Marvel Comics of the 1980s - Nostalgically revisiting the comics of the 1980s since 2008.: 1986 - The New Universe
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Ubiquitous
Sep 2, 2015, 7:06:46 AM9/2/15
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1986 - The New Universe
From the Bullpen Bulletins (May 1986):
"It's 1986. Marvel's 25th Anniversary! Happy New Year! Way back in
August of 1961, when popsicles where six cents, Tossin' and Turnin' by
Bobby Lewis was the number one hit single, and nobody had ever heard of
Viet Nam, Fantastic Four #1 appeared on the newsstands. That historic
issue marked the beginning of the Marvel Universe, and the launching of
the Marvel Comics Group. We were one of the smallest comics companies
the, but we took off like a starship and quickly few into one of the
biggies. Now, as we approach our twenty-fifth birthday, we're the
largest comics publisher in the Western World - and we did it the old-
fashioned way. We earned it.
All this year we'll be celebrating our anniversary with special issues
and events -- watch the checklist for details -- but the big even is
coming up in the summer. And what is that?
Drum roll, please ...
IN HONOR OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CREATION OF THE MARVEL
UNIVERSE WE ARE CREATING ...
A NEW UNIVERSE!
It will be the comics event of the century. Yes, the century. Watch for
it.
Jim Shooter Editor in Chief"
In 1986, as Marvel approached its twenty-fifth anniversary, Jim Shooter
wanted to do something special. Shooter proposed the creation of a new
line of comics that would exist in a different universe than the Marvel
Universe. His two focal points were a back to basics approach and an
adherence to realism.
The New Universe hit the ground running with eight monthly titles: -
D.P. 7 (Displaced Paranormals 7) - Justice - Kickers, Inc. - Mark
Hazzard: Merc - Nightmask - Psi-Force - Spitfire and the
Troubleshooters - Star Brand
Well, Star Brand by Jim Shooter, John Romita Jr., and Al Williamson was
the most successful of the comic line and Mark Gruenwald and Paul Ryan
had put in a valiant effort with D.P. 7, but the other six titles
suffered due to lackluster creative teams.
Shooter's New Universe would ultimately fail. By 1989, the entire line
of comics was cancelled despite an attempt by fan favorite John Byrne
to breath some live back into the New Universe.
Why did it fail? It failed for many reasons:
- Fans read Marvel Comics because of the established characters and the
rich history of the Marvel Universe. Fans were reluctant to follow
titles that played no part in the Marvel Universe and had no
involvement with any Marvel Universe characters.
- The New Universe ultimately competed against the Marvel Universe.
Comics Fans usually have a limited budget and given the choice between
Spider-Man and Star Brand, Spider-Man will win every time.
- Couldn't possibly live up to the hype. "The New Universe from Marvel
Comics marks a revolution in comics equal to the birth of the Marvel
Age in 1961." - Bullpen Bulletins October 1986. While Jim Shooter,
Archie Goodwin, Tom DeFalco, and John Romita Jr. are talented
individuals, they aren't Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko!
- Comic books fans had already expressed their displeasure with
multiple universes. DC Comics had multiple Earths each with their own
distinct set of super-heroes, but it was too complicated for the
average reader to follow. In 1985, DC Comics put out a twelve issue
series called Crisis on Infinite Earths and merge all of their multiple
Earths into one.
Jim Shooter in an interview with Kuljit Mithra
(http://www.manwithoutfear.com) in 1998 provided some insight:
"The New Universe was dead long before it saw the light of day. Two
years before the Marvel 25th Anniversary, when pressed by the president
and executive staff for a "publishing event" for the anniversary, I
suggested that we might want to commemorate the birth of one universe
with the birth of another. Everybody liked the idea. I was given a
substantial budget and told to proceed.
My assistant, Tom DeFalco asked to be given responsibility for the
project. He saw it as a career opportunity -- to have a second Marvel
line that he could be editor in chief of. I let him take a try at it.
After almost a year, he hadn't come up with much - - no general
concept, and only a few lame characters like "Speedball". Because time
was getting critical, I got involved, and came up with the science
fiction/super hero idea. (...)
This was about the time that the corporate raiders' attacks on Marvel
were reaching a peak. Money was tight because of the millions being
spent to defend against hostile takeover. My New Universe budget was
cut to nothing. Notice that aside from Al Williamson and John Romita
Jr., who worked on it as a personal favor to me, the New Universe
creators were staff people, mostly assistant editors, who were working
volunteer, creators who were new, or creators who could get no other
work. Why? Because we couldn't afford to pay anybody hot or
established. (...)
Now, of course, no one, not Stan, who isn't one to swim against the
tide, will admit to ever having thought it was a good idea. "
--
1st JOBS THAT FAILED
Hillary--charm school instructor
Al Sharpton--reverend
Biden--lamplighter
Al Gore--weather forecaster
Obama--president
From the Bullpen Bulletins (May 1986):
"It's 1986. Marvel's 25th Anniversary! Happy New Year! Way back in
August of 1961, when popsicles where six cents, Tossin' and Turnin' by
Bobby Lewis was the number one hit single, and nobody had ever heard of
Viet Nam, Fantastic Four #1 appeared on the newsstands. That historic
issue marked the beginning of the Marvel Universe, and the launching of
the Marvel Comics Group. We were one of the smallest comics companies
the, but we took off like a starship and quickly few into one of the
biggies. Now, as we approach our twenty-fifth birthday, we're the
largest comics publisher in the Western World - and we did it the old-
fashioned way. We earned it.
All this year we'll be celebrating our anniversary with special issues
and events -- watch the checklist for details -- but the big even is
coming up in the summer. And what is that?
Drum roll, please ...
IN HONOR OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CREATION OF THE MARVEL
UNIVERSE WE ARE CREATING ...
A NEW UNIVERSE!
It will be the comics event of the century. Yes, the century. Watch for
it.
Jim Shooter Editor in Chief"
In 1986, as Marvel approached its twenty-fifth anniversary, Jim Shooter
wanted to do something special. Shooter proposed the creation of a new
line of comics that would exist in a different universe than the Marvel
Universe. His two focal points were a back to basics approach and an
adherence to realism.
The New Universe hit the ground running with eight monthly titles: -
D.P. 7 (Displaced Paranormals 7) - Justice - Kickers, Inc. - Mark
Hazzard: Merc - Nightmask - Psi-Force - Spitfire and the
Troubleshooters - Star Brand
Well, Star Brand by Jim Shooter, John Romita Jr., and Al Williamson was
the most successful of the comic line and Mark Gruenwald and Paul Ryan
had put in a valiant effort with D.P. 7, but the other six titles
suffered due to lackluster creative teams.
Shooter's New Universe would ultimately fail. By 1989, the entire line
of comics was cancelled despite an attempt by fan favorite John Byrne
to breath some live back into the New Universe.
Why did it fail? It failed for many reasons:
- Fans read Marvel Comics because of the established characters and the
rich history of the Marvel Universe. Fans were reluctant to follow
titles that played no part in the Marvel Universe and had no
involvement with any Marvel Universe characters.
- The New Universe ultimately competed against the Marvel Universe.
Comics Fans usually have a limited budget and given the choice between
Spider-Man and Star Brand, Spider-Man will win every time.
- Couldn't possibly live up to the hype. "The New Universe from Marvel
Comics marks a revolution in comics equal to the birth of the Marvel
Age in 1961." - Bullpen Bulletins October 1986. While Jim Shooter,
Archie Goodwin, Tom DeFalco, and John Romita Jr. are talented
individuals, they aren't Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko!
- Comic books fans had already expressed their displeasure with
multiple universes. DC Comics had multiple Earths each with their own
distinct set of super-heroes, but it was too complicated for the
average reader to follow. In 1985, DC Comics put out a twelve issue
series called Crisis on Infinite Earths and merge all of their multiple
Earths into one.
Jim Shooter in an interview with Kuljit Mithra
(http://www.manwithoutfear.com) in 1998 provided some insight:
"The New Universe was dead long before it saw the light of day. Two
years before the Marvel 25th Anniversary, when pressed by the president
and executive staff for a "publishing event" for the anniversary, I
suggested that we might want to commemorate the birth of one universe
with the birth of another. Everybody liked the idea. I was given a
substantial budget and told to proceed.
My assistant, Tom DeFalco asked to be given responsibility for the
project. He saw it as a career opportunity -- to have a second Marvel
line that he could be editor in chief of. I let him take a try at it.
After almost a year, he hadn't come up with much - - no general
concept, and only a few lame characters like "Speedball". Because time
was getting critical, I got involved, and came up with the science
fiction/super hero idea. (...)
This was about the time that the corporate raiders' attacks on Marvel
were reaching a peak. Money was tight because of the millions being
spent to defend against hostile takeover. My New Universe budget was
cut to nothing. Notice that aside from Al Williamson and John Romita
Jr., who worked on it as a personal favor to me, the New Universe
creators were staff people, mostly assistant editors, who were working
volunteer, creators who were new, or creators who could get no other
work. Why? Because we couldn't afford to pay anybody hot or
established. (...)
Now, of course, no one, not Stan, who isn't one to swim against the
tide, will admit to ever having thought it was a good idea. "
--
1st JOBS THAT FAILED
Hillary--charm school instructor
Al Sharpton--reverend
Biden--lamplighter
Al Gore--weather forecaster
Obama--president
Botolo
Sep 2, 2015, 9:43:33 AM9/2/15
to
On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 4:06:46 AM UTC-7, Ubiquitous wrote:
> 1986 - The New Universe
Great read! I loved the New Universe and I loved D.P.7 in particular. I recently got some of the old issues back into my collection, even if I still need to find the time to re-read them.
> 1986 - The New Universe
It is true that building a new universe from scratch is not easy. The Marvel Universe itself took a while to finally establish as the universe we know today. Shooter had an interesting idea but the execution was not excellent and/or Marvel did not give sufficient time to the New Universe to emerge as a valid alternative.
Has the same thing happened to the Ultimate Universe? This universe lasted much longer but, if I understand correctly, has been declared officially death with the new Secret Wars.
Botolo
EB
Sep 2, 2015, 11:17:57 AM9/2/15
to
On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 2:43:33 PM UTC+1, Botolo wrote:
> On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 4:06:46 AM UTC-7, Ubiquitous wrote:
>
> > 1986 - The New Universe
I loved the New Universe!
> On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 4:06:46 AM UTC-7, Ubiquitous wrote:
>
> > 1986 - The New Universe
I was really into DP7 and Starbrand. PSI-force and Night Mask were interesting.
Barely liked Justice and didn't read Merc at all.
The real problem was they changed the goal post after one year.
Star Brand no longer was gift from an alien, but some type of time and space singularity and was the Genesis of all the paranormals on Earth.
Justice wasn't from another world, but another paranormal that had some delusions. Just felt a little cheated on all the new possibilities that were offered.
I still liked it, but it cheated a little.
EB
Bill Steele
Sep 2, 2015, 3:59:40 PM9/2/15
to
town.
The concept seems sound, imitating Marvel by creating a whole new slate
of charaters. DC staggered when they tried to jump on the bandwagon by
rebooting all the old characters, often in ways that annoyed older fans.
Perhaps the big difference is that Marvel did build on history. There
hadn't been a Spider-Man but there had been a Human Torch and a
Submariner. They at least owned the name "Angel."
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